7 Days of Carmilla

Day 6 (Giants and Elves)

Casting

“Remind me why I’m here, Cupcake.” Carmilla didn’t look up from her book, but Laura didn’t expect anything else. They were in the Lustig building, alone, but not for long if people actually decided to show up.

“Because, Perry is our friend? And friends help each other?” Carmilla glanced at her and smirked,

“You don’t really want to be here either, do you?” Laura blushed,

“Okay, maybe I’m not really that into the whole acting thing, but I like helping out my friends! And you’re here, so it isn’t really all that bad...” Carmilla laughed softly and put her book aside, leaning in to kiss her when Danny and Kirsch came in together. They were bickering, like usual, but Laura noted that it seemed playful, rather than malicious. The two of them were also holding hands. They were closely followed by LaFontaine and Perry. Perry smiled when she saw that Laura and Carmilla were already there.

“Oh, good. You’re here. Well, like I told you, I will be directing a small play. A very small play. Featuring you guys.” Carmilla scoffed, but it was so quiet that Laura was fairly certain that she was the only one who heard. Danny was the one who actually spoke,

“So... what’s with this newfound interest in theatre?” LaFontaine laughed,

“She lost a bet,” they said, “Turns out if you take her to a party with some theatre students and get a bit of wine in her, Perry gets very competitive. She challenged someone to a rap battle.” Perry frowned at LaFontaine, who quickly fell silent.

“Regardless of my reasons, or the fact that some people are extremely biased judges, I would appreciate your help in sorting this out. So, I have five roles. A heroic giant, an evil witch, a damsel in distress, a mischievous elf, and a magic sword. The sword can talk so one of you needs to play as it.”

“And I take it you’ve already decided who will play which role?” Carmilla said quietly, she had reopened her book, but Laura was glad that she was at least showing that she was listening. Perry nodded,

“Yes. Um...so. Kirsch, you’ll be the heroic giant. You’re going to save the damsel in distress, Danny, from the evil witch, Carmilla. LaFontaine, you’ll be the magic sword, who the giant fights with, and Laura, you’re the mischievous elf, who is an ally of the witch.” Silence greeted Perry’s words, before their was an explosion of complaints.

“Perr, I totally want the evil witch role.” LaFontaine whined,

“Dude, why do I have to be the giant? I mean, the hero thing is totally cool, but why a giant?”

“I’m guessing you’re the giant because you’re the only one who doesn’t look like an elf next to the “Damsel in Distress” which I do not approve of, especially if you think I need a man to save me.”

“I’m an elf? Why am I an elf? It’s not my fault I’m small. And I’m not even that tiny!” Laura glanced at Carmilla, who seemed to be the only one unconcerned by the entire situation. Perry put up with the noise for about ten seconds before getting their attention.

“Fine. How about we put the roles in a hat and you each pick one. No complaints, no switching, and we just get on with this whole thing?” There were some mumbled agreements and in the next few minutes, everyone was holding onto slips of paper with their new roles written in Perry’s neat handwriting.

“Okay. So everyone is okay? Danny, you’re the...mischievous elf.” Even Danny couldn’t hold back a small laugh, “Kirsch, you’re the sword.” Kirsch grinned and nodded, “LaFontaine, you got what you wanted. You’re the witch. Laura you are the heroic giant.” Laura stood up as tall as she could and was rewarded with Carmilla’s smile, “Carmilla, you’re the damsel in distress.” Carmilla shrugged,

“Works for me. That sounds like I have to do a lot less than the evil witch.”

With some coaxing from Perry, they managed to rehearse. Danny played the mischievous elf by shuffling around on her knees in all of her scenes. Laura wore stilts, until she almost fell and was saved by Carmilla, who rushed to catch her. They settled for platform shoes that Perry managed to procure, hiding the fashion disasters with long pants (borrowed from Danny).

A week later, their play was ready. And it was about as good as a grade-school play, but whatever. The only people watching were the theatre students.

“Is everyone ready?” Perry called, she looked tense, but then, she always did.

“You’re giant in orange pants is ready.” Laura told her, looking down at herself. She barely reached Carmilla’s height, even with the shoes.

“Evil witch is ready.” LaFontaine was the only one who looked super excited.

“Magic sword is totally ready to like, kick evil witch butt.” Kirsch didn’t look at all embarrassed by the fact that he was dressed up as a huge, talking sword. Laura admired his confidence.

“Elf girl is ready to go.” Danny grinned, it was hard to take her seriously with her wearing fake ears and a pointed green hat.

“Let’s get this over with.” Carmilla drawled. Laura looked at her, and she liked it. In contrast with her usual black, Carmilla was wearing a white, low cut dress, that had lace at the hem and sleeves. Carmilla caught her eye and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

“I’m starting to feel like a piece of meat.” Laura blushed,

“You look good, Carm.” Carmilla smiled, but Perry interrupted them.

“Okay, just go! It’s starting!”

The play went decently well, considering the cast. There was a small glitch when Laura lost one of her shoes, and had to hop away in her too-big pants. Another one when LaFontaine decided to use real fire in one of the witch’s spells and Perry had to run for an extinguisher. But their small audience loved it when the “giant” rescued the damsel in distress and the two shared a passionate kiss. Kirsch and Danny also improvised a scene where the magic sword found true love in the mischievous elf, and the two decided to go off and elope (after their dramatic kiss scene). Laura thought Perry was going to explode when they went off-script, but the theatre students seemed to like it.

“So... for someone who isn’t into acting, you seemed to enjoy yourself.” Carmilla told Laura on the way back to their room. Everyone else had changed into regular clothes after they were done, but she hadn’t bothered, and was still wearing the white dress.

“It was more fun than I thought. And I liked the, um, the kiss scene.” Carmilla turned to her and smiled,

“You know, you really don’t have to put us both in a play just to kiss me.” She teased. Laura laughed and leaned forward, kissing Carmilla for a much longer time than they had in the play. When she drew away, Carmilla just looked at her. Speechless, for once. Laura smiled at her.

“Oh, what do you know. You were right.”