[Stefan's phone rings ... and rings ... and rings ... and rings some more until finally Damon hears the familiar:
"You've reached Stefan. Please leave a message."
But while he's dealing with all that ringing, he doesn't find a secret door, but he finds plenty of hints that this room wasn't always built to be completely closed in. Studying the structure of the ceiling it definitely seems like the room is supposed to continue.
It's simply a matter of finding the secret exit.
He did not roll high enough to find the secret exit.
Wes eventually turns his attention back to Damon.]
Scarlett says that she and Bonnie are safe outside. But there was some kind of explosion and most of the castle has collapsed. Did you get Stefan?
I got Stefan's voicemail, which, usually, is my favorite version of my brother.
( His voicemail can't yell at him. Can't glare at him. Doesn't just tolerate him. It listens! )
From what I can tell down the room should go on further, but it just doesn't. So we're missing something. ( A tired, slow turn of the head. ) And stuck. For the time being.
( Going over to a intact wine fridge, he slips the bottle he's been admiring out, the door closing behind it. Yes, there's danger. They're trapped. He wants to drink. Just for a second. Give him a second.
He twists the ends of the metal cage to free it, removing it and the foil. )
The trick to opening a bottle of champagne, is to twist the bottle - but not the cork. And if you do it just right -- ( the familiar pop doesn't sound, but a small sizzle as it comes loose and the cork is freed. ) no one loses an eye.
( He takes a gulp, readying himself for the great search ahead, looks over at his companion - also stuck - and clears the distance between them, holding it out. )
[You know what, Wes will take the bottle from him and takes a swig, letting the bubbles slide over his tongue. They could be in worse scenarios, and it's not like they're going to get wasted on champagne.]
Thanks for the tip.
[Though at the same time...]
Worse places to be stuck than a room full of booze, I suppose.
And we can move all of our appendages. It's a party.
( Of two. )
Beats desiccating in Brooklyn. You ever... ( he gestures, hand gesticulating. ) You think it won't hurt. Like you just go to sleep. But, it is worse than drowning. It is the embodiment of starving to death. And no amount of self-righteous, I'm doing this for the girl I love makes it feel better. And, extra guilt points for the letter you leave you best friend and the scathing take on our friendship when she beats time and space to give me a proper tongue lashing right before.
[Wes considers that quietly for a moment, and swallows his first question which is: Damon, have you ever considered therapy? He probably hasn't and based on past conversations with his parents it may not go well.
Instead, he peels back his first reaction and settles on something else:]
Did she really ask you to do that? This girl you loved.
( Elena, asking someone else to sacrifice themselves? )
It was the exact opposite. She wanted me to live my life. Wait for her. Yada, yada. Big declaration of love, dance on an empty street in her mind - ( he takes the bottle back. ) Sleeping Beauty curse - ( as if that answers everything and then he takes another swig. )
[A Sleeping Beauty curse is rough, but why torture himself. He had been ready to argue that a person that would ask that of him doesn't have his best interests at heart, but then the answer becomes that Damon is simply torturing himself for torture's sake.]
Because, I couldn't do it. I tried. I tried making her proud. I went to Hell in a jewel dagger. I declared war on my dead mom and her boy toy. I slept with Krystal with a K - which, probably least of my sins.
( And then he'd hallucinated. He thought he'd torched the love of his love. )
Basically lost my hometown to my dead mom, the boy toy and his army. You know. Life.
( He pauses, looks at him because Damon knows he's looking for the real answer. )
I just wasn't a good guy and she made me better. So, I climbed into a coffin and decided I wouldn't come back out until she was awake again.
[Wes considers as he takes the bottle back, taking his own sip as he considers his words carefully. It's not that he doesn't know this mentality when it comes to vampires. He can't say it's a vampire specific problem, but he's met many who don't care about the collateral damage so long as they get what they want.]
So instead of taking the opportunity to try and work on yourself to be a better person on your own and prove that her faith in you isn't misplaced, you decide to desiccate yourself in a coffin until she wakes up from the curse she's under. Regardless of what that would do to the other people on your life who care about you.
[He passes the bottle back.]
Am I following so far?
[He doesn't say it to be mean. His tone is very carefully neutral. But he doesn't sugar coat it.]
Yeah, but, at the same time, an ancient vampire hunter was awakened. I thought I had lost her ( Elena ) forever, anyway, and -- yeah. I do that. I'm the selfish brother. Damon. Wonderful to be trapped with you.
( Wes wasn't there. Those months were crazy. And they only got crazier. And he just couldn't do it anymore. )
Don't get me wrong, Stefan has done his fair share of Grr-Arg-ing. We've both had our good, our bad, our nonconsensual, dubious things - but, push comes to bite and it's me. I accept it. I even grew as a person. Really grew. Won over someone who hated me for years. Growth. And then, she wakes up. We save the day, Bonnie just - in a snap, realizes what has to be done ( Don't get him started on that deus ex machina. ) - and she's awake. And alive. And breathing. But, there is no street to dance in or rain to kiss in and -- everything I pushed and lived for --
( She was Elena. And being Elena, meant that everything wasn't happy ever after. He was still Damon. And maybe he fucked it up. Maybe they weren't meant to be. Human Elena belonged with - well, if not Stefan, Dean, eventually. And vampire Elena -- the one he planned his life with. )
You know we had it all planned out. She takes the cure, I take the cure from her.
It wasn't the same. That fantasy, that future. She woke up different. She had different ideas. And if I was honest with myself, before the coma -- I wanted it, I wanted it all and then after...
( He doesn't actually know. They didn't discuss the cure right away. Not for a few weeks because she had to adjust, she had friends, Jeremy came back. She learned about Matt. )
She was convinced I didn't want it and shouldn't need it. I shouldn't take the cure for her.
[He turns to shift to face him more, trying to see if he can thread this needle.]
I know that sometimes we do things for the people we love, so taking them out of the equation means that the question ultimately doesn't matter. But did you want the human life you actually planned? If it were Stefan making you that same offer, would you take it? Going back to being human brothers in a human life with human wants and problems?
[Because as much as the brothers bicker, he knows at the end of the day it's the two of them. Just like at the end of the day, Scarlett, Rhett and Melanie are a unit.]
This isn't about Stefan.( He's going to snatch the bottle back, now, because why does it always have to circle back to Stefan? It'll always be Stefan. This is about him and Elena. ) Stefan wasn't even a factor. Even when he was on one of his no-humanity benders, ( as everything is. ) and right before that, we were talking about a future. Seriously talking. I was all in. Ready. She took the cure and I was going to be right behind her. And then Kai ruined Alaric's wedding, killed an entire coven and put my girlfriend into a coma. Then, connected her to my best friend, Bonnie. So, as long as Bonnie lived - Elena would sleep. His genius revenge. The cure, Elena, it was always the light at the end of the tunnel.
[It always comes back to Stefan because that's how these relationships work when you're vampires. One day, Elena will be dead, but fraternal vampires are forever.
Wes relents some, before glancing back towards the door.]
And then when she woke up, things had changed.
[As things often do with the passage of time.]
That must have sucked. That something you were waiting on and hoping for didn't pan out as you had hoped.
( But, this is now about Elena and not about him. He doesn't want to think about that first week. The first month. The explosive argument. The needle behind his eye at all times, why is it on Elena to keep Damon a good person. )
Of course it sucked. I lost my humanity. Worked for the Devil himself, clawed back every inch of who I am, saved the town from the Devil's Rejects who really should've just gone into therapy. And then - She tried. At first. With everything. It was an adjustment. But, she was human. And she had human emotions. And human dreams. And human grief. It wasn't a never, but it wasn't a now.
[Wes drums his fingers against his leg, consider options, knowing that this is in some ways the confessional he signed up for when he became a bartender. But as much as he can listen, a therapist he is not.
But it doesn't feel like the story's done, so he sticks his foot in the door that Damon opened, intending to return to the topic of therapy in a minute.]
And now she's with someone else? I think I heard Stefan mention something about a Winchester?
Now. Not then. She didn't just turn around and marry a Winchester. She left. Transferred schools. Came back a brand new girl. Became a doctor. We had ( the town ) a peaceful few years not including residual Salvatore School, Mikaelson, and founding family BS, but for us - Mystic Falls grew up. And then Stefan came back for graduation, got stabbed, and Elena ran into her old ... ( a beat. ) family friend. Turned Winchester.
( In the definition that he used it, he was always a Winchester. Just follow. Another swig of the bottle before he sets it down on something between them.
Climbing up onto the one fridge, he inspects the ceiling, tries to see if he sees any cracks of light from the top, before jumping down and tracing the bottom with his eyes. (17 Investigation) )
[Wes watches him get up and walk away, trying to figure out if now is the right time to spring the question.]
Damon, have you ever considered -
[Before he can get to the point, though, Damon's attention is dragged to the something on the floor that gives away what lies in wait. Drag marks that pull towards him. He's found the location of the door! Now just figure out how to open it.]
( Success. As he -- inspects the space he's found. But not to leave his pseudo-therapist hanging... )
This is a door. ( And then. He drops his gaze down center, knowing the question that's coming. Maybe. But he needs to hear it. So he turns back. ) Considered what.
[Wes pauses, debating for a moment if he should push it off until they're out of here, or take advantage of Damon feeling open to conversation. He decides best to strike while the iron is hot.]
Have you ever considered therapy? I think you might really benefit from it.
[In the past, the question has been met with a scoff. Scarlett waves off that she's fine until she's disassociating and Rhett has his quiet confessionals with Melanie. He doesn't know how Melanie copes, but she's always been the most well-balanced among them.]
( He's heard whispers of it. Vampire therapists. Either humans, witches, or vampires who do just that. He had a friend that also compelled a therapist. That feels like a need for therapy altogether. Like its' own cry for help.
He turns back to the "doorway," letting the question and comment sink in. )
That how you survived being a Butler-O'Hara?
( Okay. What's in front of him by the drag marks. )
[He steps forward, starting to scan the door to see any kind of exit.]
I couldn't afford it until I was much older, but it's helpful. To talk to someone who's objective. One's that handle vampire stuff are hard to find, but I could give you a couple names. And worse comes to worse, there's always Cami O'Connell.
[Cami is not ideal, given how close she is to the Mikaelsons, but she spent a lot of her professional life building credibility in treating the supernatural community and holding up her end of the doctor-patient confidentiality promise.]
If she could handle Klaus, she can probably deal with your century and change of romantic baggage.
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everyonelives2025-03-12 08:39 pm
no subject
"You've reached Stefan. Please leave a message."
But while he's dealing with all that ringing, he doesn't find a secret door, but he finds plenty of hints that this room wasn't always built to be completely closed in. Studying the structure of the ceiling it definitely seems like the room is supposed to continue.
It's simply a matter of finding the secret exit.
He did not roll high enough to find the secret exit.
Wes eventually turns his attention back to Damon.]
Scarlett says that she and Bonnie are safe outside. But there was some kind of explosion and most of the castle has collapsed. Did you get Stefan?
no subject
( His voicemail can't yell at him. Can't glare at him. Doesn't just tolerate him. It listens! )
From what I can tell down the room should go on further, but it just doesn't. So we're missing something. ( A tired, slow turn of the head. ) And stuck. For the time being.
( Going over to a intact wine fridge, he slips the bottle he's been admiring out, the door closing behind it. Yes, there's danger. They're trapped. He wants to drink. Just for a second. Give him a second.
He twists the ends of the metal cage to free it, removing it and the foil. )
The trick to opening a bottle of champagne, is to twist the bottle - but not the cork. And if you do it just right -- ( the familiar pop doesn't sound, but a small sizzle as it comes loose and the cork is freed. ) no one loses an eye.
( He takes a gulp, readying himself for the great search ahead, looks over at his companion - also stuck - and clears the distance between them, holding it out. )
One for the road.
no subject
Thanks for the tip.
[Though at the same time...]
Worse places to be stuck than a room full of booze, I suppose.
no subject
( Of two. )
Beats desiccating in Brooklyn. You ever... ( he gestures, hand gesticulating. ) You think it won't hurt. Like you just go to sleep. But, it is worse than drowning. It is the embodiment of starving to death. And no amount of self-righteous, I'm doing this for the girl I love makes it feel better. And, extra guilt points for the letter you leave you best friend and the scathing take on our friendship when she beats time and space to give me a proper tongue lashing right before.
no subject
Instead, he peels back his first reaction and settles on something else:]
Did she really ask you to do that? This girl you loved.
no subject
It was the exact opposite. She wanted me to live my life. Wait for her. Yada, yada. Big declaration of love, dance on an empty street in her mind - ( he takes the bottle back. ) Sleeping Beauty curse - ( as if that answers everything and then he takes another swig. )
no subject
[A Sleeping Beauty curse is rough, but why torture himself. He had been ready to argue that a person that would ask that of him doesn't have his best interests at heart, but then the answer becomes that Damon is simply torturing himself for torture's sake.]
no subject
( And then he'd hallucinated. He thought he'd torched the love of his love. )
Basically lost my hometown to my dead mom, the boy toy and his army. You know. Life.
( He pauses, looks at him because Damon knows he's looking for the real answer. )
I just wasn't a good guy and she made me better. So, I climbed into a coffin and decided I wouldn't come back out until she was awake again.
no subject
So instead of taking the opportunity to try and work on yourself to be a better person on your own and prove that her faith in you isn't misplaced, you decide to desiccate yourself in a coffin until she wakes up from the curse she's under. Regardless of what that would do to the other people on your life who care about you.
[He passes the bottle back.]
Am I following so far?
[He doesn't say it to be mean. His tone is very carefully neutral. But he doesn't sugar coat it.]
no subject
( Wes wasn't there. Those months were crazy. And they only got crazier. And he just couldn't do it anymore. )
no subject
I'm not saying what you went through wasn't hard. I'm sure it was.
[A pauses as he edges around the point.]
It just seems like you fall back on that a lot. Calling yourself "selfish" or the "bad" to avoid actually dealing with anything.
no subject
( She was Elena. And being Elena, meant that everything wasn't happy ever after. He was still Damon. And maybe he fucked it up. Maybe they weren't meant to be. Human Elena belonged with - well, if not Stefan, Dean, eventually. And vampire Elena -- the one he planned his life with. )
You know we had it all planned out. She takes the cure, I take the cure from her.
no subject
Things didn't work out?
[It's more of a prompt to keep him talking than anything else. To see if he can maybe reach the conclusion on his own.]
no subject
( He doesn't actually know. They didn't discuss the cure right away. Not for a few weeks because she had to adjust, she had friends, Jeremy came back. She learned about Matt. )
She was convinced I didn't want it and shouldn't need it. I shouldn't take the cure for her.
no subject
[He turns to shift to face him more, trying to see if he can thread this needle.]
I know that sometimes we do things for the people we love, so taking them out of the equation means that the question ultimately doesn't matter. But did you want the human life you actually planned? If it were Stefan making you that same offer, would you take it? Going back to being human brothers in a human life with human wants and problems?
[Because as much as the brothers bicker, he knows at the end of the day it's the two of them. Just like at the end of the day, Scarlett, Rhett and Melanie are a unit.]
no subject
no subject
Wes relents some, before glancing back towards the door.]
And then when she woke up, things had changed.
[As things often do with the passage of time.]
That must have sucked. That something you were waiting on and hoping for didn't pan out as you had hoped.
no subject
( But, this is now about Elena and not about him. He doesn't want to think about that first week. The first month. The explosive argument. The needle behind his eye at all times, why is it on Elena to keep Damon a good person. )
Of course it sucked. I lost my humanity. Worked for the Devil himself, clawed back every inch of who I am, saved the town from the Devil's Rejects who really should've just gone into therapy. And then - She tried. At first. With everything. It was an adjustment. But, she was human. And she had human emotions. And human dreams. And human grief. It wasn't a never, but it wasn't a now.
no subject
But it doesn't feel like the story's done, so he sticks his foot in the door that Damon opened, intending to return to the topic of therapy in a minute.]
And now she's with someone else? I think I heard Stefan mention something about a Winchester?
no subject
( In the definition that he used it, he was always a Winchester. Just follow. Another swig of the bottle before he sets it down on something between them.
Climbing up onto the one fridge, he inspects the ceiling, tries to see if he sees any cracks of light from the top, before jumping down and tracing the bottom with his eyes. (17 Investigation) )
no subject
Damon, have you ever considered -
[Before he can get to the point, though, Damon's attention is dragged to the something on the floor that gives away what lies in wait. Drag marks that pull towards him. He's found the location of the door! Now just figure out how to open it.]
no subject
This is a door. ( And then. He drops his gaze down center, knowing the question that's coming. Maybe. But he needs to hear it. So he turns back. ) Considered what.
no subject
Have you ever considered therapy? I think you might really benefit from it.
[In the past, the question has been met with a scoff. Scarlett waves off that she's fine until she's disassociating and Rhett has his quiet confessionals with Melanie. He doesn't know how Melanie copes, but she's always been the most well-balanced among them.]
no subject
He turns back to the "doorway," letting the question and comment sink in. )
That how you survived being a Butler-O'Hara?
( Okay. What's in front of him by the drag marks. )
no subject
[He steps forward, starting to scan the door to see any kind of exit.]
I couldn't afford it until I was much older, but it's helpful. To talk to someone who's objective. One's that handle vampire stuff are hard to find, but I could give you a couple names. And worse comes to worse, there's always Cami O'Connell.
[Cami is not ideal, given how close she is to the Mikaelsons, but she spent a lot of her professional life building credibility in treating the supernatural community and holding up her end of the doctor-patient confidentiality promise.]
If she could handle Klaus, she can probably deal with your century and change of romantic baggage.
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