The Queen Slayer | TO {2}

Stop And Stare

They were running low on bourbon.

Hence why Damon and Buffy were allowed a moment alone as Stefan went to grab the next bottle for the three of them.

It was his turn to either pay or compel them a fresh bottle.

The second they finally had a moment alone together for the first time since Stefan woke up, Damon let his eyes focus on his clearly exhausted best friend. He had overheard her on the phone all night following Stefan waking up, plus he knew she had been working nonstop since.

She probably hadn't slept since they had found Stefan in Tessa's cabin.

Damon was right.

"So, how was your chit-chat with Klaus?"

He had overheard her speaking to the Hybrid when he had woken up at noon right before she vanished back to the gallery to check on the progress. To be honest, a part of him was a mixture of confused and curious when it came to the topic of her current contact with The Hybrid.

He knew Elijah called her every other day, but Klaus seemed to text Buffy all of the time. Updating her with his every little thought plus he had overheard them speak over the phone at least three times since she had returned to Mystic Falls.

However, their calls were always vague and she tended to rush out of hearing range the second she clicked who had called her.

While he was curious as to what they were talking about, what had him so confused was how they were managing to stay in such constant contact.

It had been proven over centuries that when a child was lost, the parents tended to drift apart. Yet, Buffy and Klaus talked just as much even maybe more than they used to.

Never going no-contact with each other.

Honestly, while Damon detested the idea of children, he couldn't imagine maintaining a long-lasting friendship with the person he shared a dead child with.

It just seemed too hard.

Like speaking to them would be a constant reminder of the loss.

Buffy just sighed as she continued to nurse her drink, truthfully, there was so much revealed in her latest update from Klaus that it was physically impossible for her to explain it all to Damon in a way that made sense. She would have to explain all of the contexts which had been sprinkled to her over the past few months.

That was a conversation that was too complicated to have.

"Esther is crazy, Elijah thirsty, Mari is not answering Klaus's phone calls again and torture party in the dining room. So ya know, normal."

It was a severe understatement.

And oversimplification.

However, Buffy could never truly reveal everything given how tied her daughter was to the reasons behind the dramas in New Orleans. A daughter all of her friends here except for Jeremy and Bonnie thought had been dead for 8 months.

"What is not normal, is Bon." She stated bluntly quickly swerving the subject to lesson any risk of spilling the truth about her little girl being alive.

With Silas in the wind, Buffy couldn't risk even uttering a signal wrong word about Joy's current state.

"Hmm." Damon mumbled with a shrug "Well it would be helpful if she would answer her phone to fix-"

Buffy kicked him in the shins, glaring at him harshly ignoring the way he let out a sharp cry of pain. She didn't give a shit, it was supposed to hurt. Honestly, a part of Buffy didn't even blame Bonnie for not answering her phone given that the only time someone in Mystic Falls got concerned was when they needed a witch fix.