The next day was rather quiet and uneventful, so Damon enjoyed the peace of the moment. Alaric had told him he`d be busy until late afternoon. The vampire wasn`t sure what he was doing. He hadn`t asked and Ric hadn`t elaborated. Damon suspected it had something to do with Jenna and tried not to feel jealous. It wasn`t like he really thought Ric would cheat on him. If you could even call it cheating. They weren`t officially dating, after all. But still, he didn`t like feeling left out. Wanted Ric all to himself.
A knock at the door startled him out of his musings. It was already late afternoon, but it wasn`t Ric. Damon could tell the difference. Could recognize Ric`s heart-rate and breathing pattern from miles away. He opened the door, surprised to see Jeremy. "I need to talk to you." the teen declared, pushing past him and waltzing into the living room. "Oh please, do come in. Make yourself at home." Damon muttered sarcastically, while he followed the boy. "Where`s your girlfriend?"
"Shopping with Jenna." the teen answered. "So you decided to visit me? I already told you once – I`m not exactly the big brother type." the vampire reminded. "Yes, I remember. Don´t worry, I`m actually here to help you." Jeremy declared. Damon regarded him with raised eyebrows. "What makes you think I need your help?" Since when did the boy believe they were best buddies? "Tyler Lockwood has to kill someone to activate his curse. He's not a werewolf yet." Jeremy let him know. "How do you know that?" The teen shrugged. "He told me."
"He told you?" Now Damon was really puzzled. "We talked yesterday. So, do you want more information or not?" Jeremy asked. The dark haired vampire sighed and sat down, motioning for the boy to continue. "Mason Lockwood is a werewolf and he's looking for a moonstone, a special rock connected to the werewolf legend. That's why he's here."
"Why are you telling me all this?" Damon wanted to know. Jeremy sat down as well. "Do I need a reason? Look, I just want to help, okay?" Damon looked at him searchingly, wondering why the hell the boy was here, when another knock at the door startled him out of his musings. This time it was Alaric. The vampire let him in, noticing the box in his hands with a frown. He was about to ask the teacher if he had brought sex toys along, but caught himself in time. The teen was still here and Ric wouldn`t want him listening to a conversation like that.
"What are you doing here?" Ric asked Jeremy. "Helping Damon. I found out that Tyler`s not a werewolf yet. He has to kill someone to activate the curse. And Mason is looking for a moonstone." Alaric looked at Damon, who only shrugged in response. "He came to me." Not like he had told the boy to snoop around. "What you got there?" he asked, pointing at the box. "This is Isobel research's from Duke. Her assistant sent it to me." Ric explained, putting the box down and opening it. "Ah, Vanessa. The one who hit on you."
"Vanessa, yes. Now, do you remember the old Aztec curse she told us about?" Ric asked. Jeremy walked over to them and peered into the box. "An Aztec curse? Cool." Damon frowned, but Ric seemed amused by the boy`s enthusiasm. "Yeah, supposedly vampires and werewolves used to roam freely until a shaman put a curse on them to limit their power. Since then, werewolves can only turn on a full moon and vampires are weakened by the sun." he explained.
"Most of them, anyway." Damon chimed in, showing off his daylight ring. Ric ignored him and went on. "I read some more about it. According to the legend, the werewolf part of the curse is sealed with a moonstone." He took out a map and showed it to Jeremy. "Maybe Mason Lockwood believes he can use the moonstone to break the curse." he suggested.
"If we start believing in some supernatural witchy-woo legend from a picture book, we're idiots." Damon grumbled, before asking where the stone was now. "Tyler has it." The vampire looked at Jeremy. "Can you get it?" The boy hesitated a second, but then he nodded. "Yeah, I`ll get it. But you just said we shouldn`t believe the legend."
"It's the same book that says a werewolf bite kills a vampire. Ignoring it would make me an even bigger idiot." About a week ago he hadn`t even believed that werewolves existed. Now he knew better and he was slowly starting to realize that pretty much anything was possible. Especially when it came to witches. They were a judgy lot. And shamans were technically witches, as far as he knew. So he wouldn`t really be surprised if they had put a curse on supernatural creatures.
Alaric gave Jeremy a concerned look. "Are you sure you want to get involved in this?" The teen shrugged. "I`m already involved in it. My girlfriend is a vampire. If this legend really is true and a werewolf bite could kill her, I want to know." Ric didn`t look convinced. "But still… putting yourself into the middle of that? It could be dangerous." he warned. "I don`t care. I just want to keep Anna safe. I thought you could relate. You`d do pretty much anything to keep Damon safe, wouldn`t you?" Jeremy asked, shocking both men. Damon was starting to wonder if they were really that obvious about their 'friendship'. First Mason, now Jeremy…
"Of course I look out for my friends." Ric mumbled. Jeremy only rolled his eyes. "But you guys are more than just friends." he pointed out, calling Ric on his bullshit. The teacher appeared to be speechless, so Damon jumped in. "What makes you think that?" Jeremy looked at him like he was dense. "Unlike my sister, who still thinks Ric`s dating Jenna, by the way, I`m very observant. With the way you two look at each other sometimes, it`s really hard to miss. I`m surprised no-one else has noticed. And I`ve been with you when John and the deputies tried to kill all the vampires. I saw how concerned Ric was for you. Also, like I said, my girlfriend is a vampire. She noticed, too."
Okay, so maybe they had been that obvious. Not that Damon really minded. He didn`t care who knew about them, but Ric still insisted on secrecy and as long as it made him happy, Damon was willing to play along. "I trust you to keep this secret." the vampire muttered. "Don`t worry. I won`t say a word. Neither will Anna. It`s really none of our business." Jeremy assured.
"Does it… bother you?" Ric asked hesitantly and Damon was starting to wonder if that was really what the secrecy was all about. Was the teacher scared what people might think of him? "No. Why should it? I`ve never been prejudiced and besides – I`m dating a vampire. Would be a little stupid to frown at you for doing the same." the teen answered easily. "I think he was more worried about the fact that we`re both male." Damon pointed out, not bothering to tell the boy that technically, they weren`t even really dating.
"Like I said, I´ve never been prejudiced." Jeremy repeated, just as his phone rang. He took one look at it and a smile spread over his face. Damon wondered if he knew how obvious he was. "That`s Anna. Guess I better head home. I`ll tell you when I got the stone." the teen promised, before answering his phone and heading to the door. Damon could hear him muttering something about being right there. Then the door closed behind him and they were alone.
"Well, that was informative." Damon commented. "Yeah." Ric looked a little shell-shocked. The vampire walked over to him and put a hand on his arm. "Are you okay?" For once he didn`t try to hide the concern in his voice. Alaric turned to face him and managed a shaky smile. "I´m fine. A little surprised. Okay, more than just a little actually, but aside from that… Don`t worry." Damon nodded and decided to drop the subject. Jeremy wouldn`t say anything (if he knew what was good for him) and he didn`t really want to discuss this now.
"Any more interesting stuff in your box?" he asked, changing the topic. "Not really, no. At least, nothing we haven`t already seen. But I thought I`d bring it over anyway. If you wanna go through the stuff again?" The vampire shook his head. "Maybe when we`ve got more information. Although I`d love to know why Mason wants that stone." He didn`t trust the wolf, no matter how friendly he behaved. "Maybe Jenna can find out. They`re meeting up at the Grill later." Ric told him with a grin.
"Why are you smiling?" Damon asked suspiciously. "She seems to like him. And judging by the way he was behaving yesterday, he likes her too." The vampire stifled a groan. "You`re not actually trying to play matchmaker here, are you?" Ric shrugged. "Why not? Jenna deserves to be happy. And she`s on our side. If she was dating Mason we could be sure he`s an ally." Okay, so maybe he had a point there. Not that Damon was going to admit that out loud.
"If you wanna play matchmaker, fine. But don`t expect help from me." he warned, before adding. "Maybe you could ask vampire Barbie for help. I`m sure she would be thrilled." And it would keep her out of his hair for a while. The teacher just chuckled and pulled Damon in for a quick kiss. "I`ll think about it." He let go again way too quickly for the vampire`s liking. "Wanna stay the night?" he asked hopefully. Ric`s face told him the answer even before the teacher opened his mouth. "I`m supposed to help with that picnic early tomorrow morning." He sounded apologetic and Damon stifled a sigh. "Next time, okay?" Ric promised. Damon didn`t feel the need to point out that he`d used exactly the same words the last time. This sneaking around was starting to get old.