deercountry | out of the fire, into the frying pan

"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."

"The entire city."

Just so he knows.

She's capable. Despite being over five hundred years old, Katherine knows that this is the first time in a long time she's allowed herself to have something. A dog, a cat, a house, even two children and a lookalike husband. She won't let anyone take it away from her, not even a city that seems to sometimes be alive.

Keeping her eyes on Aleksander, she asks innocently, "Did you find all of your journals?"

"Yes."

He remembered where he hid them, Katherine, and no, he's not going to tell you where he put them. he gives her a look and then shakes his head.

"Don't even ask."

He gives his finger a wag at her before he starts heading for the stairs because he feels like he needs a shower.

"I'm gonna take a shower, I think."

"All by yourself?"

Katherine doesn't stand, not even when Aleksander looks like he's going to follow Stefan down the hall. He makes as if he's going to, then he stops, sits his tush down, and his tail sweeps along the floor.

She smiles. "Or with your journals?"

Really, his chosen company should be her.

"If I took a shower with my journals, I'd ruin them. So, no."

Stefan gets all the way to the stairs and steps up before he stops and looks back at her.

"You gonna come along or are you going to use this opportunity to try and find my journals?"

With a pinch to her lips, Katherine, despite how she wishes to appear, already knows her answer. If she couldn't find those journals in Deerington, she won't find them for the ten or so minutes Stefan spends steaming up the bathroom mirrors. She'll find them soon, just not right now.

Standing, she doesn't run after him, though it's with long strides that she follows his path through the hallway and stops at the base of the staircase.

"Walk slow," she smiles. "I want to enjoy the view."

"You know, you're very contradictory. You spend so much time insulting my ass but now this?"

You were a confusing person but he tries to listen, slowing down as he climbs the stairs.

"Mixed signals. I don't know what to believe."

She loves his ass, that's what he believes.

"It keeps you on your toes, doesn't it?"

Stefan's ass is flat, but because it's Stefan's ass, she likes it. She also likes the fact that it makes him acknowledge that she physically likes him… and maybe even earns a blush. It's all worth it.

"Maybe I like looking at your legs," she shrugs. "It's very presumptuous of you to assume you know why I'm enjoying the view, Stef."

"No, it's not because I know you, Katherine, and you've admitted it to me before. It's not a presumption, it's just me knowing you."

So there, He climbs up the stairs and turns to head to the bathroom, eyeing her as he does.

"Just admit that you were watching my ass. We both know you were."

"I was watching your ass." Is she meant to deny that? They both know she had been watching him, and to deny it would be a terrible thing. Katherine likes perving on Stefan. Water remains wet.

She continues to follow him. She even makes a show of it now as she reaches the top of the stairs and follows him.

With a smirk: "Are you upset about that?"

"I'm not upset at all."

Stefan looks back at her and then keeps walking, winding his way to the bathroom. He brushes his fingers against the door of Nadia's room as he goes before he disappears into their bedroom so he can go take a shower.

"You want be to be upset or something? So you can comfort me?"

Following him dutifully a few steps behind, Katherine watches him as he easily walks through their house. His step hasn't changed. Despite the world around them alternating into something new, Stefan hasn't changed at all. And the way he walks in the house—the same way he did before—makes her believe that he trusts this house hasn't changed, either.

She shrugs and teases, "Well, if you're going to be naked..."

She'll gladly comfort him dressed, not dressed, covered in dirt, dust, mud...

"Unless you want me to take a shower with all my clothes on, then yes, I'll be naked."

In fact, as he heads towards the bathroom, he strips off the shirt and tosses it aside before he goes into the bathroom and starts the water. While he waits for it to get warm, rolls his shoulders and looks back at her.

"Are you going to be naked or are you going to start a new trend and shower with the clothes on?"

"I considered it..."

Katherine crosses her arms against her chest and leans against the doorframe of the bathroom. She's content to watch him. Stefan is hot, and she wants to see if he's going to blush bright red if he happens to turn around and see that she's ogling him.

"But I figured that could wait for another day. I don't think today's a day to set a new trend." She shrugs. "Maybe tomorrow."

"I know you're watching me."

And he doesn't blush. He's pretty proud of himself for not blushing. If she were going to gawk and also talk dirty, he might be helpless but he doesn't blush. Instead, he glances back at her and then eyes her clothes.

"Then, come on."

If you're going to join him, strip down, Katherine.

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