deercountry | out of the fire, into the frying pan

"Thanks."

He does as she asks, taking the turn easily and looking back at her. They've been in this place a little while now but it still feels strange, like it's not where he should be. He'd gotten so used to Deerington that waking up and not finding himself there is still..jarring.

He's lucky that they've gotten their house back and that they're still together because he knows it could be much worse.

"What do you think of this place so far?"

"I think it's okay."

It's not bad, but it's not the worst place she's been in, either. She thinks it's somewhere in the middle of it all. It's still new and there's so much to discover, but there are some similarities between it and Deerington.

And Stefan's here. A new location hasn't seemed to change his mind about her.

"It reminds me a lot of Deerington." She sighs against his hair. "Fewer cats and... pastel people, but there's still something that feels so familiar about it."

"The blood is still an issue."

He's kept himself in check, which he's proud of, but he still knows that it could be a consistent problem. He looks back at her and smiles.

"I've told a few people what I am, by the way. Didn't mention you but I figured that it's just...pointless to keep it a secret."

Since there's blood and it's not going to be easy to hide in a place like this.

Katherine is a little pleased he can't see her face. Her brow crinkles; she's not entirely sure if that had been the smartest idea... but she's so used to remaining in the shadows. Vampires, werewolves, witches, lions, tigers and bears have always remained hidden. She knows that from Deerington, people seem more open to being met with proclamations of being a vampire.

"And how did they respond to that?"

Still, she can't help but worry. Sometimes Stefan is entirely too trusting. He trusts the education system, after all.

"No one's come after me with pitchforks so."

Stefan shrugs a shoulder. It could go back in the future but he wants to hope it won't. That things will be okay and that he can be a vampire and not be hunted down for it.

"It was to a few people who were in Deerington. I didn't know them well but I talked to them a few times. One's getting a clinic up and running here and the other's a...demon. It's weird. He's strange but I like him."

It still doesn't make her feel overly confident. It's a good thing that she's a woman with a plan. If anyone thinks to try and stake him, she'll knife them first.

"A clinic for blood or for sick people?"

Katherine can't help but wrinkle her nose at that. The only time she's been sick is when this place decides to strip her of her vampirism. While it's fun to have Stefan play doctor, she very much does not enjoy having the sniffles.

"A medical clinic. He's collecting blood but I'm guessing it's because of the whole...blood thing here."

He still doesn't completely understand that and he's stopped trying. He doesn't really want to think too much about the whole blood thing.

"I didn't really ask too much. He was being cagey and with healing being better, we might not need it."

"Hm."

She grips his shirt absently between her fingers and presses her chin against his shoulder. While that doesn't sound overly bad, she wonders why he's stingy. Does he know more than they do? Is he someone who simply can't share? While Katherine's more than happy Stefan's getting out there and making more friends than he had in Mystic Falls, she only hopes they're good people.

"Things feel different here to Deerington, but it might be good to have someone like that in your pocket." Furrowing her brows for a moment, she clears her throat. "As a friend, I mean."

She's unlearning how to be so defensive.

"Yeah. It's good to know that there's at least something like that around. John Constantine's going to help with the blood thing."

Because he needs all the help he can get. Having Katherine there is a good start but he knows she can't always hang over his shoulder if he's having an issue.

"He has a way to deal with it, he says. I've got nothing to lose, you know."

"Hm." This time, it's a lower sound. He has plenty to lose—his life, his vampirism. Although she knows John, she can't help but be a little fearful of anything having to do with Stefan and magic. Magic and vampires never did go hand in hand, after all.

But if Stefan trusts it, then, well... she supposes she needs to, too. She doesn't have a plan for him, and she knows it's not fair for him to not pursue something that could help him with his bloodlust because she's too paranoid to let anything come near him.

"I want to know what it is." She rests her chin defiantly against his shoulder. "I can't have it changing you into a non-plaid wearing vampire as a side effect."

"I wouldn't do anything without telling you about it and talking to you about it."

He's not just on his own now, he knows. They're a pair and he can't just decide that something might work without bringing her into the conversation. And he's going to bring her into it because he doesn't want to mess it up.

"It might work, it might not but I'll make sure you know what it is before I drink a potion or let anyone cast a spell on me. I promise."

She'll need forty-eight hours notice so she can go and hang anyone over the side of a building to ensure they're as good as their word. It's only protecting him. Katherine doesn't think violence in the name of protection is inherently bad.

Resting her cheek against the side of his head, she sighs quietly. "I'll need to check their spells. Makes sure all their i's are dotted."

T's crossed. The spell isn't some spell she knows from studying witchcraft so she can know if and when a witch may be playing her.

"How about you don't worry about it right now? I've asked about it but that's it. Nothing doing so far."

Their house finally comes into view and Stefan sighs as he starts walking towards it.

"So, don't worry about it. Obsessing over it's going to give you wrinkles and you're already very old."

She mumbles, "I'd look very good with wrinkles."

Katherine's over five hundred years old and would absolutely rock the grey hair and wrinkled forehead if that was a consequence of immortality. She clings to him, readjusting her feet as gently as possible, and doesn't so much as make a move to leap down. He can walk her to the very doorstep.

"It's strange how it looks the same; it's just in a different neighbourhood."

"I've been trying not to think about it."

He does walk her up the steps and onto the porch before he finally looks back at her, waiting for her to get down. He's not going to walk her all the way into the house. This was far enough.

"I think we're just lucky it's here. I think we got lucky there. Imagine if we had to start all over."

Imagine if she stopped walking for the rest of her life and had Stefan carry her around instead. It seems like such a good life. She rests her cheek against his head and doesn't make a move to get down immediately. Instead, she listens for Aleksander in the house, trotting around as he no doubt comes back from drinking his water.

She's slow to drop off from his back.

"I'd be sad to lose the back garden. I think I have a green thumb after all."

"We can get some plants for inside, you know. It won't be exactly like a garden but it could be something."

And wasn't that better than nothing. He wants her to have all the things she loved in Deerington here.

He waits for her to get down before he turns towards her, a small smile on his face.

"Maybe get a garden going inside. Greenhouses exist. Those are inside."

"Then you can put your journals in between the plants," she smiles.

And then she can read his journals by knowing where they are. Perhaps it's a good thing that their house has come with them—his journals would be awfully lonely in Deerington without her trying to hunt them down.

She slides her hand into his back pocket to search for the house key. She smiles at him. "Looking for my key."

"No, I don't think I'll be doing that."

He's found different hiding places for his journals and he's not going to be telling her where they are. Every so often, he'll give her one to read but he's not going to just let her stumble upon them to read everything he's written.

"You honestly have an obsession with my journals."

She smiles at him. "I have an obsession with you."

Somewhere, Damon's shouting a big fat Duh! Katherine likes Stefan. Stefan likes Katherine. Katherine wants to know everything that she can about Stefan that can't be discerned through observation and innocent stalking.

"Will you open the door? I can't find my key." But she'll leave her hand in his back pocket.

"Maybe it's because you were looking in my pockets. Your keys won't be in there."

But he digs his keys out of his pocket and he opens the door, stepping inside slowly since she's got her hand in his pocket and all.

"What are you even doing? Preparing to make a comment on my ass?"

Yes, he knows it's flat.

"Well, I figured my hand in your back pocket was enough of a comment."

She walks inside, purposefully staying beside him and keeping her hand in his pocket. Looking around the foyer and living room, she's a little surprised to find that it hasn't changed at all. It's like the rest of Deer Country is susceptible to manipulation but their very home.

Aleksander appears from around the corner and comes bolting towards their legs.

Stefan can't really go anywhere what with her hand in his pocket but he laughs when Aleksander comes running at them. He slides into their legs and bounces around.

"You'd think he hadn't seen us in like years."

Stefan doesn't know how long it might have been for Aleksander between their departure from Deerington and arrival here but he's glad to see the dog isn't too upended.

"It's good to be reminded that he's here."

Katherine removes her hand from his back pocket and squats so she can ruffle Aleksander's hair. He looks so happy, so unperturbed by the fact that they're in a new place with their old house. It's simple for him. He's merely happy to be surrounded by things and people who are familiar.

Kissing his snout and ears, she smiles down at him. Aleksander enjoys the attention, but he wriggles much like Vasilka to get out of her grasp so he can brush his nose against Stefan's pant leg.

"He's always so happy," she says, remaining squatting on the ground. She smiles at Aleksander and the way his fluffy tail wags back and forth happily. "I'd have destroyed this place if he wasn't here."

"Destroyed what place? The house or the entire city?"

He would have believed her if she said both, honestly. She loves her dog and she loves her cat and she would do absolutely anything for them just like he would.

"I'm glad we don't have to cross that bridge, you know. I'm glad he's here and he's okay and nothing's different."

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