deercountry | out of the fire, into the frying pan

Katherine laughs and shifts her shoulder into his face so that he may feel more encouraged to pepper a few kisses along her shoulder.

"Do you?" She smiles up at him, feeling very much like a young girl in front of the boy that she likes. It's a little overwhelming to believe that he truly likes her, flaws and all, perfect and imperfect as she is. Katherine's beginning to like herself even more now.

She flicks water against his rose-covered bicep. "My shoulder's bruised," she pouts. "Do you think you could kiss it better?"

"You have a bruise?"

He looks down at her shoulder and all he sees is skin. There's no discoloring or anything that resembles a bruise. He laughs a bit and dips his head down anyway, pressing kisses to her shoulder.

"Is that better? Does it make it feel better?"

"Hm."

She smiles as she watches him tend to her make-believe bruise. In her defence, she did have a bruise on her shoulder. It's since healed from the moment it blossomed.

That doesn't mean she can't still feel it.

"A little better, but…" She presses her fingers to her lips. "It still hurts a little."

"You know, sometimes you're made of steel but then sometimes, you're made of glass and you always need my help in tending to your injuries."

He's teasing because he knows what she's doing. He just wants to call her out while he brushes his lips against her shoulder.

"I'm getting mixed signals here."

"You say that a lot."

Katherine doesn't move her shoulder in fear of shrugging him off. She likes the attention. She's always liked getting his attention no matter the situation—him gawking at her, him trying to kill her...

"When, really, you should be saying that I am a very complicated and interesting woman, and that you very much enjoy it when I let you take care of me. I don't let anyone do that, you know."

Not even George Clooney.

"That's because you're a stubborn woman who is complicated and interesting."

He presses his cheek to her shoulder and then steps up against her, wrapping an arm around her waist and sighing.

"I very much enjoy it when you let me take care of you and I wish you would do it more often."

Now, that's more like it.

Katherine smiles and pulls her shoulders up as if he's tickling her. She doesn't move out of his arms, resting her hand against his forearm as she tilts her head away from where he rests against her shoulder.

"You're very good at these compliments when you're in the shower, you know."

Keep them coming.

"That seems to imply that I'm not good at compliments outside of the shower."

Which, how dare, Katherine. He kisses her shoulder before his mouth starts moving up the side of her neck and behind her ear.

"I think I'm pretty good at compliments."

Or at least telling her that he loves her.

She hums, tilting her head away from him so he can get as much of her neck as he likes.

Is she meant to respond? She doesn't have a response on hand for him now. Instead, she's more interested in the warmth of his mouth and the way he seems to summon butterflies forth in her gut.

"Well..." She shrugs her other shoulder. "You could use some work outside of the shower."

"Hmm."

He knows she doesn't mean that. And he doesn't argue it either, just continues brushing his mouth up and down her neck, sighing and nuzzling against her.

"So, tell me. What kind of work? What should I do more out of the shower to make you satisfied?"

Confess the location of the journals, for one.

Katherine closes her eyes and sighs happily. She doesn't particularly want to think. Can Stefan just kiss her neck over and over until his mouth is bruised and she doesn't have any neck to kiss any longer?

"You could wear that blue shirt a little more around the house. I'm sure it didn't get lost in Deerington."

"What blue shirt?"

He's got a lot of blue shirts because of her. She's bought a few and he'd bought a few so there's a few hanging out in his wardrobe that he remembers. The request makes him smile before he bites lightly at her neck.

"I have so many of them now because of you."

She smiles. That's not a bad thing. Blue and green bring out his eyes—and the grey isn't so bad, either.

"The dark blue."

Those ones really make his eyes pop. And it'd been the shirt that she had gotten to meet him in all those years ago on the Lockwood property. Sometimes Katherine is a little nostalgic.

"The light blue doesn't make your eyes pop as much as the dark ones."

"You've thought about this."

Stefan chuckles because he's not surprised. Of course she has opinions on what colors make his eyes look better. He's not at all surprised but he wants to make it known that he's noticed.

He presses his mouth against her neck and sighs.

"Maybe I'll see about wearing the blue. Later."

She smiles happily. If he was to wear that colour for the rest of his life, she would live a happy immortal vampire. But there are a few other shades she thinks suit him… the dark greys, some of the greens, the dark purples…

Thankfully, Stefan seems to be buying these clothing items even without her having to bully him.

"Are you surprised that I notice what colours suit you best?"

"No. No, not at all. I know you've got an eye for what clothes best match the freckle on my right shoulder."

Yes, he's going to tease her about how she can match clothes to his eyes. He bites down on her shoulder and then rests his chin there.

"It's one of your talents. And don't ask me for others because I'm not giving you a list. No fishing."

She pouts. "But I like fishing."

It's so much fun, especially when he provides her with such complimentary words. Despite him teasing her, she does appreciate the fact he clearly likes that skill of hers. She could match colours to his fluffy hairstyle, too.

"And I like your freckle on your right shoulder. You need to wear looser shirts."

"No, I don't."

He laughs and shakes his head. He's not going to wear off the shoulder shirts just so she can see a freckle. That's not happening.

"I don't wear shirts enough at home so you see it plenty then. I'm not going to wear these too big shirts when we're out."

"Fine."

Despite how she looks at him with slightly narrowed eyes, her lips are curved upward into a smile. Of course, she's got a plan. She's Katherine Pierce. If he's not going to wear the big shirts, she knows a way to put them to good use.

"I'll wear them." Giving him a once-over, her smile only widens. "I'm sure you'll love that."

"Oh, you're going to wear them? How lucky for me."

Because he does like her shoulders and he wouldn't be shy about showing her just how much she liked them if he saw her.

"Yes, I would love them. I'm not stupid, I know when I'm fortunate when it comes to you and clothes."

Pleased by his response, she smiles and steps back into the spray, still facing and looking at him. Sometimes, Stefan knows exactly what's good for him. Her in his shirts is a blessing that she's happy to gift them both.

"To be fair, all of your shirts are my shirts." She lifts a shoulder innocently. "I just allow you to wear them."

She leans back into the spray and brushes her hands through her hair.

"So, are all your shirts my shirts?"

Stefan reaches and slides his fingers through Katherine's hair, getting the suds out of it. He smiles and then kisses the back of her head.

"Not that they'll fit me."

She purses her lips and considers telling him no. All of her shirts are definitely not his shirts… but she thinks that's not very fun.

She hums, peering at him from over her shoulder. "They are, even if they don't fit. But that doesn't mean they can't be yours." What's hers is his—while he can't wear her clothing, he has a lot more than she's ever given anyone in her lifetime. She knows he knows that counts for something.

Turning around in the shower, she tilts her head back into the spray, keeping her gaze on him at the same time. Her lips curve up, widening. "Maybe they're shirts you can ask to come off any time you like."

"Oh, so you want to turn this into something that benefits you." He's not surprised. He's amused and ends up laughing a bit.

"And see, here's the thing about that though: if I ask for them back and you give them to me, you'll be naked, probably. But you'll also be down a shirt because I'd take them back."

So, ha ha. He wins either way.

It's a temporary win, Mr Salvatore.

She enjoys the way he brightens. Katherine smiles up at him, wanting to press her fingers into his cheeks. She stops herself, though. Instead, she reaches out and presses a wet hand against his warm chest.

"I have a feeling you'll be giving the shirts back to me at my begging." She winks at him.

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