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[Damon is not happy, and definitely not drunk enough for this. At first, he assumed he'd been hallucinating, on some trip after drinking bad blood. However, he has been roaming Wonderland for hours on this bright and early morning, while everyone else was likely asleep. He’s poked his head in where it doesn’t belong, waiting for the hallucination to fade. Spoilers: it doesn’t. He finally studies the communication device, accepting that this is either one very long dream or he’s actually here. Somehow. He’s on the main floor, pressed up against the marble pillar, staring up at the ceiling. It takes minimal effort to skim through previous entries before he switches to video.]

Question #1, for the masses: How drunk do you have to be for this place to start making sense? Because I’m starting to think this poor, lonely bottle's not gonna cut it. [Damon looks to the bottle in his hand with a little sigh, tapping his fingers on its surface.] Looks like we're not in Kansas anymore, Toto.

[He takes a long drink, swallows, and sends the camera a slow but absolutely charming smirk:]

Question #2: what’s the one thing you wish someone had told you on your first day in the merry old Land of Wonder, but failed to?

[Damon points a finger at the camera with the hand that's still partly wound around the bottle] And go. Best answers get a pony.

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[Outwardly at least, he seems to be taking it well. She nods to confirm his conclusion, watching Damon as he mulls it over. Last time he definitely seemed a bit more on the unstable side, so it could be a good thing that he seems to be taking this with careful consideration.

Or it could just mean that something really bad is going to break through, a calm before the storm type deal. Unfortunately, Cami really can't tell which.]

New Orleans. And if the trend has continued, probably from a time in the future for you. [Something she'd discussed with Elena not too long ago, in fact. For whatever reason, the people from Mystic Falls were usually drawn from when the Originals still occupied that town, while the New Orleans contingent were from after their return to the Big Easy. Again, it could mean something, or it could just be random; one of the joys of Wonderland is never being able to be sure.]

Not quite how it works, although people are sometimes more willing to spill their guts to a bartender than a therapist. But considering the booze is free and easily obtained, I don't think it'd work out long term.

So have you caught up with Elena yet? [The teddy bear that had made an appearance earlier probably isn't his, but he also wouldn't be the first vampire with a quirk if it were.] She's here too, just in case she hasn't called you already.

[Stefan's brother went off the rails back in Mystic Falls, and now it's up to Damon to try to keep Elena safe. It's required him to take a step back and to plan instead of simply reacting (Sometimes he fails to take that step back, because he's still basically a grenade waiting to explode at the slightest jostle.

He's always going to be dangerous, always going to be a monster, but he's changed from who he was when he first showed up in Mystic Falls by leaps and bounds. Damon makes a face when she mentions New Orleans. He's been a long time ago, and it wasn't a great experience. Cause of the whole siring thing that accidentally happened. Oops.]

Right, from the future. I've experienced that already. [There's plenty that he has lived through that Elena has not, and it's frustrating as hell to have her not know and not remember.]

You could always bring the booze into the therapy room. I feel like it'd make people much more likely to open up about their issues.

[There's a pause at her question, and Damon has to remind himself that Elena has been here for months already. She's likely met most of these people They know her, and she knows them.] Yeah, we've talked. There wasn't a chance to get a complete update on this place, but I've seen her. Did you two talk about me? [How does she know Elena and Damon are close enough that he'd need to know she was here in the first place?

He hates feeling like he's on an uneven playing ground]

From which perspective? Both are pretty jarring. [When she'd first arrived, Cami had been from a point in time further ahead than anyone else she knew. It made things complicated to say the least, given that she'd also been sporting a fresh neck wound courtesy of Mikael, whom for everyone else had died.

Plus Elijah hadn't known her at all, which made for an interesting introduction.]

Maybe it would, but a lot of what makes therapy work is the choice people make to open up without some sort of mind-altering influence. I mean, come on. Are you going to tell me you've never made a drunken confession you regretted?

[Given the ease with which Damon opted to get himself sloshed, Cami's doubtful.

He hesitates when she asks about Elena, which isn't a surprise. Drunk or otherwise, his previous version had opened up to her quite a bit--especially when it came to being in love with his brother's girl. Twice, in fact, as it had happened with both Elena and Katherine. But Cami's reasonably sure they should work their way up to that, rather than having her just blurt it out.]

A bit. She asked me what you were like when you were here before. [Something Damon's no doubt intensely curious about himself.] I think it's her way of trying to work details about the future out of me. I've been pretty adamant about not sharing everything I know. The thing about Wonderland is that no matter what we learn here, we forget it when we get sent home. So learning about something from the future means you have to live not only with the weight of the knowledge, but the certainty that you can't do anything to change it.

Well now that I've met you, ...both. [Cami is clearly from the future that he has yet to live, and both Elena and Bonnie are from far earlier than him. Damon snorts lightly at the question, because they both know the answer to that.

He takes a drink from the fresh bottle beside him, arm wrapped around the teddy bear, lifting its hands up to make it seem like the teddy bear is thinking deep thoughts here.]

...I can't say that I haven't.

[of course then he compelled/killed the person so they would not remember it except in a few rare cases, but details, which he will not get into at the moment. Damon tilts his head to the side as she starts to explain, and a tiny smile tugs across his face, because he's very curious about what he was like when he was here before (and curious, pleased that Elena asked)]

From what you've told me, it sounds like I was a little more... unstable. [Not that it's hard for Damon to flip a switch literally, figuratively. His gaze grows dark then, quiet then, because she doesn't want to tell her everything she knows, and there has to be a reason for that. He's not necessarily against it either. There are moments that Elena has yet to live that Damon doesn't know if he wants to express to her, how far Stefan goes off the deep end, how close they got to killing Klaus and failing.] It's because you know something about her future that would hurt her.

[If she knew it.]

So that means you're from further along than the others. [Elena and the other one whom Cami has yet to meet. She presses her lips together for a moment, considering just how far she should take this. The last time Damon had been around, he hadn't even heard of the Originals; this time would clearly be different, but the question remains:

Just what spectacular horror have they—has Klaus--potentially pulled off in Damon's recent memory?]

The big dividing event seems to revolve around the Originals. It's probably coincidence, but...are they still in Mystic Falls?

[He's smart; Damon would probably figure out that if that's Cami's guideline, it means they leave at some point, which is fine. She's already told Elena as much anyway.]

You know, you haven't been in Wonderland long enough to start drinking with only the stuffed animals to keep you company. [Although Cami can't exactly blame him; learning everything she had on top of what she'd been through just before her arrival had left her needing a few drinks too—both times, actually. The difference is, she's not a vampire who goes around compelling and killing, and yes Damon, she's aware of that habit. Compulsion, at least, is how she got to know the librarian here.] Don't push it too far. I'm pretty good when it comes to keeping secrets, but I'm not keen on letting people get hurt if it can be helped.

[She has vervain, and she's in a pretty good position to distribute it. Plus, Damon himself had admitted to going after people last time he'd been around and wasted.]

Unstable is a good word. I've used it myself. [Well if he's going to put it out there. But that doesn't mean Damon is himself a bad person; Cami had gotten to know him, had some secrets shared, and yeah, Damon's conclusion is pretty spot on. The vampires she's met have told her their share of secrets: Klaus at home, Damon in Wonderland. It's not a full picture, she knows, but it's a solid one.]

I'm guessing she's not there. [If she is, Damon's got vampire reflexes. He should be able to hit mute. Cami lowers her head for a moment, turning over just where she should start. It's not fair for her to keep Damon's own secrets from him, but at the same time? It's hard to predict just how he's going to take someone, a human stranger with ties to the Mikaelsons, knowing them.]

I know you love her, despite the fact that she's with your brother. [Raising her head, Cami pushes back her hair, tucking it neatly behind her ear. Would it hurt Elena to learn that truth? Maybe. Would it make things incredibly complicated, particularly given Stefan's absence? Without doubt.] And that for you, this isn't the first time something like this has happened. Back when you were human, Katherine played you and your brother, and then she turned you both into vampires.

[Damon shrugs lightly in acknowledgement as far as he can tell he's from farther than the both of them, which means he's shared all kinds of personal moments with Elena that this one isn't aware of. On top of that, she offered up memories in exchange to the vendors, and she forgot the one where she forgave him for forcing blood on her, but those aren't details he needs to get into at the moment]

They're still there, which means they leave at some point. Hopefully, just with themselves.

[Since that was the concern really for Elena. Klaus wanted her as his living, breathing bloodbag.]

Mm, you say that like I haven't been drinking with only stuffed animals to keep me company for longer. [He's just saying. Damon lifts an eyebrow at her at what she says, folding his arms across his chest] Y'know, I'm not a big fan of people trying to tell me what to do and how I should behave. It's clear to me my former self was a little too open.

[Damon has no plans on hurting anyone at least.]

It's accurate. [there's no better word for it really, and he folds his arms across his chest before he nods in acknowledgement. No, there's no Elena here, but he can't imagine why that- A low hiss is breathed out from his lungs- He doesn't like anyone knowing so much about him when he's clueless about them, and he sure as hell doesn't like the casual mentions of true things that are hurtful (he loves elena, he loved katherine, they both loved stefan).]

Wow, did he tell you my life story? Is that what happened before? Katherine played us in very different ways, and it was a long time ago.

[She's not with Stefan anymore regardless, but he doesn't know if this Elena is aware of that and he hasn't asked either. Stefan in his world- Well, he's so far off the rails that it convinced Elena to partake in defense so she could take care of herself if that's what he pushed her to.

Nevermind Damon's been as much as a threat to her in the past.]

[Even that acknowledgement is good to have. Damon doesn't trust her, and with his apparently greater mental stability, he also isn't throwing around details quite so quickly. It isn't a bad thing, given that a more steady Damon might turn out to be a less harm-the-innocent-in-an-emotional-fit Damon. It just means Cami has to keep paying attention to the details, and what goes unsaid.

In turn, she nods when he picks up on the part she'd left out.] To New Orleans, and yes. On their own. [Unless Hayley counted, but Cami doesn't know if Damon's referring to her, or even if he knows her. Besides, Hayley had gone to the Big Easy all on her own, before Klaus and the others.

She smirks for a moment when Damon chides her, pointing out that he's pretty used to getting drunk on his own. Not so much of a shock, really. Neither is what comes next. Hopefully she can bank on Damon's desire not to make things suck more than they have to.] Oh, I know, and maybe he was. But there are also a good number of supernatural hunters here, including an actual vampire slayer. Wonderland's going to be enough of a pain without getting them all pissed off and starting some pointless feud in a land where no one even stays dead--especially given just who would wind up in the middle of it.

[Because while most of her conversations with Elena have revolved around what Cami does and doesn't know about the future, the girl's stubborn streak has become abundantly clear. If such a conflict did start, Cami doubts Elena could keep out of it any more than Cami herself could.

He confirms her guess, and good thing. What she's just said all falls under the category of things she deliberately hasn't told Elena, who doesn't deserve to learn them by eavesdropping--accidental or otherwise. Damon's understandably less than pleased, but Cami doesn't look at all fazed by his dismay.]

That was the heart of it. [Maybe a few other selected tidbits about being the Son of Sam to try and prove his irredeemability to Cami. But those matter less just now, and Cami gives up the casual facade in favor of addressing Damon more seriously.] He trusted me, in a way. Whether or not you choose to is your own choice--but somehow I don't think you would've liked it in the long run if I just pretended not to know what I do.

[Damon doesn't know what to make of that. The last he knew- the last he knew Stefan stopped Damon from killing Klaus, and then he ran the fuck away. He still doesn't know why his brother did that, but it's the last he knows when it comes to Klaus who also killed Mikael. A shame, because it seemed like Mikael was the only one who had any effect over Klaus.

Nevermind how much Damon relates to havng an abusive father given... his own.]. Yeah, I've heard abou that. I'm not in any mood to start pissing people off who might be stronger than me. [all he really wants is to protect elena, to make sure she will be okay. he can't say he gives a fuck about anything else that happens.

he frowns when she speaks, and he hates that she is right but she is.] No, I would have hated it more.

So what is it? Why tell me all this from the start? [he doesn't trust people, and he is trying to find a reasoning here for why she would explain so much from the start when she didn't have to tell him anything at all]

[Well then, good news Damon! Mikael doesn't stay dead--although Cami's entirely on the side that he should have. She also wouldn't exactly call it bad news that Klaus killed him again.

But all of that falls into the nebulous area of "the future" that again, Cami is trying to keep from being a burden to the others from their world. Telling Damon and Elena that the Originals have gone gives them hope, and that she's willing to do. But other things she's learned, other weights, don't deserve to be put on their shoulders.]

Fair enough. [At least his reasonableness seems to hold. While Cami is very aware of how moods change, Damon's thinking pretty clearly--which says a lot, given the aforementioned drinking with stuffed animals bit. Vampiric alcohol tolerance or not, vampires can still get really, really wasted.

It doesn't tend to end well.]

I guess that's the real question, isn't it? [Cami runs a hand through her hair, pushing the locks back behind her ears. It's not that she doesn't know why, but rather that the answer is complicated and layered. Some of it Damon might appreciate, and some of it? Well. He's already shown something of a disdain for the version of himself who had been here before.]

In part, because Wonderland sucks. It takes our memories, slowly through events, or by tempting us with the vendors, or just by bringing us here or sending us home--and I hate it. I hate the idea of being surrounded by people who know something like that, while I don't remember what I should, and it makes me feel like I'm losing my mind.

[She's already lived that experience outside of a fairytale world. Thinking that it could happen again at any second, that it could happen to her, and this time there would be no revelations after a single night of agony honestly does scare her.

But as true as that reason is, it's not the whole of it. She grins, huffs out a soft laugh, and decides to continue being honest.]

As for the rest of it... Well. I don't know if you would say we were friends. And I know better than to assume that's going to be what happens this time. But even when you tried to convince me you were irredeemable, that you didn't care, it was clear that wasn't true. And despite some not great choices on your part--

I liked having you around.

[Damon is not a huge Mikael fan in general. He betrayed them, and he nearly killed Damon so he isn't a fan of his staying alive either. It seems like it'd cause more trouble than it was worth, but Klaus vs Mikael seemed like a way to have someone else deal with Klaus who wanted to use Elena as a bloodbag and had a hold on his brother who was trying to save Damon from death after he'd made a stupid decision trying to save Elena's life.

From Klaus. It's an endless circle of dying, saving, being used, being powerless.

In truth, Damon has a disdain for all versions of himself including this one. Even when he comes off as cocky as he does, there's that disdain always underneath it all. He quiets as she explains where she is coming from, because he wants to know. She knows a lot about him, and it's important for him to get a good read on her too so he knows what he can expect out of her. Her reasoning includes a kind of empathy that Damon struggles with. She doesn't like being in that position so she didn't want to put him in the same position. It says something about who she is, what she's about.

Caring can be dangerous in the worlds they live in.]

How many memories have you lost while you were here?

[If any, he doesn't know. He doesn't know both Elena and Bonnie have lost memories from the vendors. Hilariously, it's the last reason she gives which is hardest for him to wrap his head around. nevermind the fact that he is an irredeemable monster, and it's true whether or not he cares (and he does. sometimes he cares too damn much).]

...you-

What? [/fails to compute]

[Caring can be incredibly dangerous, but that's the person Cami's chosen to be both in their world, and this one. It's why she knows so much about not just Damon's history, but the Originals' and their time in Mystic Falls. Granted, she'd learned it all from Klaus' perspective, which she knows comes with a particular slant. But because she cares, Klaus has come closer to breaking some of those cycles--sometimes for better, sometimes for worse.

Damon presses with the logical question, a perfectly fair assumption--and an entirely wrong one, sparking a grin as Cami shakes her head.]

Here? Thankfully none. Back home, I got compelled...a lot. [Because of Klaus' paranoia, but also his good intentions. He really had been trying to protect Cami, even if he'd gone about it in entirely the wrong way.

Enough about that, though. Damon's shock is pretty priceless, leaving Cami to laugh as he struggles to come to terms with the idea that she'd actually liked him.]

You heard me.

You got compelled a lot. Which vampire are you close to? [Because that's how compulsion happens the most. There's a vampire who uses the person, and they compel away more than they need to know like he compelled Andie to not be afraid of him and his murderous ways. She ended up dead, and he knew very well it was his fault.

He tilts his head to the side, shaking it slightly]

I'm not sure I did. Are you sure I didn't compel you into liking me?

[the smirk widens at his face curiously even as she laughs. he knows better, of course, because she obviously knows enough to use vervain now.]

A few. Marcel Gerard, if you've heard of him. A guy named Josh. [But it doesn't take a psychic to guess which family Damon's likely most interested in.] The Mikaelsons. It was Klaus who was compelling me. It's been undone though, thanks to the power of decompulsion—which hurts like hell, for the record.

[And he's right; Cami does know to take vervain, even in Wonderland where there haven't been any of their world's vampires for months. He asks if she's sure, and despite the question being in jest she turns her phone just enough to show him the vervain she has growing on the windowsill nearby.]

Pretty sure. [Also not shocked at his skepticism. Cami leans forward a bit, looking down at the camera with a grin.] Also cautiously hopeful that you won't come up with a reason for me to change that opinion, but I suppose we'll have to see.

I have only ever heard of Klaus, and some of his family. They're not my favorite. Obviously. ...decompulsion? The hell is that?

[Damon has never heard of it before remotely. He knows people who are compelled get their memories back when they become a vampire, but she's human. So.

He tilts his head in utter confusion.]

Well, I have a habit of disappointing people so I wouldn't get your hopes up. [When people see good, they expect good after all.

He's not.

Good.]

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