In the garden, Eternia saw Nahh-Ati hopping up and down like a bouncing ball. "Thank you so much for the autographs!" she yelled.
Arion grinned. "Anything for our fans!"
Brian grabbed his guitar and they promptly began to play a song again, this time one of their own.
Eternia waved shyly but hesitated to interrupt them. Once again she had to wait for a chance to talk with Arion.

After they finished the first song, Arion leaned over to Eternia and whispered: "Eternia, right? I like your hair today, little angel!"
Eternia let out a little delighted squeal. He noticed her! He even noticed her wings!
Arion winked and joined Brian in the next song.

Suiseiseki was the first to come down the stairs. She briefly came into the livingroom and asked: "Dark Delight is still outside, yes?"
"Don't run so fast!" the voice of her sister echoed down the hall.
"We can all go outside together," Sol said.
Elizabeth shook her head. "It's cold and wet outside. I'll stay here for a while, if you don't mind." Akshi didn't look too happy about that, but she still had hedgehog Ozzy and Pete the cockatoo as backup.
"I can't wait. See you later!" Suiseiseki quickly went outside, as if she was fleeing from her friends.

Giselda was the next one to come down. "Whee! Now I can see the band too!" she chirped happily and flailed her arms so wildly she almost fell.
"Careful, little one!" Sol laughed. "So you're Giselda, the cook? I've heard a lot about you."
The wingling stepped dead in her tracks and pouted. "Who're you calling little?!"
Nareen whispered a warning. "Careful. Remarks about her size are about the only thing Giselda's touchy about."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"Okay!" When she heard the apology, the wingling was instantly back in a good mood. "Now come on and let's hear the band!" She grabbed Sol's hand and dragged him outside.
"She's weird," Elizabeth remarked.
Nareen shrugged. "It's wingling style. For them, a honest apology undoes every evil word, and further sulking is a waste of time."
"Hm. Then maybe she's wiser than I gave her credit for."

"Whee! Look at the cute men who make such nice music!" Although she didn't know the lyrics, Giselda started to sing along right away and didn't even notice Sol slipping away from her. Her voice was very high, like a bird's, but still pleasant and pristine. It was a stark contrast to the rather dark voice of the singer. Arion grinned and started a duet with her.
Almost nobody noticed Suiseiseki standing silently in the crowd. She only had eyes for Brian, who tried not to stare at her.

Sol went over to Eternia in the hopes of getting back to their conversation, but to his disappointment, the blonde didn't even notice him. Her eyes were fixated on Arion, her feet moving in time with the music.
The guardsman sighed.

In the living room, Nareen was interrupted by Shinku, who emerged while rubbing her belly.
"Hello everyone! Oh, where's Suiseiseki?"
"She went outside in a hurry," the necromancer replied.
"Oooooh..." Shinku pursed her lips. "I think now I know which band is outside. For a while now she looked like she wanted to jump up from dinner."
"I don't understand..."
"She's a... err... big fan of the guitar player."
"Oooooh... I see." Nareen blushed. "Will you come outside to watch?"
"It might be wiser to stay here and keep Souseiseki busy. She's not that fond of her sister having a boyfriend, you know."
Elizabeth chuckled silently. "Sister squabbles. Ah, the memories!"

Outside in the garden, Tamara ignored her friend and came up to the seemingly crestfallen Sol. "Hey! Do you enjoy the party?"
The guard looked up. "Huh? Oh, err, yes! It's great!"
"If you need anything, please let me know. Please try the cookies or one of the smoothies, they are really good!"
"Will do, thank you!"
Eternia's gaze impaled Tamara when Sol went to the buffet.

"If you want to kill me I suggest using something more solid than your eyes," Tamara said flatly and turned towards her friend, who rose from her seat on the wall.
"Yoriko!" snapped Eternia, using Tamara's true name without even noticing, "Don't you dare flirt with him!"
"Why not? Seems like you're busy with Arion. Or am I wrong about that?"

"Pfff...!" Eternia was at a loss of words. Yes, she was hoping to score a date with Arion but for some reason it bugged her when she saw her friend with Sol.
"You have to decide on one guy, Eternia," Tamara lectured. "Of course, it might be decided for you. Ryuutarou is almost here, after all."
"Stop it. I might throw up!" Eternia was so upset about the news that she didn't even notice the veil of sadness in her friend's eyes.

Dolltopia Archive 50 <-- # --> Dolltopia Archive 52