but oh what a year

[patrols]

Comments

[marinates]

Are you going to ask?

( He doesn't think he would. It wouldn't change anything. )

Oh, well, then. I love that some of the last months we spent together, we had no choices in our matters. That really stacks the deck against us.

[somanyadjectives]

I don't know.

[Part of him is curious, part of him doesn't really want to know. (Part of him suspects he might be baffled by something - like getting married to his best friend.)

Stefan smirks a bit before shaking his head.]

I don't know. I'm not the expert. You can ask Barry when he gets here, and he'll probably be able to give you a better answer.

[A pause.]

Would you rather be doomed in every instance?

[marinates]

I'd rather things turn out. Everything comes to an end. Or a twist. Or a turn. I didn't have this on my docket, but I won't waste another trip around the sun.

( He leans against the counter. )

And you shouldn't either.

[somanyadjectives]

I intend to.

[In fact, if he plays his cards right, he intends to spend many more trips around the sun with a certain blond, but rubbing his happiness in Enzo's face seems a bit gauche.]

Have you thought about what's next?

[marinates]

A long, much-needed vacation.

( With a certain brunette. )

I get a clean bill of health, I'm on the next plane right out.

[somanyadjectives]

[Stefan can't say he blames him for that.]

Somewhere warm, I hope.

[It's the time of year to go somewhere warm.]

Or have you not decided yet?

[marinates]

I will be taking her lead. ( a beat. ) But I do vote for somewhere in the sun and sand.

[somanyadjectives]

Her?

[Okay, Enzo. Stefan doesn't want to assume, but the only hers Enzo has met thus far to Stefan's knowledge are Melanie, Shelia and Erica. Erica is too young for that kind of a vacation and since he doesn't think Shelia would ...]

Melanie?

[marinates]

I did take a shine to Ms. Hamilton.

( He doesn't know what your game is here, though, Stefan. )

[somanyadjectives]

[Nothing! He's not after anything. He just likes gossip. Wait until he finds out about his brother and Freya Mikaelson, he's going to be texting his ex girlfriend post haste.

He smiles slightly before nodding.]

She's great. And she has excellent taste in hotels.

[And because he realizes how that sounds:]

Damon and I were recently traveling with her and some other friends this fall.

[marinates]

She very much does.

( But... )

What a coincidence. We seem to be full of them.

[somanyadjectives]

The working theory is that it's not as much of a coincidence as it seems. You guys showed up in a way that you would be found.

[But that being said:]

We've known Melanie and the Butlers for almost as long as we've been vampires. Damon turned Scarlett who turned Melanie.

[marinates]

And by whom.

( They've made a whole network of allies in his absence. )

Did he. You'd think that's something a friend might tell another from inside their cell. Will wonders never cease.

[somanyadjectives]

I will not comment on what Damon does and doesn't decide to keep to himself.

[He could understand that Melanie might not come up in that scenario, but Enzo and Damon had a lot of time to talk.]

But we tended to float in and out of each other's circles. They may not have been front of mind.

[marinates]

I'm kidding, Stefan. We didn't exactly exchange sob stories.

( Well, they kind of did. )

I can say with certainty they weren't anywhere near.

[somanyadjectives]

[Stefan nods, before moving to start to load the trays into the oven. He sets the timer, and leans back to look at him again, finally focusing now that he doesn't have a project in front of him.]

Well, enjoy your vacation. And your new lease on life. Hopefully things are calmer over the next year. I'd very much like to go back to the relative drought of problems we had.

[marinates]

Really. Mystic Falls had a drought of problems? Sounds like I missed almost nothing.

( All he remembers is crazy. )

[somanyadjectives]

Well, there was Malivore, but that wasn't our problem. The school was mostly handling that.

[And maybe they shouldn't have put that all on the students, but Stefan was in Scotland.]

But even that was relatively recent. I think we had almost a good decade before monsters started bothering Mystic Falls again.

[marinates]

Malivore. Sounds like a fairytale villain.

( To be fair, the students mostly put it on themselves. )

That was also true in the nineties if you count Damon breaking bad. Glad we're keeping the streak alive.

[somanyadjectives]

Maybe, but I'd rather not go through another decade of life or death situations.

[He'd like to have a wedding without demons crashing it though Buffy seems to think that's highly unlikely. Regardless, he's going to try.]

Which I'm sure most people find funny when they consider who I'm dating.

[marinates]

Isn't that being a vampire, or a founding family member in this town? Mystic Falls is always crawling with vampires.

( Buffy has been there and she doesn't throw parties anymore. Every. Single. Time. )

And who exactly are you dating?

[somanyadjectives]

Buffy Summers. She's a vampire Slayer.

[He doesn't know if Enzo knows what those are - he and Damon didn't before they met Lindsay. But Enzo's father was involved in the Armory so who knows what they dug up.]

[marinates]

Slayers aren't just an Armory bedtime story, then.

( Slayers aren't Rayna Cruz. )

[somanyadjectives]

No, they are not. Though much more bubbly than their reputation would indicate.

[One of the things he likes about Buffy.]

I'm sure you'll get a chance to meet her at the party.

[marinates]

I suppose a girl called to annihilate an entire species could find her pep.

( He knows it's not that cut and dry, but, it's Enzo. )

This party really is a who's who of who.