The title might be slightly ironic.
Set after the end of 4x09, all the major changes to the storylines that haven't appeared in the previous chapters are told in the first part of the chapter, I think.
One world apart, part 13: Improvement
The following days passed rather peacefully.
Peacefully for Mystic Falls, of course. There were one or two skirmishes between vampires and hybrids, but no one died, so it could be called a peaceful time. There was drama, as always, but drama, in Mystic Falls, could turn out to be pretty dangerous. As no one was maimed / killed / buried-alive-in-an-old-church as a result, Damon felt confident that things were pretty tame yet.
Yes, Caroline and Tyler had finally fallen out because Vampire Barbie had enough of his plotting with the beautiful werewolf, Hayley, and, let's be honest, because Caroline was getting more and more affected by Klaus. The Original had not done anything really hateful for some time, truth be told, and he was even helping with the whole hunters of the Five thing, though he did it in his own, self-centered way. Alaric's ghost spent half his time with Damon, the other half with Jeremy and Bonnie, who were trying to figure out a way to lessen the teenager's new anti-vampires instincts. Bonnie also studied supernatural things with a Professor Shane, whom she had met at Whitmore College. Elena was finally getting the hang of controlling her bloodlust, thanks to Stefan's help. Ariane and Magdalena had met, and become fast friends; apparently, the Falkenbach had started searching for her "gone" cousin...
In one word, drama. No one had died, even if emotions were running high, and that was more than the Mystic Falls inhabitants usually got.
But speaking of drama, it was starting again with Damon, and Alaric was too busy worrying about everything else to help the vampire. Besides, given the nature of Damon's predicament, Ric couldn't do anything to help him. In fact, it was exactly that, the point of Damon's newfound reason to be depressed: the ghost was still a ghost.
Sometimes, Alaric wondered if the vampire wasn't simply searching for a reason to be depressed. Because, really, Damon could have waited a bit longer before falling back into depression.
Well, to be honest, it was still better than before. Damon hadn't gone totally depressed yet. He knew to appreciate the fact that he could see his ghostly boyfriend. Only, from time to time, usually after 10 p.m., he'd get moody, and take a drink. And another one. And another one.
Sure, it was only from ten to roughly two in the morning, unlike before. Before had been more like twelve hours out of the twenty-four hours in a day. Improvement.
More or less.
So, aside from the two hours when the vampire and the ghost would brood – Damon because of Ric, and Ric because of Jeremy's situation, because of Magdalena's investigation, because of Klaus' various plots that were sure to unfold sooner or later – the following days weren't so bad. Damon would even smile most of the time, and the ghost was relieved to have more than one person to talk to. Even if it had only gone up by two people, Ariane and Damon.
The vampire had even gone back to snooping around into other people's business.
Stefan's, to begin with, because his little brother was acting suspiciously buddy-buddy with Klaus. On that, Damon had yet to learn much, because Stefan had caught him seemingly speaking to no one and was apparently worried for his sanity. The fool. Damon had never been sane. At that point of the older vampire's ranting to Alaric, Damon usually snorted, and Ric kept quiet, unwilling to contradict him.
Of course, Damon had not been talking to no one back then, but to the ghost, who was his little secret for now. He already had to share Ric with Jeremy and Ariane, though the grim reaper didn't matter quite as much as she hadn't known the history teacher beforehand. Damon wasn't in the mind to share his personal ghost any more than that just yet.
The vampire had also began to snoop around one Atticus Shane, the man who had taken the job of Bonnie's grandmother after her passing away – occult studies teacher. The guy had shown up not long before, and Damon had found him pretty suspicious. He always told Ric so, during their brooding sessions after ten o'clock in the evening. That is, when he wasn't too concerned with his glass of bourbon. Or with his glass of tequila. Or with his glass of scotch. It depended on whether or not he had already finished all the bourbon.
Anyway, between hangovers and another drinking night, Damon had met Atticus Shane, and he had found him suspicious. Why didn't matter – or so he said – but the man was suspicious. Moreover, the guy was being friendly to Judgy, and the vampire thought that especially suspicious. Who in their right mind would be friendly with Judgy?
Elena had scowled at this part of the older vampire's explanation, the day before. Alaric had rolled his eyes. Damon had ignored the two of them.
Atticus Shane was shady, even if Ric would argue that it wasn't because the man was befriending Bonnie.
And since Professor Shane was shady and knew a great deal about everything supernatural, Damon snooped around. Sometimes with a big grin on his face. It was a bit freaky, to say the truth. When the vampire did that, Alaric wondered what had happened to the brooding Damon of the nights before.
Still, he liked better to see him smiling than crying. And the ghost agreed that Shane was a dubious character. The two had decided to go and take a look at the man's office at the end of the week. When Shane was away, of course.
The good point with being a ghost, Alaric mused, as he watched Damon taking yet another shot of alcohol, was that he would never be caught where he wasn't meant to be. For one obvious reason, people tended to overlook – sorry, to be unable to see him. Really great for one who wanted to be in places they weren't supposed to be.
Damon made his drink twirl in his glass with a flick of his wrist, before gulping it down. Then he looked with blurry eyes at the ghost beside him, who was making an illusionary drink do exactly the same, though the ghost didn't gulp it down. It was an illusionary drink, after all.
Alaric looked up from his illusionary glass and at his not-so-illusionary lover.
Damon was looking at him with a puppy face.
"Why did you die?"
The ghost blinked for a long time, and glanced back at the vampire, who really looked like someone had put his favorite puppy on fire before his very eyes, before throwing Rocky's mutilated body in the river. Considering Damon didn't have a puppy named Rocky that could have suffered all that, it was disturbing. Of course, some people might argue that what was disturbing was the fact that Alaric had even considered such an event to happen, but the ghost had seen enough of Mystic Falls to know everything was possible, even putting puppies on fire and throwing the bodies in the river.
So, as Damon didn't have a puppy named Rocky, the puppy face had most likely been triggered, not by a poor puppy, but by Alaric's death.
What it said about the two's relationship, will not be adressed here. Even if it could suggest that the vampire considered the history teacher his pet puppy.
"Because that's what happens when someone is killed."
The answer had been slow, almost tentative, as if the ghost was waiting for the vampire to burst out. Crying, or in anger. The two were possible.
Damon went back to staring at his drink. The alcohol was twirling wistfully in the glass, and the puppy face was still there. Ric glanced at the bottles next to the vampire. It wasn't as if Damon had had that much to drink, no?
The vampire's voice startled him again.
"I want a hug."
The ghost let out a strangled laugh, not knowing what to say to that. He couldn't do anything like a hug, but at least he should have something to say, right?
Just then, as if to save Alaric from the awkward situation, the front door of the lake house opened, catching Damon's attention. The depressed vampire turned his head to look at the door, but made no attempt to move, even when he caught sight of his visitor. Or should he say, visitors? One wasn't exactly conscious, but she sure as hell was present... And wait, what was this smell?
Blood?
"Make yourself at home."
Ariane arched both eyebrows at the tone of her old friend, her mouth set into a displeased twist. The grim reaper soon enough saw the cause of Damon's lack of response, and she scowled. He could at least help her get the mayor to one of the bedrooms.
"Great, another one who got too much to drink. Come and help me, you oaf, I have someone to save."
"Someone to save? Damon, get your ass over here, Carol Lockwood is a right mess."
The grim reaper looked up from the inebriated and wounded woman in her arms, and wasn't surprised to see Alaric Saltzman's ghost standing before her. Damon was making his way towards them, grumbling. It was more than probable that he was only complying because the ghost had told him to. From what she had seen of their relationship so far, Saltzman could get more out of the vampire than anyone else. Even if Damon Salvatore remained himself – meaning, he still did many things as he pleased.
"Thanks for getting Damon to work, but since you're here, shouldn't you be stopping him from getting drunk like that?"
Foolish question, of course, because Damon did what he wanted, even if he happened to accept the ghost's opinion from time to time. But still, she couldn't help but to ask, as her eyes fell once more on the several bottles of alcohol on the dining table.
The vampire got past the ghost, and frowned at the unconscious mayor Ariane was trying to get up the stairs. Carol Lockwood was soaked, but not only with water. There was quite a lot of blood on her too, and he could see several scratches on her face.
"As if Ric could prevent me from drinking in his disembodied state. What happened?"
The grim reaper sighed as she let Damon take the woman to a bedroom himself. She didn't have super-strength like vampires, after all, and she had had to carry the woman from the town to the lake house by herself.
"Long story short, Klaus Mikaelson found out what her son was up to, and it didn't please him, so he tried to drown her in the foutain after the end of the Winter Wonderland party. I saw what happened and stopped him, forcing her out of the water before it was too late, but I had to drop her when Klaus attacked me back, hence the scratches. The blood is Klaus', I took his arm off, not that it won't grow back, he's an Original, after all. Then I ran all the way here."
The three supernatural beings were now in a small bedroom. Damon put the mayor on the bed as he listened to the tale, and sneered.
"Of course Lockwolf had to anger the All-Powerful Wolf-Vamp. And people wonder why I don't like the teen! Now we'll have to calm Klaus down..."
The vampire squinted, searching for a pulse, before bitting his hand and giving a bit of blood to Carol Lockwood. She wasn't mortally wounded, thanks to Ariane's intervention, but her fall would cause a few bruises in addition to the scratches if he didn't do anything.
Once they had made sure the woman would live, the three left the bedroom and went back down to the dining room.
Damon let himself fall on a chair, clearly annoyed but sober once more. Ah, the wonders of vampirism!
"Now, how do we deal with the Original Bastard?"
"The first thing is to get the mayor out of town for a few days, for the sake of her health, for example. It wouldn't even be a real lie. Then we could try and convince Klaus not to murder us all, and her first..."
Alaric had slipped back into his Falkenbach-mode, voice devoid of all emotions. Ariane looked at him with squinted eyes, as if something was coming back to her, that she hadn't yet realized with him being a ghost and all that. Damon observed the two, frowning, but whatever it was that the grim reaper had realized, it wasn't the point right now. They had to get out of Wolf Boy's mess.
"I'll go with her. I'm pretty sure Klaus isn't happy with me after the whole I-got-his-arm-off thing, and my being present during the peace negotiations wouldn't be wise."
"Exactly. And you would be able to protect the mayor if he sends one of his lackeys."
"I might even take Magdalena with us. That would keep her from investigating your 'disparition'..."
The three supernatural beings eventually agreed on a plan of action, and Ariane went back up the stairs, mentally preparing herself to announce to Carol Lockwood that she was going on a trip.
Damon, him, had to mentally prepare himself for Operation Calm-the-Wolf-King. Great. Really.
