"Nareen, Nareen, I'm..." Nahh-Ati raced into the livingroom but stopped dead in her tracks when she only saw Elizabeth. "Oh, I'm sorry! I thought Nareen was here!"
The vampire rose calmly from her chair. "She'll be here soon; I can hear her footsteps in the corridor above."
"Cool! Wow, your dress is gorgeous! And this room is so nice, too! Can I see the rest of the house later?" Nahh-Ati's words came in a rush.
Not a muscle moved in Elizabeth's face. "Thank you. Yes it is. I suppose so."
"Huh?"
"Please, have a seat."

"I'm Nahh-Ati and who're you?"
"My name's Elizabeth."
"Wow, what a nice name! It sounds so royal!"
"Aren't you from the palace? Talking about royalty..."
"Ah, yes, but I'd prefer to live in a normal house like this. Hey, are those cookies on the fireplace? May I have one?"

The slightly burnt smell of the cookies was why Elizabeth was preparing to leave in the first place. It was an insult to her fine nose. She would go for a stroll in the garden and watch the guests arrive.
"Please, suit yourself. Have as many as you want." she invited, hiding a soft chuckle behind her hand.
"Thank you! Oh, you're going out? See you later! Whoa, what a cute chicken!"
Akshi clucked.

Nahh-Ati wasn't alone for long. Nareen came in shortly after Elizabeth left, surprised to find a guest. "Oh, hello there Nahh-Ati! Am I late? Is everyone here already?"
"Nope. We just came early, I couldn't wait to see you." Nahh-Ati grinned, her face smeared with chocolate. "These cookies on the table are so good!"
"There are more on the fireplace." Nareen said with an inviting gesture.
"Uhm... I'll stick to these, thanks." Nahh-Ati's face turned a little green when she remembered the cookie she had tried.

Tamara went outside to check on the buffet. "Hello everyone! Do you need something? Drinks? More cookies? Fruit?"
Sol greeted her with a casual smile. "Hi! I'm happy, thanks! Aren't you the lady who walks her dog down the palace street daily?"
"You might have seen me there, yes. I'm Tamara. Nice to meet you."
"And I'm Sol. Nice to meet a neighbour here, ha ha."

Eternia gave Tamara a suspicious look and grabbed a cookie. 'If she dares to flirt with him, I'll kill her,' she thought.
She was so busy glaring at her friend that she didn't notice the furry paw that shot out of a bush and emptied the plate within a second.

"Huh?" Eternia looked down when her hand found only thin air. The plate was empty. She was puzzled. "Now this is odd. I could swear there were some cookies just a second ago..."

Tamara didn't notice Eternia's confusion and went to the other side of the tree to greet Wati and Sackboy. Sackboy was busy eating so she turned towards the palace guard.
"Hello there! Are you enjoying the party?"
"Oh, yes, thank you all for inviting us." Wati answered absendmindedly while peeking down the garden path.
"Waiting for someone special?"
Wati spun around. "No, no, not at all! I thought I saw another guest coming."

"If you saw me there when I came from the opposite direction, you must be a genius." said a teasing voice behind them.
Tamara and Wati both turned and noticed a young woman with blonde pigtails. A small smile played around her mouth and the sparkle in her eyes told them that she wasn't very serious about her remark.
"Merry Christmas." Tamara said calmy, "I'm Tamara and, as you can judge his skills, I suppose you already know Wati. And you are?"
"I'm Shinku. My friend Suiseiseki told me I was invited to your cozy little party, so I came. It seems I'm the first Rozen Maiden here though."
Her eyes followed Sackboy who ran back to the buffet.

"You're right, a lot of guests haven't arrived yet."
"Now, that's unfortunate. The twins couldn't tell me whether we're expected to bring presents. Am I impolite by not bringing one?"
"No, not at all. Eternia'll get enough presents, I'm sure." Tamara almost grinned.
"I'm relieved to hear that. Is that your house over there?"
"The house of my friends, yes. I'm only helping out today."
"Do you mind if I warm up there for a while? It's very cold today and it was a long way."
"Sure, go ahead. Nareen, Giselda and some guests are inside too."

"Perfect! It's only polite to introduce myself to all hosts. If my friends arrive, would you please tell them where I am?"
"Sure."
"Thank you very much. See you later!"
Tamara and Wati watched Shinku walk through the snow towards the house.
"Hm. I bet she just heard about Giselda's cooking skills and wants to have the first place at the dinner table." murmured Tamara.

Dolltopia Archive 42 <-- # --> Dolltopia Archive 44