AN: I don't know where this went, tbh.
He's on her mind, actually, when her phone rings. It's only been a day since she's seen him again, but she's thought of him over the years, more frequently than she'd admit to. Her feelings about him hadn't been bottled up, but she hadn't displayed them either. If it happened, she had decided, it happened. If not, she would move on.
She answers the phone.
"Elena. I require your assistance." She hears him say, and she wonders what he could possibly need her help with.
"What is it?" She asks, already preparing to get her duffle bag of weapons from her closet.
"Nothing life threatening." He assures her quickly. She relaxes and takes a deep breath.
"So what is it?" She presses. She's expecting it to be serious, Elijah is almost always serious.
"I need your help with a masquerade ball." He says. A bubble of laughter spills past her lips and into the phone.
"That's it? Elijah, you had me worried. I thought it was something dangerous." She laughs, and he tells her that it is serious, just not quite as life and death as she's used to dealing with as his ally. She asks him to text her his address, she'll be over in a few minutes. He agrees, and before she hangs up, she asks if he has the kind of tea she likes, looking at her kettle wishfully.
He admits he doesn't, and she decides she'll take one of her boxes to his flat.
She knocks on his door, and he opens it. He's not wearing a tie, she notes, he's more casual in his own space. She asks if she can make tea, she hasn't had her afternoon tea yet. He agrees, and shows her to his kitchen. It's odd to her, and as they have a few minutes to wait for the water, he shows her his carefully chaotic bedroom. There are rows and rows of masks on his bed, and a few different ties, carefully displayed on his pillows.
She takes in the natural light and dark wood for a moment before refocusing.
"I need to blend in." He says and she lets out another laugh.
"You never blend in. I could be in a crowd a year from now and still pick you out." The words slip out before she has a chance to think about how he might take them.
"Really?" He seems amused rather than annoyed. He's got that damn smug look on his face.
"I must admit, I am relieved to know I'm not forgettable." He jokes and she rolls her eyes.
"The only way someone could forget you would be compulsion." She says, he gives off power and elegance. It radiates from him. He's too damn attractive to forget either, and the fact that he always wears a suit doesn't help his case.
She carefully selects a few different masks for him to try for her. Even the ones that cover up his face enough to make her look twice aren't enough camouflage. She has to make himself hold himself differently, and she can still tell. Maybe she's biased, but if he wants to blend in, he's going to need to change something.
"How do you feel about blonde hair?" She asks. The no is out of his lips before she can explain. She's sure he has magical contacts, changing his hair temporarily with magic would give it a nice touch. No one would recognize him then. He agrees, only if she does it to do the same and accompany him so he doesn't feel like a fool.
She ends up with darker hair, almost black, as she walks next to him in a dress Caroline picked out.
Elijah asks for her help several times after that.