◤ 𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖋𝖔𝖚𝖗: ❛ in a pipe dream ❜ ◢

✧

ELIJAH WAS EVERYTHING SHE COULD EVER WANT IN A MAN. He was ever so patient with her, never demanded anything of her but asked her to do things and never pushed her into anything she didn't want to do, and always had time for her. He never looked down upon her because of their different classes, or because while he was financially stable she struggled greatly, and he always respected her wish for him not to pay for her food or any other niceties she might sometimes glance at.

          The only thing he did buy were more gowns and had them delivered at her door so that she would look exactly like the rest of the guests at his balls. And while she hated it, she begrudgingly accepted it because she still wanted to attend and didn't want to bear the looks of others if she wore a cheap dress or the same one repeatedly. It was worth hurting her pride a little to keep seeing Elijah.

          Katerina teased her endlessly about Elijah and her infatuation with him. "Can't you see how gone he is for you?" she asked, causing Marisol to blush.

          "All I am is a good time," she told her friend while preparing dinner, "We could never be together, I'm just his fun before he finally gets married."

          For while she found herself falling for Elijah's charm and kind heart, she was not foolish enough to believe that it would last forever. While she dreamed of finding herself a rich man to marry so that she and Magnus would have no troubles for the rest of their days, it would simply not become a reality – especially not with a Mikaelson. They were of the highest status, who could have anyone they could ever want, so someone like Elijah would never truly stay with her throughout many years.

          Especially not when he inevitably found out the truth of her curse. Of her fall from grace, from a being of balance good to a monster, plagued to roam the nights of the full moon without any consciousness and tear apart anything in her path. No one could ever truly love a monster like her.

          Katerina seemed not to believe her logic as she herself was the object of Niklaus', Elijah's brother, affection. He seemed utterly entranced by her from the moment he saw her, continually inviting her to balls and courting her. Katerina felt special and a prize that he was winning.

          It made sense as to why she wanted to believe that Elijah could truly love her, seeing as they were in the same position. And maybe Niklaus did find her appealing and would marry her, Elijah had said that he was a rebel, but Marisol knew that Elijah was more likely to stick to social norms and rules which specifically stated that she would always be a peasant and only the nobles married each other.

          It would be fun while it lasted anyway.

          A month since she had been first invited to a ball, she walked around the marketplace with Elijah by her side. He had begun to accompany her on her trips, not that she minded. She quite enjoyed his company.

          "You know, I think it has finally occurred to me that I have never been to your house before," Elijah brought up when there was a dull in the conversation, "You've been to mine many times and the courtesy has not been extended back to me."

          Marisol laughed. "I've been invited to the parties you hold at her castle, there's a difference. You have never invited me there for another reason."

          "Then I'll invite you to dinner," Elijah said decisively, causing Marisol to blink out of surprise. Ignorant to her state, he smiled and continued, "You can officially meet my siblings when they're sober and not caught up trying to seduce different guests."

          "I wouldn't want to intrude –" Marisol started, though really she knew that she would have to decline, not having enough money to pay for Pearl or Katerina to watch Magnus if she went to dinner.

          "Nonsense," Elijah interrupted her, "You could never intrude."

          Marisol found herself blushing at the statement, which he said quite seriously. "How kind," she joked lightly, "Though I regretfully have to decline. I work late hours and can't take any time off."

          Elijah nodded, though he looked quite upset at her words. "I understand," he told her, as he always understood. He understood enough to leave the topic of her hometown alone, understood to leave her family off the table, and anything including her life before London. And in return, she understood enough not to ask about his parents or much about his own past before London.

          She would no reason to ask him about these things which she would not answer herself.

          "Are you coming to the ball this Friday?" Elijah asked her, changing the topic of conversation.

          "There's one on Friday?" Marisol asked, frowning.

          He nodded. "We took a break last week because Niklaus had a date with Katerina – I've been told you're friends with her – but we're back for Friday. Every Friday."

          Marisol hummed. "They're quite close, aren't they? Katerina tells me that Niklaus is courting her."

          "Or something like that, yes," Elijah agreed, nodding his head to further emphasize the fact.

          "Something like that? Is he not?" Marisol inquired, finding herself sporting a frown. If Niklaus did not have pure intentions with her friend, she had to tell Katerina. She was almost too far gone for the man who swooped her off her feet.

          "I only mean that Niklaus is a...complicated man. It's rare to see him so infatuated with someone for so long," Elijah explained, "Well, anyway, Katerina will be good for him – useful. Maybe help him find his way."

          Marisol nodded, taking in his words. She still felt the need to warn her friend, though she did not want to break Katerina's heart if it was over nothing. Maybe she was the exception to the rule, maybe Katerina had stolen Niklaus' heart and he would not betray her and go looking for someone else. Yet, on the other hand, if she was not and he did betray her and Marisol did not mention this, she would feel terribly guilty for keeping this to herself.

          "So are you going on Friday?" Elijah asked again, looking at her face.

          She felt her heart beat in her chest, the reminder inside that Friday was the full moon. "I can't," she told him, "I was fired for Friday night and I took it already."

          He looked at her, as if sensing that she was lying to him, but nodded anyway and let it go. "That's a shame. I've found myself looking forward to spending the entire night with you. No conversation with anyone else is ever exciting as it is with you."

          "You flatter me," Marisol blushed, wishing desperately again that she was not a beast but a force of balance and goodness in the world. If only she had not disgraced her family, if only she had not had that dream...

          But if the dream never occurred and she never disgraced her family, would she be here? Or would it be Ophelia in her spot? She would be the force of good and Ophelia would be shunned, out in the world, and maybe she would have ended up here and Elijah would have fallen for her instead.

          No, there would be other nights. She had to be thankful for that. Elijah seemed entertained by her enough to keep inviting her even if she had turned him down for two events in such a short amount of time.

          "I feel like I'm rejecting everything today," Marisol laughed, "I don't mean to sound uninterested, but work consumes my life."

          "No need to explain yourself to be," Elijah assured her, "I understand perfectly, though I hope to still see you here on Saturday, and maybe not Friday at the next ball?"

          "Of course," she quickly agreed, "I wouldn't dream of missing either of those."

          Elijah smiled at her and something inside her chest fluttered at it. "Good."

✧

          THE NEXT DAY, of course, when Elijah had gone home and told Niklaus about her rejection to plans and he in turn told Katerina, Marisol awoke to herself being hit in the face repeatedly with a pillow. "Ow," she groaned, taking the pillow from whoever had hit her with it, and thrown it across the room.

          She rubbed her eyes before seeing Katerina above her looking quite disappointed in her. "What are you doing here?" she asked her friend, getting a huff in response.

          Katerina shooed her over to make enough room for her to climb into the bed herself. "You rejected Elijah's advances," she stated, as if Marisol didn't know that she had done such things, "He invites you to dinner to meet his family, and you say no. He invites to this week's ball, and you say no. How can you say no to him?"

          "It's simple. The word only has to two letters in it," Marisol cracked a smile, though the look on Katerina's face told her that she did not agree that it was hilarious.

          "Ha ha," Katerina said dryly, "Why did you reject him? It makes no sense!"

          It was Marisol's turn to huff. "I don't have enough money to pay Pearl to watch Magnus while I'm away at dinner. I only make so much."

          "That's silly, I'd watch him for free," Katerina told her seriously.

          Marisol raised an eyebrow, "You would?"

          Katerina scoffed, "Of course I would. Anything to get you and Elijah to court. Can't you see how gone he is for you?"

          "You keep saying that he is, but I just don't believe it," Marisol told her.

          "He is, trust me, and I can see that you're gone for him too," Katerina said.

          "So what? He's charming, how can I not?" Marisol asked rhetorically, "But that means nothing. He can court anyone, so why would he court me? It makes no sense. I can offer him nothing while so many others can give him riches and a better reputation than anything I can offer."

          "Elijah has enough riches and the highest reputation. No one else could heighten it anymore," Katerina debunked her argument.

          Marisol paused. "He doesn't know about Magnus either," she whispered.

          Katerina turned to her in shock. "You haven't told him?"

          She couldn't help but laugh, shaking her head. "Of course I haven't. I'm a mother, I'm not pure. I didn't save myself for marriage. No man wants to care for a child that isn't his. Once he knows about Magnus he won't be interested so I'm not telling him for as long as I can."

          "Marisol..."

          "Don't. I don't want to hear any of it," Marisol cut her off, sighing, "I just – I fancy him, I do. I'm gone for him and maybe, maybe he is gone for me too, but he won't after he knows about Magnus."

          "You don't know that for sure," Katerina said, "Niklaus said that Elijah always wanted children when they were younger, maybe he still does."

          "He'd want his own," Marisol scoffed, "Not some bastard child of mine."

          "He has a bigger heart than to leave you just because of a child," Katerina told her, "And the Mikaelsons don't quite care about purity, what with their own impurity."

          "Everyone knows when you take a wife, you want them to be pure," Marisol said, "I'm not."

          "It really seems like you're coming up with any reason you can so you don't have to marry Elijah," Katerina told her.

          Marisol was silent for a moment. Of course she wanted to marry Elijah, he was utterly perfect. He understood her boundaries and he didn't care if she told him no, but the understanding would run out and the patience would wear thin. And once he found out about her true nature as a werewolf, he would never want her even if Magnus didn't scare him off.

          "Of course I want Elijah, you know I do. He...he's waited for me to make all the moves, he understands when I tell him I can't do things, and he's patient. Calm. He tried to kiss me and when I stopped him, he didn't advance or command me, he backed off and asked if I wanted some wine," Marisol said, "He's perfect."

          "Then let him court you," Katerina urged, "He wants to and you obviously want him to."

          "It's not that simple," Marisol said.

          "It could be," Katerina returned.

          "Maybe for you," Marisol sat up, knowing that she would have to start on breakfast for Magnus soon, "But not for me."

          "Because you don't allow yourself to truly let yourself to be happy. You just work yourself to death."

          "I do it for Magnus because if I work myself to the bone, maybe Magnus can have everything he needs and when he grows up, he can have the life I had to give up," Marisol explained, "I was respected, I was betrothed before I left. I had everything I could ever want but I gave it up to keep Magnus. I don't regret it for a second, but I won't allow myself temporary pleasures that could harm him and leave us with nothing. I will do anything for him."

          She got out of the bed then, not waiting for Katerina to follow her, though the girl did. "And I understand that," Katerina tagged along, "But Elijah could be your ticket out. Have him court you and that will end in a long marriage where you'll never have to work another day, where everything Magnus could ever want would be given to him."

          "In a pipe dream maybe, but not reality," Marisol shook her head before sighing, "Look, I know I'm being terribly pessimistic about it all, and I would love to be courted by Elijah, but I can't handle it if it ends horribly."

          Katerina grabs her hands and stares directly into her eyes, "And you have to trust me when I say that I won't."

          Marisol smiled sadly, "I wish I could believe you, but things, sadly, aren't that simple. Now, are you staying for breakfast?"