If you need a hand with more than making sense of the leftover paperwork, I can help.
( it feels like he should. that its history threaded through damon and caroline. it feels like he needs to step up. it will give him a purpose and something to focus on. and it will keep him closest to the one person in the city that knows him.
and, it may be good for klaus.
he knows the hybrid can go off the rails with his losses.
he didn't know caroline had been involved. he's curious about damon's dissolution of his contract with elijah, but knowing damon, that was on his brother. still, he came out on top.
he paces closer, and moves back around the table to the couch. )
( it's what he wants: stefan's involvement. it's what he needs and craves; what he always has. his gaze does not skirt this time, seeking to catch and decipher his old friend's feelings and intentions, but lifts to meet his eyes openly as he returns to sit.
he does need help. he has his purpose, but what he has lacked, even with hope here, was a touchstone. without her, he is truly adrift.
he does not want to be alone. )
I do.
( the words are heartfelt, heavy, and as difficult to carry as they are a relief to share. ) Not only is this place a heirloom from our brothers, and a treasured heirloom of my daughter... ( his hand is extended, palm-up, lifting and falling with the annunciation of his words. ) but I do not want to run it with anyone else.
( that stefan sought out this place tonight, for whatever purpose (no doubt about one mikaelson or another — perhaps both) suits him. his jaw tightens and the fierce earnestness in his eyes softens. they may have this conversation now. ) How about it? You and me?
( he made the short-list, not that he's surprised. now isn't the time to mention the people stefan would run a business with before klaus. because, under these circumstances, ready to run to the ends of the earth, stuck somewhere else, and coming off of Klaus' sire-line being completely rescinded.
it feels right.
not in the grand scheme, but with everything between them and where he is now. if only he had spoken to Hope in person. )
You and me.
( the subtext and tension from the hoedown still lingers. stefan is nothing if not a compartmentalizer and he knows better than to think that was more than a blur, a combination of aphrodesiacs. likely the solo cups.
but he'd be lying to himself if he didn't find solace in the idea of doing it again. to distract the two of them of everything they lost and the magnitude of what they'd gained.
the dedication.
the burn of memory rests right behind stefan's eyelids as he tries to form the words he wants to say. )
You saved me life. And I witnessed your legacy being ripped away from you and your brother. It's only right that I help you uphold another here.
( for now, he leaves out. because nothing ever feels permanent or fixed. even when he wants it to be. )
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( it feels like he should. that its history threaded through damon and caroline. it feels like he needs to step up. it will give him a purpose and something to focus on. and it will keep him closest to the one person in the city that knows him.
and, it may be good for klaus.
he knows the hybrid can go off the rails with his losses.
he didn't know caroline had been involved. he's curious about damon's dissolution of his contract with elijah, but knowing damon, that was on his brother. still, he came out on top.
he paces closer, and moves back around the table to the couch. )
If you want my involvement.
no subject
he does need help. he has his purpose, but what he has lacked, even with hope here, was a touchstone. without her, he is truly adrift.
he does not want to be alone. )
I do.
( the words are heartfelt, heavy, and as difficult to carry as they are a relief to share. ) Not only is this place a heirloom from our brothers, and a treasured heirloom of my daughter... ( his hand is extended, palm-up, lifting and falling with the annunciation of his words. ) but I do not want to run it with anyone else.
( that stefan sought out this place tonight, for whatever purpose (no doubt about one mikaelson or another — perhaps both) suits him. his jaw tightens and the fierce earnestness in his eyes softens. they may have this conversation now. ) How about it? You and me?
no subject
it feels right.
not in the grand scheme, but with everything between them and where he is now. if only he had spoken to Hope in person. )
You and me.
( the subtext and tension from the hoedown still lingers. stefan is nothing if not a compartmentalizer and he knows better than to think that was more than a blur, a combination of aphrodesiacs. likely the solo cups.
but he'd be lying to himself if he didn't find solace in the idea of doing it again. to distract the two of them of everything they lost and the magnitude of what they'd gained.
the dedication.
the burn of memory rests right behind stefan's eyelids as he tries to form the words he wants to say. )
You saved me life. And I witnessed your legacy being ripped away from you and your brother. It's only right that I help you uphold another here.
( for now, he leaves out. because nothing ever feels permanent or fixed. even when he wants it to be. )