contact

[daydrinker]

"You've reached Alaric Saltzman, leave your name, your number and a message that makes sense and I'll get back to you."
TEXT | AUDIO | VIDEO | ACTION

Comments

[daydrinker]

[ Alaric approaches, his smile small, but warm. Fond is really the word for it, it has to be, because if he acknowledges everything he's feeling, he's going to have no choice but to take her right then and there in the hallway. So, he focuses on the keys in his hand. He added the key to his new apartment to the keyring holding keys he doesn't use anymore. ] You're not the one who needs an invitation. [ But, he opens the door for her.

The apartment is sparse, but he managed to pilfer other, empty apartments for furniture. A table and chairs that don't match the partially scorched (but passable, and usable) couch. The door inside sits ajar, revealing a barely used toilet and sink. It's a deluxe studio, but it does the trick. Can she tell he's been on the couch? ]

[gradstudent]

[ She gives a look of amused bewilderment until realization hits her. ] Oh! Right. Vampire. [ Right? Yes. More softly spoken than the rest, but no one else is there to overhear, either. ] Well I definitely meant it that way. [ Nah, she was just trying to be cute and forward.

She steps inside before he does, gaze scanning around. ] Nothing around here's exactly Pier 1, is it? Like, around the city. At all. [ Ain't no Williams and Sonoma in them kitchens either. Back to him -- not an insult. It's not like what she's seen anywhere else is a whole lot better. She eyes the couch. Ah. They need to find him a bed, don't they? Then, she stops just about in the center of the living area, looking over to Alaric. ] Long day, huh? [ She starts to step toward him, stopping and relaxing back into where she stands. The nerves are racing a bit more now that she's in his apartment, actually. Funny how that works! But, she's still fond as can be while looking at him. ]

I wanted to see you. [ A little chuckle at her own expense. ] Obvious. [ A beat. ] To...talk. [ Yes, control any baser instincts and talk. Obviously they both know why she's there, yet she still says it, a hand lifting to run fingers over her hair falling over one shoulder. ]

[daydrinker]

[ Dropping the shoulder bag from his shoulder, he sets it by the door, closing it as Jenna gets a lay of the land. As far as not knowing what to say goes, Alaric is right up there with her. But, he doesn't move. He doesn't know what to do, either. They're a pair, aren't they? ]

Better than using me for my gel pens. [ Those. Gel. Pens. That he painstakingly answered a riddle for!! ] We should. Talk. [ And now it's his turn to take a step forward. Unfortunately, he could say a number of things. It's hard enough remembering the context of when she'd be from and how he'd be feeling then, with what's happened now, and what happened after that. ] Jenna, I never meant to hurt you. [ That has always been true. So, that's what he goes with. ]

[gradstudent]

[ Amazing they've ever finished a conversation! Naturally her gaze falls on Alaric as he shifts. A light chuckle. ] My to-do lists here have been way plain, so I needed to liven them up somehow. [ Lame, but, whatever.

She nods when he affirms what she's suggested they should do, taking half a step toward him. Her forehead creases. ] Ric, it's...you don't. I mean, I know you didn't mean to, and I'm just glad you're...okay. That you were okay, at home, too. [ Her face twists up a little, awkward huff leaving her mouth. ] It's a little confusing, isn't it? But. Just, don't lie anymore. [ S I M P L E -- she doesn't think he's been lying, since they've been there, either?? ] That way it'll -- we can be okay. [ She's very confident in that, smile brightening again, hope in her eyes. ] You are, okay. To me, I mean. [ A long inhale, slow exhale. ] I'm rambling. Great.

[daydrinker]

[ Don't lie to her anymore.

Jenna, you're dead. You're not around anymore. You died at the hands of Klaus, after being turned into a vampire for the very ritual they were trying to protect Elena from.

It would be that easy, but it's not his secret to tell. Again. There are others he could divulge, one involving Elena that he's been wrestling with every since he learned when she was from. But, he also wonders how much relevance it has here. His secret didn't erase years of her life. Elena hadn't lived it yet. What would her journal and the entry she wrote to herself help. Who would it help?

His mouth curls up, his smile forming. It's good that she rambles, because it covers his thought process. ] You are. You're saying, [ A step forward ] we're okay.

[gradstudent]

[ A hard glance up to the ceiling, duh, as she smiles, meeting his eyes again and moving over to finally stand in front of him. ] Yeah. We're okay. If that's okay with you. If there's something you need to say, you can. I can take it. [ She grins, reaching out for one of his hands, weaving her fingers with his. ] And I -- I know there's, like, this difference of time, which makes me feel a little Marty McFly, but. [ Her bottom lip juts out as she bites lightly down on it. ]

I'm okay if you're okay, and. I like we better than...not being we. [ Er...awkward, Jenna. But, you did just have sex. That day. ] But, I'm not...assuming anything, either. [ What a polite way of saying she understands if this doesn't equate to being together. Dating. ] We never officially made up, anyway. [ ... Jenna. ]

[daydrinker]

[ He looks at their hands intertwined, licking his lips. She's right about timing differences, at least. ]

I think we -- made something. [ He brings their hands up, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. Also, if that wasn't official, he can't wait to see what is official. But, there's something he can control, in hopes that when Elena tells Jenna the truth about what happened to her, this earns him something. He can't be the one to tell her she died. It's not his to tell. He knows this. But, there's still something Elena doesn't know.

Looking down, then up at her. He tilts his head in the direction of the couch, walking toward it. ] Jenna, you're not the only one experiencing a difference in timeline. [ Retrieving his bag, he lifts it by its strap and sets it on his couch. Opening the flap, he pulls out Elena's green journal she asked him to keep. It only takes a second of consideration before he turns to face Jenna again, holding it out.

The journal opens to a page held up by a photo booth strip of Elena and Damon, happy, posing. Even kissing. Underneath is the journal entry Elena left for herself. ] Elena's missing two years of her life. I thought, maybe what I'd done triggered a regression, but Elena being turned had nothing to do with her love for Damon. She hasn't lived it. Damon and Elena loved each other. Deeply, more than I thought even he was capable of. And Damon died. Elena couldn't take it, so she asked me to compel away her memories of him, so she could move on.

[gradstudent]

[ A smile and cute smile, drawn in at first until she meets his eyes once more, affection flowering within her over that sweet kiss. ] We did.

[ Watching as he moves, not even trying to hide the way her heart feels like it's skipping beats, she pushes away the longing to just hold onto his hand, to touch him, be in each others' embrace again. There's always more time for that, especially with what's already begun. Continued? Picked up where they left off? She isn't completely sure how to define it. But, that's okay. She knows what her heart's telling her.

And, that Alaric needs to say something. The conversation shifts, her attention holding on him. No less fond, but uncertain as to where he's going with this. She carefully eyes the journal, looking over for several seconds before she reaches out to take it, spine resting in her palm. Lips parted, she stares down in disbelief, face twisting. ] ...Damon? [ Is all she gets out before looking back to Ric, not yet reading the entry, but instead looking to Alaric for explanation.

It's difficult to believe, but the proof rests before her. There's tiny photos, that came into the city with the man she cares for so deeply. He'd...he would never lie about this.

Without saying anything else, blinking several times, she moves past Alaric to sit on the couch. He has to know how weird this is. Damon and Elena? Loving each other? No. Damon's a dick: the kind of guy that Jenna had been burned by more times than she cares to admit.

Her eyes drift to the page, one hand smoothing over it, Elena's handwriting visually washing over her. ] Elena definitely wrote this. [ Duh, but she has to say it. Has to let Alaric know that she believes he's telling the truth, even if she's barely replied. Then, she reads, a finger dragging along each line. Her brows knit, but she doesn't stop, taking in the words Elena wrote for herself.

Damon died, as supported by the journal. After Elena found him to be her soulmate -- it's emotional whiplash for Jenna, but then again? She's only ever wanted Elena and Jeremy to be happy, her niece's words wrapping up with the exact same sentiment for herself.

She's swallowing, eyes watering from the voice that pours out of the entry. Elena turned into a monster? No. She doesn't know what it means, and the idea of that hurts.

She looks up to meet Alaric's eyes once more. ] She was really in love with him. [ A beat. ] Selective memory loss? Compel...compulsion, right? She...Elena, here? She's from before she wrote this? Like, how I am too? Is that what you mean? By her not having lived this?

[ Another swallow. ] Did she? Move on? [ After she parted ways with Stefan and chose the older brother. Jenna isn't completely certain what all Alaric may be trying to convey to her with sharing this, but she hones in that detail. ]