I do not own vampire diaries; I just own this plot bunny.


Interlude

"So we're going to go after your aunt," Elena directed to Davina.

The only other person in the room was Stefan. He was sitting on the couch, a few books opened and his fingers skimming over the printed letters. He has been worried that he wouldn't be able to get her alone. He almost had, if Elena hadn't elected herself to go along with them. They were in Klaus's study in the old Mikaelson manor, each of them settled into doing some kind of work. Davina was seated atop Klaus's desk, a journal plotted open and her eyes reading over every word. Stefan should have really been paying attention to his own journal, but he looked up to see what Davina's reaction might be.

Like all the other times before, Davina was promptly ignoring the doppelganger. She was going through journal after journal, and they had been for the last hour. Elena had been on the same one she had opened. The moment they had gotten settled, she had made it her mission to watch the silent interactions between her ex-boyfriend and this new girl. Nothing happened at first, but as the hour ticked on she caught the glances Stefan would send the witch. She saw how Davina looked up as if to talk to him, but always stopped. It looked like she was reminding herself that this wasn't the time.

Or that it wasn't necessary.

She would deny it until she died, but Elena was jealous. She had absolutely no reason to be, but the attention Stefan was giving Davina looked eerily like the looks he used to give her. The subtle smile on his lips as he watched her and the tender smile whenever Davina did anything he deemed adorable. So far all Elena had seen her do was either sigh in exasperation, mumble in French or make slight jabs at Klaus. All of that happened within the first fifteen minutes they had entered the manor.

Elena frowned as the girl continued to read. How rude could she be? Didn't her father teach her any manners? Probably not since his entire family lacked them, except Elijah.

"Have you found anything?" Stefan asked the witch.

"No," she answered curtly. Stefan smiled in amusement.

"Didn't your uncle ever mention this Dahlia before?" Elena asked, using an emphasis on the word uncle.

"I hadn't ever met my uncle until about almost two years ago," Davina told her, her tone neutral.

"And why is that?" Stefan asked, his curiosity genuine.

Davina folded the corner of the page she was on, murmured a quick incantation, and then snapped the book shut. She set it to the left of her before looking at the two. She wasn't stupid. Stefan was trying to get her to have an actual conversation and Elena was trying to size her up. The vampires weren't smart but at least she could try to be civil.

She could try for her mother. Whatever past relations she had with the Salvatore weren't important. He'd get over his curiosity soon enough and she could continue with her life. The doppelganger on the other hand would be egging her on for a while. She was like a spoilt child.

No, she corrected. Elena was not like a spoilt child, she was one. She reminded Davina of herself when she was younger and her favorite toy had been taken away. She had huffed and cried and burnt her mother's herbs in anger. It had been her toy and her mother had taken it because she wasn't focusing on her lesson for the day. Elena was angry her ex-boyfriend wasn't giving her the attention she needed.

This was odd because Davina was sure she was shacking up with his older brother. She shuddered. Doppelgangers were the absolute worse and she cursed the Spirits every day for creating them.

She gazed at both of them as she spoke, "Because I sealed my own memories away. I couldn't turn off my emotions, witches sadly don't have that luxury, but I could forget, even if it was temporary."

Elena rolled her eyes. The action wasn't lost on Davina but she was not about to comment on it. Instead, she jumped off the desk, grabbed the journal, and started for the door.

"Where are you going?" Stefan asked, standing up.

"Away from whatever love square you two idiots think is about to unfold," Davina shot back, waving her hand to seal them both inside the room. "You two need to have a long conversation about where your feelings are."

Stefan frowned. Feelings? "Elena's just a friend," he clarified for the witch as if she needed to hear those words. Davina cocked an unimpressed eyebrow at the vampire. Her eyes darted to the pouting doppelganger before she looked the Ripper in the face again. Are you so sure about that? was the question written on her face.

"She is," he pressed.

Davina cocked her head, "Whatever you say, pretty boy."

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. That nickname...it was almost like he had heard her say it before. There was an ache in the back of his skull, one he'd been having for the last few days. It always happened when he was around Davina, always there and then gone in a flash. The images he saw...

...the loud noise...

...guitar riffs...

...the smell of, what was that? Something warm and spiced and he could remember breathing it in deep as he nuzzled into someone's neck. The soft giggle that escaped his bedmate, "Knock it off, pretty boy."

"You have no right to keep us in here," Elena was saying, bringing him back to what was happening. Davina shrugged her shoulders. The dismissive gesture had Elena gritting her teeth, her vampire visage surfacing.

"Be good to each other," with a dismissive wave, Davina turned on her heel and headed for the gardens. If she was lucky she could get some reading done. She'd be back once she was done. If she was lucky, they either would have torn each other's clothes off and fucked away their woes (she squashed down the jealousy she felt towards that thought) or Elena could realize that she was being unreasonable towards someone she never met and tried extending an olive branch. Davina wouldn't take it, of course, she'd rather burn it to ash and bow the remains in her face.

But at least she'd get some work done.