Oh, when darkness comes and pain is all around

[sonofadam]

Cain probably shouldn't have challenged Klaus. He probably shouldn't have done a lot of things, especially where Klaus was concerned, but telling the volatile hybrid that his idea was a bad one to his face wasn't without consequences, and it resulted in his chest being punched out and his heart pulled beating from his chest. He saw it coming really, but he had to say it because it was a piss poor idea that would turn the vampires of the French Quarter against the hybrid, but of course Klaus would hear nothing of it.

And since Klaus couldn't bow nicely from an argument, he wrapped his hand around Cain's heart and Cain could feel it squeeze in his chest even through the radiating pain from getting his ribs broken and pushed aside. It was cold, more than the pain, it was a constricting coldness. He dropped like a ton of bricks onto the ground, collapsing in a fold of limbs splayed every which way.

A heart being pulled out wasn't the same as a stabbed heart, and it had happened often enough by now that Cain knew he was going to lose about half a day, at least. Probably wake up in the evening in the foyer alone and still need to clean up the damn bloody mess, literally, that his body made while he was dead. Why couldn't Klaus just snap his neck this time?

That was his last thought before.... complete blackness.

Comments

[emikaelson]

Elijah moved to open his mouth several times as Cain spoke, thoughts forming in his mind as the immortal went on and on about possible ulterior motives and how he thought Elijah didn't like him. The original was spinning in his own mind over it all. He thought that he'd already established the opposite by what he'd been saying and doing here. Didn't he even say that he liked the other? Or maybe that was a thought that didn't make it through his lips. It could have been.

There were so many things that Elijah wanted to say, but didn't know if they were worth the risk of finding his -- well, finding a piece of his heart broken. He hadn't even thought about it being that big of a deal until this minute, but utter and complete rejection would hurt deeper than the vampire was willing to admit. It wasn't love, but there was something there. Nothing with a name, yet.

Once Cain was finished speaking, Elijah wanted to reach out, to touch Cain but kept his hands to himself. He kept his head down for now and moved to sit on his hands where he knelt still. "The cleaners have been here for a while and know how to deal with things discreetly. I'll make sure they clean up your heart as well." Glancing up Elijah pressed his lips together and furrowed his brows.

"You can talk whenever you want or not. It's up to you. I - I wasn't about to tell you anything was the right thing to do. I thought you realized that I do. I like you. I didn't know how to go about it, and I didn't want to make it uncomfortable for you. You told me that we weren't to do it again and I respected your wish. I still respect your wish." Elijah too was rather exhausted emotionally, having gone through what he thought was the death of someone he cared about only to figure out that they were alive and the oldest living person on earth. Add to it sharing his feelings, or trying to figure out what he should say and what he shouldn't and his mind was astir with fatigue.

"Please, please go and take a warm bath in my chambers, warm up, relax. Take a nap or sleep as long as you need. I'll leave you to it, unless you need someone to help you wash, but I imagine you're fine alone. If you wish to speak with me, I'll be in the office down the hall."

[sonofadam]

Cain thought he could reply, but thinking it would be a bad idea to say more with his head pounding and his head not in the game, he only ended up shaking his head and almost instantly regretting the movement.

"Thanks. Give me an hour, I'll see you in the office then." A nap wasn't a bad idea but Cain didn't want to let this drag without sorting everything out. There was something, he felt it last time too when they were together for that short afternoon, and then there was what happened just now.

He got up, legs shaking slightly but he held out his hand to say he could handle it. Waiting until his circulation there was back enough for movement, he limped his way to Elijah's rooms. He needed to figure out what he was doing with the Mikaelsons too and he needed to do that in the hour.

It was a little under an hour that Cain knocked on the open door of Elijah's study, his hair wet and wearing only a t-shirt and jeans. He looked healthy and well, not at all like he had been dead for most of the day. Seeing that Elijah had a glass of something in hand, he nodded towards it. "Care to pour me one too?" Whichever direction their conversation will go, he felt like he'd need it. 

[emikaelson]

Difficult. Everything about this situation seemed like it was about as easy as pulling a camel through the eye of a needle. In fact, Elijah probably would have rather threaded a camel than go through all of these undulating emotions that made him feel like he was on a roller coaster. One moment he knew what he was feeling and what he was saying and the next, Cain would turn his head and Elijah would be left speechless. The man had done more to frustrate the ever confident Elijah than any woman had in hundreds of years. He was even more daunting a task than Katherine.

Sitting in his office, Elijah did a lot of busywork. There was nothing important that he'd allow himself to touch because his mind wasn't in the game. He was distracted to a fault, wondering what Cain wanted to talk about after his shower. They could be merely extending their conversation, or it could be something else entirely. The original thought he did well by putting all his cards out there on the table-- at least he thought he had. Things were beginning to blur together currently as he waited for that fatal knock.

Turned from the door, Elijah had just poured himself a bourbon to help ease with cravings and nerves all the same, when he heard Cain at his back. He stopped breathing for a second and thanked whoever was listening for the fact that Cain was a regular human and wouldn't notice the uptick in his heart and the pause in his breathing, all little tells that he was nervous.

"Certainly." Elijah turned to his decanter and poured out another glass and offered it over to Cain. "Bourbon, enjoy." Given that he wasn't the one to request this meeting after everything, Elijah decided that he'd let Cain start, and placed his hands up on the desk, neatly folded in front of him.

[sonofadam]

A shower had done the immortal wonders, to help return the color to his bloodless features and get everything circulating again. It helped with the headache too and cleared the fog from his brain so he could focus a little better on the matters at hand. Which was a rather convoluted set of matters, of what he recalled from the moment of waking up in the vampire's arms.

Unaware of the original's dilemma, Cain accepted the offered glass and downed half of the measure in fast gulp. He didn't need liquid courage, but he was hoping it'll help dull the headache.

"So you don't dislike me," he reiterated what Elijah confirmed, setting the tone for the discussion they were about to have. "Which is good because given that I am sticking around you Mikaelsons for the next considerable while, I would prefer to not have more than one of you plotting ways to add to my misery if I upset them." Cain didn't need to elaborate on who or what he meant.

"Nothing changes with you finding out who I am, not on my part. Klaus knew, I figured it would have been a matter of time before you did when you appeared. Your sister knew." Who spent most of their meetings ignoring him and treating him as the family servant Klaus brought him in to be. That was how Cain expected Elijah to be too.

Yet something about that first meeting led to the bedroom encounter, and it had been bold and brash of how Cain had provoked Elijah that afternoon, but he had in part done it on purpose even if he didn't realize it at the time. Something transpired between them there, and it had sparked something dead within the immortal. Enough that immediately after, he knew he needed to stop it from happening again because it was dangerous for him.

But, Elijah was an immortal as well and he was not like Klaus or Rebecca. Now he knew the ignoring Elijah had done was a ruse, unlike Rebecca's. "You said you wanted to know me. Do you take those words back now that you do know who I am?"

[emikaelson]

At least his words weren't cold Elijah kept thinking. They could have been much worse. The vampire was certain that Cain was going to completely dispel Elijah of any notion that there could be anything going on between them beyond what Klaus compelled the immortal to do, and Elijah would have gone back to doing his best to stay away, but after what had happened this afternoon it would have done something to Elijah, taken some small piece and thrown it out with all the other dead corpses Klaus had already killed.

Sipping slowly at his drink, Elijah listened while Cain made his conclusions. He was surprised that his sister knew who Cain truly was. He didn't even know that his sister had met the man. He should have figured Rebekah being around Marcel so much lately would be around Klaus more as well. It only went to follow that she would have seen Cain more as well.

Looking now at the man who had been completely dead only this afternoon, Elijah wasn't surprised, but glad to find that he had back all his color and his energy. He looked like a new man, like the man that he'd taken and bedded that day weeks back. The one that had shaken him and made him realize that his garden grew beyond the simple flowers that he'd been looking so steadily at. Now that he was immortal as well, he became even more interesting. There was something about being with another person who would never die on him.

Finally, Cain finished on a question, and Elijah smiled for a second before turning serious. Still the immortal thought that Elijah might be changing his mind about the other man, like something he could do, or could have done would make the original feel any different. If anything, Elijah felt stronger now than ever. "No, I don't take back a single word I said. I want to know you." He felt like he was somehow meant to know Cain, but that sounded a lot crazier when he said it, so he kept his lips silent.

[sonofadam]

Cain gave the vampire a curious look, it didn't stay long on the immortal's face but it was there to show that he had half expected a different answer from the elder Mikaelson. Their family's track record hadn't been the best.

"Okay then," he concluded, accepting the announcement at face value until the vampire proved unreliable otherwise. Finishing the rest of his bourbon, Cain made to pour himself another glass, helping himself rather rudely with disregard to his 'masters'. He was a man who didn't consider himself beholden to anyone except himself, Klaus' compulsion or not, and Elijah's equal if not superior despite his position in the household.

Taking the new drink, Cain sat himself at the guest chair and turned so he was facing Elijah. "Klaus had plenty of questions when he found me and I suppose you do too. I'll answer what you have now if you will answer some of my own later." A fair exchange, without the need for compulsion, or at least that was what Cain was offering.

"I'll admit, I like you, Elijah, or the concept and image you give. But I don't make friends. I have brief acquaintances. I don't have enemies either; there is very little point when you know you'll outlive them. So I haven't quite decided where you and your siblings fall in."

[emikaelson]

"You like me?" Elijah repeated it almost immediately after Cain said it, letting the strangely foreign words play around in his head. He'd had no idea that the immortal had felt anything toward him at all-- unless it be disdain. Elijah was sure that Cain was rather stoic about the vampire family at best, especially the one that he'd taken to bed. He was a man that had no reason to be taken into slavery or owned, which is what his brother had done. It was a cruel thing, especially considering he'd taken a slave and made him a son. Now he'd taken the oldest son and made him a slave.

Elijah found the whole thing distasteful, and hated that he was pretty much bound by his brother's will for the time being. There might be more he could do one day, but for now. He was asked a question, and he didn't know what his answer was. What did he want to know about the other man. There were the stories from the bible, and all the other references, did Elijah even really care about all of that. It'd happened so long ago.

"So, you are immortal then. Cursed, is how the tale goes? I'm sorry, there are plenty of versions of your story out there, but I don't need you to really go through them, I'm more interested in you the person. You don't have friends or enemies because you're immortal, but here, there are other immortals, a whole city of them. I- I am just so angry that my brother has done this. Doesn't he understand who you are? It..." And with that, Elijah slammed his fist through the side table by accident, not meaning to break the furniture, but meaning to take out a light bit of frustration, his strength forever outweighing his emotions.

"I apologize. What questions have you for me."

[sonofadam]

Time passed differently to an immortal, and while seven decades of servitude seemed like impossibly long to a man who lived only a century at most, to someone who had eternity stretched before them, it really wasn't all that long. Nor did the concept of slavery seemed all that foreign to a person who had lived his life in all walks of life. He had been master and the mastered, the soldier and the oppressed alike. His immortality did not come with abilities that allowed him to escape either numbers or strength. And when one had no goals and no aspirations in life, to live day to day with little thought as to the next, his position mattered to Cain perhaps less than Elijah thought.

"You haven't done anything for me to dislike you," Cain clarified, as he nodded slightly to what Elijah spoke of about his story. It was the expressed interest in him, as the person and not the name, that raised his brows. It was soon replaced by a conflicted one at the mention of other immortals. "Vampires are not true immortals... They live longer but can just as easily be killed..."

The conflict on those features turned to a look of startled surprise, the first indication of something beyond the mild reactions the immortal shown in the study, when Elijah's anger destroyed part of his furniture. An anger expressed on Cain's behalf, a person who the Mikaelson had just discovered to exist a few weeks ago, and an identity recognized only an hour ago.

"He knows perfectly well who I am, someone who can help him further his causes, whatever that may be. I know where he stands. But why do you care so much?"

[emikaelson]

It wasn't as if Elijah hadn't spent his time indentured. His family had worked and lived under another family of royals for a while, hiding and pretending to be caretakers and keepers to that family in order to make their way across parts of Europe and the United Kingdom, hiding from their father, until one day when their father finally found them and they turned the tables-- taking over the lives of their benefactors so that they could prance about further with new names and new lives, ever hiding from the likes of Mikael the vampire killer.

He understood years under the moniker of slave, but wasn't there a way for Cain to escape? Didn't he want to? It didn't make a whole lot of sense to Elijah, but then again he didn't live the other man's life. Then to speak as if the original wasn't a true immortal. If anything Elijah and his family were the closest thing to true immortals that were out there, especially now that their parents were dead, and that the white oak stake had been destroyed for good.

"Maybe some vampires can be killed in various ways if they are not cautious, but many have lived long lives. My siblings and I however, cannot be killed. We are truly immortal. In our small circle there lies a lot of interesting things going on. People will try to find ways to come at us, ways to hurt us, but that's all they do. Hurt, not kill. Like gnats or mosquitos."

Elijah went through his rage on part of Cain and frustration at his brother and then calmed himself, bringing the facade back in place before he took on Cain's next question, wondering best how to handle the same question a second time. "You've asked this before. There's a strength and wisdom to you that I respect. You are intelligent and can do so much more than what you do. You never give up, even though it would be so easy, and ..." There was more, but elijah was finding it difficult to put it into words. Perhaps...

"May i show you? I can, if you allow me, show you what I think and feel about you from my perspective, through a memory of mine. You will be in and feel my memory, I will not enter your thoughts. That's only if you agree, and perhaps you might understand me better."

[sonofadam]

Cain knew enough about the Originals to know the truth of what Elijah said, that this family was the closest thing to immortals that he was ever going to find. How could Elijah understand the complicated feelings that raised in the immortal, the slight glimmer of hope when he first saw Klaus attacked and return from the dead. There was trepidation that his servitude to the hybrid was unending, but also the conflicting realization that this man was going to be the first person he spent this long time with... Ever.

So, while Cain knew, after seventy years he still didn't know how he felt about that news.

"I'm not that strong," Cain said with a shake of his head, once more telling Elijah he was wrong and not caring that he may be upsetting the vampire with that attitude. There was very little he feared, Elijah will find. "Giving up is not as easy as you think... It's the hardest thing to do."

Cain took a drink of what he held, a reasonable sip rather than a huge gulp this time, and looked evenly across at the vampire seated, once more composed at his desk. "Show me?" He wasn't sure what Elijah meant, and he had never heard of vampires having such a power. It sounded so hard to believe, and he looked dubious for a second before he shrugged and put down his bourbon. "Sure," he decided with nothing lose. "What do you want me to do?"

[emikaelson]

Sure, Cain wouldn't see himself as strong, because he saw the picture of a man who'd lived for fifteen thousand years, and had tried to kill himself over and over, wanting to die from the loneliness of a life lived without a single person by his side. He saw all the things that he'd gone through-- he didn't see the snapshot of the man that Elijah did. The picture of a man who had found a place with people who might just live a life as long as he did. Maybe the current eldest Mikaelson didn't understand Cain and that's why he saw all that he did, but would it do Cain so much harm to see himself from Elijah's eyes.

Eyes that saw the good in things, when maybe good wasn't what was to be found. Eyes that fought for hope, when Cain saw none in himself. Maybe the biggest thing that Cain didn't understand, was that Elijah saw Cain as an equal, a person that was neither above or below him-- which was one of the greatest compliments he could give to someone, because he was an Original and did owe a bit to his ego, but not with Cain. Cain was every bit a man and a name in his own right. There was no one that should think themselves above the other here.

"You may not see the strength that I see, but I see someone who lives beside my brother day after day, giving into the will of his wishes, and yes, I know that he compels you, but there are ways out of it and I would have thought that you would have sought them out by now. Sought the witches in town who offer the herbs? There is no shortage of them, and I know they come by the house at times. I see things, and you may not, but there's feelings and I can't help them"

Elijah could be wrong about the herbs, but he was standing and walking around the desk to where Cain was sitting. He moved behind the other, and placed his hands gently on the sides of his temples. "Just relax, that's all you have to do. Open your mind to me, allow me in..." Elijah began to drop back and pull a memory from both their minds, but he took it from his side, so that Cain could feel and experience everything from Elijah's perspective. First he'd notice that everything was far more enhanced, all his sense, his emotions. It was like someone had turned everything up by a thousand. "Shhh... I know, relax, take a few deep breaths, let yourself float, and your body will adjust" Elijah did his best to withdraw some of the strongest of the senses, and to dial back the emotions that didn't mean as much, allowing everything that he was feeling for Cain in the moment to fall forward.

There was an awe for the physical body initially, that mixed with appreciation for how the man carried himself, his intelligence, and it only seem to grow as they came together and talked culminating in their joining. Cain would feel every motion, every movement of Elijah, every jump of his heart along with the way his cock sung inside Cain's body. He'd find out how Elijah came to feel something for that man before, during and after their encounter, and in the following days as he followed the other man around. Every memory that was chosen, there was a new thing discovered in Elijah's mind about Cain, something that endeared him toward the other-- a gentle action toward an animal, a kindness to his brother when it wasn't even needed, and patience for all the work that was placed on him. Cain could skim, or skimp on his work, do part and say it was done, but he never did. He never placed the duty on anyone else, but did everything himself, working himself from morning through night without anyone telling him what to do most of the time. Elijah saw it all, and he couldn't help but fall for that, or have feelings for that man. After that, Elijah pulled himself out and closed his mind off. Taking a deep breath.

Walking back to his desk, he filled his drink and took all of it in a long gulp. It took a lot from him to go through memories like that, and to hand them over to a virtual stranger to use however he wanted. It was temptation for anyone to use as bribery, or other means of hurting the original.

"You finally understand?"

[sonofadam]

Cain was at first overwhelmed by the feelings of a vampire's mind, the intense emotional depth that made him feel everything so amplified, and such admiration and desires and passions he felt as he was given the brief glimpse of the same afternoon but from Elijah's point of view. It was so much more vibrant than his own version, even when it had already been an afternoon of intensity of the likes he hadn't experienced in years. With Elijah's memory though, it was almost ecstatic euphoria of such overwhelming levels.

But there was more. The admiration continued and Cain realized Elijah watched him, more than once, from afar or behind, always out of sight to the immortal but not to the vampire's prying eyes. He paid attention to Cain far more than the immortal had given the original credit for, and saw things in Cain's motions that Cain no longer realized from his daily habits, found points to admire that the ancient human didn't even realize were things to be noted. Tasks that Cain used to distract himself with, things he did to wile away his long hours of eternal days, Elijah saw as devotion and kindness. Perhaps there was some of that, although Cain couldn't be sure of that either.

When released, he fell back against the backing of his seat, stunned to silence by the experience that could be called an ordeal. It was nothing like anything he had experienced, but like the concentration of a year's worth of experiences concentrated into a day. It wasn't sure what he understood, except for the overwhelming feelings admiration he sensed from the memories of the vampire before him. A man who was intrigued by him, by everything that was him, the immortal first son... and not the first murderer as many cursed him as.

He reached out for his drink again, taking a gulp that mirrored the vampire's own as he tried to figure out what to do with all this.

Cain could not shake the feeling that Elijah would be incredibly disappointed if he found out the truth of the matter behind that man he admired. The strangest thing was, Cain did not want to be the source of that disappointment, that, he found himself caring in a very long time the way another person would see or judge him, when he normally cared so little for the eyes of another man or woman on him.

Elijah's earlier words had him thinking, and he realized, while yes, he knew of witches and those with magic who would aid him on principle of going against Klaus, Cain never sought them out or thought to use them. He had sided himself with the hybrid bastard regardless of how the man treated him, because subconsciously he knew all that Elijah pointed out, the Mikaelsons were as close to immortal companions as he'll ever find.

"You followed me... watched me... You never approached, why? Because I told you that we shouldn't repeat the afternoon? You're an Original." That was before Elijah even realized Cain was who he was. It was hard to imagine that this man who in his own way was no less arrogant than his hybrid brother, listened to the whims of a servant. "Would you have remained in the background continuously if today didn't happen?"

And, the most important question after the slew of them, "Do you plan on going back to the shadows now?"

[emikaelson]

It had only been a few memories and yet it felt like so much more had been given in that short time. Sure, it'd been a period of time, but that wasn't what took so much from the original. He could have shared his entire life with Cain if he'd wanted to and it wouldn't have taken that much longer. It was amazing the power that he held within his fingertips when it came to memories and wading through the stories of lives, importing and exporting dreams. Blood made that bond stronger. In fact, right now, Klaus probably had some of an idea that Elijah had imprinted in some form on his servant, because of how much of a blood bond they shared.

Klaus could make Cain do things by his will alone by now, whispering it into Cain's thoughts. Elijah would be the one making a stop at the herbal shop soon. Vervain in a ring, or a small bracelet, woven into the fabric perhaps so that Klaus wouldn't suspect it, could keep Klaus out of Cain's mind when it wasn't wanted. Elijah would have to figure that one out later, if the time came. Right now, he took his time in turning to face Cain again.

When he finally turned and sat, calming his mind. He nodded. "To know you and not be able to touch you was too difficult, did you not feel that. I am a lustful and needy creature. I wanted you, even as I admired you. I don't know how long I could have remained silent. I'm glad that I did not have to find out. I am also glad that you are still here." There was no greater truth that Elijah could tell right now. His face was far more stoic in telling than his words were-- or than he felt. The vampire did his best to mask everything that he was feeling, to have this discussion as one that didn't just share every heightened emotion of his with the man sitting across from him.

"I don't think I could manage to go back into the shadows, and I certainly hope you don't cast me there."

[sonofadam]

"I have no right to tell you what to do," Cain said, but he wasn't playing daft. He knew what Elijah meant, and a second later, he shook his head in a small gesture. "There's no point, unless you want to avoid me, and I'm pretty certain you just spent the last hour trying to convince me otherwise. So don't."

He squeezed the bridge of his nose slightly, noticing that his physical headache had mostly subsided but the continuous one to do with the Mikaelsons had not.

"But I don't think it needs be said that I'm your brother's man. He doesn't care much for me, but I don't know how receptive of your... infatuation with me." For lack of better word. But it showed that Cain had a good grasp of Klaus' paranoia and jealousy streaks, and his standards of not letting someone have something even if he himself did not want it. Cain was his possession that he shared with the rest of the family on a whim, but if he had an inkling that Elijah valued it, he was just as likely to put a stop to it.

"I..." Here was the hard part, and once more, hesitation showed on that normally bland or confident mask. "I might not be all you think I am. There is a lot you do not know about me that is not as grand or wonderful as you see it." His gaze moved from Elijah to the drink before him. "I am just a man, a cursed one who lived far too long."

[emikaelson]

Elijah knew exactly what Cain spoke about when it came to his brother, but the matter on what he would do or wouldn't do when it came to spending time around Cain was still up in the air in Elijah's mind. Cain didn't clarify enough. He was going to have to say things as plainly as the original did for Elijah's sake because if they were to be intimate then it would be completely on Cain's say so. The vampire would not become his brother and treat him as any less.

Getting up from his chair, Elijah chose to begin to stalk the room on his side, pacing back and forth in front of a small bookcase that he had. It gave him something to do while he tried to keep himself from feeling anything that was going on right now in his head or his heart. It would be of a bad consequence if he did.

"You may do as you wish, and I do not expect anything from you. You are an equal in my sight, Cain. I do not see you as less than myself, but you are right about my brother. He has always sought to take anything any of my siblings and I have ever sought an interest in. A note though, please ... do not use the term infatuation. This is more than a school girl crush." Elijah inhaled and turned away for a pace, then came back to the desk.

"You will always be you, Cain, we always have our demons, and we are both but cursed men. Yet, it is not about then, it is about now. We would bury ourselves in our demons of then if that was who we truly remained for all time. I myself shall never do that. I refuse. You will be the man I see today, and your past may be, share it or not, you will find me not so fickle in my feelings." There was still a lot that Cain had to learn about Elijah as well-- he wasn't the only one with his own hidden lot.

[sonofadam]

Cain knew not what else to call that intense feeling that he felt when Elijah shared his memories. It was a curiosity towards his person and emotions of such intensity that it felt like that was what it was. Yet Elijah denied it otherwise and Cain felt he should do him the honor of respecting the man's knowledge of himself. Vampirism wasn't something he could easily comprehend, and this little moment of crossed consciousness showed him that very well.

"My apologies," he said, his tone regaining some of his earlier confidence.

No, there was no point in telling this vampire about the despair that Cain felt, or what drove him to be found by Klaus, when he was trying to get himself killed and walked out as the sole survivor. Or how he had confessed everything to Klaus before the hybrid revealed what he was and subjugated him. That would probably only disappoint Elijah and ruin that erroneous but beautiful image the vampire held of the immortal human.

And Cain wanted to preserve that image, despite what Elijah promised to not judge, so he stopped with what he was going to say and shook his head. "You are right. I try not to look behind me too far either." Or ahead, to be honest, although that Elijah didn't need to know.

"I suppose we can give this a try. We are not leaving each other's company anytime soon, there is no point in making an awkward situation of it. Like I said, I like you."

[emikaelson]

In Elijah's mind there were at at least a dozen different synonyms that stood in the place of the word infatuation which in this day and age came to mean nothing more than puppy love and what the vampire felt was far more rich than something describable by a dog. He held affection for, was enamored with, was enchanted, facinated and fond of Cain and that was just a start. Elijah took the apology with a graceful nod of his head and heard the bolster of confidence in Cain's voice. It made his lips curl slightly.

If only he had told Elijah of all that he'd been through, the Original would have felt even more deeply for the man who'd suffered untold years of misery at the hands of life, and loneliness. It was most unfair to be the only one walking a road alone. Elijah had no idea how he would have handled the same prospects had he not his family and legacies to surround himself. The very last thing on his mind would have been disappointment. Alas, it was not meant to be. Cain decided that he didn't want to share, and so Elijah remained in the dark about the beautiful man's past before him.

Given the way the vampire was having difficulty feeling and navigating their conversation, because he couldn't actually read how Cain was feeling-- he honestly thought that Cain might have had a passing interest, but not enough to cause family issues, and he was pretty sure that he was about to be rejected at any second, and so when Cain opened his mouth, Elijah had raised his hand to acknowledge this.

"I know, It's fin-- Wait, you want to give this a try. You want to be with me?" Quickly moving completely around the desk, Elijah stood in front of Cain and felt the beat of his heart pounding in his chest, his stomach dropped. It was not the answer he was expecting. Yet, it was the one he'd been hoping for, and he didn't realize just how deeply until this moment.

Gripping the immortal by the shoulders, Elijah pulled him up and crashed their mouths together, breathing in the reality that he could do this, one of his hands went up into the other man's hair and the other hooked tightly around his waist as they kissed. It was far more fierce a thing than Elijah had offered anyone in a long time, even deeper than Cain had felt before, because there was a greater emotion behind it now, and a fear that somehow it could all be pulled away in a second-- even if it wasn't going to, Elijah kissed him with that sort of desperation.

[sonofadam]

Loneliness was a road of despair and desperation, and someone who never walked it would never understand the pain of it. It wasn't just the solitude, but the repeated loss, without a single familiar port for the storm of time, but constantly adrift and floating in a sea that was ever changing. It was all Cain could do to stay sane, much less find enjoyment in this neverending torture.

Klaus, for better or worse, became his port. It was a shore of a pirate isle, one that constantly abused and pillaged, spilled his blood and enslaved his ship, but it was still the one place that didn't change with the shifting tides and blowing seas.

And now Elijah was sailing in and gave him a sample of what it might be like to have a companion ship, another choice. Cain knew he felt something that afternoon too, a fleeting glimpse of a feeling, and... he wanted it again. Now that it was all put out in the open and he had to choose, he wanted what was offered. There was no conflict, was there, to sail out of that pirate port alongside the ship that was Elijah, to return to serving his pirate master whenever he returned from sea.

Cain's head tilted up when Elijah came to stand before him, the vampire towering over him as he looked with shock in his gaze at his answer. "Yeah, I sai--" His words were cut off when a strong grip lifted him up to standing like his hundred something pound of muscled body weighed nothing and he found hot lips suddenly crushed against his own. It effectively stopped his words, and for a second Cain was only receiving, stunned by the abrupt kiss. As he got used to it, his tongue slipped between his parted lips to meet Elijah's, and it escalated quickly with ferocity, to show what he held back before.

He pushed Elijah back against the edge of the table as they kissed, his hand reaching to hold onto the edge and half trapping the the vampire there. It was only his need for air that made him finally break free, and he spent it panting softly while looking with renewed determination into Elijah's gaze.

"Yeah, I want to try it. You got any complaints, Mikaelson?" He leaned in and took up Elijah's bottom lip with his teeth and tugged at it lightly, almost playful with his arrogance.

[emikaelson]

This time when Cain took more control of the situation and the kiss, Elijah let him-- showing Cain that he thought of them both as equals in this relationship, neither one above the other. Even though there were times that Elijah might push Cain around sexually for fun, it wasn't because he thought more or less of him.

Even pressed against the desk, Elijah held his hand firm in Cain's hair as they both panted. The vampire had no real need for air, but his lungs still reacted as if they did, clinging to the oxygen rich atmosphere around him like he'd forgotten what breathing was all about. All the while his eyes bore deep holes into the light blue ones across from him.

The playful nip, had the original teasing the immortal right back, lowering his hand so that both rested around the other male's waist. It'd been a long while since he'd felt any sort of attraction like this for a man, not that he could ever recall feeling this sort of deep connection or romantic feeling. Elijah had never dated a man before, and a part of him wished very deeply that he could be out about this-- that his family wasn't so blindly difficult about sharing their affections with one another.

Jealousy was a powerful thing. Not that Elijah was very different.

Flicking his tongue over Cain's lips teasingly, Elijah smirked and shook his head. "There are no lingering complaints here. Only one wondering why it took you so long to figure it out." He played, knowing that Cain was in the middle of life and death and extremely exhausted and before that things between them were extremely awkward after they had sex. As it was, Elijah didn't waste any time in clawing his way up the back of Cain's shirt and drawing his nails over the skin there. He really didn't know what kind of sex the other man was used to, or wanted, but Elijah could say that he was bored to death of the vanilla sex that he'd been having with his lady friends lately.

[sonofadam]

"You weren't exactly being the most obvious either," since Cain could count on one hand the number of times he had seen Elijah around after the incident, and those times the vampire barely spared him a glance, or so it would seem. How was he to know that the vampire watched him when he wasn't looking, staying out of his sight and using his vampire abilities to keep himself from being seen by a man with human senses.

Cain moaned softly at the scratch of nails on his back, especially when they ran over the small of his back just in the little dipping curve of the spine and in the sensitive small muscles of that area. Like before his moans were unfiltered and real, without reservation or care even knowing that he might be discovered or heard in this household full of vampires.

They had sex once and it had made him feel that spark of excitement that the everyday motions had not, and although he was still tired and mildly exhausted from his revival, he found he still wanted this. When he kissed Elijah again it was to devour his mouth with a hunger, exactly like a man who had spent his day expending energy without any to recharge, and he was famished for the vampire.

His hand swept the study's desk free of things and knocked over some paper and something else clattered to the floor, but he didn't have time to look. For he was already trying to lift Elijah onto it.

There was a pause when they broke apart to give the vampire a look. "Do we need to switch positions?" Which, if Elijah insisted, they could. Cain cared a whole lot less than the vampire did.

[emikaelson]

Elijah couldn't help when a small laugh coughed out. He knew that he'd been anything but obvious, and that Cain would have had no idea that the vampire was watching him or desiring him from afar even if he'd been a vampire -- Elijah was good at what he did. The only way that Cain would have known was the way Elijah showed him, and that was something completely private and extraordinarily intimate. Never before had the original reached into his own mind and shared his own thoughts like that. He'd offered impressions and other dreams, but never before had he given anyone a sense of exactly who he was like that, with his emotions open so freely for the other man to feel.

It was as vulnerable as Elijah came and for some reason he dropped that wall for Cain of all people. There wasn't much about Cain that didn't titllate Elijah on some level. It was like merely hearing his voice sent out a wave of velvet over his skin that brushed it backwards and broke out shivers and unfettered wants and needs that the vampire had no control over. Moans-- moans were even worse.

A moan from the man he was touching pulled Elijah's cock up and had it begging for attention. It seemed that those nails had been all the inspiration Cain had needed as papers and books went flying. Elijah found himself being shoved back up on his desk and it surprised him that he didn't mind. Normally, he'd make sure that it would never happen that way, but this time he wanted it. He wanted Cain to rip him open and force his body into a fashion that it'd never been before.

He took a deep breath before he answered. "We don't, but if we're doing it this way, I'm going to ask that we do it in bed, and with some proper lubrication. I've never been entered before." He yanked Cain back in close and wrapped his legs around him tight as Elijah sealed their mouths together, quickly establishing that he wanted this, wanted Cain. He didn't care that Cain was exhausted, or had only just come back to life earlier. As far as the vampire was concerned-- this was his life, the taste and breathe of the other man. It was what was going to get him through the next few hours.

[sonofadam]

It was hard to imagine that this thousand year old vampire had really never experienced this, yet at the same time knowing the Mikaelson pride, it was not hard to understand. Cain gave him an out, yet Elijah was determined, pushing forward with their kissing and his hands scrabbling over Cain's back. He moaned softly as their kiss broke and Elijah requested they take this to the bed.

"Then let's just switch, I don't want to walk back..."

Before Cain even finished his sentence, he felt Elijah's arms wrap around him. The hands lifted him with a vampire's strength, and the world blurred. When Cain could focus again several seconds later, somewhat disoriented, they were in Elijah's bedroom where they had been last time. Elijah sat back on the bed and Cain shrugged his shoulder and moved toward, coming between the vampire's legs and pushed him back, sprawling him onto the bed.

"That's fine, I'll take good care of you," Cain said with his own brand of confidence before crawling down over him with one hand pushing the mattress by Elijah's head and the other pushing at the vampire's shirt to push it up along his stomach. "Where's your lube?" The tone was somewhat different from last time, even from the moment ago in the study. Cain was slower here, gentler, willing to take his time in consideration for the virgin in front of him.

[emikaelson]

Maybe it was hard to understand, but Elijah's first choice in genders for sex was naturally female and that brought down his experiences with males to those few he experimented with for fun, and with those they he'd never been serious with in the times that they'd been together. He'd never felt a shade of emotion for them. Elijah was always about power in sex that he was playing at, he exuded it in his daily life and giving up any sort of power was near to impossible for him.

Even now the vampire wanted to shove Cain over and roll on top of him to take the reigns of this encounter, but another part-- an incredibly curious part really wanted to open himself up to Cain like this. He'd probably never find another male that he'd feel comfortable enough around to let him do this. Plus, this was something he'd fantasized about. He'd thought he'd wait, but when the moment came, Elijah wanted it, and wanted it immediately.

He inhaled and relaxed against the bed, eyeing Cain up and down as the immortal pushed at his shirt. "I imagine you will. Fucking virgins is always pleasurable." He laughed softly, trying to make light of the fact, to cover up the nerves that would be natural to most people, but not to Elijah Mikaelson. No, Elijah couldn't have nerves. Sex was a natural thing and Elijah Mikaelson shouldn't be nervous about any kind of sex.

"It's in the bedside drawer, beside my head there.." He turned his head to the side and pointed. He'd have made a grab for it, but honestly it was easier for Cain to reach the way he was hovering over Elijah. This vantage gave Elijah the opportunity to begin to pull Cain's clothes off his body, not having a need for them while they were in here. He leaned up and kissed at the other man's neck, and then his chin, merely craving open lines of skin for his mouth to skim across, while his hands began to claim the same much lower, climbing over the experienced man with his own deft, curious fingers.

He clawed at the skin once more, this time grating over Cain's chest, down his firm brestbone and then over obliques-- clamoring to pull the other man into him and against him so that they could at least grind against another a few times. His cock was throbbing and it wanted relief, now and not later. He was dying just to be touched, to be surrounded, and knew that this time, it would be different, very different.

[sonofadam]

Cain had every intention to take this slow with the vampire, and even as he reached for the lube, he was touching, caressing, never leaving Elijah alone just as the vampire was working very hard to loosen Cain's clothes. His lips twitched slightly at the vampire's attempt of a joke, and Caim understood that feeling of nervousness that came from a thousand year old virgin.

He groaned when their cocks first touched, still partially through the clothes and a pair of rounded hardness rubbing against each other heatedly through the thin layers of clothing. Cain's fingers touched the tube of lube and slipped away as he took new grip on the edge of the bed for a second.

Reaching again, he grabbed the lube and quickly retreated back with the prize before Elijah got further in their horizontal dance.

"If done right, you'll enjoy this greatly, even as a virgin," Cain said, leaning down to kiss those kissable lips, working to turn them into a nice kiss swollen pair. He gyrated his hips down against the vampire to grind down on him some more. "And I know how to do it just right," Cain promised, not yet moving onto opening the lube although he placed the bottle by one side within easy reach. Easy sight too, if Elijah cared to look in that direction. Unlikely though for Cain was busy distracting him again when his hand moved to remove the front of the vampire's fly so he could seek the treasure within those pants.

By touch alone he found the dragon within, no longer sleeping but fully awake and spitting liquid fire with passion. He pumped it a few times and his thumb followed that rounded slick head, spreading that fire as he moved his lips to licking, kissing, and sucking along the vampire's neck. He was going to make sure Elijah was nicely worked up but relaxed before he started preparing him.

[emikaelson]

"I know how to do it right as well, but for some reason I'm trusting you this time. I hardly know why..." The vampire's words were already breathless and spotted with intakes and outtakes of air as he continued to attempt to pull Cain's shirt completely off, yanking at the arms to direct them through the the sleeves, while the immortal was reaching over for the lube. When that was gone, Elijah couldn't help but smirk at the thought of Cain's amazing cock. It was almost frightening-- the thought of letting that thing inside him, but the thought of touching it, seeing it again had Elijah harder than a brick wall on a cold day.

He undid the button on his breeches and then the reached his own hand between them to reach in and palm at the hard, warm, organ. It was so smooth and thick beneath his grip, and yet it throbbed with every single beat of Cain's heart. Elijah loved that he could feel the beat of his victim's hearts sometimes through their genitals, it made him so fucking horny. Holding hit tight, he laid perfectly still and thought about Cain's blood spilling over him in rivers, and about rolling in it as he drank. It was a macabre thought, and he knew that he'd never want that for his lover, but sometimes the thoughts -- they came and the creature that he was could not undo them.

When Cain grabbed hold of his cock, Elijah wanted to fuck his hand, he was so worked up as it was, but he knew that there was so much more to come tonight. They both had to have patience or neither of them would make it. It was difficult when Elijah had been thinking off and on about the other screwing him like this for weeks now. If he only knew why he wanted to submit, it would have been one thing, but even Elijah didn't know why he really wanted to be held down and fucked like this, to have another man be a part of him as if he were some less than, he thought-- of course, Elijah didn't understand that this wouldn't make them powerful over one another, or that it only required mutual trust. Nor did he realize the difference it'd make for him in their relationship.

If he only knew, he wouldn't be lifting his heels and moving his legs inward, clawing his arms across Cain's back and begging for Cain's body when the other began to lick and suck at his neck.