( it's beginning to look a lot like... )

[prescind]

Who: stefan salvatore (prescind) + katherine pierce (manipulative) + amos burton (rocinantes) + wanda maximoff (explosion)
What: stefan's birthday, snow stuff, eventual event stuff
When: november
Where: all around

Content Warnings: probably some language to start.

Comments

( stefan's birthday )

[prescind]

( stefan knows what today is. he knows and he knows that katherine knows as well. she hadn't said anything to him at first but he knows that it's coming. she's not really the type to just let this go when he wouldn't let her own birthday go.

he's been quietly hanging out around the house, playing with aleksander, writing in his journal, cleaning up, and standing outside to get some fresh air.

it's getting noticeably colder and it reminds stefan of the weather when he'd first arrived in deerington. that was a long, long time ago. kind of weird to think about, actually. )

[manipulative]

[ although katherine considers doing a repeat of last year's birthday with one of her other dresses from a century ago, she opts to wear very expensive track pants and one of stefan's large hoodies.

downstairs in the kitchen, she readjusts aleksander's party hat and smiles at the way his tongue hangs out lopsidedly as he sits and waits as a patient party-goer should. she's busy cooking ravioli, a dish she thinks is very relevant for an italian birthday boy.

the said birthday boy's been banned from wandering anywhere near the kitchen. the living room, front yard, and upstairs is a stefan accepting area, but if he steps a foot through the kitchen... katherine's not afraid to hurt him. ]

Can you go get him?

[ aleksander doesn't move for a moment before he's scrambling against the kitchen floor and disappears up the stairs to fetch stefan. ]

[prescind]

( when aleksander comes to find him, he's on their bed, propped up and reading a book that he's only half paying attention to because he wants to know what katherine's doing downstairs.

aleksander torts into the room, hops up onto the bed and circles around stefan's legs before he hops down and runs to the door. )

You trying to tell me something?

( aleksander barks and that's enough to have stefan rolling out of bed. )

Mommy letting me back in the kitchen now?

( aleksander barks again and stefan laughs before following him downstairs. )

[manipulative]

[ during aleksander's trip upstairs to fetch stefan, vasilka appears on the kitchen island. she walks up and down the island, brushing her tail against almost anything she can. she's mindful of where katherine is busy plating up two plates.

when she hears stefan approach, she calls out: ] Close your eyes!

[ walk blindly. surely, he can do that? ]

[prescind]

Wow, okay. My eyes are closed.

( he focuses in on her heartbeat and follows that sound towards the kitchen, trying not to run into anything he knows is nearby. )

Can you at least like come out of the kitchen and make sure I don't trip over a cat or some shoes or something?

( snow )

[rocinantes]

( they'd run into each other while they'd both been out. he'd been out getting some groceries since he wasn't one to really like traveling when it was cold and she'd been out doing whatever it was she needed to do.

but now they were both standing under the awning of a shop, watching the snow start to come down thicker. it's definitely not the first time that amos has seen snow but it's the first time here.

he hadn't realized the cold season was that close but here they were, watching it stick to streets and cars. he sighs. )

Do you like snow?

[explosion]

[ of all the things wanda loves, snow is high on her list. although it had made living in their apartment like living in and walking on ice, wanda had always enjoyed going outside and making snowmen and throwing soft snowballs at pietro and their friends. it felt like the thing that she was meant to do. all the television shows and movies depicted the snowfall as some tradition, some rite of passage.

her nose feels cold and she knows it's almost as red as her signature shade. ]

I do.

[ she's half-tempted to step out into it and poke her tongue out. in her hands are two bags filled with herbs the darkhold had said were important for spells. now, she hardly cares about her self-tutelage. she wants to be a kid again. ]

Do you?

[rocinantes]

I don't know. It's more of a pain than anything, isn't it? It's cold and wet and you can slip on it.

( amos obviously hadn't been one to build snowmen or make snow angels or anything like that. )

Not really anything to like, is it?

( it's just cold and wet and annoying. )

[explosion]

[ not anything to like? not anything to like? what's wrong with this man?

wanda stares at him and smiles, shaking her head incredulously. he hates halloween. he hates snow. she's sure he hates sunshine as well. ]

Have you ever made a snowman?

( mushabooming )

[prescind]

( he's out with katherine, as he typically is because it's safer to be out like that in this place, when he starts to notice an abundance of...mushrooms. he frowns because maybe he's missed them and they've been here this entire time.

but when he notices some mushrooms floating in front of him in a way that's just...not right, he tugs at katherine's shoulder, turning her away from something she's looking at and pointing at them. )

That look right to you?

[manipulative]

[ she was eyeing a nice shop window, thank you!

katherine sighs, turning in the direction of his tug. she's half-expecting stefan to turn around and tell her that she can't have those pair of shoes and that she has enough. which, technically, is true… she does have enough shoes to last at least three and a half years, but she doesn't have those shoes.

her brows furrow. ]

A floating mushroom. [ she sounds bored as she says it. despite her tone, she doesn't reach out to touch it. ] That's new. Did you touch it?

[prescind]

No, I haven't touched it.

( not yet. but, he'd been thinking about it. )

Mushrooms don't float, Katherine. You know that. Or is that something they do in Bulgaria that I missed in science lessons?

[manipulative]

[ it's definitely something that's trench-related. katherine's not entirely sure what she thinks of it. floating mushrooms? no cop cats? something's feeling a little topsy turvy.

she smiles at him, twisting a little on the spot. ]

How about I take you to Bulgaria and you can see for yourself, hm?

( apothecary )

[prescind]

( after the little incident with the stupid floating mushroom, stefan had been a little more careful with things and katherine had started collecting them because they were good for business.

stefan doesn't know how they're good for business but that's why he's carrying two full bags of mushrooms into her business. )

You planning on starting a side business with mushrooms or something?

[manipulative]

Happy mushrooms.

[ she laughs, holding the door open for him. although she knows he can very well carry the bags and open the door for himself, she thinks it's only fair she pulls her weight. ]

They're bound to be useful, Stefan. Most things in Deerington were.

[ and if this is a sister town to deerington, she thinks the trench will follow suit. ]

You can put the bags on the counter. [ quickly, she adds, ] Don't touch them.

[prescind]

Hey, I'm not a child. I don't just touch random, unknown things.

( except he did. he makes a face at her though and then puts the bags gently on the counter before he looks around. )

What kinds of things can you do with mushrooms?

( besides cook. though, he probably shouldn't take these specific mushrooms home to cook. )

[manipulative]

Make them very magical.

[ she smiles at him before she laughs. ]

I want to try something. [ katherine looks away from him, brushing her hair behind her ear. once her store manager appears in a puff of tendrilled smoke, she busies herself with rubbing her fingers behind vasilka's ears. ] You can't laugh.

( sleeper farm )

[prescind]

( the last thing that stefan remembers is laying down next to katherine. she'd curled up next to him and he'd closed his eyes. when he opens them, something is different.

something is wrong. he's restrained, arms above his head in a way that he's been before and his boy hurts, aches. that catches his attention more than the fact that he's tied up because if he can heal, he should have heale from whatever did this. )

Hello?

( his voice sounds wrong, off, but he keeps yelling, trying to turn and look around to find someone. there's people but he doesn't recognize them. he doesn't see katherine. )

Anyone?

[manipulative]

[ katherine manages to free herself from being bound. she's quick to try and walk through the farm, searching for… well, a way out.

and stefan.

she thinks she can smell him. being over five hundred years old has given her many gifts, and being able to strip out his scent from everyone else's is a skill that she's quickly come to learn.

she uses that to try and find him. he has to be somewhere near. she doubts that whatever took her from her bed would leave him behind.

it takes looking through several doors for her to find him. kicking one down (there's really no point in being quiet when all she can hear is noise), she lets out a heavy exhale when she spies him hanging from the ceiling. ]

You have a set of lungs on you.

[ not that that's a surprise.

katherine quickly looks around for something to help elevate her high enough to pull him free from his binds. ]

[prescind]

Got your attention, didn't it?

( his voice is hoarse and pained but he's very, very happy to see her. )

You know where we are? What's going on? God, I hurt everywhere.

( which was more concerning than being strung up like this. )

[manipulative]

[ once she finds a crate, she drags it along the floor effortlessly and lines it up near his feet. looking up at him, she stands on the crate and begins to tug at the binds of his hands. ]

It smells like a torture house to me.

[ more like how the butcher used to smell back in the 1400s. it's saturated with blood. ]

Has anyone come to see you yet?

( more sleeper farm )

[rocinantes]

Motherfucker.

( those are the first words out of his mouth when he wakes up. he realizes that he's on the ground, hog tied and his cheek's resting in a wet pile of something. he doesn't really want to think about what that is.

he shifts as much as the current state of his restraints will allow him and groans, rolling onto his back and peering up. )

What the fuck is this?

( can't this place just give everyone a break? )

[explosion]

[ it's useless to bind her hands. wanda hangs from the ceiling with her arms raised above her head. she feels like she's meat in a butcher shop. she doesn't struggle; she hangs, a little bored. wanda's merely biding her time, wanting to see what she's up against. ]

A farm.

[ hi, amos. she eyes him and sighs. it's a sigh that feels like a bit of a relief. although she would much prefer anyone she knows to be far from here, wanda takes some solace in the fact that she at least has an ally. ]

They're torturing Sleepers. [ she says it plainly; she doesn't want to feel too out of control. ] They were in here before, but I convinced them to leave you alone.

[ it had been easy to do. she's so used to wiggling her fingers and being close to people to control them, but since westview, all it takes is her mere will. ]

[rocinantes]

Why?

( he groans a bit, shifting around to be able to see her. he squints, feeling a pain in his head start to bloom. )

Better they torture me than someone who can't take it. I can take it.

( he would just bitch and moan about it for a long time and use it to get sympathy. )

[explosion]

[ wanda rolls her eyes. here he is, not sure why he's in this place, and he's posturing what a big tough guy he is. wanda thinks she can see right through him, though. he's scared.

she takes a moment to think and listen. ]

Blood.

[ her brows furrow for a moment before she looks down at him. ]

They want to drain everyone of their blood.