How Green Becomes Wood

Alec laughed at that. "Yes, I have no doubt it would be! But what if it was Daizi who did that?"

Xander snickered. "As if the retribution would be any less swift."

"Hmm. Good point! I think I'm going to go see what songs are available on the karaoke machine," Alec said. "It's probably not a lot."

"I'll go with you," Xander agreed as they both stood. "I need to know what I'm getting into."
 
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"Daizi can be cruel but she loves me too much to do something so severe," Dark replied, "and I cannot imagine what I should possibly do to make her go so far beyond her limits."

Then he went off, allowing them to gather their friend for karaoke.
 
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The twins went through the list of songs, discussing them and teasing each other about what songs they should sing. It was a rented device, meaning the list was shorter and mostly standard songs, a lot of the popular songs of the past decade and a few of the eternally popular songs. After a while, Peter drifted over and joined them, looking through the songs with them. Becky soon appeared as if summoned, thrilled at the prospect.

Soon, Austin joined in, but he looked absolutely paranoid. He leaned down a little to talk to Milo, as not only was Milo a little shorter but he also slouched a lot. "Are we... are we all expected to sing?" he whispered.
 
Dark and Daizi gave karaoke a wide berth. Daizi loved singing, and would gladly do so if called upon, but didn't want to impose. They may think she was cool, or at least some of them did, but she didn't want to push it by acting like she was a guest rather than a chaperone. Dark was desperately hoping he wouldn't be called upon, and was trying to figure out if it being Alec and Xander's birthday meant he'd have to agree if asked.

Sloan, however, gladly joined in. She didn't account herself a great singer, just a passingly acceptable one, but it was fun and she was in private, so it really didn't matter. Milo, however, shifted anxiously, and he looked up at Austin, "I... I dunno." It was true he played bass, and had sang with Peter, Alec, and Xander before, but it felt different when it was a few of musicians in a practice room.
 
"I hope not," Austin said fervently. "I sound like an elephant seal. Someone might call animal control on me."

Alec, meanwhile, had found "Don't stop Believing." "Hey, guys! Let's all sing this together to warm up!" he urged.

"Yes! Group sing along!" Becky squealed excitedly.

Peter chuckled but nodded in agreement. "Sure! Let's do it."

Austin made certain he was at the edge. If he was far enough back, maybe they wouldn't notice he wasn't singing.
 
Sloan shook her head, "You say warm up as though some of us aren't going to sing exactly as well before and after. I'm about as warm as I can be." Still, she agreed to do it. Milo figured it was manageable since they were in a group and nobody would actually be listening to him.
 
"How about a warm up for getting into singing around other people?" Alec grinned as he got it started.

"Bring it on!" Becky cheered, bouncing on her heels. When the song started, she and Alec matched each other for sheer gusto and vigor. They didn't sing perfectly, but they didn't care, just enjoying things. Peter laughed and sang along with less gusto, but having fun. Xander sang as seriously as he ever did anything, and even Austin quietly mumbled along.
 
"Yeah, sure dude," Sloan chuckled, and sang along. It was fun, but she didn't sing with much passion. She could be a bit of a show-off, but this wasn't her venue. Milo didn't sing much louder than Austin.
 
Alec wanted something fun and bouncy, so his first pick was "Friend Like Me" from Aladdin. He handed the microphone to Becky. Becky sung a really good version of "Call Me Maybe," singing with a bit too much passion but doing very well otherwise. She then passed the microphone to Xander. Xander grumbled at the number of romantic songs or songs originally sung by girls that sounded weird when a guy sung them and picked "Determinate." He passed the microphone to Sloan since she was the closest.
 
Sloan took the mic when it was handed to her and sang Bubblegum Bitch by Marina. Even though she wasn't an amazing singer, it really suited her voice and her general way of performance. It was true she wasn't as big a fan of karaoke as Alec and Becky were, but she committed to the bit and did her best, and her performance was like a small picture of what it would be like if she did commit more to musical performance.
 
"Austin! It's your turn!" Becky cheered, turning to him. "Come on, don't be shy!!"

Austin turned bright red and shook his head. "No thanks, I'm good."

"Are you sure?" Becky pressured hopefully. "There's a lot of songs to pick from. What's your favorite?"

"No, really, I'm good," Austin repeated.

Becky took a breath and visibly looked like she was fighting the urge to keep asking. She forced herself to turn and asked Milo, "How about you?"
 
Becky stared at him in puzzlement. "Attention? But everyone likes attention. At least some kind of attention. It's okay to be shy, though, even among friends." She turned to Alec. "Back to you, then!"

"How about a duet? Peter? Want to join me in a duet?" Alec offered.

"Alright, but I'm not singing the girl part," Peter warned with a laugh.

"How about this one, then?" Alec laughed, pointing to "Dancing in the Street" by Bowie and Jagger.

"Deal!" Peter agreed, unhooking the second microphone.
 
Becky staring at him like that just made Milo think about how exhausting he found extroverts sometimes. They just didn't understand. He shuffled a little bit further back but was excited to see Alec and Peter's duet.
 
Peter and Alec gave it their all, even dancing a little in the limited space. It was called "Dancing in the Street," after all, it'd be weird not to dance!

Calling out around the world
Are you ready for a brand-new beat?
Summer's here and the time is right
For dancing in the street
They're dancing in Chicago (Dancing in the street)
Down in New Orleans (Dancing in the street)
In New York City (Dancing in the street)
When they finished, Alec handed his microphone to Xander. Peter debated a moment, and then with a grin tossed his to Becky.

"Random pairing for a duet!" Peter called.

Xander glared while Becky cheered, but they picked a song. Becky wanted a love ballad, but when Xander said no, she suggested "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." He agreed since it was a pretty upbeat song, and did pretty good in his role as Marvin Gaye, even if he didn't put his whole heart in it like Becky did.

Ain't no mountain high, ain't no valley low
Ain't no river wide enough, baby
If you need me, call me, no matter where you are
No matter how far, don't worry, baby
Just call my name, I'll be there in a hurry
You don't have to worry, 'cause, baby, there

Ain't no mountain high enough
Ain't no valley low enough
Ain't no river wide enough
To keep me from gettin' to you, baby!

Becky gave her mic to Sloan, and Xander tossed his back to Peter since neither Austin nor Milo wanted to sing.
 
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