deadweight | oo1 ♞ video.

[Stefan's eyebrows go up, and then he actually laughs at the question, not kindly.]

You're asking me to judge your level of sanity?

[He wouldn't call himself crazy, exactly, but his actions in the past three months have not been those of a balanced and healthy person. He's lost count of how many times he's thought this is it. This is the moment he finally turns it off, because if he doesn't, he might just snap and goad Klaus into killing him once and for all.

He hasn't yet. Somehow that's led him to hanging around in an abandoned pharmacy with a vampire-hunting high school history teacher. Stefan digs his phone out of his pocket and keys over to the Network icon to confirm Alaric's story.

Damon and Caroline are here. Stefan listens in for a bit before picking up his crossbow again and going over to where Alaric is still chatting with his brother. He rolls his eyes when Damon tells him to stop eavesdropping, but doesn't interrupt until the call ends.]

For the record, I have no idea what they're talking about either. [He nods at Alaric's phone.] You're heading off?

I feel like I haven't eaten in a long time.

I'm the wrong person to ask.

[He's going to leave it at that.]

But I feel different too. I keep waiting for, uh, whatever they did to me to wear off, but it hasn't. I feel weak. Definitely not human. But almost as weak as one.

The pamphlet... it said they haven't "perfected the art of creation" yet.

But I don't feel like I've been vervain-ed or anything... Do you really believe what the pamphlet says, Stefan?

No. I don't.

[It would take a sick mind to invent his life for the amusement of others. Unless all he is is a monster, preying on intrepid teenage heroes and killing them off one-by-one in increasingly gruesome ways.

If that's the case, why bother with the rest of them? Elena, Damon, Caroline and Alaric. Is he supposed to be the villain in their stories too? No. It doesn't make much sense. His friends' lives deserve better than to be dismissed as fictional.]

But it's the only information we have to go on, and the story that the "Creators" are sticking to in their network post. I mean, what's the alternative?

[Not in the mood. When is Stefan ever in the mood? His baby brother's got the sense of humor of a bent stop sign.

Damon rolls his eyes when Stefan hangs up like he's actually seventeen. It should be typical Stefan behavior and it is, but Damon can tell something's off, too. Stefan is talking like he's still trying to push Damon away. Mentioning Chicago. What? They're not exactly buddies, but they've been in this Klaus-killing-turned-Klaus-saving moderation-exercising thing for some time now. Stefan should know better than to keep pretending he doesn't care. He's already admitted to saving Damon's life (again.) Damon knows he still loves Elena. (Stefan doesn't know or won't believe Elena loves him just the same because Stefan is an idiot.) What's the point?

He considers ignoring the call when the phone rings, but he doesn't. Somehow, Stefan manages to say something that makes even less sense.]

What's wrong with me? [Can they just stop and pause over the irony of that statement for a second?] What's wrong with you? Klaus is dead. And we should be, too, except apparently we aren't.

[There was a small bit of hope that he was the butt of some horrible cosmic joke. That circumstances were something that made sense, he just didn't understand it yet.

You went crazy and tried to kill everyone. Yeah.

But it hits him, seeing Damon again, that there's not much point in having hope. Damon approaches him like a wild animal; like he's actually potentially dangerous, depending on what he chooses to do.

He chooses to stay seated, dropping the phone back into his bag laying just by his foot.] So I've heard. [Wish he could say he was never prone to violence, but. That'd be lying. Exhibit A standing right here.

Wait a second. How the hell did he not notice that earlier?] You have a bruise on your face. [Vampires didn't bruise. They didn't have injuries. Was Damon -? No. That was seriously impossible.]

[Stefan falls silent when Damon uses two words in impossible conjunction with each other. It startles him enough that he doesn't even bother trying to make sense of what comes after it.]

What do you mean, "dead"? How can he be dead? He's the hybrid now, you can't...

[Okay, stop. Breathe. Think. Stefan is just starting to get an inkling of the confusion Alaric felt while talking to Damon earlier.]

Klaus isn't dead. Not as far as I know. [Another pause, but a shorter one this time.] Damon, the last thing I remember is seeing you and Elena at Gloria's bar.

[Apparently. But since Stefan is the only one treating him like usual - like an interfering human, for the most part - it's all he has left.

Though. Even that. Stefan hasn't once asked him where Elena is; in fact, he's almost being... Stefan-y. Like, minimal bitching when Alaric made it clear he wasn't going anywhere (in order to make sure there's at least a little bit of interference in case the ripper decides to rip again.) He's still an asshole, sure, but it's not emotionless-Stefan asshole. Shouldn't his priority always be Elena? Why isn't he searching up and down for her? Not for her sake, but because the compulsion would be driving him to find her to keep Klaus's little human blood bag safe.

Alaric isn't even sure how to feel anymore.]

Guess so. [He turns to Stefan, regarding him for a second. Wall-throwing aside, he's not... the worst. Until Alaric colorfully remembers how he's spent the last few months tearing people apart and eating them.

Maybe he should just. Poke the bear a little.] You're not gonna ask where Elena is?

[It's more hopeful than he thought it would be. Still minimal, though.

(Why would Caroline still want to see him if he'd killed her father?)]

Take care of yourself, Caroline. I'll be around.

[It's Rick. It is; the differences aren't hard to see. He looks...human. That's not to say he is, but he looks like his human side, yeah. The way he carries himself and speaks. Damon has no idea how it happened. Guess getting dragged into an apocalypse did the trick. Always good to know.

Pointing out the bruise gets mild annoyance from Damon. They're both thinking it; he should've healed in seconds. He shouldn't even have been injured long enough for a bruise to form in the first place.]

Your eyes work. Perfect. [He studies Rick, making no effort to hide that he is. Damon might have lost most of the perks that come with being dead, but he has no doubt he's still a vampire. The overwhelming smell of blood, even dead and dried, makes sure of that. If Rick has turned but can't remember, he should be freaking out about it. He should know.

Without warning, Damon grabs Rick's hand and slices open a thin cut on his arm. That's when he knows for sure. There's no mistaking fresh human blood. Rick not remembering is one thing. This? This is something else entirely.]

No way.

[At least Damon's snark is normal. It resettles him just a bit. Of course, that's also the moment Damon decides cutting him open is a good idea.

He jerks his arm back, smearing the drop of blood against his jeans.] The hell are you doing? [He knows. He's starting to get it, maybe. He's also just as desperate to push those thoughts away, to keep floundering in confusion because that, at least, is a hint safer.

The cut is forgotten in moments. He stares at Damon with a frown marring his features, uncomfortable. He shifts on the bench, wiping a new drop of blood away.] What is it?

[Says everything Rick didn't immediately try to hit him in the face.

Damon's expression is dark. There's an edge to the way he's narrowed his eyes. Like Rick, he doesn't know what the hell is going on. This entire thing has been hard to swallow; now he's got Rick reverted back human, Stefan thinking Klaus is alive. Elena doesn't realize yet Stefan isn't the Stefan they managed to get back after months, finally.

He is this close to ripping someone's throat out.]

What did Caroline tell you?

[She told him something. Their conversation didn't abruptly go radio silent for no reason.]

[He recognizes that expression. With the way things are, how could he not? It's the way he came back after they'd found Stefan in Tennessee, when they'd barely escaped from werewolves. When they figured he was gone for good. When Klaus had sapped Stefan's emotions from him with a compulsion of his switch.

When it's about him? It makes him feel colder.]

She told me... something about the ring. An alter ego? [He doesn't know what that's supposed to mean. When he thinks alter ego, he thinks Batman. Spider-Man. Not... kill everyone who likes vampires. What? He looks up at Damon, voice going quiet.] She said I was killing people. [And then his head drops and it hits him. Both hands cover his face.] Christ, Damon. She said I killed her dad.

[Dammit. What's he supposed to do with this? Maybe he should've brought Elena with him after all. She could give Rick a hug or something. Be Elena.

Damon can only be Damon, so he looks down at Alaric, who's got his head in his hands, and tries to wave it off. It happened, they don't need to brood about it. Bill wasn't winning any father of the year awards, anyway.]

He chose to die. [That's technically true. He doesn't allow the conversation to linger long enough for Rick to argue semantics.] You started sleepwalking. Killed some council members along the way. Incidentally, you're not the first. The ring's been carrying side effects for as long as it's been in Gilbert family. Who knew?

[There's a note of finality to everything. How did this happen? The most he'd had to worry about before was finding out about the Original family. (Who's he kidding? They're still the biggest threat.) He'd only just found Mikael's name. He just -]

So that all happened. [He felt it, of course he did. The same thing that made him leave Jeremy and Elena behind when they needed someone. A big, cold wave, ready to overtake him.] But when? No one's died in town lately.

[Klaus dead. Tyler dead. Caroline afraid of him and Damon wary. Since when was Damon wary of anyone? How had he gotten to this point when last week he'd been trying to stop Damon from killing people and ended up with a snapped neck?

Immediately he tugs the ring off with violence, scraping and turning his finger red from the effort. He shoves it into Damon's hand.] Take it. Throw it over the wall or something. Get rid of it. It's not too late, right? I haven't done anything.

Edited 2012-07-07 19:38 (UTC)

[Plenty of people have died in town recently. It's Mystic Falls; they can't go a week without a body or two. Can't go a week without those bodies resurrecting, either. That's the fun of daggers.

Before Damon can think about answering, Rick's shoving the ring at him. Damon rolls his eyes. Predictable.]

You're not throwing away the ring. [He should want him to. There are a lot of things Damon knows he should do that he winds up not doing. He knows he'll regret it, too, but he does it, anyway. Look, Rick might not feel like he's done anything, but he has. Trying to keep sane now won't change the body count. Damon figures the next best thing is trying to keep alive.

He holds it out.]

Wear it. If you die and come back and show signs of going crazy, I'll snap your neck myself.

....

[Damon is right about that.]

Because it is ridiculous.

[And he's having a hard time swallowing it.]

You already did. [He feels like laughing or breaking down are the most appropriate responses here. Supposed to still be pissed about being killed, and now hre's apparently... Worse. Killing people who don't come back to life.

He drops his hand after taking the ring, but doesn't put the ring back on. Like he could. It turns him into a murderer and Damon expects him to keep it?]

So did I lose my memory or something? I was... I was in that cave before waking up. Taking pictures of the runes. [He digs around in his bag and opened the messenger, bringing the camera out. Trying to prove he was telling the truth, maybe. The screen, when it pops on, shows the name Rebekah in that Viking script.

What else was he going to do? The way Damon put it, it was like: you're a killer, accept it. But he couldn't. Not him. After trying so hard to freaking keep everyone alive -

So he pushes past it. For now. Knowing what was going on was a good start.] Caroline mentioned... I killed Klaus. [He pauses. Can't believe that sentence is coming out of his mouth. Klaus, the unkillable hybrid. Klaus who took over his body and almost got him killed. Again. Klaus the Original.] Is that... Seriously? Is that true?

Edited 2012-07-07 21:27 (UTC)

Well, then, clearly you don't know very far.

[It's a snap response that belies how much this is throwing him, too. First Rick, now Stefan. Seriously? Did everyone here just got dropped on their heads on their way over?

Gloria's bar. That was months ago. What is this, more compulsion? Stefan's been taking vervain, but Damon's got first hand experience in how you can bleed that stuff out of someone. But why just those memories? Actually, better question: who would even bother? Rebekah and Elijah are the only two Originals left in town.]

We've moved a long way from Chicago, Stefan. Several bodies, two white oak stakes, and one mommy original long.

You believe we're fictional? What weapon did they give you? -SH

I believe in sarcasm.

[Seriously, was he supposed to make physical air quotes around the phrase "real world"?]

A lawnmower. You?

So don't buy into it, then. [His casual shrug indicates it's as easy doing as it's said.]

You're very casual about all this.

Oh good. [ good to see some people weren't taking that nonsense seriously. though in sherlock's defense, he did have to ask. most people he'd dealt with were too insecure and simple to not question their existence. ]

Brass knuckles. Utterly useless against the 'creatures' here; probably what our hosts wanted. Handgun came with me when they pulled me out of London. have you seen the 'zombies' yet? -SH

oo1 ♞ video.

action;

private; video. (:D)

private; video. (>:[)

private; video. (<3333)

private; video.

private audio;

action.

private audio;

action;

private video;

action.

action.

action.

action.

action.

action.

action.

video;

action.

private audio;

text;

text;

video;

video;

text;