The Cephalo Diaries 2017

“Aaaaand done.” Abigail let the handle of the cooler drop to the floor after lugging it from down the street, causing a pink clownfish to wriggle out of the anemone’s tentacles with a start. “Don’t just let it drop! That was really loud!” She whined. Abigail only chuckled, petting her companion lightly, “m’pologies, Mezz.” She turned to the direction she saw her neighbor last, “Yo Gate, ice box cool here?”

Luanne held up her thumb with vigor, setting up the karaoke machine to the tv lodged in her garage. "Just as long nobody trips on it! Last thing i need is to clean ink off the floor." She  chuckled, stretching out her back once the machine was all hooked up.
The inkling wandered over to the table littered with her dad's tools, taking a seat on it as she faced her trusty neighbor. "So, we got everything set? Drinks, food, karaoke, and our wits?"

Abigail nodded, “just about!” Nudging the cooler a little more, the anemone sat on it and crossed her legs before her, “now we play the waitin game. Who’d you sing this to anyways?”

"Uh....everyone." Luane grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head before holding her arms out. "I know that sounds...bad! But, I did invite a few other friends of mine!" She tried to defend herself there....tried.

“Of course you did.” Her face matched her sentence, but in the more friendly manner than any other. A bit rash as usual.

Don’t know how much time passed! But eventually an orange squid walking a blue slug came into view from the garage. She came up the drive way, more towards one side than right down the middle, just to knock on the frame of the garage, “hey, Lu! And um, friend. Uh.”

“Abigail.” She gave a single cool wave.

“Right. Victoria.” She returned the wave with an awkward smile. “So uh.... party?”

"You're the first one to arrive!" Luanne pointed right over to Torch, trying to give off a cool smirk as if she has some confidence in this going well. "I don't know who else is showing up, but hey! Maybe some cool celebrity will pop up."

"Oh. Well, this is something. Heya peeps." Kuro approached the garage- though kind of seemed like he came from behind Torch in way. Seems to be all alone this time, no being around Valerie today it seems. "Heard there's gonna be some sorta party here, eh?"

Didn’t even know he was behind her, neither of them did. So when Kuro spoke up both Torch and Goober snapped their heads to his direction. “Aha- hi! Uh.” Her eyes darted, “how long were you behind me for goodness,” she tried to joke, meanwhile Goober went to sniff at Kuro’s shoes. Abigail nods to his question, “got a karaoke set up here~”

He chuckled silently. "Literally just for seconds. Came because I heard from Erie that a party was going on at 'Luanne''s place? She didn't really seem like wanting to come over so I went instead." Kuro answered and looked down at Goober for a while and then smiling a little. Ah pets. Can be fun. Can be not. He went going around Torch to be more like beside her rather than straight up behind her and looked more inside of the place and grinned. "Ah cool then. Karaoke sounds pretty good."

“Ah I see.. well hope she’s feeling alright.” Torch looked a bit concerned despite the friendly smile on her face, though what she failed to notice was Goober following Kuro and his feet and then began gnawing on the guy’s shoe.

“Mmmhm” Abigail hummed, agreeing. “Now which one’a you canaries wanna go first? Bring some attention to this cubby”

Luanne shrugs her shoulders, leaning back against the wall as she stares at the "party."  "I don't know about you guys, but I think I'll go second. Let someone else have the opening act." She grinned warmly, crossing her arms contently while wondering who will take the opportunity to go up.

Kuro stared down at the little goobery Goober. He lightly tried shaking his foot to stop him from doing that. "Torch. Your pet- please." He snickered a little, trying to step away from the li'l guy as well at this point. See. Can be fun, can be not. "In that case- I kinda got a song in mind if no one minds?" He asks, slowly trying to go towards the set up for the karaoke more while trying to get Goob to stop.

“Wha- OH sorry! Goob, hey!” Torch began tugging at the leash, though to no avail, she resorted to scooping up the protesting snail instead. “Ahah.. sorry about your shoe..” not that it was torn at all, just covered in slime now. Abigail chuckled at tee display, then gestured to the machine, “go for it, Jack”

Sleak had heard over the grapevine that there would be a party. Normally, Sleak wouldn't really have an interest.. Enough things to do. But apparently it was going to be big. Word spread far. Once he heard word of the party for the third time, the inkling finally decided to actually check things out. And thus, he came walking up to the place. With the amount of people he didn't recognize, he opted to not note Torch's presence. After that mess on Squitter earlier the year.. He shook his head. "Good day, heard there's a party here. Open invite?"

"Alrighty then- thanks- hahah, it'ss... It's not that bad, don't worry about it. I'm not that poor- can probably get new shoes if needed, hahah." He had a little smile back on his face before turning to the machine and taking up the microphone, looking through the songs and picking one. Glancing over at Sleak for a little while before looking back at the screen, foot went tapping for the few seconds it started up before the actual singing. And soon, he took a breath in before he started to let his voice sound out.

I don't think I'll ever be the kind of hero 
Who can take a stand and be courageous 
At the moment, I've only managed to become 
Someone skilled at protecting himself
"You're so amazing! Keep doing your best, hero!"
"For the sake of the world, please don't ever lose!" 
As I stand here, breathing a sigh of relief,
I feel disappointed with myself;
I want to change so badly...

Hearing the familiar voice, Torch turned her head to Sleak, giving a smile and a small wave before returning to watching the first performance. Two friends. That makes her feel a little better.
“Welcome welcome~” Abigail greeted, then murmured over to Luanne, “you weren’t kidding about tellin everyone. Who’s this?” She didn’t expect her neighbor to know the answer but, just further proving the statement.

Luanne shrugs her shoulder,  squinting hard at Sleak. WHo the heck is he? Is he here to steal something? Probably not. She gets up, walking over to him before dipping her hands into her pockets. "Yeeeaahh, iunno. I think he follows me on Squitter though."

"...You may want to scour online for a moment then. I've been.. Pardon." He grabs his phone from his pocket, the buzz not very audible, but definitely feelable.. "...Right. Five. I've been notified five times that there's supposedly a party going on here." Sleak looked over to Torch for a moment, noting her wave.. and gave a small wave back. If she started the interaction.. would be impolite not to.
"I wouldn't be surprised if dozens of people showed up later on. I happened to be in the neighborhood, so I managed to get here pretty fast." He sighed.. "And.. I.. may have followed a bunch of 'people you may know nearby' on Squitter without really paying attention. If it bothers you, I can unfollow you, but.. most people seem to be following me back.. Not that I'm that active anymore, I've had some.. awkward interactions." Sleak raised his shoulders. "Anyway, if I'm not welcome, I guess that's that, but you may definitely want to rein in invites online."

Luanne shakes her hand about, keeping a collected grin on her face. "Heeyy, you're all fine. Not like I post anything scandalous on there. " He giggled quietly, holding her hand out towards him. "Name's Luanne, dude. Welcome to the shindig."

“Yeah chill out, Lane” Abigail leaned back in her spot, “we were just wondering’ who you were.. mingling and all that jazz.”
“No no! He’s right!” The clownfish butts in, “you guys shouldn’t have let this be an open thing! It should have been invite only!”
“Shhshhshh.” Abigail carefully nudged the clownfish back into her tentacles. “Abigail, by the by.”

"Sleak Disyne." Sleak stated, shaking Luanne's hand. "Nice to meet you.. If you don't mind me asking, are you two from Cephalo, or..?"

“Born n raised.” Abigail.

"I don't know anywhere else, but Cephalo!" Luanne grinned brightly, placing a hand against her hip. Clearly, she's proud of where she comes from.

Of course while the rest were talking their own conversation, Kuro just kept on with the singing. Things just didn't exactly felt right at the moment and he just felt like letting things out about now. So continuing with it--

I wonder if I'd be capable of protecting something? 
The future changes in tandem with my heart,
And I'm the only one who can open the path!
Which choice is correct? Which one is a mistake? 
My feelings on the subject aren't really relevant 
What do I want to accomplish? Where should I go?
Everything is really up to my heart's desire!
I can't wield a sword or cast magic spells, 
But I'll scream about the power of love until my voice gives out! 
I'll change that boring future awaiting me 
This one step will make itself known to the whole world!

"Aha. I'm actually from Inkopolis.. I don't know many locals.." Sleak opts not to mention that the ones he did know.. Hrm. "It's quite different from here. Local turf war scene is.. Not quite as active as Inko's."

His ears couldn't help but listen in a little anyways, and he just quietly sighs before taking a breath in once more and quickly sing out this part. 

Putting a lid on my negative thoughts, 
I am headed for a land of my own dreams 
No matter what anyone may say, 
I can't abandon hope for where this dream is headed! 

Now was the instrumental.
He briefly turned to Sleak. "It definitely isn't as active as Inkopolis' games." And that was all he said before going back to singing. 

I wonder if I'd be capable of protecting something? 
The future changes in tandem with my heart, 
And I'm the only one who can open the path!

Torch probably took a seat to the side with her snail for the time being, [totally didn’t forget about her.] 

“Ah the big top... not my domain haha,” Abigail folded her arms behind her head.

"Yeah, I'm the same. Music's always been my drivin factor, but a little turf match can be fun!" Luanne dipped her hands in her pocket, joining in on the conversation. Her gaze did turn over to Kuro, holding up her thumb with a big grin on her face. Dude's killin it!

Just one more through the chorus and we're done for now. Let's do this. 

Has anything changed by only thinking about them? 
That's how I ended up stranded here in the first place! 
I've gotta resist the urge to run amid this revolving world;
If I can take a step forward, I'm sure something will change!
Which choice is correct? Which one is a mistake? 
My feelings on the subject aren't really relevant 
What do I want to accomplish? Where should I go?
Everything is really up to my heart's desire!
I can't wield a sword or cast magic spells, 
But I'll scream about the power of love until my voice gives out! 
I'll change that boring future awaiting me 
This one step will make itself known to the whole world!
I'm not scared, no matter how the future turns out! 

Other than the few times Valerie had made him sing the songs he chose to put in their tumblr account, it was honestly something for him to resort to singing to pour his heart out or so, but hey, it's what this party is- has karaoke so why not.  He turned around to the others and kind of went handing or at least pointing the mic over at Luanne. "You said you wanted to go second, didn't you?"

“Go on, Canary, second’s the best.” Abigail leaned forward from her slouch to give Luanne a playful shove. It was more like a nudge from her hand than anything.

"Oh, hell yeah!" Luanne shouted, letting herself get nudged on over to the karaoke machine. Let's see, definitely gotta rock this joint out.
A few taps to the screen before turning right over to the audience, mic in hand as she gave a devilish smirk.
"Glad you all could join tonight, and we certainly had a fantASTIC opening act!" She cheered, holding her fist up high as the song played through the intro.  

Jimmy's in the back with a pocket of high If you listen close you can hear him cry 
Oh Lord, heaven knows, we belong way down below (Sing it) 
Oh Lord, heaven knows, we belong way down below
Way down below, way down below Judy's in the front seat picking up trash 
Living on the dole, gotta make that cash 
Won't be pretty, won't be sweet 
She's just sitting here on her feet 
Singing oh Lord, heaven knows, we belong way down below (Go) 
Oh Lord, heaven knows, we belong way down below (Sing) 
Oh Lord, tell us so, we belong way down below 
Oh Lord, tell us so, we belong way down below 
Way down below, way down below Way down below, way down below

Sleak eyed the 'exchange of the guard', so to speak.. and wondered for a moment.. "...wait, karaoke is.. optional, right?" He glanced over at Torch for a moment, after turning to Abigail. "...Right?"

After sending off her neighbor, Abigail went back to leaning against the wall whilst sitting on the cooler. How people were going to to get drinks easily was beyond her- aside from just asking. Though with the question she just shrugged, “If we want more attention to this jive, yer gonna have ta sing, Lane.” She said it so matter-of-factly. “I wouldn’t pressure ya though.... Lu might.” She pointed to the singing squid with a small smirk.

Kuro chuckled quietly at that and stayed silent as she went on singing. He went off to like nearer to the others but more like sticking to the wall really as he started snickering with Sleak's question.
"C'moon, singing's fun, Why don'tcha sing next even? What 'bout you as well, Torch?"

“Huh wha?” Torch only paid attention now, got a little lost in thought with the song and her snail.
What was the topic? Right, singing. “Nah I-it’s alright,” she raised a hand in retreat, “I’d croak up there ahah..”

Ignoring the fact he was called Lane just now, Sleak turned to Torch as she was called out. "Hmmm? I just heard this is mostly a karaoke party. I'm a random appearance, but what about you? Didn't you know you were expected to sing, hmm?"
He sighed. "If anything, I am not a big fan of singing... If you need someone to paint the turf, though, I can do that." He paused.. "But I'd hardly be a good guest if I didn't try at least once.. I'm calling not being next, though!"

“I don’t wanna go next!” Torch squeaked, “Goob you go!”
The snail’s only response was a head tilt and a “Hroo?” 

Abigail only chuckled at the reactions to this. She wasn’t about to volunteer herself but,, “flip a coin, duet,” she suggested, leaning back again with her arms behind her head, “or let Gate decide for ya after her numbah.”

I've had better days, man I've seen better days 
I've had better ways, man I know better ways 

Luanne nodded her head, tapping her foot with the devilish smirk remaining on her face as she held her fist out. 

One, two, three and four 
The devil's knocking at your door 
Caught in the eye of a dead man's lie 
Start your life with your head held high 
Now you're on your knees with your head hung low 
Big man tells you where to go 
Tell them it’s good, tell them okay 
Don't do a goddamn thing they say 

The inkling quickly began to headbang through the chorus, rock horns held up high with a little jump added to her performance. 

Oh Lord, heaven knows, we belong way down below 
Oh Lord, tell us so, we belong way down below 
Way down below, way down below Way down below, way down below

Kuro grinned and snicker at their reaction and response to them having to sing or so. "She has a point- either leave it up to fate to decide or sing together. Or just wait 'till she's done singing and she'll choose or something like that. Just delaying the inevitable hahah..." He mumbled the last part, looking back at Luanne. The girl got some moves heh.

"Sing... Together?!" Sleak's eyes widened. "But.. I.." He looked at Torch.. ".. I.. I wouldn't know what to sing! I.. Kinda have no idea what kinda music Torch likes.. Except maybe Squid Sisters music, I guess.."

“Anything but country... or screamos.” She filled in a raised finger. Though it dropped again with the thought of a duet. “I mean... do you want to? I could make this easier and leave..” even her eyes trailed to the exit. 

“Don’t be such a Jeeeeff...” Abigail. 

Well that was an obvious term of dislike. And she didn’t want to really let that happen so.. Torch looked at the three, Her eyes darting to each face before she plopped her chin in her hands, “I’d rather just let Luanne decide in that case. I don’t know...”

I've seen better ways, man I know better ways I've seen better days, man I've had better days 

Luanne kept her gaze to the audience, tapping her foot to the drum beat as she belted out the final verse. 

Gina's in the back with a pocket of high 
If you listen close you can hear the crying 
Oh Lord, heaven knows, we belong way down below 
Oh Lord, tell us so, we belong way down below 
Oh Lord, heaven knows, we belong way down below 
Oh Lord, tell us so, we belong way down below 
Way down below, way down below Way down below, way down below 

She threw her rockhorns up, cheering wildly as she ran back to the crowd.

Abigail snapped her fingers instead of applauding because she could. “Killed it out there, lu!”

Kuro laughed and clapped. The girl did good, that's for sure. "Yeah, great stuff there! Now... Can ya maybe help us with this li'l dilemma these two are going through?" He snickered quietly, jabbing a thumb towards Torch and Sleak. "Can't decided which of them should go first or if they should duet and stuff."

"I also have a music library that consists mostly of music played during turf war. Upbeat music to ink to, most of it has no real lyrics." Sleak noted. "So my knowledge of lyrics of other songs is pretty much zero."

Luanne, without a single regret, dabbed with pride before rising up with a confident grin plastered on her face. "A thank you, Abby~." She dipped her hands back into her pockets, turning her gaze over to Torch and Sleak, and finally pointing towards Torch. "You. You totally need to rock something next!" She turned excitedly, and frantically pointing towards the machine.

Kuro stifles more laughter in the background

Torch looked up to see Luanne finish off, somewhat fearing the decision aaaaand she pointed to her.
Inside she was probably cursing her out, but outside it looked like you denied a puppy their cookie.
So with a shaky breath in and a quick one out Torch stood up, and handed Goober’s leash off to.. someone idk you decide lol. Begrudgingly making her way to the machine and tapping on the screen...
Torch kind of just. Swiped the screen, closed her eyes, and tapped on a random song. Maybe she’ll feel better if it was just thrown at her, like everything else. She stepped back, waiting for the song to start.. a guitar started playing and she quite literally started reading the lyrics than singing them.

“Stop me on the corner, I swear you hit me like a vision.. I,I,I wasn’t expecting But who am I to tell fate where’s it’s supposed to go with it?
Don't you blink you might miss it See we got a right to just love it or leave it You find it and keep it 'Cause it ain't every day you get the chance to say..
Oh, this is how it starts, lightning strikes the heart..
It goes off like a gun, brighter than the sun Oh, we could be the stars, falling from the sky Shining how we want-“ 

Okay she stopped here because a certain snail started howling. Don’t know what other night think but it was an obvious sign to her that her snail didn’t like it. So, forgetting to put the mic away from her face she turned and held a hand out towards her snail, “okay okay okay! Shhhhshshsh I’ll- aaa....” Torch quickly shifted her attention again, taking a breath in an out again before the next verse.

Sleak blinked for a second. "W-well, I guess that's that th-" Ofcourse she'd drop Goober off with him, and he immediately stepped back, knowing what happened to his shoes last time. He didn't know the song she began singing, but he was staring anyway, not really paying attention to the snail but definitely keeping the little critter away from himself. Especially when it began howling and he just froze in place and silently said "I didn't do anything I swear" with obvious panic showing on his face.

Luanne chuckled at Goober's antics, leaning back besides Abby while her gaze fixed on a performing Torch. "Oh, she's toootally nailing this." She whispered to her anemone friend with a grin on her face.

"Oh boy, anyone good with pets here?" He said a bit quietly, crossing his arms and grinning a bit. He's not gonna go up there and try to help out with the li'l guy himself- not today hahah. At least she still seems to be able to sing, there's that!

“Heh, looks like the Bree’s gettin a duet after all,” Abigail whispered back. 

“Yeah no I- urr” Torch put the microphone lower to quit speaking into it, staring down her slug with slitted eyes and motioning her hand to her mouth as her words implied, “zip it.” Goober only started panting after that command. Promptly taking a few steps back and sitting on Sleak’s foot- if he didn’t move it quick enough. A little sigh out and Torch finally looked about the room. Ah great, the music’s still going on too. She awkwardly took the side steps to the machine to rewind a bit so that the music was set to the first chorus again, “ssssssorry..” Refusing to look at the crowd after that, she only leaned against— whatever was there really, tapping her foot lightly to the beat until the new set of lines came up again. 

I never seen it, 
but I found this love I'm undefeated 
You better believe, 
I'm gonna treat it better than anything I've ever had 
'Cause you're so damn beautiful read it 
It's time and deliver it let's seal it 
Boy we go together like peanuts and paydays and Marley and reggae 
And it ain't every day you get the chance to say
Oh, this is how it starts, 
lightning strikes the heart It goes off like a gun, 
brighter than the sun 
Oh, we could be the stars, falling from the sky 
Shining how we want, brighter than the sun. 

She still looked uncomfortable, face flushed and eyes looking away, but she was actually singing now instead of just reading off the lyrics.

Luanne raised her fist in the air towards Torch. "You got this, dude!!"  She shouted, crossing her arms.

Sleak would likely have resigned to having a slug sit down on his foot, were it not for the fact he had been cautiously paying attention to the slug's whereabout. Just as Goober wanted to plop down on top of his foot, Sleak had in fact already moved said foot backward, a bit annoyed that Goober seemed to be doing it on purpose now. "You're uh.. you're.. doing good."... he said. Not loud. Likely too soft to be heard actually.

Kuro just snickered as he watched, spending a bit looking at the others- barely catching Sleak's mouth moving. Heh. Wonder what he said- His ears perk up and he carefully makes his way past whoever was in between him and the entrance of this place as he sees a little squiddo dragging...well, his new older brother. And... Oh boy, Kuro sighed as he noticed that Ankoku was holding his phone. Anko whyy.  

"Oh- Roku! Hey, heey!!" The young squid waved excitedly while the pretty nervous octo right behind him kept looking around and trying to pull the little one back closer to him- but then soon looks more relieved at the sight of the dark blue inkling nearby.  

"Kuro, sorry, he, he really wanted to go out and he saw your conversation with um, Val...? Val on your phone and all and..." 

"I get it, I get it, Al, don't worry, hahah. Li'l explorer eh... Welp- pretty sure you two can stay around for now, I mean they did mention this is an open party thing... C'mon." 

Ankoku cheered and then went in and was waving at everyone, meanwhile Allen was hesitant to even set a foot in. Sure, he has his hat and glasses on but, still... Mm... Kuro sighed and slowly pulled the guy in. Meanwhile, he took a grab at Ankoku's hand, letting go of Allen before patting the boy. 

"...this is my li'l bro, Ankoku. And that's Al." Kuro quickly introduced, Ankoku greeting and smiling at everyone, Allen just giving a quick wave before looking around while sticking to the wall like as if he was glued to it hm.

Abigail gave a single wave accompanied with her cool grin, “welcome, jitterbugs” 

Torch starts bobbing her head along to the song a bit. THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP HAS BROKEN HER SHELL- nah she’s just feeling a little better being in the zone. 

Everything is like a white out, 
'cause we shk shk shine down 
Even when when the light's out but I can see you glow.. 
Got my head up in the rafters, got me happy ever after 
Never felt this way before, ain't felt this way before
I swear you hit me like a vision 
I, I, I wasn't expecting 
But who am I to tell fate where it's supposed to go?- 
Ohh, this is how it starts, l
ightning strikes the heart It goes off like a gun, 
brighter than the sun. 
Oh, we could be the stars, falling from the sky 
Shining how we want, brighter than the sun, yeah 

The song kept going with the same chorus. Which made her grow another awkward look of uncertainty on her face, looking and shrugging to the small crowd. Didn’t mean for it to be this long geez.. oh great more people showed up too! All comfort just went down the drain s her face heated up again.. but at least it’s the end finally. Hopefully. Maybe. 

Oh, this is how it starts, lightning strikes heart It goes off like a gun, brighter than the sun. 

Torch held her breath as if expecting more... alas it was done and she let go of that breath quickly. So she stepped over back to the crowd, giving small waves to the newcomers aaand stuck the mic out to Sleak, almost as if she were shoving it to him, “your go.”

Sleak traded the microphone for Goober's leash. Sighing as he walked up to the karaoke machine. Wasn't in his plans to stand in front of others, mostly people he didn't know.. and sing for them of all things.. but.. Well, after having Torch do precisely that.. He felt like a challenge had been set. A bar had been raised. And he desperately wanted to decline said challenge. Alas, he scrolled through the the machine's list of songs, unsure what to even decide on.. he didn't even know most of these songs, and even if he decided on doing a Squid Sisters song, that definitely needed a second.. A twinge of.. 'perhaps I should've gone together with Torch' regret hit him, albeit for a short moment. ...But hey, is that... It is, isn't it. It's a bit of an obscure song, should he really go for it...? Hrm.. He hit play. The beat started, a bit of an upbeat opening, and then! The slower moment with the lyrics arrived. Sleak had used the moment before to tap into his 'professional image'. Audience is there for you. But you're here for yourself. Just do it. 

Once again, I'm called upon 
Problems and conflicts everywhere 
But they don't really need me 
I'm just the easiest decision I'm leaving this battle to the others 
This is no longer my war to fight in I've done my duty in the past I'm living my own way 

The buildup begins and Sleak breathes in. Around him, the world has gone dark and he is alone. And then! 

In a different world In a different time 
Been hailed as a hero 
Been attacked left and right In a past now behind me 
In a time now gone by I have lived to the fullest I even died twice 
My life aint yet over 
Got much left to do 
With the power within me 
Make my own dreams come true 

That power moment, he gave it his all, having yelled out most of those lyrics, and as the song progressed, he took a moment to breath. He was completely focused on this, and the world around him was gone.

Victoria let out a breath of her own soon as the trade was done and Sleak walked to the machine, least that was done and over with. 

Abigail took the opportunity to comment when the orange squid sat with her slug, “Not a shabby canary, bree~ coulda killed it better with more confidence in ya though” 

“Ahah yeah...” Torch brought Goober to her lap, and practically held onto the pet like a pillow while waiting for the guy to start, “just not my kind of stage I guess,” she shrugged, eyes averting because hey ho embarrassment. Though she blinked when he began. For someone who apparently has a library consisting mostly of chiptunes.. she wasn’t expecting this. 

“Why ya look at that. Lane’s got lungs!” Abigail nodded.

Luanne had already applauded the great performance done by Torch, using her fingers as a whistle to add on to the cheers. "Way to go, dude!" She was definitely elated to hear the performance, but now it seems the new guy's belting out a hit of his own. Ain't  too shabby! She leans back towards Abigail, "Gotta agree with ya there. Dude's killin it!"

In regards to the compliments, Sleak was oblivious. He was focused on doing the song and doing the song right. His face had already gone flush, making him seem nauseous, what with his color being green. However, as his singing continued, it became quite clear that wasn't at all the case. 

I've seen much in my life 
When I was still a teen 
Had a tiny bit of power 
More than I could believe 
The power was precisely 
What was needed from me 
I saved this new world 
But the cost was too great 

The buildup begins anew, giving Sleak room to breath. Though the buildup seemed.. different. Just a slightly altered tone. 

In a different world 
In a different time 
Been blamed as a villain  
Been attacked left and right
In a past now behind me 
In a life now gone by 
I have lived to the fullest 
Got so much regrets 
My life aint yet over 
But it might as well be 
With the power within me 
Make everyone lose faith 

Sleak was breathing quite heavily at this point. This second power moment took a lot out of him, though he now had the chance to breath while the song played..

The idiot we all visited, held up her fist towards Sleak. Dude's doing GREAT! Both him and Torch are absolute killers with vocals. Luanne leans right over to Torch, giving her a few nudges. "Hey...hey, buddy. Know what you should totally do now?"

She was kinda busy just watching. So busy that Luanne's nudges caught her off guard, making Torch half-squeak out "YEah?" as well as accidentally squeezing her snail, "ah sorry sorry sorry.." she cooed to the slug before turning to Luanne again, "uh.. what's up?"

"You and slickman? TOTALLY should rock a duet together." Luanne smirked towards Torch.

Her expression quickly turned from curious to alarmed in a split second. “Ohhh no. Mm-mm.” Torch made an X with her fingers, since her arms were busy holding the blue slug. “I’ve already embarrassed myself up there, I’m not doing it again.”

Fortunately for Sleak, the song's final buildup had began, so he was almost done with this. The song wasn't that lyrics heavy, what with only two verses, and then the choruses.. even if the middle chorus was slightly altered.. Sleak's like for mostly chiptune or lyric-free songs was known, so it likely surprised nobody. And here it was. The chorus once again. 

In a different world 
In a different time 
Been hailed as a hero 
Been attacked left and right 
In a past now behind me 
In a time now gone by 
I have lived to the fullest I even died twice 
My life aint yet over 
Got much left to do 
With the power within me 
Make my own dreams come true 

The song powers down. One last part, calmer than the rest had been. 

In a different world 
In a different time 
Been hailed as a hero 
Been attacked left and right 
In a past now behind me 
In a life now gone by 

It ends a bit abruptly, with only half the chorus, but it's definitely for effect. Sleak was calmly breathing in and out, and the world began to get light and color again for the green inkling. His shade of green was still very visible in his flushed face, he put down the mic and walked off stage, before just sitting down on the ground. "Well, that's that. Remind me to pick the chiptune song next."

Abigail claps lightly, “nice goin’, guy. But don’t puke just yet, you’ve got a request.” She have a thumb over to the other girls. 

Torch in response only looks up to the anemone with slightly narrowed eyes.

"Coooonsider the following: Someone sings first, because I'm not going back up right now." Sleak noted. There's no way he was gonna go back after that. Not now. "Why don't you give it a whirl, er, Abigail, was it?"

“Indeed it was,” Abigail shook her head, “unless ya’ll want to go deaf, I wouldn’t recommend it. I can do a dramatic reading instead though.”

"Hm, I thought singing was a bit more mandatory than it seemed. Though, I guess, you did not actually push me.."

“Wouldn’t want someone to push me. Why would I do that to somebody else?” She shrugged

Luanne grins sheepishly.

"What's a dramatic reading?" Ankoku blinked. Did he somehow zone out there? Huh, welp, time to fix that! What's going on in this 'party' other than singing it seemss? 

"i mean it's dramatic and reading so i guess exaggerated reading or something...? maybe..." Allen started mumbling on the sidelines. 

"What will you read though, eh?" Kuro went asking, curious with this a little bit.

Abigail leaned back, folding her arms behind her neck, “I’m up for requests.”

"Well, right now there's nothing going on, so I'd suggest to go with anything." Sleak noted, now laying on his back for some reason. It's the floor Sleak what are you doing!!

Torch looked over to Sleak, her expression trying to figure out.. “why.”

Ankoku stared at Sleak and then started trying to lay down on the floor too- Kuro meanwhile forcing the kid to keep standing while looking around for where he could sit instead of laying down if he was tired or something.

Luanne joins sleak on the floor. "He has the right idea. Ooh, abs...you should totally rock the fresh prince theme."

Abigail clicked her tongue accompanied with a finger gun to Luanne, basically a you got it dude
The anemone hoisted herself off the cooler and stride over to get the mic, widened her stance and held that mic with both hands. Dramatic entering for a dramatic reading.
“Now. This, is a story. All about how, My life got flipped. turned. upside down...” She looked to the audience, releasing one hand off the mic to point to the floor, emphasizing the last word.
She rose that finger up, “...And I'd like to take a minute.. just sit right there.”  She held her palm out to the audience again, acting with the lyrics.
“I'll tell you how, I became the prince, of a town called, Bel-Air.”

Luanne grinned ear to ear, snapping her fingers lightly during the truly dramatic reading. "Marvelous ..simply...marvelous!"

Sleak slowly rose and just.. stared. What was happening right now. What. Was happening. Right now.

“In West Philadelphia. born, and raised. On the playground, is where I spent most of my days” By now Abigail has let one hand off the mic again for hand gestures.
“Chillin' out, maxin', relaxin' all cool.. And all shootin' some b-ball, outside of the school. When a couple of guys,” She paused, looked around, and put the back of her hand near her mouth as if telling a secret, “who were up to no good.”
Back to the hand gestures! “Started makin' trouble in my neighborhood! I got in one little fight. and my mom got scared. And said, ‘You're movin' with your auntie and uncle in Bel-Air’” She even snapped and did the snake head. Sass to the max. 

Torch kept watching the anemone with her jaw on top of the panting slug. Her expression still as if trying to figure something out. “Amusing. Simply, amusing..”

Luanne snickers hard, unable to contain her amusement as she listens to the glory of Abigail. "This is my single greatest idea...EVER!"

"I am not entirely sure if I agree.." Sleak sat there, with a bit of a dumbfounded look on his face.

“I whistled for a cab, and when it came near. The license plate said 'Fresh'. and it had dice in the mirror..! If anything. I could say that this cab, was rare. But I thought. “Nah.. forget it. yo holmes, to Bel-Air!"
Abigail took a beat to pace a couple of steps. “I pulled up to the house.. about, 7 or 8.. And I yelled to the cabbie, "Yo holmes, smell ya later" head nod
She returned to center stage with the same stance she took in the beginning. Slightly widened, both hands holding the mic.. she was looking behind the crowd.
 “Looked at my kingdom... I was finally there.. To sit on my throne, as the Prince, of Bel-Air”
She dropped her head at the finish, letting her tentacles cover her face and holding it for a moment before flipping it all back.
Mezzie was forced out of her spot with the flip but managed to stay afloat in them. “Aight who up?” Abigail called.

"Bravo! Amazing performance!" Luanne clapped her hands wildly at the end of Abigail's spot. A wide, sinister grin cracks on Lulu's face as she slowly turns her head towards Torch and Sleak. Her fingers, pointing in their direction while she slides back. "I think it's time for a liiiiiitle duet."

"I believe the odds of that are.." Sleak eyes Torch.. "Currently zero. Maybe even negative something. Try someone else."

Torch's eyes narrowed slightly with Luanne's request. again. Though she blinked with Sleak's response to it, pointing at him and nodding in agreement. 

"oof." Abigail.

"Fine then." Luanne crosses her arms, keeping the smirk on her face. "Then how about one of you perform a duet.. with me. "

".... ohp welp. looks like you're up again Sleak! I'm uh. occupied." Torch holds up the slug in her arms. "It's uhhh his cuddle time. yes." no she's not meeting anyone's eyes.

"Why the specific aim for one of either of us?" Sleak protested. "Those three have been standing there for a while.. I know.. uh.. that guy.. already sang.. but maybe the kiddo wants to?" He pointed to the trio with Kuro.

"ME?? Sing!?!? LEEEENNNNN--" "Ohgoshno-pleaseIswearIjustcametomakesureAnkowasn'tgoingtogetlostpleasenoIdon'twantto-" 

"! Len-leennnn, come onnnnn!"  The little squidling jumped and went kind of shaking the shy octoling who was doing whatever he could to make sure his glasses and hat wouldn't fall off. Kuro stared and sighed before trying to calm the boy down.  

"But if I'm gonna sing and you already sang, I want Len-leennnn...!" 

"Anko, please, y'know how Al is better than the others here. Stop that..." Kuro made a slightly harsh glare, though was honestly not that bad, and Ankoku pouted before sighing and nodding.  

"Okaayy, sorry, Allen..." The kid apologized and the octo sighed in relief and weakly smiled at him, saying it's alright before the kid spun around to face Luanne. "Me or Roku!?!? Choose, chooseeee!!" Ankoku grinned widely as Kuro went facepalming, hiding a grin and stopping laughter with that.

Abigail couldn’t help but chuckle at the capped boy. Always funny when the squirm.. “Well, gate. You gotta choose ya partner. I think I got a coin somewhere if ya need one.” She was already sticking a hand into one of her overall pockets.

Luanne points over to the kiddo, moving over to the karaoke machine again as she brings up a setlist of Disney songs. "I'm gonna grab a fun ooneee, lil dude!"  She took a deep breath, kicking up the song as she danced along to the beat.  

Open up your eyes 
Take a look at me
 Get the picture fixed in your memory 
I'm driven by the rhythm like the beat of a heart 
And I won't stop until I start 
To stand out, to stand out 
Some people settle for the typical thing 
Livin' all their lives waiting in the wings 
It ain't a question of "if" 
Just a matter of time 
Before I move to the front of the line 

Luanne struck a pose, holding still as both hands remained on the mic. 

Once you're watching every move that I make 
You gotta believe that I got what it takes
To stand out 
Above the crowd 
Even if I gotta shout out loud 
'Til mine is the only face you'll see 
Gonna stand out 'til ya notice me 

Luanne winked towards the crowd, clearly having fun with the tune.

Anko cheered and went running over to get the other mic of the machine, suuperr excited, going back over to them like maybe a bit beside Luanne but not that close and started jumping in glee with the start of the music. It does sound fun!! Kuro raised a brow but snickered quietly. Well that's quite a song. Once Luanne seemed to finish her part so far, he went cheering on Ankoku a little bit. This made the kid even happier than before. Here he goes trying! 

If the squeaky wheels always gettin the greese 
I'm totally devoted to disturbin the peace 
And I'll do it all again, when I get it done 
Until I become your number one
No method to the madness and means of escape 
Gonna break every rule I'll bend them all out of shape 
It ain't a question of 'how' just a matter of when 
You get the message that I'm tryin to send
I'm under a spell, 
I'm in over my head 
And you kno I'm going all of the way, till the end
To stand out 
Above the crowd 
Even if I gotta shout out loud 
'Til mine is the only face you see 
Gonna stand out 'til you notice me, yeah 

That moment when of course it's a kid so it wouldn't really be sung that well, but he's trying and he's having fun trying to sing, and Kuro keeps cheering them on anyways. Allen slightly cheers, kind of focusing more on how cute Ankoku was acting, somewhat trying to mimic Luanne with this.

"Heh. You go kid!" Sleak yelled, still sitting on the floor. Of COURSE it sounded bad, but who cares, it's a little kid and besides as long as the kid was singing, nobody was pressuring him to sing. Though somewhere in him, he was partially curious how well he'd sing with Torch.. But the fact he'd have to be on stage and sing in front of mostly strangers made him nervous. He couldn't really be himself in that moment.

“Oof he sings better than me.” Abigail comments, still wearing a chill smile.

Torch chuckles at the notions. With the kid happily singing.. and Abigail’s comment with it. Though she still stood quiet. Only letting out a sigh and continued to watch the performance. Seeing them duet was bringing back memories... It’s been a while since she’s pulled off a duet.

"Heck yeah! You got this rockin, lil dude!" Luanne cheered the kid on, despite knowing it's not very good. He just wants to have fun, and there's nothing wrong with that at all.  

If I could make you stop 
And take a look at me 
Instead of just walkin' by 
There's nothin' that I wouldn't do 
If it was gettin' you to notice I'm alive 
All I need is half a chance
 A second thought 
A second glance 
To prove, I got whatever it takes 
It's a piece of cake 
To stand out 
Above the crowd 
Even if I gotta shout out loud 
'Til mine is the only face you'll see 
Gonna stand out Stand out (aayah) 

Luanne kept up her energetic movements, idly gesturing towards the crowd as she belted each lyric out. Towards the end of the chorus she even tossed her beanie towards the group probably towards goob.

“Kill it, girl!” Abigail snapped her fingers. 

Torch found herself humming along, even tapping her heel to the beat of the song. Really she only noticed doing it when she was suddenly stopped by the lurching slug in her lap. Goober caught that hat! Aaaand began chewing it. His owner sighed and began a quiet wrestle over the hat- whispering ‘drop it’ quite a few times. It wasn’t damaged. But it was gooey with slime and slobber. Torch plopped it beside her, gained her grip on her sea slug again, and stretched her foot out to nudge Sleak. “Yo slick. Do you um.. have a song in mind for this duet thing?” Her voice grew quieter towards the end.

Stand out! (Yeah, yeah, yeah!) Stand out! (Hmph!) 
'Til mine's the only face you see 
Gonna stand out 
'Til you notice me 

The squiddo kept jumping for "effect" and was tempted to try a mic drop thing that he's seen in some videos, but instead kind of seemed to calm down at the end and placed the mic down before not being calm at all and jumping around and hugging Luanne and saying thanks for the duet thing and went running over to Kuro who caught Ankoku in his arms and raised him up and patted his head while hugging the kid. 

"Good job, you did great there, eheh."  Allen quietly smiled at that and kind of reached upward to gently pat him to before keeping back to his seat.

As he was nudged, Sleak turned to look at.. Torch. He wondered what she had to say, but wondered no more as she finished her sentence. Rather, the amount of wondering what she had to say seemed to slowly turn into how wide he had his eyed opened, and thus as she ceased talking, his eyes were wide open, staring at her. "Wh-what..?! Are you serious, I-I-I don't know? This isn't the place to do that is it actually I guess it is but" Had she read his mind? If so, she forgot to read the part where this really wasn't where he wanted to maybe someday have a duet, no sirree, that stage is kinda awful and definitely not his thing, and he had slowly turned away from Torch after talking and was now panicking right in front of her.

The reaction was kind of amusing at first, he actually seemed freaked out by the question. Sure she shot it down real fast too but she wasn’t panicking like thi- ohh wait he’s panicking. The amused grin the grew on her face was suddenly wiped away when she made the realization, her eyes beginning to dart as if looking for an option in what to say. “Whoa I mean. We don’t gotta! I just.. eheh.. call it falling for peer pressure??” Torch shrugged, “I. I dunno. Maybe nostalgia hit me or something.” She paused finding herself staring at the ground, “uh.. just forget it.” She waved a hand dismissively, “not gonna pressure someone” not again.

"Woo! Nice goin, little dude!" Luanne hugged the child back before setting her mic down to the ground, and smirking towards Sleak and Torch. "The karaoke machine's open for everyone~." She winked, taking her seat by  Abigail. "Yo, Abs. How was this performance?"

“Was in the groove, gate~” Abigail gave an a-okay sign.

Luanne shot finger guns at Abigail.

Sleak still just sat there, kinda panicking while contemplating the options. But he definitely didn't want to get up there and sing again, even if he 'was killer with vocals'. Doing it once proved to him he wasn't comfortable singing like that, and getting into his.. 'profreshional' mode was mentally more exhausting than it likely should be. Kind of a troubling fact, considering that he was going to have to in the future.. Perhaps he should find someone else to do public events with. He was always more comfortable alongside someone. That revelation had him blink for a second. Perhaps a duet wasn't that weird a call, though.. He side-eyed Torch for a moment.. and.. decided that it was. No duets for him, not here, not now. No solos either.

“Well, it was uh, pretty fun! I guess.” Torch heaved up to her feet, still carrying her slug, “but I think I better finish giving this little guy his walk bef- ore!” Right on the word Goober had wriggled out of her arms and onto the floor, making a little splat sound, and began tugging on the leash. “H-he gets antsy again.” She chuckled. “So uh, see ya guys!” She have a friendly smile and wave to the group, making her way out of the garage.

"Aw, leaving so soon? Why, I'm sure we have time for another duet." Luanne smiled "innocently" as she turned back to Sleak and Torch. "Maybe Goob would be fine with just one more song?"

"If you're that intent on singing another song with the kid, nobody's stopping you." Sleak knew perfectly well what she was implying, especially looking at him and the still-nearby Torch. "But it looks like her slug really wants to leave, and.. quite honestly, I'm thinking of calling it quits myself. I intended to maybe sneak in and sneak out at first, just see how things went, but there's not nearly a big enough crowd to do so. Kinda strange, none of the people who called my attention to this place even showed up.." He shrugged and stood up. "But hey, it's been fun for a bit, and don't let us leaving stop you from singing more." Despite that he stood there with an self-assured look on his face, on the inside, Sleak was still very much panicking.. the true driving force behind him wanting to leave already. Torch and Goober just gave him the right timing to do so, but now THIS is happening? Nope, nuh-uh, not happening.

Abigail leaned over on her spot, “Let em go, Lu. What’s two less in this jive? At least they sang.”

Lu shrugs, leaning right back to Abigail. "Yeeeaah, guess ya got a point there. Hope you both at least enjoyed yourselves." Lu beamed a kind grin over to those leaving. "Feel free to come back whenever I host another one of these!"

"It was.. decent." A pause. "The kid over there has definitely been the best singer, though, hahaha...!" Sleak noted, before.. awkwardly making his way to the door. "...So yeah, maybe, see you later, probably, perhaps.. someday!"

Allen kind of just looked over at Sleak and Torch and then at Luanne and Abigail and kind of bit his lips, gaze ending up at the exit now- and then looking over at Kuro, who still had Ankoku in his arms. The kid actually seemed to be holding onto him more at the moment, wanting to stay carried for now and that told the guy enough.  "Y'know what, would love to stay more, but I think Ankoku needs to rest, heheh." He ruffled the kiddo's hair a bit and he playfully tugged onto the dark blue squid's ponytail in response. "T'was fun while it lasted though, maybe I'll visit some other time- 'specially when Erie's feeling better..." He went mumbling the end of his sentence as Allen stood up and already started to go for the door. "C'ya guys." Kuro gave a quick wave before they all went out.

“Well there goes everyone.” Abigail slooooowly leaned over, watching the group leave. Then more quickly returns to a more. sitting position, “mind if I cop a nod on the sofa?”

"Of course, dude. You're practically family after all." Luanne gave a cheery grin over to her friend, shutting the garage door for the night.