manipulative | deerington contact.

No, I jogged.

( of course he hadn't walked. she'd probably heard the cab pull away before he was in up the stairs and in the house. his eyes flick past her to the tub before he looks at her. )

You don't have to do that.

( he can clean up tomorrow or he can hire someone. he doesn't want her to think she has to clean up all of his blood. )

I'm going to change but you don't have to clean, okay? Just — ( he shakes his head. ) Just relax for tonight.

[ the bath's already a quarter of the way full. what's he going to do? step around her and pull the plug out? ]

It's my favourite rug, Stefan. There's nothing wrong with letting it soak.

[ and consequently be one of the very last things she's completed in his now less-bloody house. she has forgotten the cold pizzas in his kitchen.

it doesn't matter if he wants her to relax. she's fine. she didn't get shot by her dead father and then fail at healing. he's the one who should relax. isn't he feeling a bit bruised? she doubts his healing has kicked in to be that good.

turning away from him, she turns his taps off and places his rug into the bath. she pushes it all the way down to the bottom of the tub and watches as the clear water turns red. ] You should go lie down.

Yeah, sure.

( he watches her for a few more seconds, trying to read her and figure her out but she's impossible to read when she wants to be. and right now, she's hiding from him and he doesn't have the energy to fight her.

so, he takes her advice and pushes away from the frame. he closes the door to his bedroom once he's in there, pulling off his hospital given gown and changing into a dark hoodie and a softer pair of pants before he crawls into bed and lays down on his side.

he listens to her movements for little while before he does close his eyes when he thinks she's just going to keep cleaning. )

[ katherine stays in his bathroom for a lot longer than she needs to. she hears him move about until he stops moving, and his breathing seems a hell of a lot better than it was previously. she busies herself with scrubbing a little at her face and wiping the blood from her forehead and hairline, but she doesn't get all of it off. she's not feeling particularly motivated to be entirely vain right now.

this time when she invites herself into his room, it's not with a powerful shove of her shoulder. she opens it and glances up at it to see that she has done some damage to it, and she leans her back against it. when she looks at him, he at least seems comfortable—a little peaceful, especially in comparison to how his face had been scrunched up in pain or very, very slack. ]

Do you need anything?

[ while she may not know how to do this, she at least doesn't struggle in asking that. ]

( his immediate instinct is to tell her no. he doesn't need her to wait on him and make sure she's okay. he's fine, he's always fine and he's always going to be fine. she'd done so much earlier that he can't bring himself to ask her for anything else.

except — )

Katherine.

( he starts to say something else but stops, wetting his lips and pressing his face down further into the pillow. he doesn't know his eyes. )

That's what I need.

( he mumbles it, barely above a whisper but he knows she'll hear it. katherine that's what he needs. )

[ at first, katherine isn't entirely sure if he's lost his train of thought or considered that halfway speaking that what he wanted isn't what he wanted. but then it clicks for her what he's asking.

she doesn't immediately push herself off the door, but she doesn't turn and run into his hallway and out the door, either. she wants to. even though he's giving her exactly what she's wanted for so long, having it right in front of her makes her want to get the hell out of there.

she doesn't.

pushing herself off the door, she comes to stand on the side of his bed and looks down at him. reaching down, she brushes her fingers very lightly through his hair.

very quietly, ] I'm covered in blood.

[ still not as vain as she could be, but she's very aware that she's still a mess while he looks a little cleaner than he had before—which is good. stefan pale, clammy and drenched in blood is not a sight she wants to see ever again. ]

I don't care.

( she was covered in blood because she'd tried to save his life. how could he care what she looked like?

he sighs, closing his eyes and leaning up and into her hand for a moment. )

You can take a shower if you want or...not. I don't care. You look fine to me.

[ she doesn't know why she's looking for a reason to keep bumbling around his house and wedge distance between them when she had intended to get very close to him tonight. katherine doesn't pull up his blankets or lower herself to lie down next to him. ]

I'm getting one of your shirts.

[ which will now become her shirt. she walks over to his drawers and closet to rifle through his clothes to find the perfect shirt for her. she would've preferred the one he had been wearing, but now that it's going into the trash, she needs to pick another one. one of his brownish plaids will do. ]

And I'm going to keep it.

[ just in case he needed a belated reminder of the thing she will refuse to acknowledge after tonight.

katherine starts to undress, pulling her sticky top off. she really should be tossing this pile onto his bathroom floor, but she doesn't particularly want to leave his room now that she's here. a part of her wonders if he'd want her to. there's nothing particularly unusual with the lacy black bra she wears, but when she pulls her dark jeans off, she's wearing a black garter underneath with stockings that cover her upper thigh all the way down to her ankle.

pulling his plaid shirt on, she buttons it up as he walks over to him casually. it's almost like she doesn't remember (or doesn't care about) what she had been wearing underneath. ]

( she might not care or remember what she'd been wearing but stefan definitely does. he hadn't known what she'd do with his words but when it looked like she was going to join him, he'd relaxed somewhat but he hadn't dozed off again.

his eyes had remained open and he'd watched her through lidded eyes until she'd taken off her jeans. then, he'd woken up a little. katherine was definitely someone who would match her underwear and she was someone who would wear fancy and lacy things on a normal day but this was different.

this wasn't normal. she'd worn this, he realizes, on purposes. his mouth goes a little dry and his eyes open a little more. )

Katherine.

( her name is a whisper, low and needy, especially as she gets closer to him. )

Oh my god.

[ if he was a giant, his shirt would be long enough to reach her ankles. fortunately for them both, he's not—she can button his shirt up, but it won't exactly hide her stockings from view. katherine's buttoned it halfway up her body when she looks at him. ]

What?

[ she at least looks a little concerned. if something's happening internally... she really doesn't want to hop in his car and drive him back to that hospital, especially not when he looks snug as a bug in a rug in his bed and she's starting to feel a little tired and rundown from this evening's series of unfortunate events. ]

Are you dying again?

[ she has a very good idea that he isn't. his heartbeat isn't slowing into a shallow rhythm, even though his breathing has clearly started to.

he'd said he wanted to see her lingerie, and katherine decided tonight was as good of a night as any to show off at least one number. did he really think she wanted to actually sit back and eat greasy pizza like they were actual platonic pals? ]

I wasn't dying before.

( he'd just....not been getting better as fast as he should be. he swallows, watching her move closer to him. )

You had this one the whole time?

( the entire time he'd been bleeding and passing out, she'd been wearing this? )

Yeah.

[ she says it in a tone similar to duh.

standing at the edge of his bed, she's finished doing up the buttons of his shirt all the way up to her collarbones. letting her arms hang by her sides, she doesn't move to slide in next to him, preferring to look down at him for now. she imagines he doesn't mind her towering over him in this very moment. ]

You'd be surprised by how well I can multitask, Stefan. Carrying pizza boxes, carrying you, all the while wearing this. [ shrugging her shoulders flippantly, ] I was even considering being the sexy delivery pizza girl, but plans change.

[ she may have said that on purpose to get a rise out of him. ]

Sexy delivery pizza girl?

( jesus. he blinks at her, eyes wide and mouth suddenly going dry. )

You were going to do that?

( jesus. he's pretty sure he would have preferred that over a gun shot wound. he would have preferred almost anything over that. )

Sorry I ruined pizza night.

( or sorry his father had. )

[ rolling her eyes in annoyance, she shifts and places her knee on the side of his bed. ] Stop saying sorry.

[ all she wants is to lift his mood. being shot by his father has to have left a mark on him, and while she knows he probably won't want to talk about it right now... maybe being playful is what he needs right now. other than her, apparently.

she moves to sit on her knees on his lower legs, loosely straddling them. letting out a sigh, it's very clear she's putting it on. feigning disappointment, ] I was kind of planning on being a sexy nurse for Halloween, but you're very good at ruining my plans.

[ she curves her fingers around his leg beneath the sheets in what she hopes is a comforting touch. ]

Mmm. Sorry.

( this time when he says it, he smiles, stretching out underneath her and closing his eyes to enjoy the solid weight of her and her touch. )

Halloween's not for awhile though. You're already planning that far in advance?

( yes, he knows she has plans upon plans but five months in advance for a costume is a lot even for her. )

[ peering down at him in amusement, she's glad that this time when he closes his eyes, it's not because he's in any incredible pain. she doesn't feel any surge of worry; his heartbeat still sounds pretty healthy and steady in her ears. ]

I've had a lot of time on my hands. [ she shrugs a shoulder, keeping her hands near his knees. ] I could be a nurse, school teacher, or even a very classy lady from the 1800s.

[ has she told him she'd gotten a few of her corsets from 1864? that may have slipped her mind. ]

You've already been a very class lady from the 1800s, haven't you?

( when she was actually living in the 1800's, that is. he smiles, laughing quietly. )

I think you left all your dresses back in that time period.

[ biting her lips, she tries to hide away her smile. ] That's... not exactly the case anymore.

[ it's far better to talk to him about the dresses she'd received than to debate him on whether she truly was a "classy" lady in the 1800s. she's certain shacking up with two brothers and flirting with other men doesn't quite fit the bill. ]

I actually received a few outfits from my past last month. Scarily in perfect condition.

[ it would've been plenty ironic if she had been wearing the corset she had worn the last night they had together in 1864 when giuseppe originally interrupted their fun time. ]

Really?

( huh. he's not surprised that she'd received a few gifts from this town but what he is surprised about is the type of gift she'd gotten. )

The entire outfit or just the dress?

The entire outfit.

[ why does she feel like she's about to cross a line here? probably because she already crossed one the moment she decided to slip into her lingerie with the intention of showing it to him.

sliding her hands along his thighs, she tries to appear nonchalant. ] All I'd have to do is curl my hair like it was in 1864 and I'm pretty sure you'd think I was that girl again.

[ it doesn't matter that she's already been that girl—quite literally, too—with someone else. ]

( he swallows, relaxed by the touch and excited by the words. )

I don't...have any of my clothes from that time. Would you want to do that?

( he breathes in, breathes out, watching her hands move against his thighs. )

With me?

[ ngl, she enjoys him being nervous. ]

What, curl my hair? [ she laughs.

of course, she does know what he's asking. katherine kind of wants to push him to say the words. is that wrong of her? maybe it's a little unfair... but they're friends, so he should be able to ask for whatever he wants to ask for without fearing judgement. ]

Well, yes.

( he clears his throat and reaches down to brush his fingers against her wrist. it's the lightest, barest of touches before he pulls his hand back. )

Would you want to act like we were back then?

[ even though she fully expects him to say what he says, it's still a little surprising to hear him propose they revert back to their 1864 selves. she had kind of thought he looked back on that time with some regret. she did, but not in the way he always postured as resenting his time with her ]

Okay.

[ it surprises her how agreeable she is, and she wears that surprise on her face.

peering down at him with a sly smile, it's a little easy to step back into those corsets of being 1864's lady katherine pierce. ] Mr. Salvatore.

Miss Pierce.

( he can't really bow at the waist but he does bow his head as best he can and smile easily at her. )

A pleasure to see you again. I hope the day finds you well.

( he tries not to laugh at how that sounds after so many years. )

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