Hybrids were weird creatures.
Every atom of Damon's body felt different, thrumming with a strange energy. It was like he could physically feel his normal vampire caliber powers being enhanced and merged with that of a werewolf as the venom imbued itself into his veins. The power was like an intoxicating drug and rushed exhilaratingly through him.
His speed was incredible, dizzying at first but then he felt like he could cross entire leagues within a matter of minutes, and his newfound strength pulsed through him with each beat of his heart. Even the sun felt different on his skin, like it was truly warming him as it could when he was human, his ring no longer needing to create a protective barrier as it wouldn't kill him.
He resisted trying out his wolf form though — for one, it wasn't like he was going to be able to see what it looked like — since the searing pain was all too fresh in his mind and he imagined it would only be worse since Klaus was no longer possessing him to absorb the brunt of it.
Most surprising to him was that he kept his ability to tap into the Old Powers. He focused all his energy and felt his muscles folding in on themselves and his world momentarily filling with darkness. He let out a loud call and flapped his wings, taking flight.
As he soared through the air, he exuded more power and felt a chill in the air around him. Snow flurries started raining down and blanketing his wings, which he shook off with each flap. It began to get more intense, with the clouds above him darkening to a charcoal gray and the wind picking up to where Damon could hear it howling and feel it slicing against his feathers.
He swooped down towards the motel, spotting the blinds of the windows to their occupied room pulled closed and the silhouette of someone moving around inside. He cawed loudly at whoever it was, still in mid-flight.
The silhouette grew in size as it got closer to the window, then the blind was pulled up.
"I was wondering where you'd gotten to," Klaus remarked as Damon shot in past him.
He took a bewildered double-take at the flurries of snow whirling around outside before letting the blind drop closed. Damon shifted back to his regular height, shaking some snow off of his shirt and out of his hair.
"I'll assume the snowstorm outside is your doing?" Klaus asked knowingly, one of his brows hitching up.
Damon nodded. "I'm surprised I can still do it," he admitted. Shouldn't there have been a limit, for want of a better word, on how much power a supernatural being could have? Like how witches couldn't be vampires or werewolves?
Klaus shrugged. "I suppose it's because it's only the werewolf part that's new to you, rather than the other way around," he suggested, but he was at a loss with all of this just as much as Damon.
"Have you shifted into one yet?" he asked, looking at him curiously.
"I'll save it for emergencies, I think," Damon decided, pulling an unsure face, "No wonder your hybrids ended up sired to you for never having to turn again," he added, feeling the phantom sensation of every bone in his body snapping tickling at him.
Klaus looked like he wanted to say more, seemed a little disappointed, but just shrugged to himself and returned to sweeping up the large salt pentagram with a broom. With a frown, Damon noticed Rebekah, Elijah and Davina were conveniently absent.
"Typical, we get stuck with the cleanup while they made the mess," he snorted, folding his arms.
"As far as I recall, you shattered the windows," Klaus pointed out evenly, sweeping the last of the salt into a corner, "And left like they did when I started the majority of it," he added, giving him a needling look as he leaned the broom on the dresser.
"Semantics," Damon snickered, waving a dismissive hand.
A pinching sensation at his fingertips had him frowning and bringing his hand up to his face, seeing his nails elongated into thick, wicked looking claws. He regarded them strangely, reducing them to his normal nails with a single thought. Then back out, then in, then out, then—
"What are you doing?" Klaus asked in a bewildered tone, looking at him with thinly-veiled amusement.
"Where do they come from?" he asked in a mystified tone, making them recede once more.
Klaus didn't answer, just reached up and cradled his fingers with his, tickling his palm to coax it to his grip, and Damon let him.
"What?" he wondered.
One of his eyebrows raised and he regarded him coolly, pulling him in for a kiss and sealing their lips together. It was surprisingly chaste, but Damon deepened it when Klaus' other hand came to cradle the back of his head.
"You really missed me, huh?" he commented, smiling pleasantly at the surprise when he pulled away. Of course, he knew Klaus would never verbalize it.
And he didn't. He pulled him into another kiss, this time much more immediate and searing, with a sense of urgency. The way his eyes pierced into his own when they pulled away made Damon shiver in anticipation, holding his breath.
He wasn't sure Klaus had ever looked at him that way before, maybe he was only just noticing now through his enhanced senses. He could sense the other man's power radiating off his body, tickling his skin in an intense connection that traveled right to his abdomen and coiled there deliciously.
Their lips collided in a violent kiss, only breaking apart so Klaus could work his shirt off over his head, and with one swift motion, Klaus had him on his back and pressed firmly against the bed. He squirmed underneath him impatiently, feeling electricity flying through every inch of him, lifting his hips up against his as Klaus sucked on his tongue.
Cold air hit him as he gripped the waistband of his jeans, sliding them and his boxers down his thighs in one movement. Damon wriggled his legs to shuck them off in all the way, gritting his teeth in a hiss as Klaus purposely ground his hips into his obvious arousal.
Damon ran his hands between them, sliding them lower and lower and before he reached the waistband of Klaus' jeans to return the favor, he gripped Damon's wrists and pinned them down beside his head, smirking at the frustrated groan that slipped out of his mouth.
"Eager, are we?" Klaus teased with a raised eyebrow, releasing his wrists and running his fingers down the backs of Damon's thighs, lifting them up to rest against his hips.
"If you don't hurry up, I'll take care of it myself," Damon swore breathily, looking him up and down heatedly, feeling Klaus working his boots off his feet.
Klaus' eyes positively lit up with enthrallment at the threat. "Will you let me watch if you do?" he asked, his lips curving in a devilish smirk as he hovered over him.
Damon huffed out a laugh, meeting the smirk with one of his own. "You wouldn't last five minutes if I did," he said confidently.
He leaned up to press their lips together, feeling frustration surge through him again when Klaus leaned back.
"No, you're right," he agreed, looking like he had been genuinely mulled the thought over, "I wouldn't," he admitted, burying his face into the crook of Damon's neck.
He groaned in pleasure, tipping his head back against the pillow as he sucked and kissed along his skin, his stubble scraping against the overheated flesh. With Klaus distracted and otherwise occupied, Damon was able to work his jeans off at the waistband, until Klaus got the hint and removed them the rest of the way with an amused chuckle.
He felt his thighs nudged apart and he let Klaus push his knees up to his chest. He groaned in anticipation when a finger was thrust inside him, then a second quickly after, stretching him out.
He whined, face burning with indignation when he heard it, at the loss of sensation when Klaus withdrew his fingers too soon for his liking, growling in irritation. It only increased when he felt Klaus pressing against him, but not moving.
"Stop teasing and just fuck me already!" Damon demanded, bucking his hips and trying to coax Klaus inside him.
He pressed bruisingly on Damon's shoulders, eyes boring down into his. "I'll do whatever I want to you," he retorted evenly, lips quirking at the noise in frustration Damon let out.
But he couldn't last long at keeping up the act himself. Damon tipped his head back against the mattress, moaning through his teeth as Klaus finally pushed his way inside him, intoxicating his body with ecstasy. Every single thrust was deep and fulfilling; Damon wrapped his legs around his waist, trying to push him further.
He attempted to slip one hand down to his aching erection, but Klaus snatched it up and pinned his wrist above his head. "Hey—"
His cry of indignation was swallowed as Klaus' mouth descended on his in an intense kiss, feeling him grabbing his other wrist and pinning it at his side. Damon jerked his head to the side, breaking off their kiss as Klaus purposely angled himself to hit a spot inside him that made stars explode in front of his eyes.
He seized his hair with one hand while his other kept Damon's wrists pinned. He tried struggling under him, but even with his newfound strength he wasn't going anywhere. The look in Klaus' eyes as he stared down at him only served to make his arousal more painful, having to bite back a groan as Klaus deliberately rocked his hips against him.
"You come from this, or not at all, you understand me?" he said, the undercurrent of the warning edging his voice as his hand slipped from his hair to curl around his throat.
Damon huffed out a laugh as the air was forced out of him, biting his tongue as he tried to ignore the exhilarating rush of unexpected fear that the demand caused to shoot through him. "Yes, sir," he said sarcastically.
Klaus just arched an eyebrow at his response as he quickened his pace. As if to tease him, he wrapped his other hand around Damon's erection and began to torturously swirl his thumb around the tip, moving his hand in slow, steady strokes, chuckling at the amount of precome there. He stared down at him in warning as he wriggled helplessly, trying to thrust himself further into his hand.
He groaned at the feeling of loss as Klaus let go and bracketed both hands on either side of his head to drive his thrusts deeper. Well, that was a waste. He grabbed one of Klaus' hands, guiding it towards his throat.
He caught on, but didn't move straight away, only stroked his fingers up the side of the overheated skin. Damon squirmed impatiently.
"Is that what you want?" Klaus asked lowly, in a tone Damon couldn't make out as wonder, or exasperation. Maybe a bit of both.
He nodded eagerly and was rewarded with the heavy weight of Klaus' hand coiling around his throat and the delicious sensation of pleasure combined with a loss of air, feeling his mouth hang open in a low moan as Klaus started to thrust into him with a fraction of his vampire speed.
With the hand choking him, he yanked his head to the side to expose the skin there and attached his mouth, sucking and biting at it hard enough to draw blood. He made to move his hands down from where he'd left them, but the warning growl reverberating against his skin and the tightening around his throat stopped him instantly.
The gradual loss of air was making that pleasurable coil in Damon's stomach tighten unbearably—he wasn't sure he was going to last much longer. His legs were shaking violently as every cell in his body vibrated with pleasure. Klaus rammed his hips into his with near-bone breaking force as he panted against his neck. Damon felt his abdomen muscles beginning to constrict and his toes curled in anticipation.
Klaus' grip on his throat eased up somewhat and his thrusts began to slow. Damon was about to demand what his game was, when he heard footsteps coming closer to the door. He looked up at him in amusement, being rewarded with a finger against his lips silently hushing him.
"Shh, Elijah, listen."
Damon choked on a full-blown laugh as he heard Rebekah's voice, briefly biting down on one of his fingers with a grin. With a roll of his eyes, Klaus ignored her presence at the door and continued thrusting inside Damon, covering his mouth to muffle any moans they could pick up on.
"Maybe we should give them a few minutes?" she continued, sounding uneasy.
"I think they'll need more than a few minutes," Elijah said knowingly, "It's been a long couple of days for them," he commented.
As soon as the sound of their footsteps headed away from the door, Damon slapped Klaus' hand away from his mouth and let his laughter fill the room.
"God bless vampire hearing, huh?" he chuckled.
Klaus just smirked, quirking his eyebrows and resuming his thrusts to where the tension in Damon's muscles built up again. He stubbornly bit his lip to keep back the wanton moans, feeling his body thrumming with a strange energy.
He wanted more, and before he had time to think about he had utilized his new strength to catch Klaus off-guard and flipped him over to straddle him. He looked up at him with a look half-way between bewilderment and surprise when Damon started to grind his hips up and down his length.
Klaus put his hand around Damon's waist and held him there, but Damon pulled them away with a smirk and leaned down, pinning them beside Klaus' head smugly. Surprisingly, he didn't struggle and just watched him, looking amused.
"I could get used to this," Damon commented with a grin.
He leaned down to kiss him, catching Klaus' mouth curling in a devilish smile and his eyes filling with amber. His hand tugged at his hair and he closed the gap as he nipped as his lips in a warning Damon didn't pick up on until it was too late.
"Don't you dare," he whispered heatedly against his mouth.
With a low growl, Damon felt himself flying backwards as Klaus shoved at him, and hit hard back against the mattress, feeling the lower headboard of the bed crack under the force. One hand was roughly choking him again and Klaus was thrusting into him so hard Damon felt his hips rattling in their sockets from the concussive force.
His taunting laughter was at his ear. "I still have nine-hundred years on you," he reminded him, his breath hot against his ear.
Damon's resulting laughter was choked down as the grip on his throat increased, dark spots dancing at the edges of his vision, but he was so lost in pleasure he didn't care. In retaliation, he leaned up and clung to Klaus' back, deliberately letting his claws come through and break into his skin.
He writhed between Klaus and the mattress, moaning and gasping through gritted teeth as took everything he gave him. Frowning a little, he saw Klaus biting into his wrist and then hover it over his mouth. Damon didn't question it and sunk his fangs into his arm, feeling Klaus' hand slip from his throat to the side of his head to tangle in his hair as he buried his own fangs into his skin.
The combined sensation of Klaus' blood flowing through him and his own being drawn out lit every inch of his body with electricity. His toes curled and he clutched at Klaus' back with enough force to bruise, desperately pulling him closer. He started shaking uncontrollably as his climax started to approach—he was achingly hard and desperate for release.
He bit down hard enough on Klaus' arm to feel a low groan rumbling from the back of his throat, feeling his skin tingling and sweat beading on his forehead and soaking into his hair. He let out a muffled cry as the fierce tremor of his orgasm finally ripped through his body, coating his stomach and chest in spurts of come.
Klaus' thrusts continued until Damon felt him come inside him, the fangs clamped down on his neck biting momentarily tighter as he shook from the force of it. He withdrew his fangs, and his arm from Damon's mouth, and their mouths met in a sticky, languid kisses that reached into Damon's chest and squeezed at his heart.
They laid there panting for a few moments, with Damon desperately trying to hold onto consciousness as his heart hammered against his chest, until Klaus pulled out and rolled off him. They moved up to the headboard and Damon collapsed against the pillows, utterly spent.
He wiped the blood off his lips, feeling the hyper-sensitive tickling of the bitemark on his neck healing with no issue. He rubbed the surprisingly smooth skin with a look of amazement.
"Nice to know that's not gonna kill me, anymore," he remarked.
He flopped back down on the mattress, wiping a hand over his sweat-soaked bangs. "Fuck," he swore, with feeling.
"I thought I just did?" Klaus joked, sounding a little out of breath himself, raising his eyebrow with a barely-there smirk.
Damon snorted tiredly, huffing out a weak laugh as his body slowed started to come down from the pulsating high. He turned on his side to get comfortable, while Klaus propped himself up on his arm and looked down at him.
"How do you feel?" he asked, looking down at him intently, pushing some of Damon's sweat-slick hair out of his eyes.
Off of Damon's confused frown, he elaborated: "With everything," and Damon nodded in acknowledgement, "I felt like my body was on fire for a few weeks and I couldn't settle," he admitted.
"Not much different," he shrugged, mulling it over, "More energy, if that's possible," he said, feeling his mind go stagnant as he tried to think, "I do feel different, it's just..." he trailed off, pausing and making a quiet noise of confusion.
"I dunno," he got out eventually, not able to articulate his feelings and the strange sensations in a way that would do them justice.
Then something crossed his mind, something potentially worrying that Klaus picked up on almost instantly.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Since you technically made me a hybrid, I'm not sired to you, am I?" he wondered uneasily.
"I doubt it," Klaus said flippantly, "I'm sure you'd be grateful for the enhancements, but not enough for it to warrant a feeling of eternal servitude," he pointed out, "I didn't really 'save' you from anything," he added.
Damon exaggeratedly wiped sweat off his brow. "Dodged a bullet, there," he teased.
"And if that were the case, if things are suddenly manifesting out of nowhere, I imagine I'd be sired to you by now," Klaus admitted, "You saved my life," he said with a tiny, grateful smile that Damon almost missed.
"Because my idiot brother put it in danger," he groused with a roll of his eyes.
"Yours as well," Klaus reminded him, his eyes momentarily darkening in remembrance.
"Nah, he didn't make me come up with the idea to save you," Damon said with a flap of his hand—that was all on him, Bonnie was the only one who was supposed to know, "I'm sure he would've had me desiccated too, and thrown both of us in the sea if I'd said anything," he chuckled.
"Why did you do it?" Klaus asked, looking at him with an expression bordering on complete wonder and utter confusion.
"Fail safe in case Rebekah and I couldn't get you away in time," Damon explained, "I just figured you'd kill me if I had Bonnie stick your soul into Tyler, or something," he added with a playful quirk of his eyebrows—he didn't want to think about what could've befallen him when Klaus got back into his own body if he'd dared do that.
(Mainly because the twitches of arousal in his groin were painful at this point).
"Sleeping on the couch would be the least of your worries if you had," Klaus said dryly, looking completely serious.
Damon snorted with laughter. "Aww, don't be like that," he said with a mocking smile, "You know you missed me," he snickered.
"I did," Klaus said smoothly, "I was concerned about you," he admitted, his voice briefly becoming heavy with something Damon couldn't place.
He frowned at the open admission, leaning forwards to give Klaus a through sniff. Definitely smelled like him, and after a firm few pokes, he reasoned that it definitely felt like Klaus.
"Having fun there?" he asked as Damon continued to poke and prod at him, trying to sound stern and exasperated but the amusement in his voice gave him away.
He jerked away as Damon took hold of his face and turned his head, asking, "What are you doing?" with a look of fond exasperation.
"Checking to see you're not some alien replicant with a red X on the back of your neck," Damon replied in all seriousness, taking hold of Klaus' head and resuming his antics again.
He let go when he scanned the skin there. "Nope, just that little mole behind your ear," he said, feeling his mouth curving with a smile.
Klaus rolled his eyes when Damon released him. "Why is it so hard to believe I can be worried about you?" he asked, sounding mildly offended.
"It's not hard to believe," he said, "Just very disconcerting," he added; it was akin to seeing Elijah wear something other than a suit—not completely out of the realm of possibility, just very unlikely.
"Damon," Klaus began with a look of disbelief, "I've fucked you until you've screamed your throat raw, and me showing you concern is what's disconcerting?" he asked with a surprised frown.
"Yes," Damon said brightly, briefly flicking a finger in his direction, "Because I've never made out I'm an untouchable hard-ass who's above emotion."
Klaus' eyebrow arched up and he gave him a needling look. Damon gave over, holding his hands up in surrender.
"Okay, maybe I have," he begrudgingly admitted, "But in my defense, you didn't know me back then," he reminded him.
"By gods, you mean you were even more irritating?" Klaus asked, sounding shocked, but his eyes were glinting playfully.
"Yeah," Damon nodded.
"How irritating?" he wondered.
"You would've punched my head off my body, no question about it," Damon said, still half-surprised Klaus hadn't done it when they'd first met and he'd freed his first set of supernatural sacrifices.
"Must be an innate feeling when it comes to you," Klaus said simply.
Damon started laughing at the remark, which in turn caused Klaus to follow. He then turned serious as something crossed his mind he hadn't had the chance to ask before Elijah and Rebekah had left to take Davina back to the French Quarter.
"Why'd you think Davina had problems separating us?" he asked.
"I've no idea," Klaus said after a while of looking like he gave it genuine thought, "Rebekah was telling me it took a few hours for her to do it," he explained, looking troubled.
"So, you're a stubborn ass, nothing new there," Damon said dryly.
"We must be soul mates," Klaus said evenly, and with a completely straight face.
It made Damon crack up again, and he saw Klaus smiling.
"This doesn't mean I'm gonna have to marry you, does it?" he asked with a mock-disgusted look, letting horror briefly taint his voice.
"What's that face for?" Klaus asked, his mouth briefly hanging open in offense, "What's wrong with me?" he asked, his eyebrows shooting up at Damon's nerve.
"Where the fuck do I start?" he responded with a scoff.
As soon as their eyes met, Klaus' facade cracked and they started laughing again. Damon had to admit, although not to Klaus' face, he'd missed him too, and was secretly reveling in the sound of his melodic laughter.
"Does that mean you don't want me buying you a ring then?" Klaus asked with a wolfish smile.
A long drive back to Mystic Falls had Damon and Klaus arriving back late in the afternoon — Rebekah and Elijah had gone back to Klaus' mansion having had enough excitement — and they were soon walking up the driveway of the Salvatore boarding house with a sense of relief.
The front door closed behind Klaus, and Damon saw Elena's head popping around the corner.
"Oh, thank god!" she cried in relief when she spotted two completely separate people.
In a flurry of brown hair, she barreled into him with a relieved hug that had enough force to stumble him back into the wall. He chuckled and gently steadied her, holding her at arms' length with a small smile.
"Easy tiger, he gets jealous," Damon said teasingly, briefly glancing over at Klaus.
She let him go and stepped back just as Stefan appeared at the end of the hallway. He wasn't remiss at the wide berths he noticed them both giving Klaus.
"And I still say I'm thanking Davina, God had nothing to do with it," he said, exchanging a look with Klaus that had him nodding, "He was Plan Whatever-The-Hell-Comes-After-Z," he added with a snort, flapping a hand dismissively.
"Agreed, I may have to hold up my end of the bargain after all," Klaus said, sounding relieved and impressed.
"Davina?" Elena repeated with a furrowed brow, "Who's she?" she asked.
"The witch Damon and I found," Klaus said, "She managed to unlink us both and get me back in my own body," he explained, that last sent towards Stefan with a look that if they could kill would've dropped him right then and there.
"Turns out he was one stubborn bastard, and didn't want to leave me," Damon revealed smugly, giving him a mockingly bright grin.
Klaus just rolled his eyes. "It wasn't quite like that," he said under his breath, folding his arms.
"No, it definitely was," Damon insisted, nodding fervently while Elena looked like she was trying not to smile, "We're thinking of a winter wedding, by the way, you're both invited. We're still stuck on who's getting whose last name though," he added, sounding completely serious.
At the soft back-hand on the arm Klaus gave him, Damon broke and chuckled with a grin.
"So, you're okay?" Elena asked in relief, "And you're still a raging, homicidal maniac?" she said, looking towards Klaus, who regarded her coolly.
Damon winced through his teeth. "Not exactly," he said uneasily, wondering how the hell he was actually going to explain this next part.
"You mean Klaus had a personality transplant?" Stefan asked brightly, leaning forwards with interest.
Klaus narrowed his eyes at him. "You wish," he spat dryly through his teeth.
"What are you talking about?" Elena asked, "How are you 'not exactly' okay?" she added, sounding like she was about to freak out.
"Just get all our supernatural friends over here, they'll get a kick out of this," Damon said with a smile.
An hour or so later, Bonnie and Caroline were standing with the four of them in the parlor, looking enthralled and hanging on every word as Damon and Klaus recounted the details of Damon's vampire-on-vampire possession and what transpired in New Orleans.
"You're a what?" Stefan asked in utter shock when they had gotten to the end of the story.
"He said Original hybrid, are you hard of hearing?" Klaus said scathingly, folding his arms with a roll of his eyes.
"How is that even possible?" Elena asked in bewilderment, her mouth hanging open slightly.
Damon shrugged—they both still didn't really know. "Davina said it was something to do with how long Klaus was possessing me and the fact I actually could have control of my own body," he said, but everyone just looked more confused when he did, "It did something to my DNA apparently," he said with an off-handed wave.
"Does that mean you can't be killed then?" Stefan asked, "I really never will be rid of you?" he said, sounding dismayed.
Damon raised an eyebrow, to which Stefan's expression broke into a teasing smirk that had Damon grinning. "You know you'd miss my handsome face," he chuckled.
"Consider it lucky you still have him," Klaus cut in, his voice edging with a growl, "This entire meeting could've been about something entirely different," he reminded him, "Or I could've removed your loved ones heads, put them on pikes and made you suffer a slow and horrific death," he said slowly, looking purposefully at each person in the room.
"Oh, put the claws away," Damon insisted with a flap of his hand, "We survived, didn't we?" he asked rhetorically.
"Barely, need I remind you?" Klaus pointed out, and no, no he didn't, "And it was only because of me massacring everyone Marcel bent a knee in the first place," he added.
"Hey, I made that killer storm!" Damon argued back, "That massacre was a team effort!" he insisted.
"British Damon," Bonnie remarked, looking off into the distance briefly, "Yeah, that would've been weird," she said with a sympathetic wince in their direction.
"And dare I say, even snarkier?" she added.
"No-one needs that," Elena commented out of the corner of her mouth...
"You're messing with us," Caroline said warily, folding her arms, "Could magic even turn a vampire into a werewolf?" she wondered, turning to Bonnie for confirmation.
"I've never seen any spells, but it doesn't mean it's impossible," she said with a shrug, "Although I doubt it—Esther put the curse on Klaus for a reason, remember?" she said with a knowing look that had Caroline nodding.
"Guess I'm special," Damon said with a small smile, briefly revealing his hybrid visage for everyone.
Then he slipped his daylight ring off his finger, putting it on a nearby table with an audible thunk! that stole everyone's attention.
"And check this out," he said with a grin.
He crossed over to the curtains that were pulled closed and threw them open with a dramatic flourish, standing in full view of the rays of sun that beamed through.
"Damon, no!" Elena cried in shock.
Damon turned around with a smile that befuddled her, Stefan and Caroline when they realized he wasn't burning and the sun kissed his skin rather than burned it.
"That's gonna confuse the witches who try and go for the ring," he remarked gleefully, chuckling and putting his ring back on.
"Or anyone who tries to torture me with daylight," he added, pulling a face with a mock shudder.
"Can't imagine it's a short list," Bonnie commented, looking at him with a raised eyebrow.
Damon arched one back, taken aback and his mouth opening ready to protest, but then he quickly closed it—she had him there. Mason Lockwood's vengeful ghost came to mind; he was surprised there weren't more ghosts of those he'd killed lining up to take a swing at him.
"Does that mean you can heal werewolf bites now?" Elena asked, catching Stefan and Caroline's interest, who both looked just as intrigued as she did, "I'd just feel dirty having to ask Klaus for help if anything happened to me," she stated bluntly.
"Excuse me?" Klaus asked, offended.
Elena fidgeted under his gaze, wringing her hands. "Well, you helping anyone is like seeing a dog walk on its hind legs," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "These past few days have been weirder than you'd think," she added, while Stefan, Caroline and Bonnie all nodded in agreement.
"Besides, God knows what you two get up to, I wouldn't want to catch anything," she said with a brief look of aversion.
"Oh, I can't imagine I taste that bad, do I?" Klaus asked.
"I'll be honest, I was too busy dying to take notes," Stefan said off-handedly, giving him a needling look.
"Same here," Caroline chimed in.
Damon raised a hand. "Yeah, good point," he agreed, "They've got you there," he said with a smile, scrunching his nose up in Klaus' direction when he rolled his eyes.
"Although it depends on what you're referring to," Damon pointed out, touching his chin with a finger as he looked off in mock-remembrance. He then caught the eye of the nearest person — which turned out to be Caroline — and waggled his eyebrows.
Caroline's eyes blew to the size of saucers. "Ew! Damon!" she cried, looking scandalized when she realized what precisely he was referring to.
Damon looked at his present company with a look of disbelief. "Oh, like I'm the only person in this room that's s—"
"Okay! That's enough," Stefan cried, flinging up his hands in exasperation.
Damon barked out a laugh at the pleading look his brother shot him.
"I'm not biting any of you to figure it out," he said after a while, in complete seriousness, "And no, no-one's staking me to see if I'll come back to life, either," he added, raising his eyebrow and briefly scanning the room.
He noticed Caroline averted her eyes rather quickly.
"You'd have a long line in front of you, I imagine," Stefan muttered out of the corner of his mouth.
"Shame," Caroline and Bonnie chimed in unison.
Damon's mouth hung open and he let a mock-offended look cross his face. "Unbelievable," he scoffed, theatrically putting a hand to his chest as if physically wounded. "I save our entire bloodline and get no appreciation? Typical," he said, shooting everyone a scathing glance before folding his arms and turning away with an exaggerated 'humph'.
Caroline rolled her eyes with a grin. She and Bonnie then got up and ran across the parlor to give him a joint hug. He caught them both, laughing even harder when Elena joined in.
"Our hero!" Caroline crowed, playing along, "How can we ever repay you?" she wondered aimlessly.
When he had enough and shoved them away with a smile, it turned pleasantly bewildered when he felt something squeezing his hand. Frowning, he looked at Klaus. He caught his gaze and let his face betray nothing, not making a big deal out of it.
Neither did Damon, instead he started, with a look of complete seriousness, listing off ways of repayments which made everyone in the parlor groan loudly.
(A few weeks later)
"Damon, will you stay still?" Klaus asked in exasperation, sighing.
Damon wriggled around on the couch under the sheet, feeling his leg cramping. He scowled in Klaus' direction, who was sat across from him with a sketching pad and pencil, only occasionally looking up at him.
"How did I let you talk me into this?" Damon asked aimlessly, shaking his head.
"The lingering effect of several shots of tequila and post-coital clarity, if I remember rightly," Klaus said evenly, not looking up from his drawing.
"You could've at least put the fire on, it's freezing under this thing!" Damon complained, being only in his boxers.
"Oh, stop grumbling," Klaus admonished him.
Narrowing his eyes, Damon reached for one of the throw pillows at his feet and launched it at Klaus' head. He batted it away with his free hand, with a barely-there smile, and kept on drawing.
Damon scowled in his direction, about to retort but Klaus was talking again:
"And if you'll stop interrupting me, I can get this done faster and come over there and warm you up myself."
He finally looked up at Damon from under his lashes with a heady smirk that went straight to his groin. Damon grumbled theatrically to hide his growing smile and settled back down. He heard high heels approaching.
"Nik, I think you should see this," Rebekah said by way of announcing herself, waving an opened letter in her hand. Elijah was also with her.
"What is it with you two interrupting us?" Damon asked, although more to himself, with a roll of his eyes, throwing off the sheet and getting off the couch.
Rebekah shrieked and threw her arms up, shielding her eyes. "Damon!"
"Relax," he reassured her with a dismissive wave, grabbing his jeans from where they'd been thrown over the couch, "I've got underwear on," he informed her.
Rebekah visibly relaxed, dropping her arms. Damon pulled his jeans on and tugged his shirt on over his head. Klaus put his sketch pad down and came over with a curious look, taking the letter from Rebekah.
"It's from Katerina," Elijah informed him.
"Did the name 'Klaus Mikaelson' on the back of this envelope mean nothing to either of you?" Klaus asked dryly.
Damon leaned over Klaus shoulder and peeked at the letter for himself, wondering what Katherine could possibly say that would catch Klaus' interest, watching him frown pensively.
Klaus,
I'm usually not the type to grovel, or beg — well, in actual fact I'm still doing neither — but it's time you gave up this vendetta for me, isn't it? You must've gotten bored of it, especially now you've got a new little toy to play with, and I know something that will rattle you so deep to your core I'll be the least of your problems.
I've caught wind of witches heading to New Orleans planning a revolt against you and your entire family that will supposedly bring about a 'greater evil', and that your so-called 'adoptive son' Marcel is eager to join them. It's cagey in terms of information, but I keep hearing whispers about someone called 'Silas' and some 'travelers' — and I don't think I mean the gypsy kind.
It's been a fun five centuries Klaus, and I'm sorry I can't be around to say goodbye, but I've worn down too many good pairs of heels running from you.
Love, and hate.
Katerina.
P.S — Try not to wear Damon out, and enjoy him—I know I did.
Damon snorted on a laugh as his eyes caught sight of the little postscript.
"Think she's telling the truth?" Rebekah asked with a nervous lick of her lips, trying to catch Klaus' eye but he was still glued to the letter.
"It's only logical to think after the massacre you two caused of Marcel's closest he's seeking revenge," Elijah reasoned, "These witches will have given him the perfect opportunity," he added.
"Uh, what do you mean 'you two'?" Damon repeated, raising his eyebrow, "I was an unwilling vessel!" he said defensively.
"Unwilling my arse," Rebekah muttered snidely out of the corner of her mouth.
"It's hard to believe Katerina would make up such a paltry excuse to try and barter her freedom," Klaus said when he looked up from the letter, "She's a much better storyteller than this would have you believe," he said, sounding disappointed, but Damon could see he looked troubled.
"But these witches pick now to air their grievances?" Damon wondered.
"What do you mean?" Klaus asked in confusion.
"Well, you've been in Mystic Falls for some time and that's pretty public knowledge around here, so it would be easy for them to locate you," he pointed out, "Yet they've waited until now to make a scene?" he said, gesturing to the letter. He had no clue what was stopping them before, so why now?
"It would seem so," Rebekah said sagely, nodding her head.
"Well, they're a few weeks late of it being an easy job, that's for sure," Damon snickered, wondering if Katherine's warning just got delayed because of UPS.
"Who the hell is this Silas she mentioned?" Klaus asked, giving the letter a once over.
Elijah shrugged. "I haven't the faintest idea."
"I was hoping she'd clue us in on the 'greater evil'," Damon said with mild disappointment, making air quotes with his fingers, "Didn't think anything was worse than you," he said in Klaus' direction.
The other man smirked, lightly slapping him on the arm.
"Maybe this 'greater evil' is this Silas guy?" Rebekah suggested.
"It's possible," Klaus agreed, although with just a letter to go on with no proof, it was too early to rule anything out.
"Well, what's more evil than an unkillable vampire-werewolf hybrid?" Damon asked rhetorically.
"Split ends?" Rebekah said teasingly.
Damon chuckled, seeing Klaus out of the corner of his eye trying not to smirk. Elijah rolled his eyes in full view.
"Glad to see we're taking this seriously," Elijah said coolly, folding his arms as he looked at them reprimandingly.
"Maybe it's some huge alien mutant?" Damon wondered, "Or a Demi God?" he added, getting a little carried away, then his eyes widened as another idea hit him, "Or a giant sewer monster that—"
"Or perhaps we're worrying over nothing?" Klaus cut in before Damon could go on a tangent, giving him a purposeful look.
"But you clearly don't think so," Rebekah pointed out, "Or else you'd thrown that letter away by now," she said knowingly, starting to look a little pensive herself.
"It is troubling," Klaus admitted, "I've already had one brush with death, I don't fancy a second," he added, a haunted look briefly crossing his face.
"So, we're going back to New Orleans?" Rebekah hedged, sounding hesitant about the matter.
"Well, why not?" Klaus said airily, he shrugged, "There's nothing for me here now, is there?" he asked, tossing the letter aside.
"Oh, thanks!" Damon said in shock, eyes blown wide, "That settles that, then," he decided, spinning on his heel and making to mockingly storm out.
Klaus' tight grip on his arm pulled him back. Damon glanced down and decided it was a good thing, he wouldn't have wanted to have to storm back in for his shoes.
"I suppose it couldn't hurt to see if this means anything," Klaus gave over, "The last time I didn't take the threat of our mother seriously, we almost died and ended our entire species," he reminded them.
"Yeah, you guys got sucker-punched on that one," Damon chuckled.
Elijah glared at him coolly, making him hold his hands up in surrender.
"It would be incredibly foolish to bury our heads in the sand," Elijah agreed.
"Well, I'm in," Rebekah decided almost instantaneously, "And I suspect Kol would love to take a break from his sabbatical in Italy to join us," she added, "He is always complaining about being left out," she said, looking around at her brothers with a raised eyebrow.
"I wondered why it was so quiet around here," Damon remarked, noticing a distinct lack of snide comments from the peanut gallery.
"The more the merrier," Klaus said with a nod, then he smirked, "What can a few witches do against three Originals and two hybrids?" he asked, glancing around at them all.
"Two?" Damon repeated with a frown, catching it out.
"You didn't think I was referring to Lockwood, did you?" Klaus asked airily.
"Nik, his whole life's here," Rebekah said gently.
Damon snorted—what life? The Stefan and Elena immortal love-fest while one of his best friends was dead and his lover about to up stakes and move. He'd been fancying a change of scenery for years anyway.
"Vague threats? Ominous witch prophecies? A revolt?" he listed, his smile of anticipation growing with each one, "Count me in," he agreed.
Then he pulled a face. "Besides, long distance relationships suck."
And that's all, folks! :)
I cannot actually believe it took me this long to get this story finished (and I think I'm gonna get a similarly chaptered story done by the end of this year? Yeah right...) but I'm so so happy people still stuck with me and didn't get sick of waiting (yes I know, a two-year break, and I won't do it again :P) and I've loved reading all the reviews and seeing how many people have favorited this story. A huge thank you to every single one of you.
I have to say I won't be making a sequel or anything to this story—Silas and the travelers merged with some of the stuff from The Originals sounds like a good idea on paper, but I think I'd rather leave this one up to your imagination since I imagine it'd turn into a clusterfuck if I tried actually doing it.
Hope you enjoyed, and hopefully I'll see some more of you at Dance With the Devil, I've got some exciting things planned for that I hope to be able to share. :)