Starting right now I'll be strong...

[otrazhenie]

Who: Elena (Gilbert) Salvatore
Where: Around Town, especially Between the sPines
When: Month of May
What: Catch-all for the month as she gets her memories back and deals with Pines life, including suddenly being the owner of a bookstore.
Warnings: Mentions of death in some prompts.
[Open and Closed]

[Open and closed starters in the comments. Elena's Pines info. Want something specific? Let me know at taintedcrimson or via PM.]

Comments

{ May 9-13 | Open } Between the sPines

[otrazhenie]

{ Like a small boat on the ocean... }

She owned a bookstore. That was unexpected.

The memories had 'returned' on Monday, as Elena pondered just what she was going to do with her free time. She was going to train with Nyx, so that was something, but she couldn't do that all the time. Damon and Stefan worked at the garage, Nyx worked at the gym. What was she--

She never worked Mondays. Tuesday through Saturday, she spent the day at the store, greeting customers, helping them with selections, balancing the books that were never in quite the state she wanted them. The memories were sudden, emotional, and a bit overwhelming. Actually stepping into the shop itself? Even more so.

Coming to the shop as a child with her siblings, curling up in a chair with Nyx while he read to her and Katherine. Sitting in that chair alone when her brother was gone. Helping out at the shop on the weekends when she was in middle school, actually working there part-time in high school, and then taking over once she'd graduated. Dreams of med school were just that when the business wasn't exactly thriving, and all she could do was save as much as she could with the hope that one day she'd get a little closer to achieving that goal.

So there the townsfolk would find her, perusing the shelves to familiarize herself with the titles she was supposed to remember, going over those ledgers and straightening the magazine racks that seemed to shift when she wasn't looking. Come in and say hello, and perhaps question the very odd selections found among the shelves.

{ May 9 | Closed for Eliot } Weaver's

[otrazhenie]

{ Sending big waves into motion... }

She owned a bookstore, though.

It was still a shock, even after Elena had spent the entire day in the slightly musty smelling space, poring over the financial ledgers and trying to make sense of the business she was supposed to be running. Running she was running it successfully was, of course, a matter of opinion at this point. They didn't seem to be drowning in debt, at least, so there was that?

Memories had continued to trickle in throughout the day, of the people who were her family in this place, of the times they'd spent together in the store. Try as she might to remind herself that none of it was real, it all felt real, and wasn't it just silly to embrace some things and not others when it came to these weird fake memories?

But therein was the problem, and the headache, and the cause of her very intense need of a drink. Oh look, a bar. What perfect timing.

{ May 10 | Closed for Crowe } Residential Neighborhood

[otrazhenie]

{ Like how a single word can make a heart open... }

Day 2 of... some very large number down, only an unknown number more to go.

It was getting easier to spend her days at the bookstore. Granted, she was only just starting out, but the more the false memories surfaced, the more connected she felt to the space, the building and the books, and to the business itself. She was beginning to remember the role it had played in the small community, and the deep desire to see that continue after her parents' death, even if it meant a longer journey toward achieving her own dreams.

With the work day done, she'd headed home - well, not home, not yet. Caroline's, because it was still too much to deal with at her proper Wayward Pines home since she didn't yet have all her memories back. It wasn't as if she was all that far away, though; she could see the Salvatore residence from almost anywhere in Care's house. It was distance, but not too much, because she didn't want any of them thinking the worst about why she'd needed some time to deal with all of this and find her own way.

Today was different than the others, though. Today, she walked past the neighboring homes and stopped in front of one, seeing it in a completely different light. Remembering someone who lived there. She was heading up the sidewalk before she even realized what she was doing, giving a good knock on the door and hoping that the woman who lived there was at home.

Please be home.