Dark & Cold {Dracula}

[Vlad Dracula]

A person could be forgiven for thinking Dracula was flirting; he employed a somewhat sinister sensuality in most of his interactions, whether he was intending to seduce the person or not. He hadn't been diving right into that here with this girl; he tried to judge a person's response to the other things he had to offer before he moved on to that, but...it was not lost on him that she did not seem drawn to that aspect of his conversation the way most women he encountered were.

"I try to keep my metaphors appropriate to the occasion," he said, smiling. "But you are right that the passing of the seasons becomes less jarring as time goes by. The more the years go by, the less defined the line between natural and unnatural becomes, too. The things I have seen, the ways I have watched humanity treat one another...humanity will always find a way to ruin the things they have, they will lose their greatest places and joys, and then they will rebuild, only to do it all over again. It is not so different from the shifting of the seasons." He pressed his lips together. "It is all natural, in the end."

He had not, in fact, seen abilities like hers that he could remember, but that was all the more reason why he wanted to know more. She was unique, and Dracula always had a place in his great plan for people with unique gifts. "I have not," he admitted, "seen anyone who has the mastery over the forces of winter the way you appear to. But I have also never met a person who could not learn to wield their own power once they fully embraced it."

[Elsa]

The long view: humanity ruining things. Was that the only possible outcome? Once upon a time, Elsa would've readily agreed. Even now, images of Hans and Weasleton and the other doubting people quivering in her kingdom came to mind. But they could also rebuild? Again, certainly a wintry metaphor, and the accuracy of it made Elsa more than a little curious.

But it left that question. "Fully embrace it?" she asked, quirking a brow. "Are you suggesting that I should go about spinning a complete shell of ice? Or is this more a mastery?" Elsa stepped forward, leaving a small snowy trail behind her. Whether it was on purpose or not, Elsa couldn't even really say herself.

"I'm looking to master it," she reiterated. "And I've certainly embraced it more than denied it. After all, hiding what we are just makes people more suspicious, doesn't it?" The brows went up again, and she fought the urge to strike a completely defensive position.

[Vlad Dracula]

Oh, she had a sense of humor, that was always an asset. Whenever he met someone interesting, Dracula imagined them changed, made in his image, immortal, cold, dark and fierce like the night. Well, she already had cold and fierce down, he thought to himself. And, unlike most people he came across, he imagined that she would make a truly terrifying vampire. Provided her magic and his nature played nicely together, anyway.

"Certainly not a complete shell," he said, "it would be a shame indeed to close all of this away from the world." He gestured towards her sculpture once again. "It is a mystery, in a way, I suppose. I think our gifts always are; there are pieces of the mystery you can learn from others, and then there are conclusions you have to draw on your own." He watched her move, observing the drift of snow behind her.

She had called him out there at last, and he found that he wasn't displeased by it. It was better that she ask, better that she demonstrate a curiosity he could fulfill, rather than that he just inevitably provide an answer she didn't ask for. "You are right to be suspicious," he told her. "but for now, let me just say that the most valuable thing I am to you is someone who can possibly provide you with information." He put his hands back in his coat pockets. "There is someone I would like you to meet, if you'd be willing, someone close to me who has been on quite the journey with her own gifts."

[Elsa]

Was that yet more flirtation? By now Elsa was just half chalking that up to the way Dracula spoke. IT was like he couldn't open his mouth without something quasi-seductive tumbling out. She kept her gaze locked on him, still moving slightly, letting a little more of the winter come out around her. If need be she could form ice in a hurry, but she could almost sense him coming around to an actual point.

There it was: information. Elsa couldn't quite stop her heart from skipping at that. Someone who could help her? Someone else who'd gone through something similar? This was coming from someone who claimed to be immortal, someone who likely had some idea of what gifts entailed and who could potentially help whom. It was all but everything Elsa wanted being casually offered up to her.

She could see the strings.

"If you're about to inform me that the Beelzebub is actually a female and that you serve as their official soul gatherer to trick me into a realm of fire, I'd like to know ahead of time," said Elsa, quirking a brow. "After all, I'd like to be wearing a slightly more appropriate dress for my meeting with an immortal tyrant," part of her almost wanted to say another immortal tyrant, but she could hold back... slightly.

[Vlad Dracula]

Dracula huffed out a surprised laugh. He wasn't expecting that sort of response from her; he'd assumed he was going to get either a yes or a no in so many words, but she had caught him a little off guard with that one.

"Don't worry," he assured her, "I haven't handled a soul in quite some time." Unless you counted chasing them out of their mortal hosts, anyway. "Your dress is perfectly suitable for the meeting I had in mind, but I'd like to let her know I'm bringing you first, so if you'd like to go back to your lodging and come along whenever it's convenient for you, I'm amenable to that." He did want to at least mention it to Morgana before he came waltzing in with another woman. She'd probably think he was trying to initiate something of an entirely different nature than what he was actually thinking.

"If you're interested," he went on, "I'm not going to make you wander off now, I'm sure you have things to do and people who would wonder where you've gone. But I can tell you where to find me and my associate, and you can join us at your leisure."

[Elsa]

In some time, that had Elsa's brows raising. "So you do have soul handling experience then?" she pointed out, before lapsing into silence. It sounded as if Dracula were setting up the meeting almost to her benefit. She wouldn't be able to pick a place, but she could arrive when she wanted. He must have been quite confident that his confederate would be willing to meet with Elsa at any time. His continued idea also would allow Elsa to let Anna know where she'd be, just in case this didn't work out, or even to find someone else to go with her, should there be someone who she found herself trusting.

"Let's say I'm interested," she said, still playing cautious. "I'd assume we'd need some way of communicating with each other. Unless you're quite comfortable with my just showing up at your door whenever?"

Which had Elsa almost wondering what time would be most inconvenient. Shame that she couldn't quite trust this man; he was doing nothing that should raise alarm. A meeting with a mysterious woman, yes, but one that he'd explained and that she could set the time of. "I'll also need that location, of course."

[Vlad Dracula]

Dracula laughed again, shaking his head. "It was a poorly-conceived attempt at humor. I've never been in the soul business, unless of course you mean the music, in which case...I have appreciated, but never participated."

She was hearing him out, at least, and that pleased him. It was a delicate matter, convincing people to assist you in overthrowing authority. To say too much would be to reveal his hand much earlier than he intended to, and she could run back and reveal his plan to people he didn't particularly want to tip off yet. No, he had to keep this personal for now, give her reasons to trust him before he asked her for that trust.

"Not just any time at all," he amended, "but that's because I'm not always at home. Sometimes I am out looking for things that interest me, sometimes I'm sleeping. But if you let me know when you're coming, I'll make a point to be there." He hesitated to give her the actual location of his new base of operations, but if he lied to her and she came looking for him, all that trust he was working so carefully to build would be for nothing. "I'm renovating the old casino in town," he told her. "Hoping to provide some jobs and entertainment as people start to make their way back here. Are you going to be studying here?"

[Elsa]

Music? Looks like there was something else that Elsa would have to learn at some point. She kept quiet for the time being, not wanting to show her ignorance of this world more than was strictly necessary. She'd already figured out that there was quite a lot going on in this strange place, far more than she could've possibly anticipated. No, she needed to keep quiet, hear him out, feel out this place, and make a decision when she had at least a little more information.

It hardly surprised her that she couldn't go waltzing in whenever she felt like it. She nodded at giving him word, still keeping silent while he finished. The question gave her something to certainly respond to: "I believe that's the plan," she said. "I haven't exactly had much opportunity to socialize... with people of my ilk," she nearly just left it at socialize, but that might be revealing a bit too much. She didn't need Dracula to know about her lack of relationships just yet.

"I'm sure I'll find time to call upon you and your companion," offered Elsa, gesturing around her. "It's not as if classes will be resuming any time soon."

[Vlad Dracula]

Dracula had serious doubts that there were any people of Elsa's exact ilk, whether she'd had time to socialize with them or not. He had never seen anything quite like her particular brand of magic, but he wasn't going to stress that too much, lest she worry that he and Morgana might not have any idea how to help her learn more about it. He might not know exactly what he was dealing with here, but he had a feeling Morgana would at least have an idea.

"Oh, have they not got the school back up and running yet?" Dracula knew the answer to that question, but if she had any other information and was willing to reveal it, he certainly wouldn't turn that down. "I've been so busy in town, I haven't had a chance to check in. It's such a shame, this place was always such a thriving community."

He didn't want to overstay his welcome here; nothing said ulterior motive like hanging around prodding someone for information they weren't eager to provide. "If you give me advance warning, I'll see if we can't put together a nice dinner for your visit, hm? Do you have a wine preference?"

[Elsa]

Elsa looked around the school again, which hardly looked together. "Yes," she drawled, looking back to Dracula, "and the first classes are all in gardening," her lips quirked at that, enjoying the little barb again. That didn't stop her from catching the rest: Dracula had set up himself in town, which meant he had little to do with the area. But there was something in the way he spoke... what was his plan? If he thought the school should thrive... perhaps Elsa had underestimated him?

Then again, she'd underestimated Hans, and it had nearly cost her everything.

"I do appreciate a good white," admitted Elsa, looking back to her sculpture. "But really it's more about the pairing, isn't it?" She quirked a brow. "Some things which are so good on their own don't work together. Others need a compliment in order to be truly worthwhile. So I suppose it'll be up to you which is served, won't it?"

Certainly Dracula didn't need the double-meaning there explained.

[Vlad Dracula]

Gardening. Oh, wasn't she clever. As far as Dracula was concerned, the more alive the school was, the better that worked out for him. He didn't want to lord over a dead place with no one in it, there was very little fun in that, and helped him not at all when it came to expanding his reach. No, he needed the students here, needed a little flock of open, eager young minds ready to be molded in the right direction.

"I've never been averse to planning a meal around the right bottle of wine," he assured her. She was certainly laying on the metaphors here. "Sometimes, if you have a...thing..." and here he raised an eyebrow, certain they weren't talking about things or wine at all, "that is good enough in its own right, you base the rest of your evening around it." He slid his hand back into his glove.

"Thinly-veiled vinic metaphors aside," he went on, "it would be our pleasure to have you over, and I can assure you, we will provide whatever we can to make it a lovely and informative evening for everyone."

[Elsa]

Again, Elsa wondered if that wasn't flirting. But hadn't she technically invited it with her doublespeak? She could hardly blame him for following up. And perhaps he was just mentioning the opportunity to actually spend time with her, get to know her better for whatever purpose he had in mind. Elsa needed to at least give him a chance, at least.

"It would be my pleasure to attend," she agreed, giving a slight curtsy. "My schedule's fairly open, so let me know what night would work best for you, and I'll make sure to stop by," she was already wondering if she had another dress or could find one before the meeting. Dress could be as much a weapon as anything else, and she had a feeling that making some sort of impression when dealing with Dracula and his fellows may very well be to her best interest.

[Vlad Dracula]

"Why don't we plan for this Saturday?" Dracula suggested. Even if by some miracle the school got up and running by the weekend, she shouldn't have too much class work, and he doubted they'd be back in business so soon, anyway. If she wanted him to choose a time, he'd choose one, he wasn't going to stand around beating around the bush out of politeness. At any rate, the weekend gave him plenty of time to warn Morgana about their guest.

He thought about asking her to not mention to anyone that she'd seen him, but what was really the point of that, in the long run. Everyone was going to know he was here sooner or later, and he didn't know if anyone who would remember him would be lurking around anyway, so it would make him look more suspicious to ask such a thing.

"Sundown, Saturday, the smaller conference room at the casino in town, how does that sound?"

[Elsa]

"Saturday should work," agreed Elsa. "Since I don't exactly have any pressing meetings on my calendar." She half-smiled at that. Things like schedules and calendars had become a bit of a ridiculous idea, given their current situation. Still, it was proper etiquette, though now Elsa had to wonder about suggesting she bring someone else along. Except the only people she knew were a snowman, a giddy girl, and an ice farmer. Kristoff was the only one who'd even make sense, and he'd be unnerved the whole time.

No, this would be Elsa's move, by herself.

"I take it this casino is relatively easy to find? Look for something that's bright and showy?" She could remember the rest easily enough: she had barely needed someone to tend to her schedule back home, and that had been when she'd been a full queen, not some random student attempting to help put a school back together. "But assuming it's not hidden away, I should be able to show." And yes, she did notice he said sundown quite specifically; rather particular, that.

[Vlad Dracula]

"It's harder to miss than anything," Dracula assured her. "I'll see if we can't get some flashing lights and such up before you come over, hm?" That might have been a bit of an oversell; he was not intending to redecorate the casino to any extreme levels, considering the fact that he wasn't trying to set up shop there permanently. But he could certainly make it noticeable by this girl, at any rate.

He gave her one last reassuring smile, then tilted his head back and looked up at the night sky. "I'll leave you to your art, though, I think I've taken up enough of your time for one evening, unless you have any further questions for me?" He didn't want to overstay his welcome, but he also didn't want to leave her feeling uneasy about their meeting; best to get any questions she had out of the way now so she didn't end up getting cold feet before her visit. "And if you think of any before Saturday, don't be afraid to write them down." He took a step back.

"This school has quite the legacy, it is one of my favorite places on this earth, and it is my greatest wish to see every student here fulfill their potential," he told her, and he wasn't being dishonest there, it was just that his idea of students' full potential might be very different than the current leadership's.