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When he was young, Salvador decided to participate in an exchange program, he only saw it as a form to use his family money to get away from them, even if it was only for a year. What he didn't expect is that he would meet his favorite people there and that, years later, they would all meet in the country that he was born to enjoy his favorite holiday: Carnaval. And that, of course, included bringing them to his favorite bar before the actual festivities.
The loud and out of tune songs in the karaoke right beside them, the amount of people that definitely was above the quantity recommended by the law, the incomprehensible conversations that intertwine with the ambient sound of cutlery encountering each other. None of his friends could really understand their surroundings, since he was the only one who knew portuguese, but they were clearly all having a good time.
And that was once more proved seeing his friend come back to the table with her fourth caipirinha of the night in her hand and a slightly drunk smile across her face. Aelys was with her typical half up, half down hairstyle, making the white streak in her hair more visible, wearing a black crop top that she had borrowed from Synnove after ignoring the multiple warnings that Sal gave that it would be fucking warm, but, of course, she didn’t listen to him and even after seeing he was right, refused to admit.
“Where is Theagus?” Sal asked, noticing that Aelys had left the table with him but came back alone.
“He's flirting at the bar with some girl,” She sat down across Sal and by Synnove's side, sipping her drink.
“What?” Sal said while simultaneously laughing “He said he learned a little bit of portuguese to do some things here and there without needing me, but I didn't know it was enough to go around flirting,” Aelys shrugged.
“It's Theagus.”
“Fair enough,” Sal's voice mixed with the notification sound of Aelys’ phone, and, when she saw the notification, her smile instantly vanished and she seemed to sober up suddenly. “You good?”
“Just my mother,” She replied in a low volume.
“Aelys…” Sal spoke loud enough so just she would hear it while their friends were distracted discussing the schedule for the next days, which was mostly Synnove and Katari bantering with each other with JB dropping a comment here and there.
“Don't even begin,” Aelys hissed. “Fighting me or not will not change the fact that I will answer,” Sal felt his blood boil, for fuck's sake, she was in a bar in another country travelling and still her family didn’t leave her alone, like she wasn't already exploited enough.
He wanted to take the phone out of her hand and call her mother yelling to leave Aelys alone. But all that he did was smile, his mind working fast already. Just because he could not fight her about it, it did not mean he was going to let this be the main moment in Aelys’ night and ruin the mood for her.
“Fine,” Aelys glanced at him, she knew Sal well enough to suspect him dropping the subject so easily, which she was correct but didn't bother to press on it, just going back to her phone. “I’m gonna check on Theagus, he's taking way too long with our beers.”
Sal walked in the direction of the bar, but, the second that he noticed none of his friends were looking, he went to the karaoke and the book with the options of what to sing. His eyes passed through the pages quickly until finding the perfect option, a smirk appeared in his face. He requested the song and paid quickly, already going to the bar to meet with Theagus before his friend went back to the table.
“Hey, Sal,” Theagus called him from the bar. “Help me with these” Theagus indicated to the two beers in front of him with his head, since his hands were already full.
“Of course,” He took it and noticed the folded napkin that he was holding with one of the cups. “What is that?”
“Oh, just the number of a girl that I was talking to at the bar,” Sal looked at Theagus with a smirk on his face. “Shut up, it's not like that!”
“Yeah, sure, buddy, you were talking to a random girl at the bar who happened to give you her number but it was totally not like that,” He said as they were arriving at their table.
“See, I said that with only a couple hours of learning stuff, I could do more than you all here,” Theagus said while they distributed the glasses, ignoring Sal's teasing.
“If that makes you our new personal waiter, sure,” Katari replied, sipping on her beer.
The conversation continued, their laughs taking space in the overall chaos of ambient sound, but Sal's eyes were focused on Aelys, who was just looking forward, still with something on her mind bothering her, worrying Sal more than he wanted to admit. And, of course, he also would occasionally look at the karaoke just waiting, and waiting, and waiting…
Until he saw it, the number of the song that he chose.
“I wouldn't miss this if I were you,”He said loud enough so the whole table would hear, but looking at Aelys.
“Where are you going?” JB asked.
“The karaoke.”
“Without me?” He could hear Synnove complaining while he was taking the microphone.
“Hey, Aelys,” Sal said into the microphone, the song still on the intro that he knew and loved. “Eyes on me.”
Aelys crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows, with an expression that could be described only as defying, but did as she was told to.
“ Amor da minha vida
Daqui até a eternidade
Nossos destinos foram traçados
Na maternidade
Paixão cruel, desenfreada
Te trago mil rosas roubadas
Pra desculpar minhas mentiras
Minhas mancadas ”
He started, catching his friends' attention.
“ Exagerado
Jogado aos teus pés
Eu sou mesmo exagerado
Adoro um amor inventado ”
With the chorus, some people started singing along from their seats, while Sal, even though that wasn't his main goal, was enjoying the attention he was getting, doing a show worth watching.
“ Eu nunca mais vou respirar
Se você não me notar
Eu posso até morrer de fome
Se você não me amar ”
Sal took the microphone and thanked that he and his friends for some dumb reason had chosen a table close to the karaoke, reaching them with ease and offered a hand for Aelys, who was with a confused smile on her face, but took it anyway, standing up in front of Sal.
“ Por você eu largo tudo
Vou mendigar, roubar, matar
Até nas coisas mais banais
Pra mim é tudo ou nunca mais
Exagerado
Jogado aos teus pés
Eu sou mesmo exagerado
Adoro um amor inventado ”
Sal maintained eye contact with Aelys during this part of the song, singing with gestures that could only be interpreted as a joke, but there was just something about the way her eyes glinted when she was holding back her laugh that made his heart skip a beat, that made the words coming out of his mouth, even though the satirical tone of the song, mean something and that made Sal think maybe he didn't choose this song just because it was a fun karaoke song from an artist that he liked. Maybe.
If both of them perceived it or not, it was a great question that passed through the curious minds of who was looking, but, even when the song had an instrumental break, they kept eye contact while still holding hands and smiling at each other.
But it didn't matter how immersed Sal was in this little moment of theirs, he had a show to perform. When he perceived that the instrumental break was almost over, he ran back to the stage, still lingering the feeling of her hand in his.
“ E por você eu largo tudo
Carreira, dinheiro, canudo
Até nas coisas mais banais
Pra mim é tudo ou nunca mais ”
Even with the distance, Sal kept looking at Aelys, who continued standing where they were while watching him.
“Exagerado
Jogado aos teus pés
Eu sou mesmo exagerado
Adoro um amor inventado”
Enjoying his last bit of attention, he practically threw himself on the ground on his knees, to, well, exaggerate his performance.
“Jogado aos teus pés
Com mil rosas roubadas, exagerado
Eu adoro um amor inventado
Jogado aos teus pés, baby, baby
Eu sou mesmo exagerado
Adoro um amor inventado”
Sal stayed a little bit on the stage, catching his breath, before going back to his friends, who received him with applause, responding with dramatic bows.
“You know that we didn’t understand anything of what you sang, right?” Aelys said with her arms crossed.
“I'm fully aware of that, yeah,” And a little bit grateful , Sal thought to himself. “You can always listen to Brazilian music if you want to understand what the fuck the drunken people in the bar are singing.”
“Well, I did catch some romantic words,” Theagus got into the conversation with a smile on his face. “Was that a serenade?” It wasn't said, but the suggestive way that their friend looked at them both still standing with a natural and unconscious closeness made an addition to the question in everyone's mind: “...to Aelys?”. And that was what Theagus called revenge.
“Oh, she wishes,” Aelys flipped him off, making Sal laugh while they sat down with their friends again so they could all continue to enjoy the night, now, with Aelys’ mind not on her asshole family.
What they did not realize was the fact that he didn't deny it. Maybe even him couldn't answer that question. Which was a lie. Deep down, he knew that he could but, looking at her and how every detail made his heart fall a little bit more, he knew he hadn't the courage if it meant risking losing her. For now, Sal had the barriers of language protecting him and his actual feelings of Aelys.