descent | 𝐊𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐒 [HIATUS]

𝟏𝟔

𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓
﹙ 𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒕𝒘𝒐, 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒙𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒏﹚
࿐ ࿔ ✧˖*°
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Hayley hasn't had much time to get to know Kai Parker, but she must say, there's worse company she could be in. The heretic had spent most of the car ride out of town just jamming to old songs with Rory, the happy mood in the car stemming from mostly the two of them. Hayley was surprised to see that Kai wanted to come along on their little road trip, but she should've expected it.

It was clear since the beginning that wherever Rory went, Kai tended to follow. And with Klaus' enemies on the rise and steadily pouring into New Orleans to come for his head, there was no doubt in Hayley's mind that Rory would be targeted in an attempt to hurt him. So, bringing Rory along on the road trip was unavoidable.

"I don't know about you, but I'm feeling 22!" both Rory and Kai sing—or, shriek, to be precise—at the top of their lungs. Klaus had long checked out, simply staring dead into the road in front of him.

If either Hayley or Klaus was worried about Hope, they didn't need to be—the baby girl was thoroughly entertained by her godmother's antics, as well as Kai's, who had the ability to conjure pretty sparkles out of the air whenever she was unsettled. She was giggling along to the beat of each Taylor Swift song that reverberated throughout the car, even swinging her tiny legs around.

"You know when I was 22, I murdered all my siblings," Kai says in a conversational manner as the song changes. Klaus, Rory and Hayley all groan in unison. "Sorry. Bad segue?"

"Very." Rory spares him a look over the edge of the passenger seat.

"Oh, come on. Your fiancé literally carted his siblings around in coffins!" Kai whines petulantly.

"Yes, but they were never dead," Klaus defends himself. "They were all simply taking a long autumn nap."

"Honestly, I think both of you are just terrible siblings," Hayley comments.

"They aren't the best, no," Rory nods in agreement.

"I sense a lot of judgement right now. I don't know how to feel about this—I thought this was a safe environment," Kai juts his bottom lip into a pout as he hooks his arms around the headrest of Rory's seat. "Besides, Klaus has been alive for a thousand years. I'm sure he's done way worse things that he hasn't told anyone about."

Klaus meets Kai's eyes through the rear-view mirror. "Hold on a second," he stated. Kai raises an expectant eyebrow. "Did you just call me by my actual name?"

Kai groans as Rory and Hayley cheers loudly, Klaus letting a satisfied smile fall onto his lips. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Don't get used to it, Nathaniel. I only got that one right because you helped me figure out I wasn't in love with your fiancée."