[ closed ] innocence died screaming, honey, ask me i should know

[blooded]

CHARACTERS: Damon Salvatore (blooded), Elena Gilbert (otrazhenie), Sam Wilson (sizeofyourbaggage)
WHERE: Hyrypia - The Private Apartments
WHEN: END OF DAY :004
SUMMARY: Damon teaches Elena how to feed without getting lost in her bloodlust with Sam serving as their meal.
WARNINGS: Blood for sure. Will edit if anything else comes up!

❰ there's no time for them to delay, much as damon might want to. if they were in mystic falls, he'd have elena dip her toes in slowly — start with blood bags, teach her to handle the smell of stale blood without being overwhelmed by hunger, work her up over a period of a couple days to the real deal, fresh from the vein. he'd take the time to get her to realize there's nothing wrong with feeding if she doesn't really hurt anyone as she does it, that she's a predator now and she has to come to grips with that — but that doesn't make her a bad person. she can still be herself and be a vampire. if he had the time, that's what damon would teach her.

but there is no time. they have a hunter breathing down their necks, a mission they can't afford to botch, and no blood bags. they have to rush this, and no matter that it's not how damon would do it if he had other options, he has no other options. it's this, or let elena fail, let the mission fail, and give everyone in the nest up for dead.

damon's no stranger to a lost cause, but this isn't one. not yet. ❱

How you feeling, Sammy? You ready for this?

❰ the three of them are holed away in one of the private apartments, damon standing near the door, sam and elena sitting on the bed. the question is ostensibly meant for sam, but the impression given from his mind is that it's really for both of them. is elena okay with this? can she get through this? ❱

Comments

[sizeofyourbaggage]

[ The smile that Sam shoots Damon is just a little bit crooked, but no less confident. It's hardly the first time that Sam's jumped headfirst into something. ] I'm always ready.

[ Sam's here for Elena's sake more than anything else. With everything she's fighting right now, on top of being thrown here and with a broodmate so damn convinced that she's a monster - he wants to something to be good for her, to go better than it could.

Granted, even if he didn't like her and want to do right by her, he'd probably still be here for Damon - the petty part of him that's still irritated with Damon for the way their fight went and for sulking and ignoring him wants to say no, but realistically he knows he would. Being annoyed doesn't mean he's stopped caring or given up.

Still, this is about Elena. He'd told her she didn't have to be okay, that he and Damon would be there for her, and he's going to be. ]

I'm not here because I have to be, I'm here because I wanna be.

[ His hand covers hers on the bed, squeezing gently. ]

You don't gotta hide your face from me, Elena, it doesn't bother me. Not being human doesn't make you a monster.

[blooded]

❰ god bless sam wilson. damon's own brand of self-confidence owed to the casual dismissal of human life would never work for elena — he is a predator but he is not a monster, at least not because he's a vampire, but he could never say that in a way that elena could take on for herself. human life means so much to her, so much more than any vampire's could, the idea that humans are not inherently important just because they're human is something she would reject entirely, and it's all damon has. when he comes to her with reassurance, his hands are full of salt.

sam, though. sam knows how to speak to people who are still good, who still care about things like casualties and monstrosity. if there's anyone in this nest who can coax a little of the fire elena hides back out, it's him. they're two peas in a pod, damon has thought so ever since he started to get to know sam — convinced there is good in people the rest of the world has given up on, good but not boring, kind but not cloying. if elena can allow herself to relax, have fun, sam will be the best influence for her there could be. ❱

See, a human's said it. It has to be true, Elena, ❰ damon says glibly as he approaches the bed, standing to elena's side and putting a hand onto her shoulder. ❱ You're going to be fine.

[otrazhenie]

[ They're trying to help her, reassure her, and yet a part of her feels boxed in, caged by this entire situation that she can't escape. Damon on one side and Sam the other, and nowhere for her to go. No other option but to do the one thing she desperately doesn't want to. She closes her reddened eyes tightly against the tears that burn like fire and tries to find some comfort in the hands that are helping and not merely holding her to her fate. A deep breath, one, two, and then she opens her eyes again, turning to look at Sam with her undeniably monstrous side in full view. ]

It's gonna hurt.

[ There's an apology in the words because she can't compel him, there's no way to make it not hurt and that bothers her. So many things about this bother her deeply, but what other choice does she have? She's starving, they have to move soon and she'll be a danger to the entire Nest if she doesn't get a handle on this. ]

[sizeofyourbaggage]

[ He huffs out a soft laugh at Damon's glibness, kicking a leg out playfully to nudge at Damon's ankle as he moves to stand next to Elena. He agrees, though - they're all going to be fine, even if right now it might be a little hard for Elena to believe.

He doesn't blink when she turns to face him, just gives her a tiny smile.

Sam can guarantee that he's had worse, but he's not sure that'd comfort Elena much right about now. ]

I know. But I'm not going anywhere. Hell, I'd be here donating blood even if you weren't.

[ Yeah, he's doing it for her - but he'd be doing it for Damon, too. He cups her jaw, touch gentle. ] It's not like I'd be bite free if only you weren't around, all right, so don't go putting this on yourself.

[ Something tells him she's probably gonna anyway, but they'll worry about that in the future. Right now, he can't let her keep going hungry, and he twists his arm a little to offer her his wrist. ]

[otrazhenie]

[ Sam's words help a little, but there's no dislodging the crushing weight from her chest. That's going to take a lot more work, and many more instances of showing her she's not the same kind of monster as Katherine or Klaus.

Then his wrist is there and her entire world narrows to those inches of skin and the blood she can hear rushing through those veins with every beat of his heart. It smells so good and emotionally it makes her absolutely disgusted to be thinking of a friend like this, but she's so hungry. She tries to hold back, just a few more seconds, have some control, but she can't. Her hands reach up to wrap around his hand, another just below his elbow, and she tries so hard to be gentle as she sinks her teeth into his skin.

And she drinks and it's the best thing she's ever tasted. ]

[sizeofyourbaggage]

[ That's all right - honestly, Sam didn't expect them to. Words are nice, and sometimes they can mean a lot, but actions are even better. These kind of things take time, and Sam's patient. He's not planning on going anywhere, and as far as he's concerned he's got plenty of time to convince the two of them that they're worth so much more than they think they are.

Sam doesn't flinch when Elena's fangs pierce his skin. It hurts, of course it does, but he's had worse. The pull of blood from his veins is familiar, too - he's donated before - but it's never come with the feel of lips against his skin before.

He reaches out with his free hand to take Damon's, lacing their fingers together until their palms are pressed against each other. And his symbiote ability activates without him really meaning it to - but at least he can control it. He keeps it from healing the wound itself, just transfers the pain, a little, until it's nothing more than a love bite pressed against the inside of both his and Damon's wrists. ]

( You're okay, Elena, keep going. )

[blooded]

( it's a strange dichotomy that a vampire who chooses to live amongst humans must deal with: humans are food, but they are also friends. a vampire who fully gives into their nature kills to survive, but they are no less a person at their basest, and all people need social ties. finding the balance between acknowledging that people are food and friends at the same time is a delicate tightrope to walk, and of all the mystic falls vampires, damon thinks only caroline really has it down.

damon can see the internal struggle on elena's face as well as the wisps of thought and feeling that pass through their link, and he has no answers for her on how to live with that aspect of vampirism. his casual dismissal of human importance wouldn't fit her, so he has nothing of use to offer her.

sam's hand seeks damon's out and at first damon flinches away, looking down at sam in sharp confusion — and then he relaxes, slowly, letting sam link their fingers together. the first prickle of pain makes his fingers twitch, but like sam, damon has been through much worse, and he'd rather elena not know that she's hurting both of them. let her think that it's just not that bad, at least for now.

Pay attention to his heartbeat. Stay calm and focused. Don't get distracted. )

[otrazhenie]

[ That's so much easier said than done when she's been starving for days, resisting the urge to snack on anything warm-blooded that came within reach. That restraint has physical ached at times, and she's kept herself away from most others while she struggled with it. But now there's warm blood flowing down her throat and she just wants more.

It is a very good thing that both Sam and Damon are keeping that pain from her because she wouldn't have hesitated to pull away, ashamed and angry at herself for doing such a thing to someone she's beginning to consider a real friend. But she has no idea, what little indication she has of it getting swept away in the satisfaction of each pull on those small wounds.

Don't get distracted. She's trying, she's trying so hard, but this is the best she's felt since she turned and it feels so right... Listen to his heartbeat. Pay attention. Keep drinking. ]

[sizeofyourbaggage]

[ He shoots Damon a little smile, somewhere between sharp and playful - this is serious, he knows it is, but the best thing he figures he can do is keep this light. Is let Elena know that it's okay, that she can still see him as a friend and take what he's offering. Help her learn how to control herself, to be able to pinpoint the minute where she's about to go too far and pull herself back.

It's easy when they've got Damon at their side, when their fingers are laced together and they can both feel the press of Elena's lips against their wrists and the sharp pain can dull into something that's-

Well. That's a hell of a lot different than the bad kind of pain. There's bonuses to his symbiote ability, sometimes, when it means he doesn't have to make a clean transfer and can just share things a little.

Pay attention to his heartbeat, Damon says, and Sam can help with that.

He opens his mental connection to Elena, focusing on the sensation of his beating heart, helping it echo in her mind. So she can listen to it, so she can focus on the way the her drinking effects it. ]

( We've got you. You'll know when you're going too far, you can do this. )