Yay Friend Group Time

Magic was entertained with his pineapple smoothie, kind of ignoring what every one else said. When Aspen's sudden outburst came up, he flinched a little bit, and closed his eyes to regain his composure. "Not gonna be too happy being around Vincent for too long, but I will come. He will most likely drag me over there anyway.." He said in response to the blonde's invitation. He would have said something about Aspen being to loud and hurting his ears a little bit if he knew she wouldn't do it again. He didn't want to stop her from being the person she was. He also knew that she was likely bound to be loud again even with his warning.

"Of course I'll come! Wouldn't miss it!" Barry said, oblivious to Magic's uneasiness at the mention of Vincent. 'Not sure what I'm going to get her though." he thought to himself.

Aspen grinned when everyone said they would come, although she looked a little confused when Magic had said something. The autumn never knew that the two didn't get along, she felt sort of bad. "Sorry! I didn't know you two didn't get um along.." She didn't really know what too do she wanted both of them too come but she didn't want anyone too feel uncomfortable during it. The blonde frowned slightly before taking a rather large sip of a smoothie and feeling a slight brain-freeze. "O-Oh! I got a brain-freezee ow ow ow!!" Clutching her hands too her head the blonde quickly closed her eyes and after a few moments the pain in her head slowly began too ease. "A-Anyways.. I'm done with this smoothie, let's go sing!" The blonde had practically leaped out of her chair and ran towards Lamia, her arm grabbing at her wrist as she pulled her away from the seat and raced towards the karaoke machine.

Aspen was always really really enthusiastic and cheerful - it was what made her charismatic and well... cute. Sure, she rushed through everything, but her personality always shone through. Even when she apologized, at least it seemed sincere and that she meant well. Focusing on her drink, Lamia took a small sip, relishing in the crisp cool texture the smoothie gave along with the simple, nostalgic taste of the blueberry, it was a rather sweet and delicious frozen drink. Relieved that nobody seemed to be paying any attention to her after Aspen had gone through and invited everyone present to her birthday party, there wasn't a single person who probably remembered she was here. Well, thought ruined. why you gotta ruin everything aspen

When she hadn't noticed, Lamia felt someone grasp her wrist and with a lot of power, she was dragged elsewhere. Her other hand kept a gentle but firm grip on her drink, and her eyes widened when she noticed it was Aspen. "E-eh...? W-wait, h-hold on...!!" Unfortunately, she was way too weak to stop the two of them from moving, so the most she could do was at least slow the other girl down just a bit. Her shoes skidded on the floor, and as much as she tried, they had made it to the karaoke machines. She remembered... Why? Why bother with what she wanted? Every single time she wanted to do something, there was always a bad outcome. This wasn't the time to make everything sour and turn bitter...

"B-but I-I-I... can't s-sing."

Magic kept his smoothie in his hand and followed after the two. He keep a neutral expression on his face. That's when he heard Lamia's lie. He was going to hear it anyway, but he actually heard it at a normal hearing range distance this time. He opened his mouth to say something then closed it again. If he said something what would happen? Would she hate him? He decided it was better to keep quiet. Hopefully he wouldn't be made to sing..

Barry got up and followed, but he refused to sing. Singing just easn't his thing. And by the look on Magic's face, neither was he. He tossed his empty cup into a garbage can and continued walking.

Aspen had reached for the mic shoving one into Lamias grip she waa gonna make this girl sing she couldnt care less what Magic and Barry did and if Lamia did end up refusing she can sing loudly by herself that wasnt weird right? The autumn glanced towards Barry and Magic raising an eyebrow. "Guess you two don't wanna sing?" She didnt expect a yes but that was fine she wasnt gonna force anyone to do it. Turning too Lamia the autumn smiled giving a curious look at the winter. "You pick first."

Her first instinct was to pull her hand away from Aspen and drop the microphone. But that didn't really wind up happening, half because she didn't want anyone to ask what was wrong and half because Aspen would wind up forcing her to do something anyway. Sheepishly, she cast a glance over her shoulder, a queasy smile on her face before she turned back to the screen, her finger dangling awkwardly above before she started swiping through. She didn't know any of these songs... maybe because she only really listened to what her mom and brother recommended to her rather than anything recent and popular. Damn, this was hard. Lamia really hated making a decision, especially under pressure like this. She had planned to withdraw and ask someone else to choose for her, but, fate decided to play that game and thrust her finger down on a title and click okay without her actual consent. Some higher power was seriously messing with her at the moment.

Taking a few steps back, she clenched her eyes shut, listening to the rhythm that filled the air around her. The unique melodies of Chinese instruments... an erhu? Was this a song in Mandarin? No, there was also a Vietnamese instrument, the  Đàn Nguyệt. Stupidstupidstupid. She couldn't decipher the symbols at all, and honestly, this would be the worst time to embarrass herself in front of her friends. And it was karaoke, which meant this was all instrumental. Goddamn, they were going to hear every single mistake she made. Everything around seemed to be closing in on her, and the pressure was higher than she had hoped.

Lamia took a deep breath, trying to tame her trembling hands. One... two... three... The same mental count she used to control her emotions. It didn't always work, but she was internally relieved that it fit into the situation. If it hadn't? She was sure, very sure that she would've screwed up terribly on multiple pitches. Out of habit, her right foot started tapping the rhythm and helped her keep tempo and on-beat.

With another short-lived breath, her eyes flashed open and she sang. This game had begun.

'I-In the span of time we live out our lives, calmness sweeps us off our feet.' If she could comment on everything right now, she would've made a mental note to be proud of herself for keeping her voice smooth, save for that slip-up at the start. Let's pretend that never happened. 'In the end, we're left with memories kept, locked away, as they spiral down and fade away from thee.' What depressing lyrics... or maybe she was just deciphering it wrong? Lamia didn't really know, her gaze locked on the lyrics as they flashed onto the screen. The indicator bounced up and down, stopping whenever she had to hold the note before leaping off the screen as the next phrases flickered in place of the old.

From the speakers, her voice resonated throughout the arcade, filling the area with a soft, mellow sound. People always told her that her singing was calming and beautiful, that it was soothing and ethereal; she would deny it all the time. Who would bother complimenting a weak and idiotic girl like her? But, when case came to case, art and music were the only things she could turn to, and she managed to hone her skills close to perfection. It was the only thing she could do. It helped calm her nerves, to bring peace to her, to allow her to express how she felt without having to say it directly, to allow her to feel warmer inside and less pathetic about herself. Even if it only lasted an instant, she was glad that it existed. Thank god this song was in her range so far... and if she had to be honest to herself, it fit her tone and pitch.

'As for me, I'll sing the song of now, for that's all that I can do. Though my memories escape me, they're a part of my heart, just as I have thought of you.'

She wasn't being obvious about it, but with a few glances, one could see how absorbed she was with this. She was used to it, used to singing. It was two minutes into the song, and Lamia hadn't missed a beat, with only small beads of sweat on her forehead to show that she was nervous. Her hands had stopped trembling.

'Al-a re, la-ye. Al-a re, la-yo. Al-a-re, la-ya-a, al-a-re ya.'

What random syllables... Did they mean something in China, maybe? She wasn't sure. Nor did she really care about that at the moment. The rest of the song was repeat, and she kept a smile on her face. No one would expect this from someone like her, huh? That she could actually do something. Lamia wouldn't admit it, though. She would tell herself that she was a terrible singer who couldn't stay in-tune or on-beat, when those were the most obvious lies that she could come up with.

Her family always told her that she had an angelic voice. She never believed it. How could she when she had done so many awful things?

By the end, she couldn't help but feel that everything had constricted around her chest, and throughout the song, Lamia hadn't thought about how much trouble she would have breathing. Fuck... she didn't control it properly. Deep breaths, deep breaths... There was a small tingling sensation bubbling up inside her, but she dismissed it. She just had to pretend it wasn't there, just so nobody would worry.[/color] Her eyes swept to the screen, and she had a good look at herself.

With her jacket flared out like that, for just a moment, she had one wing. One-winged angel... huh? What an unbelievable thought. Impossible for the likes of her.

Gasping for another breath, Lamia shook her head, handing the microphone to Aspen before stepping off the platform that she had forcibly been dragged on. When she looked up, she was surprised to see that other people had gathered around. Damn, she attracted a small audience. Awkwardly, she flashed a small smile before stiffly walking towards the other two without another word, her face slightly flushed. Spinning Song?

What a strange title. Everything about this song was peculiar, but it seemed to fit. Sort of... The words "PERFECT" flashed at the top of the screen, and Lamia let out a sigh. Someone rigged it, she was sure of that. No way that was her real score... No. Absolute. Way.

"Th-th-that was t-terrible..."

OOC;; Spinning Song - the Cover version I used. Funny enough, I had randomly clicked on a song from my watch list and this came up. Coincidentally, this is the same person I use for Lamia's singing voice. You could probably imagine her actual voice from this... Probably. Yes, this helps to show my lack of ability to know real modern songs. I live under a rock. QQ

Magic listened to the whole thing happily. She sounded so pretty and her voice was good. Everything sounded amazing, and it was very pleasing to the sound man's ears. The was the first very pleasing thing he had heard in a long time. He couldn't help but clap as she finished. "That wasn't terrible Lamia. That was pretty awesome." He said to the girl disagreeing with her.

"Yeah that was great!" Barry said, agreeing with Magic. "I myself don't sing."

Out of the people that gathered Aspen probably had clapped the loudest. A grin was on her face as Lamia had finished it seemed like singing had eased her up a little it was probably one of her favorite things too do if she had too guess. The blonde turned towards Magic and Barry she knew that none of the two would probably end up singing guess she really did need to do it.

Aspen had picked up the mic, looking for a song too sing she didn't really know the type if music that Lamia had listened too but her favorite songs were pop and energetic she just felt so hyped listening too these type of songs. She had took a deep breath before she started singing quickly singing the words when she first saw the lryics. Aspen didn't quite match the tone and the rhythm of the song so people had gave her weird glances before walking away Aspen didnt show any signs of caring either way.

The blonde was screaming into the mic dancing with random movements as she sang. She may not be as good as Lamia but this sure was fun! She didnt care how well she sang. As the song ended her face was slightly sweaty and she was out of breath glancing ovee towards her friends with a smile. "T-That was fun!!!!!" She didnt even bother looking at the screen too see her score she didnt care about those things at all.

"I-I-It w-wasn't... th-that... gr-gr-great..."

How could it be anything special? She didn't do anything great and couldn't help but turn her face away from her friends, her hands desperately searching for a hood that didn't exist. Damn, why did she choose one that didn't have that cover today? In a last minute attempt to conceal her embarrassment, her cheeks aflame with red, gold eyes turned to the ground. Why were people looking at her as though she had done something so heavenly and angelic that it was impossible to match? If they knew anything - which they didn't - they'd only be seeing a fallen angel, a monster.

Absentmindedly, the ball of her foot began to dig itself into the ground as though it would manage to make a hole large enough to swallow her and bury her under the dirt, never to come back. Lamia couldn't get it. Why? Why would they bother liking what she did? It was something anybody could do - anyone who had a decent tone and could read the lyrics could sing like that. Absolutely nothing remarkable or noteworthy. Why were people still around? Why were some of them asking her questions about how she managed to?

She could feel herself shrink in the midst of the crowd, and without noticing, Lamia had inched towards Magic, grabbing his hand for comfort. While Aspen continued her round, she had answered the questions and tried to hide her discomfort as best as she could, but time seemed to be traveling at a snail's pace and everything stretched on and on. Lamia couldn't help but let out a small sigh of relief when Aspen finished and everyone had dispersed. And that was when she realized, and her expression darkened as she unwound her fingers from Magic's.

Oh.

What the hell had she been thinking? God forbid that she was blushing harder.

Magic didn't bother to try and reinforce the idea that Lamia sang pretty well.. He knew it would just be useless in the end. She already knew that he liked it so that's all that mattered. He looked away from the winter girl, and looked at the autumn girl as she began to sing. He didn't really pay attention to Lamia scooting closer to him for comfort, until she grabbed his hand. A small blush appeared on his face, but it wasn't too noticeable, and he didn't mind in the slightest that Lamia was holding his hand at the moment. He continued to listen to Aspen, and didn't bother to make a big deal of Lamia holding his hand. It made him feel slightly happy though.

Once the girl had finished Lamia had let go of his hand. He felt slightly disappointed, but there wasn't much he could do about it. Instead he decided to compliment Aspen. "That was good Aspen." He said to her. Yeah there was no way he was going to sing. He could, but he didn't want to.

Barry smiled. "That was pretty good!" he said, oblivious to pretty much everything around him.

The blonde was pretty breathless as she looked around too drink something the first thing she saw was Barrys smoothie. She ment too ask but she was pretty much dying of thist that she just drank it all up. Taking a gulp before she glanced back towards Barry. "Sorry ment too ask first but I was really thirsty and hey thanks!" Aspen had smiled towards Barrys compliment as she glanced towards Lamia and Magic her smile slightly growing. "Now I feel like an Awkward third wheel." Aspen had said laughing softly as she winked towards Lamia.