Rosed

Metal into Ash

Caroline had found a handcrafted 18 Karat ring for Rose with zodiac symbols inlaid on the Lapis Lazuli stone. It suited Rose who had a bit of a flower child look to her... except with better more modern clothes.

Rose thanked her quite happy with her selection and in addition to giving Bonnie the promised 200k, she also arranged for a spa day for her and her friends as an additional thank-you gift. They invited her along but she insisted on standing guard outside in case Elijah happened upon them so she would lead him away allowing them time to get to safety.

Luckily the girls were able to enjoy the day without incident and made it back to Mystic Falls unharmed and significantly more relaxed than they had been in some time.

Coming back to Mystic Falls Rose dropped the girls off at their respective houses and then decided to stop by the local watering hole for a drink.

She wasn't surprised to see Damon there for some reason she knew he would be, even what seat he'd likely be in.

"An old fashioned, please," she ordered from the bartender taking a seat next to Damon, "Hope you don't mind," she said.

"Drinking with a beautiful woman? I prefer it actually," he tells her with a little twinkle in his eye.

The bartender served her her drink and she raised her glass in a cheers to Damon who happily picked his own up to clink hers.

"What are we drinking to?" She asked.

"Tuesdays?" Damon said offering a reason as good as any to drink.

Rose smiled, charmed by him, "to Tuesdays," she said playing along before taking a deep pull of her drink.

"Oh almost forgot," she said reaching into her pocket and pulling out a sprig of vervain.

"Ugh, really we have to start that now?" Damon complains.

"No time like the present, come on," she says using the plastic of the baggy to safely tear some off and drop in Damon's drink as well as hers.

"One, two... three!" She says and they both down their drinks choking a bit as the burn was rough going down.

"Two more over here," Damon orders wheezing a bit as his larynx repairs itself. He needed a new drink or 10 to forget about the last one.

"So Rosebud, still crying over your buddy losing his head?" Damon so sensitively asks.

"Really Rosebud? Ugh, that's a horrible nickname," she tells him and he gives her a look.

"What?" she asks.

"Nothing, just surprised that's the part of what I said that offended you, you wouldn't happen to have your switch off, would you?" he asks her not really caring either way but needing to know if they could trust her to keep her word about helping protect Elena.

"You're so young, you don't understand it's fleeting yet, do you?" She asks.

"What do you mean?" Damon asks.

"I mean after about 200 years, there is no more switch, you can dim your emotions a bit but, that bliss of shutting off everything, that's a perk only enjoyed by newbies," Rose tells him.

"So getting older sucks even as a vampire, good to know," he says.

"Is feeling really so terrible?" Rose asks.

"Ugh, yes, it's the worst!" Damon complains making her giggle at how juvenile he sounds.

"I'm so glad you can find my pain amusing," Damon says to her leaning in a bit once again surprised by how taken he was with her. But it was likely just because she was a pretty new face around... it would pass soon. At least that's what he told himself.