Who: Stefan Salvatore and Lexi Branson What: Getting Stefan a job, talking about dreams When: Backdated: Just after July 4th Where: Disneyland Rating/Warnings: Family Friendly Status: Complete
Lexi had been excited to have Stefan back in Orange County and now that he had asked her if she could get him a job at Disneyland, she was even more excited. After asking around a little bit, she’d gotten Stefan an interview, which hadn’t really been that difficult considering she kind of sorta used a little compulsion. It wasn’t hurting anyone, so she didn’t see any problem with it.
On the day of Stefan’s interview, Lexi had suggested that they spend the rest of the day at the park since she had the day off and her and Stefan hadn’t gone to Disneyland together in a long time.
It’d been a piece of cake. Stefan was definitely one to take a job interview seriously, to dress the part and present himself in a respectful, responsible way. Normally employers loved the service on his resume, and he was pretty much over-qualified for any job he applied for. Actually, the interviewer was a little surprised he wasn’t interviewing for a job at the First Aid station. Maybe he’d be better suited to work there? But Stefan wanted to work with Lexi to start. It’d ease him back into things. He shook the man’s hand and was on his way.
“So. The Happiest Place on Earth, is it?” He asked, turning to his friend with a grin. “Where do we start?” It’d been years since he’d been to Disneyland.
“Well, you definitely need Mickey ears. You can’t do Disney without Mickey ears.” Lexi was wearing one of the many ear headbands that she owned, this one was the 60th Anniversary Minnie ears all done up in black and blue sequins, “Then we start in Fantasyland.”
Stefan laughed. “Mickey ears, huh?” Only for you, Lex. He shook his head a bit, but he’d follow along. Anything she wanted, really. That’s sort of how their relationship worked. He let her take the lead, and never regretted it. “Fantasyland. That’s where Peter Pan’s ride is, right?” He wasn’t gonna go on Dumbo. But Peter Pan he could do.
“Yup. Peter Pan and Snow White. It’s A Small World and Pinocchio. All the classics.” Lexi led the way up Main Street towards Sleeping Beauty’s castle, “There’s a hat shop near the Alice in Wonderland ride, so we’ll stop at that one.” She was determined to get an ear hat with Stefan’s name embroidered on the back.
Stefan wasn’t going to argue. There was no point. He followed Lexi up toward the castle, but paused. “Hey, stand right there.” He said, and took a step back. He pulled out his phone to take a picture of her in front of the castle. “Shut up,” he pre-empted, grinning. “It’s for posterity.” And he snapped the picture.
A small, older, Asian woman (Japanese, probably) tapped Stefan on the shoulder and insisted in her broken English that he go stand with his beautiful girlfriend so she could take their picture together. Again, this was one of those things where Stefan knew that arguing was futile. So he went and wrapped an arm around Lexi’s shoulders for a photo in front of Sleeping Beauty’s castle.
It had always amused Lexi greatly when people mistook them for a couple, but they never argued with them cause it was just a waste of time so Lexi wrapped her arm around Stefan’s waist as he came to stand beside her and she turned her body into his, putting her hand on his chest. Once the woman gave Stefan back his phone, Lexi laughed and grabbed his wrist to pull him along through the castle, “I’m sure you didn’t miss that while you were away.”
“When I was overseas, I almost never had a beautiful girl on my arm,” Stefan teased, pocketing his phone. She was already dragging him under the castle and through to Fantasyland on the other side, so he followed along happily. There were characters and lines and people all over the place. He turned his hand a little to take hold of Lexi’s, so he wouldn’t get lost from her in the crowd.
Just beyond the carousel, past Dumbo, on the right hand side was the Mad Hatter’s Shop. “Ears?” Stefan asked, following her inside. “Just the plain ones?” ...with embroidery, huh?
“Almost never? Stefan Salvatore, are there things you didn’t tell me?” Lexi smirked as Stefan took her hand so they wouldn’t get separated and she squeezed it as they headed towards the hat shop, “Yeah, I won’t make you get anything too fancy.” Once inside the shop, Lexi let go of Stefan’s hand and went straight to the Mickey ear hats, picking up one of the plain, regular ones and upon returning to Stefan she placed it on his head, “Perfect.”
“Maybe one or two things.” Stefan had told her about the friends with benefits girl, hadn’t he? Though, he hadn’t confessed that he was developing feelings for her, and had to break it off. Just that they hadn’t done it in a while. Stefan hadn’t done anything in a while.
Once they were inside the shop, Stefan released Lexi’s hand so they could better shop for his ears. He glanced around at some of the fancier things, but then grinned when she put the plain ones on his head. “Perfect.” He agreed. They didn’t have to spend long on this, anyway. He wanted to hit some rides.
“I am shocked and appalled,” Lexi teased, shaking her head at Stefan. Lexi was usually the more open of the two and had told Stefan things concerned her sex life that he probably wanted to forget, but the way Lexi saw it, who else was she going to tell things like that to than her best friend? Sure, Lexi had friends who were girls and she talked about that stuff with them too, but there were certain things she could only tell Stefan whether he wanted to hear it or not.
“Awesome. I’ll be right back.” Hat in hand, Lexi headed up to the counter and started talking to the girl there who she clearly knew. After a few moments, Lexi handed the hat over and the girl took it to the embroidery machine. Soon the hat was back in Lexi’s hands and having paid for it, she returned to Stefan, “Ta-da!” She turned the hat so Stefan could see the back where his name was stitched across it.
Stefan gave a little laugh, accepting the hat, and then put it on his head for her. This was all for Lexi’s amusement now. He lifted his hands in a ‘how’s this?’ kind of gesture, and spun once around on the spot so she could see it from all angles. “Do I look like an official Disney Fan or something now?”
“You look fantastic.” Lexi took her phone out and brought up the camera to take a picture of Stefan, “Now, rides.” She took Stefan’s hand and led the way out of the store, “What should we do first?” The last time she’d been at Disney just for fun had been a few months earlier with Aramis, Porthos and their friends for Porthos’ birthday so she was super excited about today and wanted to do as much as they could.
Stefan grinned for the picture, then nodded and let her lead him out of the store. “Anything you like. We’re in Fantasyland, so… Alice in Wonderland? Peter Pan? Mister Toad?” Those were the only three he could remember off the top of his head.
“Lets do Alice first since we’re right here.” Lexi said heading towards the beginning of the line. “So, enjoying being back?” Lexi was talking about Stefan being home just as much as she was talking about Disneyland. It has been a very long time since they’d done this together. Once they got to the last person in line, Lexi leaned against the line barrier, facing Stefan.
“Enjoying it immensely.” Stefan said, lifting hand to reposition the strap of the Mouse Ears on his head. He shrugged one shoulder. “You’re here, how can I not be?” He teased, then turned to lean against the railing, too. “I’m liking the freedom. I’d forgotten how good it feels.”
"Freedom is always a good thing," Lexi grinned as they moved up in line, "I noticed you didn't mention Damon. I knew you were happier to see me." It wasn't a secret to most people that Lexi hated Damon, but Stefan didn't know the full extent of her hatred for his brother.
Stefan chuckled softly, moving along with her in line. Lexi wasn’t the only person in the world who hated Damon. And Stefan and Damon’s relationship was… interesting. “You’re a lot prettier than he is,” he offered up, playfully.
Lexi’s grin widened at Stefan’s words. It was also no secret that Lexi enjoyed having her ego stroked, “Awwww, you’re too kind. You’re also prettier than Damon.” She was still smiling as they reached the end of the line and her let onto their Caterpillar car at which point Lexi took out her phone again, leaned closer to Stefan and held it out in front of them, “Smile.” Lexi was one of those people who enjoyed taking pictures of herself and whoever she was with on rides.
Stefan laughed, then followed her up onto the ride. Hey, he was prettier than Damon? Might have been the first time someone had ever told him as much. He leaned in when she told him to, and smiled for the selfie. “...should I take these ears off for the ride?” He asked, but before he got an answer, the woman hit a green button, and the ride started.
Lexi took the picture then put her phone down on her lap, "No. Leave them on. I'm not taking mine off." She leaned back against the back of the seat as the Caterpillar went through the ride until it reached the end and they got off, "Where to next? Oh, are you hungry?" They had actually been there for awhile now since Stefan's interview had been first and it was probably around lunch time now. Since Stefan was still human, he would probably need to eat soon. Lexi still ate human food, mostly cause she enjoyed it, even if it didn't have quite the same taste as it used to, but she knew from the dreams that there were plenty of vampires who still ate human food.
Stefan nodded. He’d leave them on. She had hers on, so. He wasn’t the only guy in the park who looked silly with a set of ears on his head. The ride was fun. He followed her off, grinning despite himself, then shrugged. “I could eat.” Stefan wasn’t a big eater. He could eat pretty much anything anytime. It came from being in the military--he ate when he was told to. So he stopped being hungry.
“Is there something you like to eat in the park?” Stefan asked as he fell into step beside her. His hands slipped into his pockets.
Lexi thought for a moment then took Stefan’s arm and steered him in another direction, “Let’s go to the Carnation Cafe. It’s close by and I want some fried pickles.” She led the way to the restaurant and upon arriving she put their name in for a table. There were only two of them so it most likely wouldn’t take very long. “So, what else have you been up to since you came back?” Contrary to what others thought, Stefan and Lexi were not joined at the hip, which meant that she didn’t know every single thing he’d done since coming back. She was also wondering if he’d started dreaming yet, but figured she’d wait to ask him that.
“Oh, you know. Unpacking.” Stefan had arrived with a duffel. So the unpacking hadn’t actually taken that long. “Getting my hair done.” He would have flicked a hand through it, but the hat was covering most of it. “I caught up with Elena a bit. And Caroline.” Though, surely Lexi knew that as they were roommates. “And spent a little time with Damon, too. Catching up on my television.”
“Oh my god, when did you get boring?” Lexi asked, smirking as they were finally shown to a table, “Have you done any decorating or anything?” She knew there was something she’d forgotten about when Stefan had come home. Sure, she’d dragged him to the mall a couple of times, but she’d completely forgotten about the fact that he’d need to decorate his place.
A laugh escaped him. “I didn’t realize I was ever… not boring. And decorating?” Stefan frowned a little. “You do remember who you’re talking to, right? Isn’t that your job?” He teased, leaning back a little in his chair.
“Well, then I think, once you get this job our next adventure is decorating your place.” Lexi passed Stefan a menu once they were seated, but didn’t open one herself since she already knew what she was going to get, “So, there’s something I need to ask you and it might sound really crazy.” She had waited long enough. She had to find out if he’d started dreaming yet.
Stefan wouldn’t argue to having some help decorating his place. Or finding a new place. He didn’t want to live with Damon forever. He accepted the menu and glanced at it, then frowned a little at Lexi’s change in conversation. What could she want to talk about that was so serious? He raised an eyebrow. “Okay. Lay it on me.”
Lexi didn’t like to think about Damon and if she was going to be able to go spend time with Stefan, he was going to need to get his own place, because she refused to be around Damon. “Okay, so, have you had any strange dreams lately?” As she spoke, she turned the daylight ring that Merlin had made her, around her finger. She was extremely grateful to the wizard for making her a couple pieces of daylight jewelry.
“Strange Dreams, right? I hear they’re pretty common around here.” Stefan’s menu was set aside. He’d just order whatever she wanted to eat for himself, too. Lexi had excellent taste, in Stefan’s opinion, so he’d trust what she wanted.
“Yeah, I’m dreaming about being a stalker vampire in Mystic Falls. It’s pretty… horrific.” He said, a little nervous that she’d been dreaming the same things he had.
Lexi’s brows rose slightly as Stefan confirmed that he had started dreaming, but before she could say anything in response, the waitress came over and Lexi placed their order. Once she was gone, a smirk spread across Lexi’s lips, “Just Mystic Falls? Nothing before that?” If he was dreaming of Mystic Falls then he’d likely know that they were also bffs in the dreams. “And also, why didn’t you tell me that you’d started dreaming?”
“I didn’t like what happened to you in the Dreams,” Stefan admitted, watching the waitress walk away. He didn’t bring his eyes back to Lexi. “I know we were best friends--the best of friends, but I’ve got a lot of holes in my Dream Memory.” He admitted. He finally turned to look at her. “I owe you so much in the Dreams.”
“Ah, so you know what Damon does to me then.” Damon killing her in the dreams was only one reason why she disliked the older Salvatore brother and honestly it wasn’t even that he’d killed her there, but more the fact that he’d told her about it well before she’d dreamt it and gloated that he was glad he’d done it. But that was only one reason she disliked Damon, “That is not the only time your dear brother screwed me over in the dreams, by the way.”
“I’d love to hear all about it,” Stefan said. He wasn’t putting too much stock into these dreams, but he was always interested in the things that Lexi had to say. This was a delicate thing--Stefan knew that there were a group of people all dreaming about Mystic Falls… and everyone was already ahead of him. He didn’t know if he was supposed to start apologizing in advance for the shit his Dream counterpart did.
"Oh, you will. And you'll probably hear, from Damon, that I have no reasons to be upset." She honestly couldn't understand the way Damon's mind worked and doubted that she ever would, "There was a time in the 70s where he tried to kill me after you'd asked me to help him cause he was going a little overboard with the killings." Lexi still wanted to kick her dream self for falling for Damon's scheme then and it made her nauseous to think they she'd slept with him. "He claimed he was getting back at me for stopping him from corrupting you again after I'd helped you get off human blood again."
“Whoa.” Stefan was frowning, confused, wondering if he should be trying to figure all of this out, or if he should be waiting for it to happen. “I haven’t… I mean, a lot of what happened to me before Mystic Falls is a blur.” He said. “I don’t remember much of it at all. I know you’re my best friend there, and I know he killed you, and I don’t think I’ll ever forgive him for it. I shouldn’t ever forgive him for it, anyway.”
Damon might have killed Lexi, but surprisingly that hadn’t been the end of her dreams ‘cause she’d then visited Stefan a few times as a ghost and even watched him from the Other Side on occasion so there was a lot that knew about the time after she’d been killed, “There is a lot that Damon does that he shouldn’t be forgiven for.” She felt the same way about a lot of things Damon had done in real life as well. “The blanks will be filled in. My dreams went in chronological order, but I’ve heard that that doesn’t always happen for everyone.”
“No. I’m dreaming about Mystic Falls, but the past keeps slowly filling in over time.” Stefan explained. “There are huge gaps in time. I know I went to war. I know I was in love with Katherine, then with Elena. Katherine compelled me, that’s why I loved her... but I really don’t know why I was so head over heels with Elena.”
For a long time Lexi hadn’t been a fan of Katherine, but over the last few years the two had become friends and she was glad for it, because she’d realized that she had been wrong about the other girl all that time. “Well dream Katherine is a bitch. Or so I’ve heard from you. Never met her in my own dreams. And why wouldn’t you be head over heels for Elena? She’s awesome.” It didn’t make any sense to Lexi why Elena would be into Damon in either world, because Damon was an asshole no matter what incarnation.
“I don’t know. I just don’t see any reason for me to be. She’s great once you get to know her, but… I stalked her. From the start. Probably because she looked like Katherine, actually. It just felt really sudden. Maybe it’s in the missing pieces.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Anyway, let’s not dwell on that.”
“It’ll all make sense eventually. Don’t worry.” Lexi glanced up as she saw their waitress coming with their lunch, “Oh good. Lunch is here.” She wouldn’t tell Stefan, but she was excited that he had started dreaming. Sure there was a lot of crap that happened to him and the others and now that he’d started dreaming there was the very real possibility that he could turn, but now she could at least talk to him about them without him thinking she was crazy. “After we eat we’ll head over towards Nemo and The Matterhorn.”
“Ah, the Matterhorn.” Stefan broke into a grin at the sight of the food, the company, the day. He was enjoying himself more than he had in a long time. “That sounds like a perfect plan.” And then he started in on his meal.