deercountry | ( the dog days are over )

Hm.

[ that's a reluctant hum. while he may be human and while she trusts him implicitly, katherine hasn't forgotten that this is stefan salvatore. he has a difficult time with blood on good days. she's not quite sure what the effect will be when he's human and devouring too much of it. ]

Just a little more. You don't want to overdo it.

[ she lifts her wrist up to him, an invitation for him to take it. ]

I don't think the bloodlust is still...a thing while I'm like this.

( but it's good to exercise caution. so, he does, leaning forward and licking at her wrist before he sucks a little more blood into his mouth. he waits for a moment and then stops, nodding. )

Any less ugly?

[ she sighs quietly. it's... nice to be fed on and to feed someone. it's definitely not news to her, all things considered about their rather kinky relationship, but it's still a bit of a revelation to know she doesn't mind it with him being all mortalised.

she withdraws her wrist and leans back to peel his shirt up. it's still an ugly mess of skin, but she can see it smoothening out. ]

A little better. I think you're going to need to be patient and let my blood work its way through whatever's left of that venom.

( he could definitely be patient but does he want to be? no. he wants this blood to fix him so he can go home. he sighs and then leans back against her. )

Is it enough for you to let me leave this place?

( does he sound hopeful? well, that's because he is. )

[ this time when katherine hums, it's long and loud and thoughtful. she'd like to go home, too. she'd prefer he recuperate at home. it's safer and more comfortable there, and she's begun to trust herself in taking care of him.

gently encouraging him to sit back against her, she wraps her arms around his middle. ]

How are you feeling? And don't think about lying—I'll be able to tell.

I don't feel...great but I don't feel as bad as I did either.

( which is an improvement. he doesn't know if that's from her or from the blood ministers but still. he sighs and closes his eyes. )

But I think I'm good to go home. I can sit in bed there. And if I'm healing, I can just take more blood later. Tomorrow or something.

[ she doesn't answer him immediately. katherine wants him to stay here and get better, to heal up and rest up until he's bouncing off the walls and appearing as energetic as he's typically not. but she wants to go home, and she knows he'd rest up better there. ]

If you're in any pain, you're to tell me immediately.

[ she narrows her eyes and regards the top of his fluffy hair sharply. she holds her hand up, pinky thrust out. ]

Promise?

( oh, the vaunted pinky swear. he nods and reaches to twist his pinky around hers. )

I promise.

( and he would definitely try and keep to that promise. )

I will stay in bed when we get home and rest. I promise that too.

Good.

[ she shakes his pinky a little harder than intended. letting it go, she wraps her arms around him once more and kisses the back of his head. lingering there, she lets out a small breath. she knows he's eager to leave, but katherine just wants to stay still for one moment.

against his hair, she murmurs, ] You're not going to the bakery ever again.

Not going alone or not going ever?

( he wonders if this was worse for her than when his father had shot him but he's not going to ask. they don't need to dredge up those memories.

he sighs and rests his hands on top of her arms, rubbing them gently. )

I'm all right.

Ever. Never ever, ever. Maybe in three hundred years.

[ she is realistically going to crave baked goods and demand that he go fetch them. she can at least wait until three hundred years have passed before sending him out to go play fetch.

she rests her cheek against the back of his head. ]

I might have to wrap you up in bubble wrap.

I am not getting wrapped in bubble wrap. I will concede not going to the bakery but my clothes are fine.

( though just like her and the shoe store, he thinks he'll be able to go to the bakery again sooner than three hundred years. )

If we're going to go, I need to be in something other than this hospital gown.

But I think it's quite fetching.

[ she doesn't. as hot as stefan is, that dressing gown is wearing him. it's very much a boner killer, not that him being here is not already a boner killer in itself.

pulling away from him, she rubs her arms up and down his biceps and sighs. ]

Move to the edge of the bed. I'll get your clothes.

( stefan does as she asks, moving slowly to the end of the bed. there's a little pain but it's minor so he doesn't say anything. he moves until his legs hang off the bed and makes a face. )

God, these hospital gowns are terrible.

( he doesn't wear shorts beside his boxer briefs for a reason. no one needs to see his legs in public. )

They're not even flattering for the most attractive of us.

[ her. that's her.

katherine slinks off the bed and stands before him, holding out her hands for him. he might as well make the most of her caring nature while he can. she wiggles her fingers and smiles at him. ]

Let's get you dressed, my poor baby.

( this is a different side of her and while he hates the reasons she's having to show it off, he likes seeing it. he reaches for her hands and then gets up.

his legs don't wobble which is a good sign. )

Do I just have my gross clothes from when this happened?

Yes, unfortunately.

[ katherine pierce will never give up the opportunity to try and have stefan naked... or tease him about being naked. right now isn't exactly the time nor place for that kind of nudity.

gently letting go of his hands, she bends down and tugs out a big plastic bag. placing it on the bed, she rummages through it and produces said gross clothes. all of his clothes are neatly folded. ]

I suppose even those are better than what I have on.

( a scrap piece of cloth would be better than a damn hospital gown. sighing, he starts to pull the gown off, wincing just a bit as it pulls at his healing back. )

I'll take the gross clothes if it means I get to leave.

And then you can take them off when we get home.

[ while she may be keeping to her usual party line, it's not said with as much gusto as it usually is. when they get home, he's going straight to bed. she'll happily carry him and tuck him in so tightly he can't budge. ]

Only if you remain on your best behaviour.

I pinky swore, didn't I? What kind of man would I be if I broke that?

( a terrible man, that's who. he shakes his head and starts pulling on his boxer briefs before reaching to gently tug his jeans on. )

I think if I tried to break that, you'd put me out and never let me back in.

It's true. I take my pinky promises very, very seriously.

[ and it's one of the only promises she has kept in her long life. katherine doesn't just offer a pinky promise to just about anyone.

she sits on the edge of the bed and watches him slowly dress. ]

I'd even read your journals aloud to make you regret ever going back on a pinky swear.

You don't know where my journals are.

( stefan inhales and then pulls his shirt on, grimacing not at the pain but the way his shirt feels. this shirt is going in the trash when they get home. )

And now you're never going to know.

Why not?

[ she watches his hands and the way he moves. if he's lying about feeling better, she wants to know. it'll be easy to know. but, so far, she thinks he's telling the truth—he's more than ready to go home and he feels a lot better.

tilting her head to the side, she pouts and smiles. ] Don't you love me?

You know that I do but it's not very nice to threaten to read my journals. I'll show you those when I'm ready.

( he finally finishes dressing, having saved his boots for last before he stands up. he looks terrible, he knows, because the clothes look terrible but he's more than ready to go. )

Do we have to check out or anything or can we just go?

We can go.

[ that's not entirely right, but katherine doesn't need to tell him that. she'll deal with check out later. the most important thing is that they need to go home.

she looks around the room with a playful furrow to her brows. ]

Did you want to steal anything? Take home a souvenir?

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