deercountry | out of the fire, into the frying pan

Excuse me, how do you know my picture is in there? Are you reading textbooks in your spare time?

( yeah, he'd picked up on that and yeah, he was going to say something. )

I think if there's a nerd around here, it's you. You read textbooks for fun.

Maybe.

[ she presses her lips together in an impersonation of zipping them right up. katherine isn't a nerd like he is when it comes to education. she learns by experiencing and living. ]

I was curious to know what things you might have read, so I may have borrowed some books from the Library in Deerington. [ she shrugs. ] It was all boring.

You borrowed some books from the library? Just picked random books?

( you nerd. )

Or did you stalk me to see what I read so you could read it too?

Pfft, I did not go that far.

[ she pulls a disgruntled face at that. while she's curious to see what he reads, she just reads his books. no need for that level of commitment. ]

I read what I thought you would read in school. Science is very boring.

What makes you think I would read science?

( he had but he wonders why she'd gone for that. )

Surprised you just didn't pull a dictionary and pretend to read that.

[ katherine rolls her eyes. ]

Reading the dictionary would be dull, Stefan.

[ besides, she was around when all the words came to life and were put in the dictionary. there's no need to read that book. ]

Besides, I know they don't teach you that in school.

How do you know?

( had she gone to school and not told him? he eyes her curiously. )

You audit some classes and not tell me?

[ she shrugs and rubs her hands against her thighs. is it really that hard to believe she would have picked up a book? ]

I've dated a few people who took their education very seriously.

[ she turns her head to look at him pointedly. ]

In college.

[ not high school, jsyk. ]

Oh really?

( stefan leans forward, elbows on his knees and smirks. )

Please tell me about these college men you dated. I'm very curious about these men that I haven't heard of.

Well.

[ katherine sits up taller against the back of the canoe, feeling very much like she needs to prove something to him now. college men are much better than high school boys, after all. ]

They were very sophisticated. And they have nice shoulders.

[ she makes it a point to scrutinise his. hm, looking a bit lanky there, stef. ]

Sophisticated and have nice shoulders.

( the two things that would hook any woman, really. he snickers a bit and then nods. )

Anything else? If they managed to capture your attention, they had to have more than that.

Hm.

[ katherine makes a show of mulling over his question. what could she possibly say to rile him up? ]

Some of them wrote me poetry. [ she glances at him before she looks away. ] And some of them carried my books for me when I was pretending to be a college student.

Poetry?

( well, that's probably not going to happen with him, unfortunately. he's written poetry before but it's never been very good and he doesn't think he's going to start now. )

Wow, these guys sound like real winners. Real men that I want to know. Should tell me their names.

Why?

[ she smiles as she regards him in amusement. is that a little jealousy she spies? it's a good look on him.

shifting in her seat, she leans back and eyes him, still smiling. ]

Are you going to go interrogate them? See what their intentions are all these years later?

Maybe.

( not anytime soon considering their surroundings but maybe after that. he shrugs. )

Or maybe I'll just do everything they did but do it better.

Oh.

[ she smiles at that. now, that is a good suggestion. perhaps he could do both? go beat them up, interrogate them a little… and outdo them? isn't he an overachiever? she thinks that's what he is given how many times he's gone to school.

with her arm across his shoulders, she taps his bicep. ]

Does that mean you're going to write me a poem?

( stefan makes a face because he'd walked into that one, hadn't he? he sighs and rubs a hand over his face, shaking his head. )

No.

( no, he's not going to write poetry because he's not poet. poetry is not his strong suit and he doesn't really want to write something for her that she'll laugh at. )

No, I think I'll just find these guys and beat them senseless.

[ katherine laughs loudly. it seems to echo around them, the river seeming endless and hollow. it's a sound that doesn't sound hollow, though. that's the most hilarious thing she's heard all day. ]

And if one of them is dead?

[ she taps her fingers against his shoulder and looks at him in amusement. ]

Will you go beat up a grave?

I'll go kick dirt on the grave.

( yeah, that'll show him. )

Maybe graffiti the tombstone with a threat not to come back from the dead and go after you.

[ she smiles, shaking her head incredulously. that's so nice of him, really. it makes her want to make up a list of names for him to do just that to. it feels like a dorky stefan thing, wanting to do the least dangerous thing. ]

Would you do that for me?

[ she's learning quickly that, yes, stefan salvatore will do that for her. ]

If I knew where they were buried, yeah.

( maybe not all of them since it would take time but one or two? he absolutely would. )

Just to make sure they were aware that if they ever made it back from the Other Side, they should stay away from you.

That's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me. Threatened a couple of dead men and a few boys who probably are well into their eighties by now.

[ scrunching up her face, katherine smiles, chuckling softly. stefan being possessive is a nice stefan to see. but, most importantly, it's keeping them both from looking out beyond the canoe. ]

If I tell you their names, will you find a lighthouse to travel through so you can go bully them?

Not right away.

( because he doesn't really want to leave her right now or anytime soon. )

But I will. Put it on my bucket list. Threaten a few men that decided to be nice to you who weren't me.

You know, no one's ever wanted to do that for me before you.

[ some men have. mason had been particularly protective at times. katherine had played into his need to be the alpha. but none of that had been genuine.

with stefan, it is.

she's sure if she looked up from the canoe, she'd see mason pinned to one of the pillars. so, she doesn't look. mason means nothing to her, but she knows what he represents does in some way. ]

I like it. You being that for me.

I like being that for you.

( stefan smiles over at her because while he hopes that he doesn't have to go hurting people for her, he would if he had to. )

I hope it doesn't have to happen and no one's idiot enough to try that with you. But if they do...

out of the fire, into the frying pan

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