Breathing ∞ Kol Mikaelson [1]

[70]

The light of the TV danced across the walls, casting shadows with the only other source being the moon shining through the door of the terrace. The volume barely above a whisper was still enough for Kol to hear as the large green creature on the screen grumbled about how annoying everyone and everything around him is. For a Christmas move, it was quite relatable so far.

It was Emma who'd suggested watching it once he didn't understand yet another reference she made. However, instead of watching it with him, she'd fallen asleep quite early on. With her head in his lap, Kol's fingers gently played with her hair while he watched the movie alone. He didn't have the heart to wake her.

Despite the fact that they'd agreed to spend their Christmas peacefully without making much of a fuss about it, he knew the day had been hard on her. It was her first without her mother, and having it so close after everything that happened clearly didn't ease Emma's mind. He'd tried to brighten up the day as much as he could, but Kol knew there wasn't anything he could really do to make it better despite how much he wanted to.

Kol was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts, the focus he had on the movie broken as he felt Emma stir. Thinking she was waking up, his eyes glanced down at her, hands untangling from her hair. However, the sight of her face scrunched up as a soft whimper pushed past her lips, had Kol quickly shifting in his spot, trying to gently shake her awake and break the nightmare that seemed to be plaguing her dreams.

In his worry, he'd forgotten about the last time this happened, and so, for just a moment, surprise coursed through him as the pain spread through his hand once he reached for her arm to try and wake her. With a silent hiss of pain, he quickly retracted the hand, but the surge of magic she'd siphoned seemed to be enough to do the trick and wake her.

Abruptly sitting up, Emma's eyes wildly scanned her surroundings until she finally gathered her thoughts and realized where she was. And when she noticed the way Kol rubbed his hand to relieve the last of the pain, her face took on a guilty expression as she spoke. "I did it again, didn't I? I'm so sorry."

"Hey, it's alright, darling. Everything is alright." He gently whispered to her, his hands going to her face, knowing the siphoning wouldn't happen again now that she was in control. "Do you want to talk about the dream?"

Emma shook her head instantly. She hadn't even realized she was crying until she felt him wiping the tears that had slipped down her cheeks. She was sure she didn't want to talk about it and risk getting even more upset. The events of that night haunted her mind and dreams more often than she would admit. It was enough seeing the worry in Kol's eyes after the times he actually realized it was happening.

"Do you want to go back to sleep?" He didn't push her to talk or tell him what she'd dreamt. Kol simply moved on to the next question which once again got the same response as the previous.

Instead, Emma shifted in her spot, head leaning on his shoulder now, letting his arms wrap around her in a comforting embrace. Respecting her wishes, Kol reached for the remote, increasing the volume of the movie again so that she too could hear it as they let a silence laps between them while it played. And he simply held her, listening to her heart as it calmed down from the frantic rhythm. As she relaxed in his hold, Kol let out a soft breath of relief, starting to trace soft patterns against the skin of her arm while the movie played.