Two Beasts | Mikael

Chapter Fifteen

 Radu sat alone in the dining hall, nervously drumming his fingers on the table. Since Mikael's sudden return the day before, he was all Radu could think about. He hadn't seen Mikael since he left him to get some rest after their conversation, but he hoped he would at least come out of his room for some breakfast after that trip of his.

 He continued to drum his fingers on the table, but froze he when he heard footsteps out in the hallway.

 Mikael slowly walked into the room, taking in the sight.

 "It could just be me," he said, "But this place looks even darker and more gloomy than did ninety-five years ago."

 Radu shrugged. "It probably is."

 "That's what I thought." Mikael took his old familiar place at the other end of the table. "So, what have you been doing in that time?"

 Radu shrugged again. "Same old things. Nothing new."

 "Well, I'm glad one of us hasn't changed."

 "You believe you have?"

 "I feel like I have," Mikael said. "I actually gave up on killing Klaus. It wasn't getting me anywhere in the end, and I ended the hunt."

 "That sounds like it was a very mature thing to do," said Radu. "By deciding to end it, it shows you're mature enough and intelligent enough to know when to stop. You're probably more mature than Klaus."

 "No, he had the right to try to kill me. But by destroying the white oak stake, I assured that none of us Mikaelsons can die, including him. But...I think maybe...he's changed a little."

 "Being a father can do that to a man," Radu said. "It's a life-changing experience. I think you did the right thing by leaving New Orleans and destroying the stake. Perhaps things can be better between you and your children now." 

 Mikael sighed wistfully. "I would like that, but I doubt it. Freya doesn't know me like they do, so she would forgive me easily. Elijah and Rebekah are too hard-hearted towards me; they won't forgive me."

 "You don't know that, Mikael."

 "No, I suppose I don't. I don't really know them anymore. But I can assume, and I do assume that there's no amount of apologizing I can do that will make them forgive me."

 Radu saw the sad look in Mikael's eyes as he spoke, though he couldn't quite get their eyes to meet from across the table. He went down to the other end of the table and sat down in the chair on Mikael's left.

 "Do not be so hard on yourself, Mikael," he said. "You were trying to get justice for what Klaus did to Esther."

 "And what about what I did to Klaus?" Mikael snapped. "As a child, I always rejected him. I always felt like there was something wrong with him, so I kept at arm's length, I didn't treat him like the others. I treated him like I hated him, and when he asked me why...I had no answer. Because I don't know."

 "Mikael," Radu took one of his hands in his own, "If you always felt there was something wrong with him, then you knew. You knew deep down, in your hearts of hearts, that he wasn't yours, and you had a brutal reaction to that. The important thing now is that you're both moving on with your lives. You never have to see each other again if you don't want to."

 Mikael scoffed. "Well, it's easy for him to move on with his life. He has a home and a family who loves him. I don't know how I'm supposed to start over."

 "Mikael, you told me yesterday that you came back here because you knew you would be safe."

 "I did. And I do."

 Radu got off of the chair and kneeled down on the floor beside Mikael's. "Then that means you're not completely alone in the world. You have me. And if I have you, then I'm not completely alone, either. You said you felt you couldn't kill Klaus after you discovered I would die, too. There was a time when I would have welcomed death, but that was before you came along. That one thing means more to me than you would think."

 "Does it?"

 "Yes. And I must mean something to you if you felt so strongly about me that you would burn the one weapon that could kill Klaus."

 They were close to each other, and moving ever so slowly closer, that their voices fell to whispers, and Radu broke the tension by kissing Mikael on the lips. His heart soared when he felt Mikael eagerly kiss him back.

 "Will you stay with me?" Radu asked in a whisper. "You can stay here as long you want. I won't make you go talk to your children if you don't want to. But if you do want to, I'll go with you. I'd give them a real good talking-to if you needed me to."

 Mikael smiled, and Radu couldn't remember ever seeing so much emotion in his eyes.

 "Of course I'll stay," he answered. "I think you might get sick of me, though."

 Radu smiled. "Mikael, I don't think I could ever get sick of seeing you." He pulled him into another kiss.