InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "It's only time"

Lexi Branson is the tequila rain dancer (feelingepic) wrote in wariscoming,
@ 2013-06-16 22:40:00

Entry tags:

lexi branson, stefan salvatore

Who: Lexi Branson and Stefan Salvatore
What: Reunion, Booze, bonding, potential Bon Jovi
Where: Stefan's hotel room
When: Night of his arrival
Rating: TBD, likely low
Status: In progress

Something was not okay with the BFF. Lexi had been suspicious all through their conversation. but the fact he didn't want to see Elena at all threw her just a bit. He'd been all loved up with her last she knew from back home. Though she knew from Elena that things were a lot different, he'd gone Ripper again, made some deal with Klaus and it had all gone a bit wrong And she'd stepped in in some ghostly badass way and set him on the path back to himself again. Because even dead, Lexi was never gonna let Stefan lose himself to that if she could do anything about it. She hadn't been surprised to hear she'd done it again. If she had to do it another time then she would. But it didn't feel like that to her, he wasn't avoiding her company. He wasn't yelling at her to leave him alone or ranting about how much he hated her. No, this wasn't the blood. This was something else, something with Elena and it was tearing him up inside.

It seemed to be a conversation they needed to have, and one that would be made infinitely better with the presence of a bottle or two of bourbon which she retrieved from their storage. They were going for a good cause.

She'd quickly explained to Lee where she was going and a vague explanation of why, much as honestly she didn't know herself, before practically speeding across town to the hotel he'd mentioned. A quick chat with the doorman had her taking a flight or two of stairs and coming to the number Stefan had mentioned knocking a few times in sucsession and yelling into the room for him to hurry up and hug her already.

She anticipated tacklehugging. Oh he'd been here, a version of him once before. But to this Stefan she was still dead, occasionally a kickass ghost BFF but still dead, still gone. Here though, here they could rekindle their friendship, she could help him out of whatever funk he'd gotten himself in over Elena and he could be there for her wedding to Lee, he could stand by her side while, god help her, she committed to one guy for as long as they both lived. Lexi had so much to tell her best friend and as much time as they would have now, it didn't seem like enough and she figured it never would.

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wasaripper
2013-06-16 11:13 pm UTC (link)

For a man so intimately acquainted with death, there were certain losses that Stefan Salvatore had a hard time accepting. His beloved mother, Mary, had been one of them, and she'd been gone for more than a century and a half. Another one of those was Lexi. Alexia Branson, who had saved his life, saved him from himself. Who would, and had, dropped everything in her life to be by his side when he needed her, simply because he needed her, expecting nothing in return. He'd been so busy with one thing after another that he hadn't really had a lot of time to process the fact that she was absolutely, positively gone and that the next time he needed someone to save him from himself, she wouldn't be the one to take his shouting and abuse and all the hate that he really felt for himself but was projecting onto her. It was easier to file that hurt away than to deal with it, especially when there were things like Originals and Silas and Elena becoming a vampire to take precedent.

He couldn't run from it forever, though. And when he opened the door to the room he'd secured for himself (at least for a few days) and saw her there, concern and worry hiding behind the flirty, playful smile and flashing eyes, Stefan's resolve crumbled. His face screwed up, just for a moment, and then he was pulling her in for a hug.

"You, Miss Lexi, are not allowed to die on me. Not ever again."

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feelingepic
2013-06-17 08:12 am UTC (link)

Oh god but she'd missed him. When he pulled her into a hug she realised just how much in the short while she'd been without him, and of course still acutely aware that things were not entirely okay with her best friend. But that could wait a few minutes. For now she was more than okay with just hugging. Always the hugging.

"I'm not going anywhere, I swear." she managed to reply. "This place, crazy as it might be, it's worth it. It's worth it cause some of us get another chance."

And as much as ghost her would obviously have rocked and stepped in when she was needed as she always did, it wasn't the same. It couldn't be the same because she couldn't stay. She knew how it worked being a ghost, she knew enough from people she'd talked to to know that she was stuck there, on the other side, watching them all live their lives, watching every hurt, every mistake, and being unable to do a damn thing. She was so very glad she'd missed out on those parts.

And there was so much she had to tell him about this place, about her and Lee finally doing that wacky committment thing, about Katherine actually seeming to be finally turning the bitch train around. Even Damon being...

Okay he was still a douchecanoe. But he hadn't been killing or actively annoying her by exisiting. It was a start for him. But most important to Lexi was finding out just what the hell had Stefan so annoyed he was refusing to come to her bar just because Elena had been there.

"So, Bourbon, and you telling me why the broodfest? We have a lot to catch up on."

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wasaripper
2013-06-17 08:31 pm UTC (link)

Stefan pulled away from Lexi, and if his eyes were just a tiny bit shinier than they would have been normally... well, who would blame him in this situation? He laughed, just a tiny bit, as Lexi got right down to business . She'd never been one to dance around any subject. Direct was practically her middle name.

"I wouldn't say this is a broodfest," he said, letting her enter the hotel room before closing the door behind her. "It's just... things are complicated right now." Complicated was definitely one way to put it. Completely fucked up was another. "But I'm dealing with it." Kind of.

Stefan pulled the filled ice bucket out of the mini-fridge and began unwrapping the plastic cups the management had so graciously provided for their use. "So... what's the deal with this place?" A couple of cubes and a splash of bourbon went into each cup. "What's the hunting situation like?" He was okay for now, but he would need to eat something soon and he knew it. To make sure things kept being okay.

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feelingepic
2013-06-17 10:02 pm UTC (link)

Well Lexi would sort of say broodfest but he could go with complicated. There was a lot she was going to need to know, but direct as she was there was no point in rushing him completely. Besides which, just being back around her best friend was enough right now. She watched him pour the bourbon, settling herself onto a chair, legs sprawled over the armrest and considered the question. "Hunting's simple enough, lot of local wildlife for you. I'll take you out there later if you want, you can get a lay of the area?"

It was good he was thinking of that, working out what he'd need and when he'd need it. He was taking precautions so she didn't need to worry from that side of things. Not that she'd really expected she had to, she could smell Ripper on him a mile away. No, this was something else. Something had knocked him for six and she was planning to find out what that was.

"The place itself, yeah its crazy. Sometimes good crazy, sometimes 'oh god not in the face' crazy. But its home now. And the people I've met here, some of them are absolutely amazing. Good people, building lives, finding themselves, growing, changing, being people. I've got some people you're gonna have to meet. Your reputation may have preceded you a little" Okay so a lot, but he didn't need to know that.

"But till then, bourbon me and tell me what's bothering you? Cause something is. What's complicated, how are you 'sort of' dealing and how can I help with the dealing?"

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wasaripper
2013-07-11 10:26 pm UTC (link)

Lots of local hunting was good. That was a very, very good thing and something Stefan could use to distract himself. He nodded, handing Lexi a cup. "Maybe we can head out tomorrow night."

He eased himself onto the bed, taking a deep drink while he gathered his thoughts. So much had happened at home, so many things had gone wrong, but it all really boiled down to one simple fact. "...I fucked up, Lexi. I fucked up bad." And that was the crux of it. "I spent so long and tried so hard to do what I thought was the right thing, I stopped taking people into consideration." And, of course, by "people" he meant Elena and Damon and the sexual tension that had been coursing between them since well before the accident that took Elena's life.

He took another drink and drained the thin plastic cup, pausing a moment to feel the bourbon burn it's way down to the pit of his stomach where it sat, heavy, like a rock. "And there's nothing I can do to fix it."

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feelingepic
2013-07-14 10:41 pm UTC (link)

The right thing. Lexi wasn't entirely sure what the right thing was in this situation but whatever had happened with him and Elena had left repercussions that haunted her friend even here. And she was far from okay with that. Elena was a friend of hers sure, but seeing Stefan like this. It hurt her, and more than anything she wanted to make it better for him.

"I heard about how bad it got. I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you. But I am now, and I don't know if you remember, but fixing stuff is sort of what I do."

She watched him, still worried that this wasn't something she could pull him out of easy. But he wasn't on the blood, he was holding on and that was something to be proud of. Elena and Damon, a few years before it might have sent him spiraling. He'd done so well and she was not allowing him to let that all go to waste. Its possible she'd punch Damon. Even if this one hadn't actually done this.

"I know you loved her, a real love, more than you've loved anyone in a long time, but babe, you're gonna get through this. I promise you that, okay?"

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