entrancelogs | [closed] if you must die, sweetheart,

For someone who had claimed before to be rarely surprised by anything, Regis' reaction to suddenly appearing in the muted, washed-out hallway had been a very pronounced start. If anything could be said about the vampire, though, it was that very little actually frightens him, and so he approaches this odd scenario with no small amount of curiosity.

After a brief conversation in the mirror with his... mirror, which lays a small seed of concern in the pit of his stomach, he ventures into the mansion's reflection with all intent of finding someone else and gaining their aid in escaping.

What he comes across instead, is Damon. He rounds the corner in time to see the mirror shatter, and takes a moment to simply observe the situation.

"Damon," he says gently, moving closer and leaning down to pick up one of the larger shards. "Ah," he murmurs as a quiet addition, quickly realising the source of the young vampire's distress.

Damon's hand grips so hard to the shard of glass that it cuts through his palm. The smell of blood enters the area. He shakes, and he realizes distantly that's Regis' voice. It's his friend's voice in the middle of his breaking apart. It could very well be Regis' mirror instead, but he can't think as to why Regis' mirror would want to- What would be the motivation? He pushes himself to his feet and stares at the bloody shard in his hand.

"She's already been through enough this week," he hisses out the words as if speaking to that version of him who can't hear because he's on the other side. "And now my mirror's there, sliding into bed with her and she doesn't know."

And Damon does not trust him. His voice strangles.

"I can't-"

Regis' mirror would not want to, and for that, Regis is very grateful that the presence is his own and not that of his sociopathic counterpart. He observes the glass for a few moments more, until the scent of blood sharply yanks his attention away from it... and Damon is incredibly lucky that Regis has such steady control of himself and his demons.

"Would he harm her?" he asks, gently taking hold of Damon's wrist to remove the shard of mirror from his grasp. He lets it drop, and meticulously wipes the smears of blood from his fingers on the hem of his tunic. Not all mirrors were murderous, he knows this, but he does not know what Damon's might be like.

"We can focus on returning to the correct side of this world if the danger to Elena is not immediate. If it is, we must locate someone who will assist us."

Damon's hand heals immediately afterward, and he lifts his head up to finally meet the other vampire's gaze. He shakes his head.

"I don't know. She doesn't think so," he says even as he swallows thickly, because he has never believed or trusted in any version of himself as much as Elena Gilbert has. She believed he was worthy of love before anyone else did.

He breathes in and then breathes out again. Panic claws at his chest along with grief.

"I don't think it's-" He shakes his head. He already held her body, empty of her this week. He's already- Damon blinks and swallows and tries to collect himself again. His voice lowers. "She's already died this week, Regis. I can't let her get hurt again."

"Damon." He says his name again, quiet but firm. Regis grips his friend's shoulders and pulls him into a brief, but warm hug before he pushes him back to hold his upper arms and look him in the eye.

"This is much to ask of you, but you need to be calm. You will do yourself and Elena no service through panic."

It's difficult, he knows, he understands. He doesn't like it here either, and severely doubts his mirror's intentions are anything close to good.

"I am here with you, and we will find our way back together."

The way Regis says his name has Damon lifting his gaze up toward him, and then- then he stills in the shock of the gesture, which follows. Regis pulls him into the brief, warm hug. While Damon hardly has a chance to process or react beyond sinking into the embrace. It has its intended effect.

It calms Damon down enough to get a hold of himself. His one hand grasps tight hold of Regis' forearm, helping him gain enough focus to breathe through the rage in his chest.

When he speaks, he's decidedly more calm. Distantly, he realizes it's because some part of him has started to trust Regis, and trust isn't given easily from the likes of Damon. He believes Regis will help him find a way out.

"Okay." He swallows and forces himself to not stare back into the shards. His gaze drifts over Regis before he looks away, slightly ashamed at his own outburst. Gotta pull it together. "We're getting out of here."

He hadn't been sure how it would be received. Damon was a wound spring at this point, and Regis could not be certain of whether or not their relationship had progressed to a point where the younger vampire would be comfortable with that kind of affection.

It seems, however, that his judgement had not been wrong. Damon calms down, grips his arm, and Regis begins to believe that they will be able to work together to find a way out of here after all. His own mirror is wily, they won't be able to trick him easily, but perhaps they can find someone on the other side who would be willing to see to Damon's.

"We certainly are. Now, who may be best equipped to assist us in that venture?"

Damon lets out another breath as he shakes his head at the question.

He has a limited number of people he trusts, and there are even fewer people who trust him. More than that, it doesn't seem likely anyone would trust something written on a mirror, and it was their only means of communicating with the other side.

"Not sure."

Maybe Caroline. Maybe Stefan. But even then, as far as he knows, Stefan doesn't remember anything- doesn't remember they were brothers to start with. "Your mirror's over there. What's he like?"

Is he dangerous? It's the underlying question.

"He.. would not be inclined to help," Regis tells Damon with a smile that is slightly grim around the edges. His conversation with his mirror, as brief as it had been, would not be one that he would soon forget... and he has his own interests in getting back to the Real side as quickly as possible.

"In fact, I believe that he would not hesitate to utterly destroy my reputation on the other side, so trust me when I say that I am just as eager to return as you are."

Regis could do a lot of damage on his own, if he lost control. He shudders to think of what a version of him with a skewed moral compass would be capable of.

"He does not have the same regard for life as I do, and I don't think he would find anything wrong in taking it without remorse. Just as I once did."

Damon can't help but think back to when Klaus in werewolf form was unleashed upon the mansion only days ago. Regis is incredibly old and incredibly powerful, and the mansion would really be fucked if it's what his mirror wants to do. He's got enough responsibility lying on the people around him as it is so Damon nods and then slides a hand behind his neck with a grimace because Elena's still over there

"Fuck. Yeah, we need to get over there."

He releases a low breath, licking his lips.

"We could try my brother..."

Damon thinks Stefan might have the best chance of forcing his mirror to look in a mirror if that's the case. He's not sure he knows anyone who could try to take out Regis' mirror though except Regis himself which is not really doable.

The mansion would indeed be in trouble, but Regis got the impression from his mirror that he didn't want to draw too much attention to himself. At least, not yet. It worries him, but that concern is for the future, and he has dealt with such poor reputations before now.

"Your brother?" Despite knowing them both, and in a peculiar twist of dramatic irony, Regis has no awareness of the relation between Damon and Stefan Salvatore. He had come close to the knowledge, recently, though Stefan had declined to speak about his brother after thinking about it.

"Where might we find him?"

Damon hasn't talked much about his brother, because his brother doesn't have his memories and his brother is definitely (absolutely) better without Damon in his life. It's one thing that got honed in on him over and over again through his last year in Mystic Falls. Stefan was happier, healthier, and more stable when Damon wasn't around to drag him down.

"I know where Stefan's room is, but with the whole mansion gone to hell, there's no telling if he's even in there."

He still makes a direct line in that direction. It's not far from Damon's own room.

"Stefan--?"

The faint tone of surprise is clear, and goes far beyond a simple reaction to the name itself. How could he have been so dense to not realise before now that the two of them were related.

"I.. believe I might know him," he continues, falling into quick step beside Damon. "But the only time he mentioned a brother, he was entirely reluctant to speak of him."

To the point of not mentioning his name at all.

Damon turns to look back at Regis when he speaks with familiarity. He swallows then abruptly, glancing ahead. Entirely reluctant to speak about Damon. Well, maybe he finally made the right decision for his brother. Not just heading into an armory so Stefan wouldn't have to, so Stefan could have the life he wanted, but just- just staying out of his life all together now.

He'd tried for a long time to help him, to accept whoever he ended up being in Wonderland without those memories, but-

"Sounds like Stefan," he says quietly, "and he doesn't even have all his memories to remember all the reasons why he wouldn't want to claim me."

Regis is quite easily as perceptive as Damon believes himself to be, and the young man's delicate current state makes him easier to read than usual. He wonders, briefly, if he should not have said anything at all, but the words had tripped out of his mouth before he had been able to have second thoughts about it.

He can't take it back, but he puts one arm gently around Damon's shoulders while they walk.

"If you care about him, Damon, do not give up on him."

Damon breathes in sharp at the sudden touch despite how gentle it is. His mouth parts and then shuts again as he walks forward.

"I haven't, but his memories were stolen back in our world, and there's not much I can do to change that. Hell, he doesn't want to change it, and I can't blame him. I've tried helping him in Wonderland anyway. He's still my little brother, but-" He shrugs slightly. His shoulders are tense. "Believe me, his life's better without all the baggage that comes with being a Salvatore."

His life's better without Damon in it.

He stops abruptly in front of the door to the right room, but one quick look inside, shows the mirrors in here have been shattered too.

This, at least right now, is one thing he will not try to change Damon's mind on. The younger vampire is in a fragile enough state that he can see it, and it would not be the correct time to press such an issue. Instead, he pauses alongside his friend and glances into the room in turn, a small frown furrowing his brow.

Rather than moving along, he enters, ensuring that the door is pushed wide open before he crosses the threshold. He'll not be taken by surprise, here.

A quick examination of the room shows up a very deliberate attempt to make sure that what they are trying to do can't be done, and he delicately picks up one of the larger mirror shards.

"It may be worth our time to look for anyone, and move on from there," he muses aloud, glancing to Damon for confirmation. "Chasing shattered mirrors will get us nowhere quickly."

"Means we're going to want to leave messages on mirrors. Let people know what's going on," Damon says even if he hates- he hates having to rely on anyone else. This feeling of powerlessness has become frustratingly familiar to him over the years in his own world, in Wonderland too.

It's mostly back in his own world.

The list goes on and on. He's learned how to deal with whatever comes, because options are limited. Usually it means just surviving. Usually it means holding on to hope despite all the odds, because it's all there is, and he has to believe he'll get back there in time-

Before his mirror can do anything terrible.

"Maybe there's someone else on this side who knows how to get back."

[closed] if you must die, sweetheart,

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