Vicki laps at Damon's face, which is peeking out from his left side. He mumbles gibberish before turning the other direction. Her determined tongue follows. He smooches her back and buries his head in her tangled fur, wide awake now. Vicki Salvatore, the world's most adorable and effective alarm clock. Her temperament is surprisingly good this morning. She must sense that today is different, and that it is. Ric is going to pick her up on his way to the gym so that she can visit Elena.
Vicki has been whimpering through the last three weeks in a state of depression. She hardly eats or explores the smells during walks. Sleep is sporadic. Damon wishes he were as "upbeat" as Vicki. His only food group is alcohol. Today will be the first time in weeks that he has set foot in a gym. He alternates between 24 hours awake and 24 hours asleep. Giuseppe has been taking care of Vicki.
The only thing Damon has done consistently besides drink is write. He thumbs a baby blue piece of Origami paper. He dips a writing quill in ink and jots down his first thought. It's right, just not right now. He folds the paper into a crane, which is no easy feat for someone as hungover as him. The crane finds home in a desk drawer that has 20 other cranes.
Damon wishes he could do more than just write. He wishes he could be around Elena and encourage her during the most important time in her fight career. One week ago, Kat destroyed Meredith Fell in front of 400k+ pay-per-view fans. The UFC President promptly announced Pierce vs. Gilbert as the main event on the upcoming June 1, 2013 card. Ric reports that Elena has been an emotional wreck. Damon and Elijah would normally help Ric support and train her but given recent developments ... Ric made the brazen move of recruiting Klaus and Kol Mickaelson as replacements. Matt and Tyler are regional circuit fighters who do not have the breadth and depth of skills and experience that a former UFC champion and number one contender have. The Mickaelson brothers, though usually against cross-training with the Slayers, made an exception as their way of extending goodwill to the community of Mystic Falls. For the last few years, the Mickaelsons and their arrogance have invited nothing but contempt from the locals.
The camerapeople and hosts from UFC Primetime must have attended the prestigious TMZ School of Journalism. As soon as Damon emerges from his Camaro, half a dozen of them are aiming their flashes at his eyes and shoving their microphones at his mouth. He focuses the pavement until he is within the safe confines of the Originals gym. Men can be worse gossips than women. The top few UFC events in pay-per-view buys had one thing in common: compelling melodrama. The most compelling melodrama? Teammate melodrama. Teammates or former teammates fighting each other. Usual teammates not training with each other. While filming Elena at the Slayers gym, the UFC noticed Damon's extended absence and in the name of hype, wanted the exclusive. He knows the UFC's game too well. They will exploit any angle necessary to market and sell a fight. To Damon's relief, Ric had the presence of mind to put anyone with any information on lockdown. Elena has enough to worry about without the UFC splattering her personal life all over their Primetime special.
Damon squeezes the remainders of a water bottle over his head. He would be upset if he had to fight tomorrow. Elijah just had Damon in full mount for a few minutes. Damon does not recall a time when he was this out of shape, huffing and puffing after one round of sparring. He gazes over at Elijah, who cracks a sympathetic smile. Elijah then turns somber. He admits that he was ready to tell Elena about the deal and was going to tell her the morning after dinner at Casa Salvatore. Damon waves off Elijah's attempted break of promise. Who cares now? It is the least of Damon's long list of concerns. We were both wrong to make the deal in the first place.
Were we? Ric and Damon have debated this thought together over and over. Damon is still undecided. He has experienced all the necessary stages before acceptance: denial, fierce denial, even fiercer denial, slight awareness, more awareness, full awareness. The act of acceptance has been much harder. Damon feels he made the deal to ensure that Elena did not act under the influence of a so-called "pity-bond." Ric argues that in making the deal, Damon ended up taking away Elena's free will, the very thing Damon was trying to protect. Ric went even further than that. He delved into what he considers to be Damon's real problem. Why does Damon even need to ensure that Elena does not act under the influence of a so-called "pity-bond"? Because Damon does not believe Elena could possibly love him without one.
Author's Note: Thank you for the feedback, follows, and favourites. Special thanks to Debbie1689, vamomoftwins, bellax0xchristina, and greenshoes3.