Klaus cast him a look over his shoulder, then shook his head. "Younger."
It was an answer, if not a full one, but...sometimes he feels so old, and he saw it in Elijah's eyes all the time. "Finn was always the one in charge--he was the heir, the one meant to follow Father, but we were all trained to be warriors. Elijah...he was good. Very good. You couldn't beat him without cheating, but he wasn't arrogant about it." He smiled a little. "I mean, he'd -- what is it they say today? Talk smack. But then he'd explain just where you went wrong, show you how not to do it again last night. Finn...he wanted to be a leader. Elijah was. We'd all have done just about anything for him, but I don't think he knew. When you become a vampire, all that you were is...heightened. The good and the bad. Elijah was always inclined a bit more to seriousness, but when we were human, it was more in balance. Fun. Laughter. He was quieter than the rest of us, content to watch us play, but sometimes he joined in and he...was almost always smiling. He laughed a lot." Klaus looked down at his paintbrush. "We were trained as warriors, but no one ever attacked us. None of us but Father had ever killed before we were turned. The first time Elijah did..." He shrugged again. "He hasn't laughed much since, and even just getting him to really smile..." Winning one of those smiles, real, unguarded, had been something he'd lived for, once, they were that rare.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2013-02-04 07:29 am (UTC)It was an answer, if not a full one, but...sometimes he feels so old, and he saw it in Elijah's eyes all the time. "Finn was always the one in charge--he was the heir, the one meant to follow Father, but we were all trained to be warriors. Elijah...he was good. Very good. You couldn't beat him without cheating, but he wasn't arrogant about it." He smiled a little. "I mean, he'd -- what is it they say today? Talk smack. But then he'd explain just where you went wrong, show you how not to do it again last night. Finn...he wanted to be a leader. Elijah was. We'd all have done just about anything for him, but I don't think he knew. When you become a vampire, all that you were is...heightened. The good and the bad. Elijah was always inclined a bit more to seriousness, but when we were human, it was more in balance. Fun. Laughter. He was quieter than the rest of us, content to watch us play, but sometimes he joined in and he...was almost always smiling. He laughed a lot." Klaus looked down at his paintbrush. "We were trained as warriors, but no one ever attacked us. None of us but Father had ever killed before we were turned. The first time Elijah did..." He shrugged again. "He hasn't laughed much since, and even just getting him to really smile..." Winning one of those smiles, real, unguarded, had been something he'd lived for, once, they were that rare.