Entry tags:
open | super super super rusty brief surprise revival...
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.
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.
no subject
She doesn't say anything at first, for fear her voice would rupture if she tried. Her eyes close as his lips press to her forehead instead, leaning into it. Elena has always been a tactile person, and she craves affection like a starving man would water. She swallows past that traitorous lump, telling herself she'll talk to Caroline once she settles Matt in.
She'll talk to Caroline and Caroline will tell her everything that happened next. Caroline will tell her there was a way, because there always is. They just needed to find it. For now, Matt's here. He's here, held between her arms, and she doesn't want to waste a moment of it.
"It's safe," she confirms again, almost like she thinks if she says it enough, it'll feel more true. "... Which doesn't mean that it isn't sometimes weird. There's a room with endless supplies of ice cream."
This is not a drill, Matt. This is not a drill.
no subject
So it's only natural that the guy has hang ups, but this is Elena. The girl he's loved longer than he thought it was possible to love anything. Even when he was mad at her and couldn't stand the fact that she knew things about vampires, about how his sister really died, that she had neglected to share with him, he'd loved her. She was his constant, and having her back as she ought to be felt like the world had finally stopped shaking beneath his feat.
He didn't want to leave. Selfishly, he decided, right then and there, that he didn't want to leave this ship. There was nothing for him in Mystic Falls; no future, no scholarship that could've been his before the broken arm — just a dead end job cleaning tables at a small town grill. Here, there was at least something worth living for. Maybe Bonnie and Caroline were right. The Elena back in his time or however the hell that worked was a lost cause.
This one wasn't.
"Well," he says with that quirky, goofy smile of his. "What are you waiting for?"
Ice cream is a necessity, Elena. Don't pull his leg.
no subject
It's taken some time to admit it to herself. The guilt wouldn't let her in the past. Elena felt too much of a responsibility to accept being away from Mystic Falls. Being the doppelgänger came with its own set of consequences, with its own set of reasons, and she couldn't just evade them. Except that's exactly what happened. Before she could become the lamb to the slaughter, before Klaus could get his hands on her, Elena was swept into a rift and never saw home again.
She tried hard to get back at first; she did. Even if there had been a small part of her that had thought everyone would be better off if she wasn't there. Bad things happened whenever she was. Then Jeremy fell through the rift, too. He was followed closely by Damon. Caroline, Bonnie, Tyler. Even Matt, for while. All those pieces of home she'd carried with her were soon returned, and she never looked back. She grew up. She got to have one lifetime of choices independent of the face she bears and the blood coursing through her veins. She's lived, in a way she never would've otherwise.
Something similar is happening on this boat. Elena, Bonnie, and Caroline showed up first, but Tyler and Matt and the others have joined them. She wants to figure this boat out, but she also doesn't want to leave it. Not when misery waits at the other end for those she loves most.
Elena links their arms together, dragging Matt off to the ice cream room with a sly smile. (If anyone deserves all the ice cream in the world, it's Matt Donovan.)
She wasn't kidding, for the record. It looks like a retro ice cream parlor, and once you step inside, it's somehow bigger than what it seemed from the outside. On the other side of the counter, there's endless rows upon rows of different ice cream flavors and essential toppings, ripe for the picking. "What's your poison?" she asks him with a small nudge.
no subject
Maybe doppelgängers were just unlucky, maybe that was part of their curse. Regardless, it wasn't anything to hold against her and nothing Matt ever would.
He follows her into the ice cream parlor, breathing out an amazed, "Whoa," when they step inside. It has everything. Literally everything. Matt's never seen so much ice cream and toppings in his life. Marble Slab just got put to shame.
"You expect me to choose? Is 'everything' a valid answer to that?"
no subject
It's likely not the first time they've shared a sundae, and Elena is going to make sure that it isn't their last. She grins over at Matt when he asks his question. "It is, actually," she says to him thoughtfully, tapping a spoon to her chin. "Our challenge can be trying to see how big we can make our sundae."
She lifts up a can of whipped cream enticingly. She may or may not be tempted to dab some on his nose.
"Interested?"
no subject
Matt launches back, bumping into the counter. "Don't you even."
He means the whipped cream. As for the sundae...
"You're on."
no subject
For all intents and purposes, it looks as though Elena doesn't. She innocently meanders over to him with the bowl in one hand and the whipped cream in the other. When he is least expecting it - this is Matt, however, no one knows Elena Gilbert like Matt Donovan does - she will attempt to dab a dime-sized portion of whipped cream right onto his nose.
Whoops. :)
no subject
"You're a sneak, Elena Gilbert. A cheat and a sneak."
He grabs a handful of sprinkles and holds it threateningly over her head.
no subject
She shrieks and steps back to avoid the sprinkles - but not before dabbing some caramel onto his nose.
"You say that like you've ever minded before!"
Better act fast, Matt. Elena's darting off on a run with a batch of whipped cream in hand.