[IMAC-R] Why, I've Heard So Much About You

[Elena Petrowski]

Elena had to admit, despite the creepy 'cougar' thing going on here, she was impressed. Clearly, the woman was crazy, but there was something alluring with playing with that kind of fire. And well, come on, the sadistic comments were attractive enough in their own ways. To say that Elena was caught off guard was a gross understatement, and clearly, she was way out of her league here, but that wasn't surprising, seeing as how the woman had years on her, and well, Elena only did what she did for the sheer pleasure of watching people squirm. She didn't have any goals or thoughts behind her actions.

She simply did it because she could.

And here this woman came tumbling in, offering her a reason.

"And what exactly is it that you expect me to get out of this?" Elena asked, quirking a brow. "What could I possibly want that I don't have already?" She had wealth, she had the ability, and she had the drive. But what would she get past what she already got from messing with people the way she did? She didn't really care about power and statuses. She didn't need to be some right hand bitch ruling the world. That was far from her interest.

[Priya Kaur]

Priya listened to the last bit, her attention on Elena as the girl spoke. She sipped her drink, remaining quiet for the next several seconds. "Well, I'm assuming you're already quite aware of the more obvious benefits, and you're obviously smart enough for me not to need to spell them out," Priya lowered her glass, running a finger across its rim absently. "It's as I said: we're all climbing the same mountain. In this case, I fully intend to drop an avalanche down on everyone below and see what happens. So what you gain from this is quite simple:

"You'll be the one looking down as the rubble falls, instead of being crushed beneath the inevitable landslide."

And Priya took another drink, smiling like a Cheshire cat.

[Elena Petrowski]

For someone who didn't care much for other people's feelings, the offer the woman handed out was quite beneficial to say the least. Her arrogance and pride aside, even Elena knew that it would be foolish to give up on such an opportunity, although she also knew she could use this information to get into the good graces of the Bellefonte family, but from what she had seen of them thus far, where she would place her bets was a no-brainer.

"Alright, you have officially peeked my interest," Elena said, her eyes wandering over the room for a few moments before they finally rested upon the older woman again. "What do you want in return?" she asked then, tilting her head a little to the side.

Did she need her to gather information? Make a few allies? Cause trouble? Whatever it was, Elena was certain she could manage doing it. After all, if she couldn't, the woman wouldn't have approached her to begin with. Luckily for her, Elena was a borderline sociopath who only cared about herself, and what benefit her.

And wasn't this just the perfect opportunity to do exactly that?

[Priya Kaur]

Indeed, Priya had managed to not only pique the young lady's interest but had done so without even having to alter Elena's emotions much. Amazing what you can do with a clever enough tongue and enough time to think. Though of course Elena was looking for strings.

"Mostly I need you to keep doing what you're likely to already do," replied Priya airily, waving a hand. "And possibly pay attention to a few of the locals. I'm particularly interested in the Headmistresses. Put at such a position at such a very young age," Priya made a few clicking noises with her tongue, "it's quite interesting, don't you believe? Oh."

Priya turned and smiled at Elena, "And make sure to be ready for the upcoming events. I see no reason why our two schools shouldn't come off with several wins." Though the wins that Priya really wanted weren't going to be tallied.

[Elena Petrowski]

"Do what I always do; I can do that." Well, it wasn't like what the woman was saying was too far away from Elena's day to day schedule anyways, so either way, she wasn't going to lose much. That was fair enough.

"You want to know the reason behind why they're in their position?" she asked, arching her eyebrow as she looked at the older woman before letting her piercing blue eyes wander over the crowd before finally resting upon one of the headmistresses. She wasn't sure which it was, but the girl was talking to some man in a red dress and smiling about it, so she assumed it wasn't the cranky, boring one.

As for the events... Elena wasn't one for those kind of games. At least, that wasn't why she was here. "You should know by now that I'm not here for the olympics." And she had no interest in supporting her school either; They were a bunch of idiots, really. Just like anywhere else, mostly with a few exceptions, of course.

[Priya Kaur]

Priya nodded, smiling a little and taking another sip. She knew that she was currently acting a good deal more sober then she had mere moments before but, well, she also knew that she needed to be doing so. She needed to pay attention, to nod in agreement as Elena worked to figure some things out.

"I also need the attention off myself,' she added, gesturing toward Elena. "Which is part of why I'm interested in you. You've barely been here, and already you're causing quite a stir. The more attention you draw to yourself, the less is drawn toward me," she gestured toward herself, smiling coyly again. Yes, she wanted to move in relative shadow. Let people think that she was just a silly woman here to enjoy herself and cause debauched fun.

"Well, we are all here to play games," she said. "Just because some of us might be playing in a different arena, well," she gestured toward the crowd, pointing, 'that's their problem, not ours."

And Priya took another sip, practically purring like a large jungle cat.

[Elena Petrowski]

Pull attention to herself? She could certainly do so. "So, you want me to cause a scene," she said, smirking. Well, that was what Elena did best, so why not continue doing what she would have been doing anyways? Even if she didn't end up gaining something from it, she would be doing what the woman wanted her to anyways. "What scale are we talking about here?" Elena then asked and looked at the woman from the corner of her eyes. "Rumors as I do now, or do you want distractions?" she said, quirking her brow.

"Fair enough," she drawled, pursing her lips. "Well, I can't say I have much to lose, even though I don't trust you -- then again, I don't trust anyone," she paused and tilted her head to the side. "Luckily for you, I don't have anything to lose, even if I do get caught." No, as Elena had claimed oh so many times before, she cared little if anyone found out what she did.

What was the worst that could happen? Detention? People yelling at her? Some kind of fine? Oh please, like either of those scared her. Elena didn't care about people's opinions. She didn't care if people hated her.

That was sort of the point, after all.

[Priya Kaur]

Priya nodded. "A scene, some distractions, anything works, really. I'll be doing my share of... distracting too," Priya smiled at that. she knew full well that her brand would differ greatly from Elena's. Oh, what a wonderfully devious pair the two of them would make. Priay was almost ready to feel sorry for the people here.

Nothing to lose: "You won't get caught," said Priya, waving a hand in dismissal of the comment. "And even if you do, you can use your position as an international to beg immunity. If nothing else, you can insist that your own school judge your actions, which will tie things up for quite long enough, I assure you."

For Priya fully intended to move fast. If she had it her way, things would be vastly different by Christmas, and Priya Kaur had a habit of getting her way.

[Elena Petrowski]

Well, good thing Elena was good at distractions; It was practically her middle name. "You got it," she said, smiling sweetly, though the smile didn't quite reach her eyes, which wasn't uncommon. Besides, like she had stated before, this was what she did on a daily basis anyways.

Quirking her brow then, Elena looked at the older woman. She wouldn't get caught? Well, what was the fun in that then? Either way, Elena really didn't care. "I don't beg," she said with a shrug, letting her ice blue eyes wander over the locale once more before finally resting on the woman. "Getting caught is not a fear of mine," she added with another sweet smile.

Stepping to the side, Elena lifted her hand to comb her fingers through her blonde locks. "You got yourself a deal," she said, "Besides," she drawled, "I would be doing this anyways, so I don't have anything to lose."

"However," she turned to the woman, "I'd like to know what your plans are."

[Priya Kaur]

Priya nodded, glad to hear that Elena would be going along with the plan. The girl would work quite well for the short term, and, well, they weren't exactly looking for much longer then that? It wasn't as if either of them intended to stay around the school for much longer then the "short term" at any rate. Yes, that would certainly work.

"It's an expression, dear,' replied Priya dryly at Elena's protest, fighting the urge to roll her eyes. The way Elena spoke, you'd think that someone had shoved a rod up her rear and pretended it was her spine. The girl did have confidence, but there was a line when that turned to brashness. Well, Priya supposed that would work fine: if Elena drew all the attention, so much the better. Well, all of a certain kind of attention, but something told Priya she wouldn't have to worry overmuch about that.

The agreement had been settled, which pleased Priya enough to gesture for drinks, figuring that a celebratory drink was in order, though that required Priya trading one drink off for another. "We should have a toast," the woman said, nodding and looking to Elena, extending the drink she'd gotten from a server. "That is what people do when they have alliances. They clink their glasses together," Priya clinked the two, nodded, and extended one toward Elena, "and they toast."

[Elena Petrowski]

Rolling her eyes, Elena accepted the glass with a sweet, plastered on smile. "Thank you for clearing that up," she said sarcastically. Looking at the liquid then, Elena had to fight the urge to roll her eyes again. This was hardly the kind of alcohol the blonde was used to, but it had to do for now. After all, she had better things to do than worrying about the percent of the alcohol; No, she could deal with all that later.

Holding up the glass, Elena toasted, "For new alliances," she said, her sweet smile still plastered on her lips, not quite reaching her eyes, though, that was hardly a surprise; Elena's smiles rarely did reach her eyes. She had no reason to.

Even so, the woman's proposition was simple enough. She did however wonder for a brief moment if the older woman had managed to contact Elena's dad yet and if he was in on this. Somehow, Elena doubted it. Not that she really thought her dad would mind. He was usually proud whenever Elena screwed up someone's life, so there was little she had to worry about when it came to that. But it was a curious thing to think about nonetheless.

[Priya Kaur]

"Manners, dear," replied Priya, raising her brows for a moment, her lips curling into just a bit of a smile. Not that Priya couldn't appreciate sarcasm when she heard it: she just didn't want it as directed toward her. Besides, she didn't want to foster ideas in the young lady's head. Elena needed to be fully aware that she was, in fact, the lesser member of this little partnership. The years of experience would see to that, as would Priya's own cleverness and ability to twist at just the right time.

She put aside such thoughts for now, instead plastering that smile on her face and letting the glasses clink. Neither smile reached eyes, but that certainly didn't bother Priya in the slightest. She sipped her drink, making sure to watch Elena all the while. Yes, she certainly had an ally, and that was certainly another piece moving into place. Now she just needed to get a better understanding of what pieces her opponents held.

"Well, with that settled," said Priya, nodding. She gestured. "I have things to do. You know how it is: People to talk to, hands to shake, that sort of thing. I'll see you around, I'm sure," she flashed a final smile and saluted Elena with her glass before turning, not wanting to give Elena a chance to delay.

After all, Elena was the lesser partner.