Breathing ∞ Kol Mikaelson [1]

[29]

As Emma followed after Rebekah, she didn't need vampire hearing to be able to hear the end of Damon and Stefan's ongoing conversation. "So, let's just say Sage was killing everyone in 1912. Who the hell is doing it now? It's not that psycho, Dr. Fell. She's a woman. There's no way she could stab three grown men." The older Salvatore spoke his thoughts out loud all the while proceeding to throw a dart at the target mounted on the wall.

Emma couldn't help but laugh at the stupidity of Damon's assumption. She knew that even she could kill a man if the situation called for it. Unless said man was a vampire. In case the sound of her laughter wasn't enough to make their presence known to the brothers, Rebekah ensured it by stepping towards the target and catching the dart Damon threw before it could hit it's mark.

"That's a bit sexist. A woman could easily kill a man. With the right motivation." The blonde pointed out, pulling the darts from the target before she handed them back to Damon with a smirk on her face. She enjoyed seeing the annoyance on the faces of both Salvatores.

"You just, uh, don't give up, do you?" Stefan questioned from his seat at the table just as Emma pulled out a chair and sat herself down, not really eager to participate in throwing sharp objects around.

"Why are you so grumpy?" Rebekah turned to him with a questioning look on her face. Emma on the other hand was surprised by the question itself. She thought this was Stefan's permanent setting.

"He's on a master cleanse. Trying to be a better man and all." It was Damon who answered the blonde, his words dosed in a severe level of snark and sass.

"You know, you were a lot more fun in the 20s." Rebekah said to Stefan, obviously disappointed by his current demeanor.

"Don't rile him up. He's testy when he's being self-righteous." Damon warned as he walked past the Mikaelson and grabbed the bottle of whatever alcohol they were drinking tonight from his brother's hands.

"I'm not being self-righteous, Damon. I'm just not interested in slaughtering innocent human beings." Stefan pointed out in an annoyed tone, rolling his eyes at the two vampires that continued to prod at him.

"As the only innocent human being present, I must say, I approve of that policy." Emma shared, even though she was pretty sure neither of the Salvatores were interested in her opinion or her approval. She didn't particularly care if they were or weren't.

"Innocent is debatable." Damon sent her a pointed glare which only made the Park laugh in amusement while he turned back to his brother and spoke in a less than convinced tone. "Fair enough. My mistake."

Damon proceeded to pull out what seemed to be a bound journal from under his jacket which was resting on one of the other tables. The pointed look on his face let Emma know whatever was coming was bound to be good as he opened the journal. "You used to be self-righteous. Dear diary, Damon has lost his way. Though I have pulled my own life together, he continues to waste his." It was becoming clear that the journal Damon was reading was written by Stefan. How long ago, Emma couldn't be sure.

"Ouch." Rebekah laughed at the words before grabbing the journal form Damon's hands and continuing to read it out loud herself. "His bitterness consumes him. He is nothing but blackness and bile. Ooh, judgey." Rebekah started to close the journal again while all Stefan could do was roll his eyes at them all.

"Oh, this is fun." He commented in a sardonic tone, obviously not having fun in the slightest.

"You know, if I'm being honest, you didn't seem like much fun either, Damon." Rebekah pointed out suddenly, turning to the older brother with a questioning look on her face.

"I must agree. 'Bitterness, blackness and bile' sound like a terribly dull time." Emma added on. If it were up to her, neither of the Salvatores sounded like much fun back then, nor did they seem to have improved in the present. It only made her wonder what exactly was making Rebekah be so friendly with them tonight.

"I wasn't. The woman I was in love with was stuck in a tomb, and she wasn't getting out for a hundred years." Damon said in a bitter tone, the memories obviously being something he didn't wish to bring up again. ""I wasn't having any fun at all."

Emma couldn't stop herself from thinking back to the stories of Katherine Pierce she discovered on the night of Homecoming. After being quite surprised to see who she thought was Elena, walking away from a stab wound to the back like it never happened, she certainly had a couple of questions on how it was possible. She didn't know much, but she did learn that both of the Salvatore brothers were once in love with the seductive vampire back when they were still human.

As she thought back on that, Emma slightly tuned out the story Damon told about some vampire named Sage. Or perhaps she was using the memories as a way to purposefully tune him out. After all, Sage teaching Damon on how to enjoy being a vampire, how to toy and have fun with his prey... Well, again, as the only human in their small circle, she'd rather not listen to that gruesome bit.

"That sounds like Sage, all right." Rebekah said knowingly once Damon's story was brought to an end.

"How did you know her?" The older Salvatore asked suspiciously.

"She was obsessed with my brother Finn over 900 years ago." Rebekah shared, making Emma let out a laugh of amusement which was only increased by Damon's reaction to the information.

"What?! Creepy suicidal guy?"

"Says a lot about her tastes, and about you, Damon, since you admitted you fit them." Emma couldn't help but tease, earning herself another glare from the dark-haired vampire. If he was trying to intimidate her, it wasn't really working. Rather than feeling fear, she was feeling annoyed. And the cause of it was right next to her.

"You're doing it again." Damon called to Stefan who was continuously tapping the ring on his finger against the wooden table, on some occasions hard enough to make the whole table shake. And Damon's words seemed to be enough to push him over the edge.

"Alright." Stefan seemed to be done with them all as he jumped out of his seat, eagerly starting to pull on his jacket. "You know what? I need to, uh... I gotta get out of here."

"Sure. First, admit you're jonesing." Damon requested.

"Damon, I'm not..." Stefan started to protest, but was quickly interrupted by Damon who rushed at him, using his vampire speed to grab hold of the collar of Stefan's jacket. Emma watched them with careful eyes, noticing as Rebekah stepped closer to the table in case the dispute between the brothers started to get out of hand at any point.

"Admit it." This time, Damon's words came out as more of a demand than a request.

"Okay, fine." Stefan finally gave in. "I'm freaking out. I'm ready to eat the entire wait staff. And Emma sticking around is basically making herself first on the menu. Why do you need to hear me say it?"

"Because I'm feeling self-righteous too."

Hearing his words, Emma realized it was sign enough for her to call it a night. She didn't know enough about Stefan's levels of control, and since they didn't seem to stable, she suspected it was just asking for trouble if she stuck around. And after all, she made a promise to try and stay out of trouble for a bit.

"Well... I think that's my cue to head home." The brunette announced as she stood from her seat once Damon and Stefan pulled apart, the latter heading for the door in somewhat of a hurry.

"No, please, stay. Hopefully he loses control while you're around." Damon's voice was laced with annoyance, and the words made Emma glare his way. However, instead of snapping back with a witty comment, she turned to Rebekah.

"Call me when you're done with them. And don't do anything I wouldn't do." She said to the blonde as the two shared a hug goodbye. Winking at the Mikaelson in a teasing manner as they pulled apart, Emma proceeded to run away from her friend's glare.