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 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."

[thisismybar]

Ric studied Damon for a few moments, searching for... something. "I really didn't like them, either." Even less than watching Damon kissed, but that was there, too, and surprisingly hard to separate out from the bite. "So. Okay. Tell him." He was still being careful and a little awkward, but he made his way slowly back toward Damon and then bed. "You are."

At least Damon wasn't likely to be turned into a vampire? No. Really. Damon was his best friend. That was both reassuring and nerve wracking.

[prodigalsavior]

Damon still looked as skittish as a wild horse, uncertainty still flickering, though it wasn't at all for his side of it. Maybe a little at first, but...he'd let Elena go off with Elijah with barely a flicker, and now just wanted to curl up against Ric for the night.

That had to be saying something.

"You're sure?" Because he'd sort of figured he was like...Ric's healing from Jenna--safe sex for an outlet with a friend, not...more.

And he wasn't sure he could take it if Ric just upped and changed his mind next week.

[thisismybar]

Ric had noticed that he'd let Elena go off with Elijah. He was still pretty unsure on that front, actually. He refused to be put in a situation where he saw Elena as competition or someone to be jealous of. The thought of that gave him far more pause than anything else could, or had.

And even that was just another layer of abstract worry. It didn't translate to indecisive. "I"m sure I want you to be...."

[prodigalsavior]

Damon breathed a little easier and gave him a bright smile. "Good. I'm sure I want uou to be, too."

He started to lean in to kiss him again, remembered the blood. "I'll...go brush my teeth again?"

[thisismybar]

Ric gave a snort of amused laughter, caught Damon by the back of the neck and leaned in and kissed him. Not soft or tentative, but hard and deep and tongue sweeping into his mouth without any hesitation, much less recoil from the taste of blood. Heck, he still had the taste of Damon's blood in his mouth.

He pulled back a little bit, forehead to forehead with Damon. "The problem wasn't blood."

[prodigalsavior]

Damon made a surprised, pleased noise into the kiss, kissing Ric back just as hard and thoroughly, then laughed a little when he pulled back.

"I know the initial one wasn't...." He just didn't think Ric had gotten past the taste of blood, fully.

[thisismybar]

He hadn't. Not anywhere near fully. It was still a shocking taste to him, and something that had years and years of being a really bad sign, especially in his own mouth. Usually accompanied by some degree of pain, often major. He grinned, though. "You can brush your teeth, if you want. Or go rinse your mouth out with bourbon."

It was Damon, though. Part of him. Shying away from any part of Damon was not something he'd have done as Damon's friend, much less something else.

[prodigalsavior]

Damon moved in a blur and back with the bourbon, taking a healthy swig. Given he fully intended to leave his own mark on Ric's skin, brushing his teeth seemed like a waste,MIT Ric wasn't protesting.

"How long do you think we have?" Until Elena came back.

[thisismybar]

"I'm not sure," Ric admitted, slowly. "It depends on how upset she is, and how long Elijah's siblings will let him be away. I'd be surprised if she was back in the next hour, probably two." He couldn't make promises, though. "What are you thinking?"

[prodigalsavior]

Damon gave him a slightly sheepish smile. "That you're wearing far too many clothes..."

[thisismybar]

"I'm inclined to agree...."

He wanted Damon. He wanted Damon more than he would have believed imaginable, and given the amount of sex they'd had, from South Carolina back to Virginia, that was saying something. The night had been... intensely emotional for all of them, probably more Damon and Elena, but also for the two of them together. All the jealousy and possessiveness and some kind of tentative declaration and... All of it.

Didn't mean it was necessarily the best idea, and he sort of looked torn, glancing toward the door.

"There's got to be a way we can manage this, without dumping something else on Elena's plate. Doesn't even have to be sex...."

Just contact. Maybe getting Damon's bite back on him, somewhere out of sight.

[prodigalsavior]

Damon considered. He wanted Ric, too, with a burning intensity born out of that possessive urge. "We could lock the bolt?" He suggested. "That would give us warning more than her walking down the hall..."

Enough for Ric to make it to the bathroom and Damon back into his jeans, at the least.

"Though if she comes back at an awkward point..."

Like if they were on the verge of coming...

[thisismybar]

"We could come up with some really complicated plans," he said, smiling a little. "Lock the bolt, take it into the bathroom, and if she does come back you can tell her I took a walk and you took advantage of the opportunity to masturbate. That just leaves needing to get her out of the room long enough for me to get out of the bathroom."

He was, quite probably, now teasing. More seriously: "We could both go...?"

They needed to tell Elena. It just really wasn't the night for it.

[prodigalsavior]

"Go where?" Damon gave him a bemused look, caught in ways of trying to make the thing work.

The teasing actually had a grain of possibility in it. "Bolt the door, head to the bathroom--I can get back out here and dress to let her in pretty damn fast, and just say I was brushing my teeth while you finished in the shower or whatever."

Guys did that sort of thing, didn't they? Human ones, locker rooms, whatever. He had no idea.