[ There are actually very few people in her life who Elena trusts to understand how deeply she would feel a loss like Gildor's. Bonnie and Caroline would have tried, Stefan would have come close, but Damon... He's seen all of it, from how she was after her parents' deaths, after Jenna's and Johns, to when she lost Stefan. He knows how she deals with such things: not very well. So when he tells her he'll do it, even without actually saying it, she feels a heavy sense of relief. ]
(My eternal gratitude?) [ She's a little cheeky with the offer, playful now that she knows one worry has been taken care of. ]
he doesn't, really, and the only reason he's teasing in this way is because he knows she knows that. he's going to keep an eye on gildor while she enjoys her sauna, that's just a given. ❱
❰ Two kisses? Why Miis Gilbert, how positively scandalous.
damon's mental tone takes on the sort of old money virginian accent that so many southerners had in his day, and there's the feeling of a grin over the link. ❱
[ Elena bursts out laughing, and she's suddenly extremely grateful that no else else is currently in the hall with her. It would have been a little... awkward to try to explain her sudden mirth. ]
(Why, Mr. Salvatore, you haven't seen anything yet.)
[ For half a second, she'd contemplated using the same sort of accent, but she doesn't want any hint of Katherine in this moment they're sharing, and instead opts for her own voice, laced with a promise that she wishes she could fulfill in that very moment. ]
❰ Is that a promise? Also where are you and why is it not where I am?
damon doesn't mind talking over the mental link, or at least he doesn't usually, but flirting over it when they could be flirting in person just seems stupid. ❱
❰ when elena shows up, damon is in as private a place as he can find, sitting and waiting for her. he holds his hand out to receive the glass, but doesn't drink from it, letting elena get settled before he speaks. ❱
What happened to Ric?
❰ he got impressions from the link, so he has an idea, but he wants to know for sure. ❱
[ The question comes from out of left field. It's completely unexpected, though she'd known it would come up sometime, but she goes very still for a moment while she tries to process it. Tries to find where to start. ]
I... It's-- It's complicated. [ She holds up her free hand, staving off any protests that might be coming. ] I'm not trying to avoid the subject, I just-- I need a moment to figure out...
[ Everything. He might be waiting to take a drink, but she doesn't hesitate to take a giant gulp herself. ]
❰ left field for her, maybe. damon's been thinking about it ever since he realized ric was dead when elena was from, waiting for the right moment to ask her about it. she hasn't been in the right place to talk about it, he could see that, but now she seems okay enough, and...
ric was the first real friend damon had had since enzo. losing him sucks. ❱
When I'm from, day before your birthday... He was struggling, but he wasn't about to keel over. What happened?
My birthday... [ It's a soft murmur to herself as she recalls that day, the ones that immediately followed, the months that have stretched on since. There's just so much that he doesn't know. ]
❰ that's such a stupid idea damon doesn't even know what to do with it. elijah had talked about his siblings, so that makes sense, and of course he can't have just sprung up from the ground fully formed and evil, so he had to have had a mother, but... it's still ridiculous. ❱
What does she have to do with Ric? ❰ a pause, and then, slightly horrified: ❱ Please tell me he didn't have a really terrible rebound fling.
[ That is such a ridiculous idea that Elena can't help but laugh, the sound bursting out of her in a way that sounds half like crying. ]
No, he didn't do that.
[ When that broken laugh passes, she's quiet for a moment, and then she shakes her head. ] Every time that Alaric died while wearing the ring, she manipulated him from the Other Side. She brought out this darkness in him, it was like he was a completely different person at times.
❰ well, thank god for small favours. as damon listens, though, this begins to sound familiar. not esther's manipulation, but... isn't this the way elena always talked about stefan on a human blood binge? ❱
[ She shakes her head at the first question, then closes her eyes at the second. Right, more things he hasn't experienced yet. ]
The Other Side is where supernatural beings go when they die.
[ Pulling back from Damon, she turns away slightly, lifting her hands to cover her face and then sliding them up over her hair. ]
She preyed on his hatred of vampires, twisting everything so she could turn him into the 'ultimate hunter'. She made him feel like he was weak for having been friends with vampires at all, so he agreed to let her make him stronger.
[ Her next words tremble and it's so hard not to cry. ] She used my blood to turn him into an Original.
❰ so... worse than stefan on a blood bender. cool. great. awesome. damon follows along, doing his best not to be affected, because if elena senses upset from him it'll only make her more upset, and she's already close enough to tears as it is. it's hard not to be angry, though, or to be... it's strange. that's how ric had started out, how he should have been, by all rights, but... he saw good in the people he never wanted to see it in. there's a reason he fit in so well with the gilberts, after all, the family that bled compassion from its fucking ears.
it makes damon furious that that was taken from him, and that he can't hold behind his wall of feathers. ❱
If he hated vampires so much, why would he agree to be one?
He didn't, not when he was Ric again. When he woke up, he decided not to complete the transition. But Esther got Bonnie to force him to feed, and he started on his mission to rid the world of vampires. Kill the Originals, kill the lines they sired.
[ That fury from Damon is like a flame, burning into her and searing away her emotional instability. Her mind calms like an ocean going still as she continues to the next part of the nightmare that was their lives. ]
Esther didn't want him to live forever, so she bound Alaric's life to mine.
❰ damon's quiet for a long time, furious, staring into his glass of stupid liquor on a stupid planet in stupid space. all these witches, manipulating people, trying to fix their mistakes with betrayals and more fucking mistakes. at least vampires are honest about being out for blood. at least vampires don't try to pretend that they're anything but what they are. ❱
Fuck witches, ❰ he growls eventually, downing his glass. he'd meant to save it to toast alaric with, but... fuck it. fuck all of it, fuck all of this stupid supernatural bullshit that ruins good people. ❱
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( My eternal gratitude? ) [ She's a little cheeky with the offer, playful now that she knows one worry has been taken care of. ]
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he doesn't, really, and the only reason he's teasing in this way is because he knows she knows that. he's going to keep an eye on gildor while she enjoys her sauna, that's just a given. ❱
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[ She's having too much fun with this, her spirits buoyed by their little game. ]
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damon's mental tone takes on the sort of old money virginian accent that so many southerners had in his day, and there's the feeling of a grin over the link. ❱
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( Why, Mr. Salvatore, you haven't seen anything yet. )
[ For half a second, she'd contemplated using the same sort of accent, but she doesn't want any hint of Katherine in this moment they're sharing, and instead opts for her own voice, laced with a promise that she wishes she could fulfill in that very moment. ]
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damon doesn't mind talking over the mental link, or at least he doesn't usually, but flirting over it when they could be flirting in person just seems stupid. ❱
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( It is absolutely a promise. And I'm headed to the main hall, I need a drink. )
[ If she's going to be in close quarters with a bunch of Nestmates, she could use a little something to help curb her cravings for a bit. ]
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Get two, then come find me.
they're overdue for a drink together, and a certain friend of theirs needs one poured out for him. ❱
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( I'll be there in a few minutes. )
[ And she is, with two glasses of alcohol in hand. Not the best alcohol in the world, but it's not terrible and does the trick. ]
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What happened to Ric?
❰ he got impressions from the link, so he has an idea, but he wants to know for sure. ❱
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I... It's-- It's complicated. [ She holds up her free hand, staving off any protests that might be coming. ] I'm not trying to avoid the subject, I just-- I need a moment to figure out...
[ Everything. He might be waiting to take a drink, but she doesn't hesitate to take a giant gulp herself. ]
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ric was the first real friend damon had had since enzo. losing him sucks. ❱
When I'm from, day before your birthday... He was struggling, but he wasn't about to keel over. What happened?
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So you haven't met Esther yet, then.
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❰ does that answer your question, elena? ❱
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Esther was the original witch. She turned her husband and children into the original vampires. [ A pause, and then ] She's Klaus's mom.
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❰ that's such a stupid idea damon doesn't even know what to do with it. elijah had talked about his siblings, so that makes sense, and of course he can't have just sprung up from the ground fully formed and evil, so he had to have had a mother, but... it's still ridiculous. ❱
What does she have to do with Ric? ❰ a pause, and then, slightly horrified: ❱ Please tell me he didn't have a really terrible rebound fling.
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No, he didn't do that.
[ When that broken laugh passes, she's quiet for a moment, and then she shakes her head. ] Every time that Alaric died while wearing the ring, she manipulated him from the Other Side. She brought out this darkness in him, it was like he was a completely different person at times.
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Stefan on human blood different?
❰ another pause. ❱
What's the "other side"?
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The Other Side is where supernatural beings go when they die.
[ Pulling back from Damon, she turns away slightly, lifting her hands to cover her face and then sliding them up over her hair. ]
She preyed on his hatred of vampires, twisting everything so she could turn him into the 'ultimate hunter'. She made him feel like he was weak for having been friends with vampires at all, so he agreed to let her make him stronger.
[ Her next words tremble and it's so hard not to cry. ] She used my blood to turn him into an Original.
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it makes damon furious that that was taken from him, and that he can't hold behind his wall of feathers. ❱
If he hated vampires so much, why would he agree to be one?
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[ That fury from Damon is like a flame, burning into her and searing away her emotional instability. Her mind calms like an ocean going still as she continues to the next part of the nightmare that was their lives. ]
Esther didn't want him to live forever, so she bound Alaric's life to mine.
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Fuck witches, ❰ he growls eventually, downing his glass. he'd meant to save it to toast alaric with, but... fuck it. fuck all of it, fuck all of this stupid supernatural bullshit that ruins good people. ❱