Rue | Klaus Mikaelson

Chapter 3

She couldn't sleep.

The entire night, she tossed and turned, absolutely miserable. She awoke early once more, laying silently in her bed, staring at the ceiling and trying to find shapes in it. Counting sheep was useless when sleep continued to evade her.

She heard movement about an hour before the sun came up. She decided to go down for an early breakfast, figuring the movement was just from the servants getting there for their day of work. No one else was awake.

After eating, she began to walk around the Compound, exploring the different rooms. She knew which ones belonged to the Originals and which one was Hayley's, so she avoided those entirely so as to not wake anyone. Floor by floor, hall by hall, she opened doors quietly and peeked inside. It really did seem like she'd been given a good room. Some had strange showers. Others had no balconies. All the unused ones were covered in dust. Hopefully that would change once the wolves began to move in.

She drifted into Klaus's art room after she grew bored of exploring. She observed all the paintings he had on display, not daring to touch anything. She came to a stop in front of one he must have been working on recently. She smiled when she recognized Hope, painted while she slept in her room with a gentle ray of sunlight causing her crystal mobile to shine over her.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when she realized Klaus was watching her again. "Good morning," she said a bit stiffly. "I was just exploring."

"I can see that," said Klaus, who noticed that she hadn't actually touched anything. He noticed the tired expression on her face. "You did not sleep well."

She shrugged dismissively. "I'll get used to it. Is Hope awake?"

"Not yet, but she'll awaken soon."

The small talk was feeling way too awkward for her. "Well," she said, "I'll go and check on her, then. I don't really have anything to do right now and I could use her company."

He nodded. "I will be back later. Now that she is home, I must go and purchase a few items for her."

"Okay. Well... see you." She was quick to leave the room and go into the nursery.

Hayley wasn't asleep when she arrived. She was laying on her side, scrolling through what appeared to be Pinterest.

"Hey," said Ibeth, smiling once she saw Hope wiggling around. "Aw, good morning little one..." she picked her up carefully. "Klaus is going to buy her clothes, I can feed her if you'd like?"

"That would be awesome," said Hayley tiredly. "Rebekah wasn't doing too well last night, and I was up with her."

Ibeth winced. "How is she now?"

"Sleeping peacefully. I just worry about her. She promised Kol she's going to resurrect him somehow and find out how to bring him back, but I don't even know if that's possible."

The wolf rubbed Hope's back, sighing and letting her nostrils flare. "I guess that means she's choosing to stay in her witch body?"

"Yes," said Hayley. "Which Klaus isn't all that happy about."

"He never seems happy," noticed Ibeth. "Aw—" Hope yawned, whining and covering her face. "Let's go brush your teeth, and then I can give you something to eat, okay? You feel like spending the day with a lonely old lady?"

Hope yawned again, which was enough of an answer for Ibeth.

After changing her diaper and brushing her teeth, she carried her to the dining hall. She ripped a pancake into small pieces for her, and had her drink some milk in between to wash it down. Hope was happily bouncing on her lap, giggling and holding up pieces of the pancake for her to see.