When she saw Sarabeth drumming her fingers idly on the table, Astrid frowned a little to herself. She could tell the Young Lioness was getting bored, and she didn't want things to get awkward - after all, they were doing this because they wanted to see each other as family, so she didn't want them to have to feel distant. She began to open her mouth, but every time she thought of something she could say, her thoughts turned back toward Sarabeth's past. Already, she had heard about the hardship Sarabeth had been through, and she couldn't be sure how far it went. Would she want to talk about it, or would that just be insensitive? What were the fond childhood memories she might have to share? Would she even have anything worth sharing, or would anything Astrid tried to do to make small talk just serve as a painful reminder of what she'd been denied? Maybe, she told herself, it was better not to risk it. As their drinks arrived, Astrid stirred her straw around and watched as the ice cubes jiggled in place, still trying to say someting but never coming up with anything she didn't second-guess. But in the end, it wouldn't matter. Sarabeth broke the silence for her.
"Karaoke, hmm?" Astrid looked over at the machine. She chuckled to herself - she supposed it was only fitting that Sarabeth, being the music fan she was, would get this excited at the thought of singing her heart out. "Well, I don't know how good my singing voice is..." But no matter how much she tried to blow it off, Astrid would soon see it was useless. Sarabeth had her heart dead-set on karaoke. And how could she turn her down, when she was this excited? Besides, she did just say she would like to hear Sarabeth perform...
"All right, all right," Astrid said as she got up from the table, jokingly adopting the tone of a put-upon mother, though she winked to Sarabeth to know she was teasing. Then, she made her way over to the machine, looking through the selection of tracks. "But since I'm treating you, I get to pick the first song, okay?" After a few clicks through the track list, she grinned even wider. "Oh, this is perfect..." Spoiler
The music that came on was slower and groovier, seemingly far removed from Sarabeth's tastes...and it was for that very reason that Astrid was so excited to see how she'd handle it. When she turned back to her stepdaughter, it was with a teasing grin on her face. "Well? Let's hear it~"
Sarabeth instantly ran up and almost tore the microphone off the hook of the machine as she had to pace herself so she didn’t accidentally cause property damage. She definitely didn’t need her bank account drained after the good pay her last few matches brought her. Astrid chose the first song which would be fair considering she was taking Sarabeth out for their first bonding experience together. The song was thankfully something Sarabeth remember hearing her adoptive father playing and she wasn’t oblivious to the old classics. After all, her tastes dabbled in bands from that era.
Sarabeth started singing the first lines vibing to the music and let Astrid take her turn on the second set of lines. They would join in on the chorus dancing around with each other as Sarabeth was so happy. Kary would’ve never done this with her. Maybe….just maybe humor her for a song or two, but her cigarette addiction prevented that annoying voice from hitting the high notes. Sarabeth sang her heart out and danced and jumped around like she was six years old again having fun with Astrid.
Astrid couldn't help but grin even wider when she saw the enthusiasm with which Sarabeth approached the karaoke machine, and as she yanked hard at the microphone, she let out a giggle. For how eccentric Sarabeth might have been, it was those quirks that gave her so much charm - charm that Astrid could only feel proud to know she had brought into her family. She was glad Sarabeth could find an outlet, and something she was passionate about. But a smug look played across Astrid's face as dialed in the first song of the night. She had, of course, been able to bond with her stepdaughter over their shared interest in classic music, but the slower pace of Earth, Wind & Fire seemed far from the hard rock edge she had come to expect from Sarabeth. She thought she'd baited Sarabeth right into a trap!
Which made it come as a bit of a surprise when Sarabeth took as well to the music as she did! As though it came to her naturally, she almost instantly set into the routine, tapping her foot and moving to the beat. Evidently, the Young Lioness's tastes went deeper than Astrid had suspected - but then, she couldn't complain if it meant she had a well-rounded appreciation for music. And the more she got into it, the more Astrid was encouraged to fall in step with her. Before long, both of them had settled into a duet, dancing around each other and backing up each others' lyrics. With each step they took and each line they hit, the smile on Astrid's face grew wider. Astrid was impressed that Sarabeth had it in her. But more importantly, it warmed her heart to see Sarabeth genuinely enjoying herself like this, having so much fun, and not needing to worry over a single care in the world. Best of all, when she was right there with her, it all felt so natural, and so right. Like they really were meant to be something - to be a family.
When the music at last died down, the other patrons broke into a burst of applause - and Astrid was happy to soak up the attention, taking a bow. "Thank you, thank you! Ah, you're too kind! I'll be here all week!" She chuckled at her own joke - but then, she turned back to Sarabeth. Taking her hands gently, she smiled a little wider and nodded her head. When she continued, her voice was softer - something quieter; something for just the two of them.
"You hit those notes better than I expected. I can't say I thought they'd be your style, but you certainly pulled it off!" With a chuckle, Astrid then looked back to the machine. "Well, fair is fair...you get to pick the next track!"
When the song ended and the patrons cheered on the mother-daughter duo, Sarabeth waved out to them and shot her mom her own smug look. Sarabeth wasn’t oblivious to the classics even if she preferred rock to most other genres. Astrid definitely had to give her that one and even gave her next choice on the next track. Sarabeth got giddy and touched the screen behind them selecting many albums from Led Zepplin to Metallica to AC/DC and she smirked picking one of her old favorites. The crowd cheered as they heard the familiar tune in question. Spoiler
Astrid had hoped to spend some more time with Sarabeth in order to get to know her more, and so far that was working out well. She had learned more about her past, her interests, and some of her experiences. She was even coming to understand more about her tastes in music, and they were finding more and more connections and similarities they could bond over. Just thinking about it, Astrid could feel the smile growing wider across her face - she really was settling into thinking of the two of them as family. It was because of that that Astrid truly smiled wide when she saw the excitement that practically radiated off Sarabeth with every step she took on the way over to the karaoke machine - to see her so happy could only warm her heart. And when she heard the first few bars of the next song come over the speakers, she cheered right along with the rest of the patrons, pumping a fist in the air. She too was getting fired up!
"Oh, yeah...you've got good taste!" Astrid said with a cheer, flashing a grin to Sarabeth. She reached out to take her by the hand, even as she tapped her foot along to the bounding beat. Even without any prompting, she would launch right into singing along with the lyrics. She couldn't help it - she was having too much fun!
Sure, AC/DC is an easy route to go for karaoke and nobody can deny they were a classic band, but Sarabeth never expected this much excitement from the crowd in attendance to hear them sing—let alone her own stepmother. She was grinning ear to ear as Astrid took her hand, but Sarabeth put up a pointer finger to signal a little preparation before they sing. Every great rock musician knows that formal wear just won’t cut it on the stage so Sarabeth had to do some improvising. She took her buns and released the last strands of her green hair brushing it all back to let it flow freely. She also ripped her dress on the right side to give it a more rebel feel as she cracked her neck. Sarabeth did her part to be cordial for the first few minutes of this dinner date with her stepmother, but it was time to really rock!
Astrid bellowed out the first few lines of the song as Sarabeth retook her hand. Sarabeth would then follow suit and made her voice a bit higher to match the frequency the song would be normally sang. This was so much fun and the patrons cheered them on. If they could do this as a singing duo, what would it be like to share a ring with Astrid? Tag teaming with her even and maybe with her father down the line?
The thought of singing karaoke in the middle of a restaurant while waiting for your food might have seeme silly to the onlooker. But in this moment, no one could deny that Astrid and Sarabeth were caught up in the heat of the moment, and they were having the time of their lives! When Astrid saw Sarabeth rip her own dress and let down her hair without a care in the world, she could only grin a little wider. The green-haired girl was showing off her wild side, and the devil-may-care attitude on display was something one might expect someone as straight-laced as Astrid to look down on. But Astrid wasn't that stuffy and stuck-up. She saw that her daughter was happy, and she wasn't going to get in the way of that. She'd been through too much hardship in her life - she deserved to have some fun.
Before long, both of them had launched into the chorus in perfect synch, their hands clasped together as they led each other around in a routine that seemed as polished and perfected as a well-choreographed dance. It didn't matter how impromptu and off-the-cuff it was; when both of them were so in tune with the spirit of the music, it was like they knew what to do without needing to think about it! Through it all, Astrid could only smile wider and wider as she looked back at Sarabeth, and she gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. She could practically feel the energy surging between the two of them; the duet they formed was as perfect as if they had known each other for years. She could only imagine how far their relationship could grow if they were already working together so well.
When the song at last came to an end, Astrid practically jumped for joy. She thrust her hands up in the air, hoisting Sarabeth's arm up in the process as she called to the crowd. "Let's hear it for Sarabeth!" she called out - and indeed, the whole room burst into cheers at her calling! In that moment, Astrid and Sarabeth truly were rock stars. They were basking in the adoration of the whole room, they were following their hearts' desires, and nothing was going to stand in their way.
One of those people clapping, however, was their waiter. "Bravo, bravo, ma'am," he said, to which Astrid politely bowed her head. However, before she could say anything more, he said something else. "Your food is ready whenever you are, you know." Sure enough, he stepped aside, showing their plates ready for them at the table.
At this, Astrid froze. It was only then that she realized that in all her hype, she'd gotten lost in the moment - and she completely forgot that they were waiting for their orders. Her face lit up with a blush before she shrugged her shoulders and chuckled nervously, only now knocked back into the real world. "Ahh, heheh...right! That's right! Are you hungry, Sarabeth?"
Sarabeth danced around with Astrid and this was honestly the most fun she has ever had in her life. Sure, Kary was a caring mother for the first ten years of her life and always tried to please Sarabeth, but that was before her temper flared and she shut a door in her own daughter’s face. All because, heaven forbid, Sarabeth wanted to know where or who her daddy was. Thankfully, she received her answers when she came to Japan and it was even more exciting her new parents were professional wrestlers and she was right to exclude Kary from her life and became content with Astrid as her new mother. Sarabeth felt happy and that was all that mattered to her.
Sarabeth got her arm raised and got yanked around due to her mother’s strength, but she fell to the floor giggling her head off. She got helped up by Astrid as their waiter announced their food was ready and Sarabeth smirked at the blush coming across Astrid’s face. Sarabeth ran for the table and sat down seeing the juicy meat in front of her.
“Haha! That was so cool! There is fewer things in this world that will make you feel like a musician. Even though I am already one,” Sarabeth explained.
It had been a bit awkward for Astrid to be called out by their waiter to remind her that she had completely neglected the arrival of their food - she couldn't help but feel like she was being singled out in front of the crowd that had turned out to watch the impromptu performance she and Sarabeth had launched themselves into. In fact, once the rush of getting into the heat of the performance passed her by, Astrid couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed to think that this many people had been watching her to begin with. She was used to getting this much attention every time she took to the ring, sure; all the cheering fans and adoring photographers were something she was no stranger to. But that was in the ring, doing something she was used to doing on a regular basis, and with plenty of separation between her and her opponent and all the fans in the furthest reaches of the bleachers. Here, she was in front of a crowd she had no reference for dealing with, and they were so close she could reach out and touch them if she wanted. Faced with all of that, she couldn't help but feel just a little bit out of her element, and as she headed back to her seat she was chuckling nervously.
Sarabeth, though? Sarabeth was used to playing in a band - and she took all the cheers in stride. If anything, it was the enthusiasm with which she faced her performance and the thrills she took away from it that lifted Astrid's spirits, and made it all while the while. Hearing the cheer in her voice, she looked back up at Sarabeth with a grin, and as she spread her napkin in her lap and reached to pick up her burger, she extended her arm across the table to slap a high-five with her stepdaughter. "Yeah!~" she cheered. Even she had to admit, those last few moments were electrifying, and she wouldn't trade them for anything.
"I do have to say," she continued, "that was fun. You know, if you want to do any more after dinner, I'm all in favor," she added, whispering to Sarabeth across the table. Then, though, she cleared her throat and sat up a little straighter. "How would you say it compares to the performances you've taken part in? Is it any different, actually being in a band for real?"
Sarabeth pondered her mother’s question as she also mimicked her setting her napkin in her lap and grabbing her utensils. She cut into her food focusing on sliding out meaty pieces of her steak and put some salt on them to give them added flavor. Sarabeth grabbed the ketchup bottle and squirted a little puddle on her plate before crossing her arms to answer Astrid’s question.
“If you mean, does it differ from what we do in the ring? Not really. Sure, there’s no test of strengths or powerslams, but there’s still showmanship and a set of skills needed for such an event like a concert. Those musicians still had to entertain the crowd while playing the music and they’ve had lots of hours of rehearsal at their studios and at the actual venues. Kinda like how we might train in the gym’s rings and perfect our move sets and spar to see what we can use against our opponents. Sometimes, musicians dive into the crowd. There’s so many similarities,” Sarabeth explained as she began eating her steak.
