Deaf to all but the song

“Jackal couldn’t make it, huh?”

Sele’s expression shifted to one of a frown as she saw Dove approach her, alone.

Dove sighed and shook their head.

“I’m afraid not. The sore throat and cough she came down with got a bit worse… it’s not serious, but she told me tonight’s activity wouldn’t be a great idea with those symptoms specifically.”

“Figures.” Sele sighed, shaking her head.

“Well, you’re here! So we may as well just party without her.”

“That’s the spirit!” Dove replied, clasping their hands together with a smile.

“Uhm… what… were we doing, exactly? I remember it was singing of some kind, but… wasn’t there more context?”

“Karaoke!” Sele said, her voice perking up a bit more.

“...What’s that?” Dove said, their voice confused.

There was a bit of an awkward pause.

“Right, you… nevermind.” Sele sighed.

“Let’s walk and talk! I’ll explain it all on our way there.”

Dove nodded, and the two started on their way to their destination.

Sele… wasn’t quite sure how she’d describe karaoke to someone who wasn’t familiar with any sort of inner city activity. She ended up explaining it as a private room with drinks and snacks, where one would sing their favorite songs to the music as a TV showed the lyrics.

“A… private room? If I knew this was going to be that type of date, then…” Dove said, their words fading into mumbles as they looked to Sele and realized their words had gotten her flustered.

“Oh!! No, no, no, not like that! I mean, unless… you want to.” Sele replied.

“It’s mainly just a private room because lots of people get embarrassed when singing because they’re not very good at it.”

“Ohh, I see.” Dove nodded in response.

“That’s strange – where I’m from, nobody would judge you on if your singing was less refined or not…”

“Well, I guess people here must have different priorities.” Sele said, as she held open the door of the karaoke establishment for Dove.

It was an automated establishment, with a large touchscreen acting as the receptionist – Dove seemed enthralled by it.

“I got some extra cash on me, so I don’t mind renting a room for the longest they’ll allow – just in case.” Sele said, as to reassure Dove.

The room was paid for, and Sele was given a keycard by the reception machine to allow access to the room.

So, the two went down the thin corridor, lined by windowless doors on both sides. Upon reaching the room that matched the label on the keycard, they stopped, and Sele opened the door to let Dove and herself inside.

The room had an overall dark palette, with a comfy-looking couch and glass coffee table taking up most of the room. Opposite from the couch, there was a large TV screen and karaoke machine.

Promptly after closing the door behind her, Sele crashed on the couch.

“Ugh, my feet hurt after that walk, gimme a sec to chill…” she groaned, propping her legs up on the coffee table.

“Oh, there’s a menu here. I can probably pay for anything if you wanna order, my treat.”

“Are you sure that’s ok?” Dove asked, as they carefully sat down next to Sele and picked up the laminated menu sheet.

“Of course! It’s not like it’s my money, anyways.” Sele replied with a but of a snort, though her joke fell flat onto Dove’s ears.

The two were quiet for a moment, as Sele rested her legs and Dove looked over the menu.

“There sure is… a lot of alcoholic options here…” Dove mumbled to themselves.

“Yeah, people think singing badly is a bit more fun and chaotic when they’ve had a few.” Sele nodded.

“You don’t drink though, do you? They probably have like, sodas hidden in the very bottom corner, or something.”

Dove nodded, and made note of what they wanted before handing the menu off to Sele to browse.

The two decided on a plate of nachos to share, with Sele ordering a few alcoholic beverages for herself that she claimed had ‘interesting names’ – while Dove simply got a sparkling water.

“So… when does the singing happen, exactly?” Dove asked, while waiting for the duo’s food to be delivered.

“Oh! You could’ve said so sooner, hah!” Sele replied, moving from her relaxed position to grab the remote on the coffee table and turn on the machine and TV.

The TV came alive, and opened with a menu that had the options to filter by popular songs, genre, or search directly.

“You had any specific songs in mind?” Sele asked, turning to Dove.

Dove thought for a second.

“I mean, I’d doubt any of them would actually… be archived here. But I love to try singing new things! You can choose a song you’d think I’d like.” they said, facing Sele with a sweet smile.

Admittedly, Sele… didn’t listen to a lot of music with lyrics. But, from a simple vibe check, she had a feeling there was a specific subgenre of pop that Dove would enjoy – the type about dancing and having fun in a lighthearted manner.

Sele navigated through the genre menu, until she found a song that she figured Dove would enjoy – then stood up.

“Alright, come over here! The machine has microphones for you to use.”

“Ooh! I’ve never used a proper microphone before… these look so fancy!” Dove said, with a bit of a squee.

“Heh, I guess I sorta underestimated how low-tech of a background you came from…” Sele remarked.

“Anyways, the words will show up on the screen, with a timer! Once the timer counts down, the words will start turning blue, and you’ll sing them as they do!”

“That sounds easy enough!” Dove nodded.

“You were going to join me, right?”

Sele paused.

“Oh, erm… I can join you on the next one?” Sele said, backtracking.

“This is a solo song, if I had known you wanted to do a duet, I would’ve picked one for that, hah!”

Really, Sele just felt she needed a few drinks before she could properly lost her inhibitions to not crumple from embarrassment.

“That’s alright! I guess this gives me a chance to do a practice run then, too.” Dove nodded.

Sele scurried back to the couch, and the lights dimmed as the intro instrumental to the song began to play.

While Dove looked a little unsure of themselves, they followed Sele’s instructions and waited for the timer to count down to start singing.

While their tone was a bit unsure at first, since they didn’t know the words – Dove seemed to pick it up quickly after just the first verse.

Their singing was a bit… magical. They didn’t exactly have the sort of singing voice one would expect to hear from a pop song about having fun with your friends on the weekend, but they made it work quite well – at least to Sele.

Sele watched silently in awe, drinking intermittently. Once the song concluded, she erupted in a semi-inebriated cheer for Dove, causing them to get quite flustered.

“I’m… assuming I did OK, then?” they said, face alight due to Sele’s enthusiastic reaction.

“That was AMAZING!! I’ve never actually heard you sing in full before… holy SHIT was that something else!”

Sele got up, though she wobbled a bit.

“Alright, I think I’m ready to do a duet now, if you’d like.”

Dove nodded excitedly, and the two went to look over song choices together.

They were scrolling along the list pretty fast, before Sele suddenly pointed out a specific song.

“Ooh! I’ve heard this one before! It’s a duet that actually kind of reminds me of us, haha!”

“We should sing it then!” Dove smiled, as they grabbed Sele’s hand.

Sele grabbed a microphone of her own, and the countdown rolled as the opening instrumental played.