ᴍᴀʀᴛʏʀ

Watching his face morph and crumble against the tide of her reasoning was extremely satisfying. It wasn’t exactly hard proof, but it made sense enough to convince him it was true. It helped that Katherine wasn’t lying to him right then. She watched his brows furrow as he pieced it together. Her head tilted at his first reaction, as if to say Duh, but then she froze for a second while her cavalier attitude disappeared. 

That wasn’t a question she wanted to answer. Whether or not it hurt her shouldn’t be something she exposed to anyone, especially since her answer wouldn’t satisfy him. Stefan’s puzzlement returned to a barrage of frustration, and yet they still weren’t questions she wanted to answer.

It was silent for a moment in the chilly grey dawn. Katherine’s hands slid into her back pockets and she shifted her weight onto her back foot as discomfort set in. She had been able to see his face fairly well, but she wasn’t sure what showed on hers. She felt her expression harden in defense. Finding the right words to answer him though, to preserve her domineering exterior, was difficult for some reason. “You wanna know why?” she shook her head a tiny bit, almost to herself. Her voice dropped out as she stepped towards him. “I don’t know why. I made a snap judgment because I had to.” Stefan and Mason were not the same, and she didn’t want to articulate why. “I want you to be happy here, Stefan. I wanted that for both of you. Mason let himself be happy, and he died feeling loved.” Her brows rose as she looked at him. “Maybe I’m not as hurt as you think I should be about it, but his death isn’t going to send me over some edge.” She thought again about how he had no idea what her life had been like before or what she’d endured. Her tone softened a little after a beat, taking on a degree of finality. “It’s late. You should get some sleep.” 

He felt sort of stunned to the spot, just staring at her as the stars shone bright up above. Somehow he felt like he was looking at a whole new version of Katherine. What he had thought he was looking at was not as it seemed. She was... a mystery. Unfamiliar. Her behavior was not at all as he had learned of the the supernatural species in all his life. To Stefan, they were just blood thirsty monsters who didn’t have a care in the world. She was proving that correct with her disregard for Mason he had so aggressively challenged her on, but she was surprising him in other ways tonight. Ways he would likely go to bed mulling over in his head until sleep overtook him. 

“It’s late. You should get some sleep.”

Stefan nodded. He was completely covered in dirt and a mixture of dried blood. Both his own and Mason’s. His arm was still sore despite being healed from the break. He was filled with vampire blood and part of him was scared to even shut his eyes until it was out of his system... but he didn’t think Katherine would do that to him. What use would he be to her then, anyway? “I think I’d better have a shower first.” He said, feeling how strange it was to share with her his intentions. He indicated with a sweeping hand gesture the state of his attire. “Not my best look.”

Her eyebrows rose when he pushed back, a little surprised at the confrontational side of Stefan she hadn’t seen much of before. It was at once a pleasant change of pace and a sudden thorn in her side. Katherine felt called out, but Stefan’s inaccuracies also felt like pricks of injustice against her. Her mouth formed a thin line, a slight frown. She took one hard step towards him. “If I wanted easy and convenient,” her eyes flicked over him. “Why would I pick you?”

She wasn’t interested in using force with him. She thought that would’ve been clear by then.

It took her another moment to realize he hadn’t actually answered any of her questions. Katherine took a deep breath to release the tension in her body before she did something rash. “You can believe what you want, Stefan, but…” she stepped around him just to give herself a second. “I thought you were smarter than this. What do you think happens in the other houses in this town? I try to make it easy on you, yes, but do you really think my friends feel the same way about their humans?” she shook her head a little. Her tone was easier than her words, like her confidence came from holding all the secrets of this world. She wanted to see how he’d react if she dropped one. “I knew if I told Rebekah to kill you, she wouldn’t. She wanted to hurt me, not give me a choice.” She probably was always going to kill Mason, considering he was the one Katherine had the longest. But that was beside the point. 

“I chose you because I thought you’d be a challenge. Someone interesting.” Her eyes had taken on a hard edge that she could achieve when tugging on a malicious thread. “Imagine my disappointment.”

Hmm, she had a point. Why had she picked him? It had been known knowledge that he was a slayer so she must have known his nature. Knew that he would have been more heavily resistant. He had always just assumed that it made him more appeasing somehow to a vampire’s palette. That the deep hatred for her kind would somehow make his blood sweeter in their mind’s, more satisfying. But at her mention of what he thought happened in the other houses, he had to admit that she had him cornered. Truth be told Stefan had spent so much of his time thinking about his own current predicament that he had somehow forgotten that there were hundreds of other humans owned, used and fed off of. Based on what he had witnessed at the Mikaelson’s, they were not treated at all like Katherine treated him. 

By the time she informed him of her reverse psychology and revealed that she hadn’t intended for him to die after all, Stefan could feel the beginnings of a thaw somewhere in his core against his better judgement. It wasn’t quite defeat, but it was a lesser version of the state of being. At least one wall crumbled. He was being.... absolutely ridiculous. And what was any of his attitude even accomplishing him? Nothing. Some idealistic mission to change the world one act of martyrdom at a time. He could practically hear his brother mocking him already. No, he wasn’t changing anything by stubbornly resisting every attempt she made to converse with him like a civil human being. He was just making his own life difficult and miserable so that he could remain in his favorite default broody setting. 

“Wait, what?” He couldn’t fathom why she would choose him over Mason. Surely the poor man couldn’t have been that dull. Or maybe he had. But he hadn’t given Katherine much reason to choose him either. He had been nothing but a thorn in her side for weeks now, practically goading her to take a bite out of him. Which she hadn’t so far. “But it didn’t... hurt you?” He wasn’t sure if it was a statement or a question. “She thought it would, but it didn’t. Why should I believe that you could ever even begin to care about my well being when you didn’t even blink when good, loyal Mason was murdered right in front of you? When I stop being a challenge are you going to get bored of me too?”

me: roleplaying is so fun

me: this is a fun time

“I got the groceries, but I couldn’t read the last thing on your list. Is this even close?”

“It’s too hot. Open a window or something.”

“Could you please grab me a drink while you’re up?”

“Here. Blankets. Since you won’t quit complaining about the cold.”

“Come here. You’re shivering.”

“There’s nothing we need to do today but relax. Why are you running around, exactly?”

“Thanks for taking care of the laundry.”

“Quiet down! I’m trying to read.”

“What are you working on?”

“It’s new. What do you think?”

“Sit down and let me do your hair.”

“I think it’s time for a new look. I want to help.”

“You want me to try on that?”

“Did you steal my shirt again?”

“I know I had three more in the fridge. You swear you don’t know where they went?”

“Don’t you think these flowers brighten the place up?”

“I made dinner. Your favorite.”

“You made some for me to eat, too? Thank you!”

“I couldn’t sleep either.”

“Let’s stay up and watch the stars.”

“I’ve got snacks!”

“Can we just sit here together?”

“This is nice. Quiet.”

“Maybe you don’t have a preference, but I’d like to hear your opinion.” She was possibly looking for an insight into his way of thinking. One option: Stefan remained alone, her sole source of fresh blood and entertainment. The other: she adopts a new human to share, things would be closer to the way they were. A new person that could also spend time with Stefan as Mason had.

She noticed the shudder. It made her frown a little, noticeably. Her eyes narrowed on him and she took a step around the grave towards him, her arms folding across her chest. “Am I really that repulsive to you?” Katherine didn’t even like hearing the words coming out of her mouth, but they came out anyway. “Have I mistreated you? Have I been horrible?”

Here she was trying to make herself seem like they were somehow on equal footing. Allowing him to believe his opinion mattered. Stefan knew it ultimately didn’t. No matter how much she tried to make him feel like it did, he was determined not to fall for the charade. If it had gone her way, he would be the one in the grave. At her innocent question, he gave a humorless laugh. “Oh Katherine, let’s not pretend like my opinion actually matters to you.”

Dry sarcasm poured from his mouth like poison. “Let’s not pretend that anything I say matters to you. The things you buy? It’s to keep us-” he quickly corrected himself “me lulled into a false sense of security. Make me feel like I actually matter to you. To distract me, make it easier on me. Brainwash me into thinking this is normal. When what you really want is just a play thing and a convenient, hot meal.” 

He gave a sigh, letting his shoulders fall as his arms came to his sides. “So then I suppose I wouldn’t wish this kind of life on another. I’d rather if you had to, just take what you want and need from me.”