manipulative | deerington contact.

I don't know. Sometimes, I don't really notice it and sometimes I do. It's just —

( stefan looks up at her and gives his head a shake. he's gotten use to feeling alone even when he's surrounded by people. he's gotten used to being the one that gets left behind or ignored or forgotten depending on what was going on.

stefan gives his head another shake. )

I deal with it just like you deal with your stuff. It's fine.

By running away and not dealing with it at all?

[ her tone lacks a lot of self-deprecation and derision. this may be the only time he'll ever get this out of her when it comes to how katherine chooses to deal with her own shit. she's not a liar when she says she doesn't turn it off and chooses to deal with it, she's simply someone who lets it chase her until she thinks she's outmanoeuvred it.

she highly suspects stefan's telling her he doesn't deal with it at all.

scrunching up her face, she says slightly playfully, ] It hasn't exactly worked out well for me, so I wouldn't recommend it.

I'm not running now, am I?

( he'd been in this place for a few months and there were still times he felt that loneliness creeping up on him even when he was with people. he knows it's the sting of losses that he really hasn't dealt with and the fact that he seems to always be the one left behind.

he licks his lips and forces a smile up at her. )

Can't run here. Nowhere to go.

Well, you do have a very intimidating woman in your lap right now...

[ she doesn't quite know how she's meant to take that. maybe she's not meant to take it at all. stefan not physically running is clearly a given, but... he's not talking about the physical, is he?

since when did he become someone who made her stop running, even for a short amount of time?

she lifts their hands slightly and then lowers them onto her thighs. with a smile, she tells him matter-of-factly, ] I wouldn't try her if I was you.

Oh yeah?

( this time, the smile stefan cracks is genuine, warmer, sincere. he scratches at her thighs for a moment before tilting his head. )

I happen to know said intimidating woman likes to cuddle. And I could take that knowledge and just tell everyone.

( he wouldn't but he could. )

[ she knows she's blushing. she tries to hide it with her smile, although that must only bring attention to the fact she's flushing. at least she doesn't duck her head, that'd be a dead giveaway.

she lets him move his hands, even if he wants to pull them away from her.

tilting her head upward, she informs him, ] And then you'd have to take a number in a very long line of men and women who want to cuddle her. Do you really want that, Mr. Salvatore?

I think that depends entirely on her. Would she be allowing all these men and women to cuddle her? Or would she be discerning?

( he's pretty sure katherine wouldn't let just anyone tuck up against her and hold her for several hours unless she was planning to stake them in the morning. )

I think she would be discerning.

Hm. [ she purses her lips thoughtfully, scrunching her face up on purpose to feign serious thought. ] I have it on good authority she's very, very picky.

[ curling her hand into a fist, she raises it and begins to count on her fingers the criteria she's actually starting to form. ] You need to have a strong jawline... [ eyeing him for a moment for inspiration, she glances down at his shoulders. ] Broad shoulders, nice lips, and... [ with a glance up at that thick, soft hair of his, she smiles, ] hero hair.

[ tilting her head to the side, she pretends to consider who could possibly fit that bill... ]

Do you know anyone who might fit that description? That's not including his—or her—personality and level of broodiness.

I don't.

( he has no idea who she could be talking about. he shakes his head, feigning absolute confusion. )

But I could probably put the word out for you, ask on the network. Maybe there is someone out there that meets all your bullet points. Though, I don't really know how you define hero hair.

( always with the hair, katherine. )

[ it's nice hair.

biting her bottom lip for a moment, she arches her brow as she tries not to smile too widely in amusement at him. ]

Will you also be assessing any of the potential candidates? Or will that be left for me to do?

[ she has a very good feeling on what his answer will be. ]

I'll help you.

( maybe he wouldn't be as bluntly judgmental as katherine would be if their positions were reversed here but he would absolutely want to at least let his opinion be known. )

I wouldn't want to leave you in the hands of someone subpar.

[ oh, this is starting to get a little more interesting. maybe she can corner him if she really tries.

she hums for a moment, wanting to have him lower his guard just a little so he can play right into the palm of her hand. but she knows stefan—he hardly comes without a stubborn fight. ]

And what do you consider subpar? I think it's my right to know, given you'll be basing your opinion on who I get to cuddle next on it.

Someone who doesn't respect you or treat you like you should.

( and yes, he thinks he could tell who that was by the look of the other person and a few conversations with them. )

I wouldn't want someone to be tapped to cuddle with you and end being terrible at it. I'd feel pretty bad.

Hm.

[ oh, she likes where this is going. all she needs now is for him to tell her there's a height and diary requirement, and then she's set she wouldn't mind hearing about what he'd use as criteria for treating her right. does it include complimenting her shoes? opening doors for her? ]

How bad?

Very bad.

( because he'd have been the one to nominate someone for this very prestigious job only for it to turn out terribly. )

If you don't like how I apologize now, you'll hate it if this ever happened because I'd never stop.

Or maybe you need to find a different way to apologise.

[ she's certain if she hears "i'm sorry" come from his mouth one more time, she'll take all the shirts of his she wants and go back to her townhouse for at least a week. while she has always wanted to receive an apology, it's not from stefan salvatore.

reaching back, she sweeps her hair up and lets it fall against her back again.

narrowing her eyes in mock thought, she presses her lips together and makes him wait just a moment. ] Perhaps a different way of putting that mouth to use?

Oh?

( he pretends to think about it, tapping his chin like it's a very serious thing to consider. )

What, like going down on you?

( hey, just because he's not a dirty talker doesn't mean he can't do it when properly motivated. )

[ she hates the way her heart skips a little when he says that. stefan is most certainly not a leader in dirty talk—she remembers having to guide him a lot in 1864, which only made her fall a little harder for him—but when he's blunt, well... maybe he should just stop talking altogether. it'd save quite a lot of furniture from having to be replaced.

intending to play this off as cool as possible, she shrugs in what she hopes comes off rather casual. ] That does seem like a very good use of your mouth than uttering about how sorry you are all the time. Don't you agree?

Maybe.

( he's not ready to commit to it fully even if he absolutely intends on doing that to her again and again and maybe again. he doesn't know if he'll be doing that in lieu of an apology. )

I could also use my mouth for other things. Maybe chewing gum or brushing my teeth or something similar.

[ she arches her brow, then sweetly, ] You're not chewing gum near me unless you want to choke on it.

[ is he playing coy on purpose? she doesn't mind this side of stefan. katherine purposefully shifts on his hips, playing it off like she needs to readjust herself when really, she wants to pull the hem of his shirt up her leg to remind him that she's wearing stockings just for him.

glancing down at herself, she purposefully frowns. there's nothing wrong with her shirt, but she brushes her hand down the length of it as if she's looking for something before she starts to unbutton the first few buttons at her collarbones. ]

What's so wrong with chewing gum?

( he watches her shift around, watches the shirt lift to show off the stockings and remind him that yes, those stockings were still there.

he blows out a breath and then feels said breath hitch a moment when she starts unbuttoning his shirt. )

You getting warm?

[ glancing up at him, she purses her lips and looks a little disgruntled. ] I think I buttoned this up all wrong.

[ she hasn't. she buttoned it up perfectly, but given that she's sitting astride stefan and he's had a very trying evening, she figures giving him a little bit of a show isn't a terrible thing. besides... she kind of wants to feel his eyes on her. ]

There's a lot of things wrong with chewing gum, Stefan. Do you want to hear it now? [ she says it while unbuttoning his plaid shirt all the way down to the end. she rolls her shoulders and pulls it open so he can get an eyeful of her in her black bra, panties and garter belt. ]

No, thank you.

( the reasons that chewing gum was wrong could wait especially when she was looking like that. he still gets a little breathless to think that she'd come over to his house with that on with the intention of using it against him.

his father had ruined her original plan but he was glad he could see her looking like this right now. )

You are beautiful.

( she always has been but he hasn't always been good at telling her. )

[ she has to bite her tongue on what she wants to say. hadn't he been listening before? he's not supposed to say that to her for reasons she isn't going to divulge to him now or ever. it makes her heart stupidly race in her chest. she can feel those reins of control slowly slip into his hands from hers.

it makes her pause her teasing for a moment. she doesn't pull his shirt closed around her chest, even though she wants to see if he'll reach up and try to pull it open. all she does is keeps his shirt unbuttoned and sitting loose on her shoulders, open so he can see exactly what she's worn with every intention of showing him. ]

How are you feeling? [ she doesn't ask it with any other intent in mind, although katherine knows that, no matter what his answer is, she's going to do what she'd planned on doing when she came over. it seems like maybe that would help with his recovery, since sitting astride him appears to have brought some colour back to his face. ]

Good. Better.

( he's still wearing the bandages they'd given him at the hospital but he's pretty sure he doesn't need the anymore. there's probably still remnants of what happened but he knows from the lack of pain and the lack of bleeding through the bandage that he's healing. )

And how are you feeling?

( what's good for the goose and all. )

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject