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"I dunno, baby girl," Sett said, the left corner of his lips sliding up into an easy smirk. "My people ain't exactly your demographic."
This wasn't the first time Seraphine had pleaded for him to play one of her songs at his club (which definitely didn't have a hidden lower level where VIPs could bet on bare-knuckle fights), but this was the first time she seemed to mean it.
"Wow." Seraphine shook her head. "You actually don't know. Of course you don't." She pursed her lips and tapped on her phone. "This song is really different."
"Uh-huh."
Seraphine's new contract required a drone camera to follow her throughout her day so branding and marketing could edit together day-in-the-life segments for her socials, and it flicked its focus between her and Sett, capturing multiple angles of both their faces. (Sett's official role was the big brotherly childhood friend, and gentle bullying was a mainstay of the genre.)
"It is, you jerk! Anyway," she said, glancing at him through the veil of her bangs. The drone camera zoomed in appreciatively. "Technically you can't tell anyone yet. We haven't finished shooting the MV."
Sett shrugged. "Yeah, yeah, I know how it is." Apparently this conversation would be "leaked" just before the official release.
She sent the track to the empty club's sound system, and Sett had to force his smirk to stay in place. Oh shit. He genuinely couldn't care less about music industry news, just listened to whatever and picked what felt right. But of course he knew K/DA.
Lucky for him, Akali got the first verse, which gave him an easy opening.
"Damn, girl," he said, lifting his eyebrows. "I didn't know you could rap. You're right. Your voice sounds a lot better on this track."
Seraphine hit pause, then reached up to punch his shoulder. (Well, as much as anything Seraphine threw at Sett could be called a punch.) "My part is toward the end." She gave him a pouty squint, but her eyes twinkled.
"So skip to the good part, then," Sett said, reaching for her phone, but Seraphine curled protectively around it and swatted his hand away.
"Oh my God, will you just listen?"
The drone zipped closer. Sett forced himself not to look. He'd been having too much fun, almost forgot it was there. Careful. He took a step back, his hands raised in surrender.
"I'm listening."
Seraphine started the track over, and Sett crossed his arms and closed his eyes, let his head find the beat. It wasn't bad. He could play it at the right times, snuck between the right tracks, until people got used to it.
And then Seraphine's solo hit, the lilting sweetness of her voice floating over the bridge like cotton candy on boba tea. Wow.
When the track ended, Sett opened his eyes to see Seraphine watching him with genuine nerves.
"Congrats, baby girl," he said, nodding. "This is huge."
"Right?! Part of me still can't believe Evelynn reached out for this collaboration. It feels unreal." She brushed her bangs aside and stared down at her phone. "Honestly, I'm kinda nervous about the MV."
"Why? 'Cause the rest of them are so much hotter than you?"
For just a moment, Seraphine's expression froze, and her shoulders wilted. The drone hovered in front of her face like a voyeuristic hummingbird, and it was too late for her to hide. She had to play it up instead, bite her lip, drop her gaze to her feet.
Damn it. Sett hadn't expected that to land. He should have. He couldn't hug her, so he frowned instead. "Ay, knock that shit off, Sera. That's blood in the water. They'll eat you alive."
Seraphine's eyes flew wide, and her hands fluttered in front of her face, as though to fan his words away. "No!" she said, and meant it. "The other girls have all been so--"
"I'm not talking about them, and you know it."
The drone swiveled to focus on him now, and he glared straight into its camera. He couldn't help it. He felt his jaw tighten.
Seraphine shifted, and they looked back at each other. The drone withdrew for a wide-angle shot as she gave him a shaky nod and said, "Yeah . . . you're right. I have to be confident!" She raised her clenched fists and gave a hop, one foot lifted behind her in a perfect, little sisterly gesture.
"All right." Sett willed his own fists to relax. "So let's try that again: 'The rest of them are so much hotter than you.'"
For less than a second, she smiled--sharp and sweet--before training her expression into cool disinterest. Lifting her chin, she said, "You know, Settrigh, if you want to ask me out so bad, you could just do that, instead of acting like a jerk."
Sett didn't respond out loud. He just stood there and let his face look stunned as Seraphine spun on her heel, then strode out of the club, her high ponytail whipping and then swaying behind her like a cape.