"Helloooooo! Good day!" yelled the young woman who was completely out of breath while running along the sideway. She wore a long, old-fashioned cloak which got entangled in her long skirt every few steps. At each step mystical stones which hung on golden strings from her corset jangled.
"Am I too late? I came to view the apartment!" she yelled again when she finally reached the small group.
Eternia was appalled when she noticed the outfit of the other woman. 'Is she from a circus?!' Stunned she stared at the other woman. She was young and not exactly ugly either - not that it would have made a difference with this landlord. But she looked so desparate and innocent it would even have an impact on a pony.
'What a clever little beast!' Eternia thought promptly.
"Don't worry, young lady, we were just about to start the viewing!" the landlord said happily. "I don't think we met before. I am Indi, the owner of this house. And who are you?"
"Good day, Mister Indi." said the black haird woman with a little curtsy. "My name is Sinistra."
"Oh, I'm so glad I didn't come too late!" Sinistra took a deep breath. "First I got lost and then my skirt got caught in a garden fence and I fell. This is all so embarrassing!"
"Now, now, calm down. Let us all go now and take a good, long look at all the rooms of the house, okay?"
"I'd love to, Mister Indi!" Eternia said very loudly to shift the focus back to herself.
Sinistra noticed her only now. "Oh my! Are you here too to rent the house? I thought you were the landlord's assistent! How embarrassing! Good day!"
"Good day..." Eternia said between gritted teeth. 'The competition is harder than I thought...'
"Well, as you can see the corridor is a bit narrow cut. The rooms, however, are very nice", the landlord explained when they were in the house. "On the ground floor you'll find the livingroom, the bathroom and a bedroom. The upper floor holds the kitchen, a small utility room with drying room and another bedroom. Let's start with the bathroom..."
"Oh, I'd be delighted to, Mr. Iiiiiiiiiargh!" Sinistra, who still had barely calmed down, tripped over her own feet and fell down flat.
"You're kidding me, right? I can't believe this!" Eternia stared down to her rival in disbelief.
"Oh my, Miss Sinistra! Are you hurt? Shall I help you?" Indi asked worriedly and trottet back to the women, but Sinistra got up herself and said cravenly: "Thank you, but I'm alright. I constantly fall down, you know..."
15 minutes late, after they had viewed the other rooms on the ground floor, Indi led them into the livingroom and offered them to store their coats on the daybed. "So here's the livingroom, the heart of the house! How do you like it?"
"Ooooh, this is so pretty, Mr. Indi! And thanks to the fireplace it's also comfortably warm." Sinistra was impressed. So far she had liked everything, even though the bathroom had only a shower instead of the promised bathtub and the bedroom was in need of some new wallpaper. She was concerned whether she could afford to rent this house. The ceiling of the livingroom looked run-down too. Perhaps it wasn't quite as expensive as it looked from the outside?
'Trying to suck up to him? Just you wait, I'm better at that!' Eternia thought fiercely. Although the house was a bit old-fashioned and required some renovations there was still furniture and a fireplace. She had to get this apartment, no matter the cost.
"The livingroom is very extraordinary, Mr. Indi", Eternia gushed while looking around exaggerated. "Someone has great taste here."
The landlord laughed. "Please, my dear misses, you act like this I was showing you a mansion."
"But for me it is!" Sinistra said excited.
Now Eternia had to roll her eyes. The other woman pushed it a bit. "No, no, it's nice here, really!" she instantly chimed in. The blonde chewed nervously on her lower lip. On one hand she had to outrival Sinistra, on the other hand she also had to drive the rent price down as much as possible. "As pretty as the house is", she said casually, "the sofas could sure use new covers. And new pillows."
Indi shook his head in amusement. "Well, the furniture belonged to the previous tennant. As you can see there's a daybed which also serves greatly as a sofa, a small workspace and other furniture. You can do as you want with them - keep them, change them or replace them, and you can also make any desired changes to the rooms as well. In case you want to renovate the ceiling or put new wallpapers on the walls - be my guest."
'Darn.' Eternia thought. Actually though, surely he wouldn't ask for a price premium for furniture that could just as well go to bulky waste, right?
The stallion adjusted his glasses and looked at both women directly. "Now that we have seen half of the house it would only be fair if both of you tell me a bit about themselves, right? Eternia, what job do you do?"
Dolltopia 0001 <- # -> Dolltopia 0003