[ omg and to think she missed you, miscreant!! (not that she'll ever admit it). ]
Have you forgotten where we are? You did read the manual, right?
[ they're in a mansion that steals their memories a pocket dimension away and so far, no one has found a way home. she thinks she's entitled to a little concern here. he's taking this way too breezily. but then, elena is not convinced damon believes this is real. ]
[(admit it!!! not that damon would ever really be able to believe her even if she did lbr)]
No, I could not forget we are in Wonderland with the evil queen and mirrors and... Alice running around somewhere. Does that mean we all fell down the rabbit hole?
[he sways a bit, leaning back against the wall that he's leaning on and smiling winningly at whatever poor soul decided to get v drunk with him]
I skimmed the manual. [no, he can't really say he believes any of this is real, but if this is a dream, it's not one of his best either. elena would be one of the ones dancing with him if that were the case (the only one dancing with him-
And she doesn't have eyes ... The theory is that's the queen's doing. She's real, by the way. The queen. We've seen her.
[ elena distinctly remembers a lack of falling. it was mostly coming to and finding herself in a swimming pool. it was super rude, and she would not like to have a repeat performance. as for him not reading the manual thoroughly?
It sounds like a lot of thinking and theorizing without any actual knowing, Elena. Like have you really seen the Queen or do you just think you've seen the Queen?
[this is really the question here, a very important distinction should be made between these two things....]
For all I know, this is one whacked out dream I'm having, and I still see no reason to not actually enjoy your time here instead of looking all adorably grumpy faced at me for not reading a manual. Which I'm sure is full of more thoughts and theories, right?
[it's later on when damon does appear at the doorway to her room, knocking lightly on it before he slips inside. whether she had her lights off or not, damon would still be slipping inside even if there are moments she doesn't remember (that he does, that he holds on to), she does remember how close they got over the summer.
she remembers the summer at least.
damon saunters in and sits down on her be after a moment, because what is personal space? damon has never known the meaning of the phrase. all of this, it's done without actually saying anything to her just yet.
she's in the bathroom, changing into comfortable pajamas. smoothing her hair into a ponytail, scrubbing her face, and brushing her teeth. a towel covers the mirror by the sink to block interlopers. it's routine now, and routine means stability; elena doesn't have a whole lot of that these days.
it took approximately two point five seconds to remind her how irritating damon salvatore can be, and how easily he gets under her skin. it took a bit more than that to acknowledge she felt relief to know he was here, even when she shouldn't. (she's so homesick some days she's nothing but porches and journals.) ]
You can get your own room, you know.
[ dress it up in any way you like ... elena is not sure she wants to know what that looks like. ]
[damon lifts his eyebrows at her as she speaks from the bathroom. he can see her back, see her normal nighttime routine. it's the same routine he's seen her done many times now. he wonders if that ever changes. probably not. there's likely something about the ritual of it, the normalcy of it which is a comfort wherever it's happening, whatever else is going on.
when they couldn't find stefan and couldn't get answers and tangled with vampires and violence, she'd go through that same routine, tugging on the blanket before she finally sunk down on the bed beside him]
I know. I wasn't looking for a room.
[in case that wasn't obvious. his gaze remains on her as she gets ready in the bathroom]
here's the funny thing about stefan. there's gaps in her memories when it comes to that summer. she remembers that much of it was spent with damon, and sometimes alaric. she remembers those nights she'd stay at the boarding house. the reason why eludes her. she doesn't think to find the reasons, because she doesn't know they're missing. ]
Here I am. [ she leans against the doorframe, arms folded loosely across her chest.
nothing about her stance conveys confrontation. ] Damon, this is real. You and me being here? It's real.
[ there's no tainted blood. no moonshine binge. no weird trippy dream. it's real. ]
[and damon does not realize exactly how much she's missing yet either, because he hasn't ironed out the details yet. he was too busy clinging on to the feeling that none of this could possibly be real. except it hasn't gone away, and he's now been in wonderland for hours, waiting for it to tick, tick, tick away, waiting to wake up.]
Here you are, getting ready for bed. [like she always does. maybe there is comfort in it for damon too. all those nights she stayed over, all those nights he'd end up in her bedroom, there's a familiarity in the way she gets ready to go to bed.
and he'd wanted that when everything else got turned upside down]
Yeah, I'm... starting to get that, and you've been here for over a hundred days.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
video.
Have you forgotten where we are? You did read the manual, right?
[ they're in a mansion that steals their memories a pocket dimension away and so far, no one has found a way home. she thinks she's entitled to a little concern here. he's taking this way too breezily. but then, elena is not convinced damon believes this is real. ]
video.
No, I could not forget we are in Wonderland with the evil queen and mirrors and... Alice running around somewhere. Does that mean we all fell down the rabbit hole?
[he sways a bit, leaning back against the wall that he's leaning on and smiling winningly at whatever poor soul decided to get v drunk with him]
I skimmed the manual. [no, he can't really say he believes any of this is real, but if this is a dream, it's not one of his best either. elena would be one of the ones dancing with him if that were the case (the only one dancing with him-
details)]
video.
[ nose wrinkle. ]
And she doesn't have eyes ... The theory is that's the queen's doing. She's real, by the way. The queen. We've seen her.
[ elena distinctly remembers a lack of falling. it was mostly coming to and finding herself in a swimming pool. it was super rude, and she would not like to have a repeat performance. as for him not reading the manual thoroughly?
just this face. ]
video.
[this is really the question here, a very important distinction should be made between these two things....]
For all I know, this is one whacked out dream I'm having, and I still see no reason to not actually enjoy your time here instead of looking all adorably grumpy faced at me for not reading a manual. Which I'm sure is full of more thoughts and theories, right?
video.
Damon!
[ if they were in the same room rn, she'd be legit stomping her foot, jsyk... ]
I've been here for months. You're not dreaming. When you're done drinking, you know where to find me.
[ yes, damon. she is cutting you off!! the feed goes black!! ]
[action]
she remembers the summer at least.
damon saunters in and sits down on her be after a moment, because what is personal space? damon has never known the meaning of the phrase. all of this, it's done without actually saying anything to her just yet.
but he's done drinking, and he's here.]
[action]
she's in the bathroom, changing into comfortable pajamas. smoothing her hair into a ponytail, scrubbing her face, and brushing her teeth. a towel covers the mirror by the sink to block interlopers. it's routine now, and routine means stability; elena doesn't have a whole lot of that these days.
it took approximately two point five seconds to remind her how irritating damon salvatore can be, and how easily he gets under her skin. it took a bit more than that to acknowledge she felt relief to know he was here, even when she shouldn't. (she's so homesick some days she's nothing but porches and journals.) ]
You can get your own room, you know.
[ dress it up in any way you like ... elena is not sure she wants to know what that looks like. ]
[action]
when they couldn't find stefan and couldn't get answers and tangled with vampires and violence, she'd go through that same routine, tugging on the blanket before she finally sunk down on the bed beside him]
I know. I wasn't looking for a room.
[in case that wasn't obvious. his gaze remains on her as she gets ready in the bathroom]
I was looking for you.
[action]
here's the funny thing about stefan. there's gaps in her memories when it comes to that summer. she remembers that much of it was spent with damon, and sometimes alaric. she remembers those nights she'd stay at the boarding house. the reason why eludes her. she doesn't think to find the reasons, because she doesn't know they're missing. ]
Here I am. [ she leans against the doorframe, arms folded loosely across her chest.
nothing about her stance conveys confrontation. ] Damon, this is real. You and me being here? It's real.
[ there's no tainted blood. no moonshine binge. no weird trippy dream. it's real. ]
[action]
Here you are, getting ready for bed. [like she always does. maybe there is comfort in it for damon too. all those nights she stayed over, all those nights he'd end up in her bedroom, there's a familiarity in the way she gets ready to go to bed.
and he'd wanted that when everything else got turned upside down]
Yeah, I'm... starting to get that, and you've been here for over a hundred days.