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pineslog2017-04-08 08:48 pm
unforgivably) wrote in pineslog2017-04-08 08:48 pm
who i've always been
Who: Damon Salvatore, Stefan Salvatore, Emma Swan and YOU.
Where: Various places detailed below, all in the city of Wayward Pines.
When: This month.
What: Damon decides to play by the rules, and discovers he's not the only version of himself that's broken them.
Warnings: None yet, but this is Damon Salvatore.
[ His third month here, Damon decides a different approach to the town is in order. For once, he's playing every part he's given. When a memory emerges, he leans into the skid. He could fight it. He could rabble rouse and raise pitchforks and anger whomever is behind the cameras, but he decides once and for all to play along. Before this month he'd been doing it out of habit, as something to do, but he decides then and there that he needs to. He gets the idea from Randel (or, with Randel, really) to improve if need be. It starts with smoothing over a soured friendship. And that becomes his second goal. Allies are the name of the game. And to get allies, Damon needs to be accessible. No more double meanings, no more burst bubbles inside parked cars. The more people he meets, the more memories uncovered and maybe that's the key. ]
i wanna talk about what you are that i ain't .. open
[ French's General Store becomes a hub of sorts for him. He volunteers to get the groceries. He's nothing if not a modern vampire and sending Katherine off to get groceries is a waste of her talents. When not stocking up on pancake batter, more booze and whatever he feels they might want for the next few days, he finds himself contemplating the rack of old VHS tapes. It's the classics Stefan actually likes, and ones they've all heard of, so every time he drops in, he picks up a few more. Drinking gets him so far, and with sex with Katherine off the table for him, he needs better entertainment. By mid-month they have a well-stocked VHS library.
At the butcher's, he makes small talk with French and always leaves a twenty in the tip jar. Sometimes, he makes a dirty joke about a breast, or a shank. And some days you might be surprised to find he pays for your order as well.
At the Garage, he takes to more hands on work when not working the books over. Expecting Stefan? You get Damon, hands greased up and white t-shirt spattered, but the job's always well done. His brother's expanded his acumen and that leaves Damon and Bucky doing the job in the afternoons. If you drop by during slower hours, you might find Damon singing Taylor Swift's greatest hits to himself. If not Taylor Swift, he has an impressive encyclopedic knowledge from songs released in 1993 and 1994, and a few of the older country songs.
With Stefan at the school, Damon drops by to bring his brother his lunch. In his brown bag sits a sandwich, an apple, and a thermos complete with his brother's favorite type. Damon raps on his brother's doorway to make his delivery. He bothers Stefan as long as his brother will let him. His third goal for the month, get back into his brother's good graces. After seeing Stefan, Damon wanders the halls. If anywhere is going to jog his memory, it's his high school. He can be found in the lobby, in the auditorium, and in the gymnasium, sometimes thinking, sometimes dribbling a basketball.
One afternoon he stops by one of the glass cases, palm settled against it, transfixed. He didn't go here. He knows he didn't go here and yet, there he is.
In the library, he finds an old yearbook, spending a while at one of the tables, flipping through it.
He stops at Between the Pines. Another way to his brother's heart. Books. The problem is, he spent the better part of a century either avoiding his brother, or making his life a living hell. He doesn't know which of these Stefan has read. He finds himself in the pulpier sections, knowing full well Stefan sticks with the highbrow. Maybe this is what he needs to turn that dour frown upside down.
At home he searches for his personal copy of the yearbook. Not pulling all the way into their garage, Damon leaves the door open while digging through old junk and finding not only his, but all of their yearbooks packed away in a collapsing cardboard box. The stolen yearbook sits next to the other three with Damon sitting not far from them, drinking from the bottle. They were here. They signed each other's yearbooks. Damon was on the football team and the basketball team. As far as information goes, it's a little much for him.
What he manages to do is pick up a few week day shifts at the bar. Weekend shifts come with experience. Seniority. Damon knows what he looks like. He knows he'll earn the weekend shift sooner or later. When not filling beers on tap and making exceptional drinks, including some that might count as before according to a sign or two, Damon uses his vampire hearing to listen to everyone. Sometimes, he strikes up his own conversation and doesn't discourage people starting conversation with him. With week night shifts come bussing as well, and when waitresses call out, running. But, he's capable and again, it passes time.
If you're lucky, your first drink is on the house. ]
let's talk about what you did to get here .. closed to stefan
When's the last time we did inventory?
[ Damon doesn't know. There are still whole patches of information, years, nights he doesn't remember, but he knows as a business owner that they should. Damon knows they need to take stock, get a handle on the business side of their business, so he and Stefan take a Sunday, shut down the garage and go through everything. Damon finds an old ledger in one of the cabinets. Modern technology eludes them. If only a ledger were a scanner. The menial inventory taking, he tasks Stefan with, not paying mind to the handwritten data.
Damon, instead, is going through their filing cabinets. ] We have paperwork going back to 1991. ]
let's talk about blood and sweat and tears .. closed to emma
[ It's not surprising Damon has friends. Because he has. Alaric. Enzo. Bonnie. Andie, in a way. Even Rose. Damon's swimming in friends he suddenly remembers. (Friends, and other people, but that stays with him and his brother. Whom he trusts inherently.) Damon drinks on the porch sometimes. Katherine's presence is all consuming and when she gets bored, he finds he doesn't like to entertain her. Or, doesn't want to. Sure there are nights with board games and drinks and they've read together, but some nights he wants to drink alone outside of the bar.
Finger on the top of his closer bottle of scotch, Damon finds himself fixated on a house across the street, a house until now that hasn't meant anything to him.
And despite that, he finds he needs a different, less compelled form of therapy.
There are the friends you drink with, bust their chops, camaraderie friends that don't judge you. And there are the friends that do, that take your shit, but tell you like it is. Bonnie was both. Here, he realizes he has a little of Bonnie in two people. It's too late to call or bother Sam. He's with kid. His sister's, but, still, kid. But, he knows Emma's up. Maybe, it's because her light is on. It's not because her light's on. It's another case of needing a face to a name attached to - something.
Getting up, he keeps the bottle with him, heading down their steps and across the street. He even looks both ways.
Arriving at Emma's door, he taps the bottle of scotch against it. He needs an ear not attached to Katherine or his brother. ]
Where: Various places detailed below, all in the city of Wayward Pines.
When: This month.
What: Damon decides to play by the rules, and discovers he's not the only version of himself that's broken them.
Warnings: None yet, but this is Damon Salvatore.
[ His third month here, Damon decides a different approach to the town is in order. For once, he's playing every part he's given. When a memory emerges, he leans into the skid. He could fight it. He could rabble rouse and raise pitchforks and anger whomever is behind the cameras, but he decides once and for all to play along. Before this month he'd been doing it out of habit, as something to do, but he decides then and there that he needs to. He gets the idea from Randel (or, with Randel, really) to improve if need be. It starts with smoothing over a soured friendship. And that becomes his second goal. Allies are the name of the game. And to get allies, Damon needs to be accessible. No more double meanings, no more burst bubbles inside parked cars. The more people he meets, the more memories uncovered and maybe that's the key. ]
i wanna talk about what you are that i ain't .. open
[ French's General Store becomes a hub of sorts for him. He volunteers to get the groceries. He's nothing if not a modern vampire and sending Katherine off to get groceries is a waste of her talents. When not stocking up on pancake batter, more booze and whatever he feels they might want for the next few days, he finds himself contemplating the rack of old VHS tapes. It's the classics Stefan actually likes, and ones they've all heard of, so every time he drops in, he picks up a few more. Drinking gets him so far, and with sex with Katherine off the table for him, he needs better entertainment. By mid-month they have a well-stocked VHS library.
At the butcher's, he makes small talk with French and always leaves a twenty in the tip jar. Sometimes, he makes a dirty joke about a breast, or a shank. And some days you might be surprised to find he pays for your order as well.
At the Garage, he takes to more hands on work when not working the books over. Expecting Stefan? You get Damon, hands greased up and white t-shirt spattered, but the job's always well done. His brother's expanded his acumen and that leaves Damon and Bucky doing the job in the afternoons. If you drop by during slower hours, you might find Damon singing Taylor Swift's greatest hits to himself. If not Taylor Swift, he has an impressive encyclopedic knowledge from songs released in 1993 and 1994, and a few of the older country songs.
With Stefan at the school, Damon drops by to bring his brother his lunch. In his brown bag sits a sandwich, an apple, and a thermos complete with his brother's favorite type. Damon raps on his brother's doorway to make his delivery. He bothers Stefan as long as his brother will let him. His third goal for the month, get back into his brother's good graces. After seeing Stefan, Damon wanders the halls. If anywhere is going to jog his memory, it's his high school. He can be found in the lobby, in the auditorium, and in the gymnasium, sometimes thinking, sometimes dribbling a basketball.
One afternoon he stops by one of the glass cases, palm settled against it, transfixed. He didn't go here. He knows he didn't go here and yet, there he is.
In the library, he finds an old yearbook, spending a while at one of the tables, flipping through it.
He stops at Between the Pines. Another way to his brother's heart. Books. The problem is, he spent the better part of a century either avoiding his brother, or making his life a living hell. He doesn't know which of these Stefan has read. He finds himself in the pulpier sections, knowing full well Stefan sticks with the highbrow. Maybe this is what he needs to turn that dour frown upside down.
At home he searches for his personal copy of the yearbook. Not pulling all the way into their garage, Damon leaves the door open while digging through old junk and finding not only his, but all of their yearbooks packed away in a collapsing cardboard box. The stolen yearbook sits next to the other three with Damon sitting not far from them, drinking from the bottle. They were here. They signed each other's yearbooks. Damon was on the football team and the basketball team. As far as information goes, it's a little much for him.
What he manages to do is pick up a few week day shifts at the bar. Weekend shifts come with experience. Seniority. Damon knows what he looks like. He knows he'll earn the weekend shift sooner or later. When not filling beers on tap and making exceptional drinks, including some that might count as before according to a sign or two, Damon uses his vampire hearing to listen to everyone. Sometimes, he strikes up his own conversation and doesn't discourage people starting conversation with him. With week night shifts come bussing as well, and when waitresses call out, running. But, he's capable and again, it passes time.
If you're lucky, your first drink is on the house. ]
let's talk about what you did to get here .. closed to stefan
When's the last time we did inventory?
[ Damon doesn't know. There are still whole patches of information, years, nights he doesn't remember, but he knows as a business owner that they should. Damon knows they need to take stock, get a handle on the business side of their business, so he and Stefan take a Sunday, shut down the garage and go through everything. Damon finds an old ledger in one of the cabinets. Modern technology eludes them. If only a ledger were a scanner. The menial inventory taking, he tasks Stefan with, not paying mind to the handwritten data.
Damon, instead, is going through their filing cabinets. ] We have paperwork going back to 1991. ]
let's talk about blood and sweat and tears .. closed to emma
[ It's not surprising Damon has friends. Because he has. Alaric. Enzo. Bonnie. Andie, in a way. Even Rose. Damon's swimming in friends he suddenly remembers. (Friends, and other people, but that stays with him and his brother. Whom he trusts inherently.) Damon drinks on the porch sometimes. Katherine's presence is all consuming and when she gets bored, he finds he doesn't like to entertain her. Or, doesn't want to. Sure there are nights with board games and drinks and they've read together, but some nights he wants to drink alone outside of the bar.
Finger on the top of his closer bottle of scotch, Damon finds himself fixated on a house across the street, a house until now that hasn't meant anything to him.
And despite that, he finds he needs a different, less compelled form of therapy.
There are the friends you drink with, bust their chops, camaraderie friends that don't judge you. And there are the friends that do, that take your shit, but tell you like it is. Bonnie was both. Here, he realizes he has a little of Bonnie in two people. It's too late to call or bother Sam. He's with kid. His sister's, but, still, kid. But, he knows Emma's up. Maybe, it's because her light is on. It's not because her light's on. It's another case of needing a face to a name attached to - something.
Getting up, he keeps the bottle with him, heading down their steps and across the street. He even looks both ways.
Arriving at Emma's door, he taps the bottle of scotch against it. He needs an ear not attached to Katherine or his brother. ]
no subject
The narration is spot on when it comes to what he really takes note of.
Scarves.
Before this week, it's been cold enough for a scarf. But, what on his neck would last for weeks, he finds himself thinking as he refills someone's beer, looking in no apparent direction. He doesn't need to look. He knows where it's coming from.
He sets the beer down for another regular, one not about scarves or repeat dates, but just himself and his sad probably non-memories.
Taking the ticket from the machine, he reads the waitress' order, before flagging her down and leaning in. He decides to take the order himself to the table, if not to be friendly, but to see what's so important about this person's neck. It's obviously a simple, innocent hickey. But, weeks, what sucking prowess. He doesn't need to uncork the red wine as someone already ordered it, before topping off a vodka cranberry with a cherry. Leaving the bar, he takes the two drinks in hand and approaches Dio's table, setting first Dio's date's drink down, than Dio's. ] Vodka cranberry, and the house red.
[ Closer, he may be able to discern something. ]
Are you two interested in what's on the menu tonight?
[ Dio's date? ]
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Well, if I'm going to keep my strength up, [his date says, flashing Dio a wide grin and elbowing him gently in the side. Dio rolls his eyes, but smiles.]
Go on then, [Dio says to Damon with a small wave of a hand. He lets go of his date's hand to lean back and rest an arm on the back of the booth behind his date. His date, on the other hand, leans forward to rest his folded arms on the table in front of him to get a better look at Damon around Dio. He's careful as when he leans forward he makes the movement to reach up to his scarf, the side Dio was inspecting, and tug it up just a little to be on the safe side.]
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[ His eyebrows go up. ] And, of course, anything else on the regularly scheduled menu in front of you. [ But those are the specials. ]
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[He looks at Dio, who shrugs a shoulder and seems nonplussed. For far too long to make a meal from this bar particularly appetizing in any capacity, Dio once subsisted on primarily meals from pubs in a life that he almost wishes at times that he could forget again.]
Order whatever you like. I'll pay for it.
[His date leans back asking,] Are you sure? You paid last time . . .
[When Dio nods, he turns his attention back to Damon, leaning forward again, and shrugs with a very pleased smile. He may have trailed off in an attempt to get least go dutch, but the effort was likely insincere. At the very least, neither one seems to really mind Dio footing the bill tonight.]
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The Alaskan salmon is a perfect choice. [ A smile, and as he turns, he tilts his head ] I love [ eyes going wide, Damon doing that eye thing he always does. ] your scarf.
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[He readjusts it again, but there's just the barest hint of what Dio was looking it a moment ago. The smaller marks from his other teeth have healed over, but the top of a puncture wound hastily covered with drugstore foundation is visible for just a second. It's Dio that reaches over and fixes it.]
You need to stop playing with it.
[His date flushes and scoots a little closer to Dio.]
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If you'd like, we have a rack over there for coats, and for scarves. [ His eyes glint. ] With the new kitchen, it gets hot in here. I keep telling them we need to do something about that. Upper management. [ Ain't he right? ]
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I'll keep that in mind, [his date says with a small nod after he has a moment to recover.]
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[ He smiles, nods, and leaves them to it, heading back to the bar. Most of the night, he keeps his distance, listening in for what he can here. If they have a fifth vampire on their hands, he should know. He plays it this way, not paying Dio and his date any mind. What does absence do again? ]
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[After everything's been paid and Dio stands, his date says he's going to run to the bathroom "real quick" before they leave. Dio gestures for him to go on, and the two separate. Dio's date heads straight for the bathroom while Dio himself waits by the entrance, leaning one side against the wall to look out the window with one hand resting at his hip. He's visibly breathing, but his breath doesn't steam the window.]
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