save my soul : k.m.

the dinner - chapter 6 part 2

'Astrid, I was wondering..'

'Speak another word to me. I dare you.' Astrid's knuckles were turning white as she clenched on her knife and fork. Finn was being as annoying as he possibly could be and knew exactly what he was doing. Finn sat next to Elijah who was giving the hybrid concerned looks as Klaus discreetly overlapped his foot with hers hoping his touch may ease her.

A compelled waiter dressed in red poured Finn out a glass and he took a sip, humming and feigning politeness. 'What an aromatic bordot.'

'Well, it was a challenge to find a good pairing. What wine goes well with treachery?' Klaus clasped his hands together and his comment brought a small smile to Astrid's face. The candle light reflected on Finn's face as if he was the villain in an old black and white film. The tension was rising between Astrid and Finn like a forever tightening rope, luring Astrid over to him and persuading her to show her body jumping brother in law some real hybrid hospitality.

'Don't pout, brother. Tonight is meant to be a happy occasion!'

'I'll be inclined to celebrate when I'm aware that my sister is well and safe, Finn.' Astrid's jaw had clenched so tightly by the end of that sentence and she was beginning to loose her appetite, the only thing crossing her mind being if his blood tastes as good as she was hoping when she murders him.

'Well truth be told, Astrid I'm quite surprised you're so concerned. Since Deryn's return you haven't been entirely concerned with her.' He looked between her and Klaus before making his next exasperating and annoying comment, 'It's almost as if you've been wrapped up in Klaus too much to remember about your own family.. almost like deja vu isn't it?'

Astrid looked like she was about to throw a knife at him until Klaus rested his hand on hers with a reassuring look as Elijah changed the subject, 'What exactly are we celebrating?'.

'Why, my return, of course! Remember, I spent nine hundred years-' He looked to Klaus for confirmation, 'right?-- lying daggered in a box. I'm rather enjoying this new body. Strolling about your lovely city that, uh, you've made your home. But, do tell me-- what'd I miss? Regale me with your contributions to society! Medicine? Philosophy? Art?'

When Finn only got stone cold glares in response, he carried on, 'Or, have you three merely cut a path of destruction across time?'

'The last time we met, you were helping our mother try to annihilate the lot of us! Let's not throw stones in glass houses.' Klaus threw the comment at him and Astrid watched the brothers throw comments at each other like a tennis match with her fingers laced in Nik's.

Astrid smirked as she decided to knock the winning point from Finn, 'How was it he died last time, Nik? Didn't Rebekah's Mystic falls human Quarterback stake him? Quite the scrawny rat last time I heard.'

Finn struggled to keep himself composed as the four watched a compelled waiter place another two seats at the table, 'Are we expecting another guest?' Elijah asked with a look of amusement at Finn's audacity. The eldest Mikaelson gestured to the other head of the table 'Mother will sit at the head. And, as for the seat across from me, that's reserved for another of our clan. Care to wager an educated guess? How about a paranoid one?'

'Well, there's no way Kol would listen to anything other than his ego.' Nik joked and Astrid laughed along with him. Finn eyed Astrid for a moment and made a mental note to tell Kol how she laughed in the face of his demise, knowing how much it would wind him up.

'And yet, our mother has made such a compelling argument that even he, the wildest of us Mikaelsons, has seen the error of his ways and accepted his new form with vigor! Change, dear family, is inevitable.' The eldest original vampire turned witch kept up his persona and Klaus had reached the same limit Astrid did, 'You would dare face us as a mortal? The only thing inevitable is your death.'