ataraxionlogs | (no subject)

CHARACTERS: Stefan Salvatore & Elena Gilbert
LOCATION:Elena's room.
WARNINGS: none.
SUMMARY: backdated;; immediately following this thread.
NOTES: we just didn't wanna clog up alaric's entry, so we're moving it here. yup!

[ Normally, sitting and waiting isn't something Elena is very good at. She's one to act first, think later, especially when she thinks someone she cares about is in danger. And Alaric certainly fits the bill right now, seeing as he truly believes that she and Jenna are both dead even after Elena made herself known on the network. But something's going on, not just with Alaric, but a number of the other passengers as well. At least it seems that way, judging by the sounds coming from just outside her door. Screams of terror, shouts of panic, heavy footfalls as people run by. It's only getting worse the longer she listens, and it's damaging her calm worse than it might normally, being stuck in this little room.

But she promised she would wait for Stefan, and seeing as she really doesn't know the extent of how bad things are out there, she's not about to wander out on her own like she would at home. So instead she'll pace the short length of her room, comm in hand, waiting for any sign that Stefan's there, or needs her to meet him somewhere, or-- anything. Any sign that her friends are safe, or that they need her. She's freaked out, sure, but ready to act. Even if she doesn't know what exactly what would entail just yet. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Stefan's been avoiding her until now. He knows it's stupid, but what else can he do? He can't see her and act like the past six months haven't happened. (As much as he wants to. As much as he wants to be with her and pretend he's the only one in her heart, or pretend he knows he's the one she would've chosen.) Nor can he see her and not tell her the truth if she asks so... he's been avoiding her. This isn't winning him any "good boyfriend" points, but then neither did anything else he did since leaving town with Klaus.

And... he isn't her boyfriend. Not right now. Not technically.

Stefan, being Stefan, broods over it. But at least Elena has Jenna and Alaric and Caroline. And Damon. Stefan actually succeeds for hours at a time to not think about her by skulking around the corners of the network and the ship facilities, trying to understand what's happened to them. He doesn't think about Elena when he finds the synthetic blood in medical and drinks his fill. And he hadn't been thinking about Elena when Alaric's disjointed words popped up on his screen.

(Later, he'll wish he had. Later, he'll even blame himself for not doing so, and wonder if...)

It's barely ten minutes between the first time he read Alaric's message and the first time he heard Elena's worried voice after that, but it feels like longer. It doesn't matter. She's all that's in his thoughts now, and his tentative explorations have been good for something, at least. Stefan gets to the dormitories a short while later, running as fast as he's able. It's not easy. This whole section of the ship has turned into... not a battlefield, but something with the same sense of chaos and fear. In fact, the only difference between this and an actual battlefield is that Stefan can't see who everyone is fighting.]

Elena! [What if she decided to leave her room? What if she thought no one else could help Alaric?] Elena! [He finds her door and knocks on it urgently, praying she decided to listen to him.] Elena, it's me.

I'm here! [ Elena startles when he knocks, rushes to open the door for him. Which, admittedly, takes her a second - out of habit she reaches for a handle, which isn't there, and she hits the panel on the wall until the door slides open for her. It's... going to take a while for her to get used to that, yeah. Her eyes widen with the burst of sound that comes through once the door is open, and she's quick to reach for his hand with both of hers so she can tug him inside and let the door slide shut again behind him. ]

Yikes. Are you okay?

[ She's moving in to hug him before she even finishes asking, her arms folding up around his neck, comfortable and sure even as her heart races. She knew from the start that it wasn't just Rick that was acting strange, but... What could possibly cause all this? ]

Do you know what's going on? I haven't left my room, not since Alaric started acting crazy over the network. Do you think he's okay? I told him we would find him, together, once you got here. Just so he can see for himself that I'm alright. [ r a m b l i n g, and she hasn't stopped hugging him yet either. ]