#existencesang

                   ❛            c'mon , fins , we gotta focus ! we have maybe a handful of foodcubes left , that's not gonna get all of us , much less you & me , through the rest of the week , right ? now hustle up.            ❜              she was a distraction , though. a blissfully good one , plus her lips tasted like cherries. my head was still foggy as i leaned away , a stupid grin plastered across my face , shaking my head with an audible exhale to rid myself of the romance haze that always seemed to engulf me when she was around.

we needed to lock in , the others were counting on us. hopefully they have more luck than we were , considering this particular market was rather stingy when it came to rations. i straightened to my full height , looping an arm around her shoulders & planting a kiss to her head.                   ❛            alright , so ! if i were an outer space food stall willing to trade for credits .. where would i be ?            ❜              

                   ❛            oh yoda , no contest. you know that little green guy fucks hard.            ❜              rolling my pineapple lollipop around between my jaws , i fixed mina with a wide grin , sauntering back over toward where she had currently invaded my desk chair , eventually stealing gus's & rolling over to sit across from her.                   ❛            here , better scenario. kiss , marry , kill: gus , lassie , & jules. go.            ❜              

it was so easy with her. with cases being rare or far between lately , we'd had a crazy amount of time to kill. gus was gloriously free of my antics today to pursue his pharmacist route , though i was going to harass him in about an hour to doordash us food. chicken & waffles came to mind first , leaving me flushed & stuck with wondering what mina's skin would taste like with syrup on it. i rolled my tongue idly against the backs of my teeth as i tossed her a grin.                   ❛            no cheating , meens , i'm not part of it , pretend i'm not there.            ❜              

                   ❛            really ? what flavor ? i'm sensing ..            ❜              my head leaned inward , climbing upward along her body while trailing kisses up along her stomach , chest , & throat , burying my face playfully into the side of her hair while inhaling a long , deliberately loud sniff.                   ❛            hot cinnamon. no , bubblegum. wait , wrong again. strawberry cheesecake. y'know , the pretty pink & red ones that everyone digs for in the bags.            ❜              my arms looped around her waist , twisting the two of us lazily amidst the tangled sheets of my bed , rolling us over until she was lying on top of me , rubbing a palm lazily along the smooth arch of her bare back , a grin ever present 'pon my lips.

                   ❛            good to know i give you such a strong reaction , though. not many girls can say i rocked their world so hard i filled their head with candy.            ❜

i'd crawled into bed , my head pounding , limbs bruised & aching after yet another rescue. scorpius just wouldn't give up. the bastard was so fixated on getting what he needed out of my head , i could barely find a moment to breathe. i'd sought mina out for comfort , but her arms felt like a cage despite my longing , reminding me of the straps that had been used to tie me to the torture chair. it wasn't her fault , nothing about this was. i was the problem. everything made my skin itch , like i wanted to peel it off or crawl out of it , like i didn't want anyone ever touching me again , even though i knew that was a lie.

my feelings were probably irrational , & i buried the pain her touch gave me as i wriggled myself closer , pressing my face into her chest , breathing in the warm scent of her skin while exhaling through quivering teeth.                   ❛            i'm .. i'm okay. i am. i just gotta .. sleep it off , i guess.            ❜              i wondered how i would've handled everything i was going through if things had ended up differently. if earth - scientist john had undergone intense torture , trauma , how would he deal with it ? it felt weird , distancing myself from who i used to be like he was a entirely separate person.

everything just felt so raw & wrong , now. all i knew was she smelled sweet , like vanilla tinged with sea salt , & i liked the way her fingers ran through my hair.

                   ❛            scream away if you think it'll help.            ❜              elena's tone was miserable , slumped halfheartedly into the booth of the restaurant , the mystic grill of all places. what a name. she stared blearily into the depths of her diet coke , her knee nervously bouncing beneath the table , rubbing the backs of her teeth with her tongue as she fought back another groan. they'd been stuck here for days , & it was her fault. she had no control over these abilities yet , they just came & went in strange waves.

mina had been standing too close during the last wave , taking the two of them into a blinding white light , hauling them sideways through some invisible force , & dumping them onto the side of a road. at first she thought they'd teleported , however after a while it became horrendously clear that something was very wrong. this was some alternate reality , some parallel world where nothing made sense , at least to her.

everyone she knew & loved were here , except they were different. wrong. she wanted to get them back home , but she had no idea how , & she hated herself for it. elena took a breath.                   ❛            they're gonna find out who we are , eventually. there can't be two elena gilbert's in one town , i just .. the idea of speaking to any of them scares the hell out of me.            ❜

                   ❛            shh .. relax , meens. take a breath , you'll be okay.            ❜              with a toss of her head , elena's eyes slid carefully over the retreating figure of damon salvatore , blotting like a dark shape in the distance , a perpetual raven amidst the town's looming trees. bubblegum pink lips puckered , & the girl slung her arm carefully around her friend's shoulders , offering them a squeeze as she expelled a short huff through her nose.                   ❛            he's infuriating , i know. trust me , he gets under my skin too , you just can't let him.            ❜

tossing golden hair over one slender collarbone , elena gilbert left mina's side , crossing the lawn of the bed & breakfast the salvatores had been staying at , as well as mina now due to her sudden arrival in mystic falls. a town as small as theirs was wary of newcomers , of the unknown , but elena never was. she saw unfamiliarity as a challenge , as a way to grow & learn. newfound friendship blossomed easily between them , so she welcomed it with open arms.

elena plopped herself down onto the grass , long legs stretched out to cross at the ankles , leaning back on her hands to fix her friend with a slight smile.                   ❛            maybe you can get your doctor friend to stop by. whisk him away & throw him into space , or something. then he'd stop being so annoying.            ❜