Now you know it's a meaningless question to ask if those stories are right

[therapize]

Who: The Wonderland O'Connells (Evelyn and Cami)
Where: The Library
When: June 1st
Rating: PG, PG-13? Talk of vampires and compulsion.
Summary: So Cami's noticed Damon hanging around the library, a lot. Specifically around the librarian. That doesn't always mean good things.
The Story:
The first time Cami spotted Damon in the library, she hadn't thought much of it. The same could be said for the second, and maybe even the third. Yet more and more it seemed like she couldn't venture in there without finding two particular people, only one of whom spent her time shelving books. Of course it left her curious and concerned both, given how erratic Damon's behavior had been since he came back to Wonderland. He was a vampire scorned, something Cami had plenty of experience with, which was why when she came into the library today, she carried with her a small packet of a particular plant along with her books.

Not that she had any evidence Damon was up to something, but as a former victim of compulsion herself? She wasn't going to let the apparent subject of Damon's fascination walk around unprotected.

"Hey there." Of course, the tricky part was talking about this when Damon wasn't around to hear. Fortunately he seemed to be elsewhere today, possibly day drinking given his announcement earlier, giving Cami reason to suddenly be glad for the limitless amount of alcohol they had on tap. She approached Evelyn with a smile, trying to best decide how to broach this. So has the vampire with crazy cheekbones and gorgeous blue eyes been using mind-control on you? felt just a little too blunt for a stranger. Instead Cami shifted the books she carried to one arm, extending her now free hand toward Evelyn. "I'm Cami. You work here, right?"

Comments

[therapize]

“He seemed to be, the few times we talked.” When Damon had been well and truly liquored up, acting with reckless disregard about drinking from people. But that had been some time ago, when he first arrived back. Cami hasn’t kept in touch so well as she probably should have, but to be honest, she’s had a lot on her plate. Dean created a mess she’s still trying to help her friends sort through with varying degrees of success, not to mention dealing with the Mikaelsons on any given day.

Still, it’s clear that Evelyn’s had more contact with him. Even with the very real possibility she might be compelled, distorting her perception or memory of events, Cami’s still interested in what she has to say. “Helpful how? Putting books back on shelves, or something else?”

She leans forward, honestly curious. Something in the behavior could reveal a vital piece of information that Cami’s missed while she’s watched from a distance.

[nascensibility]

Oddly helpful, or what she's seen of him since he's stopped acting the part of the local skeevy fellow who uses his eyebrows far too much for his own good. Barring any notion that he might have (God forbid) manipulated her in some way - mind, Evelyn is trying exceedingly hard not to consider that with her recent track record - Damon acts the respectable gentleman.

To an extent.

"He seems to have taken 'library assistant' to heart, fetching and re-shelving items without complaint, he tends to be fairly punctual, he catalogued artefacts from my dig site. He's actually begun reading a great deal more in his own time to engage in voluntary discussion, he, ah- he made dinner for me, not long ago?"

Being someone with rudimentary cooking skills at best, Evelyn has learned to appreciate the culinary arts and those who excel in them. Returning the conspiratorial lean, she lowers her voice:

"Between us, I think his protective streak is several kilometres wide. A little tiresome, but I've handled worse."

[therapize]

What Evelyn describes is not at all what Cami expects to hear. Instead of the barely-held-together pieces of a man tormented by anger and pain, what Damon’s doing sounds like—well, like a man trying to impress a woman he’s got a crush on, frankly. She grins, even lets out a soft huff, amused at the picture portrayed.

“Wow. So he likes you.” To what extent has yet to be seen, but doesn’t it make so much sense? Damon’s agony had been caused by the loss of not one, but two women who had chosen his brother over him. Of course, there’s still reason to be concerned; Evelyn has no way of knowing all that might have been done to her, be it a loss of memory or a twisting of her perception of events—or even nothing at all, aside from whatever it is she can’t speak of.

So she shakes her head, leans back a bit in her chair. “If it helps, I don’t think he’s a bad guy? He can be, but—he’s more lonely than anything else. He’s the type who doesn’t let many people in, and when he’s hurt, he recoils in spectacular fashion. If he acts like the monster he believes everyone else sees him as, then one day he might become that and stop hurting. After all, monsters aren’t supposed to feel anything.”

But Damon clearly does—just like Klaus.

“With you, though, it seems like he’s leveling off, which is definitely a good thing. And I’m not saying avoid him at all costs or anything like that. Honestly, some of the people I’m closest to back home are vampires.” The ones that leave her with the most complicated feelings. “For as cruel and horrible as he can be, I know he’ll never hurt me. Damon might see you in a similar light—if what you’ve described is the truth. But there’s only one way to be sure of that.”

Her eyes drift down to the packet of vervain which would ensure Evelyn remain compulsion-free in the future, although they both clearly know that Cami’s referring to the other part of the offer.

[nascensibility]

Evelyn is not unaccustomed to men liking her, neither is she unused to men loitering in the library and pretending to keep themselves busy in a thinly-veiled attempt to share her company. What concerns her about this particular man is that their first meeting comprised of mental manipulation and the consumption of one of the crucial parts that makes up a human being - both of which only serve to remind Evelyn of what Hannibal Lecter did to her.

Her reticence toward making new friends with cannibalistic qualities should therefore be understandable, no matter how many well-meaning gestures the person in question makes toward her safety. Damon lent her his jacket in the frigid hallways of the facility in Greenland and rarely ventured from her side, but there is a distinct difference between kindly concern for someone who gets cold easily, and a mild obsession with the first soft, warm person you encountered after being rejected by the woman you loved.

Even in lamenting the death of her own inherent trust in others Evelyn can see the merit that lies with scepticism, with wariness. Damon is lonely. He couldn't be more obvious about it if he stood up on a soapbox and declared it in front of the entire Wonderland population.

But her sympathies have burned her before, and she is tired of bandaging herself up.

"You...said that compulsion removal was possible, I'm not...I'm not opposed to it. I want it lifted."

[therapize]

Cami’s personally of the opinion that a person doesn’t have to have prior experience with a human-eating, mind-controlling anything to be wary of them. Vampires are forever complicated, capable of great harm and great help both, which very often depends on what mood they’re in. She’s spent the year prior to her arrival in Wonderland steeped in all the drama that comes with being part of the supernatural world, and more than once Cami’s wanted to escape from it.

She hasn’t. More to the point, there’s only so much blame she can assign for that.

“Okay. I’ll get in touch with my friend; her name’s Davina.” Because there’s a chance that Evelyn might have already met her. Cami has her phone out a moment later to send a text message. “We should go someplace private. Damon hasn’t been invited into my room or my office if you’re comfortable heading to either of those? I would say we could go to an empty room, but if he finds us, there’s no rule of ownership keeping him out.”

And while Damon has apparently been behaving himself, Cami would rather avoid the confrontation that goes with him tracking down his obsession only to find whatever commands he’s put into her head being unraveled.

[nascensibility]

Evelyn, who is unacquainted with the grand majority of Wonderland's vampire population and would rather steer clear of them if at all possible, has experienced complicated in many forms. Her relationship with Will Graham is complicated. Her strong dislike of F. Scott Fitzgerald is complicated. What is not complicated are vampires - they simply come with complications. The undead are not rife with excessive motive beyond personal gain or satisfaction and sometimes, a need to imbibe human blood.

This would be simple, if there weren't so many hidden clauses in the contract.

Looking down at her work and then the speedy messaging that the woman across from her partakes in Evelyn's recent, diligent wariness has her gripping the verbena plant before interjecting:

"...I'm sorry, but how do I know that I can trust you? Your friend? With the recent bevy of residents committing all manner of atrocities, I can't-"

Here the words catch in her throat, trapped between a desire to reach out and the experiences of being burned.

"I can't take people at face value. Not anymore."

[therapize]

Cami pauses mid-message as Evelyn voices her concerns, favoring the woman with a wan smile. It's clear just how troubled she is by the question, even if on the surface it makes perfect sense to ask. She's already been subjected to who knows what in terms of Damon's compulsion, and now Cami is offering a method to undo that by admittedly messing with Evelyn's mind further while putting her through great pain. If not desperation, there's a certain amount of something quite like it needed to even consider the option--and for a person who has so obviously had her trust betrayed by at least one of those residents? Taking the word of a stranger is a heavier choice.

"You don't. We've just met, and I've swooped in offering a magical solution to a problem you knew you had, but possibly not to what extent." Honestly, the situation has the "too good" cliche painted on it with neon colors. "Anyone I could offer to vouch for my character or Davina's would be tainted by the source, and the people you would believe may have fallen for the same potential facade, provided we have any mutual acquaintances at all."

Really, it's all too easy to spell out the reasons to be wary; the words that fear would whisper as it wrapped its arms around Evelyn's heart to claim her for itself. Cami glances down, looking at the way the other woman holds to that plant, a miracle cure for what ails her in some aspects--although now, as Cami realizes, not the one that matters most.

She still grins as she goes on, but only just.

"I know what it's like: to have someone you love, someone you're bonded to suddenly become a monster." Her eyes close, and for a moment her breathing turns shaky. With everything that's happened with the Winchesters, it's been impossible not to dream of Sean and Kieran these days. "To intimately know just how possible it is for a good, decent person to turn on a dime, whether it's because they've always been lying or something made them change--either way, that sort of experience would make it difficult to trust anyone.

"But for all the pain that can potentially come with it, I don't think you want to stop believing that people as a majority want to be good." Not when she apologies for her lack of trust, or has to force out her conclusion despite the valid justification for it. "And I'd be lying if I claimed to be saying this without trying to convince you, at least in part, but I also think it goes beyond right now. You've been hurt, and you're afraid of it happening again, because it absolutely could. But they can still take away something else from you: the part of you willing to trust, to believe that people want to be kind rather than cruel."

[nascensibility]

Astonishingly, it has very little to do with Damon.

Evelyn is not a fearful person, and neither does she permit fear to envelope her unless it does so without her consent. When she is afraid, it because she allowed herself to be. Things and people may frighten or threaten, but true fear is what drags her from sleep at night, settles deep in her lungs and constricts as it knows not the fate of her son and family, a world away. True fear speaks through a shriveled mouth over a sandy tongue and whispers words meant to harm her and others.

What Hannibal Lecter did inspired no fear in her; by the time she had come to her own conclusions about him and what he was capable of she no longer sensed a threat in the shadows - awareness of the enemy's shape affords a greater chance of success in confrontation. Evelyn knows monsters, Hannibal was only a human playing at the role. More monstrous than those deeds was the deception from parties that cut her deeper than the doctor's knife, a lack of trust in her that now hinders spontaneity, refuses to accept kindlier gestures as they are.

Not out of immediate concern for her well-being, simply conscious of the fact that she has suffered at other's hands for being too open and expecting the same when she had no right to do so. Evelyn considers how relieved her husband might be to know that her more recent leaps have been preceded by long, careful looks.

What hurts more than anything is a bone-deep exhaustion, a weariness she cannot combat because she hasn't the weapons. Almost four years, and she carries others carefully, wears the optimism like Athena's shield and helps, because she has been here for so long. Because she must.

Almost four years, and she is tired and concerned that it might be selfish to ask for something in return.

"...you must practise psychiatry," she says quietly, a small smile tugging on the edges of her lips.

[therapize]

She’s getting that idea, that this goes beyond Damon and his compulsion, whatever it may entail. But Evelyn doesn’t elaborate on that, or choose to give Cami an answer for her offer. Instead she postulates a theory of her own, one that has Cami smiling as she realizes once more that yes, she wears her profession on her sleeve as others might their hearts.

“Room twenty on the sixth floor.” Of course she won’t deny it, although Cami is quite aware of the reputation the last notable psychiatrist in Wonderland now carries. “Considering that the only other person who seemed to be practicing here was Hannibal Lecter, it seemed prudent to put something together for people who weren’t interested in getting therapy from a cannibal.”

Hannibal hadn’t murdered her, but he hadn’t needed to; the snide judgement he flung at Cami had been more than enough to earn her disdain even before she’d figured out who he was.

But it also isn't what matters most at the moment, and she lets out a slow breath. As much as she doesn't want to veer too far from the original topic, Cami also doesn't think that weariness she can see in Evelyn's smile is something to be brushed aside without concern.

"I'm sorry for whatever it is you've been through," because that much, at least is clear to her. That sort of fatigue doesn't come naturally, but rather after a person has been worn down to a point where they simply can no longer stand. "Like I said, I know you have no reason to trust me. So you set the terms--tell someone you do trust where you're going, or invite them to come too. You pick the time and the place. Whatever helps you feel comfortable with this, I'm willing to go with."

Because it is far less important to Cami that she be the one to plan the details--both for the decompulsion, and whatever else Evelyn might want to see her for.