for the rest of us death will be a relief

[praevaricatio]

Comments

[mayoralty]

[To Charlie:]

Yes.

[And then to the voice on the phone:]

And yes. Which I'm sure if you've worked with Tyler for a while, you understand that that's complicated, which is why I really need to speak to Tyler.

[recrudesce]

( "Please hold," she says.

"Is it complicated because, like me, you were not on that bus stop for... a few years?" At least? Charlie has to ask.

Tyler almost dismisses his assistant, but she insists he needs to come to the phone. She doesn't know what his mom sounds like, obviously, but she sounds like a mom. And Tyler rolls his seat out from the table. Heading out of the room, he tells her not even one of his friend's moms are alive. But, he confirms what line she's on before answering.

"So, I'm told I'm talking to someone complicated. I'm in a meeting, so make this quick, whoever this is." )

[mayoralty]

Hi, honey.

[He's probably gotten a call that starts this way many times before - where his mother has sounded a bit more inebriated. She can appreciate the irony even as she says it, but it's just so good to actually talk to him that she can't help the well of feelings that rise up, the way her voice almost breaks as she continues.]

I won't keep you long, but I seem to have gotten into a bit of a pickle. Do you think you might be able to come pick me up from the Grille?

[He sounds good. Like he's come into himself while she was gone. He's a good man, her son, likely in spite of her and Richard, rather than because of it, and she's so proud of him.]

[recrudesce]

( He almost drops the phone. He knows that voice and he knows those words. And he knows a different context. And he would give everything to hear them again, even if it's to help her home from a town event or the founder's council, or to let her know he's okay.

Because, he is. His dad was a prick, but he misses him. His mom had her sensibilities and she could be stuck up, but she always loved him. He, like Elena, like Caroline, has lost family and friends. )

Um - Mystic Grille. ( He looks back at his assistant who has an expectant look on her face. His shellshock confirms it sounds like his mom. Like it's his mom. ) You're - mom, how are you --

( He can't even say it. )

[mayoralty]

I don't know. And I'm not alone.

[She glances over briefly at Charlie, who seems to be on the same road she's on.]

We just appeared at a bus stop and the very nice bus driver allowed us to ride without a fare and a very nice young man loaned me his phone so I could call you and that's all I've got. We're heading towards Mystic Falls. The man I'm with is named Charlie and he was asking for someone named Waverly? Do you know a Waverly?

[recrudesce]

( His mom didn't always befriend the best strangers, but just this once it sounds like they came through. )

Yeah, yeah I do. She and her sister and their - bodyguard guy - helped us -- you're with someone that knows her that also appeared at the bus stop? ( What are the odds? ) Mom...

( He can't come out and say it, that she's been dead a long time. How do you tell anyone that. )

[mayoralty]

I know.

[She's been dead long enough that she can feel the differences, for better or worse. He doesn't need to tell her she's been dead a long time. She knows. She remembers.]

I don't know what's going on, but I have to give the phone back, so I'll see you at the Grille, okay?

[recrudesce]

Yeah, yeah I'll be there. As long as you trust Charlie, stay with him. And mom. I love you.

( He hangs up, not able to look his assistant in the eye. )

I need to get to Mystic Falls. ( He addresses his phone, planning on pulling up Maps, but he sees a myriad of messages in his group chat. He reads the first few then scrolls down to Elena's big -- wish worry. He looks at her.

First, he addresses the group chat and Waverly directly, and next, he calls - no, he cancels the call. Elena's asleep. He sends Matt a private message. He'll see him soon. He better look good for a dead guy, cause there are some eligible ladies in Mystic Falls. He jokes because he can't... not. Because this is crazy. )

I gotta go.

( In the meantime, Charlie listens to her side of the conversation. He has to ask, too.

"Did he know Waverly?" It feels like a longshot. But. )

[mayoralty]

He did. Or he knows a Waverly. Hopefully it's your Waverly.

[Carol passes the phone back with thanks, before settling in and turning her full attention back to the man next to her.]

Are you from Virginia also?

[crosseth]

( Yeah, hopefully. He doesn't know if he wants it to be. Someone's at war inside him. )

No, I'm - have you heard of Purgatory? It's on the U.S.- Canada border. I've never been to Virginia. I don't think.

( Have angels been everywhere? )

[mayoralty]

Oh, you're a long way from home.

[She now realizes that she was lucky, that she would up so close to home, so close to Tyler. It could have been far worse, it seems.]

Is Waverly family?

[crosseth]

( When he says this, it feels so foreign to him. But, still. It doesn't make it untrue. )

She's my daughter.

[mayoralty]

Oh.

[That's nice, them both returning to their children.]

Hopefully Tyler will be able to find her.

[And that she'll be the right Waverly.]

[crosseth]

Yeah.

( Things are really messed up in his mind. But, he knows that to be true. Maybe that's his north star.

He settles into his seat. Sorry, Carol, he's been more of a conversationalist. There is someone else inside him though. or, is that also him. He spends the rest of the ride staring out the window. The bus hits the town square and comes to a stop. )

This us?

[mayoralty]

[Carol leans closer so she can look out the window and nods. It doesn't look like the Mystic Falls she left behind, but it's still familiar enough to be home.]

This is us.

[She gets to her feet, thanking the bus driver again on their way out and once they're out, looking around until she can see the familiar facade of the Grille, where they can find a booth and wait for Tyler.

She'll get them both drinks so they're not unduly taking up space, but she doesn't want to spend too much of Tyler's money before he gets there.]

[recrudesce]

( Charlie just takes an ice water to start before flagging the waitress down for a beer.

Tyler parks down the block. He pushes away the memory of discovering his mother, drowned in that fountain. Her memorial. Everything after.

He closes the car door behind him.

The door to the grille opens and closes as he slowly turns. He's got the goatee. But, it's still Carol Lockwood's son. )

[mayoralty]

[Carol had positioned herself with her drink facing the door so that she could see him when he entered, and Charlie can see it on her face when she perks up. He is different than he last remembers, but he should. He had a chance to grow up.

She waves a hand, looking to get his direction and is already climbing out of the booth to meet him part way.]

[recrudesce]

( He meets her halfway, Charlie looking up. He'd long for his own parents - but, he doesn't have any, does he?

Tyler holder her, eyes closed. )

You even smell the same. They have Chanel #5 in Peace?

( He hasn't talked about Peace directly. It's just a word to him. But it means something to other people. )

[mayoralty]

[She laughs softly.]

Peace is pretty much whatever you want it to be.

[That being said, she pulls back to look at him, taking in the way he's aged, all the things she's missed.]

You look good. Have things been good?

[recrudesce]

Things are... ( Well, if he could define it. To her, especially. ) Yeah, they're good. Found my place. A few, actually. I'm connected to a few packs, now, and I work for a place called the Armory. I'll tell you all about it. ( oh ) But, my friend Waverly thinks she might know Charlie. ( He pulls back, introduces himself, asks him for a picture - for Waverly - Charlie very awkwardly poses, reluctantly, for the flash.

Tyler pulls a chair up to his mother and Charlie's booth. ) I sent it to her.

[stupetballs]

["Good. Hopefully she'll be here soon."

As if on cue, Tyler's phone pings with a text back:]

Yep, that's definitely a Charlie I know.

He's my dad, actually, and he might be a little confused or disoriented. Just be patient with him.

Also ETA is looking like five hours, so if you need to put him up somewhere just venmo me the bill, I'll be there as soon as I can.

[Another pause, and then:]

Seriously, thank you Tyler. I owe you one.

[recrudesce]

I have an entire property named after me. You don't owe me anything. I'll make sure he's good.

( He looks up from his phone, Charlie looks on expectantly. )

It's the same Waverly. And she can be here in 5 hours. I sent her the details of where we'll be for the night. Ours. ( He says to his mom. ) It belongs to the town, now, but, it's still running. And it's been closed since -- there was an incident with hunters. But, it's been closed since a local graduation.

[mayoralty]

Oh good. Then there's plenty of room.

[The manor was always too big for the three people who lived in it, but she's glad to see it's still getting put to use.]

Did you move out of town?

[If the house is closed up he must be living somewhere else.]

[recrudesce]

I moved in with my girlfriend, who I met at my one and only year at Whittemore.

( He glances at Charlie, who smiles, politely and doesn't have much to say. Not much to look after, but that makes it easy. )

Her name is Olivia. She also works with me. She's a witch. ( He turns to Charlie. ) Sorry, I don't have much mixed conversations these days.

( "Oh no, a bus full of vampires tried to take over my town. A dead old guy tried to enslave the same town. There's a lot of weirdness in the Ghost River Triangle. Also, there's an angel in me. Or, I am the angel. We share -- a body," Charlie says, raising the bottle. He had to say it some time. )

...Right. Your first and only time picking up a guy at the bus stop, hey, mom?

[mayoralty]

Can't say I don't keep things interesting.

[She did not know that Charlie was an angel before now but ... good to know.]

And at least we all have common vampire experience.

[She wants to ask more questions about Olivia, but that can wait until later, when it's just the two of them.]

Olivia sounds lovely though.