Holding On and Letting Go.

@ momentai.
Klaus tipped his glass back and finished off his drink as she spoke, her words making his blood boil. He sighed once she was finished speaking, "My family built this town. You'll have to kill us to get us out of it, but you have no means to do that, so your only other option is to act like you don't care, which you continue to tell me isn't an act." He stated before setting his glass down, "But if you would like to be left alone, Marie," He said before nearing her, "You should've stayed in the shadows." He finished before he walked away, "Your wish is granted for the time being, love. I'm done playing this game with you. Have fun playing with yourself." Klaus said before walking out of the bar and down the street.

(If you want, we can skip to the guys’ next attempt to crack the girls? And, I think the time after that would be when Klaus daggers Kol to get Sophie’s humanity on and then bites Sophie to force Marie to turn hers on? Unless you want to skip to that instead? Either way’s fine with me!)

A small smirk formed on Marie’s features as she watched him leave, tilting her head slightly, satisfied. She finished the drink before she left herself, heading home, though she did stop by a few places on her way, places that had meant a lot to her when she’d been with Klaus, places that meant something to them. All she could really do was stare at those places with disdain, though. Klaus had suggested a walk down memory lane and she’d finished the walk on her own, but it hadn’t had any real effect on her, which left her pleased with herself. Turning after the final spot - the spot they’d shared their first and last kiss, - she walked the rest of the way home.

@ momentai.
Sophie took a breath as she looked herself over in the mirror. The Mikaelsons were throwing a party for some reason that Sophie couldn't remember, and she and Marie had been invited. Lately, Sophie had been feeling herself slipping more and more over to the humanity side of things, and she wasn't sure how she felt about it. Kol had been spending a decent amount of time with Sophie to get her to turn her switch back on, and despite the failed attempts, Sophie was kind of enjoying his company because she had forgotten how funny he was and how much she really liked his presence.

Sophie walked down the hall to Marie's room, "Ready to go?" She questioned her best friend. Sophie hadn't been very forthcoming lately to Marie about how much time she had been spending with Kol because she didn't want Marie to think that Sophie was a lost cause now. The two had been working on this plan for so long that Sophie often times forgot what the plan was to begin with, and that thought stressed her out.

Marie slipped on her shoes, staring at herself in the mirror for a few long moments. She’d made sure to pick out clothes that suited her human self, mostly wanting to annoy Klaus with it, since the Mikaelsons had invited them to this odd party. Staring at herself for a few moments, she made a face and stood up, looking over to Sophie. “Ready,” she confirmed easily, tilting her head, “Do I look pleasantly boring?” She smirked jokingly and made her way over to Sophie, looping her arm through her friend’s. While she’d shared all her encounters with Klaus to Sophie, she was pretty eager about this one, wanting to make a jab at him.

But, more than anything, she wanted to get the night over with and get out of the outfit already. It felt far too careful for her and she disliked that oddly familiar feeling. “I’m growing tired of this game already,” she complained lightly, breathing out a sigh, “Why do the Mikaelsons have to be so stubborn?” She frowned gently with the thought but shook her head as they left their home and headed to the Mikaelsons’.

@ momentai.
Sophie raised an eyebrow at Marie's question before nodding with a shrug, "I guess you do. I hope that's what you wanted me to say." She joked with a laugh as they started to walk out of their home and down the street to the Mikaelsons' place. When Marie spoke again, Sophie laughed once more, "I mean we knew that this was going to be a big possibility when we first started this game, my dear friend." Sophie stated with a laugh. Sophie was actually looking forward to the night ahead of them. No events were really going on in the Quarter that made Sophie get excited, so a party was just the thing she needed at the time.

“That is exactly what I want to hear, friend,” Marie hummed out, pleased that she’d managed to succeed in her attempt. It’d been so long since she’d worn clothes that weren’t dark or super showy, so the clothes almost felt foreign, and it made her uncomfortable, being in clothes that suited the side of her that would have normally been happy and easy-going. “Ah, that is true. Doesn’t mean I can’t complain about it.” She offered an amused expression before she shrugged and looked ahead, spotting the Mikaelsons compound up ahead. “Are you ready for all of this? Whatever this party is supposed to be, anyways.”

@ momentai.
Sophie smiled at Marie's words before she nodded, "I'm ready if you are." She replied before laughing, "I mean we can't exactly turn back now. It took way too long for me to do my hair, so somebody needs to see it." She added with another laugh. Sophie walked through the door, already hearing music being played and people chattering about. Once inside the courtyard, Sophie took a moment to look around quickly to see if she could find their hosts, "They invited Marcel right?" Sophie questioned her friend, knowing that she had talked to the man more recently than Sophie had.

Marie grinned with amusement and lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “I suppose that’s true,” she admitted, “It did take a painfully long time to get ready.” She looked around once they walked through the doors, scanning the area for a few moments. For a moment, she thought about causing a little trouble, but she decided against that for now - there wasn’t much of a reason to when things had been going mostly well. Her humanity was still off and she was still keeping a firm hold on the switch to avoid it flipping back on. “I think they did. I think the better question would be will Marcel show up?”

@ momentai.
Sophie nodded at Marie's words, "I think he will. Marcel is usually pretty reliable in showing up to parties whether he be invited or not." Sophie joked before she looked around the courtyard once more, spotting the clan at the top of the stairs looking down at their guests, before they got their picture taken, "This all seems oddly familiar." Sophie said as she nodded her head over to the family.

---

Klaus stood with his siblings on the stairs as they looked over their guests. So far everything was going swimmingly, and he was very hopeful for the events of the night, "They've arrived." Klaus stated to Kol once he saw Marie and Sophie walking arm in arm through the courtyard of the Mikaelson home. If things went the way the family was hoping, then by the end of the night Sophie will have flipped her switch and Marie would be on her way to flipping hers as well.

“That’s true,” Marie admitted with a nod, aware of Marcel’s antics. “He’ll definitely make sure to make quite the entrance.” Marcel was dramatic - she assumed it was a trait he got from being raised by the Mikaelsons. Reaching over, she grabbed a glass to drink from, her gaze wandering around until Sophie mentioned the family. Her gaze went to them and she watched Klaus, smirking slightly to herself while she drank, though it dropped when she registered Sophie’s words. Pulling the glass from her lips, she peered around the area for a few long moments, her frown deepening. “Too familiar. I don’t like it.”

---

Kol didn’t need Klaus to mention the arrival of Sophie and Marie - his eyes had found Sophie easily and he took her in, taking in her beauty. Even with her humanity off, she still chose clothes that suited her rather than picking just anything. But, then, any clothes would look wonderful on her, because she was astoundingly stunning. He took her in for a few moments longer before he nodded, looking to Klaus. “Are you ready to put on a show, brother?” he asked, arching a brow. This had to work. He’d seen how close Sophie got to flipping her switch back on each time they spent time together - he hoped this would tip the scale.

@ momentai.
Sophie nodded at her words before sighing as she grabbed a drink for herself. They walked around for a bit, taking in their surroundings, "I've got this feeling in the pit of my stomach, Marie, I don't like this." She stated as she looked around. Sophie felt on edge, and she didn't like that feeling, "I have this feeling of deja vu, but I can't put my finger on what it is I'm remembering." It was a very strange feeling for Sophie to feel like this seeing as she and Marie had basically had the run of things since the Mikaelson's left in the twenties. She didn't like this feeling at all.

---

Klaus grinned at his brother as he clapped a hand on Kol's shoulder, "Always ready, brother." He replied. Klaus lightly tapped on his glass as he stood at the center of the balcony, "Ladies and gentleman, I want to thank you all for coming tonight. It has been a long time since my brothers and I were gathered for a party like this, and now we have a new family member joining us, our sister Freya," Klaus motioned to his older sister with a smile, "I have always cherished family as one of the most important things in my life, but sometimes family betrays you." Klaus stated as he turned to Kol, "And it seems my younger brother has been doing a lot of that as of late." Klaus finished as he watched as Elijah took a hold of Kol's arms, holding him back so he didn't squirm too much while Klaus pulled out the dagger he always used on Kol, "Please pardon the next events, my brother just must be taught a lesson for his mistakes."