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“Are you enjoying yourself?” Sayaka murmured. Her breath ghosted against her girlfriend’s neck as she leaned in close, resting her head against a black-clad shoulder. Despite the casual, almost chaotic atmosphere of the room they’d rented at the karaoke bar, Celeste was decked out in one of her usual, elaborate gothic lolita outfits. She looked beautiful, even if it was inherently a bit silly to act so sophisticated and above it all in a situation like this. Even Byakuya seemed to relax a bit across the room, letting Makoto feed him bites of food when he thought no one was looking.
“Oh, yes, it’s fine,” Celeste replied, hands clasped atop the table. Sayaka could see her eyes wander in the direction of a plate of gyoza, but she didn’t take any, undoubtedly wanting to preserve both her makeup and her pride.
Sayaka leaned a little closer, careful not to disturb Celeste’s carefully styled hair extensions, and said under her breath, “Just fine? Shall I feed you like the boys over there?” She laughed softly, nodding in the direction of Makoto and Byakuya.
“You wouldn’t dare.” Celeste kicked her under the table, though not hard enough to hurt. Just enough to make her giggle more, thoroughly besotted with her.
“Hmm, then could it be a problem with the entertainment?” Yasuhiro had one of the mics at the moment, singing a loud, off-key rendition of an old pop song. He was accompanied by Aoi (shooting the occasional glance at Sakura with undisguised sappiness), who did little to cover for the fact that he was a truly awful singer. “Would you rather I sang for you instead?”
“If you wish, who would I be to refuse? A performance from one of the most respected idols of our generation is always a safe bet.” Then, in a significantly quieter tone, she added, “Infinitely better than this horseshit.”
As promised, Sayaka got to her feet once Yasuhiro and Aoi were done. But, with a mischievous gleam in her eyes, she took both microphones, holding one of them out in Celeste’s direction. “Surely you’ll join me, won’t you?” she asked, putting on her best cutesy idol expression. Things like that still came in handy even though her group no longer promoted as frequently as it used to.
“I couldn’t,” her girlfriend tried to demur, her serene smile growing more forced by the second. As soon as their friends realized what was going on, they started egging her on, throwing out words of teasing encouragement. Simmering—though not really angry, Sayaka made sure of that—Celeste stood up, grumbling all the while.
“Very well then, if you insist. I suppose one song isn’t too much of an imposition.” Coming up to stand beside her, Celeste twirled the microphone idly in her hands while Sayaka scrolled through the list of songs. She chose one of her own, unable to help the broad, silly smile on her face. Surely it wasn’t conceited to choose it, right? Her group and its music made her happier than almost anything else—except, of course, Celeste. It was a perfect combination.
Celeste started out very quietly, hardly doing much more than lip syncing the bright, cheerful lyrics. Sayaka could belt each line loud enough for both of them, and this was all for fun anyway, so she wasn’t going to push it. A faint wisp of disappointment remained coiled in her chest though, making her all the more surprised when Celeste’s voice started to grow louder beside her.
It was difficult to maintain a false accent while singing. The voice she was treated to was her real one, darker and huskier with no European affectations. In that moment, at least, Celeste didn’t seem to care that they weren’t alone. Her red eyes shone as she crooned about love and belonging, not tearing her gaze from Sayaka for a moment. She had the lyrics memorized.
As much as she wished the moment wouldn’t end, the song eventually faded to nothing, screen bare of lines.
“Thank you for indulging me,” she said under the din of applause. “You were a very good sport, so I won’t try to talk you into more.”
“Oh?” Celeste raised an eyebrow, chin leaning against one loose fist. Her other hand still held the microphone. “And here I was just thinking I would not mind singing another.”