MOONS.
023. | ❛ it's better. ❜

A live band is playing at Rousseau's when Luna strides in confidently and strips off her jacket as she makes her way to the bar. The bartender on shift is dancing behind the bar as she mixes a drink, but is stunned when she sees Luna.

"Luna! Damn girl, you look amazing."

Luna smirks."You know, I feel amazing."

Just then, a frat boy-type wearing a backwards baseball cap walks up to the bar to order drinks.

"Hey, four tequila shots, stat. And don't be afraid to move that sweet ass."

The bartender looks uncomfortable, but goes to make the drinks, and Luna, extremely annoyed, shoots the man a look.

"Real nice. She works hard, you know." The frat boy turns and leers at her

"Oh yeah? How about you, gorgeous? You work hard, too?"

Luna pretends to be a ditzy girl and smiles fakely at him as she seductively slides her hands over his shoulders.

"Sure. As a matter of fact, right now, it's hard work resisting the urge to rip your throat out with my teeth." She chuckles at her own joke before she stares him in the eyes.

Luna compels him,"You're gonna find an ATM, and you're going to max out your daily limit and leave that nice, underpaid bartender the biggest tip she's ever seen. Then, you're gonna meet me in the alley out back so we can have some real fun together."

The frat boy looks confused as Luna's voice becomes annoyed again.

"And turn that hat around. You're an adult." She pats him patronizingly on the chest and walks away, and the frat boy unconsciously reaches up to turn his hat so the bill is facing forward. As he walks away, the bartender sits two glasses of scotch onto the bar for Luna

"These drinks are for you, from the guy at the end of the bar. He was pretty insistent."

The bartender walks away, revealing that Klaus is the man at the end of the bar. When Luna looks over at him, he wiggles his fingers at her in a wave, and Luna gives him a look.

Luna and Klaus have moved to a corner booth, where they're having another drink together. Luna gives him a fake smile.

"Thank you for the drink."

"Well, you seemed rather thirsty." Klaus smirked

Luna rolls her eyes,"Mmm."

"You would've torn him apart, whether you meant to or not. Probably doing the world a favor in the process, but..."

"You knew that this would happen, Klaus. Isn't that what we do? We hunt. We feed. We kill?" Klaus, looking slightly embarrassed, gives Luna a look.

"We might want to keep our voices down just a little bit..." Luna continues to speak at regular volume.

"Why? Can't we just compel anyone to do anything we want? Isn't that what you do all the time?" Klaus is clearly concerned by her personality change, but he tries his best to remain patient.

"What I do and what you do are not the same thing. Now, I know our little chats may have you feeling like you're quite the expert, but you're not equipped to live in this world."Luna considers this for a moment before she sighs and seems to revert back to her old self.

"Maybe you're right. My emotions are all over the place. I feel like someone turned up the volume on my life, and I can't hear myself think. And everything feels so good, but it's all happening at once." This admission seems to relieve Klaus a bit, and he slides closer to Luna so he can talk to her better.

"So let me help you! And I promise, you will live a life others only dream of." Luna seems interested by this offer, and Klaus smiles and her.

"Besides, if you're gonna learn, you may as well learn from the best."
______________________

A young man and woman are making out in an alley off the main street when Luna confidently approaches them. Several yards behind her, Klaus leans against the wall of a building and watches her as she pulls the man of of her by the hair and stares him in the eyes.

"Don't move, and don't make a sound." Luna compels him.

Luna shoves him out of the way before turning toward the girl, whose shoulders she squeezes gently with her hands while the girl's boyfriend watches in confusion. Luna looks the girl straight in the eyes as well.

"No one can help you. Do you understand?"

The girl nods as Klaus walks toward them with a pleased smile,"Young, healthy... A tad unsophisticated, but not bad."

Luna looks at the girl hungrily before vamping out and sinking her fangs into the her neck.

"Listen to the heartbeat. It will tell you when to stop." Luna continues feeding on the girl's blood while both Klaus and Luna listen to her heartbeat. It starts off very fast due to fear and confusion, but it quickly starts to slow down, and Klaus becomes concerned when she doesn't stop.

"Luna--" Luna ignores him and keeps feeding, and Klaus sighs in frustration as he looks around to make sure no one is watching,

"Luna!" Luna continues to ignore him, forcing Klaus to pull Luna off of her and shove her backward away from her victims.

"Enough!" Luna rolls her eyes sarcastically at his reaction.

"I'm sorry, are you, of all people, offering me a lesson in restraint?"

She laughs in amusement, and Klaus, annoyed, frustrated, and worried by Luna's behavior, turns to the young man and woman, who continue to stare at them in fear without moving.

Klaus compels them,"Leave now. Forget my face, and that of my mouthy blonde friend."

The couple do as they've been ordered and rush away as Klaus turns back to Luna with an exasperated expression.

"We should go. You're not yourself."

"I am myself, and I'm not finished. And, by the way, I resent the critique! I spent the last two years listening to every malicious thing you've ever done. How many hundreds of people have you killed, Klaus?"

"Actually, I measure the number in the hundreds of thousands, leaving me no hope of absolution."

Klaus gives her a significant look in an effort to emphasize how serious he is being.

"It's not a fate I wish for you."

Luna sighs and walks toward him, sliding her hands up his chest and squeezing his shoulders before moving her hands up to his neck.

"You don't get it. I've always tried to get you to be something else, something more vampire... and I was wrong. You are exactly what you're meant to be, and now I'm just like you."

Luna cups his face with her hands and leans in to kiss him, but Klaus pulls away, torn between worrying about the possibility of losing the old Luna and his intrigue regarding Luna's new self as a reborn hybrid. He pauses for a moment as he struggles for the words to say.

"This... It's not you, Luna."

Luna looks slightly disappointed as she cups Klaus' chin in her hand,"You're right--"

Suddenly, Luna takes advantage of Klaus' lowered guard and flicks her wrist, snapping his neck and letting his body crumple onto the ground.

" --It's better." Luna smiles smugly as she walks away.
______________________

Upon returning to the Mikaelson compound, Klaus beat her there. Luna knew she was going to get lectured.

"Nice to see that you found your way back." Klaus said to Luna

"Honestly, I came back for more lessons about vampirism. I actually regret snapping your neck."

"The only thing I regret is failing to realize how far you've spun out of control! And you can forget about leaving." Luna continues to stare at Klaus with a blank expression as she moves so they're nearly nose-to-nose.

"She was right, wasn't she? Aurora? Tristan did this to turn you against me, to rob me of the one advantage I have over his sister... My humanity. And me, like this? It's a problem for you, isn't it? Not the darkness-- that you find intriguing-- the fact that I am out of control."

Klaus scowls at her accurate assessment, which only makes Luna more smug.

"I'm out of your control, and you hate it, don't you? You have spent ten centuries getting the entire world to tremble at your name, but you're the one who's terrified, Klaus. You are a scared little kid, convinced he'll be tossed aside the second he isn't needed." Klaus angrily grabs Luna by the arm, and she yelps in surprise.

"Let go of me!" Just then, an exhausted and weary-looking Hayley appears behind them.

"You can't just force her to stay here, Klaus." Klaus glares at Hayley, but Luna looks relieved.

"Finally! Someone who's on my side." Hayley gives Luna a look.

"Oh, don't get me wrong, when I was the leader of the pack you ran to Klaus about the plan."

Hayley turns her attention to Klaus, who is annoyed by this entire situation,

"But, you can't hold her hostage, either. Let me talk to her."

Klaus unamused,"I hardly think now is the time for a women's empowerment meeting."

Hayley sighs and stares Klaus in the eyes with a no-nonsense expression.

"She died again, Klaus, because she got caught up in the Mikaelson world. Just like me. Just like Jackson. So yeah, she and I have a few things to talk about."

Klaus looks as though he's about to argue, but before he can say anything, Elijah enters the room and gives Elijah a significant look.

"Niklaus... A word?" Klaus sighs before leaving Hayley and Luna to talk and joining Elijah in his study.