( wow this sand is so quick!! )

[prescind]

Who: stefan salvatore (prescind) + amos burton (rocinantes) + katherine pierce (manipulative + wanda maximoff (explosion)
What: event + other shenanigans
When: march
Where: all over the place

Content Warnings: possible nsfw, language, violence

Comments

[prescind]

Katherine.

( stefan tries to catch up to her, jogging until he's at her elbow and reaches for her. )

Katherine, you sure you're good? Everything feel okay?

[manipulative]

[ she frowns. ]

Why wouldn't I be fine? He's on the floor.

[ she twists and gestures in the way that they've come. she smiles at him before she wipes her hand roughly against her wet mouth. the worst thing about drinking blood is that it makes an unnecessary mess. ]

Is my face a mess?

[ she's smeared blood all over herself; entertainingly, she's turned it into a perfect tangent. ]

[prescind]

Yes.

( yes, it is a mess and yes, he's still a little concerned about her after drinking that blood. )

Are you going to leave it like that to warn anyone else that comes upon us?

[manipulative]

It's a thought...

[ she purses her lips and shrugs. but considering where they are and how many people they've stumbled across, she has a feeling she'll only be wearing the blood for no actual purpose. ]

I don't exactly have a mirror to use to clean myself up.

[prescind]

I bet we can find some water. Every jungle has water somewhere, right?

( stefan makes a face. )

Come on, let's see what we can find so you can clean up.

[manipulative]

[ she mutters, ] Bug-infested water.

[ but water nonetheless.

katherine wipes at her face and feels blood smear against her skin, either lathering up or marring what used to be clean cheeks. while she's not one to be particularly shy about wearing blood, well... being in a jungle-like this should be a cause for concern when anything is out of the ordinary. ]

You're going to check that the water doesn't secretly eat skin, right?

[prescind]

Yeah, I can check it. Let it eat my skin before it eat yours. I'll sacrifice it for you.

( he rolls his eyes and shakes his head. stefan looks behind him but there's nothing there. )

You think he's gone for good?

[manipulative]

[ she pats stefan's arm and smiles at him all too sweetly for it to be genuine. ]

Hero.

[ her soon-to-be ugly hero if the water eats skin? he's a charmer. definitely a keeper. katherine will need to invest in paper bags for him to put over his head.

she nods. ] Mhm. I think he won't be getting up for a long time. I took a nice chomp out of him.

[prescind]

( she had. if he hadn't stopped her, she'd have killed him but stefan still feels unease prickle at the back of his neck. )

Still doesn't feel right, though. You feel that?

( or was he just being overly paranoid? )

[manipulative]

You're worrying too much.

[ she pats his arm again.

he does have a point—and seems to be fond of voicing what she wants to ignore for now. it feels too easy. everything feels a bit too easy in the trench. but she wants to believe that it's over now. this can be easy and this can be final and they can find their way out of here without any further delay. ]

It will be fine.

[prescind]

( that's about what he thought she'd say but he can't shake it. still, he shakes his head and starts moving again, looking for water. )

There's gotta be some kind of way out of here. I don't really wanna just walk and walk and walk around the jungle until whatever this is decides that it's done.

( he's never spent a long time in jungles but he does know they end. but they can be huge and expansive so...he doesn't know where he's going with that line of thinking. )

[manipulative]

Hm.

[ he does have a point, but katherine's "hm" isn't as innocent as it could be. she has a solution for the problem he poses, even if it's not entirely the best solution that will see ruby slippers on their feet and their heels clicking. ]

Why don't you use your vampire senses? [ she cocks her brow and smiles small. she can listen in—and she will... but she doubts stefan has ever had to use his senses this way. ]

[prescind]

I am using my vampire senses, Katherine.

( that's why he feels uneasy about the hunter that they'd left behind. something keeps prickling at the back of his neck and he doesn't like it. )

I'm listening for water.

( he doesn't even know how he'd listen for an exit out of here. )

[manipulative]

What sounds?

[ a little trickling river? a gushing waterfall? nymphs dancing naked in a pond?

if anything, there'd be feet wading through the water and fish swimming within it. ]

Water can be still and soundless.

[prescind]

Do you wanna do this, Katherine?

( he gestures at their surroundings if she wants to use her superior senses to get them some water or get them out of this. )

You're right, water can be like that but if it's some kind of river or creek, there's going to be a current. The water runs.

[manipulative]

I want you to do it. You've never had to use your heightened senses like this before, Stefan. I have.

[ the unsaid thing: if they end up split up, she wants stefan to be able to trust himself in getting back to where he needs to go. there's no better time than the present to learn how to trust yourself.

katherine learned in the middle of running. thankfully, stefan's walking. ]

Where there's water, there's usually animals. [ she scrunches up her face in distaste. ] Assuming this place has some.

[prescind]

Why?

( he doesn't even know why she's pressing him o this. he keeps walking, shaking his head and stopping to look right and then left before he continues moving. )

And how do you know I haven't used my senses like that?

[manipulative]

[ she gives him a look. ] I've watched you throughout the years, Stefan. I know.

[ she is, after all, his stalker. while katherine had no intentions of stepping into his life and had kept tabs on him for reasons she knows now belong deep in the river of denial, sometimes she thought perhaps she could reveal herself. a part of her is glad she didn't; it would have put her in danger, and she thinks to a point it would've stifled him. ]

Because if we get separated, I want you to be able to get yourself somewhere safe. And since this is a new and strange place we're in, you're going to need to know how to trust yourself.

[prescind]

I know how to get myself some place safe, Katherine.

( he scowls in her direction because he doesn't like all this talk about getting separated. )

Are you planning on taking off on me?

[manipulative]

No.

[ while she might have once considered taking off without him noticing, it's not a blip on her plan radar now. ]

But maybe Jumanji [ she elongates the ju to make it sound like something found beneath her shoe. ] has other plans in mind. It wouldn't be the first time this place has had something else in mind.

[prescind]

Then maybe we can keep moving and stop talking about this.

( he doesn't need to hone his skills. they're together and they're not going to be separating. he starts walking again. )

Come on.

[manipulative]

[ katherine continues to follow his lead despite his refusal to see the benefit in her proposal. stefan's stubborn, she knows that... she does hope that her proposal doesn't come to light. ]

So, we're definitely never going camping for a date.

[prescind]

You wouldn't ever want to go camping with me anyway. That is definitely not your type of date.

( and while stefan might suggest to see what she does, he's not that stupid either. he huffs and shakes his head. )

You would bitch and moan and scowl at me the entire time.

[manipulative]

[ she smiles up at him sweetly and makes a show of batting her eyelashes. ]

And you'd enjoy every moment of it.

[ of her bitching and moaning and scowls. she'd glamp... but just barely. ]

Every whine. Every huff.

[prescind]

Until I couldn't take it anymore and took you to a hotel.

( that's the only way it would stop. and it couldn't be just any hotel. it'd have to be high class. )

Then, we'd be having your kind of vacation.