fifty shades of stefan } { don't believe the lights are shining, any place but there [1904]

[somanyadjectives]

[Continued from here.]

Ten years, as promised, and Stefan doesn't forget. Evening of the first night of the World's Fair has him standing on the bridge facing the statue of Saint Louis, hearing the faint sounds of revelry in the distance. There is so much he wants to do and see, but a promise is a promise, and he isn't going to abandon his date for the evening.

Provided, of course, that she remembers and elects to attend, but that's another matter entirely. For however long it takes, he will wait.

The past decade hasn't been a particularly easy one. The absence of his brother is starting to weigh on him, and while he wishes he knew where Damon is or what he is doing, he also knows that Damon promised him an eternity of misery. That is a promise that he knows Damon fully intends to keep, no matter how sorry Stefan is. He can only hope that he can keep being better, top prove to him that he isn't the burden that Damon believes to be saddled with.

Damon left because Stefan couldn't control himself. Clearly allowing Lexi to teach him control and prove that to Damon is the only way to try and bridge that gap between them.

All the same, he stands and waits for Diana, the first thing he's been excited for in almost ten years. If she doesn't arrive on the first night, he'll continue to wait for every night until she does arrive. Hopefully it will be sooner rather than later, though. There is so much of the fair to see.

[Continued here.]

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[diana_abel]

How could she have forgotten? Zachariah! The charming little boy. Goodness, how long had it been? Twenty years? Thirty? Somewhere in between?

"He must be married by now," she marveled. "With children of his own."

[somanyadjectives]

"Getting there. He's engaged to be married next month," he says with a small smile. "I'm sure they'll have children of their own before I know it." Even if time is meaningless to a vampire, that doesn't mean it flies any less quickly. "After I leave here, I'll be heading back to help prepare for the wedding."

[diana_abel]

The happiness in Diana's eyes dissolved all too suddenly. And it was replaced by the worst of all possible emotions: Pity.

Somehow, she'd managed to forget that Stefan was still so much younger than she. He hadn't yet experienced many of the rites of passage that came with being an immortal.

He didn't know.

"How long do you plan to stay with them?" she asked carefully.

[somanyadjectives]

He catches the pity in her eyes, though he isn't all that sure of what it means. He assumes that she'll explain, considering she's asking the appropriate questions of him, but he wouldn't lie and say it doesn't concern him on some level.

"Just until after the wedding. Why?"

[diana_abel]

Diana shook her head, turning to glance at a bandstand where a Spaniard was playing the guitar. She hated the idea of being the one to explain. Which, of course, was unfair since she'd broached the subject.

She'd need to be delicate.

"Take a moment to marvel at this place," she said quietly. "At how remarkable mankind is."

[somanyadjectives]

Stefan turns and glances around as she does, watching the way all the exhibits seemed to rise out of the earth to meet them. The thing is, though, Stefan doesn't really see himself as separate from them yet. He's only fifty-seven years-old. He hasn't seen the world rise and fall quite yet.

"People can do amazing things," he nods. "It's always been very impressive."

[diana_abel]

"That's because they change," she said. "They grow and they adapt to meet challenges."

Which vampires, by their very nature, could never really do. Oh, they could adapt well enough, she supposed. But invent? That was a bit more difficult. Because their survival didn't depend on growth the way it did for humans.

And that was why she would always prefer the company of humans. But why she'd always inevitably lose them.

[somanyadjectives]

"And are you saying we can't?" Stefan's eyebrows raise curiously as he tries to catch her meaning. "If vampires don't adapt, they die. Otherwise they are far too easily exposed."

[diana_abel]

She shook her head slightly. "Adapting isn't the same thing as changing, not really. At least...I don't think it is."

Had her transformation following Adam's death been change? Adaptation? Something magical? She'd never really thought to consider it before.

Perhaps now wasn't the time.

"Really," she said, forcing a laugh into her voice, "I'm nowhere near clever enough to answer that."

[somanyadjectives]

"I think it depends on what you mean by change." He gives a bit of a shrug as he does. "We don't just adapt our clothing or the way we wear our hair or our speech. The world changes everyone as they live through it - it changes the way we see it and how we see ourselves in it. That effects everyone, whether it's a human or a vampire."

[diana_abel]

"Not as much for some people," she said, giving him a lopsided smile. "There are still some vampires out there in powdered wigs." She gave his arm a squeeze. "But you and I, are different, aren't we?"

She gave him a dismissive wave. "Now I want to hear more about the last ten years. How's your Lexi?"

[somanyadjectives]

"Lexi is good," he says with a nod. "She still ... insists on getting into all kinds of trouble on my birthday. Not that I really understand the urge, but lately, it's been the only time I see her, so I don't complain."

[diana_abel]

Once a year? Well, that was interesting. It seemed to indicate that Stefan had gotten better at controlling his impulses. Enough that Lexi trusted him on bis own.

But also sounded rather lonely.

"Any other girls?"

[somanyadjectives]

He pauses for a moment, consider, before shaking his head. "Nothing ... permanent. I see Stella every so often, or one of my other friends. The problem with being vampires, I suppose, is that we always have to keep moving."

[diana_abel]

She offered him a small smile. "I didn't mean friends," she pointed out, trying to sound delicate.

[somanyadjectives]

He laughs a bit at that. "I had a feeling you didn't. But I think it's best to keep some things private, don't you?"

[diana_abel]

Diana frowned thoughtfully. "Yes," she supposed. "That would be the proper thing to do. Although, to tell you the truth, lately, I haven't been so proper myself."

Now was as good a time as any, she decided, to tell him.

"I...met someone."

[somanyadjectives]

There's a part of him that knows he should probably be jealous. Maybe she expects him to. But despite their tryst in the woods the last time they saw each other, he doesn't have any expectations from his relationship with Diana. He's simply happy to have her friendship.

"Really? Tell me about him." There's a beat. "Or ... her, if that's the case." It's not common, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist, especially among vampires.

[diana_abel]

The idea of meeting a 'her' was something that Diana would not be prepared to explore for a few more decades, but she had to admit there was something intriguing about it. The appeal of things 'against the rules' only seemed to grow stronger every day. Much to Selene's consternation. And Artemis probably wasn't too pleased with it either.

And Liam was just Liam.

She gave Stefan a bit of a shy shrug. "You'll just make fun of me."

[somanyadjectives]

"I will not," he says with a small smile. "Well, I can't promise that if his name is something like ... Leopold or Edgar or something equally ridiculous." He gives a bit of a grin. "But I promise. I will treat this potential suitor I have never met with the seriousness it deserves."

[diana_abel]

"There's nothing wrong with Leopold or Edgar," she replied. They were both fine, English names and even if her accent had gone the way of the doodoo, she was still proud of her heritage.

Most of the time.

"His name is Clarence," she replied awkwardly. "And I wasn't exactly worried about his name."

[somanyadjectives]

"Clarence," he says with a nod. Not a bad name to start with. He glances back to her with a smile. "So tell me about Clarence." He's not planning on mocking her at all, he promises. "Seriously, I want to know. I won't make fun of him, or you."

[diana_abel]

She gave him a dubious look. Perhaps it wasn't that she didn't trust Stefan, so much as that Selene had already given her a fairly brutal ribbing over this one, far worse than anything she'd ever received for Joseph.

"He's a...sweep," she said, almost bracing for the laughter.

[somanyadjectives]

His eyebrows climb a bit at that, confused by the terminology for the moment. "Like a chimney sweep?" He doesn't sound like he's going to laugh, so don't assume he will.

[diana_abel]

"Yes," she admitted.

And, as Selene continually berated and reminded her, so very incredibly beneath her.

Only he wasn't.

Stefan would forever receive all the credit for reminding Diana that she was still alive. That her life could go on, even without Joseph. That she had passion and she had excitement and that she could have other people. But Clarence was a human. And, for the first time in a hundred years, he was her human. And it wasn't for his clothes or his status or his titles.

He made her smile.