.

Asmodeus hummed in response. “I saw the guy earlier kissing another girl.” A half truth- it was only a kiss on the cheek. “I’m 90% sure it wasn’t platonic.” He sipped his soda. “Poor girl doesn’t know what she gotten herself into.” 

Vicki has learned to mind her own business. “If that is what you want to do, go for it. But exact a different reactions than you think. Girls always tend to have different reactions with this kind of news.”

“thanks.” sid spoke with relief, there were times she wondered about using her own powers but always, she opted against it. that is, unless it was already involved. “they sure do. i don’t suppose you’d wanna grab a coffee as repayment? i was on my way there anyway.”

vicki opened her mouth. she wasn’t used to people being nice and offering stuff. “uh, yeah that would be good.” she did feel a bit isolated from a lot of people.

“ Cool, t h a n k s.” All these years later? He was still nervous around Vicki, even if he wasn’t sure exactly what it was that he was doing in this situation? She still held a piece of his heart and right now that was all that seemed to matter as the meal was almost finished cooking. “ She’s with the family for the night, you know all of them are excited for another little g i l b e r t and making up for lost time and all of that. Plus, I kinda wanted to hang out just the two of us.”

“High school is boring but I imagine it must be worse in test form.” Nova remarked with a chuckle. “I consider myself one yes despite not going to a fancy art school.” She shrugged. “But  I’m not starving too much.” She jokes.

This was not what he was expecting when coming to San Francisco, to r e u n i t e with his first love but here he was, making her a meal for the two of them to share.  He was almost finished, the garlic and herb sun dried tomato chicken was backing still, the cheddar mashed potatoes were nearly done and the asparagus too. Nervousness was there, he’d be lying if he said it wasn’t but he put on a p o k e r  f a c e and smiled when she entered the kitchen.  “Glad you came, I was hoping it wasn’t too short of notice. Dinners almost ready but we could have some wine in the mean time, if you’d like?”

Nova gave a small smile. “I see.” Nova looked at the other. “It’s always important to study new things-you never know when it will come in handy.” Nova looked at her book. “Learning more about the modern art styles- Post Impressionism is the one I currently obsessed with.”

Nova smiled and settled in the empty chair. ‘Sorry to interrupt again. It’s just hard to find an empty table these days.” She giggles to herself. “So what are you up to?” Nova asked seeing the notepad on the table. 

the face that she turned to see was one she hadn’t expected —- one she still felt incredible guilt weighted upon her shoulders for the loss of, and it’s almost surreal for her to see her here now, to see her alive and well after the last time she saw her properly was when the stake went through her heart. elena had never forgiven herself for that, for how matt’s sister had to die, it wasn’t FAIR, and she wished with all she had that she could have taken it back. but knowing she was here now, that matt had her back, melted her heart. she calms her wild heart with steadying breaths, and nods. “ it’s —- it’s me, vicki. it’s elena.” she confirms, chocolate hues softening as she stared at the girl. “ —- vicki, i’m so glad you’re here —- you’re okay. i’m… i never got to say i’m SORRY. ”  

Nova already graduated from college some time ago. But part of her always wanted to continue learning. Art is always changing and she wanted to versatile. She saw that most of the tables were full except one.  Nova slowly approached the other. 

“Mind if I take a seat here?” Nova whispered. 

Being so wrapped up in her studies, she didn’t even notice the library filling with people or even someone approaching the table she was at. She was taking notes off of things she thought was important. Jumping at the whisper, she looked up. “Oh.” She looked around before nodding. “Knock your socks off.” She gestured to an empty seat.

Libraries and the school were the places Alaric spent most of his time in. It wasn’t a laudable feat, though, not when it strongly seemed that this cost him dearly. He had trouble getting in contact with his daughters and now that they knew about the merge, his focus had been mostly on trying to find a way out. He kept hoping that maybe, just maybe, San Francisco’s libraries might have the answers he needed.

At some point, taking a break, he recognized a familiar face, something that became a bit of a frequent occurrence here. Approaching her table, he set down a can of soda he’d gotten from the vending machine. “Don’t forget to hydrate. If you think too hard, your head might catch on fire.”

Vicki couldn’t remember how long she was already in the library for. She knew she should be doing stuff to help her finish our her high school degree, but she just found a strange interest in the topic she was on. When she heard something set on the table, she looked up. 

“Mr. Saltzman.” Of course, he was new before she died, but she did remember serving him a lot. She rolled her eyes at his comment. “I think that would be the most impressive thing my head could do at the moment.” She laughed softly. “Because I cannot seem to maintain staying on the subject I should be focusing on.”

LIBRARIES. Will had something of a bad history with them. It was where he first told Lizzie to look into his past on their second meeting, also where she got trapped in a ring of fire and he threatened his own life on behalf of her safety. He got kidnapped, she played savior with his one wanting sibling and the other begrudging. It all felt like a life time ago now. So much had changed. He felt like someone new, like looking back was like peering into someone’s else’s life and world and not his own. 

He was sitting against the wall, book in hand, when a women passed by. She– fuck she dropped something. Did he have to? Yes, he did. “You dropped something.” Will called, louder then the library would like but still fairly low not to be too loud. 

Vicki was grabbing a few books off a shelf and walking by not even noticing anyone. When someone spoke, she turned her head to look down. “Oh.” She didn’t even notice the other there let alone that her phone fell off the top of the books she was carrying. “Thank you.” She moved to reach and grab it. 

“Wouldn’t you feel more comfortable sitting at a table?” She asked.