some guys think they can't be winners

[beanchaointe]

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[braveandstupid]

[She shrugs, because if anyone can appreciate a little sentimentality, it's Elena Gilbert. She always has been a little bit in love with being in love.]

If you can't be sappy about your partner, who can you be sappy about?

[praevaricatio]

The romantic comedies I'll never admit to liking.

( And your partner. Speaking of sentimentality and sap. )

Elena, I am sorry. You were never just a job, or a goal. You were my friend.

[braveandstupid]

[Her face softens a bit at that, because as much as she thinks she can believe him, she's been burned before.]

You were mine too. But ... it's a lot, when you suddenly find out someone you thought you knew actually had this whole other life. And being the doppelganger hasn't exactly brought a lot of sunshine to my life.

[She needed some time to process.]

[praevaricatio]

David, sap alert again, is my sunshine, but saving him, choosing him, and marrying him brought the Colony, and its obligations, and its' assignments. Turning them down would be witch treason, which is why, after one too many toes out of line, I was relocated. To you. I didn't look at it like I was watching you, Elena. I barely checked in. David knew, of course. But, I work overtime at leaving you off the Colony's radar. Harvey... was not our intention. And even he isn't a member of the Colony. They're his client. It's better that Harvey was sent than anyone else.

( It's a lot of information, he knows, but she deserves to hear it. )

How about this. Ask me any questions. I will answer honestly. We do have... ( He checks his watch. ) Ten more minutes?

[braveandstupid]

[She considers for a minute, before shaking her head.]

Honestly, we probably shouldn't be having this conversation in Radiology.

[A beat.]

But maybe we can get coffee after? And talk about it then?

[It's also designed to buy her some time, to make sure that she's asking the right questions. Not choosing those questions carefully has bitten her in the ass in the past.]

[praevaricatio]

( Ezra may tailor his answers, he still has an oath to hold up, until they can bring the Colony down. Or, at least improve its' practices. But, he can accept a break. )

We don't have to talk now. Now, we save patients. Or, map out just how to save the patient. If the patient needs saving. And then, coffee.

( And the nat 20 on reading the radiology findings, which, let's be honest didn't have to be rolled because he studied for exactly this, but, sometimes dice know what's up. )

[braveandstupid]

[The dice are just here to validate all his neuro skills. But they'll go back to saving lives for a little while, and when their mutual shifts end, Elena is waiting at the door, hands tucked into the pockets of her jacket.]

Want to head to the Grille?

[praevaricatio]

( Like old times. He nods, turning the lights off in his office. )

How was the rest of your shift?

[braveandstupid]

It was good. No super crazy cases, which is always a bonus. I tend to prefer straight forward broken bones and stiches.

[No life or death stakes with cases like that.]

[praevaricatio]

I'd say, me too, but you know Neuro barely brings the straightforward.

( He always has to dig for the solution. )

I clipped an aneurysm.

( He holds the elevator for her when it opens. )

[braveandstupid]

Congratulations.

[Because that is always a tough surgery to get. More delicate than Elena would have been comfortable taking on.]

Everything go okay?

[praevaricatio]

We're keeping him overnight for observation.

( But it was pretty standard. He steps closer to Elena as more doctors step on to the elevator chattering away. )

[braveandstupid]

Hopefully he'll make a full recovery.

[She's got her fingers crossed. And with that, off they go to the Grille, where they claim a booth and order their coffee.]

So ... start from the beginning. Were you part of a coven before you met David?

[praevaricatio]

Sort of. David is - think old money. Think the Vanderbilts and David is Anderson Cooper, and I would be Andy Cohen. West Coast new money. My mother and her cohorts, her coven, eventually, taught themselves magic. They weren't born, they didn't worship the wrong demon, they just - found each other and found magic. The story changes, depending on what woman you ask, but, the objective was the same. Bettering, first, the planet, and eventually, their own lives.

It wasn't smooth sailing, hand socialites magic and they aren't going to be singularly generous.

I - unlike my mother, have power. I was born with it. So was my father. There's more about my parents' marriage, the push and pull, the secrets, and everything temporarily unraveling when I discovered my magic as a teenager... but, they whethered the storm, gained the respect of their peers and now lead the West Coast chapter of their coven: Eckankar.

( Which does have a real meaning, if Elena wants to do a knowledge check. They have a foothold in major pop culture, Hollywood, and HGTV etc. )

[braveandstupid]

[Her eyebrows go up, because yes, she knows that name.]

Wow.

[Okay then. That definitely isn't the vibes she would have thought of when it came to what Jo and Bonnie have told her about the Colony. What she does know about this involved has weight to it, but she's not here to probe him about his parents. At least, not right now:]

So when did David come into the picture?

[praevaricatio]

( That is because the Colony is separate from Eckankar. )

When I graduated college, I came home to find a new member had worked his way into Eckankar's inner circle. He was the guest of honor at one of my mother's famous dinner parties.

[braveandstupid]

And you ... hit it off?

[Where is this story going? Please continue, you have her intrigued.]

[praevaricatio]

Not at first, and not even close. My mother is not a woman who welcomes just anyone, and neither is the coven.

( So, that alone, how familiar he was with everyone was disconcerting. )

How much do you know about demons?

[braveandstupid]

[She shrugs because she hasn't done as much of a deep dive as she should have when dating Dean Winchester (7).]

The basics, I guess? I know that they possess people and you can sell your soul to them? Some defensive stuff?

[In true Elena Gilbert fashion, she does not know nearly enough about something that may be coming after her one day.]

[praevaricatio]

( With the Winchesters in town, he debates telling her more. But, he'd rather tell her about David's history himself. And everything it comes with. )

Well, the new member was a demon, and not who he claimed to be. That new member had it in for our coven because back then, it was billed more as a wellness cult. He wanted to steer things in the wrong direction. In a very short amount of time, the members were speaking differently, and taking very questionable advice. I didn't know right away. I just thought a rival coven was infiltrating. I was right about the infiltration. But not why. Or, who.

[braveandstupid]

[There's sympathy there, for someone taking control of your body and making you do things you don't want to do. She may not have been literally possessed by Katherine in this world, but Matt and Tyler still were, and Elena is nothing if not a font of empathy.]

What did you do?

[praevaricatio]

Once I was proven right ( Which involved a devil's trap ), I enlisted help. I exorcised the demon out of him. Not before losing some of the trust of the coven, which was fun to gain back - but, he was dangerous.

( And so began the saga of actually David and Ezra. There's more, that he trapped the demon right as his mother and father were put into harm's way, but Damian was of help, and all turned out well. Well, eventually. )

[braveandstupid]

You were protecting your family. And inadvertently, you were protecting David too.

[Maybe not intentionally, but she's willing to bet that David didn't enjoy having someone else call the shots on how his body was being used.]

[praevaricatio]

I don't regret it. I would do it again, and for others. Demons have no qualms, no morals, and no boundaries. What I didn't know were the circumstances surrounding his possession in the first place. That worried me more. It angered me. He stayed with my family for months. Recovered the pieces of his life he could. And - avoided the people responsible.

[braveandstupid]

[She nods, because this is a terrible story, but at the same time:]

And you two fell in love?