Title: A Silver Thread
Type: Slash, Angst, Snark, Friendship, DubCon
Rating: NC-17
Fandom: The Vampire Diaries [Showverse]
Pairing: Damon Salvatore/Tyler Lockwood
Setting: Some time after Season 2 Episode 14 "Crying Wolf", to be treated as an alternative to what could have happened.
Word Count: 7758
Summary: It's the morning after the night before and for Tyler it is quite literally a rude awakening, rolling out of bed to learn that last night hadn't just been a twisted dream, not that he really thought of it as a nightmare anyway. He promises to play Damon's game so that Jules doesn't come home to find out that he's been screwing around with not only a vampire, not only a guy, but Damon Salvatore! Locked into agreement, Tyler meets Damon at a restaurant later that night, not thinking that their "date" would end on good terms and lead on to something even better. But then, prediction was never one of Tyler's strong suits. Snark and battles of the ego ensue.
Warnings: Many sexual references and instances of adult language used. Rated NC-17 as a series; this chapter containing adult content as well as mild references to bloodplay. To be treated as alternate events to what happened canonly after Season 2 Episode 14 "Crying Wolf", so no strict ties to any canon events that occurred after that. This is a co-write so excuse any perspective shifts you might encounter. Tyler was written by me Jaxon666 and Damon by VarrosGirly. Comments welcome, but leave your bad attitude at the door. Thanks.
Eyes open, wide awake. Tyler's first thought? Usually that it still surprises him how pallid the light it is outside, even though he's waking up much earlier and on very little sleep these days. Today? Thank fuck last night was a dream. He shook his head thinking about how gross the whole thing was. Damon. What an asshole. As if that would ever happen, especially with him. As he thought about the dream without moving, after a handful or more minutes Tyler came to a resolve. Time to stop thinking about that bullshit. But just before he did, he let out a sly smirk. Sure he wasn't gay or anything but he privately liked how sick his mind was to go to that place. Besides, the sex in that dream was fucking good, and no one was around reading his mind. He was safe to have that one second of sick, secret pleasure. Plus, he could always deny he ever had it, to himself.
11 am. A little later than he'd been getting up lately, but by the taste in his mouth, he'd been drinking, and apparently a lot. He shook his head side to side; no hangover could kill his morning wood. Whatever. He dragged himself out of bed and made his way into the kitchen to make breakfast. He'd shower after that. Unfortunately, he would find that he wasn't alone in the kitchen. In fact, breakfast was about to be served, with a side of harsh reality.
"Damon! Fuck! That shit happened!" he shot, paralyzed in his tracks for a second but nonetheless loud in his speech. He finally snapped out of it, still embittered by the truth of his circumstance, taking a seat that allowed him to face away from Damon, sulking with him arms crossed. "Gross.", he uttered to himself.
Damon had spent a good little while simply watching Tyler sleep. The pup slept like a vampire, which was impressive, but didn't give him much ammo for morning-after teasing. Oh wait, it was the morning after. Good enough. He had bacon going in one pan, egg whites in another, and orange juice was sitting on the table already. Who said he wasn't a considerate person? Well, he and everyone he knew did, but he liked doing unexpected things sometimes. Tyler came into the room just as a couple of pieces of toast popped up from their tanning session, and the reaction was priceless.
Damon almost wished he had a camera going. Speaking of, maybe he'd do that next time...give Lockwood some fond memories.
"See, I was going to have some witty, oh-so-clever morning comment for you, but that was just too perfect." Damon smirked, sliding food onto a plain white plate and setting down in front of Tyler.
"Sleep well? I'd guess by the size of your, ah, LockWOOD that you did." He batted his eyes and poured a glass of orange juice, going for a mug of coffee for himself.
"Don't pretend you didn't like it now, that wouldn't be any fun." Damon sipped and thought a moment. "Actually, it might be. Just to prove you wrong again."
Tyler glared at Damon through sideways eyes, half closed and visibly cursed, his violent frown protruding from the bottom of his forehead to frame the look miserably. He really wanted to smack Damon square in his jaw, more than once, and the difference was that now he could do so, with impressive levels of success. But no, part of being in control of what he now was, meant being in control. Pity. He cushioned a growl from the back of his throat, by keeping his mouth closed.
"Shut the fuck up Damon! And stop looking at my dick!" Tyler bellowed with a deep tone, eyes widened with heightened annoyance now, hands quickly shifting to cover his groin.
"That is NOT happening again. I don't know what kind of vamp shit you pulled last night but it wasn't me. You're lucky I don't just take a chunk out of you for whatever you did to me.", his nasty little gaze was consistent, not fleeting in the slightest; Tyler didn't even blink. "And if you think I'm touching whatever you cooked up you can think again. I got no plans to get date raped by a fuckin' undead homo."
"Are you always this grumpy in the morning, or just after a good, hard roll in the hay?" Damon was clearly tickled with himself, and Tyler's reaction, and, well, everything. Road trips were oh so fun. He should do this more often. In fact, he just might.
"Down boy, you know vampires can't compel werewolves. Now you do, anyway." Damon fixed up a plate for himself, since he clearly wasn't getting a free pass on the most deliciously naughty blood he'd ever had. He sat down in the chair opposite Tyler, watching him with curious, entertained eyes.
"Trust me, if I was going to play with you, I'd want you to remember it. Like last night. So might as well eat, Jules will be back in a couple hours." Damon shoved a forkful of egg into his mouth before pointing at the phone. "Answering machine."
"Shit! Jules!", genuine panic came over Tyler, causing him to jump to his feet. In spite of his newly epically flustered state of mind, he remained looking exceptionally angry too, mostly because he fucking was.
"You have to go. Now! I'm serious Damon. She'll know I had someone here. Someone like you...and what we did.", it scraped at his nerve endings that Damon just sat there feeding himself, smirking, enjoying the display of his desperation; the little undead shit didn't even need to eat. What a bastard.
"I've gotta clean the place. I've gotta do it now. Damon, get the fuck out! I'm not playing.", his manic body language and attention placements finally landed on Damon, at which point he began staring him out. Damon was going one way or another; through the door or through a fucking window.
The distinctive vampire laughed, watching Tyler jump and rush around like a hummingbird with ADHD. Except less feathers, more angst, and a very nice dick.
"You know, you've been very rude to me, well, aside from when we were jerking each other off...or when I got to feed off you...but yeah, complete little prick." He took another drink of coffee, looking very relaxed.
"I'm not stopping you from cleaning, am I? And I would SO love to have a chat with Jules." Hadn't he wanted to pull Tyler's head off just last night? Good thing he didn't go along with that plan of action.
"Go ahead...give me one reason why I should listen to you, when I clearly don't listen to anyone." Damon plucked a piece of bacon from Tyler's untouched plate, crunching on it gleefully.
"Look Damon, what's it gonna take to get you out of here, right now?", Tyler let slip a small piece of shrapnel from the explosion of his inner-rant.
Sure, Damon loved pissing people off, rattling their cages and getting his own way, but at the expense of not being able to do any of that any more? Maybe not. At least Tyler managed to manifest that intelligence from out of his ass, present predicament aside. And he was willing to do almost anything to get rid of Damon right now, because he barely knew how to clean beyond basically, at all, let alone the industrial strength cleaning that it would take to throw off the senses of a well-evolved werewolf.
"I'm throwing you a bone. Play nice or we fight. You might not think I'm a threat, but I am. All it takes is one bite Damon, and you're dead. Dead in a way that there's no coming back from. So...your choice.", there was no time to deliver these words slowly, every minute was precious if he was going to throw Jules off. Damon had to leave now; in fact an hour before now would have been great.
"And if you win...I'm dead anyway.", and Damon couldn't have his fun then, could he? No. He really couldn't. Way to sell hard, Tyler. You learnt something as a spoilt little trust fund brat.
Damon may have looked like he wasn't listening, but he was. An assumption that he might not care was a little closer to target. But Tyler threatening him with a bite, simply to rid himself of a problem, did not sit too well with the vampire. His eyes flashed quickly as Tyler proved to not be the small, moronic jock he should have been.
"That's assuming I'd kill you for the convenience of it." He always could find a new playmate, but he was liking this one. Spunky, nasty, straight; all the things that he loved to twist and bend around him, in a number of senses.
"Fine, I can play ball," he smirked, tilting his head as he looked Tyler over, "I'm gonna need a phone number. And the promise that the next time I come calling, you show." Tyler could either give in and make Damon a very happy vampire, or have a fight, smelly house, and the knowledge that Damon would come back for another go anyway. "And I bet you'd want to get rid of that," he gestured with his fork and a widening of his eyes toward Tyler's crotch, "Before Jules gets back, too. Tick tock, pup."
"Fine Damon, you win.", Tyler stomped over to the kitchen work surface and plucked a small notepad from the area near the phone, jotting his number down so hard with a nearby red marker that even a human could have heard the scraping of ink and felt against paper, from across the room.
He looked ridiculously and adorably vexed as he did so. He tore the paper from its hardened glue and within seconds he was standing right in front of Damon, holding his number up, not caring that the vampire probably thought his inferior height mixed with his anger was cute. Fuck Damon Salvatore. At least this would get rid of him, for now.
"There. There's your stupid fucking number. Now get out. No games, Damon. Seriously.", he obviously wasn't fearing for his life, by the tone and physical closeness he dared to use and provoke with, but then Tyler had proved that much last night, and Damon had seemed to approve.
"You have no clue how damned adorable you are when you're all huffy." Damon stuffed the sticky note into his pocket, his eyes narrowed, then wide, as he looked at Tyler intently.
"Now that's really your number? It'd just be so crushing to get the rejection hotline next time I'm all hot and bothered for some pint-sized wolfy loving." If he kept pushing and pushing, he'd get into trouble, which was what he did best. Damon grinned, ruffling Tyler's hair and letting out a quick laugh.
"I think I left my underwear in the bedroom. Or the bathroom...hmmm, come to think, I might've left it anywhere. I should go look for it." He winked and slid to Tyler's right, meaning to head back to the previous night's crime scene.
"Unlike some people, I don't fuck around.", yes, it was Tyler's number, and apparently the young werewolf aimed to prove just that with an added chest bump of sorts, which came at the end of his words. His posturing was part street-thug part animal, unusual to the eye. Like it or not, strength aside, Damon was physically slighter in most ways of body frame, than Tyler. That counted for more than something between men, during physical disputes. Something primal within them.
Tyler grabbed Damon by the scruff of his cold, pale neck as he tried to slip past him. He didn't even manoeuvre for the courtesy of facing the vampire right away, as he spoke this time. "You go now. That was the deal. If not, I'll show you fucking huffy.", and this time he gave Damon one last "fuck you" grin. Not very Tyler like. Maybe not then, but now? Oh yes. Now indeed.
Damon's eyes darkened and his fangs extended, but he was absolutely delighted by the response. After all, he wouldn't have liked Tyler this much if the pup backed down and let the eldest Salvatore walk all over him, would he?
"So cute," he smirked again, smacking Tyler's hand from his neck. He may like and even enjoy the resistance, but he didn't care for his clothes getting spoiled. They were designer brand, and some of them deceptively vintage. "You show me huffy then, pup. Next time." His face returned to its more human appearance, and he planted a ridiculous little kiss on the tip of Tyler's nose before making his way out the front door. "Don't forget to keep your phone on," he reminded, shutting the door behind him.
"Cute? Fucking ass.", Tyler grumbled, taking over a minute to come to the realisation that pondering the annoyance caused by Damon was far less important that removing all traces of him from the cabin. "Oh fuck!", and with that, he went about the not-so-awesome start to his day of activities.
He'd kill Damon for this. Little did he know though that Damon had already texted him to arrange a meeting later that night. A nice little surprise he'd come across after finishing his master-cleanse of the entire place and fifth double check of every corner and item of decoration.
Tyler looked down to the screen of his phone, "Fuck me! You fucking-", and the sound of Jules' voice, referencing Tyler's latest vocalisation caused instant silence. Seconds later he was barely explaining that away, awkwardly too. Fucking Damon Salvatore. Total prick. What did he mean "wear all black" anyway?
LATER THAT NIGHT…
Damon tossed his keys to the attending valet, stopping a moment to compel him to take extra special care of the car. He didn't need to worry about a tip because, well he was loaded, but compelling people to just do everything was so much easier. The vampire had gone with a more casual, fitted, and naturally black, suit, silky matching shirt tucked neatly into his slacks. Damon entered the restaurant, spotting his date, he chuckled to himself at the mental use of the word, waiting in a chair nearby. He didn't look too thrilled, good.
"That is clearly not all black," he said, tsking lightly at the single colour flaw as he approached, "But not a bad effort." And Tyler did look good enough for now. He cleaned up nicely, but Damon could still complain for the Hell of it. It was Damon.
"Two for Salvatore," he told the maitre d', who immediately marked off something on a list. Damon hadn't really had this planned since this morning, had he? "Come on," he nudged at Tyler's foot with his own, following their waitress to a table in the back.
"Yeah well I'm not dead. I don't own black everything.", Tyler scowled in defence of his blue t-shirt, just barely visible beneath his fitted black sweater, offering no apology for his attitude, not even with the tiniest mannerism. He barely wanted to look at Damon at all, just yet.
"Anyway, what the Hell are you wearing? You think this is a date now, is that it?", Tyler was so appalled by the notion that he didn't even lower his voice so that nobody could hear what he was saying. Careless. One point to Damon then.
As they were seated, Tyler found all of this way too formal and romantic. But then, Damon was anything but romantic, at least to him. This was all just meant to make his skin crawl, and it did. Clearly, Tyler was bothered by this whole thing, unable to sit still without animating his distain.
"What is this Damon, huh? What do you want? I said I'd play along but I didn't say I'd be your bitch, so spill.". Tyler was about as settled as a newborn baby on a bed of needles.
Damon was still in too good a mood from his morning to be anything but pleased with Tyler's continued antics.
"As I've said before, I take good care of how I look. Maybe we can fix that about you." Damon smirked, knowing how much that insinuation would bite at Tyler.
"I figured I should buy you dinner, since I gave you such a nice time last night." He didn't bother keeping his voice to a level of embarrassed humility, and didn't care what the nameless faces around thought. Tyler could go ahead and fret about it all he wanted, that changed nothing.
"But I'm mostly serious. And I don't want you to be my bitch. I've had plenty of bitches, and they're no fun. Trust me." The little struggles of power play they'd gone through had piqued the vampire's interest, and that was always worth something in his book.
"Get everything cleaned up in time? No extra 'eau de hot hunky vampire' hanging around?"
"Fuck you. I look fine. Better than fine. And you should know, you're so into me.", those last two words of Tyler's came with the delivery of a patronizing series of facial expressions, meant to mock Damon. "You gave me a nice time!", Tyler raised his voice so much he almost shouted, beating his fists down against the table just once, making the cutlery rattle in it's place.
"I think it's you who had the 'nice time' Damon. You're the one who just has to have more of me. I'm not the one blackmailing you into lame restaurant dates.", the cocky little werewolf had a point, but unlike Damon, he didn't punish him in the same way for it; his guile was more a competitive one; he liked to win an argument, roll in the dirt, play fight. He didn't mean to fuck with Damon's head. Damon did not have the same intentions.
As for cleaning up in time, "Yeah I did, thanks for asking.", angry sarcasm came in the wind of Tyler's given thanks. "But she still knew I'd done something with...someone. I forgot...you can't wash that sort of thing out of a person's metabolism. I told her it was the chalet girl.", Tyler took not-so-private amusement in the fact that Damon has been described as such, and he beamed as he did so.
If the post-sex make-out session was anything to go by, Tyler was in serious denial here and now. Damon knew there was just a little tweaking needed before the wolf stopped caring about his macho display so much that he lashed out like this.
"Touché," he grinned, raising his water goblet in a mocking toast. "But you're right...I gave you an amazing time. And you loved it. At the time, anyway... I could always remind you." Damon was joking, of course. For the time being. He wasn't about to suggest that he share the hotness that was Tyler's cumface with the entire restaurant. Vampires were selfish like that.
"Order anything," he waved at the menu, "Not like I expected different." Damon would likely end up picking something meaty and rare, just how he liked all his food.
"You always give yourself credit? Maybe I just like sex.", Tyler offered to shed some light on a situation that he insisted to be dubious, a mean look coming from those big dark eyes of his, "And don't talk about it as if you were doing me a favour. You wanted it. Not me.", not so much a blame game as a flat fact. Tyler may have eventually given in to Damon's advances, but he hadn't pursued the vampire.
With his face angled down a little, Tyler started looking at the menu and a few moments of silence passed. "Nope, looks like they're fresh out of stakes and vervain. Guess I'll settle for any sort of dead meat. Well done.", who knew Tyler was capable of double entendres? Not even him, truth be told. Maybe Damon had rubbed off on him in more ways than one.
Damon smirked, setting his menu down.
"To think I passed up the vampire slayer themed restaurant for this one."
Tyler could kick and scream like a brat all he wanted, it made no difference to the vampire. Then again, he didn't want to go through an entire evening of it, so something had to change. Damon was about to say something more before the waitress returned with his cabernet, ready to take their orders. He ordered a filet mignon, very rare, with not much else. No flimsy, pre-dinner salads for this vampire. Yuck.
"So," he sipped at the wine, which tasted like it wasn't as old as him, but old enough to be nice, "I am serious here, you know." Damon was being truthful, but it was a Hell of a workout to actually act civil. Especially with a werewolf who was so delightful when pissed off.
"I'd like to...make a peace offering. Or something." Creases formed on the sides of his nose, though he tried to keep a straight face.
"It'd be great if you didn't want to kill me every time you see me from now on, and I could try to feel the same." As if he really felt much. "But throw me a bone here, I don't make efforts to be civil for just anyone."
Tyler looked like he'd just sniffed something foul, when in fact he was just a little surprised, at least for a moment. Was Damon just ordering in French? Accent sounded genuine too. Pretty cool, getting to live that long had it's advantages.
"You? A peace offering? Right, and where are you hiding Ashton Kutcher, Damon?", at least Tyler looked amused in a warm way for once. Well more burning than warm, angered blood gently saturating his complexion with healthy colour.
Damon was being nice? That was just wrong. But it was happening, and he did sound genuine for a murderous, psychotic, entirely selfish, pathological egomaniac. Tyler received his offers with an eyebrow raised in doubtful curiosity.
"Look Damon, I don't hate you. Not when you're being...well...cool. Got it?", Tyler hoped he did, not wanting to admit to too much. Not unless he was given a very good reason to anyway.
Damon rolled his eyes animatedly, and set his wine down, leaning forward, elbows on the table.
"Fine, I can be 'cool.' If you're a decent guest." If things took a turn for the worst, Damon could always compel or kill people who witnessed. That could ruin his suit, though, and he hated going to that tailor for fittings, even if the results were impeccable.
"Can you be cool? I'll admit you surprised me last night, inviting me in and not trying to rip my head off, despite how hard I was trying to provoke you." And the following activities, of course shaped and brought to reality by his own devious nature, but that had been brought up plenty today, right? At least for the next twenty minutes.
"I can say I...like you. I don't get it, what with you being, you know." Damon mimicked claws and a growl, "So let's not start over, but have a truce, or agreement, or whatever. Deal?"
"I am cool!", Tyler quickly bit, knowing that it wasn't fully the case.
He knew he had a wild temper, even before he awakened the curse. But in the case of him and Damon, Damon was definitely to blame for the antagonistic feelings between them.
"You make me mad, I'm gonna get mad. Other than that we don't got a problem.", and if Damon stopped pushing the gay sex stuff that'd be great too.
"Start over?" Tyler's eyes investigated Damon as if to check to see if it was wise to make a meal out of him "I think we're past that. How about you just be less of a prick, and I'll work on my anger management, deal?", Tyler smiled, this time without malice.
"Besides, you're probably only being nice right now because you want to get some tonight. You probably want to play footsie with my junk under the table, already.", well, Tyler may have been right so he couldn't be hated for drawing those conclusions.
"Aww, you peeked. That's cheating," Damon waved a finger at Tyler with a smirk, "But I have my reasons for wanting to play nice with a wolf who really does play nice." And it was obvious he didn't mean in manners.
"But I'll be a dick when I want to. I just happen to not want to right now." Damon absently twirled one of the forks on the table, watching Tyler.
"But for argument's sake, let's say I was being a complete, red-blooded male right now and behaving just to get laid. Would it be working?" He laughed to himself again, taking a longer sip of his wine.
Depending on how this conversation went, he may have to switch it up to the strong stuff. Which would end up being bad for some wandering soul out in the night. Not like he cared about that, though.
With his eyes unable to pick between a far away side of Damon to settle upon, Tyler went on to grumble a little, still bothered by the situation, feeling like a prisoner to it; something that both his human and animal side did not take kindly to at all.
"You're not going to get 'laid' Damon.", wrong word to use with Tyler, because that just made him think of how gay he wasn't, and how inarguably he was never going to have butt sex with another guy.
"Last night...", he started, but then a troubled look came over his face, forcing Tyler to stop himself from completing the sentence. It looked like he wanted to bite something much bigger than his lip, somehow.
That was the wrong time to start something that sounded so potentially juicy without finishing, as was clear in Damon's expression. He was now looking at Tyler with large eyes, trying to suppress a grin that shone brightly from those icy orbs.
"Oh no, you're not getting out so easily. I wasn't going to ask, but you started it. Spill."
The pup got a small break, though, as the waitress returned with their food, cooked perfectly. So Damon may or may not have earlier compelled others to get his table's orders made very quickly. He smiled painfully at her until she left, his gaze then turning sharp and giddy back onto Tyler.
"Spill, and don't talk with food in your mouth. Not classy." Damon smirked, cutting up his own steak.
"Fine.", the irritated were snapped again, loudly enough to capture the attention of nearby diners, not that they mattered right now.
"I didn't like it. I mean, I didn't want it. But-", Tyler's pupils rolled around upwardly, as though trying to find the right wording to use in the depths of his brain. He looked so cute and frustrated, tongue poking through his upper lip. "Look. I guess what I'm saying is...it was...well what we did...it felt good. You're good at it. But I didn't wanna do it. I just did it. Then I got into it because it was like...happening. And now I'm like...I don't wanna do it again. Okay!", he struggled to elaborate his personal view on the matter of his and Damon's naughty fun times.
There was so much to be said about Tyler's struggle to put how he felt into words. Damon chewed on a single bite of his filet, watching how deliciously the pup's expressions jumped around as he spoke, how adorable he was being with his continued, straighty insistings.
"So what you're saying is...you didn't want to, but you did, and you liked it?" He took a long sip of his wine, attempting to watch his words. "And now, you still don't want to...so we should, and you'd like it more, giving in faster?" Ironically, Damon really was trying to keep his mischievous side in check, it wouldn't be wise to fuck this little arrangement up.
"You can't tell me you don't want me and then tempt me by being all...wolfy and adorable." Damon gestured his hand in a general, sweeping motion. "You afraid you'd really like it if we went at it again? Hmm?"
"Fuck off Damon. Don't try to twist it your way.", Tyler attacked his well done steak with his knife and fork, cutting it into thick chunks as if it had offended him. "I'm giving you credit for being good at...well, what you did. I'm even taking some for myself. But mainly I'm saying it was a one time deal. I'm not into you, or any guy. Like at all.", that felt a little rude to say, but since when had Tyler ever cared about committing social faux pas? Since the twelfth of never.
Just as well he took some credit for the mind-blowing sexual activities last night. Damon hadn't awarded him any. Also not a great idea.
"I'm not trying to be adorable Damon. Fuck adorable." and then Tyler realized how that statement would be construed and grimaced for just a moment. "Can't we just be friends? Why do we HAVE to do that...other stuff?", he asked, a little unnerved, chewing on blocks of thick meat, served into his mouth by the four prongs of his fork.
"You should definitely take credit for yourself. Weres give great handjobs," he smirked rudely, but it hadn't been his saying, just his twist on words. "And I'd hate to see what monstrosity results from you actually trying to be adorable. You just do it, especially when you get all angry and sassy."
Damon snorted a fast laugh, cutting his steak with less zeal than the wolf. Really, though, he was getting tired of Tyler beating the dead horse of his straightness. He got it.
"If you'd rather just hang out and do...normal stuff...I can do that." Despite his nearly disgusted look. But perhaps hanging out with a wolf was very different from hanging out with, say, Jeremy.
"But what you've gotta realize is, I'm not a 'bro'. I like fucking. A lot. Can't promise I won't keep trying. But you'd have one hell of an easier life answering my calls. Ignoring this undead bastard is a very bad idea. Bad for your health." Another bite of steak gone, and his wine glass drained. He filled it with the chilled bottle left behind.
Tyler's features bunched up to form am expression of rife displeasure at Damon's crass choice of words, as well as his taunts about the werewolf being adorable again, putting it across as if it were a compliment. Fucking Damon. Tyler was no plushie. And if he were he'd be a badass plushie that ate things and clawed through stuff. He felt his skin getting hot, and his breath deepening, chest and shoulders widening out ready to fight, taking on wolfen characteristics in human form. He closed his eyes to calm down and took a swig of chilled water, only to realise he'd drank the whole glass in one go. Soothing himself, he tried to remain civilized and in control, as he spoke on to Damon. The mild shift in nature, an atmospheric thud to any with enhanced senses, one that spilled out from the center of Tyler's being.
"You know, maybe if you were actually genuinely cool with me, if you actually wanted to just hang out. Maybe if you genuinely gave a fuck about someone other than yourself...maybe I wouldn't even mind some of the other stuff...sometimes."
Tyler looked around for the reason as to why that admission didn't just embarrass him. He didn't find it.
"But instead you keep saying I'm adorable and talking to me like I'm some kid who's gonna do whatever the Hell you say like it or not. Not gonna happen Damon. Your loss. Try that crap on someone like Jeremy or Matt. They'll probably bend over and beg for it." And if Damon thought Tyler was hot when he was angry and out of control, he was even hotter when he was angry and IN control; much like now.
Damon sighed, looking uncomfortably at his half-finished meal. Why was Tyler making it so hard for him to be nice? Especially when he presented himself as a challenge like this, good enough to bite and eat and suck on. What could he say, mean looked great on the kid.
"You have to remember that I'm way older, and you, and everyone you know, are all kids to me. If it really bothers you that much, I'll only call you adorable in my mind. And under my breath. Possibly when you're in a good mood." He smirked, but reminded himself to at least attempt to behave.
"So caring about your peers. That's what I really like." And he actually did, mocking others was one of his favourite hobbies. Having Tyler insult Matt and Jeremy's masculinity was quite appetizing, as if Damon wasn't hungry enough. For more things than the meat on his plate could take care of.
"I didn't invite you out tonight just to try and score...I genuinely want..." Damon shook his head almost too lightly to be noticed, having the constant look of discomfort on his face, as if he were trying really hard to hold in nasty gas.
"I want to get to know you. And I mean that. Fuck, I hate admitting it. Anyone who's ever spent five minutes with me would know that." Damon drank more wine, he needed to figure out how drunk he wanted to get tonight. "I like that you don't do everything I want. It's refreshing, and I like it that I can't make you do what I want. So you can be angry, nasty wolf-in-training all you like; it's hot."
Wow. He liked that Tyler didn't do everything he wanted. What a fucking douchebag! Like anybody should be willing to serve Damon's every whim.
"You're a real piece of work, Damon.", and that overshadowed the fact that he was a vampire who killed people for just getting in his way sometimes, especially when he was hungry.
Yet, despite his recent mood, Tyler became unexpectedly more relaxed, no longer tense, as before. He poured himself more water from the large jar nearby, and took a few more swigs, thinking before he spoke again.
"I don't trust you." And that was the shame of it, because if he did, there really wouldn't be any of this animosity flying around, or sexual defensiveness.
"You do what you want when you want. You don't care who it hurts. Tell me I'm wrong...or prove that you're right. Give me one good reason to trust you." Tyler pushed forward his finished plate, and tilted his chair back a little, waiting for Damon's response intently, clinging to the vampire's image to capture any slight physical reaction to his words that might incriminate him.
Tyler kept doing it, somehow forcing Damon to want to play nice, to not just push buttons and have an all-out fight on the table there and then. It was making the eldest Salvatore brother increasingly uncomfortable, and he didn't bother trying to hide the expression of it in his features anymore. Damon pushed the few pieces of meat left around his plate, as if some arrangement of them would spell out the answer he needed right now. Honestly, he didn't know why anyone would ever trust him. They just did sometimes, and he would continue to be amazed by that fact.
"I don't do what I want all the time. I'll kill, backstab, fuck, eat whoever I feel like, but it's not-" He stopped and pinched the bridge of his nose. This conversation could only lead to drunk Damon, which led to more death. "I don't care when I hurt someone who's wronged me, or who I don't know." A growl built up in the back of his throat, loud enough for monsters like him to hear.
"Fact is, you're not going to trust me just because I put a string of words together. You're not that stupid." Yes, he was definitely going to need the scotch tonight. "You won't trust me until I give you a reason. And all I can offer is my company, with a promise to TRY to behave." Even that seemed to put him off, just a bit. Damon didn't like behaving, and he didn't like having to make promises, or change his habits in order to appease someone. Was this wolf really worth that? He'd been a fun playmate, and was obnoxiously attractive to the vampire, but still.
"Okay then, do you trust me? Everything else aside, do you know you can trust me?", Tyler asked, and if looks where anything to go by at all, this was definitely a loaded question. He wasn't even fiddling with a single thing whilst he asked and waited for his answer. And Damon better give him the right one. "Well?"
Damon narrowed his eyes, no hint given to their expanding anytime soon.
"You didn't bite me in my sleep, even after I…persuaded you to have fun," he noted, leaning forward, "You let me stay the night, didn't sell me out to Jules, though I suspect that was more for personal benefit," his eyebrows lifted once for emphasis, "And you came out here tonight. Knowing full well I'd probably come for you if you didn't." Damon shrugged, crossing his arms and looking the wolf over.
"But I can't say if I really trust you, not completely. I don't fully trust anyone, but you could be a good candidate for it. I can respect you as a fellow monster, though." Damon frowned, thinking.
"Hell, I'm going after you anyway; I hung around this morning, I trust you enough."
"Okay. Give me your ring.", that request was delicate and potentially endangering enough for Damon not to make that obvious anal sex joke. Tyler was staring him down calmly, with one open palm reached out to the vampire. He wasn't fucking around.
"If you trust me, give it to me. You know you'll get it back, right?", Tyler tested, and it was no superficial matter either. If Damon trusted him with the thing that granted freedom in the Sun, then Tyler could trust him in return.
"Your choice Damon. You can't have it all your way without it not being easy." and with that said Tyler was seconds way from taking back his hand.
Damon's hand clenched tightly out of instinct, his gaze no longer teasing, or even uncomfortable, but now deadly serious and set to pin. If he handed the ring over, and didn't get it back, he could always get back to Mystic Falls before sunrise, get Bonnie to make a new one. Right? Even then, he wasn't completely sure.
"You are one ballsy little bastard," he finally smirked, twisting the old artefact on his finger. Damon stared at it for a moment before pulling it off, hesitating as his hand moved toward Tyler's. He took an extremely unnecessary breath before dropping it into Tyler's outstretched palm. Damn his impulse and complete lack of self-preservation instinct sometimes. This had better be worth it.
Tyler's eyes widened in disbelief, and his mouth was doing something goofy. Really? Damon was either a slave to his lust or he actually had some sense of what a soul used to feel like. Either way, the ring that allowed him to walk around in sunlight without burning into ash was in Tyler's hand now. That hand was soon in his pocket, probably the first time it had ever known the warmth of a living thing. Tyler shook his head, and took a deep breath, and when he exhaled it sounded almost like laughter, but it wasn't.
"Wow Damon. Who knew you had it in you. You can trust somebody.", it wasn't gloating, but Tyler was more than pleased that Damon had decided to prove himself, even if it was reluctant or jaded an attempt, in truth.
"Tell you what. You're on.", and in case Damon didn't quite catch his reasoning, "That other stuff you like so much. You're on. Tonight. See what happens when you play ball?", and just then, Tyler really didn't seem like he'd ever hated the idea. Maybe Damon should try the putting his neck on the line thing with people more often. Especially with how deliciously keen Tyler was looking right now, all full of golden colour and dirty little smiles.
Damon stiffened as he watched his precious ring disappear under the gleaming wood of their dinner table. He had never given it up willingly, it was too valuable to him. Stolen from him, yes, plenty of times. But he always got it back. And all in an instant, he became acutely aware of Tyler's words, anxiety over his ring completely gone.
"Using something essential to my livelihood as a bargaining chip? And you wonder why I like you." Damon chuckled, wiping his mouth and placing the napkin over his dirtied plate.
"You really did learn something. I might have to take some credit, no way you could have been this fun before the curse." He looked around for a waitress to flag down for the check. Hell, he was in a good mood, he could part with cash.
"I'll bet you don't want to get down and dirty back at the cabin, not with Jules back." Too bad, because the idea of that was just so delicious and awful and nasty to him. Shame, really, that Tyler didn't quite share his sick sense of humour. "Which leaves my place."
"Not like you gave me a chance.", Tyler pointed out that Damon had no place assuming who he was before the curse, because back then, the eldest Salvatore really didn't give him the time of day, or anything resembling it. The werewolf didn't hide in his eyes that he was left a little moody at this fact, but it wasn't like he was about to cry over it.
"Don't talk about it like-", Tyler stopped himself from finishing, not due to the fact that there was no point when talking to Damon, but instead because he felt that by now, he really shouldn't have to. Hopefully Damon would get the message, now that Tyler's mood had been most recently sweetened. He didn't want to be thought of as just a fuck; that would make him a homo, the hungriest kind.
"Your place?", Tyler sort of perked up, if only for the anxiety of wondering where and what Damon's place was, here in Aspen.
The waitress had finally come over, bad tip for her tonight, and Damon stuffed a couple bills into the black folder before handing it right back. He smirked at Tyler's curiosity.
"You didn't think I'd sleep in my car while I was tracking you down, did you?" That would be a low point for him, even a one-night stand roach motel was more acceptable. "No, the Marriot up here has a suite that fits my taste just perfectly." Damon finished off the wine in his glass, pouring yet another; he had bought it, he was going to get his money's worth.
"Not that I'm complaining, but I'd love to know…why the sudden change of heart." Or dick, as it were. The vampire did his eye thing, tilting his head slightly, filled glass dangling by his fingertips.
"You trust me. Forget that you're into me. For whatever reason, you trust me. That means I can trust you too, because I know how hard it is for you to even admit something like that. And you did...which means I'm not just someone you want to screw.", Tyler gave a faint, warm smile which served as a backdrop to Damon paying the bill for their dinner.
He knew Damon would hate the reality of his reasoning, for how incriminating it was; a shred of humanity being the crime. It was what it was, and Damon would always be Damon, but maybe he'd benefit from being open with someone. Tyler was sort of okay with maybe being that someone, despite the them both being a guy thing.
"You ready to go then?", the now-frisky werewolf asked, not hesitant in the slightest. Music to Damon's ears.
It seemed to be a common hobby, figuring out how to make Damon human in as many ways as possible. Fortunately, most of the guesses were wrong. Unfortunately, Tyler's wasn't. Damn his wolfy ability to tell things about the vampire. He was right though; Damon had actually trusted him, though the reason wasn't clear even to himself.
"Great chat Dr. Phil." Damon pulled most of the change from the bill, stuffing it into the pocket inside his jacket. "Of course I'm ready, let's go." He stood, holding up a finger as he finished off the cabernet, smiling warmly at the taste. A good wine really was a mood lifter, as much as a great scotch could bring it down.
Outside, the valet brought his car back, and Damon thought about opening the door for Tyler; he decided against it when he couldn't be sure if the sarcasm would come off in the right way.
"Call me psychic, but I'm getting the feeling you aren't planning on letting go and being the wild, sex-crazed wolf you are, tonight." Damon pulled out of the parking lot, starting toward his hotel.
"Guess you'll have to find out.", as someone who had control issues himself, Tyler could tell that Damon hated not knowing what he was in store for.
The impulse didn't really have much in the way of specific thought attached, but having gone through steps to find answers within himself, Tyler had learnt that sometimes, knowledge of something gave the flavour of control over it, which was often good enough a substitute.
He shouldn't really have been okay with Damon driving under the influence, even if he was a vampire. But a car crash could hardly kill either of them, hopefully. Tyler shook it off, looking at Damon as the mischievous vampire loosely watched the road, images flashing through his mind about the many things they might be about to do. It was one part excitement, one part discomfort and two parts confusion. Tyler turned away and scowled so that Damon couldn't see, knowing that he would just love knowing what cocktail of thoughts Tyler had just sipped upon.
THE END