1777/Whisked Away to Karaoke

Whisked Away to Karaoke
Date of Scene:	21 July 2024
Location:	Karaoke Crown
Synopsis:	Laura brings Seiko to a Karaoke place. Amy and Norie meet up with them and they all do some singing!
Cast of Characters:	Laura La Mer, Amanda Faust, Norie Okana, Seiko Akai

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Laura La Mer has posed:
It hasn't been that long since both of them had been brought into the Shed and done some exercises together. But that was only a single step on the road to get the fellow pinkette to find her own charm, and Laura had just found the perfect little place. Of course, considering Seiko's nervousness, she has to be really elaborate in her methods, and if she gets afraid before they even got there, then it would all be for naught.

No, the proper solution is to make it a surprise! Of course that was a wonderful plan, and since to her understanding, the concept of Karaoke involves a small room, they can sidestep for now her fear of huge crowds. That is how on a sunny day, she had approached her classmate and told her with a grin that she found something amazing that she absolutely had to see! While she did not state what, her loud proclamation certainly didn't go unheard.

A little walk later, Laura has brought Seiko in front of Karaoke Crown, enthusiastically presenting it to her. "Haven't I found something amazing? Here you can sing away from crowd, and you can even select what song you want to play! I have been looking up some human artists and I have some good ideas too!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy was brought in on this and while she does agree that practice is something Seiko needs, it's kind of hard not to be focused on herself at the prospect of getting to go do Karaoke and sing. She was so excited about it that, encountering Norie on the way, she happily talked about it. And so Amy is arriving at the same time, smiling. "Laura-san! Seiko-san!" She waves and approaches.

    Focused on enjoying it herself she may be, but she's not completely unconcerned about Seiko, and watches the girl's reaction to Laura's words.

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana figures it couldn't hurt to go with Amy. So she follows the redhead to the Karaoke Crownand gives a wave to Amy's friends. "Hi." she says, in her monotone. She's wearing gloves. Thin, silken gloves, despite the weather, as she puts her hand down and mutters a little, still monotone.

"I am... Norie Okana. One of. Amy's friends. She said where she was going and it sounded......"

"Fun." she says after a longer pause.

"Is it okay... if I participate, too?" she asks. Always monotone.

Seiko Akai has posed:
Seiko had just finished dinner when Laura told her about something awesome she had found. Exploring Tokyo was always fun So she agreed to go along. The walk to the destination was fun and all. So many different shops and so much to be seen! Floating along with her was Hoshi who was rather quiet. Maybe she knew where they were going? Probably not.

The nice walk through the city comes to a screeching halt when they come to a stop in front of the Crown Karaoke. Seiko just stops, her eyes wide and a very nervous smile is on her face. It takes her what feels like an eternity to finally speak. In reality its closer to about a minute. "Karaoke... yay..." She quietly speaks. She turns to see Amy show up and someone she doesn't know. Its all overwhelming now and now there is nowhere she can run to. She is trapped. Trapped like a rat in a cage.

"Umm Its Karaoke... And I'm going to sing?" She sounds like she is about to have kittens.

Hoshi just starts laughing. "Karaoke! Yay! Seiko-chan! This is perfect! You can sing and it doesn't matter if you do bad or good! People will enjoy it! You've got this! Come on Seiko-chan! You can do it!"

Laura La Mer has posed:
"Hello, Amy-san, what brings you here?", Laura asks amicably as she turns towards the redhead, before expousing her plan for the day. "Me and Seiko are about to sing together for a karaoke! Want to come along?"

A catty grin is reserved to Amy's subdued friend. "Yes, I am sure you can come. As long as you don't mind being around songs. I am Laura La Mer, grade 7, and Seiko is my classmate", she says, bringing her elbow around Seiko's, putting her in a trap literally as well as metaphorically. "Don't worry, it will be fine, you have me, of course", she tries to reassure her. "It will be just 4 of us, and you can alternate with me, so don't worry about nonstop singing. Want to join in with us?" the pinkette turns to ask Norie.

Walking in along with Amy and Norie once they accept, she leads them to the reception to rend a room and get some drinks along with it, according to what everyone wants. That will be a fresh beverage made out of passion fruit, blueberries and coconut milk for her, with a beach morning glory as decoration. Taking her sweets from Grand Ocean out of her bag, she settles them on the table . "Ok, you are up, Seiko. When you feel ready. There is nothing to worry over here."

Seiko Akai has posed:
"Seiko is still really panicked about the whole thing. Next thing she knows she is inside! How did she get here? She looks at Hoshi. "Did you???"

Hoshi shakes her head, "Nope it was all you! You must want to sing!" She exclaims happily.

That makes things all the more difficult. Does she want to sing in front of people? She does! But can she sing in front of people? She doesn't know. And then she gets told that she is up! "Ummm I dunno what to sing!"

She turns to the waitress. "Umm can I get a boba tea please?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    What brings her here? "The chance to sing." Amy states matter-of-factly.

    Amy's face falls at Seiko's expression of terror on her face. She steps forward and tries to hug her, tightly. She opens her mouth, and then isn't sure what to say and closes it, and this repeats a few times. Finally, she speaks:

    "I'm sorry. I guess I've forgotten, what it is to be that afraid of making a fool of myself in front of others."

    Then she shakes her head. "No, that's not really right either. I just... learned to keep quiet. To not want to bother others." Amy lets go and steps back. "It would be quite different, were someone pushing me to risk embarassing myself."

    She looks into Seiko's face from arm's length, with her hands on the girl's shoulders. "Maybe that is more your problem, than whether you can sing well reliably."

    Amy takes her hands off of Seiko and steps back, holding her hand to her own chin thoughtfully. "I could say you don't have to sing. We can call off having to sing at whatever the other students end up organizing. But I worry that putting it off for a day will become putting it off for a hundred, will becoming putting it off for a thousand, will become never doing it for ten thousand."

    She looks at Hoshi, and then back at Seiko, eyes watering. "That's how dreams die. Sometimes it's something terrible happening all at once. But for others, it's one day at a time. And one day you'll be invited out drinking with your coworkers, and someone will say, 'hey you know what'd be fun? Karaoke!' and you'll say 'You know something funny? I used to think I might become a singer once. But I never really... like I never really did anything about it, you know? I mean, me, going up in front of all those people, can you imagine? It was just a silly childhood dream.'"

    The redhead stares through Hoshi, into the distance behind her. "And maybe you'll even be happy. Employee of the month. A wonderful and successful accountant, or manager, or wife and mother, or scientist, or teacher, or one of countless other paths..." She focuses on Hoshi, then Seiko. "But not singer."

    Amy blinks. "Sorry, that got away from me a bit. What I mean to say is, um... I don't think there's any cure for that sort of fear, but to risk it in a safe place, and have what you fear... not happen. I'm sorry. ...If it's any consolation, if you don't do it willingly your chara will probably make you do it in a more embarassing way. Sorry." She generally looks like she feels badly for Seiko but isn't sure how to help.

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana steps forward with the group. "Thank you. I would like to come." she says as she looks to Seiko. Then. She looks to Hoshi. And then Amy starts talking to Seiko and the Chara and she blinks a little. When Amy is done, she finally says something.

"Oh. You're one of those." she says as she eyes the joyus chara, that doesn't seem to match the scared like a kitten Seiko.

She otherwise ignores the situation as she orders her drink, something obnoxiously blood red seeping into white as she turns around and walks along with the group to the room as she has a seat, waiting her turn.

"I don't think. Anyone here is going to. Make fun of you." she says with a cautious monotone.A

"Karaoke is meant to be dumb anyways." she says.

Laura La Mer has posed:
Laura just blinks and pouts at Amy's answer. Yes of course, she is here to sing, Laura gets that much, but considering how monotone the redhead's friend was being... "I would have thought we were both trying to get our friends to express themselves more", she clarifies.

Amy warning against putting off things again and again makes Laura shake her head with a disappointed expression. "That doesn't really work here, Seiko-san. Procrastinating like that will just play in the hands of the Witch of Delays. You can absolutely do this, just look at Hoshi. Do you really think you would have made her hatch if you didn't have the motivation to make your dream a reality? You have all that it takes, I am saying it, and nobody is judging you. Norie-san is right, Here you have fun", she smiles softly at the Chara Bearer.

"Of course, let me do the honours", she flips her hair back confidently, taking the mic. "How do you turn these things on? Like these?", she says as she fumbles with it, tapping the mic's head as a test, which emits a jarring sound in response. "Ok, it's on", she winces in pain, her hand tapping her left hear.

"So, then, Summer Wave by Solven and Hysaze sounds promising", the pinkette selects the songs, moving past as quickly as she can from her fumble, her voice singing melodiously as she picks up the rhythm.

Seiko Akai has posed:
Seiko listens to Amy and frowns. That hurts a lot. "I'm going to be a singer and I'm going to prove it!" She begins flipping through the catalog of songs she could sing. She takes a deep breath as she finds some familiar tunes. Carefully she starts narrowing them down until she finds something she can sing.

Hoshi smiles. "Thats my Seiko-chan! She can do this!" She grins and plays with her glow sticks, waving them around as she then flies over to look at the different songs. "Which one are you going to sing?" She asks as she looks at the plethora of songs. "What about the one you practiced earlier?"

"They don't have the music for it here." Seiko responds as she finds what she is going to sing. Quietly she leans back and listens to Laura sing. She smiles and cheers a little, coming out of her shell just a little. "Yay Laura!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy wasn't trying to provoke Seiko into singing but that seems to be what happened. Amy can roll with this outcome. She briefly feels bad, but seeing Seiko get fired up, she smiles, and goes to take a seat while waiting for her turn. "I'm not actually sure what I'll sing that they'd have... do they have any Hirano Aya stuff..."

    She gives Norie a curious look. "Umm... that monotone... can you actually sing, or are you... unable to modulate the pitch of your voice?"

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana sits down. She already knows what song she's going to sing and she knows that the place has it already. She's been here before. She knows the songbook. She merely sits and listens to Laura sing. When she finishes, she politely claps, a slow clap. It may come off as sarcastic, even if that isn't the intent. She just may be incapable of actually clapping. She looks down at her hands and stops quickly.

She looks at Amy and grouses a bit as she huffs. "I can sing. and I can dance. I will show you." she says as she sniffs a moment, though she still speaks in monotone. "Utau-chan told me my monotone is alluring and mysterious." she says as she looks away.

Laura La Mer has posed:
"Great, wasn't it?", Laura smiles as she gets cheered on by Seiko, placing the microphone on the table and taking her place back. Ah, singing is so refreshing, and the atmosphere here feels amazing too. She will have to try and rope everyone into a group song later. It would be perfect and relaxing.

Among Laura's qualities, there are several positive ones like dedication, sincerity and earnestness, but calm isn't one of them, rather her temper is a bit inflammable, and the slow clap coming from Norie is in fact taken in a negative way. "My singing is great, literally the best of my kind. Why don't you go next then?" Laura says grumbling, daring Norie to step up.

Seiko Akai has posed:
Seiko gets ready to go on but pauses. She looks at Norie and blinks a few times. "Utau? As in Utau Hoshina? The Pop Idol?! YOU KNOW UTAU?!" Her eyes go wide and they get stars in them. "That is so cool! Utau is so awesome! I never met anyone cool like that." She smiles happily before she shakes it off. "I guess I should sing now."

She stands up and takes the mic. She quietly starts singing the song as a soft piano begins to play. A male voice rings out leading her into her part. As the music builds, so does her confidence. She starts singing a bit stronger. As she sings louder she pulls the mic away from her mouth so she doesn't sound bad. Something that some singers don't learn for a long time she does instinctively.

Hoshi smiles as she watches Seiko sing. "I didn't do anything to help her this time! This is all Seiko-chan!" She cheers. "I'm so proud of her!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy does a polite little clap for Laura, rather than a big enthusiastic clap, not because she didn't like the song but she's just trying not to be loud. As such she doesn't hurt her hands this time. "Yes, it was good!"

    She blinks at Seiko. "Uh... Utau Hoshina? Who's that, do I know them by another name or something?"

    She just stares at Seiko, who has met A REAL LIFE MERMAID AND MAGICAL GIRLS, saying she hasn't met anyone cool. "Yeah you have. A bunch of your classmates literally saved the world last week. We'll... we'll talk about that later."

    She listens to the song, amazed. She honestly was expecting Seiko to mess up from nervousness and lack of warming up. At the end, she asks: "Seiko... how do you possibly think you're a bad singer, after that?!"

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana nods to Seiko. "Yeah. Utau Hoshina. We work in the same label. I'm an idol-in-training." she says as she gives a wink. It's a robotic wink, but it's a wink all the same. She frowns to Larua as she seems taken a back. "S-sorry I can't. Control some motions. But I'll go next." she says. She looks to Amy. "Utau Hoshina is a famous pop idol." she says. "I'm going to sing one of her songs. We've been practicing together." she says.

She does also clap for Seiko, the same manner she did before. Slow clap. she stops though, fast, as she winces. "S-sorry. I'll stop. Clapping." she says as she says. "You we're fine." she says robotically as she looks to the catalogue and finds the song where she expects. When Seiko is done, she starts her turn as Laura says she should go next.

Meikyuu Butterfly, by Utau Hoshina starts, and she starts to sing, and indeed, her monotone changes a bit with the song. She isn't perfect to the song, but she sings it in her own strangely alluring way. As if she's a very practiced singer.

She also moves to the music, doing hand motions, her own interruption of the movements involved, practiced. Someone who's been dancing more than singing for more of her life.

She gets lost in the song, until it's end, when she snaps out of it.

At last she stopped herself from using any dark energy to enhance it. She doesn't need a tiny chara freaking out about bad vibes. >,<.

She'll walk back over to her seat quickly in a little shuffle.

Laura La Mer has posed:
"That's the way to go!", Laura exclaims enthusiastically at Seiko's show of determination and she goes up there herself without any excessive prodding on their part. This may just the one thing that will make her give it all her, the mermaid grins proudly as she prepares to listen. "You showed everyone what you are made of! I feel we would have a good rhythm together."

"Is this Utau that great?", Laura asks sulking when Seiko says she hasn't met anyone cool. "I am a queen candidate from Grand Ocean, and an actual mermaid, you know", she reminds Seiko. Laura honestly shares Amy's confusion over who Utau is ro, but that is secondary to not being recognised as 'cool'.

Which is immediately answered by Norie saying they work in the same label. "Hmm, so they are a professional idol. It makes sense you would look up to her, if she can be recognised that much", she recognises to Seiko, even if it stings a little that she doesn't seem to have registered as cool. "Still, I would like to see for myself what she can do. Do you have her number, Norie-san?"

Laura gets absorbed into feeling that monotome singing, trying to really get into the melody. There was no denying that if she had a bit of energy, she would be impeccable. "I am not sure if the lack of passion in your voice is the same deal as your lack of energy in your movements, but that's really the only flaw. You are a great singer, Norie-san, and definitely someone I would love singing alongside. What do you think?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy blinks. "Wait, really? You're gonna be an idol? What's that actually like?" She watches and listens to Norie sing and dance, and wonders if music is helping her feel something and get around the curse. "That was amazing too! Umm. Wow, I dunno if I'm gonna be able to compete with any of you."

    She stands up and selects her song. Bouken Desho Desho (It's an Adventure, isn't it, isn't it?) by Hirano Aya. She doesn't do the entire dance, but sometimes she does parts of it. Her quality gets better after like the first minute as she warms up, and she CAN sing but isn't perfect, and keeps switching octaves as she's not sure which to place different parts of the song in, and sometimes she forgets a word, but

    She's smiling. And she's got enthusiasm. And she looks so happy. Smiling wide so much it keeps flattening her vowels actually. And she can hear it, and opens her mouth taller again, and then forgets and smiles too wide again but she doesn't care.

    Afterwards she's clutching the microphone and grinning like the cat that ate the canary, or like she just got to meet her favorite celebrity.

Seiko Akai has posed:
Seiko blushes a little. "I didn't mean you both aren't cool. I just haven't met any Idol's before. That is like super awesome. I want to sing again but I think its Amy-san's Turn." She smiles a little and looks at Amy waiting to see what she does.

She turns to Norie and smiles to her. "You sing really well. That was awesome!" She then looks at Laura and grins. "You sing amazing too! We should sing together sometime. I think it would be fun." She comments before looking to Amy who has started to sing. She claps her hands a little and cheers showing that she is very clearly from outside of Japan.

She looks to Hoshi and smiles to her. "If I am going to be a Pop Idol, I am going to need to sing any chance I get. I need your help to do that. I don't want to be afraid anymore." She frowns and shakes her head.

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana sits down and sips her drink as she says. "I have. Issues. That. Prevent me from. Expressing myself." she says curtly with a monotone sound. "I do my.....best." she says quietly.

She blushes a little lightly as she's praised but keeps it to herself. She then listens to Amy sing and have fun. She claps..but stops immediacy. It's a reflex. She looks around a moment and curses herself under her breath as she looks back up. "That looked fun." she says , it's the most she can gather up to say.

"I would. Sing with you." she looks as she talks to her chara as she head tilts a little.

"What's... your..thingy's name. What did .. she call her's again..." she trails off. "Oh right. Charas?"

To Laura's words she blinks. "Utau is great." she says. She then frowns a little. "I have my own way of singing. This does not mean it is 'flawed'." she says curtly.

Laura La Mer has posed:
"Karaokes are great, but we don't really need them", Laura replies in response to Seiko's assertion. Back home, they did things like that too. "I have never shown you my place, have I? Let me know if you want to come over. It's fresh, and I have lots of snacks, and nobody is going to come over and bother us while we sing", Laura invites Seiko in turn.

An applause is given to Amy when she finishes with her song. Much like Meikyuu Butterfly, she hadn't really heard of that one before, nor was it one of those she had looked up, but it was a nice experience.

"That is why I said you are a great singer", Laura crosses her arms. That is not quite going how she wanted. "Norie-san, if you score 99 out of 100 on a test, would you think someone has a negative view of your talent? I think singing with you would be great. It's a fantastic way to become friends too." Laura turns her finger around a strand of her pink hair. "If it seemed I was making fun of you, I wasn't, and I apologise."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    That looked fun. "It was!" Amy positively beams. She can't stop grinning earnestly and it's a moment before she remembers to hand the mic off to the next person and sit down again. She is just so enthusiastic and almost bouncing with excitement and energy and, despite what she espoused earlier, trying to hold it in and not make anyone else's day weird because of her. "You uh. You all sing amazingly. Do you um... Do you feel any better now, Akai-san?"

Seiko Akai has posed:
"Oh cool! I definitely want to come over some time. I saw your dorm and its very... sparse. I am guessing you live in that thing you carry around?" Seiko comments as she smiles. "I want my dream. I just gotta fight the fear. Its scary getting in front of people. Even more scary when people are judging you. I just need to get over my fear of people."

"You can do it Seiko-chan! I know you can and I will be there to help you all the way." Hoshi cheers. "I'm Hoshi by the way." She comments to Norie. Then she turns back to Seiko and smiles at her. "If you believe in me, I will definitely help you make your dream a reality."

Seiko smiles and reaches out to hug the little Chara. She then turns to Norie and smiles at her. "I would love to sing with you sometime! It would be fun!" She grins and takes a long sip of her boba tea. "Mmmmmm this is so good!"

Turning back to Amy she smiles to her applauds, "You did really well!" Then there is the question. "I think I feel alright. I don't feel like I am panicking anymore. I just need to keep singing. I know I can do it." She takes a deep breath.

"I know when I'm singing, everything is different. I am afraid at first. But then, everything changes and I am right where I want to be."

"You're a star. You can't see the stars during the day but but as the night sets in, the stars begin to glow brighter and you can see them across the sky. You take some time to get warmed up but then!" Hoshi smiles and twirls her glowsticks. "You Shine!"

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana 'ahs' as she listens to the small chara tell her it's name. She looks to Laura speak, she's about to say something about the statements about her when she says something about being a mermaid and she stares at Laura like she's dumbfounded a moment and she blinks. "Oh, you're a mermaid. At least. Your singing doesn't burn my skin." she says bluntly.

She looks over to Seiko as she says. "You'll do fine. Just don't stop." she says quietly.

"I think she feels better." she tells Amy before she looks to the group.

"I am...La Vampira. That is. Vampire." she says bluntly. "I do not have positive emotions. It's why I am the way I am. I apologize." she says in monotone.

"Amy-chan is aware of this." she says quietly.

"We'll probably meet someday under less than pleasant circumstances." she says more quietly again.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy beams at Seiko saying she did well too!

    She got to sing karaoke with her new voice. She saw Seiko come out of her shell. She learned Norie is an idol-to-be and heard them all sing. It's a good day!

    And she smiles for Seiko, too! "I'm so glad you feel better! There will still be trials and tribulations, I'm sure, but try to remember that feeling!"

    "And, I'd be glad to sing with any of you! Hoshi, too!"

    And then it's Norie who ends up revealing something about her identity first.

    "She's cursed by powers beyond her control." Amy is quick to note. And turns to Norie. "And you know. If we literally saved the world last week, there's gotta be something that can be done for you!" Her face falls. "I'm sorry that I've not been spending more time looking for a cure. Um. ...Honestly I'm not sure I'm actually good at solving magical problems. And. Maybe you can't um. Recognize my donations of energy as caring for you because that would be a positive feeling, but I do. Want to help you. Speaking of which, a silver crystal thing happened again and I am overfilled with energy, so if you need to feed, please, I am happy to share." She holds up her hand with the ring facing Norie. It is shining red brighter than usual.

Laura La Mer has posed:
"You got it right!", Laura nods at the Chara Bearer's question. "I live inside the Aqua Pot, and it was given to me by the Queen of Grand Ocean. That's why I wouldn't use anything else for my home." See? It was so easy to let Seiko grasp the significance. "I will throw you a very good welcome."

"A vampire? Those beings that can suck blood?" She can't believe they had an actual one here. It is curious indeed. "I assume you met a mermaid princess, then? They do have magic singing, but we do things differently at Grand Ocean. It's just an art we hold great affinity for, no magic involved", she remarks.

A frown is given when she considers Norie's situation. "That type of affliction with your emotion is cruel. I hope you can find your way out of it one day."

"It's decided, then! Let's all sing together one day!", she nods with an enthusiastic tone.

Seiko Akai has posed:
Seiko smiles and stands up. She finishes her boba tea and looks at Laura, "I will stop by in the coming days and I can visit the umm Aqua Pot." She smiles happily. There are a thousand questions she has but most are some variation of how in the world could two people let alone one person fit inside the Aqua Pot?

She takes a moment to look at her phone and she sighs, "I need to get home. I need to water my plants and then I need to get ready for bed. This has been a lot of fun! Thank you for bringing me here."

She turns to Norie and blinks a few times, "A Vampire? Like in the movies? Thats kinda creepy. You don't seem like an evil vampire. Maybe you will find a cure someday." She gives a gentle smile, "It was a pleasure meeting you."

She turns to Amy, "Thank you. I look forward to singing with you and everyone here in the near future! Things are going to start happening now, I can feel it!" She turns to her chara and speaks up, "Hoshi, lets go home." With that she starts out the door and starts making her way back to Radiant Heart.

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana gives a straight faced nod. "Alright. We'll sing together." she says softly. "I do not... suck blood. I. Eat energy. But it's similar enough, and has the same results." she says as she looks away from Laura and looks over to Amy.

"...Away from prying eyes. But I could use it. And it looks like you could spare at least a little." she says. She sighs a little. And resists eyerolling at Amy. "I understand, Amy-chan." she says quietly. "I will take your. Charity. If you can spare it." she says quietly.

She looks to Seiko. "It is creepy. I hate it." she says as she looks to Amy. "Let's go to the alley next to this place, then." she says as she leaves quietly. Expecting Amy to follow.

"Bye, Laura-san."