entranceway; ic contact

[stefanged]

"It's Stefan. Leave a message."

text | voice | video | action

Comments

( voicemail )

[interpersonal]

Stefan. It's Elena. [ stop stating the obvious, gilbert. her voice is calm and collected, if not slightly melancholic. turmoiled, if you're paying close attention. ] You've probably noticed Damon hasn't been around. I helped Bonnie do a locator spell and he isn't in Wonderland. I know — I know it looks bad, but his things are still here, and his room is untouched. It means he'll be back. [ her words gain conviction, if only to reassure him. ]

I just thought you should know.

( voice )

[stefanged]

[Shit. So Damon hadn't meant to leave him in the lurch after all.

He doesn't hesitate to give her a call - because, no matter how much he wants to avoid her or how much he wants to pretend the mindscape never happened, she went to the effort of calling him. That means something.]

Thanks for the heads-up. How long do you think he'll be gone?

( voice )

[interpersonal]

[ it's harder to mask the emotion in her voice without a scripted voicemail, but at the same time, his voice fortifies her. she tugs in a breath that isn't meant to be audible. ] Bonnie and I have both been sent back home before, and we were both gone a week. That seems to be the norm.

[ there have been exceptions, but they are few and far in between. ]

( voice )

[stefanged]

[That doesn't seem so impossible.

Honestly, as much as this hurts him (and it does, after the hell that had been the mindscape), this hurts Elena more. They had something good between them.]

I see. [A small, awkward pause,] Do you... do you want to grab coffee or tea or something?

ho ho ho!

[goeth]

[ on the morning of december 25, stefan received a festive little pair of elf pants holding a gift specially tailored to him. merry christmas...? ]

[Late Christmas Gift] 12/26

[theothermrgray]

[It's kind of late for a Christmas gift, but Dorian got you a couple of books you might like. Mainly newer novels from the fantasy and science fiction section. A couple of Steampunk novels are in there... And, unfortunately, the first book of the Twilight saga.]

[At least they're wrapped up nicely. Merry Belated Christmas!]

text, much later

[stefanged]

Thanks for the books, Dorian. I haven't read most of these before.

Also: I just left your present outside. It's nothing much, but I hope your holidays went well.

[True to his word, he's left a small package wrapped neatly in shiny red and gold paper. Upon opening it, Dorian'll find a red cookie tin with several sets of well-decorated sugar cookies. They taste as delicious as they look, though their recipe is more 21st century than 19th.

Underneath it, he's also given an ornate fountain pen, the kind only hobbyists and collectors would own. There are a few inkwells too, for him to experiment with in his writing.]

[text]

[theothermrgray]

You're most welcome, Stefan. I hope you find a new favorite in there.

And thank you so much for the biscuits and pen!

[They call cookies biscuits in England. Don't ask why, they just do.]

Backdated to 12/26

[sorryitasedyou]

[ As much as Darcy might've liked to get everything out in time, Wonderland had a weird way of screwing up her plans. So, after a solid day's sleep, she starts making her rounds - dropping off gifts on each floor while using a little red wagon. In front of Stefan's door, he'll find a basket that contains:

• a blanket
• a festive mug
• a few different flavors of tea
• honey
• another mug of hot chocolate supplies with a note to just add hot milk
• a chocolate dipped stirring spoon
• ridiculous fuzzy socks
• a tiny stuffed animal
• assorted candy
• and an ornament

There's a note dangling from one of the handles that reads:

Hope Wonderland's attempts at holiday cheer didn't go too poorly for you. Here are a few supplies to help get back into the swing of things. Thanks again for my secret santa gift - already being put to good use! Happy Holidays!

- Darcy ]

A thrill of hope the weary soul rejoices

[easily]

[Stefan's present seemed like a no-brainer once she thought of it -- on his doorstep he'll find a wrapped copy of The Cure's Disintegration album, one he had played for her during their little 80s dance. Not that he'd remember that. The note says:

You introduced me to them once so I figured I out to return the favor.

Sincerely,

Rebekah.]

Secret Santa

[actualwizard]

[ Late on the 26th Stefan will find a hastily wrapped present outside his door with a card attached that read,

Happy Holidays from your Secret Santa. Hope you enjoy. -Billy Kaplan

The package contains first editions of the following books:

To Kill A Mockingbird
Animal Farm
A Tale of Two Cities
Of Mice and Men
The Grapes of Wraith
Middlemarch
The Hobbit
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

And slipped between the book is the first issue of Captain America. You can thank Elena and Bonnie for that. ]

text, a little while later

[stefanged]

Thank you, Billy. These look great! I haven't read most of these before, but I'm sure I'll enjoy them.

Also, hypothetically? If a guy were interested in reading more Captain America, what direction would you point him in?

text, soon after that

[actualwizard]

You're welcome. Elena had mentioned you liked books so I picked some things I enjoyed or were on one of those "greatest books to read before you die" lists.

Hypothetically, thats volume 1, so you can go on from there. There's a lot of volumes, his stories have spanned a few decades. I can pick out some interesting ones if you wanted.

[ If you let him go full on nerd he will lend you his entire collection. ]

27/12 » DELIVERY DROP OFF.

[accelerate]

[ barry's pretty tardy for the christmas party, so it's within a flash he leaves stefan a cardboard box. inside of the box is a collection of books. the books are the following:

• Biochemistry for Dummies
• Environmental Science for Dummies
• Chemistry Essentials for Dummies
• Holes by Louis Sacher
• a pack of kitchen hairnets

there's even a christmas card that reads:

Stefan,

Happy Holidays!

I thought you could use these. Hairnets because OH&S is very important. Books, which you can use as doorstops, paper flatteners, weapons, and wood for any future fires you'd like to set not on your head.

You might enjoy Holes. It's a kid's book, but it's a good one. I promise it won't put you to sleep like the others.

I hope you enjoy the holidays. Don't be hard on yourself for not remembering stuff. Think of it as a chance to relearn the things you enjoy and to discover yourself. Santa's probably wiped your slate clean, so if you were bad and were going to get coal, at least you're not getting it now!

Best wishes,
Barry

P.S. There'll be an exam. Don't know when, don't know where, but I hope Wonderland shoves us together again. ]

01/01 NEW YEARS DAY » DELIVERY DROP OFF.

[manipulative]

[ katherine dislikes being in anyone's debt. stefan giving her a gift is uncomfortable, and though she knows that it'd been born from a genuine desire to gift her something, she's unsettled accepting it knowing their history. he doesn't know it, and she knows stefan would never think to give her anything on christmas day. to take from stefan is to fall into a habit that she isn't sure is hers — and, besides, she doesn't want him to turn around like she owes him something. ]

[ rather than display the same courage as he had by knocking on her door and gifting her shoes, she leaves it by his door instead the morning of the new year. ]

[ she leaves him the following, wrapped in plain paper with a post-it that reads in her neat cursive: We're even.

• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland with her own notes written all over the book, which isn't obviously designed to help him navigate a world he should know, but unfortunately doesn't. some of those notes are as helpful as Just cut off her head already. and Don't drink "Drink Me" potions inside of a house.
• A Midsummer Night's Dream in what she had tried to get in its most original form. the book looks worn and like an old print. ]

Back-dated to December 25

[mypartnerintime]

[Stefan gets a copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Yeah, this is both a jibe at him being old and little joke over how much times have changed. A small tag reads, "Merry ChristMax!"]

text

[eyething]

[it's been difficult navigating everything with stefan in a way that's supportive without pushing because of all damon knows.

coming from differing points in time, it's- it's been harder lately. he has five years on his shoulders. when stefan arrived, damon was the one that was behind, but his brother couldn't remember anything at all so damon gave him options.

if he wanted his memories back, damon would do whatever he could to help with that. if he didn't want them back, damon would help him know whatever details were important enough and support whoever he ended up becoming while still being there for him along the way. he left it up to stefan to choose.

then suddenly he's transported back to mystic falls for five years and then back to wonderland all over again. now damon has lived it. he's lived through stefan forgetting and then remembering. he has lived through their struggling together to become brothers and to embrace what that means. they lived through their mother returning from the grave, lived through damon dying, through both their experiences in the hellstone. and they have-- they had finally found their way.

one of his last memories was of telling his brother to not follow him into the armory, convincing him to stay outside of it. and now damon know he's not getting out of that armory, not without some big cost, and it scares him, but he did right by stefan, did right by bonnie and caroline and all of them (and elena, he did right by her).

in wonderland, elena has told stefan about the two of them, and she also told him it didn't go very well. damon reaches out whether or not stefan wants him to, because damon promised himself somewhere along the way that he'd be a better brother.]

So when do you want to talk or punch me or whatever your heart desires?

text

[stefanged]

I don't.

[Two whole days, and now Damon has the raw nerve to text him. Stefan's tempted to just let the text sit there. His brother doesn't deserve a sappy talk or even a strong punch. No, a punch is too merciful.

(A stake to the heart wouldn't even kill him forever. What good is violence when it wouldn't cure what's really bothering him?)

He doesn't want to hear whatever Damon would say. Stefan doesn't think he can stomach it. At the same time, they're family, and that pull of shared blood and DNA forces him to say something - even if he's already regretting what he'll say next - ]

Did you know that other people have actual family that DOESN'T try to actively screw them over? I sure didn't.

text

[eyething]

You're going to have to be more specific, because it's been a really long time since I actively tried to screw you over.

[And he's spent his Wonderland stint trying to be as helpful and supportive as possible in his own way in a seemingly impossible situation. Damon doesn't know that he has the energy for this, but he knows he has to so he's here. He also doesn't like doing this sort of conversation over text.

It seems too passive, and Damon prefers to deal with things head on.]

Where are you?

TEXT | during the space event.

[manipulative]

[ katherine likes to believe herself to be a decisive person. when she wants something, she gets it. when she wants to avoid something, it never gets close to capturing her. but the line she toes with stefan is one that she knows she's revisiting, having explored it in 1864 and supposedly learned her lesson. ]

[ avoiding him ever since the dreams in wonderland had turned into nightmares had been the wisest choice at the time; she's been successful in staying far from him, pushing him from her mind as she'd succeeded in doing for centuries. she's changed her routine, taking her time to read silly novels in the tea room on the eight floor instead of any of the lower ones. she takes walks in the woods instead of in the gardens, and even goes to the beach despite disliking the smell of the salty water. her mind's never far from lingering on that little girl scrunching her nose and looking at her as though she didn't recognise her. ]

[ she knows stefan is far from the stefan who had been in her dream, but even katherine has her moments of not being strong enough to look someone in the eye. ]

[ space is an adventure she doesn't quite mind, enjoying the fashion and the flying cars, but she finds that she wishes to spend it with someone, and often that person is the very one she wishes to avoid. she thinks to find him, perhaps in a boring bookstore or a place that sells hair gel, but she avoids those stores as much as she can. it's within one decisive moment she uses her space-phone, and decides, then and there, not to phone him, but text — it's so much safer and easier to control if she doesn't let him hear her voice. ]

I'm bored.

TEXT

[stefanged]

[ Likewise, Stefan had in turn done his best to avoid Katherine's watchful eye. He chose different corridors of the library; he took to spending different hours in the music room; and he even started to spend more time in Darcy's coffee shop. Life went on, and he would rebuild his story.

He could reinvent himself and start over again. If he did it enough times, he might start to believe in it. (After all, his dream reminded him, his kindness would hurt both of them in the end.)

Yet when he gets a text from Katherine, he can't help scoffing a little at it. She picks now, of all times, to tell him this?]

We're in outer space. How could you possibly be bored?

TEXT

[manipulative]

[ such a stefan response. katherine has always thought to inform stefan of when he's being like himself, suspecting it might either throw a spanner in the works with him growing comfortable with his identity once again, or make him puff out his chest as though he's proud to have connected with some portion of himself. but she never has — being constantly reminded of who people think you are has only driven katherine to prove to them they should be terrified of their assumptions. rebuilding her brand is what she does best, and she's only ever made it a habit these days to point out a negative character trait in an effort to unarm someone. ]

[ she feels the need to unarm stefan right now, even though his response makes her laugh just a little. it's what's to come she preempts, knowing discomfort will embrace her fully. ]

There's only so many times you can try on very eccentric clothing before it becomes the norm.

It's lost its charm. Don't tell me you're still enthralled by all the lights and floating things?

[ she suspects he is, because of course he has to be — stefan, while gloomy most of the time, enjoys the little things in life. katherine doesn't really know how to let herself. ]

text;

[persevere]

I need to talk to you. Are you busy right now?

text;

[stefanged]

Not at all. Do you want to come over, or should I meet you at the bar?

text;

[persevere]

I moved, so let's meet at the bar.