15932/Ill met by moonlight.

Ill met by moonlight.
Date of Scene:	30 December 2023
Location:	A large, stately mansion..
Synopsis:	Dracula summoned Willow and gave her a gift.
Cast of Characters:	Dracula, Willow Rosenberg

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Dracula has posed:
Standing out on the lawn of the mansion, Dracula stares into the night. His mind reaches out, searching for a particular mind. Once he finds her, he places a subtle, but insistent urge for her to come to his position.

He can be a pretentious bastard and tonight he's living up to it. Patiently he waits for the arrival of the witch who grows stronger each day.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
At first it was a niggle. Just a brush on her mind. Easily brushed away.

Then it was fairly insistent. Like an itch in the middle of your back that you can't quite reach. Annoying, but with concentration it could be beaten. In time.

Then it was serious. A craving that can only be slaked with one substance. Like a drug.

Like Dracula.

Following the tracks in her mind, Willow was able to get to his door. Miffed. But curious. Knocking then, and looking around the gardens. Dreary, and dead - as was expected at almost the New Year. But she could see in her mind's eye what the place could look like..

Dracula has posed:
The door opens as she arrives, though there is nobody stading there. From inside the door his voice calls calm,"Welcome Willow. Enter freely and of your own will." It's a creepy thing to say, yet somehow it sounds like something he would say.

Inside, the house is lighted with candles at the moment, not using the eletricity for lighting. Why is anyone's guess. Mostly because he's Dracula and has to be hard to get along with.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Oh Willow has no doubt the Drtacula has to use a particular greeting. Just like he had to be invited into other's homes.

Willow has no desire to lift off the warding against vampires, though she wasn't sure if her wards were strong enough to block the father of vampires. Regardless she was fairly comfortable with her entering his house.

There wasn't a hidden agenda.

She thought.

Walking over the threshold, she says, "So you decided that I would be safe to know where you live? That's arrogant of you."

Dracula has posed:
"I have given you no reason to come for me." he replies pointedly and appears in the living area of the house,"Coming here in the day time would be a treacherous endeavor even if you have a mind to."

So confident, borders on and the walks all over cockiness. Lord of the Vampires is more himself within the walls of his current home,"I came across this and I thought you might appreciate it."

He turns his back on her and walks a table and picks up something small and flat from it. He weighs it in his hand thoughtfully and then turns towards her again to offer it to her rather than walk to her.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow does like mysteries!

"What is it?"

As she asks, she draws nearer. Mentioning, off-hand, "You don't need to be all pretentious you know. I mean, I'm here. I entered into this protege without forcing."

Dracula has posed:
A deep, less than humorous sounding laugh escapes him and he shakes his head. He hands her the odd little pendant,"If you use this, concentrate on the intent of arriving, and say the words...this will lead you to a magic dealer. He can help you, make you stronger. His cost isn't unreasonable."

He smirks a little, fangs easy to see when he does,"We hold a certain...hospitality when someone enters my home. You are under the protection of said hospitality. Anyone who tries to harm you will face my wrath. I will not feed from you unless you ask. I won't force my blood on you either."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow fingers the pendant. "It would cost." She doesn't sound happy about that. After all, before being in her Masters degree(s) she was utterly broke. Even broker than broke. Now that she had a little bit to spend she was nervous.

He did say magic broker though. That kept her attention. "I guess you can't teach me. Makes sense." She nodded to herself.

As he went on, she grows solemn. "You do know, the odds of me letting you bite me are slim to nil? Right? If I let you, that would mean saying goodbye to Harry. He's not stupid. I've been bit before. Faith was bitten by you. Harry wouldn't believe I was bitten by chance. And he certainly would react by hunting you down."

"Besides, if I am what you say, then I would be foolish to let you. Right?" She was fairly confident about this.

Dracula has posed:
"He doesn't charge money my dear." he tells her solemnly,"He will boost your own powers and will ask for a taste of your power in return. It doesn't hurt. Far from it as I understand it."

A shake of his head and he replies,"I can teach you many things." As if to prove a point, his body poofs before her and flight of bats fly past her and over to the nearby table. He reforms there and indicates a table,"I had my servants make you a meal if you desire. You presence indicates you are vegan in nature." He makes a hint of a sour face, but the guy drinks blood, so that would almost be alien to him.

"So I will give you this suggestion. If it were possible to not be seen, the bite hidden from your lover. Would that change your position?"

He smirks and shakes his head,"I would not drain you my dear. Yours is a blood I would savor and might we want to drink another time. So many of my kind drink to kill. Fools."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
A hrm comes from Willow. "Not money? A taste of my powers?" By that he should want to increase her powers to taste. Right now her powers are very like an aperitif. Just a hint of what could be.

She is drawn out of her reverie. "What is wrong with being a vegetarian? Huh? I don't make other choose. I always bring Buffy, or Harry, their favourite meats. I just made the decision that meat is not for me."

"You do know that Harry is hunting you as we speak? I turned my scrying off at the last minute. We could do you some definitely bad damage. And I have to tell you, in such a case I might be forced to be on Harry's side to protect myself. You've been warned."

Whether she means that Harry is coming for him, or that she would have to protect herself in such a case is not clear.

Perhaps, both.

Dracula has posed:
"Power for a taste." Dracula replies,"A nuclear weapon in exchange for a water gun." So maybe he is being a little overly dramatic, but that's his way.

Shaking his head he tells her,"Some vegetarians have the purest of blood, others...less so." he explains,"Your life, eat what you will. You know what I eat. I can answer a great many reasons what is wrong there."

"Many people hunt me at any given time." He considers her words mentioning turning off the scry. It takes a spark to start a fire. She is protecting him already.

He nods when she mentions being forced to stand against him,"Of course. Of course." he assures her,"You have to save face before you master...err lover." he mutters.

Deiliberate? It didn't sound like it, but he is one of the greatest decievers in the history of man.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow *stares* at Dracula.

"What did you say? Harry is not my master. And in bed is none of your business, so don't try to turn it around to mean that. He's one of the people who actually trusts me, who actually believes that I can do more than him. And without his confidence in me, I would never have believed in myself so that I could call on you. Don't you get it?"

"But I sure can not side with you if push comes to shove. I wouldn't expect it from you."

Dracula has posed:
A twitch of a smirk touches his features, but he doesn't comment on the Master thing any furthur. The mention of the bedroom comment gets past him initially, but he catches on.

He listens to the talk about trust and belief and the like and merely nods. Her mention of siding against him merely gets a shrug,"I suppose if we come to that, we will see how it goes. You will have to do what you think it right of course."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"We'll have to see. Won't we?"

With that, Willow pockets the pendant, and asks to be shown the door.

Dracula has posed:
He waves his head, appearing to dismiss her. The exit door opens and lets her out without issue,"We will see. When you lay with her lover tonight and you think about the battles you've faced remember this. Dracul has fought and won wars and killed many enemies. Centuries are a long time to learn."

She hears the poof sound and the screech of the bats going out the opposite window. She's been dismissed, arrogantly and annoyingly. He doesn't seem to care at all how she leaves.