taxonomites | [action: location: sanctuary hallways]

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[action: location: sanctuary hallways]

Being cooped up in the Sanctuary didn't do Rose any favours. If she was able to go outside the building and escape, then she wouldn't feel this trapped. It also meant that she could feed on the animals in order to satisfy her hunger. Rose still felt sick; she was pale, clammy and her vision was clouded. The pain was beyond unbearable and she knew that it would continue like this until she was put out of her misery.

Opening the door of her room, Rose ventured outside into the hallway and headed towards the kitchen. She knew that there was blood there from keeping an eye on the network and maybe it would be enough for now. To keep her from hurting people. When she got there, she realised that most of it was gone. Letting out a roar of anger, Rose slammed her fist on the counter, cracking it a little before she fell to the ground, willing herself not to think about what was happening to her.

Then she heard something. A voice. It was a little far away from her but it was distinctive.

Katherine.

That bitch.

Rose had wanted to confront her ever since she arrived in Taxon and now she had the opportunity to. Katherine would pay for what she did. She deserved it. Pushing herself up from the floor, Rose headed out of the kitchen, snarling as she did, determined to find the other vampire. Her fangs were bared and she was furious, prowling around the halls of the sanctuary, with one singular goal in mind.

Find Katherine and make her suffer.

Rose was adamant in her search for Katherine, not caring who came across her path. It kept her focused and made it easier for her not to slip into the inevitable madness. She was in so much pain and feral; just like she was back in Mystic Falls when she killed those three people at the high school. Sometimes, she lapsed in and out of hallucinations, seeing things that weren't there as well as hearing them. Rose pushes those thoughts away and continues to look, listening out for any signs of the other vampire.

Little did she know that it was Elena that she was stalking instead.

((ooc: And so begins the second and last part of Rose's glitch! Have fun!))

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"We don't have any wolves in Taxon." It's the first time he's ever called the city by its proper name; he's too shocked-- too afraid-- to rely on his usual flippancy. "How the hell did you get bitten if we don't have any--"

He turns away, almost flinching at the intensity in his voice. For all the times Stefan has yelled about Damon's "trouble with controlling his impulses", keeping a lazy, calm mask has been within his control. And he can't grasp it now, can feel it slipping.

His head raises at that, dog to a scent. "Then it's curable after all. How?"

"I thought that it could be a glitch, because I'd remember being bitten. But I don't know."

Now, Rose is grasping at straws and she needs him to not be afraid. To be strong and help her through this. Like he did before. She's now curled up on the chair, drawing her knees to herself. Rose feels incredibly vulnerable now.

"There is no cure," she replies quietly. "It killed me." Of course that wasn't the entire truth but she can't bring herself to say it.

"It's a glitch, then." He inhales, sharply, repeats himself. "It's a glitch." Damon honestly can't say who he's trying to convince, to comfort; Rose or himself.

He's not sure why he crosses the room, drops to his knees in front of the chair and leans against her upraised legs. Doing things without thinking them through has been his mo for nearly two centuries, no point in changing now. (No point in changing when the thinking about it would mean he has to think about why Rose's death upsets him this much.)

"It's a glitch, you're not going to die. Don't be so dramatic." Nearly skipping over that this means in her future-- in their future-- she'll die.

Again, Rose doesn't say anything to that but she hopes that it's true. Even in this state, she draws a little comfort from his words, trying to focus on something positive.

She watches as Damon draws closer, wondering what he was going to do; then he's resting against her legs and Rose falters for a moment before her hand reaches down to brush against his forehead, then threading her fingers gently through his hair. Rose had avoided the subject of her death ever since she came here and now it was out in the open. She felt some kind of relief at letting it be known to him, but Damon wasn't aware that he was the one that released Rose from her suffering by staking her. She didn't know how she would tell him that.

"I know I won't die." Her voice cracks a little. "I just don't know how long I can endure it." Rose lets out a small cry of pain.

The breath Damon lets out is shaky, and he leans his forehead against her legs to try and cover it. This kind of emotional intensity-- not anger or bitterness or vengeance but helplessness, the sensation of shaky ground beneath him and no idea what he even wants-- is alien, frustrating. Rose was supposed to be two friends, turning off their feelings together. He should be able to watch her die with nothing but a twinge of regret, and he can't.

"Then tell me what to do." His voice is quiet, but his fingertips dig into his thighs painfully to keep it that way. "Tell me how to make it bearable, until the glitch ends."

Rose has never seen him like this before and it's strange to her. She had witnessed Damon displaying a whole range of different emotions but this was definitely new. She never truly shut off her emotions completely because she couldn't; Rose had told Damon that before, a while ago. It was down to her to offer some form of comfort to him, even if it was hard to do in this state. Going through this again was agonising for her and Rose almost wished that she would die so she wouldn't have to feel the pain anymore.

"Stay here with me. Please." Rose whispers back before gritting her teeth, biting back the pain. "You're the only one here that can understand."

"Whatever you need." Damon has the words out before she even finishes, low and strained. Behind the charming, dangerous vampire is a man who cared too goddamn much about everyone and everything he loved; he didn't turn off his feelings just because it was easy, but because he always felt too much. Stefan was the good one, but Damon was the emotional one. Being a vampire-- well. He was happier with them gone but the problem with all these people taking chunks out of his walls is the holes just erode larger and larger with each day since. "Whatever you want, Rose."

"Thank you," she replies softly, feeling grateful that he's here right now with her in her time of need. Rose falls silent after speaking, thinking everything over in her head: what had happened to her this week and what she had done. Maybe he'd keep her sane enough until the glitch was over and they could go back to whatever their relationship was before; it didn't exactly have a label in the first place, at least not here when he didn't know everything that had happened back home when she had died in his arms.

"Are you comfortable there, Damon?" Rose asks suddenly, looking down at him. A part of her wanted him beside her.

Damon's laugh is shaky, more of a bark. "Don't mention it." Just two friends helping each other out, right? No caring, no feelings. He shouldn't have to feel like this, the overwhelming urge to smash something because whether or not Rose dies here, she will back in Mystic Falls.

"That chair isn't exactly built for two."

"Good point," she replies before sliding off the chair, careful not to disturb him too much. Rose plops herself beside Damon, letting out a sigh. She still looks pale and tired, body trembling a little. But she's fighting it as hard as she could. Despite how hard it was.

Of course, Rose can't glimpse into his mind to see how he was truly feeling but she spent enough time with Damon to get a good idea.

"I didn't actually mean for you to get on the floor with me." Damon wraps an arm around her shoulders, trying to ignore the fine tremors. Then he huffs out a sigh and slides an arm beneath her legs as well, standing and lifting her into his arms in one smooth motion. "This is ridiculous. You have a bed, Rose."

Just the slightest hint of a Virginia drawl slips into his tone there; the Damon Salvatore who took care of people lived and died in Virginia, and Italian and French aren't the only ways of speaking that have to do with who that man was.

She leans into him a little when his arm drapes around her, feeling a little bit more comforted by his hold. Rose makes a small sound of surprise when Damon picks her up, sliding her arms gently around his neck, smiling a little before taking a breath. "Why Damon, trying to get me into bed again already? You only have to ask."

It's a tease of course, but Rose is doing it on purpose because it helps her not to focus on the pain that she's feeling right now. That drawl and the tone of his voice was pleasant to her ears, helping her to relax.

"'I look like I'm hanging at death's door' has always been a turn-on for me, what can I say?" Despite the flippancy of his words and tone of voice, Damon's hands on Rose are steady, gentle. When he sets her on the bed he brushes a piece of her hair absently from her face before laying down himself, pulling her firmly to his side. "Now, why don't you try to sleep? I'll even tell you a story. I like to call it 'Damon Salvatore and the Ripped to Pieces Hamsters'. Catchy, right?"

Despite the pain she feels, Rose laughs at that before settling herself comfortably on the bed. The gentle touch makes her smile faintly and she burrows against Damon, laying her arm on top of his. "Sleep might be good. I just feel so tired." Her voice is a low whisper and she briefly closes her eyes before glancing over at him. "Very catchy. I think it will be a hit." Rose winces again. "Will you stay with me until I sleep?"

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[action: location: sanctuary hallways]

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