Damon Salvatore is complicated. (flipstheswitch) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-06-22 20:55:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | damon salvatore, stefan salvatore |
Who: Damon and Stefan
What: Stefan comes home
Where: Damon's house
When: Backdated to late April
Rating: Family Friendly
Status: Complete
Damon never had liked being alone. There had been times in the past that it worked for him, but alone after a loss never worked. The last year had been hard, and the losses kept coming back to haunt him. He was glad that his brother was coming home, and absolutely fine with him taking up space in a guest room.
The Salvatore brothers had been close when they were kids. High school and college years had been rough, but since Stefan had been gone, they called, texted, and kept in touch. They spent holidays visiting when Stefan got leave, and their relationship was actually in a good place, and as it stood right now, Damon needed Stefan in his life as that stabilizing factor, sounding board, and just his brother. He felt better than he had about anything in a long time.
He had just walked in the door with enough time to get the liquor put away, along with the food, just in case they got hungry later. The barbecue needed some use, and it was time to breathe a little life back into the house. No more sitting around being lonely, grading papers over copious amounts of Bourbon. Time to start new things.
Thank God Lexi had been able to pick Stefan up and give him a ride home from the airport. Home. Funny how this was going to be home for him. This place he'd only seen in skype and pictures, once when he was home for leave. He'd have to get himself a job and a car, and figure things out. Life, he supposed.
The heavy duffel bag hit the floor with a loud thunk! Stefan glanced around the empty foyer of the grand home. It was huge. Stefan started down the hall and goggled at the number of bedrooms. This was much bigger than he'd anticipated. But Damon mentioned that it belonged to a movie star who was renting it out to him? ...movie stars. Pssh. So much space. You could fit twenty-five people in this house, easy. The way they'd packed them in on the boat? In the camps? It was going to be weird sleeping in a real bed again.
"Hello?" He called out, wondering where his big brother was. Was Damon really living alone in this huge house? Stefan was tired, and wanted to get a little rest before reconnecting with his other friends. "Damon? I'm not gonna walk in on something I shouldn't, am I?" A bit of a smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.
“You wish,” Damon grinned, stepping through the huge doors that led out to the deck and the pool. He liked being outside, although it was usually in the covered section of the deck. “Actually, I wish, too.” He shrugged a little, missing companionship - not that he was admitting that either. Instead, he went to hug his brother in a proper welcome. He would trade that need for a companion with brother bonding.
“Come on out, leave the bag. It’s not going anywhere.” He led the way outside, reclaiming his seat on the lawn chair in the shade. The daylight ring was on, as it always was. Damon hardly noticed the huge thing anymore. He looked at his brother, wondering if he would start dreaming, now that he was back. “So, welcome back. How was the flight?” He was really delaying the bigger questions, but they would come. He would let his brother bring up the whole vampire issue.
Brother bonding could be had. Stefan even had a football. But the hug came first. “Actually, yeah, I do wish.” He sincerely only wanted what was best for his brother. And sometimes he was certain that what was best for Damon was Elena. Time would tell, anyway.
Stefan glanced around the yard and goggled at the pool. Jesus this place was amazing. Damon must have really made an impression on that movie star. “Right,” he said, and left the bag behind. It was absolutely beautiful out here. He slipped his hands in his pockets and followed his brother out.
“Long. So very long. Slept most of the way.” Stefan explained. “Lexi dropped me off.”
“Yeah, well, if you did walk in on something then you would probably wish you hadn’t,” he said, laughing a little. It felt good to have Stefan back. He needed his brother around, and he knew it. He hadn’t always acknowledged it, but it was even more to now.
Damon watched as he took a look around. “This place was a lot bigger than I expected, but I like it. You know I was never good with small spaces. They are way too confining, and when this came up, I jumped at it. I’ve just started to fill some of the extra rooms. I got a pool table a couple weeks ago. With summer barbecue season coming up, we will do it in grand style.” He did his best impression of a snooty British snob, and it was almost good. In reality, as long as there was food and booze, Damon was great.
“So you aren’t tired and we can catch up.” He was glad Lexi hadn’t stayed around. She was the last thing he needed. “What do you want to drink? We can take them out by the pool.”
“No no, I mean…” Stefan chuckled softly, shaking his head. “I wish you were doing things that I don’t want to walk in on.” He thought he’d briefly heard that Elena was coming back. Somewhere. Somehow. He wasn’t sure now. “I just don’t want to walk in on them.”
Stefan nodded. “...pool sounds fun. Both the water kind and the billiard kind.” Even though Stefan was in the desert, spending hours in the sun each day, he stayed remarkably pale. He noticed that Damon looked fairly pale, too, as they moved through the yard.
“Yeah, we can. I’ll have anything.” He wasn’t picky. One couldn’t be overseas. “Beer?”
“Soon,” Damon nodded, “and when she comes in, you never know. Enter at your own risk.” He would have to remind himself that his brother was here now, and some discretion would be nice if things worked out. He was pretty sure that Elena would stay at her house for a little while, until they got themselves back to the place that they were.
Damon reached into the fridge and pulled out a beer, reclaiming his own bourbon. He motioned to the chair next to his. “I know I told you about some of the things that have happened in the last year and a half. It’s been a ride. Not always a pretty one.” There were things he would never trade, and never forget, even if they made him drink more than he should. “I guess we should start with these.” He opened his mouth to the sharp, pointy fangs and shrugged. “Welcome to the new OC, and your brother the vampire.”
Stefan accepted the beer, then popped the top off before slipping into the chair beside Damon’s. He tossed the bottle cap aside, and lifted the bottle to have a sip. Then sputtered. He saw the fangs, the face, the whatever. Of course, Damon had talked about all this vampire stuff, and Stefan had sort of blown it off. He’d thought his brother was going a little eccentric. But now?
“Jesus,” he said, eyes wide, nearly coughing on the bitter brew. “...really?”
Damon had given Stefan that quick rundown, but he knew that his brother hadn’t really believed it. Who had dreams of becoming a vampire and woke up an actual vampire? That didn’t happen. It shouldn’t happen. However, it did happen. Damon Salvatore was a vampire, as were his friends now. Enzo, Kol, Caroline, Klaus, and even Lexi had all made the change.
He shifted back easily. His skin was lighter, the fangs receded, normal again. “Yep. It’s been an interesting year. In the fridge, there are blood bags. They keep me going.” He did like it from the vein, but Stefan didn’t need to know that right now. “If I don’t drink it, I’ll start desiccating, at least that’s the way it works in the dreams. I don’t chance it. Hunger makes me a real dick.”
“So tell me about your life. I almost thought you would bring a girl home with you.” He was pretty surprised Stefan was single. He was pretty sure there were girls along the way, but his brother was never one to talk about relationships that much.
“Wouldn’t want that.” Stefan said, breaking into a smirk. His pulse was still racing at the realization that this was all real. All the stuff that Damon had told him was true. It was a lot to wrap his head around.
“My life is boring. Was boring. Seems here things are going to be different.” He leaned back in his chair and sipped from the bottle. “The only girl I had… the only girl who would have come with me didn’t feel the same way about me that I was starting to feel about her, so. Can’t have that.”
“It’s not bad either. I kind of like being a vampire,” Damon admitted, trying to ease his brother’s nerves. It was the truth, he did enjoy it, but that confession was fairly ominous too. He chose words that were middle of the road on purpose. “Speed, strength, mind tricks, and I can literally hear a pin drop. I can’t fly though, and I don’t get the dark cape, or the eyebrows.”
He took another drink, chuckling softly. “No girl. That’s hard to believe. I’ll get you all hooked up, don’t worry,” he said, turning his head towards his brother again. “Feelings are a bitch though. I don’t recommend them.” He had had enough feelings to last a lifetime, as well as enough screwed up relationships. “You are supposed to enjoy your young and single years. What the hell is wrong with us?”
Stefan would have to come to grips with everything on his own terms, at his own time. For now he had other things on his mind--like settling back down, settling in, finding a job, finding a place to live, getting back in touch with old friends… all that vampire stuff would have to be back-burnered for a while. Just a little while.
Then he gave a little snort of laughter. “All right. I won’t say no. I know there’s no point in it.” When Damon set his mind to something, there was no changing it. Besides, There were worse things than going out on a few dates. Maybe getting laid. That’d be nice, actually. “Not really interested in those. Hence calling it off.” He chuckled again. “Couldn’t tell ya.” Then he sipped again.
“You have no idea how much you sounded like me just now.” He smiled proudly, finishing the drink in his hand. He set the glass on the table next to him. “Being a vampire makes my tolerance really high, but it tapers off the cravings for blood. It does not do the same thing for emotions, which is like having a live wire somewhere in there.”
“I do have a couple of friends who would love you. I’m just glad you and Lexi never hooked up. That girl really does hate me. I know she’s going to come around, but I’m giving you fair warning. The dreams don’t make it any better either.” He wasn’t too worried about it. He wouldn’t try to make amends and neither would she, and he was fine with it. “Go relax for a bit, then we’ll figure out what to do first.” He paused for a minute, clapping his brother on the shoulder, “It’s good to have you home. I mean it.”