i'm leaving you my last curse

[bravebartender]

Comments

[ooglyboogleys]

[Eventually people are shuffled to the table, and Dawn settles on the opposite side of Damon from Melanie. She has no partner to pair off with, but she does intend to be a menace of a younger sibling. It is her purpose in life.]

So. It's Damon, isn't it?

[She knows it's Damon. She also can't resist a bit.]

[unforgivably]

And it's Dawn.

( He has vampire hearing. Buffy stayed at his house. He recognizes her voice. )

Buffy's little sister. I thought you were in Wyoming.

[ooglyboogleys]

Oregon. But close.

[Too large a landmass to be close enough, but she'll take it.]

But every so often I like to pop back in over here. Occasionally make use of the library. Make sure my sister hasn't gotten herself killed again.

[unforgivably]

( he knows. )

I hear that happens. Buffy slays, she dies. She comes back. Your sister's a living legend. Not to mention her entire army. Stefan really hit the jackpot.

( but that's not his place to stay. )

Did you ever live in this castle?

[ooglyboogleys]

I did, on and off. Once I went to college, less so, but again - library. It was great for writing my folklore thesis.

[And she is totally taking some of them back to Portland with her for her doctorate.]

How are you liking Scotland?

[unforgivably]

You'd think you'd gotten enough of all things lore related to Buffy.

( But she's not him. )

It's no Mystic Falls. ( But, it's actually nice and his face depicts that, exactly. he's liked his time here. ) I don't think I'll be here much longer.

[ooglyboogleys]

Yeah, well, I fall more to the "Watcher" end of things, so I like all the research parts.

[It helps when you're an object of myth and lore yourself.]

Oh no? Looking to head back to Mystic Falls?

[unforgivably]

And a watcher's --

( Sounds kinky. )

I don't know. I know I have a conversation ahead of me. But this isn't it.

[ooglyboogleys]

A Watcher is the knowledge half of the Slayer organization. Initially, they were just an British man who was assigned to the Slayer when they were doing their thing to report back to a council of older British Men who were mostly judgy and not really helpful. But when we rebuilt things after the old council got blown up, we reshaped them to be more of a touch point to the larger whole. Slayer cells would get assigned a Watcher to run training, research lore, all that fun administrative stuff.

[Not all of it is fun, but Dawn enjoys it.]

Sometimes that can be the hardest part. Figuring out where it's not.

[unforgivably]

And to look after them. Minimize the deaths.

( because slayers can die. )

Yeah, I don't know where it is or isn't or was. Stefan's in Scotland. He has a girlfriend. And I am now in Scotland and I have --

[ooglyboogleys]

A person?

[Dawn raises an eyebrow because he and Melanie seem quite close to her untrained eye.]

You just maybe having had a conversation with said person about their person-ness?

[Dawn, that is not a sentence in English.]

[unforgivably]

Have we had a -- They don't teach English to academics anymore? Mel's - free-spirited. Have we DTF? No.

( Does he want to? Jury's out. )

[ooglyboogleys]

Nope, Summers women just have a relationship with the English language that makes grammar nerds sweat.

[But he understood what she meant clearly.]

Is free-spirited a bad thing when you're vampires who have to move around every few decades anyway?

[unforgivably]

And kill themselves.

( Yes, he understood. He's not fair. )

When you put it that way. What about you? Got your roots down in little Gilbert's life.

[ooglyboogleys]

We're making it work.

[If the topic is going to change to Gilberts she might as well go all in.]

He went to Lawrence to see his parents and Elena but eventually I will get him out to the castle. Or Buffy out to Portland. I'm waiting for the opportunity to present itself.

[unforgivably]

( He just stares at her a good long while. )

Run that by me again? To see who?

( He listens but tries to see if his brother is out of the kitchen. Does he not know something? Is this Lily Salvatore all over again? Did Stefan keep something big and bad from everyone? )

[ooglyboogleys]

Oh. Did Elena not tell you?

[Yikes. She didn't realize it was a secret.

Stefan does stick his head out of kitchen at that, peering at his and Dawn's conversation intently.]

There was a mishap with some witch bodies and they got resurrected. I thought she spread the news, sorry.

[unforgivably]

No, Dawn, she didn't New York, New York the return of her dead parents. If you'll excuse me.

( He leaves his plate he grabbed for show but takes his whiskey, moving around the table and straight to his brother. He walks past, back into the kitchen so they can have this discussion in private. )

[somanyadjectives]

[Dawn cringes before pulling out her phone and sending a quick text to Jeremy: Apologize to your sister for me, I may have just outted the news about your parents to the Salvatores.

Hilarious if this winds up being the last text she sends him before things go boom. It's 9AM Kansas time though so Jeremy may be up.

Stefan steps back into the kitchen before turning to face his brother.]

If it's true, I'm sure she's been overwhelmed. We would have found out eventually.

[unforgivably]

( Jeremy's tired. While normally an alert and punctual hunter, entertaining and navigating having suddenly alive parents isn't easy, so he asks Elena to take the morning shift. He doesn't mean for it to sound callous if it does. He'd even meant to set an alarm to connect with his girlfriend, but he chose 8:30p instead.

So he sleeps soundly. )

Dawn doesn't strike me as a liar, just a talker. ...Should we say something?

[somanyadjectives]

Do we need to?

[Stefan glances down at his watch, before shaking his head.]

She's probably not awake yet. Let's worry about it after dinner. It's not like they're going anywhere.

[unforgivably]

It's Elena. It's her dead parents. Years later. In hunter territory.

( He agrees they can wait, but also, it's crazy. )

[somanyadjectives]

I know. I heard they were involved in some witch stuff, but this is ... a lot.

[They definitely should have a group phone call with Elena later, like concerned parents.]

Do you think Bonnie knows?

[unforgivably]

Normally, I'd say she would've told us but I lost those privileges when I left my heart in Brooklyn. She would've told you. ( Right? He peers out into the dinner from the kitchen. ) If she doesn't know, she should.

( On the other end Faith is ravenous with sides sitting next to Wes.

"You're the adopt-a-vamp?" )

[mojitos]

["We'll check in with her about it after dinner."

For now, they need to keep things neutral.

Wes, on the other hand, reaches for his wine with a smirk.]

That's one way of putting it.

[He then pauses, studying her face for a moment.]

Have we met before?