14141/A Vampire... in BC

A Vampire... in BC
Date of Scene:	18 February 2022
Location:	Lake Cowichan, Hub City
Synopsis:	Dracula calls Poseidon to an unlikely destination for a bit of a chat.
Cast of Characters:	Dracula, Poseidon

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Dracula has posed:
There are those that would call this hour yet night time, and there are those who might consider it to be early morning. It is, either way, around four in the morning. For the Lord of the Vampires, it is late. He likely ought be considering some manner of shelter for the coming dawn and yet -- shelter is never truly far off, for one of his particular skills. There are stars glittering like ice chips in the dark sky above, and the temperature has fallen from brisk to cold. Temperature bothers him not at all. Nary a breath stirs the air in front of him where he stands on the dock that extends out from the water's shoreline.

And there he stands, like a piece of the very night that has detached itself and become him. He is dressed in black, from head to toe -- black mid-calf boots, a pair of black slacks, a black button up shirt with a Mandarin collar and a long black peacoat that's been left unbuttoned. His hair is a stark bone white, falling to the middle of his back and slightly tussled by the fingers of an errant breeze that had passed some while ago. He looks out across the lake, his eyes so dark a brown as to nearly be black. After a moment, he lifts his right hand to make a slight gesture, and kernels of barley tumble from thin air to fall upon the water that has managed not to freeze.

Poseidon has posed:
Whatever one considers the hour to be, the sky is dark. Nor does the cold seem to bother the one who emerges from the water not long after the kernels of barley fall upon its surface. It looks equine in nature, and isn't a face that has been shown to the vampire before. Equine and shades that range from green through aqua to blue and beyond to indigo and purple. The ears look webbed like a seahorse's fins. The legs end in fins, the tail is long and thin and serpentine, sliding and twisting through the water. The man is upright and stiff, fins tipped with elegant spines of a deep crimson.

The equine's very blue eyes peer, first one side, and then the other, at the white haired man upon the dock. As the sea horse gets closer to the dock, its size becomes evident. Easily the size of an orca, if not larger. It undulates through the water, graceful and with ease. It stops, some ten feet distant, and studies the vampire with dispassion.

Dracula has posed:
A flicker of a smile finds the corners of the vampire's lips as the creature emerges from the water of the lake. And there is a long moment in which he simply does naught more than watch and wait, his dark eyes unblinking. He tilts his head just a touch to one side, and then he does something which might be at least somewhat unexpected -- he gracefully bows, in what might be considered some courtly fashion, and then straightens.

"You are a magnificent sight regardless of what form you choose to wear, Poseidon," Vlad says, a smile rising to ghost around the corners of his lips. Then he is quiet for a moment, simply watching the equine for that span of a few heartbeats. He stands at the very edge of the dock, with his toes nearly beyond the edge of it. "I seek your company on this dark morning," he adds, inclining his head slightly towards the God of the Seas.

Poseidon has posed:
That bow isn't really unexpected. Not from one who knows the ancient courtesies that have been largely forgotten by modern society. Except in Japan. The equine snorts out his nose at the flattery. "Flattery will get you exactly nowhere. /Where/ have you been, Vlad?" Clearly, the god of the seas has missed the pointy fanged fellow.

The equine shrinks in size as he comes closer. He leaps from the water, and at the apex of the arc, the legs lengthen out, lower portions covered with long flowy hair, and hooves clatter on the dock as he lands. His tail grows long, flowy hair, too. His mane softens until it lies against his neck, and is flowy like a land horse's. His ears lengthen to elegant points. The overall effect shifts and changes until he's indigo with refracted light glimmering upon his coat in pastel shades of blue, green, pink, gold.

"Why have you sought my company this night?" The horse, about the size of a draft horse now, turns and walks down the dock back toward the end of it, back toward Dracula, hooves striking with hollow sounds with each step. The horse might be a bit unhappy with the vampire. Maybe.

Dracula has posed:
Modern society is a far cry from what society had been when Vlad was still human. From when he was a boy or even when he had grown to be a man. He watched from the darkness of the world whilst things steadily progressed forward and the world changed year by year. He tilts his head a touch to one side, and one of his eyebrows nudges upwards slightly. "Do you think that I would seek to flatter you, Poseidon?" he asks, a touch of curiosity to his voice. "I respect you, and it is the truth that I offer," he adds. He seems at ease and calm, but Dracula is not often otherwise.

There is a moment that he considers Poseidon's question of where he's been, and there a whisper of a smile that touches at the corners of his lips. "Have you missed my presence?" he asks softly, a touch of curiosity to his voice. "I have been... not here. I spent some fair amount of time in a place called Lux. And at the Castle," he answers, though the mention of the latter is somewhat shadowed. He watches as the equine approaches the dock, shifting his weight and stepping aside to make way for him.

"I have wondered over why, myself. From the moment when I first decided that I would step out to the dock and make an offering that would perchance summon you forth. And I have not been able to come up with a sufficient answer. Or at least, not one besides the simplest of reasons -- I missed your presence and sought to have it once more," Dracula says softly, inclining his head slightly towards the equine. "Have I irked you?" he asks.

Poseidon has posed:
And at that, Poseidon is even older than Vlad is. When Poseidon was young, society was still rather primal. Poseidon's equine head doesn't even hesitate before it nods. "I do." Afterall, the vampire had disappeared for quite some time. "What has it been? Six months? A year?" Okay, so to a god of Poseidon's age, that's no more than the blink of an eye, but still!

Poseidon curls one of his equine lips, crystalline blue eyes narrowing. "Lux," he says, his tone not flattering. It's a place of obnoxious sounds and annoying lights which blend into a din of senses. The question of Vlad's presence remains unanswered, and that answer should be enough. "The Castle. I presume that to be your home."

"Irked," rumbles Poseidon. He turns away and walks with a measured pace up the dock, hooves drumming a relaxed pace with each step. Up the dock and away from Dracula. "You could say that."

Dracula has posed:
That Poseidon is both older and more powerful than him is only a part of why Vlad happens to respect him. One of his eyebrows quirks up slightly, and he gives a small shake of his head as his gaze lingers on the equine. "I would not seek to use flattery on you," he says, slightly inclining his head. He considers the timeframe, and then he gives a small nod, lifting one of his hands to make a slight gesture. "That sounds like a fairly accurate range of time, aye," he affirms. To a man of his particular age, that amount of time amounts to little in the bucket of his lifetime.

Vlad inclines his head towards Poseidon, his gaze holding unblinkingly upon the equine. "Aye, the Castle. It is aptly named Castle Dracula, which lies far off from here. It is in what is now Romania but which was once Wallachia. My home. It is where most of my time was spent," he offers, a thoughtful note to his voice. "You do not approve of where I have kept myself, at least in part, or so I would hazard a guess," he says softly.

Lightly, he moves to step after Poseidon, to follow the sound of those hooves and the sight of the equine. "Perhaps I could have chosen a better word, but I would not wish to presume your emotions," he says, a hint of a smile touching at the corners of his lips. "I assure you, if I have irked you -- or perhaps done worse than that -- then I am sorry for it," Vlad says, the words sincere.

Poseidon has posed:
Indeed. Little in the span of their long lives, and yet? Despite their many years, both behind and, presumably, ahead, they still lived each day. Experienced the passage of time just as mortals did. They just.. didn't always do the same things as mortals. Poseidon flicks an ear toward the vampire and turns his head ever so slightly. So that he can see Vlad out of one blue eye.

"I do not care for places which use sound and light to mesmerise." He might be speaking of Lux itself, or, more likely, casinos in general. His ears flick forward and then back again. He flicks his tail, letting it lash first to the right, and then to the left, the long hairs lashing at Dracula. "You left." Without saying goodbye! "You returned." Without saying he was back! Fair to say that Poseidon is 'irked'.

Dracula has posed:
Life is different when the days and nights pass endlessly. One after another in the slow pattern of days becoming weeks and months and years. Life is different when death isn't the end of it. And when one is undead, as is the case with the Lord of Vampires. He moves to step closer to the God of the Seas, though he is mindful that he doesn't intrude into the personal space. He hasn't been invited to it yet, after all. And a God is generally not one to toy with in such things.

"The lights and sounds can be distracting to the senses. Overwhelming to them, sometimes. I understand their purpose, to those who are human -- for the dancing, for the drinking, and so forth. It does not affect me in such ways," Vlad says, lifting one of his shoulders in a slight shrug. There is a glance he casts towards that tail of long hairs, though he does nothing to stop the lashing of them.

One of his eyebrows quirks upwards slightly, and he inclines his head towards Poseidon. "Aye. I left, and without a goodbye to anyone, some weeks ago," he comments. It happened and there's no point in denying that it did. He studies the equine, and then he gives a brief chuckle as he faintly shakes his head. "Aye, I returned. And this is I, saying that I have returned. For it was only tonight that I did so, and here that I came first after leaving my Castle. I was not fit to be seen, sooner," he adds, a flicker of something chasing through his dark eyes. He steps up the rest of the way, to be near the head of the equine, to gaze into that very blue eye. "This was my first act after returning. To make an offering to you," he adds, the words sincerely spoken.