( OPEN ) the devil takes care of his own

[poppycock]

Who: klaus, you! + a few closed starters
Where: mansion + grounds
When: july fifth
Rating: will warn if necessary!
Summary: klaus is in wonderhell and he's not super happy about it
The Story:

mansion + grounds.

[ klaus has settled, inasmuch as he intends to here. if nothing else, wonderland has been surprisingly accommodating. he has a room quite fitted to his taste, one of those handy and interesting closets for anything else he might need (save a few particular objects, as he's been told and proved for himself), and all the booze one could possibly hope for.

he believes it's time to find out more about his new prison. klaus stops only shortly in front of the mirrors in the hallways, wondering about their dangers. the library holds some significant attention of his, since it is the wonderland's supposed trove of information. it's certainly a curious place and one that astonishes even him in its breadth. though he does not linger to read, he does pull a few of his favorites (the art of war, hamlet...) and a few oddities off the shelf to browse. hamlet in particular seems to strike a chord in him; he tempers the grief on his face before putting it back.

later, he'll stop in one of those quaint tea rooms for lunch. a perfect opportunity to sit back, watch the residents come and go, and learn something about them from afar. of course, he's brought the hefty tome history of the peloponnesian war for a cover for his creeping some light reading.

the vendors also hold a particular interest to him. while he browses, he does not dare buy. not even when his eyes catch sight of a wooden horse, a small trinket about the size of his palm. it sits quite harmlessly at one of the tables and klaus stares at it with rounded eyes, still and stricken for a long moment.

eventually, he ends up at the bar because he could certainly use a drink after his day of exploration. he'll sit on a stool and order a whisky - only the best. ]

feel free to begin a starter literally anywhere in the mansion or on the grounds if none of these work for you and you still wanna tag! klaus will see it all. he will literally be in the boiler room to check it out. i cannot stress his paranoia-induced thoroughness enough. feel free to pm this journal or send me a plurk @ provenance if you have a question or are unsure about anything!

Comments

[interpersonal]

[ klaus is a chess master, but elena is no stranger to the checkered board. she's aware he is making his move, and they're both aware of the most important rule to keep in mind: the queen is the strongest piece, and you win the game by killing the king. impassive she is not, much as she may try, and his implications reach her so deeply a shift in her expression comes. why wouldn't she be human? why is he taunting her with damon? she could never. she would never. she is not katherine.

(then why does she feel guilty? deflecting is her best bet, here.) ]

It seems Wonderland decided we should both be well-accompanied. [ she is not alone, and neither is he. already, she is considering reaching out to cami in the hopes of ameliorating a potentially fraught situation. she does not balk, and she will not beat around the bush: ] What do you want?

[poppycock]

[ perhaps he'd like to remind her she very well could. elena might seem the kind, compassionate victim in need of her salvatores and bennetts to save her, but klaus knows better. she's ruthless in how she tends and uses that love, and whether she hates herself for it or not, she does it. it's in his best interest (and his thirst for entertainment) to do so, to see the vulnerability and horror transform her, to see the darkest decisions she's made confuse and impact her.

to remind her.

for all those reasons he shouldn't have underestimated her knowledge or her recklessness and strategy in wielding it. they both know who she speaks of; he has a feeling it's not freya. the malicious playfulness of his expression falls and hardens just so.

yet he will not lash out or beat around the bush either, despite the tense moment that follows. the cards have been drawn. the pieces have been set. when he speaks, his voice is deceptively calm, unerringly logical. ] Well, I want what everyone in Wonderland wants. I want to find the Queen.

[interpersonal]

[ elena doesn't just watch someone: she reads them. learns them. even klaus mikaelson has his tells.

her own expression is deceptive, when the way she regards him is filled with intent. she fights the urge to ball her hand into a fist. fights the urge to leave half-moons imprinted on the insides of her palms. this could end very badly. or, this could end with elena proving just how much she knows about the realm they both find themselves in. impulsivity would propel the former, and calculation would propel the latter: it's not hard to guess which one wins. ]

You'll have better luck finding the Duchess. She's the one who has reached out to us. The Queen, and some of us are doubtful she really is a queen of anything, can be found on the mirror side. [ someone as observant as klaus will have noticed the mansion is full of mirrors every which way. ]

[poppycock]

[ klaus knows he does have his tells, his weaknesses, an underbelly that can be reached. perhaps now what he might lose is more precious to him, that it's not acceptable in the end to lose it. elijah is right; he has been right all along: that love can be powerful. as fluent as elena is in observation, as calculating and resourceful she can be, she does not have what he has to lose.

she's lost her family, but she has friends. family is all klaus has, all he cares about.

nor does she have a thousand years of getting what she wants.

he nearly smiles at her wise choice. it lights his eyes, the offer of information he already knows. then again, the olive branch was more symbolic than anything else. ] So I've heard. But I do hear these mirror-selves love their monarch. I can't help but wonder what would topple their house of cards more effectively. [ said as if asking for her input~

since they're sharing so nicely ]

[interpersonal]

[ a weighted silence.

it's not as though she hasn't wondered herself: what were to happen if the mirror side, therefore the queen, was conquered? is the queen's blood required for bonnie's spells to be effective in getting them home? if mirrors can be unmade, what of the queen? (she doesn't linger on what it may say about either one of them.)

elena doesn't find it unwise to continue answering klaus with the truth, despite her disdain.

he should know who his real enemy in wonderland is. ] The first step would be not to underestimate them. The Queen creates the mirrors. She molds them to her design; she can make them as powerful as she wants them to be. [ she knows this firsthand now. her own mirror (doppelgänger?) is a sadistic vampire. the most frightening thing about her is not their differences. the most frightening thing about her is their similarities.

even human, elena's always had fangs. ]