( he absolutely thinks it's going to be that bad. there's something about this place that bothers him in a way he can't quite name. it has the look of a small town not unlike mystic falls but he's barely been here a week and he's already seen things that he shouldn't be seeing.
and all he'd done is open a box and light a match. )
[ of course, she highly suspects it's going to be horrible. she'd buried her daughter deep beneath the ground of katherine and had destroyed any roots of katerina long before she had ever stepped foot out of bulgaria that second time.
being honest with stefan means something different to being honest with caroline. caroline doesn't know her. stefan knows only a small portion of her. if she says no, she knows he'll see it as visible fear. katherine doesn't want to appear afraid.
eyeing the shelves around them, she doesn't look at him when she says, ] I do.
[ looking at him, she steels herself. ] You opened the box.
( he purses his lips and sighs, letting the bottle hang loose at his side. he hadn't wanted to but he'd been cold and it had been the only thing available, the only thing he had to keep warm. )
I knew I shouldn't have but I did anyway.
( and he'd seen...he'd seen things. people. people that shouldn't be there but had been at that moment in time. )
[ she can't even judge him. she'd done the same thing not once, but twice. the second vivid hallucination hadn't been as kind as the first, and it hadn't involved her daughter, even though she'd wished it had.
shaking her head, she presses her lips together and lets out a breath. ] We're going to have to learn to stop opening things, even if we think it's going to help.
[ she says it with amusement, though. what else can they do? the past can't be changed, but the future can be. ]
( obviously, there had been something just like he'd seen something. it's even odds on her telling him what she'd seen but there's no harm in asking. )
When you opened it and lit the match. What did you see?
[ she needs time to think up a good story. katherine looks at him, then away, and hates that that mere act will have him hooked into believing that there's something wrong when there isn't. it's fine. everything's fine.
altering her stance—more in a bid to protect herself and make herself feel like she's in control—she easily puts on her mask of being the unfeeling and inhuman katherine. ]
Do you really want to have this conversation in a store, Stefan?
( he knows that it's more likely that she'll share with him if he offers up something of his own. he'd seen his friend, standing there smiling at him like she'd just waltzed into town to have a visit. )
And then she was gone.
( he'd wanted her to stay. he feels more centered and secure and like he's going to stay in one place when she's there. )
I would have opened the box again if it meant I got to see her again.
[ regardless of how she's felt about lexi, katherine feels saddened by how her loss still haunts stefan. perhaps it always will. damon's plan to win over the town's council didn't have to cost stefan his best friend. she may be callous, but she examines every single potential risk in her plans, and she never would have chosen that as her plan a.
katherine doesn't smile or frown. she looks at stefan with a look of empathy she very rarely wears. ]
( and then an already chaotic and confusing situation had just gotten more so. he hadn't forgotten about lexi but he'd tried to put the thought of seeing her aside, away so he wouldn't consistently have his hopes dashed. )
I got caught up doing other things and I tried not to open the box. I saw Lexi once but I don't think it was guaranteed to be her the next time. It might have been something else. Someone else.
[ because good things don't happen to people like them. that's the thing. despite having that thought when she'd considered opening the box again, she'd done it anyway in the hopes of getting to live that vision for a second time and for perhaps longer.
that'd been stupid and weak of her, but katherine's at least self-aware enough to know she occasionally lets her humanity seep in. ]
Did she still have her ridiculously long hair? [ it's asked kindly, despite her choice in particular words. ]
[ ah! victory—stefan's smiling. his smile could light up a whole room, or even a supermarket aisle. ]
I'm glad you saw her. [ she says that quietly, and finds herself meaning it. ] Lexi was… [ looking up at the top of the opposite shelves, she searches for her word up there. once she finds it, there's an upward quirk to her lips. ] okay.
[ lexi was annoying, a know-it-all, and stefan's guide when katherine wasn't it. she was a good woman who didn't deserve to be collateral damage. so was pearl. ]
[ lexi branson is very low on katherine's list of people to dislike. she'd been arrogant and stuck-up, and a know-it-all when it came to stefan. but she'd been a friend to someone katherine does value; everyone needs their own pearl. katherine can't begrudge lexi for her good effect on stefan.
not that she's telling him any of that. she's grateful he doesn't pry further. ]
She'd know that what you're about to buy is probably not helpful.
[ there's really no judgement in her tone, it something much more playful. if stefan wants to drown his sorrows and his discomfort of being in dream town with liquor, then by all means. katherine has no intention of being inebriated when trying to scope the place. ]
You act like I'm going to go home and drown in this.
( things weren't that bad yet. he hated feeling like he was on his back foot, unable to know what was coming but it's not the worst things that's ever happened to him either. )
It's one bottle. Who do you think I am, my brother?
( damon, who'd been pretty drunk when stefan had found him and who'd decided to stab him because he was damon. )
[ shrugging one shoulder, it's very obvious that katherine's not taking this particularly seriously. ] Sometimes you're interchangeable.
[ that's the most laughable thing anyone could say. damon and stefan are so unalike physically and spiritually that she'd be able to identify them if they happened to switch bodies. damon is playful and childish, hot-tempered to a petulant fault, and a hopeless romantic who would sell his soul just for a kiss. stefan's sensible and withdrawn, and seems to take on the responsibilities of ensuring those around him are safe, even at the detriment of his own romantic heart.
and one can style their hair really well with gel.
throwing her thumb over her shoulder, she turns slightly, ] Have you ever considered dying your hair black? We can go buy some right now…
( that's a no. and he's not even going to dignify the thought of himself and his brother being interchangeable. there are some similarities but overall, they're very different men who have led very different lives with said lives intersecting more often than not. )
[ even though she'd look awful as a blonde, she knows she'd be able to rock it. he's a cheeky shit. ]
Oh. [ she looks and sounds disappointed, even though it's clear she's far from it. ] They're out of blonde hair dye. But I saw them restocking the black...
[ she shifts on her foot as if she's about to lead him out to the beauty aisle, but katherine still doesn't move from the safety of this one. ]
narrowing her eyes, katherine tries to pinpoint a word for damon's thing. it's important it's established—bonding over damon's immaturity is an easy one, in all honestly. ] His petulant tantrums? His childish fits? Is black the new being-a-dick?
( okay, that's not true. his brother had, at one point, been a good, kind person but the world had changed him. people had changed him. and while stefan knew him as a better man than he'd been, he could still be a dick. )
He stabbed me when I got here. I think he's got the market cornered on being a dick.
[ katherine doesn't look surprised, even if she glances down to stefan's abdomen, expecting him to have some sort of bloodied wound seeping through his shirt.
it's typical. they relate to one another in physical violence. sometimes she wonders if they'd extended that to her.
looking up at him with an arch to her brow, ] What did you do to deserve it?
( he can't help but give her an offended look for that one. he hadn't done anything but show up. )
I showed up.
( that was pretty much all he'd had to do. damon had been in a mood and he'd rationalized stabbing him by demonstrating the slower healing here but still. )
[ she arches her brow at what he believes to have been his crime. stefan's capable of far more than that. was it a look he gave damon? his tone of voice? did he give damon a speech on how he can be a better man if he tried? did he buy him a diary?
the skepticism morphs into amused surprise with her eyebrows rising. ] Why can't you boys hug like normal brothers? [ the salvatore boys are so stupid and yet so entertaining. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
manipulative) wrote2019-12-08 11:16 am
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( he absolutely thinks it's going to be that bad. there's something about this place that bothers him in a way he can't quite name. it has the look of a small town not unlike mystic falls but he's barely been here a week and he's already seen things that he shouldn't be seeing.
and all he'd done is open a box and light a match. )
I think it's going to be that bad. You don't?
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being honest with stefan means something different to being honest with caroline. caroline doesn't know her. stefan knows only a small portion of her. if she says no, she knows he'll see it as visible fear. katherine doesn't want to appear afraid.
eyeing the shelves around them, she doesn't look at him when she says, ] I do.
[ looking at him, she steels herself. ] You opened the box.
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( he purses his lips and sighs, letting the bottle hang loose at his side. he hadn't wanted to but he'd been cold and it had been the only thing available, the only thing he had to keep warm. )
I knew I shouldn't have but I did anyway.
( and he'd seen...he'd seen things. people. people that shouldn't be there but had been at that moment in time. )
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shaking her head, she presses her lips together and lets out a breath. ] We're going to have to learn to stop opening things, even if we think it's going to help.
[ she says it with amusement, though. what else can they do? the past can't be changed, but the future can be. ]
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( obviously, there had been something just like he'd seen something. it's even odds on her telling him what she'd seen but there's no harm in asking. )
When you opened it and lit the match. What did you see?
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altering her stance—more in a bid to protect herself and make herself feel like she's in control—she easily puts on her mask of being the unfeeling and inhuman katherine. ]
Do you really want to have this conversation in a store, Stefan?
[ nice save. ]
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( he knows that it's more likely that she'll share with him if he offers up something of his own. he'd seen his friend, standing there smiling at him like she'd just waltzed into town to have a visit. )
And then she was gone.
( he'd wanted her to stay. he feels more centered and secure and like he's going to stay in one place when she's there. )
I would have opened the box again if it meant I got to see her again.
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katherine doesn't smile or frown. she looks at stefan with a look of empathy she very rarely wears. ]
Did you? Open the box again and see her again.
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( and then an already chaotic and confusing situation had just gotten more so. he hadn't forgotten about lexi but he'd tried to put the thought of seeing her aside, away so he wouldn't consistently have his hopes dashed. )
I got caught up doing other things and I tried not to open the box. I saw Lexi once but I don't think it was guaranteed to be her the next time. It might have been something else. Someone else.
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that'd been stupid and weak of her, but katherine's at least self-aware enough to know she occasionally lets her humanity seep in. ]
Did she still have her ridiculously long hair? [ it's asked kindly, despite her choice in particular words. ]
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( he misses her like an ache. something deep in his bones, something that he can ignore but never goes away. )
She's still the same. I don't think anything's going to change that.
( he's come to forgive damon for what he'd done but forgetting? he won't ever do that. )
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I'm glad you saw her. [ she says that quietly, and finds herself meaning it. ] Lexi was… [ looking up at the top of the opposite shelves, she searches for her word up there. once she finds it, there's an upward quirk to her lips. ] okay.
[ lexi was annoying, a know-it-all, and stefan's guide when katherine wasn't it. she was a good woman who didn't deserve to be collateral damage. so was pearl. ]
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( not too many people were okay to her. it took a special person to reach that level but he's not surprised lexi had. )
I miss her.
( as if that wasn't obvious. )
She'd know what to do with this place.
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not that she's telling him any of that. she's grateful he doesn't pry further. ]
She'd know that what you're about to buy is probably not helpful.
[ there's really no judgement in her tone, it something much more playful. if stefan wants to drown his sorrows and his discomfort of being in dream town with liquor, then by all means. katherine has no intention of being inebriated when trying to scope the place. ]
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( things weren't that bad yet. he hated feeling like he was on his back foot, unable to know what was coming but it's not the worst things that's ever happened to him either. )
It's one bottle. Who do you think I am, my brother?
( damon, who'd been pretty drunk when stefan had found him and who'd decided to stab him because he was damon. )
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[ that's the most laughable thing anyone could say. damon and stefan are so unalike physically and spiritually that she'd be able to identify them if they happened to switch bodies. damon is playful and childish, hot-tempered to a petulant fault, and a hopeless romantic who would sell his soul just for a kiss. stefan's sensible and withdrawn, and seems to take on the responsibilities of ensuring those around him are safe, even at the detriment of his own romantic heart.
and one can style their hair really well with gel.
throwing her thumb over her shoulder, she turns slightly, ] Have you ever considered dying your hair black? We can go buy some right now…
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( that's a no. and he's not even going to dignify the thought of himself and his brother being interchangeable. there are some similarities but overall, they're very different men who have led very different lives with said lives intersecting more often than not. )
I'll die my hair black if you go blonde.
( you gonna take that challenge, katherine? )
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Oh. [ she looks and sounds disappointed, even though it's clear she's far from it. ] They're out of blonde hair dye. But I saw them restocking the black...
[ she shifts on her foot as if she's about to lead him out to the beauty aisle, but katherine still doesn't move from the safety of this one. ]
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( so, you can fake leaving all you want, katherine. he's not going anywhere. he's just going to stand there with an amused expression on his face. )
I'll leave the black to Damon. It suits his whole...thing.
( whatever thing he was choosing to be on that day. )
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narrowing her eyes, katherine tries to pinpoint a word for damon's thing. it's important it's established—bonding over damon's immaturity is an easy one, in all honestly. ] His petulant tantrums? His childish fits? Is black the new being-a-dick?
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( okay, that's not true. his brother had, at one point, been a good, kind person but the world had changed him. people had changed him. and while stefan knew him as a better man than he'd been, he could still be a dick. )
He stabbed me when I got here. I think he's got the market cornered on being a dick.
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it's typical. they relate to one another in physical violence. sometimes she wonders if they'd extended that to her.
looking up at him with an arch to her brow, ] What did you do to deserve it?
[ damon's reactive, hardly proactive. ]
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I showed up.
( that was pretty much all he'd had to do. damon had been in a mood and he'd rationalized stabbing him by demonstrating the slower healing here but still. )
I stabbed him in the leg.
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the skepticism morphs into amused surprise with her eyebrows rising. ] Why can't you boys hug like normal brothers? [ the salvatore boys are so stupid and yet so entertaining. ]
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( maybe once upon a time they'd been normal brothers who lived normal lives but that hadn't been the case for awhile. )
You wouldn't like us if we were normal.
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