deadweight | oo1 ♞ video.

[Guess it's nice he had the surprise of Mr. Emotionless Ripper himself, otherwise hearing (and seeing? What the hell, video phones) another vampire who is terribly familiar (and somewhat unwanted) would surprise him.

Okay. It still kind of does. Alaric even hesitates to respond, a) because he's still pissed, shitty apology or not, and b) ... he's still pissed. It's a good enough excuse. But. Devil that you know and all that.

Also, survival.]

Your brother almost shot me in the head.

[—Rick? Great. That's just what they need right now. Thing is, Rick's face should've been welcome, but psychotic and undead? Not so much.]

Your tone indicates I'm supposed to think that doesn't even things out. You know. Barely.

[He'd love to know what he did to deserve a bolt to the face.

Also, seriously? Hearing this from the guy who killed him a week ago makes him want to throw the freaking phone.] Even things out? Between the two of you, that's not gonna happen.

Where is Stefan, anyway? It sounds like you decided to leave him alive.

[God knows why. He'd say to protect Elena, no doubt, but Rick can't know Elena is here.]

[There's a few seconds of blank staring at the screen, his brows creasing.]

What the hell are you talking about? [He knows Damon's jokes, believe him. Didn't sound like one, and it was crappy either way.] He's around. Still a dick, by the way.

[The furrowed brow has Damon giving one of his own. His eyes narrow.]

You know what.

[Whatever. If Rick (Alaric, since they're not friends anymore) wants to play stupid, what does he care? He doesn't even know why he's continuing this conversation. It's the longest he's talked to Rick without getting his face kicked in.]

Edited 2012-07-06 18:30 (UTC)

[He is seriously not made for this right now. Things were bad enough back home (back home, like it's not supposed to be fictional, like this is just a Wizard of Oz trip), but he can't deal with both Salvatores being unhelpful assholes when he has about a week and a day to life off of what's in his bag. If that.

In the middle of a decimated city, he might add.]

If I knew what, I wouldn't be asking. [He looks away from the phone, exasperated. After a sigh and a shift of his hair with a hand, he's fine. Sure. He can still see Stefan from here, looking over the place. Kingswater. Right.] Where are you? Stefan seems to think I have Damon-radar.

[Wait, Stefan's still there? He is. Damon can see him just over Alaric's shoulder. What the hell is Stefan doing hanging out with Rick? Better question: what is Rick doing hanging out with Stefan? Look, he knows now isn't the time to divide and die, but still.

Mostly, though, it's the exasperated sigh that tips him off. The one Rick has a habit of doing when he's just given up on arguing. It's not exactly indicative of homicidal vampire hunting behavior. Damon's brows furrow further.]

Rick?

Uh. Yeah?

[Okay. While his instincts aren't so crappy that he can't notice that Something Is Wrong, no one's exactly spilling the beans and - since when is Stefan the only person not being weird around him?]

[No way. You gotta be kidding him. Look, call Alaric's alter-ego what you want, deceptive isn't one. Rick sucks at lying in both incarnations.]

Scale of calm to murderous, where are you right now?

[ABOUT TO THROW HIS PHONE AT A WALL IF SOMEONE DOESN'T START MAKING SENSE.]

I'm at some mild shade of extremely violent if someone doesn't tell me what the hell is going on.

[Like why Caroline thinks he killed Klaus. Or why Damon is taking twenty minutes to realize, hey, this is him.]

[All in all, Kingswater isn't the worst dive Stefan's ever been in, which isn't saying much. Few places could rank worse than Monterrey, post-ripper rampage, and the memory still causes a shiver to travel up the back of his neck. He hasn't thought about that in a long time. Maybe he should blame Klaus for bringing it up again.

Or maybe it's this place. Superficially nothing like a turn-of-the-century Mexican village, but the smell is the same anyway. Death.

Stefan backs away from the edge of the building, and looks over to where Alaric is fiddling with his new phone.]

Who are you talking to?

[Alaric doesn't know what he's deserved to be stuck in a broken city with a ripper, but he figures his luck is moderately okay in comparison considering Stefan hasn't ripped his head off. Pretty sure the ring can't heal that.

He almost drops the phone like it's accusatory, tearing his gaze from the screen.] Damon. And Caroline. [Does he even want to bring up that apparently he killed Klaus? There's just. No way. Human, here, and last thing he remembered hearing was Klaus was unkillable.] They're saying I'm supposed to be crazy. Ring any bells?

Edited 2012-07-06 19:23 (UTC)

[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?

[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?

What's going on is that you went on a psychotic rampage trying to kill us all.

[He doesn't remember. What does this mean then? Is his alter-ego just buried back inside again, then? Is he still a vampire? Does he know he's a vampire? How could he not? Damon can't deny he feels inconveniently human right now, but the smell of blood and the taste for it is still thick on his tongue.]

Not possible. Not. Possible. Vervain. I've had vervain on me forever. And, you know. Human. What, did I start building bazookas in my sleep?

You weren't compelled. [This really isn't a topic for the phone. He's actually had enough of dramatic phone conversations over the past twenty-four hours to last him an eternity.]

Tell my brother to stop eavesdropping.

[UGH.]

Yeah, I'll get right on that. [Not. He's trying not to give the ripper a reason to rip, thanks.] Are you going to tell me where you are or accuse me of being a psychopath?

[Good question. He doesn't want to put Elena in Rick's path in case something happens when his friend passes out, but it's not like Rick can't hunt him down if he does reawaken with homicide in his heart.

On the other hand, leaving Rick out there with his brother? Also not an ideal option. He settles for a compromise.]

Get to the park.

[Another sigh, but it's not resignation. It's relief. Maybe if they meet - funny, wanting to meet Damon. He's been trying to avoid him for a week, but. He'd. Kind of apologized.

And in the wake of this news, that doesn't seem important anymore.] Gimme a bit. I'll be there.

[He closes the phone and sticks it in an outside pocked of the duffel back, his messenger bag safely tucked inside. It's heavy with the addition of the camera along with the food, but he's not risking dropping anything just yet. After Stefan splits off to find the apartments, Alaric makes his way to the park. The phone's map? Actually accurate. And fairly useful. The park itself would've made him stray; the overgrown weeds and trees with their tangling limbs looked more like the beginnings of a forest.

It was fairly big, but he figured it was still pretty empty. Most of the other - what, fictional characters? - probably went more for shelter than for a park. He found a bench, wrapped tightly with green, flowering vines, and sat down after clearing a space.

Like the brochures weren't bad enough, the people he knew were accusing him of being a murderer. Didn't know how it got worse than that.]

Edited 2012-07-07 04:54 (UTC)

[Leaving Elena's not high on his to-do list especially since Caroline's gone from vampire barbie back to just barbie with a shotgun, but he can't bring Rick here and he can't take Elena with him in case something goes wrong.

Dilemmas. As always.

He leaves. Limited options and all. The park isn't far and he finds his way there pretty quick. Rick is already waiting for him.

Damon approaches slow, but casual. The last time he saw his friend, he was trying to kill him. The last time he actually saw his friend, he was dead in an old dusty tomb. Let's just say seeing Rick now gives him a second of pause.]

Rick. You're looking...less prone to violence.

[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.]

[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?

oo1 ♞ video.

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

action; thread-jacking fite me

action; omg I would never fite you :*

action;

action;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video -> action

action.

action.

action.

action.

action.

action.

action.

action.

action.

action.

action.

action.

action.