Author's note: Sorry it's been a minute. :D I really wanted to update Midsummer (on Midsummer – sort of) for Elena's canon birthday and write the epilogue for Serendipity – but it helped me potentially work through a confusing little plot thread, so here we are. :D
And here they were, Damon thought sourly. This night had been going impeccably well, minus the crushing headaches he got from some of the so-called vocalists on the stage tonight. Thank God for vamp healing.
He felt Elena grip his hand in reassurance when he noticed Bonnie looking about the space nervously – the anxiety was visible on her face to anyone who really knew her – and it was potent.
Next to her, was Enzo, who appeared strangely calm. There was a quiet fury in his dark eyes that seemed to override any nervousness he likely would have felt in a room full of humans – densely packed and clearly intoxicated – so soon after his release back into the world. He held a well-used acoustic guitar in his hand like it belonged there – like it was less an accessory or instrument – but more an extension of himself.
Damon knew he had to talk to him, but what would he say? Hi, sorry I left you to die in a fire, but I turned off my humanity to deal with it?
He scoffed at his own hesitance to confront him. This wasn't like him at all. Damon Salvatore didn't hide from the truth – he didn't spend all day shaping his hair, surrounding himself with so much product that he might as well be hiding his head like an ostrich in the sand.
And yet. The last time had gone so poorly. It took Enzo actual years to properly integrate into their group and develop some semblance of emotional stability. The same could probably be said about him, though, Damon thought with a shrug, taking another sip from his tumbler full of contraband.
"Hi guys!" Bonnie beamed with faux enthusiasm as she approached her friends, with the all-too-wide and not-at-all convincing smile on her face perfectly matching her tone. "I'm so glad to see you both on what is definitely going to be a very peaceful and mature and not testosterone-driven afternoon," she added through clenched teeth, never once letting her plastered smile fade, a subtle hint of threat in her voice. Having been on the receiving end of her magic, Damon knew all too well not to take those threats lightly.
"Yes!" Elena reacted, when noting Bonnie looking at her meaningfully. "Why don't we arrange a time slot for a performance? And I think they're planning live band karaoke after the open mic sessions end," she added, with forced cheer to rival Bonnie. "Enzo, you play, right?" she asked, addressing the musical vampire, desperate to ease some of the rapidly building tension.
"I do," Enzo replied easily, momentarily releasing the glare he was sending Damon to answer Elena's question, gazing at her charmingly – he was still a gentleman. "I've been a musician for most of my human life, and an all-too-brief part of my vampire one," his eyes shot back to Damon coldly. "Damon can tell you," he smirked menacingly, lacing his words with double entendre. "Music is a skill that requires dedication, some degree of loyalty to your craft. Not everyone is capable of it –"
"Who wants shots?" Bonnie interrupted, getting an enthusiastic nod from Elena.
"Shots," Enzo laughed. "Damon was shot. Weren't you Damon?" he asked, approaching the other vampire threateningly, his vampiric veins starting to materialize.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but you need to calm down. We're in a bar, surrounded by humans," Damon hissed, approaching him in an equally threatening manner.
But Enzo was beyond this. He wasn't listening anymore. "I'd been shot before – it's nothing compared to having your organs sliced out, being dissected. But you would know all about that, wouldn't you? It's what you left me to after I helped save you and you just walked away," he growled, his fangs now fully elongated, eyes flooding with crimson blood.
The bar was suddenly filled with silence as its patrons gasped at the sheer aggression coming forth from the man whose face looked decidedly otherworldly – inhuman. With a growl, Enzo launched himself at Damon, who blurred out of the way. Elena and Bonnie looked at each other frantically, taking note of the spectacle their display was becoming.
"Hello, everyone! We're the … uh, Mystic Players! And this is a surprise performance engineered by the lovely manager of this bar, uh…" Elena, announced, desperately glancing at Damon, then at Bonnie, then at Damon again. "In fact! It's such a surprise, that we thought you'd never expect it to start during this, um, … memorable … rendition of 'Poker Face,' which was definitely different than the last three, for sure."
"What is the meaning of this?" a furious man existed an office in the back, practically red-faced with the flush increasingly rushing to his head.
Damon began approaching the manager in the fastest human-looking speed he could manage to compel him into compliance, when Enzo reached out to follow him, prompting Bonnie to wrap her arms around him tightly, much to his shock and alarm. "Oh, Odie! Please don't fight that vile man!" she exclaimed dramatically for all the bar to hear. "Just because he's rude and thinks making quips is an acceptable form of communication, because he thinks he's so funny –"
"First of all, I'm hilarious, and you know it," Damon interrupted, mid-compulsion, before turning back to the no-longer-irate manager.
"And he engages in cruel and unusual punishment, by forcing those who he deems 'friends' to eat pancakes every day for four months," Bonnie continued dramatically, pointedly ignoring Damon's interruption.
"You made her eat pancakes every day for four months, Damon!? Why would you do that?" Elena exclaimed, horrified. "Why didn't you just make her some –"
Damon could have sighed in audible relief when the manager took that moment to interrupt Elena's potentially incriminating revelation. The last thing he needed tonight was another witchy aneurysm.
"I said, what is the meaning of this? We're blessed to be in the fine company of the acclaimed Mystic Players! All musicians stop! Everyone put away your phones – this is a no-film performance," the manager instructed, to several disappointed sounds from the bar's patrons. "Now, on with the show!" He then practically ran over to several people surreptitiously trying to record what they believed to be an impromptu performance, snatching the devices from their hands.
"You were the most important person in my life, Damon!" Enzo roared, the darkened veins prominent on his face. "And you ruined me!"
"You want me to apologize?" Damon spat the word like it left a ridiculous taste in his mouth. "I won't. I had to turn it off – leave my humanity behind. It was the only way for me to survive."
"Did you see that guy's face?" A member of a group next to Elena whispered among themselves, which gave her an idea.
"That's nothing! Look at that speed. It looked like he teleported. How did he do that?" replied his interlocutor.
"Their make-up and special effects team is amazing!" gushed the third.
Seeing that the two were about to come to blows and noting that Bonnie's distraction seemed to work at least temporarily – Enzo is such a performer – Elena suddenly got in the middle of the two rampaging supernatural beings, extending her arm in a dramatic gesture beckoning him to stop. "No, halt, brave Odie! This man speaks truth! You've both been led astray – led to seek grievance with one another at the behest of a foul schemer set to annihilate you both through cunning machinations!" she exclaimed, using their current predicament as inspiration.
Enzo raised an eyebrow, temporarily taken out of his rage by the utter ridiculousness of this moment in time. This inner thespian lived for it, though. Oh, how he missed the stage. And where did the guitar go? He had to be careful not to damage it while pounding Damon's face in.
Damon looked at Elena dubiously, suddenly questioning all of his life choices. These were his friends? He used to be so cool. Oh well. At least no one was insisting that he wear a silly nobleman's frock, equipped with ugly tights.
Enzo was caught between enacting his revenge and getting into the impromptu, so-called "performance." It was a really tough call. He opted for the best of both worlds.
He would dramatically beat the snot out of Damon. If they wanted a show, they'd get a show, all right.
Suddenly leaping over Elena, with a completely unnecessary flip in the air, inciting oohs and aahs from the crowd, much to his delight, he landed in front of his opponent, fist landing squarely in his face, just like Enzo hoped. Really hamming it up, he addressed the room. "This cur, this knave – this vile betrayer! What punishment suits him best, I ask you fine and noble folk?"
Damon recovered quickly, slightly hindered by the energy required to produce the most dramatic eyeroll of all time at Enzo's antics, and swept his opponent's leg, causing him to trip. The vampire then suddenly dropped, to pin his arm behind his back, hoping to stop this "show" before it got out of hand. "Okay, Errol Flynn," Damon sassed, figuring that his choice of actor would at least be familiar to his surprisingly dramatic opponent. "You can get your drama kicks the same way everyone else does – by convincing Blondie – you haven't met her – that she has a giant pimple on decade dance night." Being back in 2009 meant pre-vamp-massive-glow-up Caroline, so while he dreaded the return of all those memories where he used her as his personal spy-slash-Capri Sun, the considerably less shallow version of her might actually become helpful - especially if the Lying, Mama-Killing, Dagger-Happy Original ever came into the picture.
Enzo was displeased with this development and showed it by roughly shoving Damon off. In his bombastic and over-the-top display for the increasingly impressed audience, he accidentally shoved Elena, throwing her into one of the tables, where she hit the back of her head on impact, spilling the glasses of water on herself.
"Elena!" Damon blurred toward her in a wild panic, followed by his worried companions, whose flair for the dramatic and ire had been momentarily forgotten. She lay in a heap on the floor among some broken glass, a thick trail of blood running down her arm. Damon rushed to cradle her head to see if she was all right, but she sat up, quite alert, of her own accord. "Are you okay?" he breathed.
"I'm fine," she assured, looking profoundly confused. She lifted her bloody arm, surprised to find that she didn't have a scratch. "When did your blood become so potent?" Touching her forehead, she felt the telltale stickiness of blood, but there was no wound.
Damon breathed a palpable sigh of relief, holding her close, while sneaking a glare at Enzo. "You'd better be more careful," he growled, feeling an odd mix of anger at his carelessness and guilt over his own actions toward the vampire.
Bonnie studied the turn of events quizzically, looking to confirm a suspicion she had since she noticed the wildly different magical signature between her friend and the Elena of yesteryear. "I don't think it's the blood," she murmured to herself, then turned to the rest of the bar, projecting her voice. "And scene! That's our show, everyone!"
The quartet was met with resounding applause and whistles, which quickly dissipated once the patrons rediscovered the purpose of the establishment – drinking and singing. The karaoke sets resumed.
"I'm sorry," Enzo said contritely to the human who was really only trying to enhance his performance. There were worse things in this world, he knew.
"It's fine," Elena assured. "I'm fine," she repeated, more to herself than those around her. The situation was so confounding.
Deciding to put the matter behind him for now – now that the performer's bug had returned, Enzo compelled himself an early slot for the open mic section for the day, since there were only three slots left before live karaoke was set to take over. So what if he took someone else's spot? They got an amazing performance! Ungrateful sods.
He thought he would be nervous. Honestly, he did, but after that fight earlier, he just felt alive. Enzo was back! Before he had been kidnapped by the Augustine Society, he had been commissioned to take part in USO tours, having been spotted for his considerable musical talent and performance energy when entertaining his fellow troops one evening. He was set to leave on tour after that one final battle – and then everything changed.
Maybe this was his opportunity to get those dreams back.
He sat on stage, cradling the guitar lovingly in his lap. Playing music – in all his life – was perhaps the happiest he'd ever been, though he certainly suspected that this belief would soon be challenged by the charming acquaintance of a certain witch.
"Hello, everyone! My name is Enzo. I hope you enjoyed our surprise scene tonight –"
He was interrupted by loud cheers from the bar, soothing his admittedly somewhat vain performer's spirit. Yes, the ego liked this kind of stroking.
"Tonight, I'm going to take you back to a classic time," he began, suddenly acutely aware that he had absolutely no understanding of modern music. "This is The Way You Look Tonight." Perfect. Enzo could already see the way the bar's patrons were undressing him with his eyes. Now him sensually crooning to Fred Astaire's classic would seal the deal, and he'd be the sexiest person this bar had ever seen – although, truth be told, the only eyes he really wanted on him were Bonnie's.
When the song came to an end, the audience was practically mesmerized with Enzo's talent and performance energy – the vampire clearly placing all his emotion into the song. He walked offstage positively revived. What a rush!
A few sudden fans approached him immediately afterward, offering to buy him a drink, and asking where they could see his show – and if he has an album. Bonnie came over to give him a tight hug and kiss on the cheek, causing him to blush as much as a vampire conceivably could.
Damon was displeased. No, this wouldn't do – at all. This was beyond unacceptable. He quickly left to compel himself as the starting singer for live band karaoke. Enzo was not about to steal his thunder.
He was the eternal stud – him, Damon – and that was that.
"Enzo, that was amazing!" Damon heard Bonnie gush upon his return, watching his witchy best friend practically melt over the preening vampire. And now Elena was getting in on the praise, too? Fine. That abhorrent gasoline that had the audacity to call itself bourbon, Wild Turkey, was stirring in the pit of his stomach. He was two seconds away from unleashing the contents of his stomach if this kept up. Only two acts left, thank God, and then he would rock everyone's world. That would show them.
"Feeling better?" Damon asked tightly, approaching Enzo.
"Fine, but you have to sing something truly embarrassing to redeem yourself," Enzo asserted, then corrected himself, "to start redeeming yourself. It's a long list."
"Yes!" Elena nodded enthusiastically, a wicked grin growing and growing on her face matching the one on Bonnie's. "It's the only way."
Damon narrowed his eyes at his traitorous girlfriend and best friend, so keen and eager to watch him make a fool of himself. Fine, two could play that game. "Sure."
He continued sipping his smuggled bourbon until his name was called at the start of the karaoke section of the evening. AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long." This place was about to explode with pheromones, Damon decided cockily.
He sauntered onstage, in that practiced way of his – knowing from experience precisely what it did to anyone watching. Damon loved to dance, and while he didn't dedicate hours to the craft of music that Enzo did – only dabbling on the piano on the occasion that it suited his fancy – he knew he sounded good.
Eternal Stud Mode: Activated.
As he gyrated to the beat, oozing sex and charisma, he sent a wink to his three companions. That'll show them.
"Did he just take his shirt off?" Bonnie asked, raising an eyebrow. "Have you ever seen him do something like this? I thought he hated karaoke," she shook her head, then raised her voice to yell at the singing vampire. "This isn't a strip club!" In response, she noticed the glares in her direction from most of the female populace of the establishment, and some of the male.
"Nope, he does," Elena responded, after she finished laughing at the glares the bar's patrons were sending Bonnie for her attempts to de-scandalize their peep show. "I think he's jealous of the attention Enzo got, so he's trying to one-up him," Elena explained, grinning in amusement, and something else that Bonnie really didn't want to analyze. Shaking her head, she turned to her friend. "Why are men such babies?" she asked wryly.
Bonnie laughed at the truth reflected in the vampires' competing behavior but took this as an opportunity to address what she felt was a very big problem. "Speaking of babies, you may want to re-up on Damon's blood, ASAP, before you regress to your teenage state again and make me feel like I need to change a diaper."
"I wasn't that bad!" Elena laughed, scandalized.
Bonnie shot her a look that suggested the exact opposite was true. "When was the last time you were around a teenager for an extended period of time? Go give Care a call, ask her to talk about boys, and see how you feel." Elena's widening eyes and slightly sickened expression told her all she needed to know. When they were teenagers, Elena and Bonnie decided that they were incredibly mature, and adult, and just years wiser than the rest of their classmates. Caroline seemed to embrace being a teenager almost wholeheartedly, while the two of them imagined themselves to be the height of depth and sophistication. They were so naive.
"But we were both so mature for our age, right?"
"Not nearly as mature as we thought. Trust me."
"Fine," Elena conceded, electing to bring this up later, instead. Tonight was about fun. She studied Damon's performance, which was becoming raunchier by the second, with a raised eyebrow. "I think he's trying to make eye contact with as many people as possible just to out-do Enzo in the fan department," then brightened. "Which means more free drinks for us!"
Bonnie scoffed, rolling her eyes, as the trio was approached with another round of shots from one of Enzo's new fans.
The song concluded, leaving Damon feeling unabashedly smug, as his vampiric senses picked up in the increased arousal in the room. Good. Now that's how it should be. He sauntered offstage, the height of cockiness, taking a few seconds to sensually thank everyone who stopped him to give him a compliment on the way.
Oozing with conceit, he grinned in a manner that positively showed it. "Sorry, I really tried to be embarrassing," sounding not apologetic at all, "but I guess it's only embarrassing for you, and your sad little performance."
Elena made a show of looking like she was pulled into Damon. "Oh no! Your ego has its own gravitational field now. I can't escape!" she cried with an impish grin. "We should call Jupiter for help. Might be the only planet in our whole Solar System to put up a worthy battle," she teased, squeezing him around his middle, and angling her face for an awaiting kiss.
The rest of the night was spent on shots, which the two non-vampires knew they would probably regret in the morning, until the last number was called, during which they decided to sing Queen's We Are the Champions in a boldly ironic revelation of their identities to anyone who may be hunting them.
That's what a night of shots promises to deliver.
Only a few bars into the song, Enzo looked at Elena in abject horror. This was … quite possibly … the worst sound that he had ever heard in his long life – far exceeding any tortures even dreamed up by Wes Maxfield – even those by Doctor Whitmore. How did such a skinny little thing produce a wail that horrifying? Was she a banshee? A siren? Wait, no, they sounded good.
His ears hurt. His brain hurt. His very soul hurt.
Someone had to make her stop. How did she manage to hit almost every note incorrectly? He looked at Bonnie, who didn't appear to be phased in the slightest. Maybe her witchy powers cushioned her precious psyche from this auditory monstrosity. Damon was prone to the occasional wince, but his frozen smile held strong, so clearly, he seemed intent on keeping this dark secret from her. She couldn't know she sounded this awful, could she? No one could be that cruel, to willingly release this wretched unmelodiousness onto the world.
He apologized to her? Really?
The song couldn't end soon enough. Finally, it was over. He practically ran from the stage, grabbing his tumbler whatever it was he was drinking at this point in the night – he didn't care.
"Elena, I want to try something," Bonnie bit her lip. "Give me your necklace."
"Sure," Elena responded, confused, though, complied with Bonnie's request.
"Do you trust me?" Bonnie asked.
"Of course," Elena nodded.
"Good. Okay, I need one of you to compel Elena to do something – anything," Bonnie said, addressing the two vampires.
Before Damon could reply, Enzo blurred forward. "Gladly." He looked Elena straight in the eyes. "Never sing in front of me again. Ever. Ever."
Elena glared at him, tilting her head to the side. What an ass. She pursed her lips, then smirked, and hit him with the only lines of the song that he performed earlier, The Way You Look Tonight, that she had memorized.
Enzo reeled back as if shocked, clearly pained. "You evil, evil woman," he practically sobbed, stalking away.
Damon and Bonnie looked at her curiously. "Are you on vervain?" Damon asked.
"Not that I'm aware of," Elena replied, her eyebrows knitted in confusion.
"I'd question Enzo's compulsion abilities, but he clearly did it before – and on you," he continued, puzzled. "Bon? Your hypothesis?"
"I'm … not sure enough to say yet," Bonnie responded distractedly. "I have a few ideas, but not solid enough to say yet," she whispered, though one of those ideas dominated above all others – and if it turned out to be true, she would need her Grams' help sooner rather than later.
They finished their drinks and left shortly after that. The night had been a surprising success, with even the initial bout of chaos having spectacularly fun results. Damon pulled up by Elena's house, after she informed him that perhaps her poor phone finally needed some charging after days with a dead battery, and it would probably ease Jenna's spirit somewhat to actually see her niece in person after she all but disappeared.
It was just as well. He needed to talk to Stefan, anyway, especially if someone was plotting to his him in their machinations.
Noticing that no one was around, Damon got out of the car and blurred over to Elena's side, opening the door. Sometimes he liked to show a classical touch. She smiled as he helped her out, then grinned into the searing kiss that met her as soon as she was fully outside.
"Come in through my bedroom window tonight?" she asked, breathless, leaning against him.
"Just as long as I don't have to channel prepubescent chic and make comparisons to you and the Sun. I've had enough Elizabethan drama for one night," he grinned, rolling his eyes, unwilling to admit that a part of him actually loved it.
"I see you as more of a Mercutio, anyway –" she offered, biting her lip wryly.
"You'd better. Much wittier. The only remotely tolerable person in that whole play," he concurred, then leaned in for a conspiratorial stage whisper. "Steffie's that extra that bites his thumb in the beginning." He leaned against the car, pulling her against him by her waist.
Elena laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck. "A Mercutio who stays alive through the end – and then decides he's kind of had enough of all that silly nonsense," she fantasized. "And leaves Verona – meets this really smart, funny, beautiful girl who just enchants him in every way possible..." she purred, pressing kisses along his jaw.
"Uh huh, he fakes his death. Doesn't want to deal with all their juvenile drama," Damon grinned in amusement, urging her to continue. "And then what happens to Mercutio?"
"And then he and this incredibly charming girl go off on adventures."
"And what do they do on these adventures?" he asked sultrily.
"Why don't I just show you tonight?" she purred, and then her eyes widened. "This reminds me, I think I might need another dose, so teenage me doesn't unexpectedly come out to play," she said, gesturing meaningfully to his wrist with her eyes. "On second thought," she stopped him hand before it reached his fangs, smiling wickedly. "Maybe we'll save it for tonight, instead. We can play Vampire and Human again," she winked. "This time, I'll be the vampire."
He pulled her flush against him, smirking when he heard the gasp she couldn't stifle, her shallow breathing, quickened heart-rate. "Mercutio escaped from Verona," he whispered, his lips just barely brushing the shell of her ear," looking for a new start, but instead he meets a temptress. What ever will he do?"
Elena barely detangled herself, knowing that if she didn't, they'd almost certainly be caught in a compromising position by Jenna, and she really needed to start limiting the amount of people that were in on their secret. "Hurry back, Mercutio," she swallowed thickly, very hard to look like she was in control of the situation. "And stay away from Tybalt! I'll be waiting for you in my lair," she added, finally feeling her breathing restore to normal. With that, she sauntered into her house, looking back once to send him a flirtatious wink.
A very frustrated Damon got out of his Camaro in front of the Boarding House. He needed this to go quickly. Vampire and Human was one of his favorite sexy role-playing games, and he was already getting way too excited.
Steffie might have to just wait. In a choice of counting forehead wrinkles for interpretation or seeing Elena sprawled out in sexy, red lingerie, the latter always won. It had been a while since she was the vampire, too, since she usually played the human – and her interpretation of an ancient vampire seductress was inadvertently hilarious in how ridiculous it was, so there was that, too.
She started hissing once. It made no sense, at all, especially considering that she'd met actual ancient vampires.. As clever and sometimes brilliant as Elena sometimes was, she could be such an adorkable idiot sometimes - but she was his idiot.
His senses picked up suddenly, a whoosh in the air, headed right toward him. He blurred away, just barely missed by a vervain dart.
"Steffie, this is not the welcome home present I imagined," he chided dramatically into the air, knowing his brother could probably hear him. "Etiquette dictates that you ask before injecting someone with drugs, otherwise, you come across as creepy, and get banned from bars," he continued obnoxiously. "Just ask Donovan. That's probably his future," he smirked to himself.
Suddenly, he felt another dart come his way and blurred out of the way, yet again – except it followed him, along with several more. "What the hell?" he breathed. "What is this?" he outran the darts that seemed to be following him as if he was their spelled target, until a new one came out of nowhere, and hit in square in his chest, distracted him long enough to be hit by the remaining six.
In the next instant, Damon was unconscious on the Boarding House grounds.
Okay, fine, so maybe it wasn't explicitly stated that Enzo is a total performer, but I thought it could be fair to extrapolate, since it would be fun for me. :D I know a few lead vocalists, and a lot of them share this personality trait. And we never really got to see him perform in front of a crowd, anyway, so who's to say he wouldn't behave this way? :D
I guess the best way to describe it is: he wanted to be written this way, for this story, for some reason (my fellow writers will know what I mean about demanding characters :D), so I just gave in and let him have it. He almost certainly won't be portrayed this way in With Great Power, though (at least for a while), since that's a much darker story, and this one's a bit more wild.
By the way, I chose "Odie" because he discussed The Odyssey with Bonnie in S8. :D
Damon choosing AC/DC is for you, scarlett2112 and Wobalo, since you two clearly seem to favor them. ;)
Sorry not sorry for the cliffhanger, everyone! :D
Bonnie's suspicions about "future" Elena's imperviousness to compulsion will be revealed soon enough.
Big hugs to Kriz03, scarlett2112, Florencia7, Wobalo, and Ixilight, for letting me talk at them about this story. :D
Please be sure to leave a review so I could hear all your delightful thoughts and opinions and feelings! I love them. :D
Much love, all!