Brian let out a satisfied sigh, leaned back on the bench and enjoyed his coke while the sun shone onto his face. Hopefully the weather would stay as nice as today for a while. The resting area in the park was always the perfect spot to meet up with friends.
"Hey, guys.", said Sol who leaned against the wall right besides him. "Did you hear that Dolltopia will start again next week?"
"Yup.", answered Arion from the other side of the bench and licked his icecream, "Already signed the contract."
"Me too." said the last one of the group. Wati sat next to Brian and hoped that Arion would not spill that icecram on him. Lost in thought he played with the milkshake in his hands. "Although I'm not sure whether that was such a good idea."
"They say Eternia has the lead role again." Brian said it casually but he hit right home with Wati. "Aaaargh... That just had to happen!" - "I heard that Nareen was not casted this time.", Sol said. Arion put on an angry sneer. "Heard so too. It's a shame!" - "Well...", countered Brian, "It is sad but if she has other plans... There's rumour she'll be in for a few cameos though. I already met the new girl at the supermarket. She's quite nice, we'll get along. Name's Sinistra."
"Is she hot?" The singer pricked his ears and the guitarist thought for a moment before he answered: "I guess she's down your alley. A bit clumsy, perhaps - we started talking after she dropped a yoghurt on my shoe."
"Not the best first impression." Sol said sceptically and the others agrred. Brian laughed. "It doesn't mean she's always like this! Additionally, she's a close friend of Nareen." - "Ah, not bad!" Arion grinned while thinking that in the end one might bring the other to parties.
"Doesn't change the fact that Eternia is once again the lead character." Brian repeated and added: "Looks like poor Wati will have to suffer a lot again."
"Aaaargh, don't remind me! Just thinking about it makes my head hurt again!" yelled the captain of the palace guard in despair and rested his head on his hands. "Why didn't I move away to Veryfaraway? This job isn't even worth the hassle!"
Arion bent down towards him and whispered loud enough for everyone to hear: "Nahh-Ato... Nahh-Atooooo... My dearest Nahh-Atoooo..."
"Oh, be quiet!" grumbled Wati and noticed to his chagrin that his ears had gotten warm. Brian and Sol laughed.
"Oh Sir, why can't you be just half as bold in the presence of the Lady Djinn as you are in battle?"
"You better shut up or I'll let you stand guard in the garden pavillon all year around and you won't get any scenes in!" Wati's shoulders slumped. "This woman can be so pushy, even a manticore has better manners compared to that!"
"Calm down, pal." Arion tried to appease him. "Actually she's quite cute in her despair. She's not unpretty either... I will gladly deal with her for a while - as long as she doesn't have pink hair at that time!"
"With her, you can never know." Brian added with a slow nod. "Have you seen her lately? That woman had a lot of plastic surgery recently!"
"Really? She did just fine without that." Arion was surprised.
"Heard she had a serious knee problem so while they were at it they gave the whole carriage a general overhaul."
"Hey, a little bit more respect, please." Sol interrupted in a warning tone. "Eternia isn't a car!"
"Fine, fine, no insult intended!"
"Why did she never hit on you, anyway? You lucky dog!"
Brian shrugged. "No idea, Wati. Maybe because I came to the party with my girlfriend? Suiseiseki would have ripped off her head if she had tried anything."
"You're so henpecked, pal..." Arion shook his head and turned his attention towards the icecream again.
"Spare me the jealousy, okay. If you can't find the right one it's not my problem."
"Jealous of Sui? She's stiff as a broom! Compared to her I'd take Eternia a thousand times!"
"Oh yes, please, please take her!" yelled Wati, almost pleading. "Sol makes fun of me but he himself can't manage to ask his beloved for a date, neither!"
"No kidding! You tried that? With Eternia?" Brian asked curiously. For him it was hard to imagine that someone would like to spend a whole day with Eternia. However, the warrior didn't even take notice of him. He leaned against the wall, lost in his own thoughts, the blue eyes turned towards the sky. "Oh, Eternia..." he sighed silently. "Why did Dolltopia had to end so soon? Way too soon..."
"Good gracious!" Brian shuddered. Although he didn't mind the woman in general she was way too erratic for him. Furthermore there was something eerie about her which made his hair stand on edge. Whenever he met her on the street she seemed hounded and overly alert, as if she feared pursuers. Additionally his little sister always acted weird in her presence. As mad as the child sometimes was she also had a sense for people with a dark past. Something was wrong with this woman. So what if his band colleagues thought his girlfriend was stiff - at least Sui's smile was always true.
On the other hand he had always been of the opinon that normal people were never cast for Dolltopia, which led him to the question of why he starred in this series in the first place...
Suddenly Arion started laughing. "He, there's an idea! You're Sol's boss, Wati! Why don't you order him to date Eternia!"
"Say, are you one sandwich short of a picnic?!"
"Okay", the singer pondered for a second, "then you invite her and then quickly switch shifts with Sol so he has to go with her. I bet he doesn't mind."
"I agree, he's totally on a different planet." Brian agreed with a chuckle.
"That could even work..." the captain said slowly. "But what would I do if Eternia got the idea to accompany me on my watch instead?"
"Not my problem!"
"You know, all of these thoughts might be moot soon, anyway." The guitarist gulped down the rest of his coke before he met the curious looks of Arion and Wati. "I heard rumours that this time a male lead was cast too."
"Eh? Can't be true!"
"It is, it is! Do you know the elf from the grocery store? Her boyfriend told Suiseiseki and the elf heard it directly from Eternia. Allegedly she threatened the administration to quit if there wasn't a male roomie. What was the guy's name again..."
"What?!" Arion's jaw dropped down and Sol also awakened from his trance all of a sudden.
"That can't be true!" Wati was as surprised as the others. "You're telling us there's a guy who'll seriously move in with those girls?"
"Looks like it, yep."
"Is he out of his mind, under one roof with Eternia? She's brash enough to 'accidentally' put his clothes in the shredder!" Shocked the singer first thought about his own designer brand clothing and then of the scene that might open up in front of him if he were to pay the shared flat a visit. He shuddered.
"A curageous man like that just must be hired for Lady Nahh-Ato's personal guard!" Wati said impressed before searching for his milkshake. When he saw that he dropped it a while ago he sighed.
"MAAAAOOOOO!" someone yelled from across the park. "Hurry up or the best seats will be taken!"
"Coming!" A teenager of about 15 years trudged along the pathway, his hands deeply buried in the pockets of his frayed jeans. When Brian looked up and called "Mao! Yes, that was his name!" he stopped in his tracks and looked at the group with two mismatched eyes. "Eh? Something the matter?"
"Hi! Say, you're cast for Dolltopia too, aren't you?" the guitarist asked to make sure. "I heard you name at the agency."
"Yes... but it's in a few months from now. It's some kind of lead role."
When Wati, Sol and Arion just kept staring at the boy with open mouths Brian put on his friendliest grin. "Cool! We're all working there too. Here's to successful partnership!"
"Yeah... cool! Gotta go or I'll be late for cinema. Bye" Mao, who was slightly spooked out by the staring, walked a bit faster than before. What a gathering of weirdos! Perhaps he should call his agency and cancel the job after all.
Only when Mao had vanished around a corner Wati cleared his throat. "That... that just can't be..."
"Wow." Arion didn't even notice how the icecream had slipped his hand. "Management can't be serious with that!"
"Either this is the most perfidious plan I've ever seen to let Eternia have her will while simultaneously screwing her or they've gone completely mad." Wati chimed in.
"Eternia will be furious." the singer said with a voice that sounded like it came from a grave and the others nodded. Quickly Arion found back to his usual composure though. He put on an amused grin, crossed the arms in front of his chest and said: "No way I'm gonna miss out on that!"
One week before shooting starts... <-- # --> Was die Monster Highs dazu sagen