( Ryan Atwood accepts the glass of bourbon, neat, the blonde insists, handed to him. He's still coming to terms. The past twenty-four hours are replaying in his head, events he'd never thought were possible, events that could only come out of one of Seth's comics.
But, here he is.
He adopted a kid because that's what you're supposed to do. He's wanted to give back.
It's not his kid to adopt, or to take in. It's a lure for a vampire nest. He says that in his head again. Vampire. He'd been trapped in his own apartment for days. Vampires don't dine and dash, they told him. It's not safe anymore. They bled him slowly.
Caroline had the intel on vampire children. Some can't be saved. Some are too far gone. She's already a few hours out on a merge solution that turns bust. She says she'll handle it. It's lucky Jeremy Gilbert was nearby.
Ryan knows he shouldn't remember what happened to him. He knows that. But, she'd explained compulsion to him. She explained drinking her blood while he sipped at his first glass of bourbon. She explains that after saving and healing him, she was attacked. Again. No. He knows that. He remembers that part. He remembers why he'd stayed home and not called 911. Why he only left to go to the grocery store or only made calls to let people know that he was okay. All from their command.
He shouldn't remember. There's only one reason why he does. )
I know it's a lot. It was a lot for me when I got the big rundown too.
[She moves to sit across from him, and offers a small smile. She's gotten good at this talk, over the years. It never gets any easier, but she knows the right things to say and when to say them.
She'll let Ryan make his choice, and she'll support it.]
But it's your choice. If you want to turn, I will get you the blood. If you don't, I'll stay with you until it's over.
( Will he be like them? Is that unavoidable? Will he be able to return to his life? Is he done with sunlight? He's probably done with Diane, the other architect at his firm. He can't date a woman whose throat he'd want to bite into. That was casual.
But, Summer and Seth. Their kids. Sandy and Kirsten. No more Thanksgiving at Julie's and Frank's.
Is it the end of life as he knows it or life as he knows it. )
[That's a little too fast, because the question is a little more complicated than that.]
Well, physically yes. You'll be a vampire. But you don't have to be like them. The kind of vampire you become is entirely your choice. I live on blood bags and haven't bitten an actual human in years. I also know a guy who lived on bunny blood for decades which ... would not recommend, because there's a high level of self-loathing that comes with that kind of lifestyle, but there are options.
I'm guessing other than being young and hot forever?
[Because, you know, obvious. But also it lightens the tone of the conversation a little bit.]
You'll be stronger and faster than you were as a human. Your senses will be stronger. I don't know. I'm not going to lie to you and say that it isn't hard. Dealing with cravings is going to take a lot to get used to. But ... being a vampire made me the best version of myself, as weird as it sounds.
You make it sound like there's just the bad vampires and the good vampires, but ... it's not that simple. Vampires are just like people. They make choices just like people do.
[Everything comes in shades of gray.]
Some are better than others, some are worse. It just ... seems amplified, because that's what being a vampire does. It amplifies everything you are.
[Who knows. Ryan might become even more succinct and taciturn.]
( She may not know him, but every single thing she's said has hit him. Humans that didn't raise him made choices that. brought him to the Cohens. An excuse for a human being is why Marissa was driven off the road. Humans could probably be worse than the best vampire. Than a vampire like her.
But, there is one thing that matters before he makes the choice. He's not done yet, and he will not be like the vampires that captured him and took advantage in his own home.
Caroline ends up staying with him because of PTSD he doesn't acknowledge but right then, he thinks about all the life he could live. The people he could help. Amplified. )
( Something warms within from her smile. There's nothing he can be sure of, except, maybe, what Caroline means to do. And who she is. He can read her enough. It's not that she means well. It's that she does well. )
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
caroline forbes
no subject
But, here he is.
He adopted a kid because that's what you're supposed to do. He's wanted to give back.
It's not his kid to adopt, or to take in. It's a lure for a vampire nest. He says that in his head again. Vampire. He'd been trapped in his own apartment for days. Vampires don't dine and dash, they told him. It's not safe anymore. They bled him slowly.
Caroline had the intel on vampire children. Some can't be saved. Some are too far gone. She's already a few hours out on a merge solution that turns bust. She says she'll handle it. It's lucky Jeremy Gilbert was nearby.
Ryan knows he shouldn't remember what happened to him. He knows that. But, she'd explained compulsion to him. She explained drinking her blood while he sipped at his first glass of bourbon. She explains that after saving and healing him, she was attacked. Again. No. He knows that. He remembers that part. He remembers why he'd stayed home and not called 911. Why he only left to go to the grocery store or only made calls to let people know that he was okay. All from their command.
He shouldn't remember. There's only one reason why he does. )
So, if I don't drink human blood, I die.
no subject
[She moves to sit across from him, and offers a small smile. She's gotten good at this talk, over the years. It never gets any easier, but she knows the right things to say and when to say them.
She'll let Ryan make his choice, and she'll support it.]
But it's your choice. If you want to turn, I will get you the blood. If you don't, I'll stay with you until it's over.
no subject
( Will he be like them? Is that unavoidable? Will he be able to return to his life? Is he done with sunlight? He's probably done with Diane, the other architect at his firm. He can't date a woman whose throat he'd want to bite into. That was casual.
But, Summer and Seth. Their kids. Sandy and Kirsten. No more Thanksgiving at Julie's and Frank's.
Is it the end of life as he knows it or life as he knows it. )
Will I become like them?
no subject
[That's a little too fast, because the question is a little more complicated than that.]
Well, physically yes. You'll be a vampire. But you don't have to be like them. The kind of vampire you become is entirely your choice. I live on blood bags and haven't bitten an actual human in years. I also know a guy who lived on bunny blood for decades which ... would not recommend, because there's a high level of self-loathing that comes with that kind of lifestyle, but there are options.
no subject
Tell me something good, about being a vampire. Something that isn't self loathing and violence.
no subject
[Because, you know, obvious. But also it lightens the tone of the conversation a little bit.]
You'll be stronger and faster than you were as a human. Your senses will be stronger. I don't know. I'm not going to lie to you and say that it isn't hard. Dealing with cravings is going to take a lot to get used to. But ... being a vampire made me the best version of myself, as weird as it sounds.
no subject
It's not weird. This version of you isn't bad.
( But you did try and save his life. )
Are there more of you? More vampires out there who save people?
no subject
[Everything comes in shades of gray.]
Some are better than others, some are worse. It just ... seems amplified, because that's what being a vampire does. It amplifies everything you are.
[Who knows. Ryan might become even more succinct and taciturn.]
no subject
But, there is one thing that matters before he makes the choice. He's not done yet, and he will not be like the vampires that captured him and took advantage in his own home.
Caroline ends up staying with him because of PTSD he doesn't acknowledge but right then, he thinks about all the life he could live. The people he could help. Amplified. )
What's your name?
no subject
[She holds out her hand to him, and smiles her trademark Caroline Forbes smile.]
Nice to meet you.
no subject
( Something warms within from her smile. There's nothing he can be sure of, except, maybe, what Caroline means to do. And who she is. He can read her enough. It's not that she means well. It's that she does well. )