the defective twin

I had a one-way ticket to a place where all the demons go; where the wind don't change and nothing in the ground can ever grow. No hope, just lies and you're taught to cry into your pillow. But I survived.

[parkerprince]

bsbennett‌:

Now that was something she hadn’t considered, something she knew she didn’t really care about, but it almost felt important when he said it, and she wasn’t quite sure why. “You would have gotten bored of it eventually.” Relaxing into the couch, staring straight ahead, she started to wonder if this was what her life would look like from then on. An unchanging landscape, without anyone in the world, without any unintentional noises and happenings. The same as it had been, except now Damon was gone, and it was just her and the siphoner, but soon he would be behind her too. Her somber thoughts took a turn as he mused about his shot, the witch couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of his proposition despite the pain. “Even if I trusted you to be within five feet of me with anything sharp, I don’t think you actually know how to do stitches.” Not that she had a better option, and stitches, well done or not, had to be better than holding a towel to it until the end of time or the end of the prison world, whatever came first. Sparing him a look, Bonnie didn’t even realize that her smile faded just a bit as she reminded “Just for the next twenty-four hours.” 

A smirk played on his lips. “Second day was pretty rough.” There was nothing satisfying watching the vampire and witch bicker endlessly into the nights. And when they weren’t bickering, they were bonding, and finding comfort in each other’s company. Which would fill him with a volatile combo of contempt and envy. It could make him see red, have him hunger for the smell of their blood on steel. An idle shrug, half of his focus on putting together their dishes. “I can check the library for a book or something. How hard can stitches be anyway?” Then, without much extra shuffling to indicate his change of direction, he’s returning to the foyer and back toward Bonnie -- offering her a glass of water. “Of course, of course,” he mused -- feigning a sense of resignation. “Might need to pick you up a wheelchair.” Kai wasn’t in any rush to make plans for the end of the twenty-four hours. He was a play-it-by-ear kind of guy, and ultimately, he had zero expectations of just walking away from this situation. Not in any way that Bonnie was hoping for, at least. 

[parkerprince]

bsbennett‌:

“Believe me, I know. Every day I smelled pancakes. I woke up to the smell, fell asleep to it, drank to it, it never changed, just like everything else in this place.” Well, except for now, whatever was going on with their little slice of nineteen-ninety-four hell, where it rained when it shouldn’t. She found herself looking back at him, sneaking secret glances as he cooked. He looked so normal like this, so calm and collected, unlike the man that had shot her with an arrow just hours before. She turned around, almost afraid he’d catch her staring. Then he asked a question that caught her off guard, showing empathy she didn’t know he had. “I’ve never been shot with an arrow before, but I’d guess it could be worse.” she admitted as she glanced down at the towel she held to her side, a friendly reminder of the man she knew he was, of what she couldn’t afford to forget.  

A playful scoff escaped him at the sentiment, his own thoughts wandering. “It was a change for me,” he openly expressed one of those many firing neurons -- an idly delivered point of view. But there was a sense of control in the chaos. She must have started to feel it too, in the short time she was in this place. One can get too comfortable with the routine of a repeating solar eclipse. It almost made the soft pattering of the weather outside feel daunting, creeping up the Gemini’s spin with every soft reminder of the change to come. It was as exhilarating as it was chilling. If Kai had caught Bonnie’s stares, he made no move to react to them -- his expression remaining calm and relaxed as he went through the familiar motions of preparing a night-time meal. “I didn’t hit any vital organs -- wasn’t too deep, either. If you let me close enough, I might even be able to stitch some of that up.” The final statement was delivered with a small, albeit pleased smile, flashing her a glance. “We’ll manage the pain by keeping you off your feet, ‘kay?”

[parkerprince]

bleakbennett‌:

“Everyone wants people to be better than they are, and they never will be.” Herself included. She chose to drop the subject, as arguing over the way things were hardly did either of them any good. She chose to focus her attention on him and his plans. “Anything would be better than pancakes. I swear, if I never have a pancake again, it’ll be too soon.” She tried to be funny, to lighten the mood between them just a bit, though she knew that was nearly impossible all things considered. They were only here because of her, they could have been back to the present, but instead, they were trapped in this piece of ninety-four hell. She didn’t regret it, she had to do this, but it didn’t mean she wasn’t unable to understand why he’d be mad about the situation. “I’ll hold you to that.”

“You know he made the whole house smell like pancakes, right?  For hours.” Safe to say he was more than happy with her condition. There were plenty other confections that he could bestow upon the Bennett witch. Plenty of delicious treats to wow her -- and many of them having little to no significance of the heinous murders he committed. Though, it’s not that he wouldn’t entertain the idea for later. Maybe something subtle to start. He could even make it a game. “Pain level okay?” he asked idly, a softness to his tone despite the fact he barely spared her a glance -- preoccupied with the pot he was setting on the stove’s top. 

[parkerprince]

bleakbennett‌:

“You expect too much out of people.” It was a fault she had herself, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t take the time to point out his own flawed logic. The world influenced it’s inhabitants and when the world was so callous and uncaring toward them, why should they have cared for one and other. Despite her own apology, she hadn’t expected anything from him, least of all an apology for something he’d done, and yet he caught her off guard yet again. She looked at him warily, waiting for him to recant the statement, or twist it, but when nothing came she offered a quick “Thank you.” She took the cloth, taking it back and holding against her side again, offering him something that almost resembled a smile as he walked off to the kitchen. She leaned forward a bit, just enough for her eyes to follow him as he reached his generation. “What kind of soup are you making anyway?”

“Why would I?” She was right about the logic being flawed, but on the opposite side of that coin, it wasn’t really what what he meant. He couldn’t imagine a world he would’ve been led to believe he could set any kind of bar, and that anyone would have rose to it. Why would they?  Her wary expression did little to faze him, as he carried on without a skip. She had every right to be wary -- the fact that she was was almost enjoyable, but no, there was no catch to his words. If anything, they served him more that way. He only paused to smile at her as she took the cloth. They both know he heard her. Rubbing it in would only sour her mood again, and he was having a good time. “I was shooting for a nice bowl of chicken noodle. You and Damon must have a can or two lying around here, somewhere.” He flashed a thoughtful expression. “Next time, it’ll be from scratch. On my honor.”

[parkerprince]

bleakbennett‌:

“My entire life has been protecting the people I care about. Making sure Elena didn’t get killed by one of Katherine’s schemes, helping Damon open up a tomb so that he would leave Stefan alone, dying to bring back Elena’s brother, sacrificing my chance at living to try and bring back my friends from the Other Side.” Was she bitter? A little bit, not that it mattered now. Her bitterness was far outweighed by the love she still held for them, even if that meant she was sentencing herself to eternity alone. “The world isn’t fair. Not to me, and not to you.” Not that he needed any reminding of that simple fact. If anyone knew about fairness, it was them, not that they’d ever had a fair day in either of their lives. They made quite a pair, a matching set, fitting all things considered. “I’m sorry.” It was the first and last time she would ever say that to him sincerely, that was a promise she made herself, and it was a promise she would more than likely break.  Plopping herself down onto the couch, she glanced back to where she’d left him. “Sure.” If she was waiting for the world to end, she might as well do it with a full stomach.

These stories didn’t come as a surprise. Bonnie and Damon spent most of their time there reliving the better days -- which, compared to an eternal nineteen ninety-four, was and could mean literally everything. Hearing it all strung together like that though instilled the same kind of twisted up feeling from before. He just couldn’t get why she let herself suffer for them. Where were they now when she needed them?  “I’ve never asked for the world to be fair. Just the people around me.” Her apology was taken with a grain of salt, and he debated pretending he didn’t hear it. If there was an appropriate way to react to it, he wished he’d known it. “I wasn’t being fair to your Grams. I don’t actually blame her.” It was his own form of an apology, as he assumed she wasn’t just saying those two words to get a rise out of him. In return, he wanted to give her something real too. He didn’t regret shooting her in the stomach, or stopping her from leaving, or even trying everything in his power to get out of that terrible place. But Sheila, that was a low blow, and he knew it from the start. He traveled behind the couch, picking up the discarded damp cloth from the end table to hand back to her -- smiling almost sweetly as he did so. And then he was off toward the kitchen again, whistling idly as he worked.

[parkerprince]

bleakbennett‌:

Up until then, nothing he said truly bothered her. Annoyed her, infuriated her, but those questions, those stuck and hurt more than the arrow he’d shot into her side. “I have no family waiting for me, my boyfriend’s most definitely moved on, and my friends have accepted I’m gone, Kai. I’ve been dead to them for months, and it’s not the first time they’ve had to grieve my loss. If I got out of here, I’d eventually die on them again, and they’d have to lose me all over again and that’s not fair to them.” Her tone started out calm and collected and slowly devolved into something far more raw, and she swallowed back her tears that she didn’t need to shed in front of him. She’d save those for when she was alone and could share them with only herself. “And I want nothing more than to get out of here, and go back to living my life. But I’m just going to hurt the people that love me more, and if I let you out… at least this way, I know I protected them, and your family, from you.” She swallowed her pride with her tears as she listened to him talk about his own odds, how he’d made it so far just to be stuck at twenty-two forever. Her expression softened just a bit as she watched his smirk fall, and he continued on with his explanation, and then, he surrendered. He released his hold on the door, but she didn’t make a move to leave yet, waiting for him to retract the statement, turn on her like he always had through lies or other means, but he didn’t. Leaning back on her heels, she turned to look at him, hand on her side as she held the compress over the wound. “Twenty-four hours. I need time to recuperate before I leave or I won’t get far before I bleed out, and if this place doesn’t fall apart, we’ll go our separate ways.” Pausing, and turning to move back toward the couch. “And before you start assuming things, this has nothing to do with you.”

There was nothing that could have prepared him for her response. It wasn’t an outcome he could have predicted in his own mind -- that she would choose to sacrifice her own freedom and happiness because she couldn’t bear to put her friends through the pain of her return. It almost irritated him to think that such a foolish thing would get in the way of what she clearly wanted. “What about you?” he said, the bitterness seeping through. “How is that fair?” The questions that spilled from his mouth came as a surprise. What did it matter if Bonnie was being treated fairly, by herself, the universe, or otherwise. It had nothing to do with him. If she was capable of more selfish thinking, yes, it would serve him, but spitting venom at her questionable ideology wasn’t the best way to go about manipulating her. No, he spoke out of passion, and he wasn’t all too pleased by it. That ‘passion’ however seemed to dissipate as she concluded her point. His shoulders visibly slacked, relaxed. “They’re lucky,” he said coldly, flatly, “I never had someone to protect me. Not even from me.” It was offhanded, as if the words themselves were meaningless. When the silence took them, and it was the two supernatural prisoners standing beside the large front door of the Salvatore Boarding House, he found himself watching her face, for anything. Any hint as to what she was thinking. Why she was looking at him like that. Surely his mind wasn’t playing tricks on him. It was an expression he had yet to see grace those delicate features of hers, and he was moments from feeling unnerved until her coldly delivered conditions began. His own expression neutralized, watching on in what could be perceived as dismay. He chose not to comment. No, instead he stepped backward as he watched her trek back toward the foyer. “Duly noted. I’m gonna make soup. Want some?”

[parkerprince]

bleakbennett‌:

“We had our own things to worry about. It’s not our job to keep other people from making insane choices.” How he could even insinuate they could have done something about it seemed preposterous  to her, though she knew that wasn’t the point. “And your siblings didn’t do anything worth dying over. They just existed to spite you, and that pissed you off.” She could have kept her mouth shut, and ignored that comment entirely, but there was no way she was about to give up an opportunity to remind him why he was here. She was almost at the door when he made his next quip, a desperate attempt to have her change her mind, one that wouldn’t work. “That’s because Damon has some redeemable qualities. You have none, Kai.” It was no surprise when he blocked her exit, she’d thought it had been going too easy. “I hate you now, I’ll hate you tomorrow, I’ll hate you until the day I die, and there’s no way in hell I’m letting you out of here.”

“You’re not worried about getting out of here?  Getting back to your friends, your life?  That’s not enough to let this one thing slide?” He did crack a smirk at her words, however. “The odds were stacked against me the moment I was born. I lasted twenty-two years and through my mother’s death. It’s not my fault they were the worst when it came to subtly. Do I really get no points for my longevity?” His expression neutralized, watching her eyes as she spat her venom. It wasn’t the words themselves that seemed to sober him. No, no. It was the brutality of the situation. The stubbornness she expressed. “Damon has someone waiting for him back home. You do. I don’t. Everyone I’ve ever known knows exactly where I am, and they just.. don’t care.” There was a pause, and some of the fight that lingered behind his gray eyes seemed to dissipate. “I guess that was the point.” He sucked in a thoughtful breath. “So, yeah. You take one half,” he surrendered almost solemnly, taking his weight off the door. “I’ll take the other.” All he could really offer was a sheepish grin and a step back from the doorway. “I think I’ll head west. Take everything in one last time. Y’know, just in case this is the end.” He spoke the direction purposefully, to give her a place to start. Most likely the opposite direction. But he showed no visible signs of leaving the boarding house -- not in that immediate moment, at least.

[parkerprince]

bleakbennett:

As much as she hated to admit it, he was right, and she hated it. She hated him for putting her in this situation, and she hated the way he made her feel, and she wanted nothing more than to get some relief from his very presence, but he didn’t seem eager to give her that. “She had nothing to do with you being a siphoner.” One myth debunked. “I’m being rational. We are never getting out of here, but that doesn’t mean we have to spend any more time together than necessary. There’s a whole world out there frozen on May 10, 1994. You pick one side, and I’ll stick to the other.” she explained as she crossed over the threshold. “And if this place is about to self destruct, I don’t want to spend whatever time I have left with you.”

“No. But where were the proud and noble Bennett family when mine was pairing kids off to kill each other?  What made my siblings more worthy of saving over me?” Bonnie was against turning a blind eye to what he had done, he understood that. Sheila didn’t seem to hold herself to the same standard, and knowing just how the little witch idolized her.. of course he was going to make the comparison. “You didn’t let Damon quit,” he encouraged, slapping his hand onto the door so she couldn’t open it. “Can’t you hate me after we get out of this hell hole?”

[parkerprince]

bleakbennett:

He couldn’t have known just how often she’d considered that very idea. If she hadn’t gotten her grandmother involved, she might still be there. If she hadn’t had to worry her father he might still be alive. “It’s not my fault.” There wasn’t much power behind her words, as she didn’t entirely believe them herself, not that she would ever admit that to him. Reaching out to take the rag, she stopped just short of taking it when he gave his colorful commentary. He could insult her, Damon, anyone else, but not Grams. “She was twice the witch you’ll never be.” she spat, getting up off the couch despite the sharp pain she felt at the movement. She glared up at him for a moment, fury filling her eyes as she turned away from him, and moved toward the door.  “Good luck figuring it out on your own, Kai.”

He doesn’t dig it in further. He knew he didn’t need to by the tone of her voice. The lack of strength. All he offered was a raised brow, wearing his suspicion classically. Her reaction to his stab at Grams though, now that was satisfying. His hand fell somewhat as he watched her pull herself up. “Does it really count when she played an active role in ensuring that?” he wondered aloud, already following her up the parlor’s stairs -- catching up with a little skip with every intent to gain and maintain her pace. “Bonnie. Be rational.”

[parkerprince]

bleakbennett:

“Most people I’m close to have died, or are dead. Grams died, Vicki died, my mom and dad died, I died twice,” she replied, looking over at him to try and see what he was up to. “I don’t know what the whole story is, but I know they were kids, Kai. Whatever the whole story is, it doesn’t change anything.” she argued, not willing to hear any other side to it. “I died saving people, both times. My grams put me here because she knew I deserved more. Your family put you here because you didn’t.”

“And you’re sure you’re not to blame?  I don’t know what the whole story is, but it sounds like death follows you, little Miss Bennett.” He flipped on the faucet to wet the cloth he held, head shaking in what appeared to be an exaggerated sense of disbelief. The rush of water stopped as he flipped it back off and approached the back of the couch, offering the cloth to her in an almost friendly manner. “As for Sheila -- well, old bitch had it coming, didn’t she?”

[parkerprince]

bleakbennett:

“And that would have been fine, because as soon as we both hit our limits, we were going to be dead anyway, Kai.” was her first response. The second came in the form of an eye roll as she pulled her wrist back, relaxing into the chair as she watched him walk off. She listened as he rummaged through the cabinets. “Because I didn’t murder the majority of my family?”

“You seem to have an almost intimate relationship with death,” he commented, lightly expressing an interest in the topic as he shot a cocked brow towards her direction. “Bold words from someone who doesn’t know the whole story.” But he made no other sign of elaborating further. “You’re missing the point. Cheating death, causing death -- doesn’t matter. We both ended up in this hellhole. You have as much of a right to get out of here as I do.” 

[parkerprince]

bleakbennett:

Once they reached the couch, the Bennett managed to take a seat, wincing and cursing lowly as she did. She chose to ignore the fact that he was maintaining his hold on her wrist in favor of looking at where the arrow had punctured, noticing the blood that stained her white shirt. Bad fashion choice on her part, though, it wasn’t like she’d planned on getting shot either. It was supposed to be the day she got to go home, and now, the longer the day went on, it felt more like the last chance she’d ever have. She wanted to get a better look, but as the bleeding had slowed, and the fact that she wasn’t about to take her shirt off in front of him of all people, that would have to wait until later. “I don’t have an ego, I just know that I’m pretty much the most important thing in this equation right now.” she pointed out, finally looking up at him again. “The only dumb thing I did was not making sure you were going to stay put while I did the spell.”

“Without me, you wouldn’t have had the ascendant. No magic, either. Without me, it would be just you and Damon eating pancakes every morning, bickering about whip cream and Elena Gilbert. Or, you know, you would’ve been dead -- like you were supposed to be. You get this equation, sure, but I’m the reigning champ when it comes to contribution.” He released his hold on her confidently so, which freed him up to enter the kitchen in search of first aid supplies. “That’s what I just don’t get about you, Bon,” he spoke again, abruptly, as he was slipping cabinets open. As if there was truly just the one thing he couldn’t wrap his head around. “What makes your second chance more deserving than mine?”

[parkerprince]

bleakbennett:

“I don’t have to ask for trouble. You’re trouble, and you seem to be attached to me.” she muttered, moving her arm to demonstrate her point. She moved toward the couch without protest, partially because she knew it would do no good, and partially because she was looking forward to the idea of sitting down. “Last time I checked, Kai, I’m the only way you’re getting out of here, and I’m the only one who has magic. I’m the only chance you’ve got.”

Kai offered no comment -- instead, his eyes followed the motion, lingering silently for a moment at the hand he had wrapped around her dainty wrist. There was something behind them as they moved up to meet hers again. A darkness to the faint line surrounding the pupil. Amusement, perhaps?  A sense of solidarity, even, for the situation they had found themselves in. He’d planned for the day to go so differently, and so had she. They had both been let down, and through strength of will alone could they even begin to move forward -- as a team. “But don’t let that trick you into thinking you’re invaluable,” came his cool retort, as if the words themselves weren’t blatantly contradictory. “We wouldn’t want your ego to inflate. You might end up doing something really, really dumb. Again.”

[parkerprince]

bleakbennett:

For months she’d hoped for any kind of change, anything to end the monotonous cycle, but she felt a chill down go down her spine as she watched the rain fall from the sky. Her unoccupied arm was wrapped around her waist, covering her wound as she nodded mindlessly at his first comment. Something had changed, and something told her it wasn’t for the better. Then he tightened his grip on her and glanced at her and she looked at him with an uneasy expression. “I don’t like where this is going…”

He was pleased with the reaction -- it meant she was taking this seriously enough -- but there was little malice in his gaze as he shifted it between her eyes. “Don’t ask for trouble and we won’t have any.” Kai made no visible move to remove his hand from her, but his grip was relatively tame as he encouraged her with gentle tugging to move back toward the couch. “As well as you know how to handle me, Bon Bon, you and I are both dead in the water when it comes to this new threat. Keep that in mind,” he pressed, helping her onto the cushions in a casual manner. “I’m the best chance you’ve got.”

[parkerprince]

bleakbennett:

“Let go of me, I don’t know what exactly you think you’re going to prove but - ” Then, for one whole moment, the Bennett witch found herself silenced by the scene she saw before her. Rain. It didn’t rain in Mystic Falls, not here, not in this godforsaken loop. It was sunny skies, eclipse, night, repeat. Nothing ever changed there, but this was different, and she didn’t know what to make of it. “… What the hell is going on, Kai?”

In any other circumstance, he would have gone out of his way to express the immense joy that he’d shut her up so good. Right then, however, he was focused on a bit more than that. In all of his time observing the two in Mystic Falls, not a single rain cloud occupied the Virginian sky. His gaze is still very much trained on the sight before them, and there was a coldness to his features as the droplets traveled down the glass. “That’s what we’re going to find out.” There was a pause, and his grip around her tightened as he turned his head back toward her. “You’re going to need your rest.”

[parkerprince]

bleakbennett:

She was prepared to lash out about him grabbing her wrist, but then he said something she couldn’t ignore. “…Have you lost your mind, Kai? We’re in a prison world that next to no one knows about. It’s just us, always will be.” she replied, rolling her eyes at the heretic. “Besides, you’ve been in here for eighteen years, don’t you think you would have figured it out if there was someone else here by now?”

Her questions and criticisms went ignored; a choice long made. With his hold on her, he’s unceremoniously dragging Bonnie-- anticipated protests and all-- across the foyer and toward the window. The curtain is flung upon with his free hand, and through the glass was their view of the world outside. To another, it wouldn’t have bore any forewarning fruit. However, to the two standing in the ‘safety’ of the boarding house, the sight would be enough to raise a brow or two. The sky was dark and thick with cloud cover, and from it, a quiet sprinkle of rain -- with the promise of more to come. “You were saying?”

[parkerprince]

bleakbennett:

“Actually, if I had it my way you’d have no one, Kai. We’re stuck together because of you.” she snapped, taking the time to point a finger into his chest while sucking in a short breath as her muscles protested the motion. “The ascendants obliterated, and I’m never letting you out of here, so why don’t you just cut your losses and go anywhere else and leave me to bleed out in peace.”

“I got that,” he snapped back, grabbing at the wrist she had raised. “And as much as I would  LOVE  to watch the light fade from those pretty green eyes, I’m gonna have to save it for a rainier day -- because there’s someone else here and I’m not taking any more chances.”