Work Text:
"OWW!"
Her howl of pain brought Klaus careening into her bedroom. "What's wrong, love?" he asked, his voice sounding more panicked than Caroline had ever heard.
Guiltily, she forced herself to stop ogling his sudden appearance. He had clearly came straight from the bathroom, considering he only wore a towel and a face full of shaving cream. "Sorry," she said, half embarrassed and half frustrated. "I was trying to do my makeup with my left hand, but I somehow tweaked the bad arm."
Klaus immediately crouched to gingerly check her sling, slightly adjusting it to tuck her cast against her ribs. "You know the rules, you're supposed to keep your arm tight to your torso until-"
"-I don't want to use automatically," she recited in a bored voice. "Thank you, Dr. Mikaelson. I forgot medical degrees are standard for art studios these days."
Rolling his eyes, Klaus stood once he was sure her arm was otherwise fine. Caroline kept her eyes on her reflection, determined to ignore the loosening fold of his towel. She knew letting her best friend's hot brother live in her spare room would be terrible for her self-control. It didn't help that he appeared to be incredibly comfortable in said hot body; he never seemed to mind being caught minimally dressed in the common areas.
"Maybe not for the studio," he countered, apparently fighting a smile at her annoyed pout. "But the Air Force? Apparently, they prefer if we have a bit of medical knowledge handy."
Caroline's eyes widened at this new bit of information. A month of living together, and Klaus had kept his personal life a bit of a mystery between them. Kol didn't care for whatever game he was playing, but he had long insisted they keep him out of their roommate issues. Buttering Caroline up to the idea was all he was willing to devote to the situation, as Klaus needed a place to live and Caroline someone to share the rent. Kol was a best friend, brother, and occasionally a deal broker - not a therapist.
"I knew you didn't go to school," Caroline admitted. "The military never even crossed my mind."
"Honorably discharged, and I was able to save enough to open the studio," he shrugged. "Give me a minute, I'll be right back."
She frowned, unsure why he would come back. Shaking her head, she hissed as her arm was jostled by the motion. The pink cast was hardly asking for her ire, but she just stared at the inconvenience that was her broken arm. "I just had to wear the Jimmy Choos during an ice storm," she muttered to herself. Two weeks later, and she was ready to chew the damn thing off.
"Okay, make-up." Caroline looked at her vanity with determination. "I'm not showing my face at work wearing a pink cast and no foundation. I can do this."
"I have no doubt," Klaus said, coming into her room in sweatpants and stubble, carrying one of the dining room chairs. "However, I thought you might want some help."
Biting her lip, Caroline tried not to let her laughter shake her body. "You're going to help me?" He seemed completely serious, which just made her want to laugh harder. "Did the Air Force give out cosmetology licenses, too?"
Klaus pinned her with an unimpressed glare as he poked through her make-up stash. "No, that comes with sharing a bathroom with Bekah when she discovered contouring," he explained, picking up her foundation bottle and its appropriate brush. "She demanded an artist's eye, at least until she realized I did a better job than she could. I became her personal makeup artist."
With a quirk of her lips, Caroline closed her eyes and let herself be pampered as Klaus applied the foundation to her skin. "Am I wrong in assuming there was blackmail involved?"
"I might have been sleeping with our brother's girlfriend at the time," he admitted, huffing when Caroline smacked his hand away from her face. "What?"
Incredulous, Caroline adopted a terrible fake accent. "Oh, I'm a super soldier with killer contouring skills that I picked up while screwing my brother's girlfriend," she mocked. "Seriously?"
Klaus just smiled as he held her chin to keep her head still. "You're the one always wanting to have roommate bonding sessions."
"That's just me being nosy," she dismissed. "This is the first time you've actually given me dirt, though."
"Close your eyes," he ordered gently, stroking the brush over her eyelids.
"Was it Kol's girlfriend? Did Kol even have girlfriends then? I always figured his high school years were him hitting on girls, with a spectacularly terrible batting average."
Klaus let out a snort. "You would be correct, I was talking about Elijah. He was away at college, and Tatia was in my class. We got drunk at a party. She wanted to punish him for leaving her behind and I was so angry at the world that I didn't care who I hurt."
"Damn," Caroline said.
"It's water under the bridge," he shrugged. "And I did get a skill out of it, despite Bekah's rather dastardly way of facilitating it. You have no idea how many photography clients I win over by providing a decent make-up artist for their shoot."
Caroline raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Is that what it's like to have siblings? The jealousy, the rivalries, the blackmail," she clarified. "I played mean girl politics better than anyone in high school, but I can't imagine having to go home and share a bathroom with those bitches."
"Such an only child," Klaus chuckled, moving onto concealer and some blush. "Always and forever, that was our pact. We may fight from time to time, but we still love each other, as dysfunctional as it could be. I don't believe it's too different from you and those friends you keep bringing around here. Didn't you grow up with them?"
Thinking of Bonnie and Stefan, Caroline smiled wanly. "Yeah, but it's not the same." Mystic Falls might have been a small town with nothing else to do than to hang out with friends, but they always went home at the end of the day. She went home to an empty house more often than not, especially after the divorce and her mom being promoted to sheriff. Caroline was proud she worked hard, but it would have been nice to have her around more often.
Apparently noting her sad thoughts, Klaus nudged her knee with his. "I'm fairly certain Kol would happily go up for adoption if you really want a brother," he offered, switching to the eyeshadow palette. "He never really bought into the 'always and forever' thing."
"That doesn't surprise me," she admitted. Her best friend was a feelings-proof playboy, and that emotional avoidance had to start somewhere. "Kol always reserves the right to be petty."
"Oh, is that why you two get on so well?"
Reaching with her left hand, Caroline swatted at Klaus. "Hey!"
"Ah," he warned, brandishing waterproof eyeliner. "Are you sure you want to risk an unsteady line?"
Satisfied she had settled into compliance, Klaus gently held the ridge of her eyebrow for better visibility. His other hand was warm on her cheekbone as the liner brushed along her lashes in short strokes. Caroline kept her eyes closed the whole time, but she could feel his steady concentration and firm presence.
Whether it was the romantic dry spell she had been lamenting lately or the sudden bout of bonding Klaus was allowing, Caroline needed to get a grip. The casual interest she often felt around her nearly naked roommate was growing into a pretty inconvenient crush.
"A dab of mascara," Klaus narrated, brushing along the top of her lashes. "Then open."
When she did open her eyes, Caroline hadn't expected him to be quite so close. As he carefully applied more mascara, she couldn't help but notice how intimate this whole thing was. Here was this gorgeous guy, helping her put on her make-up because she was hurt and he knew it was something she needed.
Smirking, Klaus leaned back a few inches to examine his handiwork. His dimples adorably poked into his cheeks when he noticed her watching him rather than inspecting her face in the mirror. "Beautiful," he told her anyway.
And Caroline believed him; he thought she was beautiful and had no problem telling her so. Maybe it was stupid to blatantly check him out while he was right there, but her eyes still fell to where his tongue ran across his lower lip.
"Right," he said, his voice a bit husky. "What did you want to do for your lips? I see you have no shortage of options, but-"
Before he could list the various shades and formulas, Caroline did what she really wanted for her lips. She pushed forward those few inches to land them on his. Their mouths brushed together, Klaus apparently content to let her lead. It wasn't until she deepens the kiss that his hands crept to her waist, pulling her closer.
With one hand gently scratching through his stubble, Caroline attempted to raise the other to run through his hair. "Ow, shit," she cursed.
Breaking from their embrace, Klaus gave a small smile at her frustrated pout. He leaned down to press a kiss to her shoulder, then helped her to stand. "It's okay, love, you've got to get to work anyway."
"Oh," Caroline sighed, disappointed. "I just thought-"
Klaus lightly lifted her chin, pecking her lips one more time. "You thought right," he promised. "But I'd rather not receive another 'respect the morning schedule' lecture if I can help you get out of here on time."
Smiling shyly, Caroline grabbed her favorite lip gloss from the vanity. "I can definitely put this on with one hand," she teased. "But I should warn you, it's terrible for kissing."
His expression darkened with want, his hand squeezing her hip. "Maybe that's a good thing, sweetheart." At her questioning glance, he smirked. "Now that I know what it's like to kiss you, I'm not sure I can restrain myself. We'd probably best wait until your arm has healed."
Caroline rolled her eyes, but she felt herself blush all the same. She walked out of her room, her skirt swishing prettily along with her hips as Klaus followed. She hummed in mock sadness. "Pity."
"What's that?"
Sending him a challenging look over her shoulder as she picked up her purse, Caroline shrugged with her good side. "I thought such a multi-talented artist would be willing to get creative."
As the front door shut behind her, she fought shiver. The desire in his eyes would surely haunt her all day while she was trying to work.
At least she wouldn't be worried about her makeup like she'd feared.