deercountry | ( the dog days are over )

[ she shovels food into her mouth and gestures to her full cheeks. see? she can't talk. she comically shrugs and makes a noise and clangs her knife and fork against the plate. the blush may still be there, but she's eating, she's moving, and he can't see the redness to her cheeks.

pity, that. this food is so good she might have to keep her head down and her answers to herself. ]

You're kind of ridiculous, aren't you?

( stefan watches her in wonder, laughing because that is the most insane thing he's seen from her in a long time. )

You would rather look like a chipmunk instead of letting me see you blush?

[ katherine nods and chews and makes noises low in her throat that suggest she's speaking a lot, but really, she's just making noise to appear like she is. she gestures to her mouth and widens her eyes, and lets out a breath through her nose and shakes her head.

it's a pity his food is so good that she can't talk. ]

You're ridiculous.

( stefan just stares at her and shakes his head before he goes back to eating himself. his focus goes down to the plate. even if she'd tried to hide it, he knows she'd been blushing. )

Too bad, I like the blush.

[ she makes a noise that sounds like she's comforting him. her mouth is so full that she can't even utter a word for a good minute, so she chews and sighs and makes noises so that he can feel like his conversation about her blush is coming to a close.

and when she swallows, she lets out a breath. ]

That's a shame. I think it's gone now.

I think it's kind of ridiculous that we've been together for this long and you still don't let me see certain things about you.

( just gonna get that out there. )

Feels kind of unfair.

Maybe you can [ she gestures with her fork to the dinner table and the way he's gathered candles. ] romance it out of me.

[ she smiles at him and chuckles, digging into her food and stuffing it into her mouth. look, there is a blush creeping up onto her cheeks. no one needs to point this out. ]

Romance a blush out of you? Only for you to run away and hide it from me?

( he doesn't know if he wants to do that. sounds counterproductive. )

But I wouldn't eve get to look at it.

You'd get a glimpse.

[ she offers him a nonchalant shrug. a glimpse is better than nothing, isn't it?

katherine smiles and keeps her head bowed for a moment. she's curious to see if he'll do anything to try and convince her to let him see her blush. when she peers up at him, she doesn't even try to appear innocent. ]

Isn't a glimpse worth it?

That's not a very double standard, you'd know. You'd want to see mine and would probably bring attention to it in the middle of a crowded place.

( he reaches over and slides his fingers against her cheek before shaking his head. )

But you panic when I see yours like it's going to change anything about you to me.

Doesn't it?

[ he starts calling her cute and shit, and while she's most definitely cute, that only makes her blush even harder. there's something about the power of stefan's compliments that makes her weak.

but she cocks her brow at him expectantly. ]

No.

( he huffs and rolls his eyes. )

No, it doesn't. What would it change? It's a stupid blush, Katherine. I'll forget about it in five seconds if you don't draw attention to it every time it happens.

[ she makes an affronted noise. ]

I don't draw attention to it!

[ she tries to draw attention away from it! he's always putting the spotlight back on her and trying to see! ]

You do!

Yeah, because I like to see it but then you throw a big fit when I try and look at you.

( which means she draws the whole thing out and that's on her. he's not accepting any other answer to this query. )

Edited 2022-03-10 12:53 (UTC)

I don't throw a fit.

[ instead, she acts cute and looks away like the stubborn woman she is. ]

I kindly and very passionately ask you to look away. There's a very big difference.

It's a fit.

( because she never asks him nicely. she always gets mad about it. he shakes his head. )

A tantrum, if you will.

[ pressing her lips together in a comically huffy fashion, katherine shakes her head as she regards him with some amusement. if she tells him it's not a tantrum, he'll insist as much... and then she knows where this will lead.

to a not-fit. ]

You're ruining the dinner you so kindly planned for me, Stefan.

You know what would make me stop harping on it?

( he eyes her. )

Maybe say that you do blush and don't always hide it from me.

[ she rolls her eyes and cuts into her food. this is not a conversation she wants to be happening. the last thing katherine wants to do is admit she blushes.

but... ]

Maybe I do blush. [ she shrugs. ] But I'm not telling you why. You'll be annoying and ruin a good day if I tell you.

Why is it a secret?

( he doesn't understand how you work, katherine, but he's not going to stop pressing it. )

Why should it be a secret from me of all people?

Because.

[ she regards him sternly despite knowing he's not going to drop this. stefan may be soft, but he's sometimes like a ravenous dog with a bone. she's begun to learn he's much like that when it comes to her and the bones she does throw his way.

she shakes her head. ]

It's stupid.

It's not.

( stefan shakes his head and then reaches for her, bringing her closer to him so he can kiss her. )

Nothing you do is stupid.

[ she regards him with a pointed look, but katherine doesn't intend to keep the stubbornness up for long. she sighs and glances down at her plate. she thinks to tell him something else, but... katherine's grown comfortable being honest with him.

she states matter-of-factly, ] I worry that if you see it enough, you'll grow tired of it.

[ yes, stupid. ]

Katherine.

( he laughs quietly and then shakes his head, stepping closer to he and reaching to cradle her fae with his hands. )

That could never ever happen. Never.

How can you be so sure?

[ she cocks her brow as if she's speaking of something based on fact. katherine knows by now that if stefan commits to something, he's committed.

but she's also katherine and she knows that she can be a lot of work sometimes. ]

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