(1) The Phoenix (D. Salvatore)

Chapter Seventeen

Damon whistles to himself as he lets himself into the Gilbert House. He can hear and see a little flicker of red hair as Daphne moves around the room, looking for something. Again. He closes the door quietly and watches her a moment as she muses to herself, picking up books and then setting them down again. A little concentrated frown between her eyes, a crinkle to her nose. Cute. He shakes his head. He has no idea where that came from.

"Vampire-boy" He looks at her. "Head in the clouds?" She teases, he snorts slightly.

"Elena text" He offers. "Said you needed...." He stops when she stands, brushing her hands over her skirt. He has to take a breath. She dolls up pretty good. She then sweeps her hair over her shoulder and adjusts her shirt a little. "A ride...." He finishes softly as she moves. That outfit is something else on her. She hums in agreement and moves to another pile of books to look through them.

"I'll be ready in a minute" She assures him as she moves to collect her bag. When she shifts in the shadows of the room he swears he sees something against her back but as she moves, it disappears again. She raises an eyebrow at his look but understands. Those of mystical persuasion are always closer to seeing her wings. It's harder to hide the fluttering appendages from them. He shakes his head and frowns a little but lets it go as a trick of the light.

"How come you didn't go with Elena?" He muses as he picks up a book to look at it. 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'. He pulls a face and then sets it back down.

"It was a tight fit" She answers. "Plus Bonnie keeps looking at me weirdly" He raises an eyebrow and then seems to understand.

"She figured you were a witch" He vocalises, she nods. "She not happy about you stealing her turf?" He teases, she snorts and moves towards him.

"She's never been taught about the rest of us" She argues and grabs her jacket as she passes the back of the couch. "It's hard for her....she's been alone in her magic and she didn't have to be...." She stops in front of him and lets out a breath. "She's feeling as though she was left out...that she got the shit deal" She shrugs a little. "She did..." She agrees. "Her grandmother probably assumed she was a squib...." He frowns at her. "Someone born of magic but has none..." She explains. "It's rare for a squib to pick up traditional magic later on...they tend to be kept away from magic..." She motions with her hand that they can leave now, he smirks slightly and opens the door for her.

"No sneaky thief pet today?" He teases as they leave.

"Pad is in a timeout for taking my wand" She argues as they leave the house. Damon smirks a little and glances at her as she wrinkles her nose, pulling her jacket closer to her. Colder than she was expecting it to be. "That little fucker will be the death of me" She adds, Damon snorts. "Or get me arrested" He nods in agreement, considering what he's seen so far.

..........

At the Lockwood Mansion. the lawns of the mansion are filled with people sitting at tables at the party. Elena and Caroline are sitting apart from the party on a bench when Bonnie joins them with her grimoire.

"Daph not here yet?" Bonnie asks.

"No, Damon's picking her up..." Elena answers with a shrug.

"So I have an identification spell that might be able to tell me what magic affected the necklace" Bonnie points out and holds out her hand. Elena hands over her necklace. "It's going to take a while, so tell me if anyone's coming, okay?" Caroline then looks at Elena.

"So you're not, like, switching Salvatores, are you?" Caroline asks.

"What?" Elena asks with a frown.

"Caroline..." Bonnie scolds her. Caroline gives her a look.

"Stay focused" Caroline turns back to Elena. "As your friend who worries for you daily, what is the deal with you and Damon?" Caroline asks.

"There is no deal. He's been just as focused on finding Stefan as I have" Elena argues, Caroline gives her a disapproving look. "Look, I think he's actually more interested in Daph and I love Stefan" Caroline hums a little.

"She is definitely hotter now" Caroline comments a little. Elena and Bonnie both give her a look. "What?" Caroline defends.

"Daph's always been trouble" Elena offers with a fond smirk.

"Yeah, but who saw that trouble being magic" Caroline points out. "She was just...weird" She teases. "You know...." Elena shakes her head but does understand. Daphne's always been different, eccentric....it does make sense now, it was her magical upbringing.

"Hey, guys" Bonnie calls of them, they turn to find that the necklace pendant is levitating and rising slowly in the air.

"What are you doing?" Caroline asks her.

"She's not doing anything" They turn to find Daphne watching them. "It has its own magic" She moves closer to them. "Sorry I'm late" She reaches into her bag and pulls out a book. "I needed to get this" She holds out her hand for the necklace.

...........

Inside, Damon is looking at all the chili dishes that have been made by the founding families. He doesn't know what it is with them all. Why do they all have to make the exact same dish year after year? A fair bit of Daphne's chili has already been eaten, compared to the others it seems to have gone done well, not that he blames them for liking it, it was pretty tasty. He picks up a bowl and serves himself some.

"Have you tried this?" Damon asks Alaric as he reaches his side. Alaric shakes his head and hands Damon a beer. Damon sets down the bowl of chili and takes it from him. "I'm going to let you in on a little secret...Founders parties are just an excuse for the council to gather in back rooms and plot against vampires" Damon comments.

"Hey, uh, I think you need to take a beat with Daphne" Alaric warns, Damon blinks and turns to look at him.

"Excuse me?"

"Whatever it is you two have going on, I think it's a bad idea"

"I don't really think it's your problem, Ric" Damon scolds him.

"It is my problem. She's a good kid and someone has to look out for her....and this is me doing that"

"What exactly do you think I'm going to do?" Damon asks him.

"What I think is that you need to take a beat before you get her hurt...or worse" Alaric answers, the two of them staring at one another. Liz Forbes walks up behind Alaric breaking up the macho men stare off with her presence.

"Damon?" Liz asks. "Sorry. Uh, the mayor just called for the council meeting" Damon gives Alaric a final look before walking away with Liz.