deercountry | ( the dog days are over )

Hardly.

[ she cards her fingers through his hair to quietly rectify where she's tugged him. katherine can give pain, but she can also comfort when she wants to. ]

It should've entailed longing and suffering and you throwing yourself in my funeral pyre. You should be unable to breathe without me. Life would be meaningless.

[ it's very clear by her playful tone that she's doing just that: playing. ]

I can't really do that right now, if you remember. You won't let me leave this bed.

( so, he can't throw himself anywhere, katherine. )

Besides, I'd really rather not throw myself on anything funeral related for you.

No?

[ she cocks her brow, smiling curiously. ]

Then what would you rather throw yourself on in relation to me?

[ his answer's bound to be predictable at this point. he can nag all he likes; he's not leaving until he's healed. but he can dream. ]

I would throw myself on you if I had to.

( it's a strange question in the first place. he doesn't even know. he laughs and shakes his head. )

That's the only thing I could see myself doing that to. I don't want to throw myself on anything bad.

[ she ruffles his hair roughly, laughing. ]

That's the only answer. I'm glad to see you're recovering well, Stefan.

[ if he's said anything else—a bed, a pile of snow, a bunch of diaries—she thinks he won't be leaving the hospital bed anytime soon.

her hand grows gentle in his hair, ruffling it softly. ]

You're not going to the bakery by yourself anymore.

I don't even know if you could have stopped a giant snake, Katherine. It was huge and it was...I don't know.

( but maybe she would have been able to since she hadn't turned human overnight. that's still confusing him. )

I still don't understand how I turned human and you didn't.

I told you. You left something behind on the floor.

[ and that was... disgusting. very, very disgusting. katherine's not entirely sure if she should've kept that and happened to pack it in her purse like it was some secondary skin for him to slip into.

disgusting.

she scrunches up her face in disgust and thought. ]

What did you even do yesterday? Did you eat something?

Nothing out of the ordinary. We had lunch and dinner together!

( and he'd had coffee for breakfast. if it was the food, she should have been affected too. but the fact that he'd been the only one? it doesn't make sense. )

I had coffee in the morning. I didn't drink anything or eat anything while I wasn't around you.

Maybe it was just plain luck.

[ she purses her lips and sighs quietly. unless he ate or drank or touched something that the didn't eat or drink or touch… katherine's gut's telling her that it's just the luck of the draw.

hopefully a temporary draw. ]

Unless it's slow to affect me. Maybe I'll be shedding disgusting skin and be human tomorrow given my age.

[ and maybe it takes a lot longer for it to affect someone so much older. ]

God, I hope not.

( he doesn't want them both to be human. he remembers what she'd been like as a human back home, how hard it had been for her, how much she'd had to relearn since she was so used to being a vampire. )

I'd have to keep you away from all stores in case one of them decided to fall on you again.

[ she rolls her eyes, but not out of any unkindness. it's her attempt to bring humour into what is a humourless situation. it's her go-to answer now. he reminds her of the building and she rolls her eyes and huffs.

and she does huff. ]

No building has fallen on me yet, Stefan. Besides, I need more shoes. I need some to go with taking my partner to the hospital.

A building did too fall on you!

( not recently but she does remember when it had fallen on her in deerington, right? stefan remembers that. )

I pulled out out of that building a few months back. That counts.

[ katherine scoffs. ] That's expired.

[ she waves her hand dismissively before tucking it back into his hair. that happened months ago! hence, it's no longer relevant as a bargaining chip. ]

That happened too long ago. It's safe for me to go get some new shoes, Stefan.

Injuries don't expire, Katherine. That doesn't expire.

( he looks up at her and that pulls at his back. he winces and even groans before he settles back down, shaking his head. )

Nothing about this place is safe.

Except here on my boobs.

[ remember your place, stefan.

she brushes her fingers through his hair before gliding her hand down to his upper back, digging her fingers in lightly. he's definitely not going home any time soon. ]

And it's expired. I'm older, wiser, and what I say goes.

You can say that but I'm not going to be agreeing.

( so there. he's always going to worry about her going out to any store on her own. )

I'm tired of this place, Katherine. It's going to take forever to heal as a human.

Did you want some blood?

[ she's been hesitant in offering it to him. she doesn't like using vampire blood as a fix for everything. sometimes, the body was stronger when it healed by itself. she also doesn't wish to risk stefan in case there are any side effects they're not in the know of.

but it's the only thing she knows she can do that will make him feel better. her vileblood status hadn't seemed to do all too much. ]

( he does but he doesn't. he's not sure he should try that with his human physiology because what if it messes him up since he'd been a vampire once before?

but he also desperately wants to feel better. he doesn't want to be in this hospital anymore. )

We could try a little and see what happens.

Okay.

[ katherine sighs quietly. she doesn't particularly want stefan to move, but he's going to need to sit up for this one if he doesn't want to choke. ]

You're going to need to sit up. I'm going to need to sit up.

Okay.

( sitting up is not easy, not with the condition of his back but he does it in the hopes that her blood might help him. he swallows a few times and leans heavily on one of his arms when he's finally in a sitting position. )

This good?

[ when katherine pulls herself up to rest against the very unfun headboard, she loops her arm around his middle to pull him back against her. she's old and strong; she can take on the weight of his muscle. ]

Good now.

[ she keeps her arm around him as she draws her other one to her mouth. with her fangs protruding, she pierces the skin of her wrist. she holds it out for stefan. ]

( stefan doesn't stop her from pulling and positioning him even if leaning against her hurts the burns on his back. he has to take several quick breaths to get through the pain but it does fade as he hears her take a bite out of her wrist.

he swallows when her bloody wrist appears in front of him. he wants to hope this works, that it helps heal him a bit.

so, he leans forward and takes her wrist gingerly in his hand before he starts to drink her blood. )

Take it easy, Stefan.

[ this isn't them having sex and deciding to drink from one another. she wants his shirt to remain as pristine as possible so they can hightail out of here when this works. because there's no case of "if" it works. it'll work. her blood is strong and stefan's strong, even if he's currently at his weakest right now.

katherine's fangs remain on display, her eyes dark pools of black. she does her best to ignore the thumping of his heart. she can be in control even when she feels out of it, even when she's out of her mind with worry. her hunger for him is for him to be better, not to tear him apart. ]

( stefan takes her advice and doesn't try and drink too much, too fast. he taste of blood is familiar to him but it still hits differently when he's a human. he takes just a little bit and then eases back, waiting. )

You can see my back, Katherine. I can't.

( he doesn't feel a change right now but maybe it'll take some time to work. maybe he just has to wait. )

Is it working?

[ she inhales a little loudly through her nose as she tries to lean back. given that everything's now at full capacity, she'd hope that her blood would be working immediately and he'd feel it. but she does as he asks... or tries to. it's a little hard to peer at his back when he's leaning against her. ]

You're going to have to lean forward so I can see.

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