2nd Gen Karaoke Night!: Sing Your Feelings {Group Thread}

[Lorelei Summer-Lac]

Lorelei was practically squealing as she sent a few more messages out, trying to wrangle the last few people into the room for it. A few others, including some that Lorelei (surprisingly) hadn't met yet were already here, mingling around the place. One of them, this brilliant rainbow haired punkish girl, had already started making deal with the owner. Rainbow gave Lorelei the thumbs up, which had Lorelei grinning.

"Right!" Lorelei said, turning to everyone already gathered. "Just a few last minute invites. Thanks for coming, guys!" She all but squealed. She'd dressed for karaoke too, which for Lorelei meant bright neon colors in clashing hues. Imagine if someone let the childhood drawing of a poor confused 80's child out to play, minus the teased hair. "So, the machine over there's got the whole list of songs. It apparently is, like, magical or something, so the list is really long and has all kinds of stuff," Lorelei bobbed. "I mean, most of it's kinda from our parents' time? But it's still got some great songs. I can't wait to sing them!"

Lorelei nodded again. "Alright, so, like, you can challenge people to sing if you want. Or you can get up and sing or do a duet or something. Um," she turned, looking, "I think that the rainbow girl over there said we have the place for the night?" Lorelei nodded and turned to look again. "I also think she's going first? If that's alright. I'd go but I so don't know what song to sing. So, um, the main rule is to have fun?"

Lorelei paused again. "oh! The bar's also open tonight? But, um, no alcohol for us younger people." Lorelei rolled on her hips, then let out a little squeal. "I'm so glad you're all here!"

[Cal Karnstein]

Said rainbow haired girl had actually helped set this up. She'd heard through the grapevine that this was apparently a thing that was happening, and she'd arrived only a bit before the actual arranged time. Cal knew the place, after all, and she happened to be rather charming... as well as having that black card on her at all times. She didn't even need to use it though: the moment word got out that about 1/3 of the royals in Trenale were going to be on the guest list, suddenly people were tripping over themselves. Cal had just wisely used that to leverage free drinks and a longer use of the machine.

And she fully intended to get started. You know, to test out the equipment and help people get going. They'd be filtering in, but that wouldn't stop Cal from performing her heart out anyway. Swelling rock music poured out as she selected her first number, grabbing the mic with one hand to lean in: "Like the legend of the phoenix, all ends with beginnings, what keeps the planet spinning, the force of love beginning~" each line delivered with an almost haunting lilt. She gradually ramped as the tune started: "We've come to far, to give up who we aaaare, so let's raise the bar, and our cups to the staaaaaaaars~" Cal raised her own, tilting back and taking a shot of her favorite blood and energy drink cocktail, just as the song's chorus came crashing in:

"She's up all night till the sun,~" kick, grab the mic and start walking, "I'm up all night to get some~" and of course she winked as people started coming in. "She's up all night for good fun I'm up all night to get lucky~" Things repeated then, as Cal waved to people coming in, grinning around the mic as she started getting things going, and perhaps telegraphing some of her intent as she went.

{rock cover of "Get Lucky" }

[Luc DuLac]

Luc had heard about the karaoke through a friend of a friend and figured he may as well come along, after all it was likely Tristian would be there and he wouldn't want to miss out on a chance to see him, especially if he was going to sing. He wasn't sure if he'd sing himself yet, maybe he'd see how many other people showed up and how good they were - his singing voice was passable but not that great, and he didn't want to be surrounded by amazingly talented singers and then to ruin it by singing himself, on the other hand if everybody was just going for it and having fun, maybe he'd get involved.

He walked in and found a seat near the back, his usual choice of lurking spot, though he did at least give a small wave to Lorelei as he entered, after all she was... sort of his sister? Or something? He was happy to adopt her into his people-he-will-protect list anyway. Once he was sitting his attention turned to the girl who was singing, tapping along with her song on the tabletop. She was pretty good.

[Jenny]

Jenny had, of course, received a text message from Lorelei telling her about the karaoke. Normally she wouldn't bother, but it turned out she had nothing better to do that night, and it was an opportunity to scope out the talent, and Lorelei could be pretty insistent, so she'd made her way down, arriving just in time to hear Lorelei's speech. Making her way straight to the bar, she flirted her way into a free cocktail and made her way to Lorelei, taking a seat and sipping her drink.

"Ok, you totally need to calm down." She rolled her eyes. "Like, seriously. And what are you wearing? Did anything I told you actually go in when I took you shopping? Or have all those fights you've gotten into knocked all the useful stuff right back out of you?"

She looked around, trying to see who was here. "Do you know if that Raff guy is coming?" She asked, attempting to sound like she didn't actually care.

[Genevieve]

She hadn't planned on going when she received Lorelei's message. Karaoke really wasn't her thing; getting up on a stage and singing in front of a group? No, thank you. Sitting in the audience at Cal's performance had been embarrassing enough, there was no way she was getting up into the spotlight. But there was that word again - spotlight. And an opportunity to sing in front of a crowd meant Cal was more than likely to be there, and that, aside from anything else, was more than enough to pull Genevieve towards the place.

She'd resisted for as long as possible, which wasn't all that long at all, sat in her room with a mug of tea and a good book. But it didn't take long for her to put the book aside and head out, making her way to the bar and sidling in after a few people had already arrived. She had heard the singing from outside, feeling a jump in her stomach as she immediately recognised the voice. She knew she'd be here, and as she pushed open the door and glanced around, she smiled as she caught sight of Cal at the microphone, blushing a little and biting her lip as she paused, watching. She looked so good up there.

She caught sight of Lorelei and Jenny, and made her way over, slipping into a seat beside them, her eyes still on the stage and the girl she had fallen hard for.

[Jo Karnstein]

Of all the nights Jo could've shown up, this was probably the best one. Obviously they would've found Cal and they probably would've wound up singing their hearts out into the night anyway, but the fact that it was like, officially the night for that? Perfection.

A rush of cold air followed them as they wandered in, just in time for Cal to be testing the equipment in the way only their sister could. The plum lipstick Jo had donned formed into a proud smirk as they winked, revealing just how much work had gone into their eyeshadow, complete with a little snowflake design just at the corner, tucked between the blue and purple. They thought it offered a nice contrast to the navy blue suit they were donning, complete with a tie just loose enough to show they weren't going to be a total stiff at this party.

They adjusted their jacket, and scanned the room. It looked like one of the nearby tables was nearly full, but like hell they were going to be sitting alone unless those people were adamant about it just being the three of them. They might have been the quieter of the siblings, but that didn't mean they were going to be a wallflower.

As they approached the table, they caught a glimpse of one of the girls, who seemed to be glowing at the sight of Cal...ohhh, they had a feeling they knew what was going on there...God, they hoped that no one would get hurt here. They knew Cal never meant to, but...they shook it off, smiling towards the girls and nodding towards the stage.

"She's great, isn't she? Don't suppose you mind if I join you guys?"

[Cal Karnstein]

Oh hey, Cal's two favorite people in the world showed up. She actually noticed Jo first: she hadn't heard they'd shown up yet, so it was especially awesome to see them in action. Of course, Cal wasn't doing more than letting her eyes flick toward her sibling: Jo knew that you didn't interrupt during a performance, and hell if Cal wasn't putting one of those on right now.

"We're up all night 'til the sun,~" Cal bobbed as the beat dropped, almost thrusting with the mic, thoroughly enjoying herself even i they were mostly working at introducing themselves. "We're up all night to get some,~" okay, she might have caught Genevieve's wandering glance and winked at that, since the other girl's eyes were all but locked on her. "We're up all night for good fun
We're up all night to get lucky~"

Full chorus time, and Cal was definitely getting into it, showing off her pipes. She could still see a few more people gathering in, and she figured she could keep singing the upbeat, party song to get things started while they kept on filtering in.

[Tristian]

It had not been his intention to attend. He certainly had no intention of taking the mic up himself, despite the awful temptation that it would pose, but he felt obligated to go given everything that had happened to Lorelei recently. He wanted to make the effort, he wanted to show that he supported to her, however he was immediately regretting this decision the minute he stepped in the door.

Thankfully he was not attending alone.

“Gods…” he whispered under his breath.

Cal was on the stage and she was singing her little heart out, not doing a bad job of it either and he noticed his little sister gazing up at her in awe. That made him frown a little, he was going to have to keep a close eye on this. However the overwhelming temptation to rush over and join in…this was going to be hard…this was going to be very hard. He gave Cal a nod and waved to his sisters before looking for the furthest away table possible from the stage.

It was already occupied. However, it was occupied by someone he recognised, he waved to Luc and started making his way across, motioning to the person he came in with to follow him.

“Hey,” said Tristian, “mind if we join you? This is Richard, Richard Locksley.”

[Gaston Jr]

Gaston Jr walked in to the club not long after his elder brother and looked around the place to see who else had turned up. He didn’t recognise the girl currently on stage but waved at where his sisters, walking over to a table near them and grabbing a few extra seat to put around the table. The rest of the ‘gang’ would no doubt be turning up shortly, they had planned to go together but he offered to go in advance and make sure he got them all a good table. The ‘gang’ being Meredith, Eddie and Gwyn, although she wondered if Gwyn was going to bring that Costin guy she had been talking about, it would be interesting to meet him.

That being said, he wasn’t really in the mood for karaoke, he was still feeling a little morose over the whole Mordred and Meredith thing, so his mood wasn’t particularly good…and it showed. The normal cheerful smile that graced his face was lacking, he looked depressed, deflated and resigned. Not exactly the best combination for singing. To make himself feel better he had donned his new red Star Lord coat and had tried something new with his hair, slicking it back with a slight quiff. He was pleased with the results, but it had done little to lighten his mood.

As he sat at the table he listened to the girl on stage, his head in his hands, and waited for the others to arrive.

[Jesse]

Jesse was extremely excited to receive his invitation to the Karaoke, he never got invited to anything and so on receiving the invitation he had made sure to respond to Lorelei to let her know that he would be there and informed her that he would be bringing a friend with him. He had also informed a couple of his other siblings that he would be bringing a friend at which point they had quickly responded that pets weren’t allowed in bars and that Terry and Elliot should absolutely stay at him. He had then mysteriously told them that he had new friend and that he would definitely be allowed in.

They had then looked even more concerned.

Despite this he was still excited. He had a song all prepared and he couldn’t wait to perform, he was certain everyone was going to enjoy it. As he walked in he turned to his new friend and said, “do you think you’ll sing?”

[Blossom Snow]

Blossom - sorry, John - was less excited to receive his invitation to karaoke. He’d been invited by Jesse, an invitation reinforced by his Aunt Cal, and a bar where people sang cheesy crap and were happy and sociable was the last place he wanted to be. Still, Jesse was cool, and he said weird stuff which John fully appreciated, so here he was.

As they walked in his trademark scowl deepened at the amount of people that were there, and as he saw Cal already on stage singing some of the aforementioned cheesy crap he rolled his eyes. At Jesse’s question he almost laughed - but John didn’t laugh, so he just shook his head vehemently. No way was he getting on that stage.

“Let’s just sit down.” He said grumpily, indicating a table near the back. The more shadows the better, especially since not only was one of his Aunts up on stage, but apparently the other one was here now too, and Blossom - John - did not want people to realise there were people in his life he actually tolerated.

[Mordred Le Fey]

He’d been seriously tempted not to bother when he got Lorelei’s text; his head had been all over the place the last few days and he’d fallen off the wagon pretty hard. But he was pretty certain Meredith would be there, and as he hadn’t seen her since the whole pregnant-not pregnant debacle, he needed to see her. Plus he knew he could sing pretty damn well, and he had a couple of ideas for serenading her. Singing his feelings, as it were.

He nearly left alone, but at the last minute had burst into Aiden’s room without knocking and informed her she was coming. Which was why he now had a firm grip on her wrist and was literally dragging her through the door into the bar. He was surprised at the amount of people there, and looked around for somewhere to sit, quickly deciding to just head straight to the bar, Aiden in tow. He finally released her as he ordered them both a drink, pushing hers towards her without saying anything and turning back to the room.

He nervously rubbed the scratches that had appeared on his neck and arms since he had last left the house. If anyone asked, he had his excuse lined up - thank god for the cat. He looked around and saw Tristian, nodding at him, before noticing who he was with a giving Tristian a grin. No sign of Meredith yet though, and Mordred felt a knot in his stomach as he downed his drink in one.

[Gwyn Locksley]

Unsurprisingly Gwyn wasn't really into Karaoke. She didn't see the point of getting drunk and making a fool of oneself in front of a roomful of people in any context, and throwing music into it didn't make it any better. Yet here she was, walking into such a situation with Eddie and Meredith, Gaston Jr. presumably waiting for them.

Too be fair, she couldn't exactly refuse. Her friends had asked her to attend, and despite her feelings on social situations like this she did love her friends and did enjoy spending time with them. Also, Lorelei had made sure to arrange her schedule specifically so she wouldn't miss it.

Stepping into the crowded building, Gwyn winced at the loud music and din of conversation, her eyes scanning the room. She saw Lorelei, who was quite hard to miss in that ensemble, and near the bar there was Mordred. Gwyn still didn't know how to feel about him after learning of all he had been up to recently, but the feelings she did have weren't good. Plus, she was here with Meredith and wasn't exactly sure where they stood today, so best if she maybe didn't know he was here. Quickly locating Gaston at an otherwise empty table, she lightly pushed her friend and brother toward it.

“Gaston!” she called as she reached them. He didn't really look like his cheery self, but Gwyn being Gwyn she completely misinterpreted his stance. “Is it always this loud?” she asked, sympathetically, assuming he had a headache or was just bothered by the noise.

[Aiden Mumble]

Aiden was not going to karaoke. She'd gotten Lorelei's text in imminently ignored it. She was not going to go. She was going to stay in her room and continue drinking her cares away. She hadn't left the house in a while. She'd only opened the door to pick up the mail once. Her dad had sent her a basket with a card that she wasn't ready to read. The package remained unopened on her dresser. Hinrik had sent another letter which she'd read at least thirty times. She kept cursing at herself for sending him anything in the first place. She couldn't stop thinking about the line where he mentioned hanging up his sword for good. What did that mean? Was he coming home? She didn't want him to give another up for her. She'd straight up told him she didn't want him to come back. Well...she'd at least said he shouldn't. She should have been more clear. If she hadn't been in the middle of a total collapse maybe she could have been.

The point was, Aiden had a lot of her mind, she was already fairly drunk, and she was not going to karaoke. Of course, Mordred had other plans. She protested. Called him a few nasty names. She told him he would have to drag her if he wanted her to come and then he did. He grabbed her and he dragged her. His grip on her bruised wrist hurt her, but she dare not mention it and bring up that night they'd both agreed to forget. Both her wrists were bruised, in fact, her neck too. It was likely to raise some questions, but Aiden pretended not to care. She'd be happy to fight anyone who pushed the matter.

Aiden had a bottle of rum clutched in her hand as they made their way through the door. She was basically dragging her feet just to make it more difficult for Mordred. The doorman said something about how she couldn't bring the bottle, but she literally hissed at him and flipped him off so he let the matter drop.

When they reached the bar Aiden sigh and took a seat. She was here now, no use in running. Complaining, however... "Mordred, why am I here?" She moaned, then a drink appeared in front of her and she said "Oh yeah" and took a drink gladly. She placed the bottle she brought on the bar and used her free hand to support her head. She deliberately didn't turn around to see who else was there. This was going to be a bad night.

[Richard Locksley]

Richard wasn't entirely sure why he'd allowed Tristian to drag him out of the house to this... karaoke night. He didn't even know what a karaoke night was. Or rather, he hadn't, Tristian had explained it and he wasn't entirely sure he was overly enamoured with the idea, yet here he was.

He followed Tristian at a safely heterosexual distance, shoulders relaxed and hands shoved in his pockets, sauntering along as if he didn't have a care in the world - which he was very good at pretending he didn't - though his expression was one of distaste. He raised an eyebrow at the girl singing, giving her a slight nod of recognition - she was memorable enough as it was with that hair, but when somebody practically threw themselves at you, you tended to remember what they looked like.

"Hey," he turned his attention to the person already seated at the table they'd arrived at, his tone disinterested, already dropping into the seat before Luc had even spoken - he wasn't going to wait for somebody else to tell him where he could sit.