open | super super super rusty brief surprise revival...

[otherwise]

Quick and painless — that was a lie. There was nothing quick or painless about having your neck broken. Maybe it seemed quick and relatively painless to the inflicter and the observer, but to the one experiencing that 'quick and painless' death, the brief moments that seemed to go on for hours and sharp spikes of pain unlike anything you've ever felt before said otherwise.

It hurt. It hurt a lot, and the darkness that enveloped him while he waited out his return wasn't exactly what you'd call comforting. Unsettling was more like it. There was nothing. Nothing but a dark veil cast over you, like you were underwater and unable to surface.

But eventually that ice cracked and Matt surged past it, taking a great big gulp of air that went rushing into his lungs so powerfully it startled him. He bolted upright, bumping against the cool metal of the railing that gnashed against the line of his spine. Vision still blurry, a rush of sounds assaulted him: birds, footsteps, voices, and the distinct sound of waves slapping against the side of a boat.

He'd only been on a boat once, with Elena's family out at the lake before her parents passed away, but the sound of water rushing against the side of a boat stuck with him as one of the most soothing sounds he's ever heard.

It had him twisting around and grasping the railing to peer down over it, to try and get an idea of where the hell he was. Had Damon gone back on his word and done away with his body? Had Elena? Had their attempt to get her to turn it back on gone awry?

Matt couldn't say. All he knew was that he wasn't where he should be, this wasn't exactly a boat, and there was a strong possibility that the ring hadn't worked like Damon said he would and death was having a good laugh at his expense over daring to trust the word of a Salvatore.

Comments

[otherwise]

Like with Elena before, the physical contact that comes with hugging Tyler's mom helps to reaffirm that yes, she is here and the illusion he could've been seeing is actually reality. A reality he's very grateful for, because his best friend needs his mother. Tyler's lost so much. Fate -- and well, Klaus -- dealt him a cruel hand by taking his mother away from him when his father and uncle had already been removed from this world.

Or, rather, the world they were supposed to live in. Matt's starting to see that living on this boat may not be so bad.

"Just as long as it doesn't decide to collect the people we don't want here." Like Klaus.

Or Kol.

Or Finn, who may or may not remember that he was the one to stake him.

He'd just rather not think about all those options.

[lockwood]

"It seems to be doing okay at that so far."

But Tyler is constantly vigilante, all too away Klaus could show up on the ship any day now. And he won't let the hybrid take his mother from him twice. That just isn't an option.

But he doesn't voice his paranoid Klaus issues too often so much as he just keeps them to himself.

[mayoralty]

"Its true. I've been here a while and so far all the familiar faces have been happy ones." Save for rumors that Klaus's sister was wandering around somewhere, but she doesn't seem to be causing trouble, so Carol is choosing to ignore it for now.

Then she takes a step back and glances around. "Can I get you guys anything? I may have some soda or something."

[otherwise]

"A soda would be great," Matt says.

He looks down at his hand and the dark, enchanted stone in the Gilbert ring. After a moment of consideration, Matt tugs it off and grabs Tyler's wrist so he can press the ring into his friend's hand.

"Here. She needs this more than I do."

[lockwood]

Tyler blinks a little in surprise at what Matt hands over to him, he hesitates before grabbing it, though every fiber of him wants to. So he can maybe protect his mother this time.

"You sure, man?"

[mayoralty]

Carol grabs the sodas from the fridge, before making her way back around again, eyes glancing from the ring in Tyler's hand to Matt, almost as though she's trying to put the pieces together.

"Sure about what?"

[otherwise]

"Giving you the Gilbert Ring."

He lets that hang in the air, unsure of whether or not Carol knows what the Gilbert Ring is. All the Gilberts who were on the Founder's Council wore it, so there's a good possibility she has prior knowledge of it.

[lockwood]

"It'll help keep you safe."

In case something, or someone, ends up on the ship that tries to hurt her again

[mayoralty]

Oh, she knows. She found out a lot when Alaric went crazy and killed half the Council. Part of her is wanting to take it and the protection it offers, if for no other reason to get it and the consequences that come with it away from Matt, but at the same time, she doesn't want it anywhere near her.

Magic is complicated, at best. Dangerous at it's worst.

She glances between the two boys for a moment, trying to make sense of it all, and she eventually looks back at Matt again. "Are you sure? You're the one who's going to have to go back, not me." If he goes back. It's hard to tell with the boat.