Shelter ? Klaus Mikaelson [2]

Talia Forbes never took vacations before she met the Mikaelsons. As someone who was working hard for most of her life, she couldn't really afford it. Besides, it wasn't like she had much motivation to go. Where would she go? Why? Who would she take? She had everything she thought she needed in New Orleans. Why go anywhere else?

Granted, this excursion to Italy to free the sword from Alexander's tomb was more of a mission than a vacation, but Talia was going to milk the experience as much as she could.

She couldn't help but take in the sight of it all and wonder just how much of the world she was truly missing out on. Each time she traveled away from Mystic Falls with him, the smaller that town chock full of sadness and death became. Though it was where she grew up and the last remnants of her family reside in it, she wondered if there would be a day when she could gaze at a map and the small town of Mystic Falls would just be a mark on a map. Not a place harboring some of the best and worst memories.

That would surely be a day to remember. The first day she forgot where she came from. It was a terrifying thought, but it would be more exhilarating than anything. It was where her dad died. The last place she saw her mother before she ran off. It was also where she first met the love of her life. It was where she gained the best people anyone could have as her chosen family. She had such strong ties to a mark on a map.

"Are you liking Italy?" Klaus asked, a hand resting on hers as she stared out beyond the balcony of the Mikaelson home.

"I get starstruck whenever we travel somewhere new," she reminded him. "It's like I forget how big the world is."

"As the years go on, you might find that the large world starts to shrink," he mused.

"Isn't there some beauty in it?" she asked. "With immortality? You can explore everything, every crevice, every rock. Visit every place that ever was, is, and will be. And centuries later when you've seen it all, it's changed so much that you get to experience something new in a place you've already explored."

"You've thought about this a lot, haven't you?"

"Of course. If I am to spend eternity with you, I want to see it all a million times over. Hell, I could stare at the same rock for the rest of my life and I would never grow bored if I got to see it with you."

He smirked. "Flattery gets you nowhere."

Talia had to admit that she burst into laughter and buried her face in her hands as it reddened. 

"I had to, darling. At least once."

"No, no, I understand," she replied. "It's fair. I've used it too many times."

"How come?" he asked, genuinely curious at why that was her go-to statement.

"I'm not the greatest at responding to compliments," she admitted. "So I have to be aloof or I'll start blushing. It's my default response to compliments, especially yours because flattery does get you somewhere. And the really hot accent doesn't help when I try to keep my composure."

"Well, that explains it."

She smiled and laid her head against his shoulder. "How do you put up with me?"

"The same way you put up with everything. Alcohol."

"You-"

"Will you two stop flirting until I at least sort the luggage and get into my own room?" Rebekah interrupted. "I will vomit in my mouth. You are disgusting."

"You must be doting if you still haven't sorted your luggage," Klaus replied. "What is it you want, dear sister?"

"Nothing from you," she said before pointing at Talia. "But I want to take you shopping at least once while we're here. You look cozy in your sweatpants, but I think the right outfit might improve your mood."