It's four days before the ball they meet again. Elijah had asked for her dress measurements, she's assuming he has a dress in mind. Elena's not sure how to feel about that but she drives over anyway, wondering if she could get away with wearing anything other than heels at the ball. It's not that she has anything against heels, but in a room of deadly vampires and oblivious bystanders she'd rather be able to run. She always wants to be able to run.
"Elena." Elijah greets, they've gotten into the habit of greeting each other just with their names.
"Elijah." Elena says as he lets her in the the house.
"Your dress arrived today." He informs her and she shakes her head.
"You really didn't have to do that." She tells him and a smirk pulls at his lips.
"You're going into the lion's den. This is the least I can do." Elijah says easily and she sighs.
"You're right. Can I see the dress?" Elena asks and he nods.
"I was rather hoping you would do more than look at it, perhaps you could try it on so if it needs adjustments they can be made before the ball?" He jokes and she rolls her eyes at him.
He leads her to a guest bedroom, she can tell it's not his room because there's only a dress in the closet. She's sure Elijah has dozens of suits in his closet with a few tuxedos for variety. The dress is a deep blue that reminds her of sapphires, and it looks like something someone in a fairytale would wear. She blinks and notices that Elijah has disappeared to give her privacy, she guesses. The door is shut and she reaches for the hanger. The fabric of the dress is smooth to touch and she takes a breath before she takes off her Converse.
She hasn't done this since-Elena has to pause to think about it. She hasn't been in a dress for a formal event since prom or maybe Miss Mystic Falls, years ago. It's heavy, heavier than she expected. It's tight in the right places but she can breathe in it, she zips the back by herself. She moves experimentally, the fabric moves with a soft sigh as she does. She picks up the skirt to reveal her ankles. It's not that heavy to carry, it's just a lot of fabric to hold in her fists, good to know. Elena lets the fabric go and looks at her reflection in the mirror, before she decides to unzip it and get back into her tank top and shorts.
He wonders if she'll show him the dress, not that he's entitled to that, but she's in the guest bedroom for twenty minutes before the door opens. She's not wearing the dress but it's in the dress bag on the guest bed, neatly spread out out and she looks at him.
"It's perfect." She admits and a small smirk curls one of the corners of his mouth.
"Do you think I could wear Converse with it?" She asks and laughs at his scandalized look, over exaggerated she's sure. Elijah couldn't have lived for so long without seeing horrible things, her favorite shoes can hardly shock him, she thinks.
Jeremy is planning on going with her, but they're taking their own cars in case she has to stay late. Elena tells him that having a stake and vervain might not be a bad idea, it's being hosted by vampires. Elena doesn't tell Jenna or Alaric, she'll tell them after afterwards. If they try to stop her then she can't play her role and Elijah's parents might suspect something. The idea sounds tempting, pretending to be sick and staying home and keeping Jeremy with her, in their safe house.
But she already gave Elijah her word and they planned too much for her to back out, and there's the dress to think about-she doesn't even want to know how or where he got the dress. It's one day before it all happens. Elena writes about it in her diary, a habit she never bothered to kick. It's kind of nice to have a written record of feelings and things that were going on and to see how her handwriting and style have changed over the years.
The plan is complicated and simple at the same time. She's supposed to arrive before the toast which is easy enough, get Elijah as a dance partner so they can speak in code, she'll do whatever she needs to do to blend in. If his mother wants to see her, he and his siblings will make sure she leaves the meeting alive. Klaus will kill Mikael whenever he arrives, if it's before, during or after the ball. Elijah and Kol have the task of killing Esther. If Esther talks to Elena alone, she'll talk to Elijah in code or far away enough that Finn can't hear.
Once she's done her part he's going to send her home immediately, she's already told him she wants out of the affairs of the supernatural.
