1276/Karaoke Chaos

Karaoke Chaos
Date of Scene:	13 March 2024
Location:	Karaoke Crown
Synopsis:	Chiyo and Kukai go on a date, only for the crafty and crushing Utau to show up!
Cast of Characters:	Kukai Soma, Chiyo Sakai, Utau Hoshina

---

Kukai Soma has posed:
    The second date. The two had agreed to take things slowly and casually for now, so they weren't officially going out, but they'd been enjoying hanging out. They're even holding hands as they wait in line at the front counter of the Karaoke place. The sun has set, but it's still early in the evening, and the place is surprisingly crowded. Groupls and couples of various ages laugh and chat while waiting for their private rooms, and some folks drink or share food.

    Kukai gives Chiyo's hand a small squeeze as he glances down at her with a grin. "So, as a warning...singing isn't really one of my strengths. I'm not the -worst- at it, so I won't melt your ears or anything, but I'm not GREAT. But I guess you don't need to be for karaoke, huh?"

    He leads the way as they take another space forward, growing closer to the front where they can book their room.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai glances over at the squeeze to her hand with a smile as she catches his eyes. She's still getting used to this. While she'd had a few crushes before they had usually been on someone either totally inappropriate or otherwise already in a relationship. One of which she was still trying to get over in that regard, thus wanting to take it slow and give Kukai a real chance.

The admission of his singing skills just earns a little laugh. "It's okay. I've never been to karaoke before. I never used to talk very loud," she explains. "So I'd rarely get invited out with groups of friends. I think I'm okay?"

Utau Hoshina has posed:
Utau Hoshina likes karaoke. Well. She likes absolutely crushing people at it, making them look like fools. Today's disguise is her large twin tails in braids to her side with a pair of sunglasses. Il or El we're not with her at the moment, having distracted the two with a bag of candy outside of the establishment.

She is in the back of the line when she looks ahead and sees a shock of brown hair in a familiar cut. "Kukai?" she asks, squinting, before sliding out of line gracefully and sneaking up from his free side. Chiyo can probably see her sneaking up like a shark out of water...!

She *hugs* onto Kukai's free arm, hugging it to her chest.

"Kukai~" she singsongs out teasingly.

"Who's your friend." she asks, looking at Chiyo. Jealously.

Kukai Soma has posed:
"Hey, no worries. We'll be mediocre together," he replies to her with a playful, charming grin. He's dressed for the date in a pair of jeans and Converse, along with a nice, urban-chiq jacket over a white shirt. "And I'll invite you out plenty..."

He trails off when he hears that familiar voice, and he blinks. He doesn't see her coming, though, even if Chiyo can, and he suddenly has a pretty troublemaker attached to his arm.

"HUH??" He pulls away for a moment and then relaxes back into the grip in surprise when he sees who it is. "No way! Utau?? I haven't seen you in...man, it feels like forever!" He pauses, then, when he catches that look towards Chiyo, and he clears his throat. "Oh. Um. Chiyo, this is an old friend of mine: Utau. Utau, this is my friend Chiyo. We're out on a date right now..."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
"Well it is just for fun," Chiyo agrees still in a good mood in spite of the mostly new experience for her. Just as they're about to get to the front of the line she pauses just long enough to snag one of the menus that allow them to order food and drinks while inside the karaoke booths.

Which is about when she sees the pretty blonde coming toward Kukai. There's a little tension immediately there when she clings onto Kukai's other arm causing her to pause to regard the girl a moment with a stiff smile. She, too, is clearly dressed for a date in a nice violet dress with a comfortable loose tan jacket over it.

Kukai's surprise, and introduction, causes her to smile all the broader with more confidence at Utau. "Nice to meet you, Utau-chan," she offers over before giving Kukai a questioning glance.

Utau Hoshina has posed:
Utau Hoshina gently brings a hand to her chest and gasps. It's mocking. She's for the record, wearing her normal black, gothic-chic dress. Purple eyes blink back at Chiyo as she says. "Amazing. a Date." she says dryly. She seems not entirely thrilled with this fact she learns.

"I was going to go ahead and just stack up with one of these rando weirdoes. But why don't I go to your room instead." she says.

"I'm a very good singer." she asides to Chiyo as she huffs in dramatics for the effect.

"This will be a treat for you. To see me work so up close." she asides to the two. "Like your own personal concert."

Kukai Soma has posed:
The boy glances between the two girls, and fidgets a bit. One is holding his hand, and the other is gripping his arm. A few folks glance their way curiously, and Kukai blushes, fumbling for words a bit. "Uh...well. I mean, if Chiyo doesn't mind a third..." He glances towards the girl he's on a date with, and his expression is a bit hard to read. Is he hoping for her to agree? Is he begging for help? His expression is a bit mixed at the moment.

"Gotten even better, have you? Well...we were just talking about how neither of us are very good so...let us have some fun, too..." He trails off, totally at a loss at the moment and stumbling about with what to do in this situation.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Was it... was it really going to be like this? This was some situation out of a manga. Which meant Chiyo knew exactly what to do! With a bright, presumably innocent smile she reaches up with her free hand to lightly pat Kukai's chest. "It's okay if she joins us. It's always good to meet new friends. Plus we'll get plenty of dates on our own, too," she adds with a sly glance toward the other girl, her golden eyes glinting a bit.

"Shall we?"

Utau Hoshina has posed:
(Yes, this is this part of the manga.)

She glares daggers at Chiyo as she says that. "Yes. I'm sure there will be plenty of other dates." she says as she releases Kukai's arm just so at the same time.

She gasps as Kukai asks if she's gotten better. "Amazing. Don't doubt my talent!" she says dramatically again, as she nods. "We Shall!" she says.

Utau Hoshina gets ready to enter the room, preening hands down her sides as she fixes her dress.

Kukai Soma has posed:
He lets out a held breath when Utau releases her arm, and he gives Chiyo's hand a small squeeze. He turns towards the lady at the counter as they step up. "Hey there! Room for three, please. And..." He glances at the menu in CHiyo's hand. "...We'll be ordering food and drinks. Mmmhm. Okay, thanks. Room four? Got it."

He steps away and leads the way to the room, Chiyo in hand. He glances between her and Utau now and again. "Never doubted you for a second. How's your brother, by the way?" his tone shifts a hint at the question, as if perhaps he and said brother don't get along extremely well.

He unlocks the door for them and leads the way in. There's a large television, along with a few books of song choices. There's a low table between two curved couches.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
As they walk down the hall hand in hand, Chiyo remarks quietly, "I've got the food order." Because she had a job far longer than poor Kukai has. She was not going to let him go broke just to try to imprss her and potentially this mysterious... friend.

At least she seems more amused than anything.

Quietly leaning in toward Kukai's side she murmers, "You okay?" A single time before she straightens to allow him more room to lead the way inside the room. "Oh this looks cozy!"

Utau Hoshina has posed:
Utau Hoshina looks at Kukai and sighs. "Ikuto-kun is being his usual dumb self and making the dumbest choices." she says. Like trying to leave Easter. But she doesn't say that out loud.

"What a cozy small room!" she says, having a seat as she settles in and smiles a little too widely. "Why don't you order, and sing, first. I can always go last." she'll be going first at the Princess Prom anyways.

She's gonna make the other acts look like amateur hour. But later.

For now. She just needs to make Chiyo as uncomfortable as possible soon. She seems to get a devilish plan in her head.

Somewhere, Il looks up from a bag of candy.

Kukai Soma has posed:
He flashes Chiyo a smile when she says she'll pay for the food. "Thanks. I -did- get a job, though. Just...still new to it is all. Need to save up a bit." Her whispered question makes him consider a bit before he smiles at her and nods, whispering back. "I'm okay. Just surprised is all. I'll be good. Thanks."

He rolls his eyes at Utau and nods. "Sounds about right. I know he's your brother and all, but...that guy..."

"Alright. Food ordering first, then. I've been craving fries all day, so I'll go with that..." He reaches out to snag the song book and begins to flip through it.

Outside, the spikey haired Daichi flutters into sight of the karaoke joint. "Aha! He's near! Hmmph. Being all sneaky and stuff. Wonder what he's up too..." The chara zooms closer to the entrance, coming into view of Il.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai dips her head in a small nod of acknowledgement when Kukai assures her that he's okay. So long as he was, then she was going to have to keep her guard up around this girl that was so clingy. If she hadn't shot her that look earlier she would have just assumed she was one of those bubbly, cheerful people that liked physical contact like her cousin, Usagi.

Instead she's dealing with a jealous girl for SOME reason. Kukai had said he never go past three dates with girls in the past and didn't click with any of them. That meant this one was someone else in his past.

"Siblings much be a handful," she remarks conversationally with a quick glance cast to the menu. "How about some colas, and popcorn, too?" Small easy snack things.

Utau Hoshina has posed:
Utau Hoshina says. "Fries. Fries are good." she says, ordering that- and a water. Yes just a water cup. She's watching her weight and not wanting to mess with her vocal chords too much. Look, she still has some fool to show up. Fries may also be her usual go to when she comes here.

"Siblings can be. Ikuto needs to relax and get with the program." she says dryly. She then watches the song pages flip by idly.

But she doesn't need to read them, She has them memorized by now. Heck, some of the songs in there are her songs.

Outside, Il waves to Daichi and shoves an entire gumball into her tiny mouth. "Oh. Hi Daichi. Utau's inside, pwning some chumps. What are you here for? This isn't a dumb sportsball field or whatever."

Kukai Soma has posed:
"Cola, popcorn and fries sounds perfect," he replies to Chiyo with a grin. He nods to Utau. "I get that. I have four brothers, afterall." He grumbles a hint at that fact.

He waits for Chiyo to put the food and drink order in, before he passes the song binder over to Chiyo. He takes a deep breath and claps his hands. "Okay, Kukai-baby, you got this. It's just a song."

The boy springs to his feet and bounces a few times, as if hyping himself up for a game. He punches the air a few times. "I'm going with <standard Japanese rock song with easy vocals that will be hard for him to screw up>!"

Meanwhile, Daichi flutters down to land beside the devil-girl-chara, and he eyes the candy she has. "Wait, Utau? Huh. Hmmm. Well, Kukai's in there, too! There's the girl, right? I think she's trying to seduce him away from sports or something. They keep sneaking around behind my back. They're -totally- up to something! They're here!" His brow furrows and he looks alarmed. "WAIT. What if it's a -date-?"

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai rises from the sofa to the intercom phone on the wall to place the orders. It's easier this way than running out all the time to grab stuff, and possibly interrupt other people's good times. So handy. Then she's back, and takes the song book from Kukai to begin looking it over thoughtfully.

She's barely a few pages in when Kukai jumps up, pumping himself up, to flash him a grin. "You got this, Kukai-kun!" She cheers on with hands clapping together in time to the beat.

Utau Hoshina has posed:
Utau Hoshina already knows the song she's going with. But she keeps mum. Merely quiet. This is part of her plan. Her evil, evil plan to make Chiyo look like a chump and completely ruin this date.

Also, make everyone feel awkward. All according to her plan. "Go on, kill it." she says, in her cool manner.

Il outside looks up and lights up. "Wait, Kukai is in there- on a date, I gotta see thus. I bet Utau is having a mental breakdown, hahahaaha!" she says as she floats into the doorway as someone else opens it. Daichi can probably follow after her.

Kukai Soma has posed:
"Wait! Don't cause any problems!," Daichi cries out in a sudden panic. He rushes in after the other chara.

Meanwhile, the boy starts to sing. He's not bad, really. He can carry by on charisma and showmanship, at least. He gets into it, moving a bit and singing his heart out. He makes sure the majority of the song is directed in Chiyo's direction, though every now and again his gaze flits to Utau. He can't help it.

His voice is raw but good. He's no Utau, but he doesn't suck, that's for sure! When the song ends he lets out a 'whew' and hands the mic over to Chiyo before flopping back onto the couch.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
It's while Chiyo is listening to Kukai sing that she glances down at some songs. Utau. Utaaaau man that name is familiar why is it familiar. Her eyes widen a little toward the end as she's staring down at the song list at the name 'Utau Hoshina', and she steals a glance to the side toward Utau. *Oh.*

That explains her mention of a 'private concert'. This also meant that no matter what she sang it wouldn't really be good, or even near good. Trying to outsing a professional was foolhardy. She needed a different tactic.

Kukai finishes his song and she claps firmly with a bright grin. "That was great! You're not half bad you know," she assures him while nudging the song list aside. "Do you need to catch your breath?" She asks with a sudden thought as she reaches for the song book again to flip through till she findds what she's looking for. The remote is taken, and the song queued in.

With a grin she plucks up the microphone to step to the 'stage' in the room. The music starts up to a familiar bouncy song. A popular DUET.

Her hand extends out to Kukai with a grin. "Come on, let's do this one together!"

Utau Hoshina has posed:
Utau Hoshina is in a disguise but it won't stand up to scrutiny like a henshin would. This is' Utau and she's smug and her net worth could probably buy this entire joint AND shes making Chiyo pay for the snacks. She may be evil. Maybe.

Then Chiyo ques up a duet and tries to take Kukai's hand?

The literal nerve on this girl, she practically can be seen getting red in the face. She's going to enjoy putting Chiyo in her place.

Il is peeking into rooms looking for Utau now. She snorts at Daichi's warning. "Don't cause problems!" she mimics back at Daichi in an annoying small voice. "What a loser." she says. "Oh! I think Utau is having her conniption now. I can FEEL it."

Kukai Soma has posed:
The boy blinks at the offered hand, and he blushes. Utau can SEE him blushing over another girl! He takes Chiyo's hand and rises to his feet. "A duet, huh? Sure. Sounds fun." He grins at her and lightly bumps her shoulder with his own before facing the screen with her. "Oh, cool. I know this one a bit. We've got this!"

Kukai does his little pump-up dance before he takes a deep breath and sets into the male lines of the duet. He looks towards Chiyo and winks at her. He catches sight of Utau out of the corner of his eye, but then he pulls his gaze back to Chiyo!

Meanwhile! "Hey, I'm no a loser! I'm just not a jerk! Though, I -am- pretty mad he did all this behind my back. What is he worried about??" This. He was worried about this. He follows along with El, glancing into the rooms with her before he pauses. "OH! Found 'em! Yeah, I thought so! He's totally singing a duet with that girl! Oh, there's Utau in the back!"

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai isn't... bad. She doesn't have the lung strength to really belt out the song, but the microphone helps to make up for that a bit. No real diaphram control. But her voice isn't bad, over all. Most of all she does seem as if she's having fun when singing the female parts of the song, even going so far as to bump back against Kukai's side playfully.

It's not until near the end she steals a glance over to Utau with a bit of a smile. Not a mean smile actually, even if this had perhaps started out that way. She was genuinely enjoying herself at the moment even if she felt she was fighting with Utau a bit. It ends in her looking back to Kukai as she finishes off the song with a laugh.

"Okay that was fun! You're next!" A squeeze is given to Kukai's hand before she withdraws her touch from his so she can reclaim her seat, completely unaware of the nosey Chara's outside.

Utau Hoshina has posed:
Utau Hoshina watches the song with intense disike for Chiyo in her eyes. She's going to win this little compeition. Now. This isn't a competition, but to Utau, it is now- and from Utau's standpoint, Chiyo shot first. Utau Hoshina stands up from her chair and takes the microphone. She starts singing as the beat drops and starts up. Utau sways to the music as the popular 80's hit starts up. She gets a nice little ryhtm started in her body. She's moving across the room, rather than staying on stage.

"If I, I get to know your name
Well, if I could trace your private number, baby!"

Utau spins around and places a finger to Kukai's chest pointing in and pressing.

"All I know is that to me
You look like you're lots of fun
Open up your lovin' arms
I want some, want some!"

Utau's eyes peek over to Chiyo as she sings, though she doesnt turn her head away.

"So I!..."

That pointer finger lays out against his chest as she continues singing.

"I set my sights on you!"

(And no one else will do) Goes the backing track.

"And I, I've got to have my way now, baby!"

Utau points to herself and draws hands across her face, as she dances backwards.

"All I know is that to me
You look like you're havin' fun
Open up your lovin' arms
Watch out, here I come!"

Utau lets go , and spins in place, dancing slightly to the music as she sweeps a hand up along her side. Everytime this chorus comes up, she does just so.

"You spin me right 'round, baby
Right 'round like a record, baby
Right 'round, 'round, 'round
You spin me right 'round, baby
Right 'round like a record, baby
Right 'round, 'round, 'round!"

Utau stops her gentle spinning, she sidles up to Kukai, continuing to sing.

"I, I got to be your friend now, baby
And I would like to move in just a little bit closer."

She pushes away and sweeps her arms open as she dances in place, slowly.

"All I know is that to me
You look like you're lots of fun
Open up your lovin' arms
Watch out, here I come!"

"You spin me right 'round, baby
Right 'round like a record, baby
Right 'round, 'round, 'round
You spin me right 'round, baby
Right 'round like a record, baby
Right 'round, 'round, 'round!"

"I want your love!"

"All I know is that to me
You look like you're lots of fun
Open up your lovin' arms
Watch out, here I come!"

"You spin me right 'round, baby
Right 'round like a record, baby
Right 'round, 'round, 'round
You spin me right 'round, baby
Right 'round like a record, baby
Right 'round, 'round, 'round!"

"You spin me right 'round, baby
Right 'round like a record, baby
Right 'round, 'round, 'round
You spin me right 'round, baby
Right 'round like a record, baby
Right 'round, 'round, 'round!"

"I want your love!"

"You spin me right 'round, baby
Right 'round like a record, baby
Right 'round, 'round, 'round
You spin me right 'round, baby
Right 'round like a record, baby
Right 'round, 'round, 'round!"

As the song fades out and the music disaapears, Utau gives Chiyo such a look and drops the microphone into Kukai's hands. "Your turn again~" she says with a sickly sweet tone to her words as she sits back down and waits to see what happens next.

Il flies in finally and gives thumbs up to Utau. "You destroyed her, chief!" the tiny little devil chara says.

Kukai Soma has posed:
Utau and Chiyo aren't great, but they somewhat make up for it with the cuteness of two people smiling at eachother as they sing. It's cute. Well, probably not to Utau.

When the song is over he grins and flops back into his own spot. "Whew! Two songs in a row!" He turns his attention to Utau when she starts to sing.

He furrows his brow as she moves in his direction as she sings, and his cheeks burn red when she points into his chest, singing directly to him. His eyes widen like saucers, and he looks like a blushing deer, caught in the headlights.

He watches as she continues the dance, drawn in by the incredible voice and her movements. He risks a glance towards Chiyo, looking like he doesn't want to stop watching, but also has no idea what he should be doing right now! They don't teach you about this kind of situation as a teenage boy! He catches the microphone and manages an "Uh..."

Il spills in at that point, and he looks over in alarm. And then Daichi flies in after her. "Aw, crap."

Daichi lands on the couch beside Chiyo and points a finger at her. "YOU! You're seducing Kukai aren't you?! He needs to focus on sports!"

"Daichi! Quit it!"

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
That was a ... lot. A LOT. To take in. Chiyo sits rigid, stiff, silent, and listening. Listening and watching with sharp golden eyes that don't seem to waver. Was she angry? A bit yes. This was nothing like that time she'd fought Sunbreaker after finding out that the girl had been stealing energy from her grandfather. Not that angry. No.

But super, SUPER annoyed on many levels. Moreso for the fact that Utau was being so blatant, and Kukai couldn't help but blush, and then there were Chara being noisy. Really she was very glad she wasn't a Chara Bearer. Bonito was bad enough at times but he wasn't always around.

The fact that Utau has one too? That's perhaps the least surprising thing of the night.

A slow, deep breath is taken as she simply remarks, eerily calm, to Il with a quick, "She did not 'destroy' me."

Then there's Daichi claiming she'd seduced Kukai a. That was the last straw. Without thinking her hands lash out one grabbing for Il, the other for Daichi, as she moves to hold them in front of her.

"Number one: He asked ME out. Number two: If you like him so much maybe you should have told him way before this. And number three...!"

Now she turns to face Utau with eyes blazing. "This is ridiculous."

Utau Hoshina has posed:
Utau Hoshina looks so shocked when she's called out. "Kukai-kun, your floozy is scary! and yelling!" she says, in a small voice, before she scoffs. "I think she's upset she sang off key more than three times!" she says.

"Hey let me go!" says Il as she struggles.

Oh Il why did you have to find us, thinks Utau. Which means El, not too far behind has caught up, the angel chara finding the group and she says. "Oh dear! Please, everyone be calm. I have something to say!" says El. "CAN IT, TWERP!" yells Il from her vice gripped prison.

Utau takes a deep breath. "You're ridiculous! You're the one yelling at me." she pouts. "Come, let's go guys. What you have to say doesn't matter now, El." she says, taking off. "You can let her go. She comes with me." she says about Il as she starts to leave. Il will just straight up bite that hand to be let go if Chiyo doesn't let go.

Utau looks over her shoulder as her two charas hover over her shoulders. "By the way. That dress obviously came from a thrift shop." she says with a hrmph as she storms out of the room.

She doesn't say a single thing to Kukai. Just leaves him there with that blushed look on his face.

Kukai Soma has posed:
Kukai springs to his feet when Chiyo grabs the chara's and says her piece. "Whoa, Daichi! Don't talk to her like that! I DID ask her out! I like her! She's a good person and cute!" Daichi squeaks from the fist and struggles. He nods quickly. "Okay, okay! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Don't squish me!"

He lets out a sound of exasperation when Utau's second chara arrives, and he gives the little angel girl a small, frustrated wave. Then his blush fades and he glares at Utau. "You do NOT get to call her that, Utau."

He steps between Chiyo and Utau, then, facing the blonde with that glower. "I'd say you should apologize, but that's something you've never been good at..." He sighs and watches the girl storm off before he turns to face Chiyo.

"Chiyo, I'm...sorry. I'm sorry about all that..."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai remains rather stone faced in spite of the insults being flung around. How nice that she's being accused of yelling. Okay maybe a bit. Il however is released with a little dismissive flick of her hand flinging the Chara after Utau. Daichi is let go with a bit more reserved care.

And Chiyo? She just sinks ack to sit again dropping her head into her hands as Utau storms out, and Kukai starts to apologize.

"One of the girls that likes you, I see," she mumbles quietly only to look up after a bit weary. "Sorry, too. I caught her looks and I guess I egged her on a bit, maybe."

Kukai Soma has posed:
"Honestly, I didn't know she liked me till just now," the boy admits, sinking down to sit beside her. "She was just the girl I played with when I was younger. I'm good at a lot of stuff, sure, but...reading girls? Not one of them. Or...reacting to them, it seems," he admits, thinking about how he froze up at Utau's advances.

He sighs and leans over to lean lightly against his date. "Sorry about that. I didn't know what to do. I can fight monsters and save lives and win games but...I have absolutely no idea what to do in the face of something like that. I just...froze up."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai isn't really sure what to say about that. A part of her feels hurt, but at the same time she culd understand exactly where Utau might be coming from if she did have actual feelings for Kukai. Ugh. When he leans against her, she leans back a little.

"Stand up, walk away. Or push them away. I guess." At least that seemed like the way to handle it? Still she could easily understand why he hadn't. It had been a bit of a shock to them both. "I get it. I mean, why you didn't really react. It was a surprise." A pause and she huffs out a sigh, "A big one."

Lifting her head she regards Kukai quietly. "Are you okay?" He had just learned a girl he knew for a long time liked him, and she'd practically thrown herself at him.

Kukai Soma has posed:
He lifts his head, still lightly leaning on her, and looks into her eyes. "I am now." She's within kissing distance, and he considers it for a moment, but he's not sure if it's the right time. He acts all charming and confident, but just like he said, he's clueless on this stuff.

So, instead he plays it safe, and he reaches out to take her hand and give it a small squeeze, before lifting it up to kiss her knuckle. "...I am now."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai smiles softly back at him when he says he is okay. Her hand squeezes his in turn. At least until she becomes aware of how close they are sitting. It was her turn for her face to turn red before glancing away sheepishly.

"Maybe we ought to call it a night. Get some rest. It was an eventful evening after all," she adds with a little chuckle, and a quip of, "I sound like Ojiisan right now."

Kukai Soma has posed:
"I think we should take the night back," he says. He releases her hand and sits up, grabbing the music menu. "Besides, we have food and drink coming."

He's intent not to let this date end on a down note. Meanwhile, Daichi is sitting nearby, trying to remain inconspicuous. He's been chastised, and is trying not to get into further trouble!

The food arrives at that point.