everyonelives | the challenge, bring order to the whole

( The earrings do the gloating for her, she should flaunt it.

He goes about filling two glasses with her and Beck's favorite beers. Dark Guinness for Beck. And Lindsay's favorite. )

If I were you, I'd sit in my heels and anticipate. Or, does the spark go out of the relationship once you relocate for love.

Oh, no. Spark's still there.

[They are very sparky, thank you for asking.]

But I don't feel like talking about me, and you're wearing your sulky face, so spill. You have ...

[She glances at her watch.]

About fifteen minutes.

Fifteen minutes, don't know how I'll fill the time. ( But, she's one of the only people in town he'll do this with, so he pours himself a glass to nurse. ) Lydia the banshee skipped town.

Oh, I'm sorry. You liked her.

[Understatement, if he's being this sulky about it.]

Is she coming back?

She and her friends are renting property.

( Is he asking or communicating like an adult? He isn't. She can reach out should she want to. She's the grown-up in whatever they're doing. Damon is just the psycho. )

Have you talked to her since she left?

[She knows that Damon is usually a child, but sometimes stating the obvious might knock some sense into him.]

Texting is a thing, I know it was before your generation, but I think it's big in hers.

I text.

( The people he knows, the people he's used to texting. )

Allison Argent faked her death, Lydia believed she was dead. I can't blame her for wanting confirmation. Our first date was a murder mystery. And then more murder. If it wasn't meant to be --

( He'll live. He's old. It was always just fine. Sparks, yes. )

Answer honestly? Will it ever be like it was with Elena. ( With Katherine. ) Beck's the love of your life. What if you were the worst for each other. How do you move on.

( Maybe he really hasn't. )

Well, you were dating a banshee. There's always a fifty-fifty shot that your date will wind up a murder scene.

[But that's not really the point of what Damon is after. She pauses and takes a sip of her beer.]

Honestly? If Beck was the worst for me, he wouldn't have been the love of my life. It would have been a sign that I wasn't in the right place. And while it would have sucked for a while as I came to terms with that, moving on is a choice. One that you have to make when you're ready to do it.

[A beat as she shifts her weight.]

And from what it seems like, Elena is ready, and is moving on.

( And he's Damon Salvatore. )

Elena's been ready. After the coma, it wasn't the same. She wanted to move forward and not backward. We tried. I tried. I love her. She's one of my best friends. Maybe I thought eventually we'd find that again, with time.

( But they're not star-crossed. They're disfunctional. )

I want her happy.

Which is great. But you should get to be happy too.

[She tips her head to the side.]

Do you actually like Lydia? As in really like her and see potential in the relationship, or was she just a pretty girl you were passing the time with.

[There's no judgment in the way she says it because she's had her fair share of relationships that were just for fun. But that in all honesty is the real question.]

( Well, when you put it like that. )

She's a gorgeous girl.

( Who he'd been intrigued with. But, no he hasn't seen a future with anyone. He hasn't tried. )

Brilliant. She'll do better than me.

( And she should. He's not trying to sound self deprecating. He knows himself. He knows where he's come from and his history. Maybe she could've overlooked it. But, considering the first thing he did after meeting her was take a knife to her friend's throat... )

I don't know. I think she was amazing. And her potential has nothing to do with me.

Well, maybe you should think on that while she's gone.

[Because if they're still renting the house here, that means they're probably coming back.]

And if it doesn't work out, that's not a bad thing. But at least you took a step in the direction of moving on. The first step's always the hardest part.

( A comely blonde in ringlets enters, giving a look around, and asks, "Could I use the bathroom?"

He puts his best customer service voice on. )

Yeah, it's back there, but order a drink when you're out, cause it's customers only.

( Sure thing, her look says as she passes them, but in the doorway, she looks back.

"I'm sorry, but, are you Damon Salvatore? Are you the owner?"

Maybe things aren't turning around, but a cute blonde's a cute blonde. )

That's me.

( Her (13) pulls off her shot and Damon's (3) is caught by total surprise as he drops to his knees, holding onto the bartop.

Lindsay (8)
Ringlets (5)
Damon (4))

Edited 2022-01-31 17:42 (UTC)

[Lindsay starts at the bang, but her reflexes have been honed enough that she jumps into action quickly. She doesn't have her gun on her, but she is a Slayer. That makes her a weapon in and of itself.

She grabs the stool next to her before launching it at the woman with the gun (20), smacking her in the middle and hopefully knocking her off her feet to disarm her.]

( The stool is too long and too heavy for Ringlets to do anything but brace herself against it (15). She's knocked back into the doorway of the women's rest room, which slightly opens and closes as she slumps down. Her hand and side and whole body might be in pain, but she remains armed and tries shooting through the stool's legs - but, like it says on the tin, she's shooting through the legs of a barstool. (4)

Damon is in PAIN (6) and therefore can only seethe through his teeth. )

Wooden bullets, Lindsay!

Well shit.

[She moves across the room, wanting to stop the woman who's shooting wildly, and moving out of her limited range of barstool shooting (9). It's a few quick steps to where she fell, and she grabs hold of the stool, twisting it in an attempt to disarm her (13).]

( Ringlets drops the gun with a painful crack of something (8), but the a cry, she tries kicking Lindsay away (17).

Damon, meanwhile, sinks to the ground. Make a spot check, Lindsay! )

Edited 2022-02-01 02:12 (UTC)

[Lindsay trips over her leg (9) and is successfully pushed away, probably because she was glancing over in Damon's direction to make sure he was okay (10).]

( Is that the edge of his shoe being dragged away? Maybe, but, it's Lindsay's turn for what she wants to do with that information, still in this tussle with this woman. )

[Shit shit shit shit okay. Lindsay turns and reaches into her purse, pulling out a pair of handcuffs and grabs the girl's wrist, handcuffing her to the bathroom door, before grabbing her gun off the floor.]

Stay.

[And with that, she turns to go find Damon (15).]

( She pulls at her wrist, pissed, and hits herself in the head with the door hard. While Lindsay runs to follow, she successfully breaks a thumb (18) to remove her hand. But, Lindsay does have a head start.

Outside, she she's a trunk open and there is someone in shadow -- and with a (19) she sees a syringe glint in the streetlight, and it shoves down. Probably to sedate her friend.

"Harry!" Ringlets yells, gun up and trained on Lindsay. When he looks up, he sees his partner go down hard because Beck got her with an errant 2 x 4 (18). She's knocked out )

What you get for pulling a gun on my fiancée, ( he says, dropping it down on her.

He also gets a (3) for initiative. )

Edited 2022-02-01 04:06 (UTC)

[This seems like the ideal time for a quip but she doesn't want to split her focus. She keeps charging towards the man with Damon and the syringe. She puts in a burst of speed, before throwing out an arm once she's close enough, intending to throw him to the ground (5).

But she might miss. Maybe she slips, depending.]

( Yeah, his (16) ensures that he quickly sticks Damon and jumps back. Lindsay charges toward an open trunk and her friend missing him.

Syringe gets a (4) for initiative and takes the opportunity to slam the car's trunk down on her but he's too far away to effectively do it (3, 18) and Lindsay manages to be missed -- but Damon is now in the closed trunk of a car.

Beck picks up the gun, aiming for the Syringe (9). With unsuccessfully attacking the slayer, and being so open a target, Beck's shot connects (2), going through and through one arm. )

[Since there doesn't seem to be a driver in the car, she leaves Damon where he is to sleep off his wooden bullet/vervain nap until the hunters are dealt with. She turns towards Syringe and swings a kick to the face (8), clearly still a bit off balance.]

( Yeah, Syringe dodges, showing off (19) as he dips back.

Ringlets awakens, and can't do much else, an intense pain coming from the back of her head.

Using the car's trunk, Syringe hops up, looking at kicking her in the face back (11)

He's now a little too close to Beck's fiancée to do anything with a gun, so he holds the gun on Ringlets )

Uh, uh, don't move.

Edited 2022-02-02 16:42 (UTC)

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