(Note: This scene is almost a whole year late, that's for sure. When I tried to pose another photo of Brian with his Souseiseki his arm came off and the repairs took so long that first the daylight was gone and then the dolls had to be put aside to move other things. One day everything was done and the moving-in outtake kind of fizzled out. After being asked for it several times I present you with the existing photos. Everything after Brian and Sou is bonus that I photographed later.)
Finally the dolls had arrived at their new residence!
When Eternia and Sinistra climbed out of their box there was a maid with bright red eyes waiting for them.
"Good day, ladies and gentlemen! This way to the showcase, please. Would you like a doll stand, ma'am?"
"My goodness! The boss didn't waste time!" Eternia was impressed. "We're not even fully moved in and she already brings in new neighbours!"
"Whoa!" Sinistra was likewise half impressed, half confused. "It's kind of noble though to be attented to for a chance instead of doing everything ourselves."
"You don't think we could afford to hire this girl, do you?"
"No, I guess you're right. Excuse me please, miss, who do you work for?"
The maid smiled and while her face stayed as calm as a mask her eyes glimmered demonically. "I'm sorry but that is still a secret."
"Uhm... well then. I'd like to have a doll stand then, please."
"Very well. Please follow me!"
"Sui!" Brian yelled relieved when Suiseiseki finally craned her head over the boxes' rim. It took her long to detangle from the foil but the man couldn't know that. He had been afraid of having missed her in all the chaos - although he was firmly convinced that his Sui would even stand out in a crowd of a thousand dolls.
"Brian!" Overjoyed she reached out for him so he could help her. "You waited for me!"
"As promised!"
"Of course", she laughed, "Please help me out of here."
"Just jump, I'll catch you!"
"Are you sure?"
"Just do it, before your sister shows up!"
"He, is there some paparazzo who shoots under my skirt?!" Sailor Moon yelled in the background.
"Ha ha, you wish!" Angel ALa laughed next to her.
Nareen Demetri was more than pleased. "Finally I don't have to stand alone in the livingroom."
Midnight Velvet also smiled. "Finally a shelf with style! And I'm dressed up, to boot!" The lady was dead set on never giving up her clothes again. She laughed but was drowned out by Wilhelma who teleported to her place. "Ha, out of the way, you worms! People have to see me!" she growled loudly which made Nareen sigh. "Wilhelma, we're not at the academy here. Be nice and don't be a bully."
The witch opened her mouth to shout at her when she noticed the first heads turning towards them over at the samurai faction, obviously looking for the culprit of the noise. So she rather shut up.
Palace guard Sol would surely have intervened too if he wasn't drowned that deeply in self-pity. He was the only one on the top shelf who was unhappy with his spot. 'This far up... How shall I see Eternia from here?' Deeply sad he peeked at the dollhouse.
On the floor below there were even more persons who weren't happy with their assigned spots.
"Oh noooo!" Kataryna Ende moaned as loud as her manners permitted. "Why do I have to stand next to Charlotte?! Of all things!"
Sadly this caused the girl in the bright yellow dress to turn towards her, smiling brightly like a buddha. "Oh, hello, child of the night! What a glourious day, isn't it? I've really outdone myself with that."
Kataryna was so mortified, she didn't even notice that her cousin Elizabeth and Count Dorian behind her froze each other off. Elizabeth snorted disgusted and stared silently into nothingness.
That however resulted in Chevalie feeling stared at, who couldn't know that the vampiress wasn't checking him out. He stiffened up and wondered why he had to stand with the vampires. Perhaps because his fashion theme matched Charlotte, but he didn't even know her! The man next to him was a doctor, that was all he knew about him. That guy didn't seem to fit anywhere, so he just took that place in silence. 'Great company...' Chevalie thought and hoped that maybe he could talk with the people in the other half of the floor.
There was a sofa there, but the strangely clothed woman sitting there murmured "When I find Brian I'll kill him! Where does he hide my sister?!" all the time, which so far kept him from introducing himself to the other ladies over there.
Another floor further down the mood was mostly good. Ballerina Noel wondered where her friend Natsume was gone, but perhaps he had to check on the flawless condition of his cello first. At least Ama was there, that was good enough. She was content just listening in to the talking teenagers next to her.
"Geez, Apollo, you'll never believe what a weirdo I had to travel with!" Ra Muw ranted angrily. "That vampiress jangled my nerves! She talked about magic without pause!"
"Magic?" Apollo grimaced. "Sometimes magic is nice as fuel but how is it interesting enough for a longer talk?"
"Just what I say! Fancy that! She claimed our inventions are laughable!"
"Laughable?! My goodness! I'm so sorry we couldn't travel together. At least I was able to talk to a young bassist about guitars and I think this may end in a very nice project for us!"
"Huzzah!"
"Lady Nahh-Ato, is your cushion to your liking?" Wati inquired courteously.
"It is a bit weird to sit on the floor while everyone around me stands", the djinn answered with a sigh, "but I'm alright, thanks."
Right next to them in the musician's corner emotions were boiling. Angrily, Rayne crossed his arms. "What the heck does Ama do here?! I thought this spot was for the BEST band in the world?!"
"Keep calm, dude", Arion said. The singer wasn't exactly looking forward to share a space with their biggest contrahent but it could have been worse. They were still waiting for Brian but Arion was quite sure that now there wasn't a spot left for Brian's sister Pink Chan. Furthermore, Pink Chan hated Ama and Arion had also overheard Pink Chan arguing with Ama's guitarist Edge in the moving box. When he had to choose, Arion absolutely preferred the company of another band to that of their self-declared manager.
"Oh no!" Kurt complained who craned his neck standing behind Edge. "Nobody ever notices the bassist!"
Raike, however, was overjoyed and could barely believe his spot standing in the corner. "Rockstars are exactly the right company for a cool guy like me!" With a grin he stroked his hair back from his face. "The crazy boss learned a thing! Finally I get the treatment I deserve!"
"Good lord!" came a shrill shriek from the base floor. "Are you Batman, by any chance?!" Sailor Moon was giddy with excitement.
On the base floor - where maid Sticca took her position by now - people were slightly confused.
Eternia's sister Yuki pouted. "Why does Sanada have to hang out upstairs with the samurai and ninja? I wear a kimono too but wild horses couldn't drag me there! Great friend that is... He, Sakura, hurry up there!"
"Sorry, my wig's slipping! I urgently need Velcro!" her friend answered and removed her doll stand to hop outside of the showcase.
Natsume wondered why he wasn't allowed to stand with Noel. "That can only be a mistake..." he murmured and turned towards the teenager beside him with a friendly nod. "Excuse me, do you know which theme this floor is?"
Mao looked at him cautiously. "Dunno, 'collected works', maybe? As for me, I'm an artist."
"Really? That makes sense! I'm a musician!"
"Oh. Cool." Mao peeked around from the corner of his eyes. "Although I guess we stand out a bit with that, actually."
Behind them was Rosa who wasn't aware how lucky she was to have escaped the moving box alive after meeting Count Dorian. At her side was Naomi who wasn't interested in joining her sister and watching her and Wati at their embarrassing fawning. At least here she was mixed in with other young people.
Druid Blanche kept pressing her face against the glass pane and giggled happily. "This is all so great!"
Exciting times waited for all of them...