Wandering Sparrow

“I don’t trust anyone that exercises with enthusiasm.”

They’re either one of those crazy health nuts or on some kind of drug trip which I’m neither of those. Well, maybe a little on the crazy side, but that’s not the point.

“Oh really? Well if you’re ever back in the area you should mention me, I run a lot of business in the French Quarter, they’ll give you the special treatment.” Marcel knew saying he was the vampire king of the quarter wouldn’t work and he was familiar with the not-total-lie that he ran business in the area. Marcel gave Corbin a curious expression as she seemed to guess his “ominous” reason for being in town. “Seems this place attracts a very particular kind of visitor. Is this a common occurrence here?”

“You don’t say? Well, next time I pop by for a visit, I expect to be treated like a queen and pampered until I can hardly stand it.” Corbin considered asking what kind of business Marcel was involved with, but thought it better to drop the subject entirely. She didn’t need to be sticking her nose where it shouldn’t belong. “I just got back to town recently, but that’s how it seems. One name in particular has kind of been going around especially where she’s concerned.” Of course, that was according to Kai and he was known to stretch the truth. Yet, Corbin believed Katherine was a hot commodity. “Is this you implying you are looking for someone?”

“I see you know a thing or two of the area, ever been there?” Marcel quirked an eyebrow as he drank his coffee. “You don’t meet many Corbins either.” He smirked, choosing to point out her unique name rather than make a statement about his name being a bit old, because he was in fact old. “You could say I’m here for business of sorts. Top secret, CIA kind of stuff.” He joked, knowing it might be best to keep from bringing up Katherine’s name to everyone seeing as though she made more enemies than friends. For now it might be safest if he remained a mystery.

“I’ve been there once or twice on a road trip. I like to call it New York City 2.0 considering the place never sleeps either.” Although New Orleans reminded Corbin of her family considering they took a vacation to the city a few years back, she still enjoyed the atmosphere. “Well, consider us both a rare find nowadays.” Corbin tilted her head at the man’s vague explanation, nothing she hasn’t seen before. “Sounds really ominous.” Lips pressed, she grabbed a moment to survey the man thoughtfully. “Let me guess, this business you have may or may not involve looking for someone. You wouldn’t be the first.”

“Corbin.” Kol sighed, “Trusting you and trusting myself are two different things. Corbin, I never ask you for anything so please, trust me on this. Listen to me on this.”

“I’m not taking no for an answer and you can’t compel me away either.” Was Corbin foolish for not listening to Kol’s warnings and remaining where she stood? Definitely, but she didn’t care. “Fine. Just...be careful, okay? I’ll come back to check on you after the storm passes.”

“I’m not telling you to stop caring about me. I’m telling you I’m dangerous.”

Corbin swept out her hands in front of her in an obvious gesture. “So am I. As tiny as I look, I can still pack in a major punch.” She sighed. “I get it, this vampire thing’s new to you and you’re scared losing control, but we’ll be fine. Do you trust me?”

“And who would most likely survive a storm? Me or you?’  Kol asked with a tilt of his head, ‘I don’t want you to resort to using your magic against me or is this not obvious?”

“I don’t know about you, but I can survive just fine in a storm.” Corbin replied without missing a beat. “I won’t have to use magic against you if you could control your hunger. Kol, please, becoming a new species doesn’t change the fact I care about you.”

“Corbin, I can take care of myself, okay? Personally, I’d rather not end up killing you. So please, go home.”

And you think I can’t use my magic in case you accidentally vamp out on me? I’m not going anywhere and we can continue fighting about this or get out of the storm’s path.

Marcel gave her a light shrug and grin as she thanked him, following her to one of the tables and taking a seat. “Most things in life are complicated if you let yourself get involved. I just left New Orleans and you’ll find complicated on every corner if you look hard enough.” He noted the French origin of her name and offered his up as well. “I’m Marcel.”

“A little bit of complicated is in the lives of anyone from how I see things, including places where you came from. Some people can’t see the partying misconceptions of New Orleans.” Corbin paused to take a sip of her coffee and nodded in greeting. “Marcel. You don’t meet many of those these days. So, Marcel,” She leaned back in her seat, “have business in Mystic Falls or just passing through?”

Kol took in an unneeded breath as he glanced up at the sky before looking back at her, “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I’ll be fine. You should go though.”

“No, I’m not leaving you by yourself in a crazy ass storm.” Corbin immediately objected, crossing her arms in a stubborn manner. “Come on, I’ll feel better if I gave you a ride back to where you’re holed up these days.”

“I see, well I never let a little or maybe a lot of trouble scare me away.” Marcel grinned, staying back as she ordered before deciding to step up closer to the counter, telling the barista to add his coffee onto her order and then holding out his card to pay. As the woman behind the counter handled the payment, he smiled down at the woman who he was just beginning to know. “I think I could like complicated.” He took his card back and gestured out to the tables, hoping she wouldn’t mind some extra company while they both waited out the storm.

“You, my good sir, and one of the few brave souls that stroll into our lovely abode.” Corbin’s smile turned into an expression of gratifying surprise as she watched the man pay for her order out of his own pocket. “Thank you, you didn’t have to do that.” She managed to say after a small paused beat, clearly not accustomed to strangers offering a kind gesture most wouldn’t do. “That’s a relief. You’ll find a lot of complicated here, the town and the people. Might be considered good depending on preferences.” Corbin gave another smiled and walked over to one of the tables, sliding into a chair. “I’m Corbin.”

Marcel was curious as to what the girl meant, but could see her build up a quick defense as her arms crossed, so instead he smiled, hoping she wouldn’t find him to be too prying. “Doesn’t sound like you’ve lot any to me, there’s always some kind of trouble ahead, even in seemingly picturesque towns like yours. By your use of ‘more’ I can only assume you can’t quite catch a break around here?” He signaled for her to move ahead to the register as the only person ahead finished their order. 

Corbin sometimes had a habit of trusting the wrong people and saying too much if someone didn’t know about the supernatural was a little on the dangerous side. “We get trouble on the daily and it’s kind of been at an extreme level lately. Don’t let that deter your trip to Mystic Falls in any way, though. It’s still a nice place to be.” She smiled at the man quickly before ordering stepped aside, still keeping her attention on him. “As you can tell, it’s complicated.”

Kol looked up when he heard the all too familiar voice. “I’m fine,” he replied as he glanced away from Corbin before looking back at her. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah...yeah, I’m okay.” Corbin looked around her, the dark clouds filling her with worrying concern. “It’s just, I don’t know, this storm’s giving me really bad vibes.” She rubbed at her temples for a moment and sighed. “Do you want me to give you a ride back home? Or we could hole up at mine? My car’s a block away.”

Marcel looked at the woman, expression curious as she said it was different. “Seems to be a bit more than global warming if you ask me. You’re not exactly on hurricane or tornado alert right now.” He shrugged and turned to face her more directly. “Different how?”

“Believe me, tornadoes and hurricanes would be the least of our problems we’ve faced here.” Corbin folded her arms across her chest and was aware of what could happen if she divulged too much to an unknown stranger. “I don’t know how to put this in a way where it doesn’t sound like I’ve completely lost my marbles. There’s something different about the air. More bad energy.”

Marcel didn’t quite expect the storm that he quite literally drove into when he arrived in Mystic Falls. He had no clue where he would first begin looking for Katherine and figured he would pop into one of the few shops that were open, a coffee shop, and make a plan inside. There were only a couple of people indoors, obviously hiding out from the rain outside and he joined the short line, talking to himself as he messed with his phone. “Is the weather always this awful here?” He asked, not exactly realizing it sounded like he was asking the person to his side.

Corbin could figure the logic of wanting to take refuge in a coffee shop of all places when drenched clothes and freezing rain could make anyone crave a hot beverage to warm them up a little. The witch had already drained what was left of her first cup and was standing in line for another when a voice to her right asked a question anyone who lived in town would know. “Not really. I’d be a fool and blame it on global warming, but that’s not the case here. Something’s...different.”

Kol probably should have gone inside ages ago once the storm hit but he didn’t find himself bothered by it. Instead, he trudged on. For the most part, the streets were mostly empty despite the few people looking to race home or to the nearest form of shelter. Kol only stopped in his track to cover his eyes when it seemed that lightning had actually touched ground. “Bloody hell,” he mumbled to himself. Maybe being outside wasn’t the best decision after all.

While Corbin possessed patience, she didn’t have enough to be huddled in a local place in order to wait out the weather. As stupid as it was knowing how bad it was getting out there, she chose to brave the storm and head back home. A mixture of lightning and thunder filled the sky and nearly made her jump as a bolt hit the ground. “Holy shit.” It didn’t take long to spot Kol just across the street and it took even shorter for Corbin to make her way over to him. “Hey. Hey, Kol, are you alright?”

“The little things like…daisies.”

The little things like daisies, yeah. Do you want me to make you a flower crown?