Ric came really close to making a remark that he would have regretted, but he was making a concerted effort to move past his personal feelings about Klaus, raw and painful as they were, to listen to Elijah and try to understand from his point of view. Which meant trying to understand Klaus. Which was uncomfortable as hell for him, but. If he could extend it to Damon, he could make an effort to do the same with Klaus, for Elijah's sake.

That meant a long period of silence, while he mulled it over. He rubbed his thumb over the back of Elijah's hand while he did, and he drank. "I don't know if I really understand, but... it sounds close enough to some of the interactions I've had with Damon, where I'm pissed the fuck off about whatever he did, but the underlying feeling is just wanting to go back a couple of hundred years, find Damon's father and knock his teeth down his throat. Or- everyone else who feeds into his shit."