A/N: I adore your comments! Thank you so much for the love and support. And a billion thanks to my dear BroodyCheery323 for the beta work. Do people like author notes? This chapter is really upping the naked-factor... Please enjoy!
The curse ruled from the underground down by the shore
And their hope grew with a hunger to live unlike before
Tell me now of the very souls that look alike, look alike
Do you know the stranglehold covering their eyes?
The Curse – Agnes Obel
The night on the couch was the best sleep Damon experienced in months, if not longer. In the weeks that followed, Damon tried to duplicate it. He tried more blankets and pillows, just something substantial to curl around, but those were discarded as his attempts quickly escalated to keeping another warm body in his bed to press up against. It didn't take much, if anything, to keep them compelled to stay through the night, no matter how much Stefan frowned in his direction. There had been a series of girls who didn't matter when they left in the morning, and more frequently the one guy that made Elena extra nervous who didn't need any compelling. He didn't do much towards helping Damon get any rest.
Ah, but Alaric looked awfully pretty all spread out beside Damon in his post-orgasmic doze. Not that his bedmate was quite who he focused on at the moment. Damon sat against the headboard with his eyes closed, pretending not to listen to the sounds down the hallway. Dawn was peeking in between the heavy drapes, which indicated no one seemed to have gotten much sleep that night.
Alaric slid away from Damon and yawned.
"What day is it?" His voice was thick with sleep—a quality Damon envied.
Thinking about it for a moment, Damon realized he had kept the man occupied all weekend. "Monday, I'm pretty sure."
"Dammit!" Alaric groaned as he rolled to a sitting position, feet hitting the floor. "I gotta go home and get ready for class." He rubbed his thumbs into his eyes, and tried pulling his hair into one direction.
Trailing a finger across Alaric's bare waist, Damon chuckled. "Fine, go shit, shower and shave in the comfort of your own home." He reached for the decanter of bourbon beside his bed and poured a glass while Alaric got up. "You want to come back tonight?" It was a tentative idea, keeping the man at his house on a weeknight. But the nightmares were getting worse. Damon thought if he wasn't going to sleep much, he might as well have some fun.
His eyes followed a nude Alaric across the room as the man picked up the clothes he wore the previous Friday. "I have to do some grading. But I can meet you at the Grille when I'm done." He stopped, zipping his pants and looking around for his shirt.
"Mmm, kinky." Damon smirked over his glass as he watched Alaric stuff underwear in his pocket.
"Well you didn't leave enough of them to put back on, and I don't have anything here." He smiled, pulling on his shirt without buttoning it. "We can get something to eat, but I can't stay the night." He patted himself down, making sure his few personal items were on him, and then rubbed over the newest bite mark near his hip. He didn't seem to mind too much as he buttoned up his shirt enough to cover it. "Maybe you can get Stefan to send Elena home, too."
To the man's credit, he tried to be discreet about their hook-ups, but Damon wasn't exactly subtle, and Alaric found himself not caring as much as he should. Whether that was attributed to the orgasms, or his suspicions that Damon was taking the edge off Alaric's worries with alcohol and small compulsions, he couldn't say.
Damon's warm smile faded as he looked away. The soft noises Elena and Stefan were making distracted him from whatever Alaric's rejection made him think. "I'll see what I can do."
"Thanks." Alaric leaned in quickly to give Damon a kiss goodbye. Damon tilted his head enough for the man's lips to miss the mark and end up on his cheek. Smiling, Alaric straightened up. "I'll see you at the bar, yeah? Then we could both use some sleep."
Nodding, Damon watched Alaric leave his room before he dragged himself out of bed and cleaned up. Pulling on jeans, Damon looked in the mirror to make sure nothing else was out of place. He washed the dried blood off the edges of his mouth and splashed some water on his face. He waited until he heard his friend's car leave before walking down the hall to Stefan's room.
Damon twisted the door handle, letting his brother's door swing open on its own. It was a strange kind of self-inflicted torture, seeing them in bed. That split second where Stefan's mouth locked on hers, his hand covering her breast, her eyes closed in pleasure until the door slammed into the wall.
Elena still shrieked every time, yanking the duvet over her chest. Stefan, who lay on his side facing her, merely looked over his shoulder, bare to the hip. Damon's eye caught on the swell of his ass revealed as Elena pulled more of the blanket around her. He looked back up in time to see Stefan's expression slip from annoyance into genuine curiosity.
"Did you need something? Or are you trying to torture Elena?"
They both looked back at her, blanket pulled up to her neck and a deep scowl on her face.
"I was thinking, you know, as your authority figure, I should point out that it may do you kids some good to spend the day focusing on your other school work, and less attention to Family Development," As he scratched at his bare chest, Damon dragged his eyes over the lumps of blanket that hid Elena's body before smirking at her annoyed expression. She snorted with a dry laugh as she pulled the blanket over her face. The scent of her blush threw him off for a moment. "And uh, Anatomy, Biology, whatever science classes the kids are into these days. I hear some people still need to learn these things academically."
Stefan rolled his eyes, sliding closer to Elena and pulling enough blankets over his exposed backside while keeping Elena covered. "Yeah, yeah, okay. Close the door on your way out."
"Like either of you have something I haven't seen before."
"Damon!" Elena snapped, sounding less amused while invisible under the blankets.
Stefan only regarded Damon with wary silence.
Damon winked, closing the door behind him. Maybe barging in every time she slept over was getting old. Elena no longer reacted so scandalized, while Stefan met him with dark silent eyes. That was interesting in an entirely different way.
