βοηηιε βεηηεττ (impsychicnow) wrote in valloic, @ 2022-06-14 11:42:00 |
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Entry tags: | !: action/thread/log, ₴ inactive: bonnie bennett, ₴ inactive: enzo st john |
A few hours earlier, he’d been unceremoniously pulled from Bonnie Bennett’s front porch to the edge of a forest. Needless to say, he was beyond angry, agitated, and concerned for Bonnie’s safety. His first instinct had been to lash out at those who arrived to collect him, but thankfully common sense won out. Enzo decided the smarter play would be to wait and hear what they had to say first.
Though she’d probably mock him for it and call him creepy, Enzo had known Bonnie was here once he’d gotten inside the DOA building. She either worked in the building, or was there often enough that he caught her scent easily. It simultaneously both calmed him and made him more impatient all at once. Still, he sat and watched their video and listened to their rules and explanations. He nodded along at the correct intervals and made quippy remarks, all in an attempt to finish up as quickly as possible so he could get to Bonnie.
Finally released, Enzo maneuvered his way through the building until he located her office. The door was closed, but he could still hear her muttering softly to herself from inside. His eyes softened and he smiled. He was here, and Bonnie was here. So whatever this place was, they could tackle it together.
“Coffee delivery for Bonnie Bennett.” Enzo used a knuckle to rap out a knock on the door.
Changing to focus her energy full time at the DOA had been the right call. Now that school was officially out, Bonnie had cleaned out her office at Geliara, and set it back up in the DOA building. It hadn’t even been that long, but her schedule was already more reliable. She was home at a decent hour most days. Between that, daycare, and support for Ras, things were okay. The twins noticed Sirius’ absence, there were times when she couldn’t get them to stop crying for hours, and she was able to pick up images of him in their minds. It was always worse at night, when there was less to distract them with. They knew something was wrong, but they didn’t understand.
Truthfully, she didn’t understand it either. Vallo gave and took away, but that was kind of like normal life in some ways. There was just an obvious thing to blame here. It had been painful, but it wasn’t the first time she had felt that pain. Bonnie knew, with time, it would get easier. It was her kids she was worried about.
But at this moment, her twin terrors were having fun at day camp, as evident by the picture their teacher had just texted her. She had taken a few minutes to smile at the picture of the two of them playing some sort of game with another toddler, before returning to her work.
This thing with the Morrigan’s Grail was both fascinating and concerning. She was bent over a file that contained different passages on the Grail that she had managed to collect so far, scribbling notes on the side. When she heard someone at the door talking about coffee, she looked up with a frown.
Bonnie knew that voice, but her rational mind told her she was imagining it. She had to be. Because there was no way it could have been him.
She got up from her chair and went to her door, moving slowly, as if she was worried someone was going to burst through at any moment. There was a brief pause before she reached for the door handle. From the otherside, it would be all too easy for him to hear the acceleration of her heart beat, or how her breathing was coming just a little bit too quickly. She was scared. Scared it was him, scared it wasn’t him. Unsure if she had even heard properly at all. Was her mind just playing tricks on her at this point?
It took her just a few seconds longer than what was normal to turn a handle and pull it open. The pen in her hands dropped from her fingers when she saw him there. It had been over four years, nearly five, since she had last seen him, his spirit, in the Armory.
There were a million things she could be saying right now. The number of times she had imagined something like this happening after the first couple of years was countless. She had planned out what she would say and do, the image replaying over and over in her thoughts and dreams. Every clever line, every desperate I love you. None of those came to her now, because she had finally accepted that this time would never come, and focused on what actually would.
So instead she stood here, several shades paler than what she should be, eyes wide in shock at the vampire who stood before her. Had she forgotten how to breathe?
Enzo’s smile faltered as soon as he picked up on her reaction, even through the closed door. Her quickened heart rate, the smell of fear. He’d always been one for a dramatic entrance, but he’d expected a joyful, excited reaction from her. Maybe even feigned annoyance, telling him that he was late. This fearful, uncertain reaction caught him off guard. Worry crept in.
He’d been on the verge of opening the door himself when she finally appeared on the other side. The expression on her face, the look in her eyes, it all made his chest squeeze painfully tight.
He now fully regretted the coffee idea. He’d thought it would be sweet, perhaps reminiscent of all the times at the cabin he’d brought her coffee. Yet now all he wanted to do was sweep her into his arms, and his damn hands were occupied. He cursed under his breath and moved to quickly set them on the floor. Hands now free, he cupped Bonnie’s face and drew close to her. “Take a breath, love.”
Over the last several years she had vehemently refused to let anyone call her ‘love.’ Even if it was a common word used for many people, she always set barriers. It had just been too painful to hear.
The feel of his hands on her face centered her thoughts and brought her slamming back into reality, and into the realization that this is really happening. Her hands found the back of his. Real. “Real.” she said softly, her words echoing her thoughts as she finally took a breath. “This is real. You’re here.” It was such an obvious thing, but she needed to say it out loud, needed that confirmation that he was here, and alive. Not even here and a spirit, but alive. Or as alive as a vampire was.
Bonnie’s vision blurred from the tears, but she barely felt them, trying to blink them away. She was already afraid to lose sight of his face. “This isn’t a - a Vallo thing?” Because Vallo was notorious for playing on emotions and causing people to temporarily arrive. “Did the DOA bring you here?”
Under more normal circumstances, Enzo might have teased her for over the need to confirm that he was real. However the pain, the grief, on her face made it so he couldn’t do anything other than assure her. “I’m real.” His voice was low and gentle.
A piece of the puzzle clicked into place for him, as he was reminded that the DOA had informed him that people turned up here from various points in time. He ran his gaze over Bonnie and took in subtle changes about her. Her hair seemed to be the biggest difference, though he thought he could spot some subtle indications of age on her face and body as well. She still wore his necklace, though. That detail warmed him slightly. However long it had been, she still had it, and therefore a piece of him, with her.
He raised his hands up to gently wipe away the tears that had begun to fall. “Yes, I arrived near the forest a few hours ago, and they brought me back here. It’s me, Bonnie Bennett. The real me.”
Not a Vallo thing, then. He hadn’t just appeared in a different way. The DOA had got an alert- she would absolutely be confirming that later. The relief she felt wasn’t instant. He was here, now, but nothing in Vallo was permanent. He was here, he could be taken away. That was a thought that was always going to be in the back of her mind, but she couldn’t focus on that. No one could, it made living here impossible.
So many thoughts were flying through her head, but at the top of them was what he remembered from home. When he came from was important. Considering he had arrived here with coffee, she had a sickening feeling he didn’t know what had happened.
Bonnie pulled his hands from her face and stepped forward, wrapping her hands around him and pulling him into a tight hug. The smell of him hit her hard, and she buried her face into his chest for a moment just to live in the memories it brought forward.
“What’s the last thing you remember from home?” she finally asked, though she was dreading the answer.
Enzo closed his eyes and felt a little of his worry lessen as she wrapped her arms around him. He could forget nearly all of life’s worries with her head resting against his chest like that. He encircled her with his own arms and held her close before answering.
“I was with you. We were getting rid of that damned bell, and something caused me to be thrown out of your house. One moment I was on the porch, and the next, I’m here.”
Given Bonnie’s reaction to seeing him, he suspected that whatever she said next was likely going to affect him deeply. He opened his eyes and turned to rest his cheek against the top of her hair. “Something tells me that we didn’t get our happily ever after.”
Her heart dropped into her stomach when he confirmed where he had been from. He had been seconds, if that, away from Stefan arriving. “Stefan compelled the realtor to change the owner of the house.” she told him slowly. “He was coming after me, and knew I wouldn’t invite him in.” Not with his humanity turned off, he was far too dangerous.
The last thing she wanted to do was tell him what happened next, but she couldn’t keep something like that from him. “He killed you.” it was an image she was never going to get out of her head, it will follow her into whatever life came next. “You were physically between me and him, so he killed you on the porch.” Stefan didn’t have to do it. He just did for the hell of it, because that was what Stefan without his humanity was like.
Her grip on him became just a little bit tighter, clasping her own hands together behind him. They probably looked a little ridiculous, standing in her office door like this, but she didn’t care. She was not ready to let go just yet.
Enzo stilled as she spoke. All their talks of the cure, and it had all been because he couldn’t imagine a life without her. It hadn’t crossed his mind that she might have to go on without him. And of course it was Stefan. He and Enzo had their share of fights even before he’d gone and turned off his humanity. His jaw had clenched and Enzo had to very deliberately try and relax it to release the tension building there.
“Well,” he aimed for a lighter tone. “Lucky for me I ended up here instead.” Though he didn’t need to breathe, he let out a long exhale through his nose. It helped calm him slightly, though Bonnie being in his arms helped with that more than anything else.
This whole business of arriving in Vallo would never make any sense. Who arrived, and when, never had any logic behind it. It was lucky he was here, for him to keep on living. Though she also knew, without question, that he had found peace in whatever came after life in their world.
A few more moments passed where Bonnie just reassured herself that he was here before she pulled back. Not too far, but enough that she could see his face. For Enzo, ending up outside of the house had just been a few hours ago. For Bonnie, it had been so much longer. He had to have noticed something about her appearance.
“That wasn’t the last time I saw you though. Bonnie backed up just a few spaces to lean against her desk. Her office wasn’t that big, and she didn’t trust herself to stand on her own at the moment and not pass out. “Perks of being a witch, I guess.” And a psychic. “Eventually you stopped showing up though.” The living and the dead couldn’t stay together like that, it wasn’t healthy. She knew that now, even if she hadn’t wanted to let him go.
“Enzo.” she finally said his name, and could barely believe she was saying it while talking directly to him. “It’s been nearly five years for me since then.” Which wasn’t much for a vampire. But for those with an almost-normal sense of time, a lot happened in five years.
His hands fell back to his sides as Bonnie backed up into her office. It only then occurred to him that they were still standing in her doorway in full view of everyone. As he turned and bent down to pick up the previously abandoned coffee cups, Enzo noted a few on-lookers who had been watching them. He gave them a pointed glare before he moved inside and closed the door behind him.
He set the cups aside without much thought and moved to close the distance between them once again. It wasn’t far, as her office was tiny. Still, he stood close, his arm brushed up against hers.
Five years.
It was hardly a blip for him, but he could see the woman standing in front of him had changed in leaps and bounds during that time. It was in the look in her eyes, the way she carried herself. He was quiet for a long moment as he studied her. He loved Bonnie Bennett with all his heart and soul (whatever still remained of it), and he always would. For him, it was only a few hours ago that they had been planning their future together. It was practically still ringing in his ears. But for her? The uncomfortable realization began to dawn on him that they wouldn’t be picking up exactly as they’d left off.
Enzo realized he’d gone on too long without saying anything and quickly tried to recover. “Can’t tell a day has passed at all.” He gave her a smile that his heart wasn’t entirely in. “You look amazing as always.”
Bonnie offered him a smirk at the mention of her appearance. “It’s the Bennett genetics. They’re magic.” she said with a casual shrug. She wasn’t even sure where to go next. There was a lot to tell him. “Any chance I can still have that coffee?” She was probably going to need it.
“There’s a lot to tell you. I’ve been here in Vallo for….a little over two and half years, give or take.” She didn’t have the exact day down, but it would be three years in fall. “Before that, I was in another alternate reality for about two years.” Every time she said it, she didn’t believe herself. “Different people from home have come and gone. Caroline, Damon, Stefan, Tyler. Lizzie Saltzman is here now and a teenager.” Which was still weird to think about, every time Bonnie saw her she felt old, but in a good way.
“And these…” she reached for a photo that was on her desk, turned away, so she could view it when she was sitting behind the desk. She flipped the frame over, revealing a photo of her twins, it had been taken just a few weeks ago. Bonnie kept the photos updated as frequently as possible, though all the old ones still sat behind the new ones. In the photos the two babies, who looked to be close to two, were passed out cold and holding hands. “Are my two monsters.”
She knew it would be a shock to him, but it wasn’t something she could keep from him either. Her twins were her whole world at this point, and Enzo deserved to know they existed. No matter how much it might sting. “They’ll be two this month.”
Enzo didn’t hesitate to grab the coffees and hand her one. He took a sip of his own simply for something to do. He felt…uncertain. From the moment he’d realized Bonnie was here, he’d been confident that he’d been fine, but now he felt far more shaky. Still, he tried his best to keep a calm demeanor for her sake. He knew this entire situation was likely even harder on her.
Apparently multi-dimensional hopping was becoming a habit of hers. He listened as she explained where she’d been and who she’d seen along the way. And then, she turned the photograph around and Enzo was quite certain he could feel his heart shatter.
They were beautiful children, of course. And he was genuinely and truly happy that she had made a family. She deserved every bit of joy and happiness this or any other world could provide her. But it was a complicated mix of emotions. It broke his heart that it wasn’t a family they’d been able to create together, that she’d built a life that he wasn’t in. Yet he knew without a doubt that all he ever wanted was for Bonnie to live her life to the fullest.
He held his free hand out toward the frame. “May I?” He looked at the photograph, and studied the features of her children. “They’re beautiful, Bonnie. What are their names?”
There was no need to be a psychic for Bonnie to be able to guess what he was thinking. How many times had she imagined what their children might look like, even before it had become a possibility with the Cure?
When he asked, she handed him the framed photo. It was a strange feeling, to feel so sad at what she didn’t have, but also so happy and in love with what she did. “The one in red is Zayna. Zayna Sheila Bennett-Black, and the one in gold is Seren. Seren Rasalas Bennett-Black.” Gryffindor colors, because of course.
“They’re a handful, but between day-care, their aunt, and help from people here who love them we manage.” They looked so peaceful when they were sleeping. Beautiful, as he said. They were less beautiful when they were trying to float out the window, or bringing their toys to life. They were bursting with magic, and at this rate Bonnie was going to be the first one in her family to gray early.
When he was done looking at the photo, she took it and set back carefully on her desk. “I’m sorry. I can’t imagine what you’re thinking right now. A few hours ago you were driving on a racetrack, now this. But I couldn’t just…not tell you about them.”
It most certainly did not escape Enzo’s notice that when listing off all the help with her children, that Bonnie didn’t mention their father. Now wasn’t the time to address that, though. He tucked that away in the back of his mind for much later. For now he just shook his head. “What are you apologizing for, love? Like you said, you’ve been at this for five years now. You went out and lived your life. And probably made every place you were in much better for it. I can be sad for me and happy for you at the same time. Sure none of this was in our plan, but I am nothing if not adaptable.” He did his best to put on a smile for her.
She appreciated his words, even if she didn't quite believe him completely. Still, if or when he met the twins Bonnie hoped they would be able to charm him in some capacity.
"How about I take the rest of the day off and show you some of Vallo? I'll catch you up to speed on how this city functions. Some aspects seem similar to cities we know, but really nothing is quite the same." It was the least she could do, and maybe the best she could offer at this very moment. She hoped it was enough to start.
His smile became more genuine at her offer. “I’d like that.” He took another sip of his coffee and nudged her. “Let’s just pretend you’re doing it to spend time with me and not to escape this pitiful excuse for an office.”
"Hey, at least it has a window." Not all of them did, and she'd definitely have lost her mind sitting in a closet all day. Bonnie stood up from her desk, moving slowly, still not trusting her own mind or body at the moment. She fired off a text to her colleagues to let them know something had come up and she was leaving for the day.
After putting away her files, she picked up her bag, her coffee and motioned toward the door with her head. "If it helps, I know a great wine bar close by too." Because yeah, she was going to need a drink before this day was over.
Once they were both out of her office, she locked it up and lead the way out of the DOA, her eyes darting back to Enzo every few seconds. At least she managed to walk past her coworkers without asking if they could see him too.
Had circumstances been different, Enzo would have just taken Bonnie’s hand to reassure her that he was real and present. He wasn’t certain how she’d respond to that at the moment, so instead he just tried his best to keep talking to her as they made their way through the building. Sarcastic quips about the people they passed and funny observations he’d made during his “orientation.”
He suspected they both had a long road forward from here, but he’d be damned if he let the situation take away his sense of humor. God knew he was probably going to need it.