“Next round’s on me!” Agnea proclaimed cheerfully as the bar’s small stage lit up with fluorescent lights, signaling the start of karaoke promptly at 10 p.m. On a typical week, this would be their trivia team’s signal to close their tabs and head home for the evening. But they were celebrating Partitio’s promotion to vice president of sales at his company, and everyone was in a jovial mood. They could stay for another drink or two, even if it would necessitate a little extra caffeine the following morning.
They made a rather odd quartet at first glance. Partitio looked every part the emerging businessman, in his crisp three-piece suit and tie, while Throné’s rather gothic style fit her vocation as a mortician. Hikari, a political aide in the Solstia Senate, also favored darker colors, but in classic blazers and tailored slacks. And Agnea, a dancer with the New Delsta ballet, exclusively wore colorful, preppy outfits adorned with floral prints. At face value, they had little in common. But Partitio and Throné were old college friends, and they’d eagerly introduced their roommates when they found themselves living in the same city several years after graduation. Their diverse backgrounds and interests made them a rather competitive bar trivia team, and it turned out they all got on extremely well.
These Wednesday night outings had become a tradition over the past year and a half, and Agnea was thankful to have such good friends within a city that at times still felt overwhelming to a country girl like herself.
“Thankee kindly, Agnea!” Partitio raised his nearly empty beer glass in her direction as she took everyone’s order before sliding out of the booth to make her way to the bar.
Hikari quickly followed suit. “Allow me to assist with carrying the drinks.”
With a slight blush – and ignoring Throné’s amused snort – Agnea nodded. “T-thank you, Hikari.”
Truthfully, Hikari was the only real trouble with her social life. Or more specifically, the fact that she had a gigantic crush on him.
It was embarrassing how much she felt like a blushing schoolgirl in her friend’s presence. Typically, Agnea was fairly confident in the realm of relationships. But Hikari was different than any of her romantic interests in the past. He was kind, and polite, and so incredibly sweet, not to mention intelligent and determined. Those characteristics, in addition to his successful career and the fact that he came from a very prominent family, made him rather intimidating.
And he was hot. Like,reallyhot.
Agnea knew her feelings weren’t exactly a secret; Throné teased her about her crush all the time. And she suspected very strongly that Hikari had feelings for her too. But despite becoming close friends over the past eighteen months, her courage failed her every time she thought about making a move.
As they approached the rather crowded bar, she tried to shake those thoughts from her mind. It wouldn’t do to dwell on her feelings while drinking, in case the alcohol loosened her lips. But it was hard not to be reminded of her crush with Hikari’s hand on the small of her back, guiding her through the throng of people looking for liquid courage to fuel their karaoke performances.
“Will you sing tonight, Agnea?” he asked as they waited for their drinks. A young woman had taken to the stage first, begging Jolene not to take her man in a pleasant but ever-so-slightly offkey voice. Agnea cheered for her enthusiastically, nonetheless.
“I might,” she answered truthfully. It was not uncommon for her to participate in karaoke when they found themselves at the bar later than usual. Singing was never something she’d considered doing professionally, but she greatly enjoyed it as a hobby. “Jus’ gotta pick a good song.”
“I always enjoy listening to your voice,” Hikari replied without a hint of irony, and she felt her cheeks redden in response. Her flush deepened with the arrival of their drinks, as they both had reached for Throné’s wine at the same time, their fingers brushing and sending a shiver through her.
“Sorry,” she murmured, reaching to take Partitio’s beer instead, along with her own apple martini.
“It’s quite alright,” Hikari assured, his eyes on his scotch and a dusting of pink on his high cheekbones.
They made their way back to the table in silence, although that was more because of the man currently scream-singing We Are the Champions rather than any lingering awkwardness. Partitio and Throné accepted their drinks with thanks, and Agnea was just about to solicit their thoughts on what she should sing when the emcee announced, “And next up, we have Agnea singing Hot Moves! Come on up, Agnea!”
Eyes wide, she immediately whirled around to glare at Throné, who had a look of false innocence plastered on her face.
“Throné!” she exclaimed. “I… What did you…?”
“It was his idea,” her friend deflected immediately, pointing at Partitio.
“Now wait jus’ a minute, you picked the song…”
“Only after you said we should…”
“Do we have an Agnea in the house?” the emcee’s second call interrupted their bickering, and Agnea’s face burned as she stood. She would never back out of a performance, after all, regardless of how embarrassing of a performance this was bound to be.
It wasn’t that she hated the song Throné had chosen. In fact, she quite enjoyed it. It was upbeat, had a hook that was a true earworm, and she often found herself singing it around their apartment while doing chores, complete with a little dance she’d choreographed for it.
No, it wasn’t a matter of dislike. The problem was that the song itself was… rather lewd. And now she’d have to perform it in front of Hikari, the very man she often found herself thinking of when she was singing it.
She may never forgive Throné and Partitio for this.
Taking the microphone in her shaking hands, she nodded at the emcee when he asked if she was ready. Then, as the first notes of the music started, she made the mistake of looking back towards her table.
Hikari was watching her with an expression she could only describe as enraptured. Leaning back in their booth with an easy smile, his eyes connected with hers and he offered a nod of encouragement, clearly looking forward to hearing her sing. She sincerely doubted he knew this song – popular music wasn’t necessarily to his taste. But regardless, he was always so supportive of her interests.
She wasn’t necessarily afraid of him thinking less of her. Hikari wasn’t a prude, and he was certainly not judgmental. But she still didn’t think she could stand to see his reaction.
Tearing her eyes away to glare determinately at the teleprompter, despite knowing the words by heart, Agnea sang out the first notes in a quavering voice.
I know I gotta make the first move,
So lemme shake these hips for you
Okay. The beginning of the song wasn’t that bawdy. She could get through this.
As she focused exclusively on hitting the right notes at the right cadence, rather than her rapidly beating heart, her voice grew stronger and more confident. And with it came cheers and wolf-whistles from the audience. An unwitting smile spread across her face at the clear delight of the crowd, and soon, she found herself truly committing to the performance, even as the lyrics grew more risqué.
I’m on my knees, but I ain’t here to beg
“Do the dance!” Throné shouted, and Agnea’s gaze whipped from the teleprompter back to their table.
“Yeah, do the dance!” a stranger in the crowd echoed to additional cheers, despite having no idea what ‘the dance’ was. Agnea thought about ignoring the demand, but she made the mistake of glancing towards Hikari. He appeared to be a little red in the face, but also wore an expression of considerable interest, and smiled at her when her eyes connected with his.
So, with a sigh, Agnea began to sway her hips to the beat of the music, along with some abstract moves to represent the narration of the story.
Lay back, relax, lemme slide down on your l-lap
Now that she had looked in Hikari’s direction, she had trouble tearing her eyes away from him. His face had grown steadily redder as she danced, his jaw now slightly slackened as he took in the song’s lyrics. Yet still, he seemed somewhat in awe of her. And although part of her desperately screamed to look back at the teleprompter, the larger, more dominant and irrational part of her now wanted to sing the song directly to him.
When she was about to arrive at the bridge, she took a deep breath, knowing there was no way he could misconstrue its meaning. And then, she sang:
U and I on your king bed,
Make it move, make it shake,
Makin’ love hotter than the desert sun,
Until my thighs quake, yeah, they shake
Eyes as wide as she’d ever seen them, Hikari’s jaw dropped in shock.
Her face flushed as she tore her gaze away from him, not able to handle his dark-eyed stare as she finished out the song. Despite the loud applause that filled the bar, she stuffed the microphone forcefully back in its holder and ran off stage without even acknowledging the audience – something against her cardinal rules as a performer. But it was far too hot in the tavern.
Rushing out the front door, she let the cool night air smack her in the face, trying to calm her wildly beating heart.
It would be fine. Hikari knew she hadn’t chosen the song, after all. She just needed to march back in there and pretend she was just mad at Throné for making her do the dance. Yes, she’d just play it off as general embarrassment, not…
“Agnea? Are you alright?”
She’d expected one of her friends to follow her eventually. But, of course, it had to be Hikari. And he was standing in front of her with such earnest concern in those gorgeous dark eyes that all she wanted was to sink into the ground.
Or kiss him. That would work, too.
“I’m fine!” she squeaked, her voice an octave higher than usual and her accent slipping out. “Jus’ had to get some air!” Hikari seemed unconvinced by her false cheer, and she sighed, admitting, “It’s jus’ a little embarrassin’, you know?”
Hikari’s brow furrowed. “What is?”
Looking down at her twisting hands, she answered quietly, “Singin’, you know, that song in front of…” You. “…all them people.”
Suddenly, she felt a soft touch against her chin as Hikari tilted her face up to look into her eyes. When had he gotten that close to her?
“You have no reason to be embarrassed, Agnea,” he proclaimed. “Your performance was excellent, as always.”
Blushing furiously at his sincerity, she dropped her gaze as best she could with Hikari’s hand still under her chin. She knew that he sometimes failed to pick up on social cues. Was it possible he didn’t quite grasp the inuendo? “Hikari… did you, umm… understand what that song was about?”
He flushed a bit at her question but smiled in an almost teasing manner. Shifting his hand to the side of her neck, he ran the pad of his thumb along her jawline, and her breath hitched. “Of course, I did. The lyrics weren’t exactly subtle.” Drawing even closer to her, he continued, “I enjoyed it all the same. Perhaps even more so, because you were the one signing them.”
Oh.
Oh.
He was…
Taking a deep breath, Agnea found her courage. Judging by how close he was to her now, the way his thumb was slowly drifting towards her lips, and the undeniable bluntness of his words, he liked her. And it seemed he was ready to take this next step in their relationship.
They liked each other. It didn’t need to be any more complicated than that.
Unclasping her hands, she ran them up his chest before looping them behind his neck, pulling him almost flush against her. “What if I told you that when I was singin’ those lyrics, I was imagining doin’ those things with you.”
His ears turned bright red at that, but his smile was soft. “Perhaps I’d ask if there was anything I could do to make that fantasy a reality.”
Leaning up to brush her nose with his, she whispered, “You could kiss me.”
His other hand drifted to her waist as he replied, “I think I shall.”
And with that, their lips met in a fiery kiss.
There was no element of hesitancy, of uncertainty, in their embrace. All of the tentativeness of the past year and a half seemed to melt away, replaced by urgency and heat. Agnea felt as if her every nerve was tingling as Hikari pressed even closer, pushing her back against the wall of the tavern as his hand drifted from her waist to her hip. They kissed for a long while, Agnea quite forgetting they were still in public. It was as if she and Hikari were the only people in the world.
Tilting her head to deepen the kiss even further, she whimpered as Hikari’s fingers dipped under the hem of her shirt to ghost along the bare skin of her torso. She nipped at his lower lip, running her hand down his chest until…
“Get a room!”
They broke apart, blushing furiously, as a group of drunk college students laughed at their expense.
Hikari backed up slightly but kept his hand on her hip. “My apologies, Agnea. I may have allowed my affections to cloud my judgement.”
Not able to stop the giggle that burst through her, Agnea assured, “That’s all right.” Reaching out to take his other hand in hers, she laced their fingers, the euphoria over finally sharing their feelings overcoming her embarrassment. “But maybe we should… y’know, get a room?”
Ears red but smiling, Hikari nodded. “I would like to see more of your ‘hot moves,’ if you are amenable.”
Agnea definitely needed extra coffee the following morning.
