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"I say we go to Pearl's, bust down the door, and annihilate the idiot that attacked us last night." Damon was boarding up a window as Roman drank, not really having a clue about what happened. "Yeah. And then what? We turn to the rest of that house of vampires and say, 'Oops. Sorry?'" Stefan shrugged as Elena stood beside him. "Or we could murder all of the people who are a waste of oxygen." Roman bit his lip, being friends with Katherine in 1864 made him hate the vampires even more. "I can't believe you two made a deal with her." Elena shook her head. "She pierced out my eyeballs." Roman leaned forward raising an eyebrow at Elena who rolled her eyes. "And she's gonna help me get Katherine back." Damon smirked at Roman. "Jesus Damon! It's been decades get over the dumb unwanted bitch!" Roman truly could not stand Katherine and the way Damon desperately wanted her even if she had no desire for him. "Come on Roman we all know, Damon gets what he wants, as usual. No matter who he hurts in the process." Elena clicked her teeth looking at the eldest Salvatore. "You don't have to be snarky about it." "I woke up this morning to learn that all the vampires have been released from the tomb. I've earned snarky." Roman chuckled at Elena's sass. "How long are you going to blame me for turning your birth mother into a vampire?" Damon questioned. That sentence alone seemed odd to Roman. "I'm not blaming you, Damon. I've accepted the fact that you're a self-serving psychopath with no redeeming qualities." "Ouch." Damon winced at Roman laughed. "Truth hurts right Damon?" Roman smirked as Damon glared at him. "This isn't being very productive. We're gonna figure out a way to deal with Pearl and the vampires." Stefan told them as Roman stood up annoyed with everyone in the room. "I've told you thousands of times give me a stake and I'll murder every single person in that house." Roman stormed out of the house wondering why it was so difficult for them to understand.
Roman stomped out of the house when something tackled him to the ground. "Hey there Roman." "Frederick." The tomb vampire snapped Roman's neck quickly not giving him time to fight back.
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"Look at you little Roman." The Salvatore drowsily woke up to feel vervain ropes burning his skin and three vampires, one of them being Frederick, standing in front of him with stakes. "You aren't so powerful now." "Cause you snuck up on me and snapped my neck old man." Roman hissed at them making one of the vampires shove a stake in his shoulder. "You have a big mouth for someone tied to a chair." Frederick chuckled shoving his stake into the middle of Romans stomach. "And you have a big ego for being a little bitch." Roman spat in the mans face making him rip out the stake and shove it in his leg. Roman merely growled not wanting to give them the satisfaction of seeing him in pain. Frederick grabbed Roman's chin forcing him to look up. He held his eyes open as he poured vervain into the boy's eyes. Roman couldn't hold back a scream as the tomb vampires laughed. "I'm gonna kill you." Roman seethed his eyes blood red. "You'll have to escape first." He chuckled shoving a vervain soaked towel into Roman's mouth. Roman's muffled scream was chilling as the herb burned his skin. "You aren't so tough now Roman." Roman's head lulled back as he felt another stake being shoved into his chest and another through his shoulder pinning him to the chair. "Sit tight." Frederick laughed menacingly leaving Roman to suffer in silence. All he could feel was the vervain in his veins like fire. Roman had been tortured far worse but for some reason vervain always caused him the most pain. Maybe because it was so much like fire, it made his body hot and it made him sweat. He could handle stakes being shoved in him but he couldn't stand feeling like he was burning.
He didn't know how long he sat there for, time seeming expandable in his state. "Roman, Roman." The vampire wearily opened his eyes to see Alaric. The teacher slowly pulled the cloth from Roman's mouth making the boy wince. "Jesus." Alaric breathes out untying the ropes around Roman's arms and legs. "This might hurt." Alaric said quietly grabbing the stake in Roman's stomach. "Just do it." Roman coughed weakly. He merely grimaced when Alaric pulled the stake out, along with the one in his shoulder. "Come on Ro." Alaric threw his arm over his shoulder as he helped Roman stand. "Are you alright?" Roman asked, his blurry eyes glancing over Alaric to see if any of the tomb vampires had gotten to him. Alaric laughed softly helping him through the halls. "You were just tortured and you're asking if I'm okay?" Alaric smiled down at a weary Roman. "I heal, you don't." Roman replied simply. "Jesus Roman." Damon grabbed his brother from Alaric's grip. "Isn't the worst of it." Roman gave a weak smile to Damon who smiled softly. "Damn straight." Roman let all his weight fall into Damon as he passed out from all the vervain in his system.
❁
When Roman woke up again he wasn't really sure where he was. There was a cooler of blood bags sitting in front of him making him furrow his eyebrows. "Damon dropped those off, said you probably still didn't want to be around him for the most part." Alaric walked over to Roman taking a seat on the table in front of the couch. "It doesn't bother you if I drink these?" Roman chuckled lightly as Alaric smiled shaking his head. Roman opened one chugging it down and he could already feel himself getting better. "How'd you know I was there too?" Roman asked as he finished another blood bag. The way he'd stormed out of the house he figured Damon would've just thought he was angry. "I tried calling you and you didn't pick up. You never miss my calls." Roman laughed softly grinning at Alaric. "You're right, I don't." Roman finished off the last blood bag already feeling like himself. "Why is that?" Alaric asked as Roman shook his head. "I'm not sure. I just, when I talk to you I feel at peace." Roman whispered as Alaric watched him closely. "I haven't felt at peace in three decades." Roman felt tears welling in his eyes but he easily kept them at bay. "And I know you don't know me well and I'm just some stupid vampire in your apartment," Alaric chuckled lightly at that comment. "But I don't know what it is, because in my life I've cared about so many people. Out of all of them you make me feel the most human." Roman whispered staring at Alaric. Alaric smiled softly resting his hand on Roman's arm. "You said we didn't know each other well," Alaric stood taking a seat beside Roman. "Let's get to know each other."
The two spent the whole night talking, getting to know each other.
