royal_musings | doing as the tourists do - drink & go ghost hunting (for Kol)

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doing as the tourists do - drink & go ghost hunting (for Kol)

Piper had been the one to suggest the ghost tour and make sure that Kol would be on his best behavior. Which, when it came down to it, all she asked was he didn't bite any of the guests until after the tour. The day before, she had actually been looking forward to it too. She supposed it was only fitting. She had always enjoyed verbal sparring with others and doubly enjoyed anyone who could keep up with her.

That morning, she had gotten up and gone to the cabin where it had all started. Adonis had met her there, told her a bit of the history he and David had found all those years ago after the fact and talked to the little ghost girl who had remained. She'd seemed disappointed that Jordan wasn't with her and she couldn't bring herself to tell the ghost of all things that Jordan wouldn't be returning. Throughout it, she'd felt fine.

That was, until she'd returned to her hotel to get ready for that evening.

Within an hour or two, she'd started to feel lethargic and felt she needed to blast the AC, it was so warm in her room. Piper knew she needed to get up and at least look human even if she didn't particularly feel very human. She shot off a quick text to Kol (though she wasn't sure why she shared that bit of information with him) before leaving her room with everything she needed - phone, wallet... a knife just in case.

It was still warm and humid out for New Orleans but somehow, Piper felt even hotter. This wasn't a feeling she'd experienced since... well, before they had died. She wasn't going to assume it was that (though there was a very small part of her that was hopeful). She pushed all that aside as she came up on Kol just minutes after the last text and gave him a grin. "So, have I been ditched for a bachelorette party?"

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Piper raised an eyebrow before laughing. "Hm, I don't know, I'm still leaning toward the one year anniversary for the blood part," she teased him. Though she said it, she was also well aware that things could change. It would have to happen after she told him who she was and that was the part she wasn't sure when to bring it up. Which, honestly, was more of a surprise than anything else. It wasn't even a matter of if she'd bring it up anymore. It was simply a matter of when.

As the tour guide started to speak, she noticed the change in Kol's demeanor. She listened to what the young man was saying and glanced at Kol. No, vampires would have no use for drugs - not the sort humans were into anyway.

She nodded in agreement with his muttering words and frowned when the guide mentioned continued parties to this day. "Didn't you warn me about a Marcel? Do you think that he's using you and your family's name/reputation?" Her voice remained low so they wouldn't be overheard.

Piper snorted when she heard a female voice, likely one of his groupies, pipe up and ask if he'd ever been invited to such a party. None of these people had any idea of what they were dealing with.

The teasing and talk of feeding is gone. At least for the time being. He's definitely sharply focused on something else entirely, and he wants to know just what has been going on in this town. Marcel might have been Klaus' favored child but he was not a Mikaelson and he never would be. No matter how their brother had treated him.

"It has to be him," he mutters. "My brother's favored, and yet he lets him run wild like this and kept me in a box. Well then. Maybe we should visit him. I can guess where he is."

The compound. It has to be. That massive house they abandoned when their father found them.

Kol straightens suddenly, gesturing the guide closer. He smiles sweetly, staring into his eyes, compelling him.

"Yes, just where are these parties held?"

The guide stares at Kol, his expression empty. "There's a place in the French Quarter," he says, wide eyed. "They call it..."

"The Abattoir."

"Yeah. You know it?" The guide smiles then, nodding.

"We should go by there, don't you think?"

The wedding party cheers at that, encouraging the change of plans."

While Piper wasn't feeling at top strength, she was becoming well aware of where this was going. Truth be told, she didn't blame Kol because if someone was using her family to their advantage? You can bet your ass she'd be there.

She nodded and pushed the heat and everything down as far as she could so she could focus on this. Piper watched attentively as Kol compelled the tour guide. It was fascinating the skills and abilities different vampires had at their disposal and this one was surely handy.

When the wedding party cheered, Piper glanced at the others on the tour who seemed intrigued but curious at the change in plans. "Well, this night is looking more interesting by the minute," she said then turned in her seat to look at Kol more firmly. "What is your plan?" She didn't give one shit if he decided to take every single one of them out but she needed to know how much she should share until they got there.

Dropping back in his seat as the guide gave the change of directions, he leans into Piper trying to calm himself down. He's angry and he's seeing red and he has no idea what to do but he knows he's positively certain that if his brother was here, he'd find himself in a box again.

Good thing he'd run away from that.

"Plan? You think I have a plan?"

He makes a face, considering that.

"Actually, I'm just going to check things out. The truth? Sadly? Marcel wouldn't know me. I was locked in a coffin for most of that time and only released in time to be locked back up so we could run. When my brother took Marcel in, and the bloody upstart thought he had rights he didn't, I was staked for saying so."

Which isn't the only thing he'd done but enough of the truth that it wasn't lying to her. Not outright.

"Are you going to be okay?"

Piper grabbed his hand as he leaned against her and gave it a squeeze. She was just going to comment about coming up with a plan if he didn't have one already but then he said he was just going to check things out. She nodded slowly. "It's a good Plan A at least," she said and tilted her head. "What if he does know you," she asked.

She figured there was likely more to his story but she wasn't going to call him out on it. Instead, she nodded at his question.

"I'll be fine. For now." She looked around them, watching the other attendees talk amongst themselves before she murmured a soft spell that would keep people from overhearing their conversation. "How much do you know about the prophecy of The Enchanted," she asked.

It was a sudden question and one that she hadn't planned on revealing just yet but if they were going to walk into a potential shit show, she thought she should at least be upfront with him. Because it ultimately led into the other, more recent part of her life. Namely where she's been the last decade and what she's done.

"Then I'm going to rip out his bloody pathetic throat and remind this city what that initial stands for," he says, squeezing her hand back. She knows who he is and what he can do. He hasn't hidden the monster he is from her and he sees no reason to start now.

He felt that magic close around them, frowning that she felt the need for that protection. Shifting in his seat, turning to face her more fully as he considers her.

"About maybe as much as you likely know about Original vampires. What does that have to do with your illness?"

He's getting an inkling but he wants the answer from her and suspects it may well change his plans should he be recognized later.

Piper nodded. She could hardly blame him, honestly. She'd exacted her own revenge over the last decade and she didn't feel much (if any) remorse. Everyone who was killed by her hand or Adonis' was because of their involvement in Jordan and David's deaths.

She watched him turn toward her and watched his face closely then nodded. "I'm one half of the Enchanted," she said, though she suspected that he was starting to realize that. "Over a decade ago, my cousin (the other half of The Enchanted) and my boyfriend were killed in an ambush. For the last decade, her boyfriend (another vampire) and I took down every single demon and vampire involved." Her voice was matter of fact, not letting herself get upset by it, or at least forcing herself not to. She knew she was speaking to a vampire and her killing other vampires and demons were probably tacky, she wanted him to be aware.

"As for what it has to do with this illness, the only times I've ever felt this way (and it's been a long time) is when I've been getting a new power." And she was trying really hard to not feel hopeful about that. When Jordan died, she was sure that was it and what she had was be all she would have. Which was still more than the average witch.

He's hyper, and that is how anger translates. If he's not careful everyone on the bus but Piper might not survive this night. Hell, he may just do that for his own comfort to let out the anger he is feeling.

Yet he's listening to her, catching what she's saying, the stories he's heard of over the years about Enchanteds. Some think they're as mythical as Originals. And yet here he is. With her.

A brow arches though when she says it would be a new power, and he can't help but be curious. Both about that and something else.

"You talk about your revenge and powers. I have to wonder then. Maybe it's for this, for what I'm about to do. Want to help me?"

He's not had anyone but family before to help him, and they had rarely actually helped him. Now he might actually have a partner in things, and not just a witch he's using.

Piper watched him closely, unsure of how he would react. She knew of course how certain parts of the community viewed the Enchanted and saw them as just a mythical entity, someone or something that wouldn't happen. But they had and she still was rather angry at times to know that Jordan was killed because of who they were. She pushed that anger away for the time being and nodded a little at the eyebrow arch.

Then he said that and she hummed, considering it. "I blame the ghost girl at the house I visited earlier," she muttered, though her tone teasing. Still, he did raise a good question. "Even if it's not because of this, I will help you. I do know a little bit about revenge these days. If someone was using my family or my families name for their own means, I'd be doing the exact same thing."

She only hoped she lasted until the end of the night before passing out. "Just promise me that at the end of the night, you'll make sure I get back to my hotel." Piper wasn't one to trust or rely on others very much, if she could help it so it said a lot that she was asking him this favor.

Perhaps it's that he is a mythical entity. Despite his brothers being monsters throughout the years, and Kol throughout the times he was free, they still weren't entirely known as beings that truly existed. Even those turned by them didn't always know who they were.

Kol had heard about the Enchanted and, unlike many, he had truly found reasons to believe in them. Because as a former witch that misses what he lost, he aches for the reality of a power like that.

A power like that of the woman sitting in front of him.

"Oh don't blame innocent ghost girls. I suspect this is on me," he says, but there's a tiny bit of a smile then. He knows it's not likely because of him, but he will gladly take advantage of it all.

Which means he lights up in that moment when she agrees to help him with it.

"I promise," he says, going solemn as he says it. "And... and I promise not to start a fight tonight either. I will finish it if one starts, but I won't start one." And he means it. If she can sense such things, she'll know he's not lying.

Piper snorted in amusement when Kol took full credit for her situation. "You would," she teased him with a little smile and fully amused. "I don't know for sure if this is the case, it's... kind of a surprise, honestly but it is what I've experienced in the past when we got a new power. I should be okay for a while but if a fight does break out..."

She nodded, sensing that he was telling her the truth when he promised that. "Thank you," she said. "I appreciate that."

It was right about then that Piper felt the trolly come to a stop. "And we are here, ladies and gentleman. The Abbatoir," the compulsed tour guide called out when they arrived.

Piper looked up and dismantled the silencing charm, knowing anyone who had tried to hear what they were talking about would have just heard a random conversation from a very happy couple. "Ready?"

"You know me so well already," he teases, though it's true. Sad enough she's figured him out in much less time than his family ever seemed to. Or any of those witches he thought were on his side and then weren't, who had turned on him.

This though feels different. It's why he made the promise to her. He isn't planning on starting a fight. Not right now. He is having much darker thoughts, and realizing he has ideas that could change their lives. Or at least his, even if she won't stand by him.

Looking a bit calmer as the charm breaks, moving to stand up and offering her his arm. "Oh you have no idea how ready I am for this. Come on then. Let's see if the gentleman in charge is around."

The funny thing was, living and working with Adonis for as long, Kol sort of reminded her of her good friend in that they were both rather cocky (especially their appeal to women). So, for Piper, it wasn't that difficult to sort that side out about Kol and in fact, made it easier for her to understand and relate to.

The biggest difference was that she'd never been attracted to that side of Adonis where she certainly was with Kol. At least, was beginning to in the very least. Besides, at this point and after a decade of hunting down every single being involved in her best friend's deaths, who was she to suddenly decide that starting a fight or war was not something she did? If you asked, from what little she knew so far, it seemed justified.

Piper's mouth curled up as she took his arm and stood from the seat before making her way off of the trolly. "You know, I almost regret my outfit for tonight. If I'd known we were crashing a party, I'd have dressed up a bit more."

"You look fantastic," he assures her as he guides her off the trolly and toward the door. He sees someone standing the door, already confused on why the tour had gotten off here. He can't help but smile though as he brushes past the others with Piper on his arm.

They aren't flashing fang but he knows they're a vampire. He also is betting they've never even heard of an Original and have no idea that there's someone that can compel them.

Fools.

"Excuse me," he says, trying to sound intimidating to Kol and Piper. Kol definitely doesn't look intimidating himself and he knows it. "Are you on the list."

Kol smiles wide, leaning in close and meeting the bouncer's eyes. "I'm sure if you look again, you'll find our names," he says without even giving them. "Try looking harder."

He peers at the list. "Oh. There you are," he says hollowly. "This way, Sir," he says, moving to open the door for them.

Kol smirks, guiding her inside.

Her mouth curled up at the compliment and allowed him to guide her off the trolly and toward the door. Subconsciously, she straightened up and slipped in the mindset she'd had through the last several years as 'Les' and sent the doorman a smile. She pushed down the heat she could feel steadily getting stronger, there would be a time for that later.

While Kol had been the only vampire she'd sensed on the trolly, that was certainly not the case here. But they were nowhere near as strong as the man who stood at her side. In her own state, she knew she didn't come off as the most intimidating witch in the area but she did enjoy when people underestimated her.

Piper smirked in amusement as she watched Kol compelled the doorman. When he "found their names", she did her best to hide her snort and walked in confidently into the party. "You know, I'm only slightly disappointed I wasn't ever invited to the super special vampires-only parties," she said, her voice quiet enough for him to hear. "Though I suppose my invitations are permanently "lost in the mail" but all the same."

The energy is there all around them. Of vampires and feedings, of fear and excitement that is running through everyone. He lives on this, and it's there in his head that it wouldn't take him long to destroy everyone in the same place. He could literally destroy them all.

He aches, feeling the tightness around his eyes as he holds himself in check. Sliding his arm around her, pulling her in and holding her close to him as he steps inside with her at his side.

"I didn't get one either," he points out, lifting his gaze to look around. The opulence, the atmosphere, the fucking throne at the front of the room. "Are you kidding me? That damn thing is still here?"

He rolls his eyes, sighing as he shakes his head. "You can tell which brother turned Marcel. Drama queens, all of them." As if he has room to talk, especially with what he says next. "I used to go into rooms like this and leave when I was the only left standing."

"That's even more disappointing. Can't even be bothered to invite extended family," she said dryly. Her arm slipped around him in response to him pulling her closer to his side. She could (and would've) protested but they'd made large strides since they boarded that trolly for the ghost tour just thirty minutes ago.

Not to mention, they were surrounded by more vampires than she could shake a stick at, and the only one she semi-trusted here was the man at her side.

She glanced up at the throne on stage and blinked slowly before giving him a disbelieving look. "Looks like the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." Piper shook her head with a laugh and looked around. "I always knew vampires were the OG drama queens."

"You never invite the black sheep," he notes. "Can't be trusted and all," he adds with a dark chuckle. He isn't hiding who he is. Not from her at the very least. He sees no reason to be quiet, especially not with what he's thinking. Or what he had just said.

"Oh yeah, it started with us. You don't live this long, take on so much, without being all about drama. Though my mom was that way and she was just as bad and not a vampire."

But then she was a witch, but that's why he's not mentioning that to his companion.

He's not sure what he was expecting but then someone steps in front of them. He is big and bulky, a weight lifter or the like, pale and looking upset. And he's eyeing Kol.

"You're new here."

"Not as new as you think. Where's Marcel?"

The glower only darkens. "Not here. Who are you?"

He steps in closer, meeting the other vampire's eyes as he compels him, something other vampires can't do to one another.. "Someone you didn't see here. Now, where's Marcel?"

"He got called away. Something about the Bennet grimoire, whatever that is."

"Disappointing as it is, you raise a good point. More or less why I'm never invited to the family reunions either," she agreed with a little grin. She wasn't ashamed of who she was turning out to be but her family sure was.

Piper snorted in amusement as she thought of his family while also keeping an eye on their surroundings and the party around them. That was until someone stepped in front of them and questioned Kol.

It was fascinating to watch Kol compel the other vampire, just as he had the vampire at the door and the tour guide. It was fascinating to watch and knew, logically and realistically that she could find herself on the other end of that gaze regardless of how much they may be enjoying each other's company.

When he mentioned a grimoire, Piper's interest was piqued. The family name was likewise familiar and just like her family's name, was old no doubt. To have her hands on that knowledge was tempting. "Fascinating," she mused, her arm tightening around Kol.

She was glad though that they wouldn't be pushed into a large fight while she wasn't feeling fully herself.

Kol can fairly feel her excitement at the mention of the grimoire. Glancing sidelong at her, a wicked smile curving his lips.

"We'll get your hands on it," he promises her, leaning his head against hers for a moment, a soft intimate gesture.

"Tell me, friend," he says to the other vampire, tapping him on the chest with his index finger. "That means he's up in Virginia. When are you expecting him back?"

"Tomorrow."

"Does he know you're throwing a party while he's gone?"

Somehow he goes paler. "No. Why? You gonna tell him?"

Kol laughs, shaking his head. "No, friend. I'll keep your secret if you keep mine. Where does he keep the grimoires? In the office?"

His eyes dart towards a door and then back to Kol. It's all he needs. He leans up, meeting his eyes again.

"We never had this talk."

The vampire shakes his head, wandering off like they're not there. Kol looks to Piper. "Wanna find some books?"

Piper made a noncommittal sound, though she was certainly interested.

While their dynamic was... different than what she'd become used to during the last several years, she was also equally aware that vampires didn't always do things out of the "goodness of their (un)hearts".

If it meant she assisted him in screwing over this Marcel to take over Nola? She was down for a little destruction. She really enjoyed pissing off vampires who thought they were Gods Gift to Man... or Supernatural-kind.

She snorted when the vampire wandered off and glanced at Kol. "Absolutely," she said, giving his side a squeeze. "Lead on," she motioned in front of them while also keeping an eye on the rager around them.

In truth, Kol hadn't thought about this. He hadn't thought to come to this place at all, and then it was just nostalgia. This thought is something else entirely. It's a chance at having the life he might want, the life he had lost when his brother controlled them. Klaus had made himself the parent of their family and used Kol to his own means.

Now it was time for Kol to make his own life. And right now he's thinking about doing that with the witch at his side. She's entertaining, beautiful and a witch. What more could he want?

Taking her hand in his, he headed for the door. Pausing to look back, he gripped the knob and turned, hard, breaking the lock as he pushed the door open and led them both inside.

It was a classic office, all dark wood and books and a massive desk. And another of those "M"s over the desk on the wall.

"I don't know what's worse. His ego, or my brother's." He shakes his head. "Go ahead. Have a look around."

She snorted and glanced at him. "I imagine it runs in the blood," she said dryly but with a little smirk of amusement. "Literally."

Piper looked around the office and hummed to herself as she reached out with her senses to see if he had anything warded. If it was her, she'd have found someone to ward her belongings (and did back at the hotel). After a moment of sensing nothing to the case, she stepped in closer to the large desk. "Do you think he has a safe," she questioned, glancing over at him even as she pulled out a drawer to rifle through the contents. He seemed arrogant enough that perhaps he would keep a grimoire out on his desk or Gods help her, on a bookshelf but it didn't hurt to ask all the same.

"Don't even. You don't see me plastering the family name all over everything and carrying my family around in designer coffins," he points out with a roll of his eyes. The longer he's away from them, the more he starts his own life here, the more he's prepared to make a true break and screw them and their ideals. He's done with it, and he's ready to live his actual life.

"Maybe. I'm sure there was one in here with Klaus," he says, considering where that might be. Then he makes a sharp sound and moves to behind the desk, staring up at the M there.

"You know that ego you were talking about..."

He pushes in on one corner and the entire thing clicks and then swings outwards on hinges. Behind is a massive in wall safe.

"Yep, that's my brother for you."

"No, not your family name but I give you another five years before you start plastering your name on everything," she said with a little smirk. While she didn't know him all that well outside of being an Original, what he's told her of his family and what she'd picked up through their interactions, she could tell he had decent self-esteem. He was tired of being the black sheep and their whipping boy and after so long, who could blame him?

Piper riffled through the drawer and picked up a ledger of some kind and opened it. "Hm, this is something I'd expect him to put in the safe," she mused, walking over to Kol and handing it to him while she focused on what was in the safe itself.

There was a smaller journal and two larger volumes that she pulled closer to herself. She could feel the magic practically radiate off of them and slid her finger over the top of the small edition first, listening to what it was telling her before handing it to Kol. "I think you'll find something of interest in here," she said. What it was, she couldn't say but it wasn't for her at this time.

The other two felt like they needed to go with her so she held onto them. She'd wait until she got through whatever this heat thing turned out to be but then she'd see what they had to tell her and if she needed to return them to their former owners. It didn't hurt to make connections with the local covens in town, even if she wasn't planning on staying for too long.

doing as the tourists do - drink & go ghost hunting (for Kol)

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i look forward to her thinking 'yeah, this is all mine too now - not just kol's.'

And right now he's not thought about fully but he will, and be all for it.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how it plays out!

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