Damon

[thisismybar]

Ric still wasn't sure about trusting Elijah with Elena, but his reasoning held. He could not be in two places at once, and Elijah was... as trustworthy as it was going to get, tonight. He hadn't killed Ric or let his siblings kill him, and he certainly had more emotional connection to Elena. So, he let it go without complaint and focused on the person still in the room with him, and who actually did need him.

He shook Damon's shoulder lightly, once they were alone again. "I'm okay." Just trying to get Damon to focus again. The kiss was weird and distressing for him, too, but less so than Damon apparently being prepared to lunge after a bunch of Originals who could tear his heart out of his chest. The hypocrisy was temporarily lost on him. He'd certainly been prepared to go after Kol.


Damon was not quite growling underneath his breath at the door, but it was a near thing. He certainly didn't come near relaxing until it had closed behind the Originals. Then he spun back around to stare at Ric, eyes dark. "They fed on you."

"No...," he said, studying Damon. "Elijah fed on me." He was trying to be reasonable, but he hadn't been reasonable about Damon feeding on him to start with, and Damon... Well, Damon.Low options at the time, prepared to do what it took for the Originals, but that didn't mean he'd enjoyed being bitten or fed on by someone that wasn't Damon. "Rebekah bit me."


The possessive snarly words Damon wanted to say got caught on his tongue and all flipped around, because...the whole night was all twisted up and they hadn't established what they were, even, and Klaus had almost killed him and Stefan had been a douche to Elena and he had no idea what the hell happened with Kol. What came out was hardly reasonable, though. "I'm going to kill him."


Because you're mine was on his lips, dying to come out, but he bit it back with a little bit of a snarl. If Ric didn't get it, then he wasn't going to say it. "I have no idea. Maybe he thought I was someone else. Maybe he greets everyone that way. Maybe I'm just that hot."

The smug snark didn't come out quite right with the snarl before it and the bemusement. "I'm pretty sure I'd remember if we'd met before."

"Maybe more than a century in a box and starvation did something to his brain." He still hated it though. Hated it. "Can you get rid of this?" he asked, nodding toward his wrist. Speaking of shit he hated but didn't know how to express.

...The bite on him was probably a bigger deal than watching Kol shove his tongue down Damon's throat, but there was still some kind of disconnect in his brain that kept him from getting why it was a problem for Damon. Hell, he wasn't even sure about his own reasons. He wasn't hurt.


"Gladly," Damon said, moving back to him and sitting on the end of the bed, biting his own wrist and offering it to Ric. The sooner that mark was gone, the better, though he didn't think he'd forget the sight of it for a while.

He liked seeing his on Ric, but knowing he hadn't made that one, even just on his wrist, wasn't something he was handling well.

Whatever was wrong with Kol, it was of far less importance to Damon, though he didn't realize how upset Ric was, either. He'd been a bit distracted by the kissing.


He'd asked for it, but he still hesitated a split-second before covering the bleeding wound with his mouth and taking a single swallow of blood. He wanted that contact drawn out. Actually he wanted to slam Damon against something solid, until he'd kissed Kol out of existence, if killing Kol wasn't an option.

And Killing Kol wasn't an option.

He pulled back after a second, and murmured, "Thanks." He pushed his knee out against Damon's, just a little. "Asking you to brush your teeth to get rid of Kol's rude, right?"

...He wasn't handling something well, either, though not to the same degree as Damon.

Track This
Damon shuddered just a little at the pull of his blood that was over far, far too quickly. Even so, his eyes fell closed for a moment. That little flicker was far more intense than the kiss had been, even.

He pressed back lightly against Ric's knee and opened his eyes. "No. I'll go do that..."

Though he still looked a little bemused at the idea of Ric being that upset. He got up to move to the bathroom, grabbing his shaving kit on the way.


Ric stayed put for a second or so, then got up and followed Damon to lean in the bathroom doorway. "Did you find Klaus?"

He was pretty sure he was asking for all the wrong reasons, but he couldn't help it right now. Could not. Strangely, being alone together, a sort of possessiveness was rising higher. Maybe just seeing that moment of reaction on Damon's face.

Damon put toothpaste on his toothbrush, glancing over at him.

"Yeah, at the bar." He gave a wry smile. "Apparently Stefan is irreplaceable."

Like usual.

Ric closed his eyes and sagged against the door-frame. "Thank God." Not for Elena, and the wryness wasn't missed and he could make the leap to what Damon was feeling -it was what Ric was good for- but allow him his moment of deep, profound, relief that Damon wasn't going anywhere.


Damon looked a little surprised by that much relief, but it warmed him at the same time, and he would've moved to kiss him except for the still needing to brush his teeth.

"You're not getting rid of me so easily, I guess?"


Ric was exasperated, and he looked it. "Did you hear nothing that I said to you in that bathroom?"


Uncertainty flickered across Damon's face. "...I heard you...."

Maybe it hadn't sunk in very well...


He nodded, a little. "Good. Summarize it for me."

Hazard of sleeping with a history teacher, Damon.


"If Klaus agreed to the exchange, you were going to get Elena and Stefan home safely, then come follow us..."

Which he appreciated, and understood...as it pertained to that, at least. "You didn't want me to deal alone."


"I didn't want to lose you, much less to Klaus." He was sure he'd been more frustrated, but he's not sure when. "All that stuff about you not being less important than Stefan? You're not replaceable either, Damon."


"History says otherwise," Damon muttered, finally turning back to the sink to brush his teeth. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate the sentiment. He did. He just was pretty sure Ric was delusional from blood loss or something.

Ric had had Damon's blood. No more blood loss. Certainly didn't account for him having said this before giving blood, or even being drunk.

He stared at Damon for a moment, then his eyes narrowed, he took two steps into the bathroom, grabbed Damon by the back of the shirt and made a pretty damn solid effort at slamming him against the bathroom wall.

Damon was surprised enough that he and the wall collided, which was not all that comfortable with a toothbrush in his mouth.

"...What the hell?"

He'd been slammed around quite enough tonight, thank you. Floors. Walls. Walls again.

"Stop dismissing what I'm saying, you ass." He took the toothbrush irritably away from Damon and flung it into the sink.

"I'm not!" Damon protested. He just wasn't certain how far it extended.

"The fuck you're not. I realize I'm not going to make up for you coming in second to Stefan for your entire, very long, life, but I'm here now. And what I'm saying? It counts. It's real. It matters. You matter. History can say whatever it says, but what I'm saying is different, god dammit. You aren't second to anyone, least of all your nutty brother!"

Damon stared at him, stunned, for a good long while, with no idea what to say. He wasn't used to words like that being thrown his way, and that they came from Ric...He swallowed, then pulled Ric in close and kissed him.

He sucked with words, anyway.




There was nothing gentle about the way Ric returned the kiss. He was rough, aggressive, close to violent and still pressing Damon back against the wall, but there was nothing held back in the way he was kissing him, either. It may not have been delicate, but it sure as shit was expressive.

And possessive.

He pulled back after just a moment, though. "Next time someone kisses you like that in front of me, I don't care if they're crazy: they're dead."

Comments

[prodigalsavior]

Damon shook his head a little. "I'd say the latter except...I think he really wants Stefan around."

[thisismybar]

"Maybe he's... lonely?" He was trying, he really was. "He did carry his family half-way across the country in coffins. Maybe it doesn't matter what kind of condition Stefan is in, as long as he has him."

He still couldn't shake the skin crawling revulsion he had of Klaus.

[prodigalsavior]

"Maybe." Damon could understand it. Hell, Damon could understand Klaus. Those people he'd killed in New Orleans to break Charlotte's sire bond to him? They'd probably had families. Lovers. People like Ric who were heartbroken at finding out how the person they'd loved had died, and Damon hadn't even been trying to break a curse, just a sire bond.

That wasn't a story he was proud of, or ever planning to tell if he didn't have to, but...he got Klaus.

He just hated that it was his people the hybrid had tried to destroy.

He didn't want to tell Ric how close he'd come to dying, but he pulled a little away. "I need blood and you are far too tempting right now."

[thisismybar]

The mention of blood was a damn good indication of just how badly tonight had gone. He glanced toward the door, because he wanted to be able to feed Damon, and he wanted that mark back, and he wanted the sense of connection he'd come to associate with Damon biting him, back, even if sex was entirely out of the question until they were back home.

That alone was going to drive him crazy.

"There's a couple of bags still here, but so am I. Maybe Elijah can be kind enough to give us some warning before coming back in with Elena, and you can combine them all. If it's not enough, we'll find you more. And next time you need blood? Let me know before I'm drinking yours, okay?"

It was ridiculous, but he'd been so worried about Damon - and he'd come so close to losing him, and they'd been together but he... had missed Damon. Missed being able to help, missed being able to do, missed the chance to touch freely, and missed him.

[prodigalsavior]

Damon tilted his head, listening, and gave him a wry smile. "Elena's taking him somewhere..." Which was worrisome, actually, but for the moment, they were alone and that was...good. He tuned in a bit, then glanced back at Ric. "The roof, it seems."

Where at least Klaus was not. He really didn't think Elijah would and he over after getting a dagger in his heart. Probably. Then again...she'd put one there, too, though he'd seemed to forgive her.

"You needed the blood more than I did," he protested, though it was questionable if that was physically true. Psychologically, at least, they'd both needed that.

[thisismybar]

Ric wasn't at all sure how he felt about Elena and Elijah going to the roof. He knew she was effectively an adult, though, and it was good to be alone with Damon. He was still a bit uneasy for a moment, but refocused with a little effort. He'd asked Elijah to watch her, for God's sake.

"Not really," he argued, but mildly. "Elijah didn't come close to doing more than making me a little light headed." He moved away from Damon with some reluctance, to grab the blood bags. He tossed one to Damon, and brought the other back. "I'm not arguing about you getting the bite off me. Just that the order could have changed." Fed, then fed Ric.

[prodigalsavior]

"Well, I'm not bleeding out or desiccating, either," Damon said with a look at him as he caught the blood bag and opened it up. "The order was fine. I just...am a little hungry."

Wood was bad, even if he'd mostly just shaken it off. He could keep going without a problem if he had to, but. He didn't have to, so. He was going to take care of what needed taking care of while he could.

[thisismybar]

Ric sat down beside Damon, while Damon drank. "Yes, and I was just a little dizzy." Why he was being a stubborn ass about this, he wasn't quite sure and made a really conscious effort to back himself off. "Apparently the sibling in my trunk has been down for about nine hundred years. We also suddenly have a lot more daggers. That are in Elijah's possession. I'm trying not to let myself think of ways those things could be used." Against Klaus, obviously.

[prodigalsavior]

Damon didn't deign to continue the discussion, not when there were other things to talk about, so he listened, then frowned a little thoughtfully. "I doubt Elijah is going to give those up easily. Do you know how long the other two have been...out of commission?"

[thisismybar]

"So do I, but it's a really appealing thought. At least someone's got the means to knock him down and get him out of the way." Ric supposed.

He started to shake his head, but then realized he did know. "Somewhere around a century. Ten years more for the guy who shoved his tongue down your throat."

[prodigalsavior]

"If he'll use it." Damon sounded eminently doubtful as he finished the first bag--maybe he really had needed it?

He frowned a little, thinking, then shook his head. "I was in New Orleans about then, but...I think I'd remember if I'd met any Originals." Never mind the tongue down his throat.

[thisismybar]

"I'd like to hope you'd remember anyone you were that... comfortable with." He passed Damon the second bag of blood, wordlessly. "Maybe he's just gone nuts?" He was kind of hopeful. Feeling like he was in some kind of competition with an Original Vampire was not going to end well for him.

[prodigalsavior]

"I'd like to, too," Damon said dryly. "And maybe so." But he'd kissed him not just like he knew him, but like he knew him--knew just how he kissed and liked to be kissed. He wasn't mentioning that part, though. "I mean...comfortable or not, I like to think I have a really good memory." But now he was thinking hard about New Orleans, noting how certain things...blurred.

[thisismybar]

Ric inclined his head a little at Damon, eyes very slightly narrowed. "You'd like to, but you... don't." It was response to the phrasing, the expression on Damon's face - hell, maybe his own sense of unease, because he knew what Damon looked like, when he was responding and.

Okay, yeah.

[prodigalsavior]

Damon shrugged a little. "I never noticed before, but looking back...my memory of those years might be...a little fuzzy. Like..." He paused, cursed. "Like how I'd imagine things are when I compel someone to forget me after feeding."

[thisismybar]

Ric stared at Damon for a moment, then... growled a little. "I'm going to kill someone." Not necessarily for the implication that Damon had been compelled, but because there might be something there for him to be jealous of. Hackles up, really defensive, uneasy, possessive in the aftermath of preparing to lose Damon to Klaus and. What the fuck.

[prodigalsavior]

Damon blinked at the growl. "I don't know for certain," he protested. "And obviously...he didn't know. But...it makes a kind of sense? I mean, every other vampire we've met has known about the Original family, but Stefan and I never heard of them? Ever? How likely is that, if they're the powerhouse Rose made them out to be?"

[thisismybar]

"All right. I'll start killing them off. When your memory returns, we know we found the right one." He wasn't being entirely serious, but Ric... didn't like compulsion all that much to begin with, and Damon was making sense, and the combination was making him really, really, uneasy. "Why would they do that?" he asked, rhetorically. "No, I know, you don't know." He needed a drink, and got up to get himself one.

[prodigalsavior]

"Ric..." Damon gave him a worried look, not wanting him to get in trouble. That was Damon's job. "I don't know why. I mean, I don't think Kol did it himself--he was too upset I didn't know him. And Elijah looked....surprised, as much as Elijah ever looks anything, so I don't think he did. Klaus really isn't fond of me, either, which, admittedly, I did try to fuck things up for him, but...why would he want Stefan to go have fun with instead of me, when he doesn't even know me. Unless he does."

Which wasn't all that flattering, either, actually.

[thisismybar]

Ric's return look was... frustrated and a little trapped looking. They didn't even know what they were, and he was being unreasonable, and he had no idea how to handle what he was feeling. But he was sure as hell feeling it, if his swig from the whiskey bottle was anything to go by. "Sounds like we've got one more reason to hate his guts. What are you going to do about Kol, then?"

[prodigalsavior]

"Maybe." Damon wasn't sure why Klaus would have done it, except for daggering Kol, but it wasn't like Damon was a threat. They'd effectively proven that.

He watched Ric, the upset in the look and the drink and the question, and shrugged, glancing at him a little uncertainly. "Talk to him. Find out what I should remember. Suggest Klaus compelling me as what happened, so he doesn't think I'm being deliberately...cruel or forgetful?" That seemed fair. They didn't have any reason to hate him besides his brother, and apparently Damon hadn't hated him before, and hadn't Ric woken them up to get allies, not more enemies. "The tell him I'm sorry, but...I'm...taken?"

It was a question, because was he? They hadn't talked about that. Hadn't told anyone about them. Hadn't defined themselves at all, and that left him unsure of if that's what Ric's reaction was. he knew his own to the bite had been jealousy and possessiveness, though.

...He'd just never had anyone be jealous and possessive back.

[thisismybar]

Ric stayed fairly cautious, and got almost a little fidgety on top of it. He put the bottle back down on the dresser and leaned back against it, hands on either side of himself. "Letting him know that you're not being cruel or ignoring him on purpose seems like a really good idea," he agreed, slowly.

He agreed for different reasons, probably, that had more to do with Ric not wanting Damon hurt than him liking the idea or wanting to be allied with much of anyone right now, but he agreed. He even, mostly, recognized that Kol hadn't actually done anything for him to be as seethingly pissed off as he was.

The question in Damon's voice, though, was harder for Ric to address. "Are you questioning that you are, or that you want to tell him you are?"

[prodigalsavior]

"I've got no problem telling him I am."

So...the other. Damon was just about as fidgety, fiddling with the other blood bag just for something to hold on to.

[thisismybar]

"Do you... want to be?" he asked, a little cautiously.

What a time for this conversation.

[prodigalsavior]

Damon really wasn't sure here and now was the best time for this, either, but given both of their reactions...maybe it needed to be.

"I...really didn't like those bite marks," he said quietly, a little scared. "Like irrationally didn't like. So...maybe...I do. Want to be."