rehandle | saltburnt inbox 2.0

Because, I found something from our world, something I only thought there was one of. And it had been used. And there are consequences. He asked me not to, told me to take it.

I didn't want him to wake up a monster. He thinks of himself as one enough.

I cured him. He's human, and thanks to a friend of a friend, healed from an infected bite.

[ Human. Christ.

It's going to be difficult for them now, coming to terms with the reality and the violation of it. But honestly, Stephen can't say he'd have done any different.

So, instead of impose his opinion or his unnecessary insights, he says, ]

I'll come by to remove the ward. He'll be able to come and go within the next half hour.

[ There's a chance whatever physiological shifts come with the change from vampire to human might be enough to render the ward geared to prevent Damon passing through null and void anyway, but it's best they don't test it. ]

He won't be up for hours. His body needs to recover.

( Stephen crosses paths with a brown haired woman, after Stefan has been dressed down enough (he assumed he would be, she deserved to know). He finds Stefan back in his brother's room, the door wide open.

Stefan stands a few feet away from the bed, arms crossed, reconciling his new reality.

He speaks without turning. )

Thank you.

[ The removal of a ward is far less complex than its application when the spell is simple enough. The woman passes him, and by the time he gets from there to the doorway he's hooked the spell by its corners with a few quick twitches of his fingers, is halfway to dissipating it when Stefan speaks up.

Another moment or two of silence to complete his gesture, pull the thread that sets the ward unravelling. A ripple passes down over the room, shimmering as the magic gives way and is gone. ]

Sure.

[ In the end, it wasn't difficult help to give.

They don't know each other well. Have got to know each other only due to Stefan's struggle against his brother's fate, and that doesn't necessarily leave Stephen feeling comfortable offering comfort. But it doesn't feel right to walk away without another word while the man's standing at his sleeping brother's bedside, so without entering the room: ]

How's his sleep?

( He's used to magic with both more and then less flourish, but maybe it's better it takes little effort. It's a metaphor for how easy the cure is taken. How it works. The transition works in seconds, but he's been in relentless hell for a month so maybe the cure gods give him grace and let him sleep.

Stefan glances down at his brother, counts the number of favors he owes complete strangers in a house he can't even navigate -- and still Damon sleeps. )

He's pretty dead asleep. I chalk it up to spending a month slowly dying. ( And the infected wound he already called a favor in for. Considering the time of night, he's called in a lot of favors. ) I think it worked right away, his body is just recovering.

( Or, deeply resenting him altogether. )

[ A nod that Stefan isn't looking at him to see. Stephen doesn't know vampires, but he does know medicine and the needs of a body after extreme trauma. Sleep is a crucial part of any recovery, it's no real worry that Damon's still taken by it. ]

If he needs any attention once he's conscious, you can call me.

[ He doesn't practice anymore, but he still has the knowledge. It feels only right to offer. ]

( Stefan finally faces Stephen. He can't keep staring at his sleeping brother, the brother that will probably hate him. He's used to being hated. He deserves it all over again. )

If he does, I will. ( at least it feels like stephen doesn't feel he's owed anything. he doesn't think damon will need anything else. except protection and therapy. ) Do you know people in this house? From before?

Two. [ And it's complicated, because one of those two he hasn't confessed to knowing yet. Only one of them knows him. ] Professional acquaintances. Nothing like this.

He was gone. ( He says it plainly, stepping closer, lowering his voice. Explaining himself, justifying. He doesn't need to. He doesn't owe Stephen the explanation, but maybe he owes himself. ) I lost him three months ago. And then he showed up here. Like me. From over two years ago.

( and he couldn't watch him die all over again. )

He doesn't know.

[ He understands it. If he'd had a second chance to save his sister, he'd have done anything. He can't blame him the secrecy either. He's keeping secrets from people he barely knows. ]

Perhaps that's for the best.

[ Without knowing for certain how this place interacts with time outside of it, sharing futures becomes a risky kind of prophesying. ]

He doesn't know a lot. He thinks his girlfriend is mine. He still worries for her. ( bluntly, he lets it all go. ) I always saw it, how far he would go for her. Eventually, I'll drive her into his arms.

( technically. )

Do you think things will turn out the same for him? That we're from the same... I don't even know what to call it.

[ It's a lot of information to be trusted with, but he's aware that this isn't really about trust. This is stress, an outpouring of held truths, and in the end it's Stefan's good luck that he's stumbled into the right person to keep these kinds of secrets.

The right person to ask that question, too, though he doesn't have anything reassuring to say. ]

I don't know. The multiverse is close to infinite, and we really have no idea what this is yet.

[ Damon might go home changed. He might jump back into his timeline in an entirely different universe. They might both go home remembering nothing and wait for history to repeat itself. They might never leave here at all. Stephen's bedside manner has never been great - and he's never had to practice breaking news in the family room. ]

( Stress, an outlet. Someone impartial to listen - and if he judges, who cares. It's not Katherine, that's for sure. )

The multiverse. That's a little out of my depth.

( But he sounds sure. Versed, even, and he gives him a probing look. Share more about what you know. It might make him feel better, or intensify his headache. He should eat. )

Then you're in out of your depth.

[ Which isn't a comforting thought either, but it's what he's got to offer. The multiverse is a background fact of their lives here even more than most places. He's failing to take the cue not because he didn't pick up on it, but because he doesn't know what good the telling will do while he's grappling with new family trauma. ]

But so are the rest of us, so you're not alone.

[ There, a silver lining. Stephen's knowledge of the multiverse hasn't helped him at all. ]

You should get some rest.

( Damon will get enough.

One day, he won't carry the guilt of letting his brother down. One day he won't live with the consequences of his actons

He agrees, head bobbing a few too many times as his gaze settles back on his brother behind Stephen. His look says thank you, but words escape him. He'll check in again soon.

(But not like himself, apparently.)

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