Semantics
The prompt was: Vampire Diaries. Damon/Alaric. I wanna drink with you all night, till we both fall down.
When Alaric enters his hotel room, a towel slung around his hips and hair still dripping wet from the shower he just took, he doesn't have to look up to know that Damon is still sitting on the bed.
"I thought I told you to leave," he states and walks over to where he's left his bag of clothes. Then, almost as an afterthought, he adds: "Where's Elena?"
"Save and sound in her own room," Damon drawls and takes a sip from the mini bottle of Bourbon he's obviously stolen from the mini bar. "Though she wouldn't let me tuck her in bed."
"And you blame her for that?" Alaric raises an eyebrow and watches Damon finish off another one of those tiny but very expensive mini bottles. "You killed her brother, Damon."
"Oh, come on, Rick. We've been over this! I saw the ring on Jeremy's finger!" Damon lets the bottle fall onto the mattress by his side and reaches for another one. Only then does Alaric notice that several bottles rest next to Damon. He's obviously raided the mini bar completely and has dumped the entire contents on the bed.
"I don't believe you, Damon. And neither does Elena," Rick plops down onto the bed and snatches the bottle from Damon's hand. "Now, what are you still doing here? What do you want?"
"I wanna drink with you all night till we both fall down."
Alaric doesn't know if Damon's joking around or… not. His voice gives nothing away, and neither does his face. He simply snatches the bottle back from Rick, raises an eyebrow in challenge and then empties it.
Rick watches his Adam's apple move when he swallows and then grabs another bottle from the bed. "Alright," he unscrews the lid and takes a big gulp. "Lets drink."
"Till we both fall down," Damon adds and it sounds almost like a toast.
Six or eight bottles later Rick is inwardly cursing whoever it was that came up with the idea to put alcohol into bottles so small that they fit into your palm. Because, seriously… they're of no use whatsoever. The amount of alcohol is just minimal and you only end up with lots and lots of empty bottles that take up all the space on the bed.
"This is ridiculous," he sighs and shakes his head. "You can't even get drunk on those mini things, can you?"
Damon doesn't answer and so Rick turns his head to the side to see if the vampire is still there. He is, and his face is closer than Rick remembers it to be. In fact, his nose just bumped into Damon's ear, so… definite closeness here that hasn't been there before.
But that can also be because Damon's leaning in and… nuzzling his neck.
Huh?
"What are you doing?" Rick asks and his words stir up the hair in the back of Damon's neck.
"Looking if you're down already," Damon purrs right into his ear.
"Nope," Rick frowns into Damon's hair. He's still sitting on the bed, isn't he?
Apparently he was because the next thing he notices is a quick but surprisingly gentle shove and then he's on the ground. He can feel the scratchy carpet underneath his cheek.
"Now you are," Damon smirks and downs another one of those ridiculously small bottles. Before Alaric can so much as blink or lift himself up on one elbow there's a blur and then Damon is on top of him.
"Now we both are," the vampire smirks right before he captures Rick's lips in a kiss.
It takes Rick several seconds and two attempts to get his voice back under control before he manages to point out: "But you didn't fall down. You…pounced."
"Who cares about semantics?" Damon shrugs and leans down to kiss him again.
Rick can't argue with that. He doesn't want to.
After all, the outcome stays the same, doesn't it?
The End