POTO--directed by S.L. Wright

[The Phantom of Paris]

OOC: Sorry it took so long, and that it's so short...no muse for this interaction for some reason. Oh well! Here it is! BIC:

Cassandra "Cassie" Wright

"I love you too," she told him. And although Cassie tried to mean it, to say it truthfully, she didn't even know where she stood anymore. She thought she loved him, but did she? She wanted to love him, but was that enough? And what exactly was love, anyway? People used the word too liberally, pinning it to any strong emotion, and even more said they loved but didn't mean it. How many times had her mother said she loved her father, or loved Shelby, or loved Cassie? Had she meant any of them? Of course not. And anyway, we're so young...how can I even know what love really is yet? Gah! I hate this! I hate it! Just stop thinking about it...worry about it later. We're fine. I'm fine. We'll all be fine...just change the subject, Cassie. Change the subject now.

"We'd better start working on something, or Shelby will eat us alive," she said, glancing towards the door. And the sad thing is, I'm not even kidding. We haven't even started yet and Shelby's already taken this Phantom director thing to an unhealthy level. This is going to be so fun, I can tell. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "So. First things first. Have you ever heard of Phantom of the Opera before, at all? Besides from what I told you about it?"

"Chotto..." Kagayaki said quietly, looking down at the CD Shelby had burned for him. For the first time, Cassie felt a twinge of annoyance at his using Japanese. I can't understand that! You know that! Why can't you just talk to me so I can understand you, for God's sake! I hate languages! "We... we lis'en? Futari, toge'her?"

"Sure..." Cassie said, reaching for the CD so she could put it into the stereo. Before she could, though, she heard footsteps in the hallway. "Oh, they're back. I guess we'll do this later, then?" She leaned over a bit so she could peer out the wide doorway of the living room. "You guys okay?"

Okay. It's almost as bad as love, I think. As a word, I mean. We overuse it so much, no one even knows what it means anymore.

[GGJ5]

OOC: Hey, y'all wanna wrap this up, too, and start another scene? Which scene should we do? : D BIC:

Erin Spenser

"Hey, if it's this serious, I'm sure we can work around it. Shelby can go suck a lemon. We can just fake it... stage-kiss." Her expression brightened. "It's like stage-fighting, but with less imaginary blood!" At least that earned her a smile. Erin started to pull on him again, trying to get him off the floor. "Can we please go back? Please? I want to play with the costumes." She grinned at him. "And yours, too."

Yukito made a face. "I'm already wearing a costume." She looked at him with a curious smile until he gestured with his eyes at the clothes that didn't belong to him, and she giggled. "You look fine."

He looked back up at her. "You know I love you, right?"

"I know," she said, smiling fully now. "I just like hearing you say it.... I promise it'll be fine. Really, Yukito." As if it proved her point, she kissed his lips before pulling just slightly away and prodding one more time. "C'mon!"

He followed here, not saying much, though, back to the room where Cassie and Aidousan were still waiting.

"You guys okay?" Cassie asked as they came back in.

"Sure!" Erin responded immediately, naturally cheery. "Aidousan, we're fake-kissing, not real kissing, and if Shelby doesn't like it, she'll get over it. Okay, so I'm gonna go try on my dresses," she said, beaming as she lifted one and held it against her, twirling a little. "I'll be like a princess!"

[Elda Forever]

Yukito Maki

He looked back up at her as she still recovered from his costume joke. Yukito liked to watch her face as she laughed. There was something about her expression that made it hard for anyone to watch and not join in. "You know I love you, right?"

"I know," she said flippantly, smiling fully now. "I just like hearing you say it.... I promise it'll be fine. Really, Yukito." She leaned forward to kiss him, and while the chills still went up his spine she reached for his hand and pulled him away. "C'mon!"

"You guys okay?" Cassie asked as they came back in.

"Sure!" Erin responded immediately, naturally cheery. Yukito nodded, trying to look as optimistic as Erin felt. "Aidousan, we're fake-kissing, not real kissing, and if Shelby doesn't like it, she'll get over it. Okay, so I'm gonna go try on my dresses," she said, beaming as she lifted one and held it against her, twirling a little. "I'll be like a princess!" He smirked at that and barely refrained from commenting.

Yukito looked over at Aidousan, feeling a need to say something to him. He was the type to assume Yukito was mad at him when he wasn't. Especially in something like this, it kind of made sense. Moving to shove his hands into his pockets and then realizing that his jean pockets weren't there, he gave a shrug, "Aidousan, do you want me to help you with the English lyrics?"

[More than Music]

Kagayaki Aidou

"I love you."

"I love you too."

She paused for a moment afterwards, and Kagayaki caught on after a while that she seemed to be second-guessing herself. Or her words. He bit his lip, reaching back and and rubbing the back of his neck nervously. His hand slowly went up and he touched the two scars on the back of his head. 'I... I have to trust her. I can't doubt her, not now, not when she needs me most. Yes, I need her to love me, but... she's more important than I am. Cassie comes first. And if that means I have to make myself believe her, then I'll do it. If it means bashing my head against a wall until I believe she loves me, I'll do it. Now's not a time to doubt.'

"We'd better start working on something, or Shelby will eat us alive," she said, glancing towards the door. And the sad thing is, I'm not even kidding. We haven't even started yet and Shelby's already taken this Phantom director thing to an unhealthy level. This is going to be so fun, I can tell. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "So. First things first. Have you ever heard of Phantom of the Opera before, at all? Besides from what I told you about it?"

"Chotto..." he muttered, not knowing how to translate that for her, staring down at the CD. 'I'm stupid... Maybe I should just go find her somebody else. Somebody stronger, somebody smarter...' Kagayaki caught a disappointed gleam in her eyes, but he might have been looking for it. 'See? That's it. I just make her unhappy all the time! She shouldn't love me. I don't deserve it. I'm a horrible boyfriend and a horrible friend, but... I can't go anywhere. She needs somebody, even if I'm the worst person in the world for her.' "We... we lis'en? Futari, toge'her?"

"Sure..." She didn't seem too thrilled about this. It was like she had to put up with him. He hated that. He hated this. Why couldn't they just talk about what was bothering them? This was so miserable. Cassie seemed a bit cheered up when she noticed Yukito and Erin coming back. Kagayaki's eyes fell, but he smiled softly, and he said nothing. "Oh, they're back. I guess we'll do this later, then?" He just nodded. It was better when he didn't talk, wasn't it? Yeah. Cassie looked around the doorway to check on them. Kagayaki moved away from her, making himself look up with a smile. "You guys okay?"

"Sure!" Erinchan's happy voice broke through the gloomy fog. Kagayaki looked at her, his smile coming easier. 'It used to be that way with Cassie, only... I'd get butterflies. I wish the girl that felt like my sister wasn't the only girl I could love without hurting... But I do love Erinchan. She means a lot to me, and she means a lot to Yukito.' "Aidousan, we're fake-kissing, not real kissing, and if Shelby doesn't like it, she'll get over it." Kagayaki nodded. That was fine with him. Kissing Erinchan wouldn't have been all that thrilling anyway. It would have been like kissing his sister, if he'd had one. Weird. "Okay, so I'm gonna go try on my dresses. I'll be like a princess!" She twirled around with her dress, and Kagayaki laughed.

"You... You alrea'y a princess, yah!" he assured her, reaching over and tickling her ribs. Then he looked at Yukito, and withdrew. His smile faltered, his eyes fell to the floor. He was at a complete loss of words, trying to find some way to apologize for what he'd agreed to do. It wasn't like he would ever try to steal Erinchan away from Yukito... not like that. No. But Yukitokun had every right to mistrust him, and Kagayaki hated that. He hated that he'd been hurt by it too.

"Aidousan, do you want me to help you with the English lyrics?" Yukitokun asked, obviously seeing that they needed to break the silence.

Kagayaki shrugged, looking up for a millisecond before looking down again. "Yeah," he muttered, his hands in his jacket pockets. "That'd be great." Then he looked at Cassie and felt himself shrink a little further. "Sorry..." he said, growing a little more withdrawn. "I mean... T'at would be good, yah." Kagayaki turned to Yukito, meeting his eyes for a moment. 'You're lucky. You're just... lucky, that's what it is. Do you know how hard it is when your girlfriend is always ticked off by a language you speak well, but also ticked off when you don't speak her language right?' He looked away, staring at a chair. 'NO, you DON'T know that. You're good at everything. You don't know what it's like to always be the stupid one, the one that can't do anything. Everyone can love you, even if you're a total jerk sometimes. I try my hardest and no one seems to love me very long.'

'Maybe you're just meant to have life give you happiness, and I'm just meant to always give love instead of getting it. How's that fair, anyway? Can we just get this stupid musical over with? I'm only in it for Cassie anyway.'

"Ah..." Kagayaki looked around. "We have has co... costume-eh, to... to try on?" He glanced at Cassie for a moment, hoping to see a sign of approval on her face. 'Did I do good? Please say I did, or show me I did! I wish you'd like the way I am more, instead of being so upset by me...'

[The Phantom of Paris]

Cassandra "Cassie" Wright

"We... we lis'en?" he asked, holding out the CD that Shelby and Cassie had burned for him. "Futari, toge'her?"

Actually, Cassie didn't want to. She hated the Japanese cast...the Christine was okay, but the Phantom's voice annoyed her, and it was just weird listening to something you were so familiar with in a completely different language. She wasn't a music snob, but the pianist in her screamed in frustration every time the rhythm of a song was forgotten in an effort to keep the general plot or lyrics of the play the same in the translation. I just...don't like it, and I'm being a brat about it, and about this play, and about this relationship...ugh! I hate this! Why can't everything just be over?

Luckily, she was saved by Erin and Yukito's return. Thank you. "Oh, they're back. I guess we'll do this later, then?" That earned her a nod. "You guys okay?" she asked. Yukito's actions still surprised her. He had acted like a baby in there, that was for sure, but not without good reason. I guess everyone's more insecure than they let on, right? Especially about stuff like that.

"Sure!" Erin chirped And, as always, nothing fazes her...I should get happiness lessons from her... "Aidousan, we're fake-kissing, not real kissing, and if Shelby doesn't like it, she'll get over it."

Cassie just laughed. "Not sure that's gonna fly with Shelby. But if you two can make it look authentic enough on camera, then fine. But I'm serious, you can't just fake it like it's a joke or something. Fake it, but be serious...I know I sound crazy here, but we all have to suffer if this isn't up to Shelby's standards, okay?" Can you handle all that?

"Okay, so I'm gonna go try on my dresses. I'll be like a princess!"

Cassie wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, you lucky star soprano, you get the good costumes. I'm a freaking ballet rat. That's what they call me."

"You... You alrea'y a princess, yah!" Cassie arched an eyebrow at that. No one calls me a princess, except when I go to Disney World.

"Aidousan, do you want me to help you with the English lyrics?" Yukito answered, seeming strangely eager to get down to business after his outburst. "Yeah," Kagayaki replied before switching to Japanese. Then he did something weird...he looked at Cassie as if he was expecting her to hit him, or scold or something. What's that all about? "Sorry...I mean... T'at would be good, yah."

"Ah...We have has co... costume-eh, to... to try on?"

"Yeah..." Cassie began, "But yours haven't come in the mail yet...sorry." She gave him an apologetic look before grabbing her nearest costume, the Angel of Music ballet ensemble. "Hopefully they'll get here soon...I'm, um, just gonna throw this on and come back, okay?" With that, she took her costume and walked up the winding staircase to her bedroom to change, wondering when the fun and 'magic of cinema' would ever start.

Cassie is done here, officially...because this interaction is so old it's sprouting cobwebs. Seriously.