Who: Bonnie & Damon & Nick What: A much needed drink while learning about this place. Where: Verdant When: Night Bonnie arrived [Backdated!] Warnings: None just mention of death. Status: Completed gdoc
Damon really couldn’t believe how good and bad his luck happened to be in this place. Elena showed up, as she turned into a vampire, so in her mind, she was still dating Stefan. Now his best friend showed up and as far as Damon knew, Bonbon might actually still hate him. Nothing that sounded particularly wonderful to him.
He sent directions to Bonnie and used vampire speed to get to a mostly empty Verdant. “Damon,” Nick grinned at the vampire. “Nick,” Damon replied with a wink. The two enjoyed a bit of flirty banter but nothing else given that Nick didn’t seem like the type to cheat on his wife…who employed Damon.
“My friend Bonnie appeared. Please don’t embarrass…” and Damon didn’t get to finish his sentence. “You must be the famous Bonnie!” Damon turned, smelling his best friend and hearing her song, it’s usual tempo making Damon realize how much he’d missed his friend all of these months.
Bonnie had been standing across the street from the Den as she said, rubbing her arms as if that would make the pain she had felt gone away. While she wasn’t screaming anymore, the feel was lingering and it had her more on alert, especially now with knowing the price of being the anchor. At least, she was able to take her mind off that by focusing on the conversations that she was having. Damon seemed to be ahead of her and was talking about some prison world, then there was Elena who she was ahead of. Thankfully, her best friend had her humanity on still, but she hated how she might not be able to help her friend with the daylight ring. Bonnie didn’t feel her magic like she usually did. The conversation with Kol was a surprising one. Considering everything, she was glad he was alive, especially knowing what the other side had been like. And while it was hard to tell, she was going to give him the benefit of the doubt until shown differently.
Heading in the direction of what Damon sent her, she kept an eye out while sending off a message before heading into the place. “Oh please do, you’ll be my favorite person if you embarrass him,” she called out, catching the last bit of what he said as she walked inside. Her and Damon had many rough points, but she would call him a friend most of the time. Though it was good to see him, and it showed with the small smile on her face at the sight of the vampire. “Famous, huh? I’ve gotten infamous and famous, so I’ll have to get a third to see which way it leans more,” she said, moving over to the person she didn’t know. “I don’t know about famous though hopefully for good things. But yes, I’m Bonnie,” she nodded, hesitating for a moment on holding her hand out before she did, deciding it would be fine. Nick winked at the witch, as he held out his hand and shook hers. “Trust me. He’s spoken quite a bit about you and Elena. All good things.” Damon flipped off Nick, who just laughed off the gesture and went to help another patron. “Let me know when you know what you want to drink.”
Damon, for his part, stared at Bonnie, trying to get a read on her. Because so much had happened back home, he couldn’t be sure where she’d been or what she’d experienced before her arrival here. “What is the last thing you remember?” Her face worried Damon. A lot. Because if she’d shown up here as the anchor…fuck. His best friend could handle herself, but the anchor chapter of her life nearly destroyed her and Damon couldn’t do anything to help.
“Hello Bonbon. What do you want for your first drink?” Obviously, Damon drank the top shelf bourbon.
“Not surprised on Elena, but glad to hear good things about me were said,” she commented, glancing over at Damon, studying him for a moment. Bonnie was chalking it up to somewhere in the point she was from and where he was, they moved further into the friend category. That was the only way it made sense that he was saying good things about her to a stranger, especially since she knew how Damon could be. “We will, thank you,” she said with a small nod, waiting for him to walk away before turning her attention to Damon.
She noticed him staring at her, tilting her head to the side as she figured he was trying to gain a clue on what she knew. Obviously, he knew she didn’t know about this prison world or that person he said, but she had also said nothing on what she did know. Ignoring his question, she nodded towards Nick. “Is he going to be okay with me drinking since I’m not 21?” Bonnie asked before quickly adding, “And do not use your vampire abilities.” As tempting as it was if her age played a problem because she needed that drink, Bonnie was not allowing them to be used against someone for her own gain…well at least, not when the gain was only alcohol. Bonnie knew it was very likely with him being ahead that Damon knew what came from her being the anchor, which was something she did not want people knowing. Elena was dealing with being a new vampire, and she didn’t want to add more to the list for people. “I just became the anchor to the other side. Not even 15 minutes later, I was here,” she told him, taking a seat at the bar.
“The strongest thing in here would be a good start,” and much needed after the evening that she seemed to be having.
Nick looked at the pair. “Going to ignore what you just said about your age. This time.” He could tell the young woman needed a few drinks. A lot of people did upon their arrival. Damon nodded his thanks and returned his attention to Bonnie. “He’s a werewolf. So he hears…a lot.” Thankfully, he just nodded, and poured the strongest whiskey they had in stock. “Strongest thing we have…” Damon nodded. “And the strongest alcohol you’re allowed to have because anything else strong in this town can get me drunk.” He didn’t need Bonnie to get sick and his best friend could tell him off, but he would always be protective of both her and Elena.
“I compelled Nick once and only once. Won’t happen again.” Nick tried vervain, but it hadn’t really stayed in his system. “I like my job and my head to remain intact.” Mia scared him sometimes.
Drinks served, Nick walked away to go help someone else.
“I guess the first question is the last thing you remember. For me, we’ve been trapped in a Prison World for months. Just you, me…and Mr. Psychotic Himself, Kai.” Damon hoped for everyone’s sake that he never fucking appeared in this world. “So, we’ve gotten closer.” The vampire of course sounded like his usual self, sarcasm abounding in the conversation, except he used a sincere voice when he mentioned the pair becoming closer.
“Regardless of where we stand, Bonbon, I’m so fucking grateful you’re here.”
“Thank you,” she said to Nick, meaning it cause she was glad he was overlooking her age at least this once. Though she knew she’d probably try again, especially if she had to deal with anyone else going through her. Bonnie really did need the drink between going from dead to the anchor and now here…yeah, she needed a few. “Good to know. And nice to see you’re playing nice with a werewolf since I know how you can be,” she gave him a hard time. Though she did mean it on how it was good to see him getting along with people rather than being his normal self or at least, the self she saw most of the time. Bonnie almost answered him sarcastically on being told this was the strongest that she was allowed to have, but she didn’t have it in her right now. The fact of the reason she wasn’t allowed anything stronger made sense and she wasn’t really wanting to get that drunk. Considering she wanted to stop off and see Elena and check on her. “I’m fine with this as my only option then,” she said without much argument probably for the one and only time.
“Good, at least you learned your lesson. And yeah, believe it or not, then again with the way you talk it probably won’t surprise you that I’d rather you keep your head.” Had this been a few months ago, the feelings may have been different, but she didn’t dislike him like she once did. Taking the glass, she drowned half of it and could feel the drink rather quickly. As she decided then to remember how there was no food in her system, which meant this wasn’t the brightest idea. She’d pay for it later and honestly; she was fine with it since she was semi-alive. Setting the half empty class back on the counter, she listened as Damon spoke on what he remembered.
“A prison world? And Kai sounds like a real ball of fun and the perfect person to be trapped with. How did we even end up in this situation?” She asked, not liking the sound of anything that was to come for her. Considering she knew from Kol something happened with the other side, and there was a lot of information missing for her that she did not like. “Makes sense us getting close when it’s only us and this Kai person. Pretty sure friendship bracelets are out of the question,” she commented, picking up her glass again to give herself a moment to avoid what she knew she had to say. “I just became the anchor and my relative decided to show me the price of what comes from it. I was in pain at your place then found myself here.”
Bonnie looked over and could see there was none of his normal attitude in his comment. “I’m glad to see you. Maybe not as much as you are, but you had become a friend, so I’m glad to see you.” Damon shrugged at the werewolf comment. Nick helped himself with his casual flirting and Damon found the flirting entertaining. Enough so that he’d flirt back at times. In this place he tried to be a little less himself, but also he’d learned a few lessons trapped for months in the Prison World so…
“If the whiskey at Upstream can get me drunk, I don’t need to see what it can do to you of the human tolerance.” Damon appreciated that Bonnie didn’t fight with him about the stronger alcohol this time, but knew it wouldn’t always end without argument in the future.
“Well, if I don’t keep my head, Mia might get annoyed about trying to find a new bouncer.” Nick looked over at them and gave, for him, a rather stern look towards Bonnie. “Nobody upsets my wife. Ever.” He smiled, but for once it wasn’t his usual friendly expression, but one that promised an unpleasant experience. “So, Damon’s head remains intact.” Damon asked Nick, “Do you have snacks you’d willingly part with at the moment?” As a werewolf, Nick usually kept food on the premises and Bonnie looked a bit hungry. A moment later, Bonnie found herself with jerky, honey roasted peanuts, and cheese and crackers in front of her. “I can always order food if I need to,” Nick added, before returning to work.
“Let’s just say the Other Side started to collapse and you and I found ourselves together and then in the Prison World. Thankfully, the day always resets, so we never run out of food or anything. But, Kai is a piece of fucking work. Decided to put vervain in every bottle of bourbon.” How, when the day always reset, Damon still didn’t know because the store had more than a few bottles of bourbon.
The vampire really wished that he’d had Elena and Bonnie appear when they were at the same part of their relationship as him. Because having both his girlfriend and best friend show up, but neither having gotten to that point yet fucking sucked.
“Well, at least you don’t completely hate me.”
While surprised by this Damon, she was looking forward to spending more time with him both here and eventually back in their world. This version did not have her wanting to give him a headache or setting him on fire as she used to with how he acted. “I’d rather not know, especially as I have plans after here,” she told him. Bonnie wanted to see Elena as soon as possible, but she stopped here first, especially with him ahead of her. Plus, she figured she’d probably sleep over to hang out with her best friend.
“I still can’t imagine you working, but good for you,” her tone sounded surprised over the idea, but she was glad he had something to do. Right now, she didn’t even want to think about what her plans would be, especially as she just returned from the dead. “Good to know the head will stay intact,” she said with a nod. Had this been the Damon before she considered him a friend, she may have encouraged the loss of head or hoped, but these days not so much. Her head turned slightly in the direction of Nick at Damon asking about snacks, getting ready to tell the man he didn’t need to worry about it. The last thing she wanted was to be eating the snacks that belonged to someone she did not know even if he seemed to know her due to Damon. “Thank you, I owe you one for this,” she told Nick with a small smile as she picked up one of the cheese and crackers to eat.
“Is that the reason why Kol’s mother was able to get him out of the other side?” Bonnie asked, making it clear that the two already had a bit of a conversation. Though Bonnie was still going to meet him and see what she could find out from Kol, she also wanted to see what she could learn from Damon. She listened about the Prison world. “So, it’s a twisted groundhog day in a sense? With this Kai person having fun by making our lives hell? But I’m sure we have held our own against him cause if not, then we need to get our acts together,” her tone a hint of joking and seriousness mixed in. Made her glad that she had someone she could stand there with her. Not wanting to imagine what it would be like to deal with that on her own.
Bonnie took a bit of the cracker and waited until she swallowed before speaking again. “I had one question I really wanted to ask you, but with everything else I’m learning, we can circle back to the Matt question I have another time. First off, with Elena as a vampire, and I’m sure you learned not to turn her humanity off. What have you been doing to help with that?” Bonnie was glad he was ahead, so he knew about the sire bond and to be careful this time around. “Second, what’s this I hear about Caroline having kids and Klaus also has a daughter?” She was baffled by the whole thing and her mind was still trying to wrap around it. Moreso the Caroline one considering she had just seen her and the fact she was a vampire. Time worked differently, she got that but it was still a lot to wrap her head around.
“There’s no hate at all towards you from me, Damon. I may not be from the same point as you with our friendship, but I would put you under the friend category,” she told him with a smile. That could change if he did anything to her friends; however, she figured he knew better by now. Also, there was only Elena here, and she knew he would never do anything to her. Damon preferred to not be set on fire. But, he thought if he made pancakes for Bonnie here, she might not throw them in his face. He hadn’t turned into a whole new vampire, obviously, but he wanted nothing but good things for Bonnie. And getting in-between a reunion with Bonnie and Elena didn’t sound good to him.
He shrugged with a smirk. “Some of the other vampires don’t like following rules and having a vampire bouncer works for them.” Damon didn’t mean the Mikaelsons, but the smoking obsessed Duvals. “And I’m much more attractive with my head attached.” Though, Damon understood that he’d been an asshole, Elena helped him become a better man, Bonnie as well. Nick laughed. “Nah. I always have tons of snacks. And it’s a good excuse to order the Hinkles’ werewolf special.”
The vampire did not have a good relationship with Kol for obvious reasons. He didn’t talk to the other vampire, but wouldn’t try and get in the way of Bonnie befriending him. The Kol here did seem different. “I don’t know. I haven’t talked to Kol. I ran into his adopted daughter once and have gotten into a few arguments with the fairy he calls a sister about her ID. Anything that brought him back is for him to tell you.” Damon had a feeling it involved the fucking matriarch of the Mikaelsons.
“Definitely like the fucking worst Groundhog Day.” Damon took another sip of his bourbon. “It was a Prison World made for him and he thinks we can get him out.” Which Damon didn’t want at fucking all. He laughed. “Kai is not a fan of the pair of us together. But he’s a type of witch who can siphon powers from others.” Which meant they had to be careful to not accidentally power him.
Matt might not be his favourite person (really, Damon might curse him daily), but Damon instead sighed and his blue eyes looked at his best friend. “What is your Matt question?” He took another sip of bourbon to brace himself. “Of course she hasn’t turned off her humanity. Fool me once, but also Jeremy isn’t dead. So less of a reason here. I’m making sure she’s feeding, and delivering blood bags to her.” Damon didn’t quite know yet if the Sire Bond had happened here, but he’d been very careful of his wording. “She showed up in transition and I made sure she fed, safely. Uh, sorry Nick.” Nick waved a hand, obviously over it. “Nick was the only one here, but I told her when to stop. I’m choosing my words carefully in case of the sire bond.”
This time Damon laughed. “Blondie was here when I showed up. She had Ric’s kids. By which I mean, due to a spell when Ric’s bride died, the twins got put into Caroline as a surrogate, but they’re hers in all the ways that matter. Klaus and Hayley had a child, not sure how. But Hayley was living with Elijah before she got sent home in a couple sense. Rebekah is having a kid with her vampire fiancé. The one she’s known since he was a kid. Kol hasn’t met his future wife from back home, but apparently his adopted daughter is her face twin and did I mention you might need a white board?” Damon enjoyed being a bit of a gossip. Nick said under his breath, “And I thought it was fucking weird enough my niece had a relationship with a different version of me.”
A wink. “Don’t worry, Bonbon. I’ll grow on you, because we’re still stuck somewhere, albeit with more people and from different worlds.”
Bonnie tilted her head with a ‘you kidding me’ look on his comment about some of the other vampires not liking to follow rules. “Yes, because you’ve always been a boy scout, Damon. I think vampires and not following rules is a universal concept from the sound of it. But at least, another vampire to deal with them evens it out.” Bonnie rolled her eyes at his comment about his head, smiling at Nick on his comment. “Okay, well, thank you. Didn’t need to eat on the other side, then I came back alive and here so missed out on getting food in my system.” And was probably going to pay for it later, but after everything, she was fine with that.
The conversation she had with Kol had gone fine, and she was planning to meet with him. Though she also was being careful since while he seemed different than the last time she saw him, she was still being careful just in case. “Yeah, I saw her say something to him, and that was a surprise. I know from him it has something to do with his mother, but the how, why, and all that is very much unknown for the time being. I figure I should find out, especially you know when whatever causes it has to happen to me.” Being that she was the anchor, Bonnie now knew something went wrong, and now came all the questions that lead to it. All she knew was that at some point she also ended up in a prison world with a complete nightmare of a person.
A groan left her lips, dreading this prison world, especially the Groundhog Day aspect and this Kai individual. “Sounds like he might have every reason to stay in that Prison World.” On hearing what type of witch Kai was, she nodded. “Definitely a different kind then I’m used to, but at least, he’s back in our world and won’t end up here.” That was the last thing it sounded like this place needed. Also, the fact there was a chance he might show up knowing her, and she didn’t know him, putting him at an advantage that she didn’t like.
Bonnie and probably everyone knew how Damon felt about Matt, but he was the only person ahead of them that might be able to answer the question. “He sent a lot of messages to me in need of help about something being wrong with him. I couldn’t exactly help him and I wanted to only now I’m here. To save me some time, do you know what was going on with him?” She asked, a look of hope passing on her face since it Damon didn’t know then she was going to have to see what she could figure out from the messages that she had seen. “I know she hasn’t and that she shouldn’t have any reasons. And this place better not get any ideas, but I want to make sure we have learned bad move with that choice!” Bonnie loved her best friend; however, that was not a side she ever wanted to see again on Elena. Her eyes widen, glancing at Nick on learning about when she showed up. Obviously not all the details because she did not need or want, but she was glad to see the handwave cause it was better than the alternative. “Okay, just as long as you’re being extra careful on the word choice. Since we saw first hand the strength that bond has.” Bonnie was glad he knew about it and could take the steps necessary to be careful, knowing the impact it could have as they saw with the blood bags. “Though I’ll also help as much as I can considering I can’t give her a daylight ring. Though she mentioned getting it from someone else; however, she’d have preferred me able to do it.” Bonnie hated that she couldn’t do that for her best friend. How her best friend needed a ring and she couldn’t do that or any other type of magic right now. Her face said everything and she was all over the place emotion wise plus her brain was trying to connect all the very messed up dots. “Okay, hold up one freaking second,” she held up a hand as if she was pushing stop on him. “Caroline has kids with Ric? But not really because of a spell so technically, in a way the twins have two mothers? Also, so Ric’s alive?” She didn’t wait for an answer as she continued, trying to work it out in her brain. “Not a pairing I would think to have a kid, but alright, so that one is a not sure how the hell that happened. So kid with one, and relationship with one of the other brothers?” Her head rested on her arms on the bar, shaking her head at his question. “No, you did not, but I feel like we need a whiteboard with all of this. This feels like a set up for the punchline of a joke,” she told Damon, raising her head up. Bonnie fought the smirk that played on her lips at the comment before shaking her head and lifting it up. “Dome, I promise I’m sorry for whatever I did. But I don’t think I deserve this type of punishment,” she joked, looking at Damon with a smirk that said she was kidding. “I’m just glad you’re here, especially with Elena at the point she’s from. I know I couldn’t have dealt with that all by myself.” “I’ve never smoked indoors when the law clearly states to not do the thing,” he returned with a smirk. “I might not follow a lot of rules, but that’s one I can enforce without any type of hypocrisy.” And, he actually did a decent job with not letting in underagers. Though he’d given up on the fairy the Mikaelsons seemed to adopt. Her ID said 20, but she was apparently in her mid-90’s. Damon nodded his head in the direction of Nick as a thanks. “Gotta make sure you’re not drinking on an empty stomach. Also, I’ve been around hangry you,” he joked.
Damon hoped that his favourite witch would exercise caution when it came to all of the Mikaelsons. Though, Rebekah seemed okay as did her fiancé. “At least it’s Kol and not fucking Klaus. Hate that guy.” Nick nodded. “After what he did to Lydia? The Dome is better off without that psychotic asshole.” Damon didn’t quite know how the Packs in this town worked, but the two Alphas seemed to get along and Lydia seemed to belong to both.
He looked at Bonnie and let out a sigh, about how as usual she ended up fucked. “It’s only because I’ve had distance that I’m no longer angry with you for faking that you were still alive. I get it. But, we managed to bring everyone back with a spell…except you and me. Thus the Prison World. But, plus side, the anchor role no longer exists.”
The mention of Kai and Damon shook his head. “You don’t understand, because I didn’t explain it well. Kai doesn’t want to be in the Prison World. His family imprisoned him there when he killed off some of his siblings…so he could get more power.” Damon didn’t add that he was why Jo died, and why Blondie ended up pregnant.
The vampire gave Bonnie the explanation of Matt. “He’s been having a time.” But thankfully, it didn’t last forever. He would help ease Bonnie’s mind, only because he knew that look on her face, the one that said I will burn everything for my friends</s> and he loved that about Bonbon. Even when she directed her ire at him.
“Nah, I think we’re all good on the Elena without her humanity front.” That had been exhausting for Damon and everyone. “Though I’m not wild about her not knowing about Jer or you trading places with him.” Also, for once, could Jeremy fall for a living person and not a ghost? “This time I made sure to reiterate that blood from a bag is perfectly acceptable in this town. I learned what happened the first time around.” He blanched. “I think Hope could help. She’s a pretty powerful witch and while she’s Klaus’s daughter, she does seem to possess a moral compass and wants to leave the world a better place.”
Kol adopting anyone shocked Damon to his core. That would be like him adopting someone. The likelihood of it happening seemed like zero and yet.
“Yup. Jo dies at her wedding to Ric and the coven decided to save the kids by using a spell so Caroline carried them. Yeah, when we get sent to the Prison World, we saved all of our dead friends before the Other Side collapsed. “From what I’ve gathered, Klaus and Hayley were a one night stand while Elijah and Hayley actually fell in love. You’re fucking telling me. And that doesn’t include the family they’ve adopted here, which as far as I can tell is Alyssa, the blonde with white wings, and then Kol’s daughter. Also, Rebekah is having a kid or two because the Dome turned them into humans for a night.”
His arm wrapped around Bonnie’s shoulder briefly, as a show of comfort. “No, whatever happens, you, Elena, and I have each other, BonBon.”