#dissolvedshadows:caleb

[feasurie]

        @dissolvedshadows​​​​​​​ said:              “ i guess you could say i have a talent for getting myself into trouble. ” - Caleb

            ❛ Then I guess I’m not the only one in need of a babysitter. ❜    She had not forgotten his response the last time she’d gotten herself into trouble, though in her defense, her definition of trouble involved flour all over the kitchen floor, not anything actually resembling Trouble with a capital T. The words slipped across her tongue before she could restrain them or mitigate them. Lessen any bitterness, soften the tone to make it more teasing and less accusatory. 

            She grimaced a moment later as the remorse coursed through her.    ❛ I’m sorry... I... I didn’t mean it that way. Truly. ❜      (x)

[feasurie]

        @dissolvedshadows​​ said:              “ i don’t have very many things that i care about, and i                  don’t have anything that cares about me. ” - Caleb

            The first of his statements no longer surprised her; she’d reconciled herself to both his and Ana’s general disconnect from the world around them. Her grudging acceptance did not lead her any closer to understanding, but she’d ceased to wage war against their determination not to care. The second statement, however, stung, and so she deflected, buying herself time.    ❛ You don’t, huh? ❜   

               But there was nothing to be done save confront it head on.    ❛ Then either you’re an idiot or... no, I take that back. There is no ‘either’ here. You are an idiot. Because I know practically nothing about your life, but I can count at least two people who care about you. ❜

[dreadfamedarch]

        @dissolvedshadows​ said:              “ great, more mud. ” - Caleb

           Klaus scowled, but he did not turn to allow Caleb a glimpse of the expression, of his displeasure. Instead, he called over his shoulder, raising his voice that it might carry over the space between them and the slogging of their footsteps.    ❛ If you’d like to turn back, mate, no one’s stopping you. ❜    Klaus may disdain the mud just as much, and under other circumstances and in other company ( if it were Ana here with him instead, perhaps ) he might even have made a similar, sarcastic complaint. Pride refused to allow him such an indulgence now, however. 

[dreadfamedarch]

        @dissolvedshadows​ said:              “ Assume everyone will betray you and you’ll never be disappointed. ” - Ana

            ❛ Precisely. ❜    It had worked less well over the centuries than Klaus cared to admit. It seemed that at every turned he managed to allow himself the disappointment he sought to avoid --- even while thoroughly believing that there was not a single person upon this earth whose loyalty would prove unshakeable. 

            It did not matter whether he expected Rebekah’s eye to be claimed by yet another foolish young man doomed to break her heart. He still felt the pain of the betrayal when she chose another over him. It did not matter whether he expected Elijah to forsake him; when their arguments boiled over into a decades-long estrangement; he still felt the absence just as keenly. It did not matter whether he had awaited the turning point, the moment when their acquaintanceship turned sour; when she left New Orleans and saddled him with the idiot she termed her ‘replacement,’ he was no the less bitter for the expectation. 

            He let that thought go.    ❛ Besides, it’s not even an assumption. In a thousand years, I’ve yet to meet one person who proved me wrong. ❜

[dreadfamedarch]

        @dissolvedshadows​​​ said:              “ Some things are worth spilling blood for. ” - Caleb

           There seemed to be little enough on which Klaus and Caleb agreed. This particular matter, however, Klaus could certainly not contest.     ❛ I’m glad we’re agreed, then. ❜    It would make the following hours --- Klaus refused to concede that it might stretch beyond the afternoon --- less aggravating. It did not mean he was willing to forgive Caleb in the slightest for the present situation, for Ana’s unexplainable absence.     

            ❛ I assume we’re agreed that this is one of those moments? ❜    In the end, it would not matter whether Caleb agreed or not; Klaus had no intention of forsaking the violence that would hasten the end of this stupid charade. 

[feasurie]

        @dissolvedshadows didn’t ask for this but gets it anyways.

            Left all alone, she found nothing but peace in the bustle about her. It all melded together, the rolling of strollers along the pavement, the calm conversations of adults ( sometimes verging into stern reprimands for their wayward charges ), the delighted laughs of children and excited cries of ‘Mommy, look here!’ Not far from her, two siblings bickered over the koalas before them, attempting to determine just which of the named koalas listed upon the information cards rested on display within the enclosure. 

            Though Caleb had disappeared without warning or explanation, Aline remained untroubled. He’d come back, likely with some excited story about whatever had drawn him away. For now, she was happy to sit in the sun, drawing no attention from passersby, scarred eyes concealed behind sunglasses, hands folded upon the purse in her lap. 

            Still, she knew when he returned. And, trying not to laugh, she asked,    ❛ What did you find? ❜

[dreadfamedarch]

        @dissolvedshadows​ said:              “ Good God, man, pull yourself together. ”  - Caleb

            His eyes were still amber when he turns to consider the Caleb, and dark veins still ran beneath his eyes. Perhaps he had strayed beyond the realms of the necessary ( the blood upon his chin and staining his hands offered ample evidence ), but Caleb ought to have known what he was getting himself into. It was not, after all, as though Klaus was known for his moderation, nor for self-control, nor for the patience to handle idiots who got into his way. 

            Caleb was only lucky that Ana’s wishes continued to ensure his safety.

            ❛ You asked for my help. Or don’t you recall? ❜    And helping he was. He might neglect to follow Caleb’s lead in their venture, but their progress had been all too slow, and his patience had long since disintegrated. If finding Ana required tearing through New Orleans, then tear through New Orleans he would.    ❛ We were going to get nothing from them, save wasted time. Now, that’s no longer a problem. ❜

            The individuals in question had been stubborn, obstinate in having nothing to do with the whole affair. Klaus did not care whether or not they spoke the truth. When the third had still offered nothing useful after the first two lay in bloody shreds upon the ground, Klaus decreed that he was no longer worth their time, or energy. The man had joined his colleagues in violent death. 

            Some distant part of Klaus had hoped that the slaughter might offer some ease for his growing temper, his irritation and impatience and the underlying worry that gnawed at him. It hadn’t.

[feasurie]

        @dissolvedshadows​ said:              “ i can never let go of my anger.. ” - Caleb

             Aline did not frown. She did not permit herself to, though the temptation nudged at her. She feared it might come across as judgment, and it is not meant so. Confusion might have better described the sentiment.    ❛ Why? ❜    she asked instead, neutrally, as if merely curious.    ❛ Doesn’t that get exhausting? Carrying anger around all the time? ❜

             She was certain of one thing: she would not have been capable of it.