Chapter 7: Royal Misfits (Christy's Vlog)

"What do we do now?" Anya questioned as she sat down on one of the beds in the hotel room, gazing out the window. "Well, there's a number of things to do in Paris," Vlad shrugged. Minka sneezed, then her cheeks turned red when everyone turned to look at her. "Gesundheit," Anya mumbled. "Thank you," Minka mumbled. Dmitry chuckled, then sat down beside Minka on the bed. "Turn around," he muttered. "What? Why?" Minka inquired. "Just do it," Dmitry sighed. Minka sighed and turned to where her back faced Dmitry. He started to rub her back. Minka chuckled. "What's this for?" "You need to relax."

A chuckle could be heard coming from someone. "Derek, Christy, Kayleigh, you three really have gotten a bit too in character." The three blinked, breaking the scene that had been set up. "You know we have fifteen minutes to ourselves." Kayleigh, who was the one natural redhead on stage, laughed, "John, are you familiar with method acting?" John, who was playing Vlad, nodded. Kayleigh let out a small laugh, "Good, because the most on stage work I've done was... well... never. The only roles I've ever had were the narrator in Dolls of New Albion and the mascot 3000 in The New Albion Guide to Analogue Consciousness, both of which were operas written by Paul Shapera."

Derek chuckled. "I must say, you're a talented actress." Kayleigh turned to face him. "Thank you, that means a lot." He nodded. Christy got up and padded over to them, sitting down in front of Kayleigh.

"Why don't we talk to Constantine. I know you two have had a lot of moments on stage together, but maybe he could try and interpret how the Tsar and Minka's relationship is going, I mean, father and child or employer and servant based," Christy suggested. "Just make sure Ramin isn't in your dressing room sneaking candy. We all know what happened last time. Everyone was putting comments on the vlogs saying that you should put Creepy Anya in the bowl to try to stop him. I have to admit, it didn't work," Kayleigh chuckled softly. Christy got a smile on her face as Kayleigh pondered, "Are you going to vlog this?" Christy nodded. "Seriously?" Kayleigh questioned. "Yes, seriously, it's the first week your character has been added to the story as a neutral force." Kayleigh looked at Christy and inquired, "That's all well and good, but why are we confirming the Tsar's feelings towards Minka with him?" Christy eyed the new cast member, "Because some people are starting to think it's a romantic one." Kayleigh gagged a bit in her mouth. "Oh my God, do they know our characters are literally twenty nine years apart?"

"Apparently not...?" Derek sounded unsure. Kayleigh couldn't help but giggle at his uncertainty. The group got up and walked backstage, searching for Constantine. "Oh! Dang it, I'm sorry," Kayleigh apologized. She looked up and met Constatine's eyes. "Well, that's one way to find him," John commented.

Kayleigh rubbed the back of her neck as Christy started talking. "We actually needed clarification on something. Some of the fans that were watching the show seem to think something about the Tsar's connection with Minka. We needed your clarification," Christy began. "They seem to think it's more than a platonic friendship. They seem to think that it's hinting at a romantic connection. We just needed your thoughts on it. Is it romantic, or more of a father and child relationship?" Kayleigh was internally gagging when she heard the word 'romantic' used to describe her character's relationship with the Tsar. Kayleigh spoke to herself, "Please say father and child... please say father and child..."

Constantine chuckled and said, "Seriously?" Derek and John nodded. "They're not kidding?" "No, they're not!" John laughed. "It's father and child, one where Nicholas feels a connection with a child that isn't his." Constantine explained. "Of course they're serious, Constantine. Do you not go on social media?" Ramin shouted from above them. Constantine rolled his eyes. "I'm going back up to my dressing room. Good bye!"

Kayleigh sighed, "He's wired from candy. Don't mind him. I actually wanted to talk to him for a bit. I wanted to know what he thought when I first joined the cast as a new character." Christy grinned, "Are you sure it's just that?" Kayleigh sighed, "Shut up. He's already married with two kids." "I'm sure it's just the fact that they are pulling antics on the cast," John remarked as Kayleigh went back up, following Ramin. Christy followed suit, still vlogging.

"Ramin! Slow down!" Kayleigh ran to catch up with him. The other three laughed. "He's just trying to get back to his dressing room as quickly as he can," Christy remarked. "They're right. I hide in there," Ramin glanced at Kayleigh over his shoulder. Kayleigh laughed and grabbed his arm before he had the chance to bolt down the hall. "Come on, please?" "I want nothing to do with this," he sighed. "It's just about our newest member, Ramin," Derek laughed.

Kayleigh was growing embarrassed. Did Derek really just throw her under the bus. "Don't you have to get ready for your next scene?" Ramin inquired, looking at Kayleigh. Kayleigh remarked, "It's not hard to put dark circles under my eyes, Ramin. You have to remember, I've done that makeup for a week now and it always looks consistent from show to show." Kayleigh sighed, "I guess I wanted to know how you felt about the addition of Minka to counteract your character of Gleb."

"Great. I love our newest member and I love her character. I love that I get to tease someone so often and get paid for it," he shrugged. "Now, will you please let me go?" Kayleigh nodded. "Thank you." Kayleigh nodded again. "Want to go to my dressing room?" Christy asked, looking at Kayleigh. "Yeah." "We have places in four minutes," Derek spoke up, slipping inside his dressing room. "Well, I have to go make circles around my eyes anyway," Kayleigh shrugged. "True." "Remember, Christy, four minutes." "Got it," Christy nodded.