taxonomites | 4 | [ location: the taxon zoo / visual ]

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4 | [ location: the taxon zoo / visual ]

While Taxon is a city of decent size, it is also rather sleepy and quiet outside of any glitches. When Katherine set out and about earlier, she hadn't specifically intended to visit the zoo. As it is, it's as good a place as any for the vampire to roam about (despite the distinctive smells the place is ripe with) in effort to ease the boredom creeping in again. Angelus had been a delightful change of pace, but that is over and done with. And now Rose has been sticking her nose where it doesn't belong, telling Stefan about being her sire. Katherine would definitely have to do something about that soon.

She passes the wolf paddock with distasteful sniff, heading towards the big cat enclosures instead. While Katherine has never really seen the appeal in gawking at trapped wild animals, she has to admit that there is something vaguely calming about watching the small pride of lions basking in the sun as if they hadn't a care in the world. It's almost enviable, really.

The trouble with calm is that it inevitably leads to idleness and boredom, at least it does with Katherine - and that's exactly what she's trying to avoid. Hence, she turns her attention towards her tablet.

"Going to the zoo just isn't much fun alone. Anyone want to join me?" she smiles winsomely at the screen. "Doesn't matter whether I know you or not. One can never have too many friends."

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In response to her question, Stefan stops walking and turns around. "I know we've only known each other for a short while," he says as he walks back towards her, allowing that old Virginian drawl to seep back into his voice, a remnant of the Old South that modern Virginians seemed to lack and Stefan himself had shed some time ago, "and I know I am in competition for your affections, but I've never met a woman quite like you."

Stefan may be very good at dancing - in more ways than one - but he wasn't necessarily fond of it. Not anymore. Yet, he'd started this game, and stubbornly, he wasn't about to throw in the towel just yet. He wasn't willing to give up that advantage and this reeled her in and helped keep her focus on him and off everyone else.

"I look at you and I see an angel."

Oh, yes. Katherine hasn't forgotten the reality, everything that had happened that had made access to this Stefan she remembers away from her and most importantly, ugh, Elena. But she has no interest to think about all that right now. She'd much rather take every opportunity to enjoy every second of these stolen moments in this curious little game they're playing.

"Mm, you do remember," she delights softly, taking a step forward herself until she's closer to him than is necessary. Tilting her face up to look at Stefan in the eyes, she adds on a whisper, "And what else?"

She wants to hear that very thing that caught her so off guard that night. If Stefan was willing to play the game, he had to be prepared to finish it; those were the rules. It was funny, how Katherine only cared about following the rules when they suited her purposes somehow.

Edited 2011-04-09 19:47 (UTC)

The logical part of Stefan's brain is screaming at him to take a step back, to stop this trip down memory lane, but he continues on, despite better judgment. Oh, Stefan. What are you doing?

"You stole my line a moment ago, but I suppose for continuity's sake, I shall repeat it," he remarks slipping out of the drawl for a moment, then laying it on thick again. He mimics his earlier actions in lifting his hand to her cheek, fingers grazing her skin while his touch linger. "To touch your skin...my entire body ignites. I kiss you and I know that I am falling in love."

Stefan, this would be where you should end the game and stop. And yet he just stands there.

Despite her best effort to keep mindful of the situation and let the game be just that, a game, Katherine's feelings for Stefan are playing interference. Her original intents and purposes are slipping away, replaced with baser instincts and desires.

Her eyelids flutter at Stefan's touch and her gaze strays involuntarily to his mouth where it lingers for a moment before she meets his again. Inching yet a tiny bit closer, Katherine boldly lifts her own hand and settles it against his chest, over his heart.

"And then what happened...?" she hushes, nearly breathless with anticipation.

Stefan swallows roughly, forcing himself not to shy away from her touch. He silently weighs his options in his head, knowing fully if he moves the next piece on this game board, there's not a person who won't be cross with him for it and hurt by it, nor anyone who will understand what he's doing. They're too behind to get it. If he doesn't move, that could potentially piss Katherine off to the point where she'd shun him and look for entertainment and attention elsewhere. He's going to hate himself for this later, but he can't risk losing the trust he's gained (or thinks he's gained), that connection to information that may prove vital in saving Elena's life should the hamsters ever bring one of the Originals or, God forbid, Klaus himself here.

"Then," he says, craning his head down towards hers. "And then, I--"

And then he does it. He kisses her.

Damon is going to kill him if Elena doesn't get to him first. Stefan tells himself that protecting them from Katherine is worth how upset they're going to be with him.

Katherine had half-expected Stefan to pull back, to shake her off and remind her that this wasn't 1864. She had not expected Stefan to kiss her, but she's too delighted to be surprised. While they may have started out reenacting the scene from 1864, Katherine's response to the kiss is not the soft, demure one she gave him that night. This is hungry and carnal, possessive, even; the hand on his chest slides up to the back of his neck as if to keep him from changing his mind as she kisses him thoroughly, plastering her front against his.

She moans a little from the back of her throat as she pulls back from the kiss and opens her eyes that had slipped shut. She doesn't move other than to bring her hand from his neck to brush her fingers against his jawline. "Oh, Stefan. I've missed you so much."

About the time her fingers touch the back of his neck, Stefan realizes he's made a grave mistake. All instincts are screaming for him to pull away, shove her off of him and run, but he's convinced that doing so now would only make things worse. What started out as a way of catching her attention and keeping it centered on him is quickly spiraling out of control, and all Stefan can do is stand there and let her kiss him; kissing her back takes a bit more effort, but he manages it. It's like acting the part of one of the many covers he's donned over the past century and a half.

When she pulls back, Stefan has to stop himself from caving to the urge to snap the wrist attached to the hand at face, instead lifting his hands to settle his palms against her cheeks. He doesn't trust himself to say anything in response to that, instead murmuring her name - "Katherine." - and kissing her again, mimicking - or reciprocating, as he hopes it seems - her own intensity.

He is going to go home and stake himself after this. Dear God, what is he doing?

That's right, Katherine, not Elena. Although in the back of her mind Katherine senses there's something slightly off in Stefan's response, as intense as it is - a certain lack of similar passion that there had been with the glitched mistletoe during Christmas when Stefan had mumbled out Elena's name while kissing her - it's overshadowed by the sheer sense of victory and empowerment Katherine feels over the fact that finally, it's her name on Stefan's lips and not her dull doppelgänger's. This was the way it should be.

In her enthusiasm, she pushes Stefan against the railing by the tiger enclosure. "I knew you'd come around eventually," she mutters against his lips amidst the kisses, "I knew you still had feelings for me."

The fallout for this can only be horrifically bad.

Stefan had feelings alright, but they weren't exactly positive ones, but all that's overpowered by the revulsion he feels for himself and his own actions. Yet, he doesn't stop. He knows he should, but he doesn't. Not just yet, he tells himself. Not just yet.

He turns them around, flipping their positions far quicker than he should in public, even if there's no-one but the animals to bear witness to this. Stefan lifts Katherine up and sets her on the railing, drawing her legs around his waist as he grabs hold of the bar with one hand to steady them, and puts the other on the small of her back to keep her from falling backwards. Not that the fall would kill her and the urge to toss her into the pit with tigers is there and strong, but that would only end in dead tigers and one pissed off vampire who could easily rip him limb from limb without breaking a sweat.

"You make every part of me feel as if I were aflame," he breathes against her mouth.

The hamsters could strike him down right then and there and he would not argue with it. Katherine is going to kill him when she finds out he's just acting.

Katherine laughs a breathless little chuckle against Stefan's mouth at his action, thrilled at his display of impulsiveness. She winds her legs tighter about his middle, drawing him impossibly closer while she continues kissing him, her hands roaming his chest and shoulders.

"Yes, yes," is the only thing she can gasp out, his words intensifying her need like tossing fuel to the fire. Katherine nips at his mouth in a demanding manner with her teeth, hips rolling suggestively against him as one hand fists in his hair. The pesky little thing called self-control is fast slipping away; she'd much rather have gratification than control right now. She's this close to dragging Stefan by the collar of his shirt into whatever private corner that is the closest so they can properly get down to business.

Oh, Stefan, she won't kill you. Just hurt you. As for anyone else, well, that's a different story.

That nip triggers something primal in Stefan that's coiled up around the anger and disappoint he feels for himself, and his face turns mid-kiss, his teeth lengthening and sharpening against her mouth. He groans when her hips move against his, desperately searching for some way to end this before it goes too far, despite his continued reciprocation of her touches, the continued kissing of her lips. If he pulls away without reason, she may catch on, may--

Never has Stefan been more grateful for the interruption of an Extra. A janitor working here at the zoo, judging from the sound of the rough bristles of a broom brushing against the pebbled pavement.

He grabs hold of the opportunity and lurches away from Katherine, face still turned, and grabs the offending man, slamming him up against an empty snack vendors cart by the throat. His fangs are being brandished and he's snarling at the poor janitor, but what seems like anger at being interrupted is anger at himself being directed at the unfortunate native.

Katherine groans in pleasure as she feels the sharpness of his fangs against her lips and tongue, the sensation tugging at a corresponding string in her just right; the hedonist in her indulges it freely, allowing her own face to turn in response.

The disrupting noises and Stefan's sudden absence serve to cool her ardor like a bucket of cold water, instantly eliciting a wave of annoyance. Clasping both hands around the rail on either side of her body to steady herself, she drops her feet back to the ground and leans the small of her back against the railing while watching Stefan, breathless from their kisses and enraptured by the magnificence of his ferocity.

Katherine's ire at being interrupted, her desire and Stefan's primal responses are all blending together into an all-consuming red haze. The predator is coming out to play, and it's never particularly pretty.

"Do it, Stefan," she almost growls between panting breaths, running the tip of her tongue over her teeth. Her tone turns dark and sultry as she adds, "Get rid of him so we can get back to what we were doing."

Katherine wouldn't care even if it was an actual human at this point, so killing one useless Extra means nothing to her. She just wants him gone and Stefan back in her arms, nothing else matters.

Stefan doesn't even hesitate this time, catching the Extra's gaze and compelling him not to move or make any noise. "Stay still. Don't scream."

He should've just snapped the poor thing's neck, but now that he has Katherine's attention, he's intent on holding it and continuing to keep her interested. Fisting a hand in the man's shirt, Stefan jerks him forward and latches mouth onto the Extra's neck, sinking his fangs into his flesh. Stefan drinks, despite the dull taste of the native's blood, only dropping the body at his feet when there's no life left in it.

Blood smeared across his face, Stefan turns back to Katherine. "Done."

Katherine is definitely interested. She grins gleefully as Stefan compels and feeds on the Extra, her grip on the railing tightening and nostrils flaring slightly at the scent of the blood in the air. She's pushed herself off of the railing and is standing in front of Stefan only seconds after he turns around to face her, invading his personal space.

"Mm, this look suits you so well," she murmurs appreciatively, wiping at a smear of blood on the corner of his mouth with her fingertip and bringing it to her own lips, licking it clean despite the awful taste. "You should wear it more often."

In truth, she's rather disappointed she didn't get to see Stefan indulge this side of him after he'd been turned, remembering the conversation they'd had during the zombie invasion in which he'd alluded to having done just that.

Stefan instantly berates himself for thinking so, but there's a part of him deep rooted in the basic instincts and urges of the vampire he's been for the past one hundred and forty-five years that can't help but find her licking the blood off her finger that had been on his face not a moment ago ridiculously attractive. However, there was a big difference between finding something a person does hot and finding that person appealing in a romantic, emotionally involved sense. So, although the way Stefan licks his lips and his eyes lock onto that finger and her mouth by proxy, it's nothing more than the simple, base attraction felt by a boy over the provocative actions of a girl.

Blinking, he swallows and pulls himself out of it, dropping his gaze to the lifeless form at his feet.

"I need to hide this," he says, dropping into a crouch beside the poor man. "Obviously a vampire kill. Only so many to pin that on here and Godric won't approve of any of us killing." The sigh he lets out is genuine. "I shouldn't have done that."

He means eating the Extra - but making out with her is implied, if only to himself.

Stefan's intent attention is both gratifying and exciting. A shiver of anticipating claws down her spine and she's just about to give in to her desire to reach out to him again, but that's when Stefan blinks and diverts his attention to the dead Extra - it almost looks like he's balking, a more suspicious corner of her mind supplies.

Katherine can feel the heated moment slipping further away with every contrite word out of Stefan's mouth, and her face turns back into human as she lets out a frustrated huff. Godric's name only makes her roll her eyes irritably, too caught up in her own disappointment to think about any possible ramifications with the elder vampire.

"Just toss him into the tiger pit and let the animals maul him a little, it'll be labeled as an accident. Nobody will know any better. Come on, Stefan," she nearly whines, a spoiled girl not getting her way. "It's just an Extra, not an actual person. The hamsters will no doubt pop out five more to replace that one."

The look he gives her when he tilts his head up to glance at her from his spot on the ground is caught somewhere between fond amusement and slight ire for her impatience. Throwing the body to the tigers would've been an easy solution, but not one Stefan's quite willing to go with. There was too much of a risk of something going wrong and circling around to pin the kill on them.

"No." He shakes his head at her, glancing back to the body. There's still blood smeared all over his face, though his features have finally calmed down enough to let the more human façade claim dominance. "That would only bring on other inquiries; murder, the natives developing suicidal tendencies, accidents on the zoo workers' watch. Haven't you seen the tablets? The law enforcement here is itching to get their hands on something. Let's not feed the hand that could possibly stake us, Katherine."

Edited 2011-04-12 10:08 (UTC)

Logically, Katherine knows Stefan is correct. But damn it, she's also smarting over the dramatic change in the mood; they could be doing so much more pleasing things right now than figuring out what to do to a dead body. Well. She did urge Stefan into getting rid of the Extra, and he had. Inhaling deeply, Katherine's annoyance deflates and her shoulders slump slightly. She's maybe even pouting just a little.

"Fine, fine. We'll do this your way," she acquiesces with a small sigh. Things were so much less complicated when one could just ditch dead bodies into the wild for the other predators to dispose of. "You want to bury it somewhere, then?"

The idea makes her perk up a bit. There were worse things than watching Stefan do some manual labor - because she would not be touching a shovel even with her pinky finger.

"That'd be best," he concedes, grabbing hold of the body and slinging it over his shoulder before rising effortlessly to his feet as if his seventeen-year-old frame wasn't sporting something he shouldn't be able to lift on one shoulder like it were a beach towel. "Woods near the tomb. I'll hatch a shovel somewhere."

While there were a plethora of shovels back at the house, there was no way in hell Stefan was going back there right now. The blood on him would alert Damon, even if he made a point not to make any noise. And God, the blood. As bland as the taste of the Extras may be, it's warm in his stomach and it's been a good long while since Stefan's fed from someone and drained them dry. On top of having started drinking human blood again, this is going to have him ansty and debating vervaining himself for days to come. He could be such an idiot at times.

"Let's go." Stefan's used to taking charge of situations, but not so much leading where Katherine's concerned. He's half-hoping she'll refrain from following, but he's not foolish enough to think she'll turn away from him so easily after what he'd initiated.

Katherine can't quite suppress a grimace at the mention of the tomb, but she makes no comment upon it. Personally, she'd be perfectly fine if she never had to hear of it or see it ever again.

Her head tilts slightly at Stefan's no-nonsense way of taking charge and giving orders, but she doesn't bristle like she normally would had it been anyone else daring to tell her what to do. Instead she's curious, intrigued. Really, it should perhaps concern her how much she seems to let Stefan get away with, but... it doesn't.

"You lead, I follow," she quips with a wily smirk, inclining her head in agreeing manner. There's no chance she's letting Stefan go off on his own now when things have gotten so very interesting. Body-dumping might not be the most romantic of activities, but she'd take what she could get. And it never hurt to have another pair of eyes to keep a lookout when illegally disposing of dead things.

"Something tells me this may not be the first time you've had to do this here," she suddenly says, dutifully trailing a step behind him, slightly to the side. "Notice it didn't take you long to come up with a suitable location."

"Not for myself," Stefan answers honestly. She can probably figure out for who. He'd ran around cleaning up Damon's mess the last time his brother freaked out and did the best version of taking off one could in this place, leaving random dead Extras in his wake. While Stefan had killed one before himself in a moment of overwhelming emotional turmoil in which he'd flipped the switch for the second it took an Extra to stumble upon him, he hadn't hid that body. Damon had sent him back to the house and taken care of that for him, because the brothers are screwed up and need so much therapy.

This, however, Stefan's doing on his own. He has to in order to preserve the bubble of secrecy he's wrapped around himself.

As soon as they're clear of the zoo, Stefan launches into a more appropriate speed; it takes him no time to reach the edge of the woods that make him feel as if he's back home in Virginia. He knows better, though. This is just a section of home, just like the boarding house. Virginia is so far away, and it wasn't until coming to Taxon did Stefan realize how much home meant to him. No matter where he went over the years, Virginia was always right there for him to return to whenever he pleased. He doesn't have that luxury here and it frustrates him more than he can bring himself to say.

He drops the body once he finds a spot. "Watch it. I'll be back." Again with the orders. Stefan disappears for a few minutes, returning with a shovel and gets to work with the digging.

Katherine smiles wryly, for she can indeed figure it out. In fact, she'd expected that very answer. Oh, Damon, Damon, Damon. Always the little troublemaker. She says nothing further about the topic but carefully files the information away for possible later use. Keeping up with the pace Stefan sets is no problem to the older vampire, and a part of her relishes the spurt surprisingly much. It was quite a different affair to run for the sake of running (dead Extra or no) than running because someone was after you.

She gives Stefan an indulgent smile and a slightly sarcastic salute in response to his order, not so much watching anything as much as she's listening, concentrating on arranging a few errant curls back into place that have been disturbed by their run. When Stefan finally returns with the shovel, Katherine leans her back against a nearby tree, crossing her arms and propping one heel against the trunk while quite shamelessly watching Stefan dig.

"I must say I never realized just how good you are at giving orders, taking charge," Katherine remarks with a grin. "I like it."

"Did you think Damon was the brains of our merry little band?" The pot shot at his brother is again a way of weaving his frustrations with himself into a complicated circle in which if you squint, you can see that he's actually berating himself. Damon's his problem, etc. The self-mocking is in there. Somewhere. (Truth is, usually, it's either a combination of him and Damon or Alaric taking charge of all of them. But oh, details, details.)

Stefan makes quick work of digging the hole, wiping sweat off his brow as he climbs out of the shallow grave to retrieve the body, tossing it inside. Then begins the burying process, being careful to pat the ground down when he's finished in a way that makes it look as undisturbed as possible. You can thank decades of cleaning up after Damon's sloppy kills for that.

"There." He sticks the shovel in the ground and leans up against it. "That should do it."

"Oh, ouch," Katherine chuckles at the remark about Damon, smirking. Normally, she would gleefully take that particular bait for there's no denying that she loves to both rile Damon up and to talk a little smack about him, but right now she'll so much rather concentrate on the other brother before her. Silently, she watches him finish burying the Extra, utterly unable to resist the temptation he presents, leaning up against the shovel like that.

Smiling appreciatively, Katherine pushes herself off of the tree and in a blink of an eye moves to stand behind Stefan, snaking her arms around him and splaying her hands against his front, one on his chest and one on his stomach.

"Nice job," she purrs, lifting a bit on her toes so she can rest her chin on his shoulder and whisper in his ear, "Here we are, alone at last. Where were we again before that unfortunate interruption?"

Oh, Stefan, there are no Extras to bail you out trouble this time.

Edited 2011-04-13 13:13 (UTC)

Unseen, thanks to her standing behind him, Stefan grimaces and casts an exasperated glance up at the heavens. There are a variety of options at his disposal for where he should move the piece on this game board of his to next. Caving into her isn't an option, for not only would that complicate things further, it would also seem far too out of character for him. He's not going to take the risk of an eager to indulge Katherine cluing into his ploy. He could also flee, or even bounce off those carnal post-kill feelings and get her to play a game of chase with him.

None of those seem very suitable, so instead Stefan settles for a more neutral ground; something indulgent of what she wants from him, yet not so much that he sees himself crossing that line he's thus far avoided stepping over. Also, very perfectly him. He's the good one, the one who feels and cares and is considerate of others, after all. Feeling conflicted is a go.

"What are we doing?" He asks of her, then turns around in her embrace with one quick movement. "What am I doing? I have a girlfriend, I love Elena, yet..." Stefan lifts his hands to her face, cradling her cheeks in his palms. "Yet, I can't seem to stay away. I know I should, but I don't feel much like listening to reason when I'm around you."

4 | [ location: the taxon zoo / visual ]

the predator in me is put to shame by the predator in her;

the predator in me is put to shame by the predator in her;

the predator in me is put to shame by the predator in her;

the predator in me is put to shame by the predator in her;

the predator in me is put to shame by the predator in her;

the predator in me is put to shame by the predator in her;

the predator in me is put to shame by the predator in her;

the predator in me is put to shame by the predator in her;

the predator in me is put to shame by the predator in her;

the predator in me is put to shame by the predator in her;

the predator in me is put to shame by the predator in her;

the predator in me is put to shame by the predator in her;

the predator in me is put to shame by the predator in her;

the predator in me is put to shame by the predator in her;

the predator in me is put to shame by the predator in her;

the predator in me is put to shame by the predator in her;

the predator in me is put to shame by the predator in her;

the predator in me is put to shame by the predator in her;

the predator in me is put to shame by the predator in her;

the predator in me is put to shame by the predator in her;

the predator in me is put to shame by the predator in her;

the predator in me is put to shame by the predator in her;

the predator in me is put to shame by the predator in her;

the predator in me is put to shame by the predator in her;

the predator in me is put to shame by the predator in her;

the predator in me is put to shame by the predator in her;

the predator in me is put to shame by the predator in her;

the predator in me is put to shame by the predator in her;

the predator in me is put to shame by the predator in her;

the predator in me is put to shame by the predator in her;

the predator in me is put to shame by the predator in her;

the predator in me is put to shame by the predator in her;