driftfleet | mingle with the commoners or something

[Alex wanders into the med bay early in the evening, wearing the purple robe over her pajamas and looking positively content for the first time since they've been on this planet. Her cold is finally gone, she's gotten to enjoy a peaceful week in the cozy town thanks to her new stock of soft sweaters, and she can finally just curl up with her fantastic boyfriend and enjoy a little bit of their time in this messed up universe. Smiling impishly, she sidles up behind him at the medicine shelves and wraps her arms around him from behind in what she hopes is at least a somewhat surprise hug.]

Hey. How's the science going in here?

[He stiffens for about a millisecond before easing himself into the hug. Maybe she succeeded in surprising him!]

The science happens to keep everyone healthy. [Ooor maybe he was waiting for her to come in, because he's a little too comfortable with the affection. Even leaning forward a little, just so she can rest her head against his shoulder.] But it's good. Just bought enough medicine to last us the next two planets.

They'd better be warm ones. [She snuggles up closer to rest her head, her socked toes brushing against the backs of his feet.] I don't want to see snow again 'til I'm about seventy.

With our luck, it'll be a winter wonderland for a while.

[As much as he wants to stand like this forever, he... well, he glances over his shoulder at her.] So I'm guessing that means no more snowball fights for you?

[She pulls back a bit to look up at him.]

Nope. No mas. Anything that ends with snow down my shirt is right out.

I wish Vi shared that opinion. [He'd grimace, but Alex would know his lies too well. Instead, he turns around so he can talk to her better.]

The kid that visits me in the lab - you've seen her, short, red-haired, a ton of energy? She challenged me like last week, but she used some kind of weird telekinesis and I ended up in some snow avalanche.

[He exaggerates.... only slightly]

Yeah, Pippi Longstocking. [She means it affectionately. It's actually really cute to watch her and Stef pal around.] Wait, you mean my daring, strong, hunk of a boyfriend got his butt kicked by a kid?

[She grins, giving his arm a teasing pinch.]

Edited (dammit autocorrect, she did not give his arm lunch) 2016-01-10 08:31 (UTC)

[He raises his eyebrow at those compliments. Him, daring and strong? He's long since accepted the hunk part, but daring?]

The kids here are pretty badass, Alex. I wouldn't count them out just yet.

[read: he totally lost on purpose]

Hey, you don't have to tell me. I'm pretty sure half of them could punt me from here to Cali.

[She finally pulls away from him - albeit reluctantly - to flex one skinny arm.]

I almost windsurfed once, but that's about the closest I've come to doing anything badass.

Hey, you're plenty badass. [He stifles a laugh at her flexing, because it was kinda cute] You're captain of this ship, you're the only one who can try to get away with nicknaming Allen....

If I didn't think you could handle this, I would've transferred a long time ago.

[She leans back against a counter, trying not to let her pleased smile get too wide.]

Can I get that in writing?

Of course.

[He takes a spare page from his diary, writing in gorgeous cursive--] I, Stefan Alesci, think my girlfriend is pretty badass when she wants to be.

[He dramatically rips it out, waving it as if it'll make the ink dry any faster, but also so that if she wants it? She'll have to grab it herself.]

[She smiles, gladly taking the bait, and hops up on her toes to reach for the paper. But instead of chasing it, she just grabs him around the bicep to try to pull his arm down to her level.]

Oh my god, you dork. [I love you, she means.]

[When she grabs him, he takes that cue to wrap a hand around her waist. They're a little too close for comfort - Alesci's kind of comfort - but Stefan doesn't seem in the least perturbed as he leans in, resting his forehead on hers.]

You asked.

[The movement feels so natural at first, simply because she's so comfortable around him. Her heart doesn't race, her breath doesn't hitch - because even when they're just holding hands or sitting next to each other on the couch, this is how it makes her feel, like she's being held close. She moves her hand softly up his arm, bringing it to rest on his shoulder, and just breathes, too caught up in happiness to realize anything is off.]

I'm a sucker for official documents.

[Which is probably one of the dorkiest things she's ever said, but it somehow manages to come out just as breathless and adoring as the sappy smile on her face.]

Is that so?

[He laughs, partially at how adorable she sounds when she's looking at him like that but also at how natural this feels. He's been wanting this kind of closeness for a long, long time. Without thinking, he bridges that (little) distance and presses his lips against hers.

Alesci shouldn't know how to do this like it's second-nature, but Stefan can't help it. She's home, and well - what better way to let her know?]

[Alex kisses back for a few seconds, entranced by the warmth of his skin and how gentle he is, how soft and safe. His hand on her waist and his nose against hers... It's peaceful, and soothing, and she feels like she's breathing in a cloud. It makes her head foggy, and her heartbeat seems to slow as she tips her head to get a better angle-

Then, in an instant, the world goes sideways.

Her hand goes tense on his shoulder, and she stops the kiss with a ragged, sharp breath. She isn't sure what broke the bubble for her, what set off the alarm through the haze of bliss, but all at once the warmth in her chest runs cold and sharp. It's horror and guilt and loathing, all mixing in her veins, and for a few moments she can't even move. She just looks down at Stefan's collar, still clutching his shoulder like it's a last lifeline.]

Stef... ?

[Her voice pulls him back to reality.

He pulls back a little, scanning her eyes for - for that guilt and horror written as clear as day. It doesn't hit him then, not as he furrows his brow in confusion. This is what boyfriends & girlfriends do. They go on dates, they snuggle, and they most definitely kiss each other from time to time.

He had kissed Elena and Katherine and--and those are most definitely not the people Alesci has ever dated. Stefan swallows a breath as the realization finally hits him.

"You're sure you're okay with the fact that I can't really love you like most boyfriends? Even kissing - sometimes, that's a bit more than I can do."

Shit.

Shitshitshit, he'd--- he recoils back, pulling her hand off his shoulder with unnatural speed.]

Alex, I-- [He takes a deep breath, trying to steady himself. The effort's failing.] I am so sorry.

[Alex wants to step back, but all that's behind her is the counter. She clutches at it with cold hands, trying to stop the panic that's swelling in her stomach.

It's my fault, it's my fault, it's my fault.]

No. No, it's-

[She pictures an attic bedroom, an old army uniform. A man from another time, with another life. And she feels sick with sadness, all at once.]

It's not your fault. You wouldn't have-

[You wouldn't have done that if you were just Alesci. If he were the boy she loves, with his poetry and his tea and his ridiculously gentle smile...

She can't tear her eyes away from the floor, tracing the bolts in the metal grates. Her heart is pounding in her ears.]

No, it's completely my fault.

[I - he - I wouldn't have cared, Stefan has to remind himself as he places his hands on his hips and stares down at the ground. At one point, long before faith mattered, he wouldn't have cared.

Back home, he had people to share the pain of Echoes with, because they knew. They knew how irreversible they were, and how bit by bit, your old self vanished to make way for the life you used to live. Stefan's not sure which terrifies him more: learning more about Salvatore, or losing the pieces of Alesci that matter the most.]

I should've-- I should've told you, I got a ton of memories back after calibrations.

[Some less good than others. But eventually, those memories - and the traits associated with them - were going to take a toll on him. Guess he shouldn't have tried to delay the inevitable.]

But I didn't and I - I'm so, so sorry.

[I got a ton of memories back. He's already changing, then. That brooding boy with blood on his hands has already started to return. This isn't a fluke occurrence - it's a symptom of a spreading disease, and one day those memories might kill the part of him she knows.

Her eyes sting, and she looks down at the floor.]

And what good would telling me have done? Should I have stayed away from you, or something? Because if you don't want me around while you're going through this, just say it.

What? No. That's the last thing I want.

[Honesty is the best policy, Mom had told him when he was little, and Stefan believed in it wholeheartedly. If he kept the lines of communication open, and did everything in his power to tell her what was going on with him.... then it might make this whole thing easier.]

I should've told you because I'm [turning back into him] gaining all these pieces back, and - and I don't want to be alone while I'm figuring out which ones I should keep and which ones I should throw away.

[Or if he should even throw them out to begin with.]

[Alex is silent for a few moments, trying to figure out what to even say. How many parts of Stef's personality has she fallen in love with that actually came from his past self? If they could be separated, which one would she recognize more?

Her eyes still cast low, Alex reaches out and loops one of her fingers around one of his.]

I trust you. And we're going to do this together. We just... Whoever you are in the end, I'm gonna still be in love with him. I just don't want to put any pressure on you to stay a certain way.

Thank you. I don't know how much I'll change. Just that I will. Everyone did, back home. [Had he mentioned that part yet - that he wasn't alone in the memory game? Stefan can't remember, but Alex deserves to know everything.]

If you don't [love me anymore]... it's okay. I know Salvatore wasn't the greatest guy to be around.

[Understatement of the century. Elena was a brave and compassionate girl, to handle him as long as she did. Stefan lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding, staring down at their hands.]

[No, nope, they aren't even going there. She laces her fingers around his, quickly and firmly.]

I'm going to. I'm always going to.

mingle with the commoners or something

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kalshjd i thought it was your turn on this one oops

NO WORRIES it happens

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