Elijah Mikaelson

The thing about being a thousand year old vampire (give or take a few) was that after some time, there were few human morals that really seemed to matter. Violence, for example, became a matter of course, a function of survival and of feeding the thirst. Hedonism was another common display of immortals' distance from their former selves.

And while Elijah most certainly maintained that he had his standards, and was possessed of his particular Mikaelson brand of nobility, he was still fond of partaking in a number of pursuits that would be considered taboo among humans.

When he arrived at Frey's bedroom, it was with the clear intention to partake in one of those very soon. While chronologically the eldest of the siblings, the tricks of their existence afforded his sister a physical appearance only slightly older than Rebekah, the baby of the bunch. Since Freya's return to the fold, the beauty of the slim, sure, and often ruthless Mikaelson witch had not escaped his notice, and the prospect of getting to appreciate that loveliness and fire up close were exciting indeed.

Elijah knocked on the door.

Elijah's always believed that one of the reasons he still remains relatively sane and centered after a thousand years of life (especially an existence such as his own, filled with violence and chaos) is that even with all his experience, the world continually finds ways to surprise him. A few years ago, it presented him with what until then had been an impossibility: a half vampire. A dhampir.

Intellectually, of course, Rose fascinated Elijah and as someone who was, as far as he knew, utterly unique in the world, his instinct was to protect the girl from a supernatural world that would no doubt do everything it could to either exploit her or destroy her. She was too special to allow such a thing, and as simply a girl who needed aid and protection, Elijah's nature simply would not let him do anything else but take her in as a kind of ward or adopted daughter.

From the very start, Elijah has doted on her to the point of spoiling, given her the benefit of his long experience, and has tried to teach her what he knows while encouraging Rose to be independent enough-- within reason-- to seek out her own interests. In the years since her arrival into his life, his affection for her has only grown. And it has evolved into something a bit more... unorthodox. But then, Elijah muses often, there was nothing ordinary about it in the first place.

One late afternoon in the large Manhattan townhouse they call home, Elijah is at the desk in his study, poring over the mundane mortal details of the businesses that keep himself and his family wealthy throughout the centuries. He hears the front door open and close, and checking the time, knows it must be his Rose, his little girl, arriving home from the private academy she's enrolled in. Just as he hopes, he hears a knock on his study door. "Come in," he invites.