you're gonna love tomorrow, i'm making it my personal guarantee

[praevaricatio]

Comments

[maleficum]

I heard.

[More like he's been keeping tabs. The doppelgangers aren't the only bloodlines that the coven has a vested interest in.]

Do you know their interest in Mystic Falls?

[praevaricatio]

( The danger level that Winchesters pose to anyone in their orbit is unacceptable, he knows. He thought he'd be able to keep close tabs. He thought he wouldn't make a mistake. He should've ingratiated himself further into Elena's life, into Damon's, and Caroline's. )

They aren't the only game in town. There are more hunters here that are out for blood. Damon and Stefan have become like supernatural glue. A banshee, at least one werewolf, and Buffy Summers are all involved.

( And Elena is in the crossfire. )

[maleficum]

Are they having a fucking convention?

[Because honestly, what the the fucking odds. Still, he takes a breath and he hopes that Ezra isn't just calling to keep him updated. He's calling because he has a plan.]

What do you need?

[praevaricatio]

( Convention, party, dinner of some fucking sort. He closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. He shouldn't have made the call unless he'd had a plan. )

What would heal a former vampire who's taken the cure. Tell me there's a magic stop-gap.

( A fucking deus ex machina. )

[maleficum]

[There's a beat of silence before:]

Way to bury the lead, Ez.

[He doesn't sound angry, but more tired. Running a hand through his hair, he looks back over his work station.]

Text me a list of her symptoms. Text me a list of her symptoms and I'll see what I can whip up.

[praevaricatio]

This isn't just on me. The augurs missed an overlapping confluence of events. If I'd have had the time -

( to call in reinforcements. but your husband isn't blaming you, so, maybe stop flipping out on him. )

What the hell is going on in this town?

[maleficum]

I don't know.

[He considers, pacing the room as he thinks.]

Maybe it's related to London.

[praevaricatio]

Tamara Monroe. Gerard Argent's protegé. Surprise, surprise, Damian Jericho is in the middle of this, too. Hunters are here. They drove a car Elena was in off the road. We have one transitioning FBI agent, an unhurt banshee, and Caroline Forbes here. Elena Gilbert involved herself in this hunter war.

( There are times when Ezra is nice, and sweet, and charming and just a little sinister. And there are times where he blames the victim and the circumstances, and fully considers Elena being the bearer of this self inflicted burden. )

And now I am, too. Granted, the hunters I assaulted were murdered, violently. That might not get back them. Also Caroline.

( If he wanted to know.

If they were texting, the elipsis would kick in, once, twice, three times, because he'd be typing but not sending anything.

He thinks it instead.

He relents. )

I can't contain all this alone.

[maleficum]

[There's a deep sigh on the other end of the line because no shit. That's an observation David would have made himself. Especially if this was related to London.

London was a shit show.]

Send me what you know about Elena. And I'll talk to the elders and see who we can swing.

[praevaricatio]

Don't tell them I've been compromised. It's going to be okay. Whatever the fuck is going on. I'll send you what I send, I will handle it. Love you, Dav.

( Nailed it. He ends the call before he can get any further into being burned. But, as he brings his phone down, he half expects a call back. Or, a strongly worded message. Or, worse. Astral projection. For now, he's alone in the on-call room and he taps his phone against his forehead.

Everything is getting out of hand. But, what do witches do? They contain it. They erase it if they have to. )

[vampireboulevard]

[After handling her own conversations, she takes a seat outside the room that's currently housing Stiles. Elena will be returned to it when the imaging is done, but for now she's just ... tired. The adrenaline and anger are fading, and she's just worried about her friend.

Lydia is inside the room with Stiles, waiting. Caroline knows this wait all too well, and she doesn't envy her it.

Footsteps sound on the linoleum and she looks up, prepared to jump in and keep compelling if she needs to.]

[praevaricatio]

( Ezra needs to put his doctor hat back on, to pull himself together, and to save face. He's now in other people's mouths, as Elena's colleague and as a witch. He nods to a passing nurse and approaches Caroline who's taken her posts outside a room. )

Your Elena's friend?

( He doesn't know who Caroline Forbes is, nothing about her history, or her job. He's just Elena's work friend. )

[vampireboulevard]

[Caroline nods with a small, sad smile.]

Best friends. Since we were six. I've known her my whole life.

[And she's very, very worried about her.]

Not being able to help her really, really sucks.

[praevaricatio]

That's why I'm here, we're here. You've known her all your life, you must be Bonnie. Or - Caroline.

( Of course she's Caroline.

Establish a pattern of behavior, establish a baseline of friendship. )

Sorry to meet under these circumstances.

[vampireboulevard]

Caroline. And it is, but ... Mystic Falls is gonna Mystic Falls.

[If he's a witch here, he has to know the breakneck pace at which the supernatural does anything.]

How long have you been a doctor here?

[praevaricatio]

( It does calm, usually over a summer. And things are never so dire as to land Elena Gilbert in the hospital. )

Dr. Katz. Ezra.

( It's true enough that he never slips up, and hasn't in years. )

Elena and I did our residency together. We liked to think of it as, we were in the trenches. We've been friends for a long time. I didn't know her best friend was a vampire.

( Even though he already knew, he "knows" now. And being a witch would've made it apparent. )

[vampireboulevard]

She probably figured it wasn't her secret to tell.

[Which is very Elena. Especially if she didn't know who she was talking to.]

Does she know you're a witch?

[praevaricatio]

That's not mine to tell. I'm a long way from home.

( She can make her assumptions. Maybe they'll hold water. )

[vampireboulevard]

[Caroline nods, before rubbing her arm with one hand.]

Well, Elena's good at keeping secrets. I think you can trust her with yours.

[A beat.]

But Jo Laughlin may already know. I wanted to be sure I could trust you.

[praevaricatio]

Jo Laughlin. She's a witch?

( She is a witch, a witch who runs away from her own birthright. But, in this case, she's just a doctor. )

[vampireboulevard]

[She nods, because it's true. But she doesn't mention from which coven, because she's not here to draw attention to Josie and Lizzie.]

She is. Probably not the only one around, given that it's Mystic Falls.

[praevaricatio]

As far as I know, I'm the only one. Magic's something I'd pick up on.

( Hint. Why might he never see magic with her? )

[vampireboulevard]

[Well Caroline's going to keep that to herself, and just give a shrug.]

I don't know. I don't know how the magic stuff works. But I do know that Mystic Falls tends to be a magnet for the supernatural.

[praevaricatio]

The animal attacks.

( He just continues to play it how he plays it, like the outsider he pretends to be. )

[vampireboulevard]

[She nods because yep. Let's call them that.]

We can have a real wild life problem, sometimes.