A/N: So these next couple chapters are just gonna be fluff/filler chapters because I feel like it and my characters feel like it.

Khloe's POV:

I squinted down at the paper, inching closer to it.

I think I got her nose wrong...

Glancing up at Doe, I erased it.

The two of us sat in one of the many common rooms while we waited for Marcus to come back and join us, both of us sitting on couches that faced the other.

I brought one of my sketchbooks, a different one than Nico originally got me for... specific reasons.

Doe originally found me and Marcus in the garden as I was drawing the gorgeous cherry tree out there, and took a lot of interest in it.

So, I offered to draw her, figuring I still owed her a couple favors for what she did for me in the clinic.

Her eyes practically lit up at the offer, so I decided to get started right away.

I had already successfully sketched out the head of a fawn that was going to be on the right side of the page and was now working on her side profile for the left.

Despite her name, she actually really liked deer.

Apparently, Xander took her into the forest behind the castle and they spotted a herd of wild deer.

And ever since then, she's had an admiration for them.

So I just went ahead and added it to the picture.

"How do you want this colored?" I asked, figuring that I wasn't going to finish all of this today.

She turned to face me, blinking with her wide eyes.

"You're gonna color it?" She asked, seemingly not expecting that I was going to.

"Of course I am," I responded, "It wouldn't last that long if it was just a pencil sketch."

She stared at me for a couple more seconds.

"What are the options?"

"Colored pencil, charcoal, paint, or watercolor." I listed off.

Judging by her expression, I guessed that she didn't really know what to take from that.

"Um... Whatever easiest?" She responded.

I nodded with a smile.

"Watercolor it is," I said.

It wasn't necessarily the easiest, but I thought it would turn out the best with the different shades of brown id be using.

"You really don't have to color it if it's going to be too much trouble," Doe said.

I shook my head, waving it off.

"Trust me, it's not. I've actually been in a stump when it comes to my art lately, so I'm glad I finally have a project to work on."

She seemed to accept that as I quickly returned my focus to the task at hand, glancing up every once in a while to make sure I was getting her features right.

Usually, Id think that stealing glances like that would make the person uncomfortable, but she didn't really seem to notice.

I guess I somehow trained myself to sneak in those glances from all the times I drew Nico...

Although a part of me thinks that Nico knows exactly what I'm doing whenever I'm secretly drawing him.

But he's never said anything about it so maybe he didn't.

As the minutes passed the task at hand was the only thing I was focusing on, enough so that I didn't hear Doe greet Xander, let alone know that he was in the room with us until he spoke from directly behind me.

"Woah what the heck," he exclaimed, leaning his crossed arms on the back of the couch right by my head, "That looks just like her."

I turned my head to see him looking right at my sketchbook, nothing but genuine interest on his face.

Which was a bit odd to me.

I've never really gotten any sort of praise from anyone except my friends and Nico.

I never really expected it from him.

Well... Was Xander a friend at this point?

Instead of dwelling on that, I decided I should probably respond.

"Oh. Thank you." I responded.

He leaned in closer to the drawing, his eyes squinting as he switched between the picture and Doe.

A smile appeared on his face before he spoke again.

"Wow," he said with a slight laugh, "You really nailed every feature perfectly."

I tensed as he suddenly placed one hand on the couch before jumping over it and landing beside me.

He continued his thought without missing a beat, pointing at the fawn.

"Even this looks undoubtedly realistic."

His gaze switched between the fawn and Doe, my face heating up slightly at his attention and praise.

Something that I was nowhere near used to from anyone for that matter.

"Doe, have you seen this?" He asked.

"Nope," She responded, "I'm waiting for her to finish drawing and coloring it so I can be surprised by the finished product."

He nodded before turning back to me, luckily not noticing my current predicament.

"How did you learn to do this?" He asked, "I've been trying to self-teach myself how to draw for years now, but I'm nowhere near this good."

I composed myself a bit before answering.

"Just a lot of practice and consistency I guess," I began. "I started drawing at a young age and just kept progressing until I got captured. So now I'm just trying to get that skill back."

Plus my family and now Nico tells me that I have a natural talent for it, not that I really believe that 'natural talents' exist without effort.

Xander looked at me with a strange face before it disappeared.

"Oh right. I forgot that you were a rogue," He spoke nonchalantly, looking down at the drawing again, "Well, even with you're time in captivity, I still think this looks pretty damn good"

He spoke again before I could think of a proper response.

I had no idea how to take compliments.

"Do you have anything else in there?" He asked pointing to this sketchbook.

I tried to recall if I had anything that would be bad for him to see, thinking of nothing.

Everything in this sketchbook was just random sketches of scenery from Nico's balcony or from the garden.

Even so, I still wasn't really comfortable showing other people.

My simple sketches were nothing compared to something that I actually put real effort in.

Still, I found myself closing it and handing it to him.

Regardless of whatever my stance here was, I wasn't really comfortable telling a vampire that wasn't Nico 'no'.

Before I could hand it off, another voice rang out, causing all of us to turn to the source of it.

"What are you doing?" Nico asked, his questioned aimed at Xander.

I could feel an odd sense of relief pass through me at the sight of him.

Nico knew that I didn't really like showing other people my work and was more than willing to protect that.

Instead of answering his question, Xanders eyes just filled with excitement.

"Dude! Did you know she can draw?" He asked eagerly.

Nico began walking towards us, a small smile on his face, "Yes I am very aware and very impressed by what she can do."

I swear his smile turned into a smirk for barely a second, causing my blush to intensify.

"Now get up, you're in my spot," Nico finished.

Xander's eyes widened.

"What?! But she was just about to show me the rest of her drawings."

"And now she's not. Now move."

Xander blew out a defeated sigh, biting out a 'fine' before standing and dragging his way over to Doe.

Her lips quirked up ever so slightly as he approached, practically collapsing onto the couch and setting his head on her thighs.

She didn't seem to mind, if anything, she looked comfortable.

As soon as Xander was down, Nico took a seat next to me, setting his arm on the couch behind me.

I had to physically restrain myself from leaning into him which I had learned was a lot harder than one would think.

I wondered if he felt the same.

"So, are you done with whatever dad told you to do?" Xander asked.

Nico let out a single laugh, "No. Not even close. I just caught the scent of all three of you guys in here and came to make sure I wasn't missing anything,"

I slumped a bit at his words. I was hoping that maybe we would get a little time to ourselves today before the sunset.

Apparently because of the small amount of time Nico took off while I was sick really added to his workload.

I've barely seen him during the day for the past three days.

"Dad's gonna kill you if he catches you here," Xander noted.

"That's a fat 'if', Xan. Plus I needed a break anyways and he never comes to this floor."

Xander shook his head, "You could always have me do it," he offered.

"Trust me, not even you want to do this," Nico responded.

"That bad, huh? I guess work does always get a little hectic around Dads birthday. With the city and the castle trying to get signed off on rights to different places to celebrate."

"He acts like its some sort of national holiday," Nico grumbled.

"It kind of is. Every Lord that I know of treats it as such, but who cares? Everyone likes the huge party that he throws."

"And he likes to slack off a couple weeks beforehand and pass his work onto his son."

"Sons," Xander corrected, "You know I'm more than willing to help you, dude. All you have to do is ask. I'm bored out of my mind all day since this one," He placed his hand on top of Doe's head, causing her to giggle softly," is always out with that one," He finished, pointing at me.

Nico looked at me, apparently reading my disappointment from earlier.

He sighed.

"Yeah, you're right. I'll have you help me out until after the 10th. Then my workload should lessen."

My eyes went round at his words.

"Wait, the Lord's birthday is on the 10th?" I asked.

Nico nodded, curious to Where I was going with this.

"March 10th?"

Another nod.

"Oh," I began casually, leaning back against the couch, my head resting on Nico's arm, "That's my birthday too."

I felt his arm tense after I spoke, his brows raising in surprise.

"I thought your birthday was on April 18th. That's what it said on your records."

I shook my head.

"The Pet Master marked down the date I got caught as my birthday and only asked me the year."

I oddly saw the tiniest bit of panic in his eyes, like the sudden time crunch meant all the difference in the world.

"Huh," Xander spoke, "I guess we'll have to go into town and get you something then, right Doe?"

"Definitely," She responded with a nod.

I only then remembered that gift-giving was part of someone's birthday.

It had been so long since mine was actually celebrated that I completely forgot.

Was that why Nico was so panicked?

"Oh, you really don't have to," I spoke quickly.

The absolute last thing I wanted was for everyone's attention to be on me, especially on the Lord's birthday.

It was indeed considered a holiday even for the citizens in Bronwyn's city.

"I know," Xander said with a playful wink.

I opened my mouth, but couldn't come up with a single response to that.

"Well," Nico began hastily as he rose to his feet, "I have to run somewhere before I have to get back to work, so I'll catch you guys later."

His eyes planted on me towards the end of his sentence, sending me a soft smile before he was gone within the blink of an eye.

Which left me completely confused.

Xander, on the other hand, sat up almost immediately, looking at the hallway he came from to make sure he was really gone.

He then turned to me, "Now that he's gone, can I see your drawings?" He asked.

Realizing there wasn't really a way out of this, I went to grab it, only to realize that it wasn't there.

My confusion lasted for only a moment before I realized what happened.

I bit my lip to stop myself from smiling.

Nico took it with him.