InsaneJournal

Who: Asher Clay & Shiloh Lark
What: Everybody loves a bit of karaoke, don't they?
When: 9th March
Where: Untapped Potential
Rating: Low
Warnings: n/a

In many ways, Shiloh had gotten used to her friends dragging her places. Most of the time, they let her be, but after the Valentine craft fares there had been a lot of talk about getting out, doing stuff, hanging out together. Shiloh had honestly expected it would be something simple, like a catch up over coffee, maybe a meal together, something standard. She wasn't expecting dinner, drinks and then karaoke.

If there was one place that Shiloh didn't expect to be, it was at a karaoke bar. She'd had a few drinks with dinner, although she was always careful about how much she drank in front of people. Which also meant that she wasn't in the least bit buzzed when they'd gotten to the karaoke place, and Shiloh had to fend off people telling her to sing.

Like no one knew her at all.

But she didn't want to be a party pooper, and everyone else was having fun, so she stayed near the bar, avoiding too much attention and hugging her glass to her as if it would protect her.

Ash to the exact opposite of Shiloh absolutely adored any and all kind of attention even if said attention was the direct result of singing rather loudly into a microphone along to some silly song but contrary to popular belief he also enjoyed sitting back and watching others do the exact same thing.

Tonight was one of those nights.

The Fae was nursing himself a drink and grimacing ever so slightly as a young very enthusiastic brunette was in fact murdering Bohemian Rhapsody. No, just no. There was only one person who could sing that song and that was Freddie Mercury and he was unfortunately dead. Of course as widened the scope of his interest he couldn't help but notice the pretty young woman standing near the bar looking very much like the glass was her lifeline.

"Not a fan of karaoke?" He called over.

Shiloh's attention cut across to the person at the bar, a little more in the throng of things than she was, and she couldn't help the slight huff of embarrassment/amusement at herself. "Not a fan of crowds, mostly." She didn't mind karaoke, in a very narrow sort of conditional settling. Usually in a cafe or restaurant, where it wasn't crowded and people weren't expecting that she would at any point sing.

The sheer notion of someone either signing her up or trying to urge her into it was nearly enough to make her shudder with anxiousness. Being an introvert and a people pleaser was exceptionally confusing at times.

"I just didn't want to let anyone down or, y'know, ruin the night for anyone."

"You know," Ash drawled as he leaned ever so slightly in her direction so he didn't have to lift his voice to be heard, "It is okay to tell your friends that you do not want to do karaoke. Pretty sure they'd be able to take it and if not? Well, they're not very good friends."

Simple. Black and white.

Then again Ash very rarely took prisoners even in his laidback approach to the world, it was after all one of the many reasons he'd been banished from Fae by his own parents.

She could've said no, could've bowed out after dinner, headed home. But she knew that it would've disappointed some of them, they would've felt bad, and she didn't like making people feel bad. "I know," she did know, in some way she knew that she should be more bothered about what she wanted to do. "But they're having fun."

It wasn't that uncomfortable for her after all. She was just a little uneasy at all the people and the potential for attention to be her way.

Sipping a little on her drink, "Are you here with anyone?" See, she wasn't that uncomfortable, she could make conversation too.

Ash shook his head. "Nope," he shared with a grin and lift of his shoulders. "I'm flying solo or stag, whatever it is people call that thing where people rock up to social events alone, that's me." He rubbed a hand through his unruly set of dark hair that no matter what he did never wanted to obey him so at some point he'd stopped trying.

An arm was soon stretched in her direction and a hand offered at the end of it. "I'm Ash, by the way."

"Brave, I think they call it brave." They didn't, of course they didn't. But the sheer notion of just walking into a place that was either a party or large gathering, people being social with each other and engaging in conversations and dancing and what not, going to that alone, it would turn Shiloh's blood cold, she knew that much.

Curling one hand around her drink, wiping her hand on her dress to get rid of the condensation on her palm, Shiloh gave a firm but polite handshake, "I'm Shiloh, it's lovely to meet you."

"Brave, stupid," Ash debated with hands moving in the air like he was weighing up a decision, "Either works." He grinned a moment later as Shiloh responded positively to the offered hand and he idly noted that there was definitely strength in that grip, more strength than he'd given her credit for.

He nodded and took a sip of his drink. "Right back at you, Shiloh." He shimmied over a couple stools until he was sat next to her and didn't have to stretch quite so far or shout to have an actual conversation with her. "So, which of these are your friends?"

Twisting a little in her seat, still facing Ash, but enough that it wasn't too obvious that she was pointing things out, "See the group there with the girl with blue hair?" It wasn't that unusual, least of all in a place like this, but for tonight it seemed Sherry was the only blue haired girl, "the one who just sang Girls Just Wanna Have Fun in the wrong key? That's them."

And they weren't bad friends, they were good people to hang out with, it was just that they were all a lot more extroverted than Shiloh. And human, so there was that too. They had a limited life span, they should enjoy it. She didn't want to stop them doing that. "I think they're going to since a Spice Girl song in a while, they always do."

Ash followed Shiloh's gesturing, eyes narrowing in the direction of the girl with the blue hair. "Oh right, yeah, I remember her." He grimaced faintly to indicate that listening to her sing had been painful. Really painful.

"Lemme take a wild stab in the dark and guess that the song they're gonna rock out to is Spice up your life." It made sense, it was one of the more well known ones and definitely lended itself to a large group of ladies.

"They're good souls, they try." They were having fun, and while it might sometimes be painful to listen to, Shiloh sometimes envied their courage to do that without a care. She could never do something like that, not even with however many drinks they were knocking back.

"Probably, it's usually that one or the... what's it call, Stop right now?" The one that was sort of old-time feel with a pop twist, mostly because they all knew the dance moves to the chorus. "Luckily, they already have five, so I'm never badgered into joining."

Fair enough. Ash did so enjoy playing tricks and casting his net of mischief wide but perhaps he should be on his best behaviour. He wasn't in Fae after all. People could and did take exception to his particular brand of tomfoolery.

"Oh yes, another Spice Girl classic," he enthused before taking a sip from his drink. "Thankfully there seems to be five of them already so you must get off lightly on that one?"

“They tried to get me up one time before,” and interesting was not the word for that event. “We were celebrating Nadine’s promotion at work, and ended up here, it was maybe a year or so ago?”

Obviously, Shiloh knew exactly when it was, but she didn’t want to seem like she knew every date she went out because she went out so few times.

“They wanted to sing a PussyCat Dolls song and kept trying to get me up there.” She’d gotten so embarrassed that she was sure she was going to shift if they hadn’t left her alone. “I think they figured out not to pressure me then.”

Ash nodded along in response to Shiloh's story. "Well, at least they respect your wish not to karaoke." That was definitely a tick in their positive box in his mind. Some people didn't know how to take no for an answer but at least these girls did.

"So, you guys got plans after here?"

It was nice, she had to say, when people respected her boundaries. And she was sure they all understood how big a deal it was for her to be there at all, as introverted as she was. "I don't think so," mostly in answer to Ash's question about plans for after. "I'm pretty sure I can finish this drink, let one of them know I'm leaving and possibly slip out while they're all having fun."

Because she did know that if she stayed until closing, it was very likely they'd end up at another bar, and maybe there wouldn't be someone polite enough to sit and talk with her while they all got drunk. "How about you? I'm sure you'll be cutting a rug in town or ... whatever it is they call it?"

Well that depended on several things. One, how much singing Ash actually wanted to do. Two, how much alcohol he intended on imbibing this eve. Three, if the cute brunette in the corner was actually planning on following through on their eye flirting. And the last but most important, if he could actually turn a profit with some of his own grown stash.

"I'm not sure," he admitted honestly. "Between you and me I haven't really thought much past this karaoke bar."

"That's usually the fun of a night out, right?" Less so for her, but she assumed for other people, that was part of the charm, "Being spontaneous?" Surely that was part of it. Going out, not really knowing where it would lead, taking it one bar at a time, or something.

Shiloh wasn't quite wired that way, she couldn't just go with the flow, try as she might. Alterations to the plans usually made her fidget. She could cope, but there would be a lot of anxiousness until she settled. "Are you going to sing anything?"

"Definitely makes things interesting," Ash shared with a grin as he helped himself to another sip of his drink. "Just go with the flow, let the night take you wherever." That was Ash through and through, he didn't really think that many steps ahead and he definitely didn't consider consequences.

He spun his stool in a full circle before catching himself, playful grin firmly in place. "Oh, I dunno. Probably? Not sure what though."

She should maybe try it sometime, maybe not singing any time soon, but doing something without planning. "Interesting is the right word, I'll bet you're never bored." Not that Shiloh was routinely bored, she was just far more planned.

"That spontaneity again?" Then again, some people were so talented that they could sing any song and not worry too much about someone else singing their go to song at the start of the night. "I'm sure you'll be great whatever you choose though." Maybe just that confidence he had.

Ash clicked his tongue and followed it up with a smirk. "Yep, never bored me." Only he did get bored mostly when he wasn't surrounded by other people or didn't have some sort of interaction. The only exception to that was when he was smoking weed.

He flashed Shiloh a dazzling grin. "Aren't you sweet?"

That was something that Shiloh could relate to, but then, she had a feeling that things she thought weren't boring would be just that for Ash.

Offering a bright smile back, Shiloh didn't feel like he was making fun of her, so she tried not to get self-conscious about the remark, shrugging slightly. "You seem far too confident to not be good at whatever you do." Even if it wasn't particularly good, she was sure he had the confidence to make it seem good either way.

"You," Ash remarked with a flourish of a hand in Shiloh's direction, "I like." Because who didn't enjoy being told that they were confident to make anything look good? Idiots that's who.

He was pleased when she smiled at him, actually smiled, and he tipped his head. "I can't convince you to ditch your friends and come get something to eat with me?"

Shiloh's smile was bright and honest, even as she felt rather shy at the announcement, even if it was just to her. She had a feeling that Ash most likely promoted a sense of confidence and spontaneity around him.

"Um," bars weren't her thing, and her friends all looked like they were having a good time, maybe it would be okay to 'ditch', so to speak. "Actually, let me go tell them, if you're sure you don't want to sing?" Shiloh would be more comfortable somewhere that the music wasn't so loud, that the drinks weren't as strong.

It would be good for her, good to do something rash.

Ash gave her a thumbs up and an eager nod of his head in response. "Yeah, no, I'm good, You go talk to your friends and I'll be waiting for you outside." He grinned again and hopped off the stool.

"I dunno about you but I am staaaarving."

His response brought out a laugh in Shiloh, nodding her head, "Yeah, food sounds really good." She tended to eat more than her peers, or at least need to, but stay in line with them, if only so they didn't wonder what was wrong with her. So another snack, or meal, wouldn't do her any harm. "I'll meet you outside."

It'd be easy to duck out, she just needed to pick the friend carefully, which she knew who to pull aside, murmur that she'd met a guy and was going to head out for drinks with him, and she was shooed off instantly, given a wink and a thumbs up. It didn't matter that it wasn't like that at all, she knew her friends kept trying to set her up, this way they thought just that thing had happened.

And Shiloh could go somewhere more comfortable and hopefully get to know Ash a little better. With food.