บท 3551: Chapter 2681: Hollywood Rhapsody (4)
The wine glasses shimmered with a golden hue, and the metal cutlery sparkled like crystal shards under the lights. The silken table banners reflected light like the glimmering waves of the ocean, hands of various expressions drifting like small boats in the vast sea.
They held their wine glasses, exchanging greetings and pleasantries with smiles on their faces and eyes, the aroma of dishes and drinks intermingling, igniting a fire that burned along the carpet up to everyone's faces and hearts. The atmosphere was heating up.
"I am very pleased about this," said Loki in a light green chiffon dress, adjusting the buttons at her chest, "The Divine King and Queen of Gods feel the same way. It's just that the Queen is nearing her due date and couldn't come in person. But, of course, Asgard's blessings should..."
"Oh, I could hear your commotion from inside," Stark, tweaking the lapels of his suit, walked out with big strides, reached out to embrace Helen, and said, "How are your brother and sister-in-law doing thanks to you?"
"They're doing well, thanks to you. How about you? I heard you've been incredibly busy lately?"
"Yes, had to make a final sprint, didn't I?"
"A sprint that results in a brand new little life?"
"Oh God, I sincerely hope he doesn't bring this up in front of Helen!" Stark said, spreading his hands in a backstage interview, "I don't know if the Frost Giants are particularly unrestrained or what, but this isn't a topic for kids!"
"The moment I saw Tony's expression, I knew he was treating me like I didn't understand anything," Helen said, rolling her eyes in a backstage interview, "Please, I just grow slowly, that's all. This is not a reason for him to treat me like a child and make things awkward every time. I'm really fed up with it."
Stark, accompanied by Loki, sat at their seats, and everyone stood up to shake hands with Loki. Shiller noticed that Loki looked a bit uneasy; since he was on vacation, he didn't analyze it seriously and just assumed that Tony's mention of children reminded Loki that she and Talya had been out of touch, naturally making her mood sour.
He examined her and said, "Did Tony say something to you? Don't take it to heart; you look pretty good today."
Excellent, Eddie thought to himself and gave Shiller a thumbs up in his mind. He quickly inserted Stark's uncomfortable expression right after that sentence, framing a Prelude of the Rich Tycoon and His Psychiatrist vying for the Asgardian Princess's affections—a small pre-explosion of jealousy—just what journalism education is for.
Strange followed suit, entering with a grim expression. Stark should have gone to greet him, but he just sat there with a scowl, arms folded, and said, "You look like you just walked out of the morgue... oh, sorry Pepper, I shouldn't have mentioned that."
"I knew it," Pepper said, shaking her head in a backstage interview, spreading her fingers in front of her chest, "The moment I saw Steven walk in, I just knew. This is too crazy."
"I never expected you to treat guests this way, especially after I've just completed an extraordinary surgery."
"Well, Mr. Godhand," Stark then stood up, touched hands with Strange across the table, quickly separated, and slightly mockingly added, "Haven't you reached the age to bring a date yet?"
Strange glanced at him and did not respond. At that moment, the door made another noise, and the camera switched, but Eddie slipped in a shot of Strange and Loki heading to the makeup room with their backs turned.
"Those two definitely have something going on," said Helen from her seat in the backstage interview, her feet not reaching the ground but snapping her fingers in grown-up fashion, "You can't fool me, right?"
Rocket Raccoon sat beside the vase on the table, one hand holding an awl and the other cradling a long mechanical arm, not even looking up, and said, "You might want to consider who holds more appeal for Asgard: Iron Demon God or Supreme Magician?"
"That's a good question, but I think Thor isn't so superficial. He's got elements of true love at his core," Helen gesticulated.
"Wait, why are we talking about Thor?" Rocket Raccoon turned his head to look at her, twitched his whiskers, and said, "Weren't we discussing Loki?"
"But we obviously can't just talk about Loki alone; we can never just talk about her. Although she's very kind to me, I can only say… she is fated to have, uh, trouble wrapped around her."
"I just think Stephen's complexion is off," said Loki in the interview room, reapplying her lipstick, "It's clear he tried hard to cover up his dark circles, but it didn't work out. Mr. Godhand isn't that skilled with makeup."
At this point, the camera switched to the makeup room, where the door was closed, but through the gap at the bottom, you could see two pairs of feet moving around.
"Welcome, our superstar!" Stark went up to greet Hela with a hug. Hela took off her sunglasses with a sigh, slipped them back into her Prada bag, flicked her long black hair, and said, "Thanks to you, I can still be called a superstar."
"Hey, fans! Don't steal my thunder!" Stark shouted out the doorway, spreading his arms with a big laugh, "I know you didn't come today just to see Iron Man make his entrance, but... Mark!!!"
Whoosh! A golden-red mech glided through the air and landed smoothly at the entrance, causing the crowd to boil over with excitement, all rushing forward, eager to take photos.
Hela, arms crossed, stood in front of the screen at the main entrance, shook her head, turned, and walked inside, saying, "You're still such a show-off, superstar. How's Pepper doing?"
"Show-off? She used that word to describe me? Please!" Stark said in the backstage interview, now wearing Battle Armor and not even lifting the face guard, the light from the guard flashing as he spoke.
"I was just complimenting him. He doesn't have as many fans as I do. How could he think all those people at the door came to see him? His fans combined don't even come close to a fraction of mine. He's too full of himself!"
But Stark still wrapped his arm around Hela's shoulders and walked with her to the dinner table. Since the seat was next to Shiller, Shiller stood up and pulled the chair out for Hela.
Eddie zoomed in on Shiller and Stark's expressions with a fierce close-up, and then cut the footage to include the scene of Hela and Shiller whispering to each other afterwards.
When everyone was seated, Hela handed her bag to a nearby waiter. Out of politeness, Shiller quietly asked her, "Have you been staying on Earth recently? Are you getting used to it?"
"Not bad," Hela observed the surroundings and said, "I'm just confused how such a small planet can have so many expensive and unpalatable restaurants, much worse than the Shi'ar Empire."
"Have you tried this one?"
"No, but all restaurants that look like this are terrible."
Eddie successfully captured Hela's slightly disdainful expression and immediately inserted a segment of her backstage interview.
"Tony Stark is always full of self-confidence," said Hela, "Perhaps that's the source of his strength, but it doesn't make him any more likable anywhere. Many people don't realize how rare and valuable stability is—that trait would add points to anyone."
"Ms. Hela doesn't seem to like this restaurant," Shiller's backstage interview seemed pointed as well. He said, "Even though she claims she hasn't tried it, her experiences in such restaurants before have never been pleasant. But that's not strange, given her taste is always very unique."
When Polaris walked in, Wanda's close-up showed an ugly expression on her face. Jarvis was whispering something to Wanda, but Wanda ignored him, staring at Polaris until she took her seat.
"Some people just have no sense of time—it's annoying," Wanda said to Jarvis. "I wonder how long she's going to act like the whole world owes her money. I'm so tired of it."
Steve, holding a menu, looked back in surprise as all eyes turned to that direction. Shiller didn't know why Wanda suddenly blew up, but his professional instinct prompted him to say, "Being early doesn't beat being timely, can I have a menu please? I was just thinking, the last time in therapy you mentioned you don't eat chickpeas, I had the manager cross them off for you."
"What do you mean, Wanda? So, with all these people here, you're only going to target me? Is that the brave thing to do?!"
Shiller's eyes widened, and before he could become lost in the moment, Wanda suddenly stood up, darting across most of the table, and yelled at Polaris, "I'm targeting you because nobody else here is a problem! Did I steal your tire, or did you take someone else's tire which made you so late?!"
With a whoosh, the utensils on the table all flew up; Shiller hurriedly picked up Helen on the other side, while Jarvis stopped rocking the stroller.
There was a gust, and the utensils landed solidly. Loki, who had come out from the restroom, retracted his hand and said, "There are two children and a pregnant woman here; whatever it is, you cannot do that."
"God, I was nearly scared to death!" Loki complained in a backstage interview. "Can you imagine? I just came out of the restroom to see utensils flying everywhere. The closest one was less than 20 centimeters from Pepper—she's just a regular person, and pregnant too! These sisters have been a source of trouble more than once; it's us who should be fed up!"
"This is how she always is!!!!!" Polaris slammed the table and bellowed, "Always creating trouble for others, and once everyone has had enough of her, then she plays the victim. She has always been this bitch—"
The word Polaris used was actually "hypocrite," but it was muted in post-production.
"I really don't know why she does this. She's an expert at bringing everyone down during every occasion," Wanda said, her hands waving and eyes red, "Whenever I point out her issues, she acts like a victim, and then she lashes out like a maniac. I really don't want to admit that we've become sisters with a lunatic like that. It's all because she had an egomaniac father..."
"That's her father too!!!!!" Polaris roared, "How can she always use that against me?!! Their brother and sister are more like their mother! Shameless bitch—"
The word that was bleeped out was "Gipsy."
Shiller was completely stunned by the current situation. Wasn't this the second entrance? How had the two of them started fighting?
Shiller looked at Stark. Stark said with a look of displeasure, "Let's not do this, ladies. We're here for a gathering today. Can you give me some face, please?"
"'Give me some face,' 'do it for my sake'..." Strange imitated Stark weirdly in the backstage interview. He said, "He always calls me 'Hand of God.' I think he should be called 'God's entire body'... an incorrigible egomaniac."
What relieved Shiller was that the waiter had begun serving dishes, and the two tense sisters finally sat down.
The service level of the restaurant was quite exceptional, with waiters on both sides synchronizing their serving motions. The dishes were placed with stability and precise spacing; Eddie went to the camera position at the end of the long table and shot a deep-focus montage of all the dishes from start to finish.
Stark clapped his hands, and everyone else took a deep breath. Pepper stretched and said, "I'm going to the restroom."
Loki checked himself in a mirror, stood up, and said as he walked toward the makeup room, "I'm going to touch up my makeup; you guys eat first."
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