Ficlet: "Change of Plans"
Nov. 2nd, 2013 07:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nevannaFandom: The Vampire Diaries and X-Men: First Class
Characters: Damon and Charles
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, and I do not profit from their use.
Summary: "I thought that I knew exactly what you were. Now, I'm not so sure."
Words: c. 550
Notes: This is set before the events of XMFC. Thanks to Elle for the encouragement and the TVD timeline spot-check! <3
Change of Plans
Damon spends his third evening in Oxford exactly the same way that he spent his first two: in a pub near the university, having a pint of what passes for beer, and surveying his dinner options as they walk by. He offers some of them a few appreciative words, and both sees and smells the blood rise to their cheeks.
“You’re American, aren’t you?” asks the young man sitting on the next seat at the bar.
“Sure am.” Damon smirks. “From very far back.” This guy is probably another student. His brown hair is very neatly combed, and his pants – sorry, trousers – actually look ironed.
“Are you here for your degree?”
Damon lied to the first two girls, naming a different subject of study each time. It doesn’t matter; one of them doesn’t remember his answer or his face, and the other might or might not still be in the alleyway where he left her. “Call me a student of life,” he says now.
It turns out that other man’s name is Charles Xavier, and he’s working on a graduate degree in genetics. “Tell me, Damon, what does the word ‘mutation’ mean to you?”
Damon snorts. “Isn’t that what causes ants to grow taller than skyscrapers and try to destroy New York?”
Xavier laughs. It’s not an unpleasant sound. “I’ve seen that film, too. As a matter of fact, mutation is all around us. It’s what has brought human beings to the top of the food chain – at least, until something stronger and more adaptable comes along.”
“Some people are more adaptable than others.” On the other hand, some people, who would remain Stefan, would rather cycle through the decades alternately bingeing on blood and marinating in self-pity, instead of embracing what they are.
“Oh, I believe that everybody has the potential to change,” Xavier says. “It’s how we survive, after all.”
“If you say so.” If this is an attempt to save Damon’s soul – he’s gotten a few of those in the past, and they never make his mood any better – it’s one of the weirder ones that he’s heard. Still, there’s something about the earnestness in Xavier’s voice, and the way that he’s looking at Damon as if he’s the only person in the room, that takes him back almost a century, to when Stefan would talk about medical college and seeing the world, and swear that the future wouldn’t be worth it without his brother by his side…
Enough is enough. Damon leans forward and whispers, “You’re going to tell me what you want or leave me alone.” He waits for the widening of the eyes and slight parting of the lips as the compulsion takes hold…
…and instead, he hears, Now, now. How would you feel if someone did that to you?
It takes Damon a moment to realize that Xavier’s lips haven’t moved at all. He tries to say something – What the fuck? comes to mind immediately – but he can’t speak, or move off the stool, or do anything except repeat those same three words, silently, over and over.
I thought that I knew exactly what you were, Xavier continues in his head. Now, I’m not so sure. But I shall find out, and then I think that your plans for this city will change very quickly indeed.
Characters: Damon and Charles
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, and I do not profit from their use.
Summary: "I thought that I knew exactly what you were. Now, I'm not so sure."
Words: c. 550
Notes: This is set before the events of XMFC. Thanks to Elle for the encouragement and the TVD timeline spot-check! <3
Change of Plans
Damon spends his third evening in Oxford exactly the same way that he spent his first two: in a pub near the university, having a pint of what passes for beer, and surveying his dinner options as they walk by. He offers some of them a few appreciative words, and both sees and smells the blood rise to their cheeks.
“You’re American, aren’t you?” asks the young man sitting on the next seat at the bar.
“Sure am.” Damon smirks. “From very far back.” This guy is probably another student. His brown hair is very neatly combed, and his pants – sorry, trousers – actually look ironed.
“Are you here for your degree?”
Damon lied to the first two girls, naming a different subject of study each time. It doesn’t matter; one of them doesn’t remember his answer or his face, and the other might or might not still be in the alleyway where he left her. “Call me a student of life,” he says now.
It turns out that other man’s name is Charles Xavier, and he’s working on a graduate degree in genetics. “Tell me, Damon, what does the word ‘mutation’ mean to you?”
Damon snorts. “Isn’t that what causes ants to grow taller than skyscrapers and try to destroy New York?”
Xavier laughs. It’s not an unpleasant sound. “I’ve seen that film, too. As a matter of fact, mutation is all around us. It’s what has brought human beings to the top of the food chain – at least, until something stronger and more adaptable comes along.”
“Some people are more adaptable than others.” On the other hand, some people, who would remain Stefan, would rather cycle through the decades alternately bingeing on blood and marinating in self-pity, instead of embracing what they are.
“Oh, I believe that everybody has the potential to change,” Xavier says. “It’s how we survive, after all.”
“If you say so.” If this is an attempt to save Damon’s soul – he’s gotten a few of those in the past, and they never make his mood any better – it’s one of the weirder ones that he’s heard. Still, there’s something about the earnestness in Xavier’s voice, and the way that he’s looking at Damon as if he’s the only person in the room, that takes him back almost a century, to when Stefan would talk about medical college and seeing the world, and swear that the future wouldn’t be worth it without his brother by his side…
Enough is enough. Damon leans forward and whispers, “You’re going to tell me what you want or leave me alone.” He waits for the widening of the eyes and slight parting of the lips as the compulsion takes hold…
…and instead, he hears, Now, now. How would you feel if someone did that to you?
It takes Damon a moment to realize that Xavier’s lips haven’t moved at all. He tries to say something – What the fuck? comes to mind immediately – but he can’t speak, or move off the stool, or do anything except repeat those same three words, silently, over and over.
I thought that I knew exactly what you were, Xavier continues in his head. Now, I’m not so sure. But I shall find out, and then I think that your plans for this city will change very quickly indeed.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2013-11-03 02:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-11-08 02:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-11-07 09:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-11-08 02:32 pm (UTC)Thanks for reading, either way.
no subject
Date: 2013-11-08 09:47 pm (UTC)Ah. Have you ever read, or seen, any of the films based off of Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles? While TVD certainly told a different story, Stefan and Damon had a somewhat similar relationship to Louis and Lestat. Stefan/Louis was the vampire who felt miserable being a vampire, and Damon/Lestat was the vampire who loved being a vampire. Not to mention that Stefan/Louis was the brunette and Damon/Lestat was the blond. One of the reasons I haven't taken much interest in the show is that I know the show has the hair colors reversed. Makes me wonder what else they've gotten backwards and-or upside down.
...this ficlet was definitely based on the TV show, in which Damon can be really scary.
Heh. Sounds like the TV show Damon isn't all wrong.
Thanks for reading, either way.
*Nods.* No problem. I might not have been sure what the characterization for Damon should be like in the piece, but I was reading it for Charles anyway. James McAvoy's Xavier is the first one I've really liked anywhere, and I'm happy to see more of him. :D