pineslog | you put up walls and paint them all a shade of gray

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you put up walls and paint them all a shade of gray

Who: Damon Salvatore, Caroline Forbes and Katherine Pierce separately
Where: Caroline's house; Damon, Stefan's, and Katherine's
When: The night of the 1st and the next morning
What: Reeling, Damon pays another new arrival his very own visit, before tucking his tail between his legs and returning "home."
Warnings: As always, Damon is his own walking warning.

and you come away with a great little story ..

[ Misery loves company. It's the old adage Damon's abided by in the past, but instead of finding some unsuspecting victim, sleeping with the wrong girl, or generally setting fire to his life, he chooses the dark reaches of his and Stefan's office. and his memories, both fabricated and real. He would rage against the machine, were there something corporeal to rage against, and Stefan beat him to defacing their camera with grease.

It's a call from Stefan which alters his plan, instead, taking the bottle to another house, the address familiar enough that he hoofs it on foot, as if he has all his life? The war inside him isn't something he can discuss around cameras, not according to the rules. But, he plans on a little known tactic should Caroline want to discuss what's really going on. Damon can do either, really, he's spoken in half truths for weeks now. It's something he's gotten very good at

He gets the gist from Stefan, Caroline's memory is situated squarely on Stefan, it sounds like, and what's really surprising about that? Without Caroline knowing, they both lost out on one of their best friends (his, definitely, not including Bonnie) and he feels like sharing. He's trying healthier coping methods. When you burn your girlfriend's body in her coffin, there really is nowhere to go but up. (It wasn't her, but he spent weeks thinking it was.)

He also owes it to Elena (and Stefan) to check in on Caroline. She may not know it, but she just gave birth. That's taxing for a human, throw in twin siphons and she must be uncharacteristically exhausted. He makes sure to grab something else for his back pocket, something that he knows she'll need, anyway, once the booze runs out.

God, he hopes she has booze. ]

.. and I stood there loving you and wished them all away

Any desire to see things through with Katherine is quashed when that memory crops up, memory of a high school he's never attended with a girl who's well past eighteen. The last thing he needs is a conflicting memory hazing over what conflicting feelings he already has about Katherine here. Stefan can take care of her, answer questions and help her to the sheriff's should she need it. With the guilt over Elena he'd been carrying around this tips him over the edge into 'can't do it' territory which pushes him back to the bottle.

His brief foray into a strange mixture of guilt and misplaced hatred ends early thanks to Stefan's call.

He doesn't go back to his and Stefan's (and apparently, Katherine's, of course she lives there, too, maybe she's a co-owner of their auto body shop) until the morning.

If there's one thing he needs to do, it's separate the two in his mind. This scared, confused and attacked Katherine he and Stefan encountered and unmasked is a far cry from the manipulative, self-serving serpent they know and loathe. So, while he hadn't overstepped with his sun behind the curtain act, he knew it'd stung and confused her further. It was cruel to leave her alone after that, but he figures Stefan probably explained in even the barest of terms. In truth, he thought he'd fully dealt with what Katherine had done to Elena. The rocky patch in their relationship smoothed over, despite her several month joyride and gift she'd left them in the form of Dr. Wes Maxwell's vampire-feeding serum. It's no surprise this still chafes, that even now Katherine gets the last laugh because she doesn't know who she is.

He fights with himself, debating whether talking to her before these two weeks is up is worth it. She'll remember who she is, and how she's a vampire again (maybe because she'd died when in Elena's body, and a vampire), and maybe she'll apologize and claim insanity, or the deep, ceded love of his brother. For now, the girl in Stefan's bed (Stefan's a gentleman, he gave her his bedroom, he knows this) isn't the girl who stole someone's body, or their life.

Not deliberately this time.

He knows he also needs to go home. Caroline isn't his friend, not really, though he wonders if this may have forged something uncharted between the two of them. Exigent circumstances not unlike being cooped up with Bonnie for months on end developing true affection for her.

With nothing else in hand but another bottle of bourbon he acquired early in the morning, what he has in his possession can't be bought. If Katherine wants, he'll share a memory of her. Yes, as an excuse for, this is why he reacted as strongly as he did, but also to give her even a piece to the puzzle that is Katherine Pierce. If only he and Stefan had had the knowledge, or the opportunity.

Turning the key in the lock of his front door, he steps into the house, setting down the booze to lean over and start to unlace his boot. Halfway through he stops and stands up again.

"Not doing that," he says, shaking his head, having never been a person to just take his shoes off when coming inside. He's not that polite guy. But, he does roll his eyes moving further into the house and kicking one off by the couch, moving for his second because he wouldn't be even, all the while keeping an eye out for Kathlena. ]

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[ One thing she remembers and knows to be true is that magic is real. And that's something she feels deep down. Of course, as he goes on she looks confused again and feeling like a broken record when she says: ] I don't know what you're talking about. [ She doesn't know who Rayna Cruz is or what a phoenix stone is.]

First time around? What do you mean? Damon, [ she signs his name in an exacerbated way, which should be quite familiar.] Just come out with it. I'm suffering from a head injury or something like it so I can't deal with your usual brand of-- [ she stops, turning to look at him because well, the annoyance she feels towards him? The frustration? That is vividly familiar.]

I am remembering that you annoy me a lot. Is that right?

Depends on the day.

[ That's right. ]

I mean that you and everyone else weren't their test cases. Stefan, me, and a hospital full of poor drivers woke up just like you last month.

You've been here a month? [ That seems...] Wouldn't have I noticed you were gone? I feel like I would have noticed...

You may have had your hands full. [ The cagiest of cages. She did just give birth to siphon Gemini twins. ] Which brings me back around to something completely different but still important since you're here now. The vampire who turned you is here now, too. Katherine. I might've mentioned her.

[ Except, she hadn't.

When he speaks again, there's a flash of something and she lets out a breath, her hand lifting to her throat because it felt as though she was being suffocated. ] Katherine turned me...? [ The face that flashes before her eyes is Elena's.]

She turned me... why? Why did she turn me?

As a pawn in a very long, guarded game of hide and seek. [ An interesting question as any. ] And, yes, she too has forgotten almost everything. It's all very un-Katherine like. [ And super upsetting in so many ways. ] If you remember what Elena looks like, picture Elena with curlier hair - except when she straightens it and impersonates Elena. Or possesses her.

[ Caroline finds herself sitting on the bottom step of the staircase, her eyes closing for a moment as she tries to process all of this. For as bad as he is at explaining things, none of it feels like too much to understand. It's something she already knows she just can't... remember. It's not unfathomable. It's there, somewhere.

She looks at him, after a moment.] So what are we going to do? [ Somehow that seems like the easier question to ask.]

So far, we've played along. With the town, not Katherine. Like this, Katherine wouldn't hurt a fly. [ Which is ... something. ] If this month is like last month, give it about two weeks and we'll be able to revisit this. You'll be caught up, with your boyfriend, and we'll all sit down and decide on just that.

What do you mean, 'like this'? [ Again, Damon is talking to her like she's been here since there beginning, that she can read his mind or has any idea what he's talking about... It needles at her and somehow that feels familiar too. However, she does pause at what he's saying--] My boyfriend? Damon, please. You're driving me crazy. I don't understand.

I mean that, she barely remembers who she is, had no idea what she was and we all thought she was Elena when she first got here. That's how un-Katherine-like she is. She apologized to me. [ Again, no significance to Caroline. ] Katherine Pierce doesn't apologize. [ But this one does. ]

You. Stefan. [ A beat. ] When two vampires like each other very much...

She doesn't remember? Still? [ She looks a little concerned, mostly because she's under the impression that Katherine has been here as long as the Salvatores.]

No, we don't. [ She says that with certainty. There's not a voice that tells her otherwise. They are friends. She and Stefan are just friends. It's not at thing. It's not. The denial is strong with this one, blacked out memory or not. ] He's with... Elena. [ Isn't he? Or is he? Is that here or wherever they're supposed to be? Or is this another falsehood planted in her brain?]

I haven't checked, but I'm playing the, I'm going to avoid you, game. She's at the house, the house she was told is also hers. I want a new landlord. [ Maybe that makes it clear that she just arrived.

He can't help but puzzle at that, not throw a quip back right away, but try and get to the root of wherever that came from. ] Actually, he's with you. And nobody's with Elena, not technically, though we are getting married in fifty to sixty years. Maybe seventy. [ He's reminded of his last decision he'd made before coming here, and a letter he wanted to write but never managed. Because, Pines. ] Stefan was with Elena. Years ago. They barely made it past high school.

[ He's not trying to be disparaging, not really. ]

I would play you some of your greatest hits, but I'd have to have been there.

You're letting her stay with you? [ Excuse moi? That seems unacceptable to Caroline and she can't even really get the reasons why.

However, Damon's insistence that she and Stefan are a thing is still complete nonsense.] No... It's Elena, it's always been Elena. [ Caroline's insecurities, they are stronger than any false memory. And at her point and time, that's still one she grapples with, no matter what hints she's starting to feel from Stefan.] He didn't act otherwise when I was with him so... [ There. And at his offer, she groans--] No thanks, not yet. My head feels like it's about to split open.

Stefan took in the stray cat, not me. Hence why I am here with you. [ And Elena would want him to check in with Caroline, and help in any way he can. Is he overcompensating because his 'just kill me' to Rayna Cruz turned into Stefan having to go on the run? Maybe. But, at least it's genuine overcompensation? ]

Because what you needed was some guy telling you that you belong together and he loves you, when all you were thinking is, "bloooood." [ Sometimes, Damon's obnoxious. News at 11. ] And, to clarify uhgain, it isn't always Elena. It was Elena. And then it wasn't. [ This isn't working. ] Look, it's an old story, two people who are the best of friends fell in love with one another. Two. You and Stefan. [ And it's a lot more complicated and there may have been a rejection in there, but the point stands. ] He picked you, Meredith Grey.

Why? Why would he take her in if she's.... [ So bad? Katherine turned her for some ridiculous reason, according to Damon. And suddenly her boyfriend wants to keep this woman around? Is it because she looks something like Elena, like Damon said? What the hell!?!? (Yes, Caroline is getting all huffy about a man who she doesn't even consider her boyfriend).

She looks even more annoyed, arms crossing over her chest when he gives her sass about the whole Elena thing. The last thing she needs is being teased for... He's making a point and she struggles to accept it.]

I don't... [ Believe it? Remember it? Understand? ] That's for me and him to figure out. So why did you bring me here? To this place?

We felt bad for her. [ He knows Stefan did, and he did, too, technically. It's a lame excuse, but they'd done this once before, when she was human. ]

Mostly to try and jog your memory, but also to speak freely. Cameras can't capture what happens inside our minds.

So... she murdered me and you feel sorry for her? [ SKEPTICISM IS SO HIGH RIGHT NOW.]

Okay, fine. Jog something.

She did a lot more than just murder you, Caroline. That's low down on five hundred years worth of no good, dirty deeds. But, there are now four of us from the same small town, and maybe that means something. [ But he's not sure. ] When she regains her memories, she has a lot coming. But, right now, she has nowhere to go except our house because she was given the key.

[ "Caroline? Is that you?"

Elizabeth Forbes, no older than she's ever looked strides into the foyer from the kitchen, in civilian clothing, one of her light colored button ups.

"Oh, Damon, I didn't know you'd be coming by. Hey honey," she adds to her daughter.

He however turns to Caroline. ] I can do memories, but you and I don't have too many, and they're definitely not pleasant. So, your mom. Liz.

[ Caroline goes tense before she can throw any more questions or snarky critiques his way about the whole Katherine thing because it doesn't make sense to her (and it would make even less sense once she remembers all the shit Katherine has pulled). But no, Caroline's body tenses when she hears a familiar voice.

She stands up quickly, almost stumbling on the one step of the stairs.]

Mom? [ Something slams into her and tears well up in her eyes. Memories come at her, shattering whatever false ones she had in her brain, momentarily. Seeing her mother, right there... Hearing her voice... So much comes back and it only makes Caroline's head want to explode. Still, she doesn't hesitate as she moves to hug her, instantly, not realizing that she'd even missed her but she had. It hadn't been that long since she'd seen her either.]

Edited 2017-03-12 04:08 (UTC)

[ "Caroline." But, her mother hugs her, of course, always happy to see her daughter. Damon just watches, lets mind-Liz do her thing. Liz pulls back, bringing a hand to Caroline's hair.

He hears the sound of rustling, and a small bark.

The image abruptly ends, leaving Caroline and Damon on that bench as a passerby letting his dog do his business waves. Damon waves back with a smile, his lips coming together.]

[ A soft, agonized noise of protest escapes her lips the moment she's ripped away from her mother's arms and suddenly... They're back on her porch and Caroline's gripping her glass of bourbon so tightly that it's starting to crack.

She barely pays the passerby any mind, moving to stand up and pace away from the bench, her trembling hand running through her hair before she downs the rest of her bourbon. She turns back towards him quickly, lifting her free hand to point at him--] How is that... [ She remembers where she is, remembers the warnings and she bites back her freak out just in time.]

Okay, okay. [ She waves her hand in front of her, like she's scooping air her way, trying to calm herself.]

Ix-nay on the reak out fay. [ He speaks under his breath, a hand coming down. And then he's up, too, hands on his knees before he grabs her bottle, steadies her wrist and pours more. ] If you mean, how did I, you can do that, too. It's a trick I was taught, though, we can all do it once we learn about it. [ Cameras make code difficult. He takes a swig of her bourbon for himself, Sorry, Care, it's from the bottle. ] As for here and there - I don't know.

I'm fine, [ she murmurs a little roughly, looking at him as he pours her another drink, her brow furrowed as she glances at the passerby who looks at them one last time before moving on.

She shakes her head and takes another sip.] That's not... This is crazy.

Yep. [ Another sip. ] Come on, let's get inside. See if you have a guest room I can crash in.

[ She gives him a flat look that probably feels very familiar to him.] It's a three bedroom house and I'm the only one here.

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unforgivably - 2017-03-12 06:04 (UTC) - Expand

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