entrancelogs | I would break the laws of gravity

Who: Leo Fitz and OPEN (log is for all, some closed starters in comments)
Where: Checkerboard Hills
When: August 9th, just past midnight
Rating: PG+
Summary: Man returns to Wonderland after two months at home under heavy stress. Man throws toddler-level tantrum in public space. As adults are wont to do.
The Story:

[Apparently, the stories are true. When one leaves Wonderland, one is thrust back home without memory. There's nothing to prevent the mistakes he should know to avoid, no way to apply the emotional developments he's earned. It's just the harsh progression of time, doing what time wishes. And there's no way to stop it from bringing them back before they're ready to come back.

When Fitz arrives, it's facedown into a patch of eternally-manicured grass. The memories hit all at once, but they're not memories he wants. He doesn't need to know about a ridiculous fantasy dimension holding people hostage. He was kind of in the middle of something a little life-or-death...!

It's too much to hold, and far more than he can process. Instead of wandering back to the mansion and settling back into his personal space, he stays where he is, pulling himself up to his hands and knees and tearing at the grass in open distress, shouting out at nothing and everything all at once.]

Not now! There's no time for this!

[Some people hit pillows. Right now, he's technically landscaping. And he's definitely not tearing up. That's probably all the dirt he's dislodging.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Madness is hardly as cut-and-dry as all that, especially given the recent advances in behavioral medicine...

[He considers it for a moment, then clears his throat. Is he being overliteral again? He's trying to become more aware of that.]

But... That's probably not what you meant. You should go on, though. It's never wrong to ask a question.

[Curiosities are what make the world better, even if the results are occasionally damaging.]

[Oh no, he's like an overly adorable nerd. She's not sure what she expected out of one of Klaus' friend, but she's not sure it was this.]

If you had to pick something you felt back home versus something you felt when you were here before you went home, forgot, and then came back, what would you do?

[That's probably...really vague and unhelpful, not to mention premature since the poor guy just got back, but it pops out before she can stop herself.]

Were you gone long enough to even know what I'm talking about?

[He'll pause at that. There were a lot of components in that question, and he'll take a minute to parse through it, murmuring under his breath.]

...If I had to... back home... here...

[It'll percolate for a bit before he raises his eyes again.]

I might need you to say a bit more before I can be sure I'm answering properly. What kind of feelings are troubling you?

[She chews on her bottom lip; considering the fact he's not following, she might be really barking up the wrong tree here.]

I was gone for like...years. It kind of...messed all my relationships up considering they're kind of different here. Sort of.

[She waves a hand, shaking her head.]

Nevermind, I shouldn't have said anything. It was stupid. You just got here and clearly went through something and I'm talking about myself like a loser. [She throws a thumb over her shoulder.] You wanna go inside or do you still want to do some more landscaping out here?

Not stupid.

[In fact, when she looks distressed, she'll have his full attention.]

What sorts of relationships do you mean?

[He assumes this has something to do with the tense network of alliances the vampires have established with one another. They're most likely allied differently at home.]

Is there something dangerous happening?

[He'll follow her towards the mansion if she'd like to escort him, but otherwise he's here to listen to anything she'd like to tell him.]

You know, like dating?

[It's exactly the opposite of what you think, Fitz. It's the furthest thing from vampire politics, really.

She figures she should fess up, if only because he might end up telling Klaus that this whole thing happened at all.]

Klaus and I are on a...break. I was sort of seeing someone else back home before I got back. Kind of. Everything's sort of weird now. And there was the fact that I came back crazy.

Oh. [His eyes widen as soon as she clarifies. He really had needed it spelled out that completely.]

... I can understand that. [Indirectly.] My girlfriend here isn't quite in the same place at home. She fancies someone else.

[But he'll stop there, lest he steal the momentum of the conversation outright. She's visibly troubled by the difference; it's only fair to let her steer.]

[She actually looks...pleased to hear this, since it basically means she isn't totally alone in this situation, which she realizes is probably the wrong reaction, so she quickly fixes her expression.]

It's messed up, right? That it can just screw with stuff like that? I had a hard enough time trying to figure out this stuff back home, let alone throwing a whole other relationship in the mix, one I didn't even remember.

[Klaus was in New Orleans, she was in Virginia. She'd told him to leave and never come back.

Things were...a little different here. They had freaking lived together for god's sake.]

This place is the worst.

[He'll shrug a little at that.]

In my case? She's the only person I've ever loved. All I want in the world is to see her happy. Even if it isn't with me. And I'm sure that Klaus would say similarly of you.

[He watches her curiously, studying the extra parts of her. The curl in her hair seems labor intensive. She spends time with it. Do many people notice how much work must go into her public-facing persona?

They must. It seems so obvious. He won't bring it up.]

What would make you happy?

[Her lips purse; she knows full well that that's what Klaus would say. The one here, anyway. She's not so sure the one she last saw in the woods would have said the same.

But maybe that's why she didn't love him. Not in the way that they were then, but they were different here. Everything was different. She'd seen pieces of who he would become, had seen the good, just as Tyler had claimed, but something else had fully formed them.

She already knew what that missing piece had been. They'd talked about it enough, after all.]

I don't know. Besides, it's not just about me. Is either answer really all that fair to them, too? I get back together with him, and then Stefan shows up? Then, what do I do?

[If there's one thing upon which he and Klaus aggressively agree, it's obsessive love.]

The only unfair answer is the one where you aren't honest. To yourself or otherwise. I don't know this Stefan, but if he loves you the way you say he does, then he would want you to be happy as well. It's your choice, and nobody ought to be able to take it away from you. Not for any reason.

I only know what other people have told me.

[What Klaus told her, that Stefan chooses her, wants to be with her, despite what she puts him through.]

It's just sort of a damned if you do, damned if you don't thing, I guess. No matter what I do, someone could get hurt, you know?

[She manages a smile, though.]

Thanks, though. That helps. [Even if she has to hear the same thing several times, it's helpful for it to come from different people with different biases and have the answer be the same.] So that's more than enough about me. You should probably let your friends know you're here.

[He's a good friend, she can tell. They'll be worried.]

I'd like to think I just did.

[The girlfriend of a friend is also a friend, right? Maybe they could double-date. He's thought about having that sort of group outing with Bobbi and Hunter, though that's mostly been in the idle fantasies he's had while wishing things about Jemma that she probably doesn't even want to see happen.]

But you're right that there's probably a number of people I ought to contact. Will you be all right from here?

[She chuckles.]

I meant other than me. [Thought she's glad he even remotely considers her as such.] I would tell Klaus for you, but I think you should do it yourself. I'm sure he was worried about you.

[She shakes her head with amusement at the question, though.]

Don't worry, I've got it. Besides, I'm pretty sure I should be asking you that.

I would break the laws of gravity

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