undergrounds | 01 ❄ Magical Grad School [open]

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01 ❄ Magical Grad School [open]

[A] Grading Essays (Redbright)

Elsa is not sure when using proper grammar went out of style, but some of the essays she has to grade are seriously terrible. Why is the Oxford comma optional? And someone actually used the word 'bro' in an attempted serious context. Elsa knows that she's a bit old-fashioned, a bit of a nerd when it comes to grammar, but by God, how hard is it to write properly when writing an essay for school?

She puts down her red pen and rubs her eyes. The dim light in her office (basically a closet) and close scrutiny of the papers in front of her are making her head hurt. And it's been at least 5 hours since she's had any caffeine and she's going to need to rectify that before she starts working on her own research. Elsa carefully packs the essays away in a folder and grabs her backpack, swinging her blonde braid over her shoulder.

In the hallway outside her office, she fights her way against the current of students walking opposite her like a salmon swimming upstream. One of the students accidentally bumps into her, causing her folder to drop to the floor, essays spilling out all over.

"Shoot."

With a sigh, she bends to start picking them all up before they're trampled.

[B] Drinking Coffee (Out and about)

After retrieving the fallen essays, Elsa makes her way to the coffee shop a few blocks over from the University. She likes getting out of the bubble of Redbright and going into the "real world". Being a meta-human, she feels as though she kind of belongs in both worlds, magical and mundane. She has special powers, but the rest of her family does not. And while the relationship between she and her parents is strained, she still speaks to her sister, Anna, on a daily basis.

Which reminds her to check her phone. She fishes it out of her pocket and sees that Anna has indeed texted her. It's typical stuff about school, but Elsa texts her back as she waits in line at the coffee shop. Most of the time their conversations are unexciting, but she enjoys texting her sister and keeping up with what's going on in her life.

When she steps to the counter, she orders a large iced coffee. Even in the dead of winter she orders iced coffee because too much of the hot stuff causes her to overheat very quickly. She needs the caffeine, but not the heat. After the barista prepares her drink, Elsa carries it to a nearby table and pauses to check what Anna has texted her back.

[C] Doing Research (Redbright)

Coffee acquired, Elsa gathers a bunch of books at the library and sits down at a table off to the side. She begins to take notes on anything relevant - specifically related to meta-humans, which is her research area. She hasn't quite nailed down exactly what she wants to research, but she knows she wants it to be about her kind. There are still quite a few questions about meta-humans and how they are created. What makes one sibling "normal" and another sibling have extra-human powers? She wonders if it has to do with genetics and she feels as though the research will lead her there eventually. For now, she's still exploring.

Elsa takes a long swig of the iced coffee and goes back to reading and note-taking. She's technically working but she wouldn't be completely against an interruption.

[OOC: If you would like your character to have previous CR with her at all, just let me know.]

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Elsa looks up at the sound of the woman's voice and thinks there is a very high probability that she is looking at someone from the underground world. There's a moment of panic inside her, wondering if this woman is perhaps a vampire, and not a friendly one (they have a tendency to be pale like her). She grips her coffee, trying to direct any panic towards it so that she does not freeze the table and ground around her. Over her years of schooling she's learned to have much more control over her powers and it helps when she can direct her emotions into one thing instead of letting them fly everywhere.

"Uh.. no.. it's not..."

She hadn't been planning on staying, but it looks like she might be here for a little while now.

"Excellent." Mab's voice was amused at the look of sudden terror that flashed across Elsa's face, she pulled the chair out and sat, crossing her legs and smoothing her skirt. Her fingers curled around the cup but she focused on Elsa, feeling her control waver, magic that felt so similar to hers trickling out for a moment frosting the girl's cup over. "Sit, child, and breath."

Lifting the cup to her mouth she sips the steamy liquid, pauses, at looks at it as though it has mortally offended her. Sugary sweet, processed, coated in caramel and chocolate with that barely there undertone of bitter coffee. It is horrible. She sets it down on the table and stares at it for a moment longer. "Swill." She finally murmurs. "I was informed that this establishment had high standards."

Yes, breathe. She should do that. And sit, also. She carefully pulls out the chair at the table and sinks down in it. Elsa is fascinated by the woman in front of her.

"It's, um.. white chocolate mocha.. they have plain coffee." Her voice gets softer when she speaks next. "What are you?"

Because she's honestly not sure if who is the right word, though she hopes she doesn't offend the woman. Meanwhile, the cup of iced coffee in her hand is quickly becoming a frappucino without her even realizing it.

Humans. Never pleased with one flavor they needed to botch it all up with five other flavors and chemicals enough to destroy all the tastes. Pushing the cup away she raises her eyes to Elsa's again and tilts her head just a touch, finally smiling again. "What indeed?" she repeated unhelpfully, studying the girl which she does for longer seconds than is comfortable before her eyes drop back to the girl's frosted, slightly frothy drink.

"What do you think I am?" She finally asked, all curiosity.

"A vampire?" she asks, softly and a bit unsure. While all were welcome in any territory controlled by Redbright, vampires usually stuck to their own. Elsa is doubting her analysis because now that she's calmed down a bit, she can sense an air of magic around this woman and something about it feels very familiar.

"Mmm," yes she was rather pale, it was an honest mistake for an amateur. "I have found I have no driving need to drink from human veins." She replied, enjoying herself. Games were something of a fondness for most of the sidhe. Now that the girl is more focused, her magic isn't leaking through like falling sand. It is instead a hidden spring, bubbling below the surface, more contained but young and fresh and full of promise.

It might be noted that she didn't mention if she ever drank blood just because she might enjoy it. Some of her kind did.

Her own power was well contained for now though she always seemed to make the air near her several degrees cooler. Drawing the straw out of the drink, she swirled it in the whipped cream, absently, gaze entirely focused on Elsa. "Would you like to try again?" She asked, something like merriment dancing in her eyes though it was cooler.

The woman was enjoying this game, that was for certain. And the fact that she didn't bat an eyelash at the fact that Elsa mentioned vampires meant that she was no stranger to the supernatural. Elsa was on the right track at least.

"A witch?"

Her being a fae wouldn't come immediately to Elsa's mind. They were kind of along the line of spirits, legends that were told but were rarely actually seen.

Perhaps the girl could feel a brush of her own powers. It would feel something like a witches magic contained as it was. She lifted the straw and licked a bit of the whipped cream off of it. "Potions have never interested me." Yet again not a straight denial. Which Mab thought was a very large hint.

And now that she had given the girl two guesses, she smiled a little and pushed her drink aside, leaning in and putting her chin on her hand. "You are not a witch but I can feel your power." And if that expression was anything to go by, Mab liked it. The game wasn't over, but information was an exchange with a fae, never truly one sided. Mortals just tended to come out on the short end as a rule.

There's more than potions to being a witch, something that she's learned over her time at Redbright.

"I am what they call a meta-human," Elsa replies. "And you are someone with knowledge of the supernatural."

She has such an ethereal look that Elsa kind of doubts the woman is human herself, yet she is running out of options in this guessing game. Vampire and witch are out, as are werewolf and hunter, as far as Elsa is concerned. She's not a ghost.

"Are you fae?"

"Ahh." She smiled. It made sense. And she had some of winter in her. The magic nearly chimed in concert with Mab's own. It is patently obvious she is aware of the supernatural given the extent of their conversation so she feels little need to agree with Elsa's comment to that effect. She basks in the girl's focus as she sorts through options in her mind.

And then she nails it. That smile widens more and she sits up, letting her hand settle on the table. "Well done, my dear." And she was clearly not terribly concerned with Elsa knowing. As for those around them, well, veils could greatly affect listening in even if they weren't concealing a person.

And she waited to see what Elsa would do with this information. She was quite curious to see how the young woman reacted.

Mostly Elsa is astonished. "Do you typically enter cafes in London?" She's never met any fae before and she was under the impression that they kept to themselves and didn't interact with mortals, natural or supernatural. But maybe she's wrong. Maybe they hide in plain slight like this woman, though her striking appearance did pique Elsa's curiosity.

"I have had very little need to do so in the past." Translation? No. Though, surprisingly, it seems to be the place to get to know humanity. Much to Mab's chagrin. She isn't overly fond of the places. The young woman takes it all quite in stride. Her knowledge of fae is clearly not as in depth as some of the humans she has approached which is intriguing. That combined with her sympathetic magic make her a delicious morsel of interest for Mab.

"You are meta-human." She repeats, resting her chin on her hand. "I sensed your affinity to cold."

Right. So that's why she followed her here. The woman could sense the magic in her, which made sense if she were a fae.

"And is that the nature of your magic as well? Ice and snow?"

Elsa has never met anyone else like her, meta-human or otherwise.

She was a sweet thing, this girl. So open and inquisitive. Mab hasn't mentioned anything about her own magic so it was an interesting conclusion to jump to, although the natural coolness that surrounded her might have been a hint. "I have been known to toy with ice." She agrees. It doesn't give a lot of information but does at least give Elsa a jumping off point for similarities. Kind of alike a drug dealer giving the first hit free.

She made a small face, a moue of disapproval, "The summer is ... cloying in a city like this."

Elsa has noticed that this woman doesn't actually answer any questions. She merely makes statements that may have to do with the topic of the question. Such is the nature of fae, she supposes. But it makes for a kind of annoying conversation. Elsa exhales slowly.

"I agree. So you prefer winter as well then?"

Well technically they are answers, just very vague ones. She leans in and sets her chin on her hand watching Elsa get frustrated at her answers. It is understandable as the girl clearly showed an interest because she sensed something akin in Mab.

"Oh yes." She smiled at her, "Tell me, do you like games?" It was a non-sequitur and meant to throw her off a little. But the girl did know a bit about the fae. And they were known for loving a good game.

Elsa exhales slowly through her nose. She goes to take a drink of her coffee, only to find that it's a block of ice inside the plastic up. She releases it in the hopes that it will melt and become drinkable again.

"It depends on the game."

Mab's eyes drift down to the frozen cup and then back up to Elsa. Who is smart enough to know games might not be safe when played with the fae. You may ask me a question and I will answer honestly. And for every question I answer honestly you will do the same for me." She lifts her free hand and a veil drops obviously around them so the conversations even nearby are indecipherable, the people a little difficult to make out. It will stop people from overhearing things that oughtn't be overheard and from reading lips.

"Either of us may chose not to answer a question if necessary."

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01 ❄ Magical Grad School [open]

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