Damon and Diana glared daggers over the coffee table, neither had said a word as they remained locked in their battle of wills. Elena's eyes darted between the warring pair waiting for one to break. After another beat, Damon's lips drew back over his teeth. Diana didn't even blink at the show of aggression. Elena couldn't help but feel impressed by this woman, she was an enigma. Despite having known the woman for over a year, she knew relatively little about her. In fact Elena had never really seen the witch without her vampire shadow for any long period of time, the pair seemed to be joined at the hip. Tonight however, the witch had been left home with Elena and Damon as Stefan went hunting for a rogue vampire who'd been causing trouble in Mystic Falls with the assistance of Faye. Which had left the human to deal with the warring vampire and witch.
"Uh, Damon?" Elena asked as the endless staring continued to drag on. The vampire didn't move a muscle at the sound of her voice. "Diana?" She tried, deciding to whom she thought might be the more rational of the pair. With a sigh, the woman turned her head away from the vampire's gaze.
"Yes Elena?" Diana asked softly, ignoring the smug grin that was covering the face of the older Salvatore.
"How much longer do you think they'll be, it's been hours already." Elena voiced her worries aloud. Diana nodded sympathetically, opening her mouth to speak, Damon rolled his eyes and stood up.
"My brother and Faye are just fine. They're over a 100 years, they don't need a bedtime." With that he whisked out the room, leaving the two woman sat in the glow of the fire light. The orange light dancing across Diana's face highlighted the tightening muscles in her jaw as she bit back a barbed comment. Elena grimaced sympathetically and moved closer to the brunette. With a couple of deep, soothing breaths Diana's face slackened and she smiled at the human.
"As much as I dislike Damon, he's right. The pair of them will be fine, and if Faye has led me to believe the right thing, they actually work well together."
"Really?" Elena asked curiosity peaking at this insight into her boyfriend's life. Diana nodded reaching for the glass of water she'd placed on the end table beside her armchair.
"Yeah, they grew up together, which you already know. The way Faye tells it they caused havoc over the Salvatore estate. Damon as the ring leader, Stefan the mastermind and Faye the cute little girl to convince the servants nothing was amiss." Elena laughed, delighted at the mental image of a small Stefan.
"Sometimes, I wonder how they fight so much." Elena shifted forward in her seat.
"Damon and Stefan or Faye and Damon?" Diana asked, resting the rim of her glass against her lip in thought.
"Either. Both." She was enjoying an outsider's view on the dynamics of the brother's relationships.
"160 years is a long time to look after someone. Even before that, Damon was the one who had to look after them." Elena nodded, her eyebrows scrunched up in thought of the proud big brother, "I swear sometimes the way Faye speaks about him when they were younger, you'd think he hung the moon and all stars."
"Have they ever-" Elena's sentence dropped short when she saw the look of lightning cross the witch's face.
"No. They may tease, but no." Elena nodded swiftly, "Damon Salvatore may be a pig but he sometimes has a heart. Despite what he's put the pair of them through over their long lives."
"Well, I doubt they've been the kindest to him either." Elena rose quickly to Damon's defence. It wasn't far to blame Damon for the little family's troubles. In fact in dark moments, she wondered if the blame lay more at Stefan's feet. And knowing Faye's personality she'd wager a guess that she'd not been the kindest either.
"No, they haven't." Diana agreed softly. The crackle of the fire filled the wooden silence that now encompassed the room. Elena watched the older girl as she ran her finger tips along the side of the glass; catching a droplet of water.
"Does Faye know how she was turned?" Elena finally asked hoping to steer the conversation from its previous topic. Diana chuckled.
"That's rather a personal question don't you think?" Elena looked sheepish at the retort but Diana continued speaking "She has a rough idea. So do I actually."
"Oh?" Elena asked leaning an elbow on her knee to rest her chin on her hand.
"Mmhm. I think she'd older than Damon and Stefan in vampire terms; the madness in the capture of Katherine and the other tomb vampires doesn't fit the timeline of her transformation." Elena's eyes widened, she'd never thought of Faye as the elder vampire of the three.
"Enough talk of the vampires, I doubt any of their egos needs to get any bigger. Faye's head might not fit into bed otherwise. What about you Elena, what do you make of this magically world?"