2024-11-18: Ear-Splitting Emotional Expression
- Log: Ear-Splitting Emotional Expression
- Cast: Naoko Suzuki, Shari Loom
- Where: Fujinomiya City
- OOC - IC Date: 0099-11-18
- Summary: With Shari going through an emotionally rough time, Naoko decides the best course of action is distraction. She invites her fellow Whispered to join her in the activity she uses to deal with emotions that are difficult to process: Singing!
<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.
Following the revelations in the wake of certain... liberties that were taken during the recent Void incident, Naoko insisted on accompanying Shari on the way back. She wasn't about to leave her best friend alone until adequately assured that she was going to be okay. Even with others looking out for her, it simply wouldn't be possible for anybody to understand what Shari was going through quite as well as Naoko could. Since, thanks to their brief moment of mental contact... she'd felt it herself.
Not that she ran into any trouble in the process, thanks to her good rapport with the PPL. But staying overlong didn't feel as if it was an option at the time. So before parting ways, Naoko made a promise. A simple promise, but one that she felt was of the utmost importance at a time like this.
"We're going to have some fun. Just you and me. Don't worry about the details, I'll handle it. Keep an eye on your phone for the time and place. No buts!"
Granted, she had no idea whether her way of dealing with pain would work as well for Shari as it does for her. But she had to do something, and this was her best idea, the only idea she had, regarding things that have no direct solution. 'When you can't make it better, do something to take your mind off of it.'
The time and place followed one day later. A small mall in the Fujinomiya suburbs, in the late afternoon on Monday. Naoko left out the exact details, a little worried about being turned down if Shari knew what she was planning. Even if there isn't a whole lot in the way of possible activities in the area, surely Shari wouldn't guess that Naoko would pick that, of all things.
The first surprise already starts when first laying eyes on Naoko. There's nothing different about her mode of dress, but... her hair. It's an extremely rare instance of braidless Naoko. Instead, her hair is tried back with a red ribbon, twin butterfly hairclips moved to the top of her head. She smiles brightly as she waves Shari over, at which point it only takes a look at the window of the building she stands outside of to know what they're in for.
Karaoke. At an establishment that's not very big, nor is it very fancy. But it does tend to be quiet, which is the most important part. Doubly so under the current circumstances, but that was always the important part. Even in a place that's all about singing your heart out, Naoko wouldn't want to even have to consider that people outside of the booth might be able to hear her in there. The fact that she invited someone else along... well, that just doesn't happen. Hasn't happened. Until now. Which the kindly elderly lady sitting at the desk next to the entrance picks up on, squinting through thick glasses when she sees Naoko waving someone over.
"Oh, Nova-chan. Did you bring a friend today? That's nice. I was a little concerned that you didn't have any friends."
"Wow, old lady. That's a little rude, don't you think?" Naoko responds, with a chuckle. It's pretty obvious that these two have a rapport of some sort. The woman doesn't even bat an eye, neither when calling Naoko by her nickname, nor when hit with the comeback.
"Ho ho ho, do forgive this old lady for poking fun. You girls enjoy yourselves now! Drinks are in the fridge, as always!"
Naoko rubs the back of her head, finally addressing Shari. "So, um. Surprise?"
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
It was hard. Naoko felt it, and Shari kept living it. Back then, she cried on Naoko, too, until she couldn't anymore. It seemed to Shari at the time like she would never stop crying. ...But she did, eventually.
"Huh?" Shari had wondered at the time. "...Fun, huh." Her eyes were still red, but she nodded. "Okay."
-=-=-
One day! Shari spent the night at the PPL; she wasn't quite ready to see Gerardo or Gareth. But she did call; Gerardo was willing to handle things a little longer at the house.
Did Shari ever mention it to Naoko? She has a house.
Putting on her makeup is mediative, for Shari. And she stays at the PPL working often enough that she had some spare clothes there, too. Pink and black; it's her usual favorite. But the makeup... Black lips, mascara; gray shadow. Foundation underneath, of course. That's why they call it foundation! ...But it's perfect.
And doesn't run if she ends up crying again, ideally.
A small mall... Shari is used to Naoko just sort of deciding things now and then, so she isn't guessing at what it might be. Instead, she finds herself surprised:
"Oh, your hair," she starts. "...It's so cute! You look great, Naoko!"
It cheers her up a little. But suddenly--"Karaoke?" she wonders. But before she can have private misgivings, she sees--from the way Naoko and the old lady talk, Naoko's here a lot. This is something she does herself...
Shari laughs softly. It's a little half-hearted, but it is a laugh. "Don't worry," she says. "She's mostly got me." She nudges Naoko. "...Thanks, we will."
She looks to Naoko then. "Yeah, I'm surprised all right," she says. "Really? ...But this is something you do, isn't it? ...It's nice, that you'd think to include me in something that's clearly important..."
That's a start!
"OK, sure. But um. I don't exactly do this a lot myself..."
<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.
The house... Naoko is aware, but she hasn't asked about it much. Partly because she feels it's none of her business, partly because she thinks it's something Shari may not like to talk about... and, if she's perfectly honest, partly because she's afraid to be invited over. She'd feel obligated to say yes, and she has no issue with Shari of course. But she's positive that she's going to massively embarrass herself around Gerardo, and Gareth... well. Gareth is from a (previously) privileged Britannian position. Can you blame her for worrying about how that's gonna go?
Sticking to fun is much less complicated than having to deal with people, if you ask her. Which... explains why she evidently comes here alone all the time. But not this time! Of course, only because she meticulously planned this, so that she wouldn't run into any surprises.
She is surprised almost immediately, when Shari compliments her looks. "Wha--" That's one sure way to make her entirely freeze up, blush rising to her cheeks. Unable to see this as a fitting thing to say about her, yet desperate to rationalize this somehow, the response ends up being, "...C-come on. Don't make fun of me." It had to have been some kind of joke at her expense. Purposely saying something that would embarrass her. It's the only thing that makes sense. All she did was change her hair! And not even because... well, regardless, she knows she's not actually cute.
If she was planning to say anything about how Shari looks, she's definitely too flustered to now, only recovering enough to speak when Shari nudges her, saying 'she's mostly got me.'. "You didn't have to say that!" She's not actually... denying it, though. And she's not that mad about it. She's just kind of exasperated. "...Can we go inside now?"
Away from the proprietress's prying (if poorly seeing) eyes, Naoko gets her bearings a little better, confirming, "...Yeah. I've never said anything about it, have I? Truth is, I really like to sing. Especially at times when I'm feeling a lot of strong emotions that I don't know what to do with." Which explains why this is what she picked. She hopes that it'll help Shari in the same way it does her.
Entering the booth, it's really quite a simple affair, but it works for Karaoke. A couple of couches, a mini-fridge filled with a variety of different kinds of soda, and of course the karaoke machine with a screen projected onto the wall. The size and state of it resembles the average student's living room more than anything else.
"Don't worry about if you're any good at it, that's not what Karaoke is about, not really. All it matters is that you put your heart into it. Shall I demonstrate?"
Just look at her grin. This is most decidedly not something she's embarrassed about, Naoko's clearly in her element here, she wouldn't be so confident otherwise.
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
Shari will absolutely invite Naoko over eventually!! ...But it's kind of awkward, still, with Gareth and his background. Even getting a house instead of an apartment in the first place was a compromise about how to take care of him...
But Shari is pleased at that blushy reaction when she sees it. "I'm not, I'm not!' she insists, and when Naoko's flustered, Shari is a little more animated, like some kind of blush vampire. "I did," she assures Naoko, and waves to the proprietress. "We can!"
Once inside, Shari looks around thoughtfully, getting a sense for what's here and where it is. "You didn't," Shari confirms. "...Huh, really? I guess that's a good way to get them out."
"I've definitely got a lot of those."
"Put your heart in, huh? That sounds so embarrassing, but..." She nods. "OK. Go for it! You seem pretty confident."
Shari takes a seat on one of the couches for the moment, lounging. "Demonstrate away!"
<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.
No matter what Shari says, Naoko, of course, has already concluded that she is being picked on. Rude, so rude. But she'll forgive Shari. THIS TIME.
And yet, where it comes to singing, she doesn't even seem to understand what embarrassment is. "Huh, you think so? That's just... what singing is, really. You take all those emotions, and you throw it all out into the song, WHAM!" She makes a fist at the 'wham'. That makes it all more clear, doesn't it?
Well, if it doesn't, she'll just have to demonstrate! "Alright! Get ready!" So she says, but it's her who moves to get ready, by pulling loose the cord around her waist, and tossing her denim jacket aside. She's wearing a black T-shirt underneath, featuring a very 'high-tech' looking skull. Fittingly, the text on it reads "CYBER DEATH".
Next, she pulls free the red ribbon in her hair, shakes her hair loose, then ties the ribbon around her forehead. Ariel and Uriel leave their perches as she does so, the latter speaking up.
>"It's not often that she lets her hair down like this, you're in for a treat!"<
Naoko responds by flicking a finger against the black butterfly ornament, sending Uriel spiraling off before catching himself in the air. >"Ow, what was that for?!"<
"Could you not, I've had enough embarrassment for one day. Geez."
Uriel sets down on the karaoke machine, while Ariel lands next to Shari on the back of the couch. Even though when she 'speaks', it's transmitted directly into the both of their minds, it still sounds as if she's whispering.
>"Truth is, she's been looking forward to this all weekend."<
Naoko's reaction is immediate: "I can hear you! Are we done??" Thankfully, it appears that this wasn't enough to cause the mortified brand of embarrassment from before, all that the remarks from the peanut gallery prompted was another light blush. A clearing of her throat later, she takes the microphone in one hand, using the other to navigate to a very specific piece on the machine...
There is a slight moment of doubt in her eyes. Uncertainty, whether she should sing something that may be taken... rather personally, given the circumstances. But, this is the point she's trying to make. After all... from touching Shari's mind, she too now has these exact feelings. And this is the way she deals with them: when something bothers you, throw out all of those emotions through song. She slams down on the 'start' button.
BGM: Tsunami Bomb - The Invasion From Within https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsNfzdNkisw
Organ music and a calm guitar beat may give a false impression of what kind of song this is actually going to be. Electric guitars blare, as the initial vocals ring out, which aren't prompted as lines to be sung, but Naoko yells along with anyway.
ENEMY! INSIDE OF ME!
ENEMY! INSIDE OF ME!
ENEMY! INSIDE OF ME!
ENEMY! INSIDE OF ME!
Naoko's eyes remain closed the entire time she sings, committing to the very thing she said to do - put your whole heart into the song.
I'm caught! I cannot kick them out
Their claws are wrapped around my throat and they are squeezing tighter
Insanity! Is coming over me!
Their every wish is my commaaaaand
NO WAY OUT!
This is exactly why Naoko was concerned about people hearing outside of the booth - she is LOUD, quite possibly the loudest that Shari has ever heard her before. It's only fitting, because loud is the name of the song. And loud is the nature of these emotions. This is how you do it. This is how you distance yourself from them.
At a certain point, the song slows down for a section, yet doesn't become much less loud for it. She opens her eyes to look at Shari then, seeming almost a different person with all the emotion she puts in the words. Trying to wordlessly convey: can you see it? Can you see the worries no longer having a hold on me, because I called them by name?
When they come for youuu
They see right through your flesh and bones for soon you'll be their home
They know you deep inside, the things you can't try to hide
No hope after the first bite
Her eyes close again, as she goes into the big finale, containing the lyrics which are the most on the nose yet.
Don't try to run, 'cause you're the chosen one
Your world is gone, no turning baaack
NO WAY OUT!
She continues yelling 'enemy inside of me' for as long as the song continues, deflating as the song fades out. She takes a deep breath, looking to Shari with an extremely serious expression.
Ariel has no words for this. Uriel does.
>"Uh, wow. Bit much, maybe?"<
No one has ever accused Naoko of subtlety.
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
Sometimes a compliment is a compliment!! ...Oh, well.
Wham! "Huh. ...Never done much of it," she admits. "I like listening to music and all, but I never thought I was any good at it..."
But Naoko seems sure, so Naoko gets ready! Shari blinks in surprise at the way she lets her hair down literally, but she brightens at the skull. The skull is definitely her aesthetic. Cyber Death!!!
"Wow..." She grins, and stays lounging for the moment, glancing to the ornaments one at a time. "Hmmm. That so?"
She grins, but Naoko doesn't actually stop. And she notices that doubt, all right. It's kind of hard to see--it was embarrassing, to share her feelings so... directly. And yet...
The song seems calm at first--until suddenly--
Shari blinks as she hears what kind of song it is. She wouldn't have expected this from Naoko's candy-loving persona. She pours her whole heart in, and Shari hears it in each word. Shari goes quiet, staring the whole time. She hears the volume, but it doesn't bug her--she just keeps listening.
Naoko does seem a different person. But Shari gets the message. Shari's long, pink hair is loose, too--and her gray-shadowed eyes are on Naoko in that moment.
The 'chosen one'. It never seemed so ominous as hearing it put that way, but she was--and she knows who chose her, now. But eventually, the song finishes, and...
Shari waves off Uriel. "No, it was great!" she enthuses, and stands up suddenly, walking over to Naoko until she's a little too close. "...I get it," she says. "I get it."
"Pick another one," Shari says. "I'll... sing this time, too. But no laughing if I'm not any good at it."
She doesn't think she will, though. Not after that.
She hasn't noticed her voice go soft.
<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.
Compliments can work on Naoko! She'll just assume you're lying if they're not an aspect of herself that she has any confidence in, that's all.
Clearly that isn't the case at all for singing. That's something she knows she can do. To put every other thought out of her mind except what she wants to sing, and the emotions she wants to pour into the song. This is where everything she'd normally keep to herself can come out, be expressed, and in doing so, be processed.
As it turns out, she has some LOUD emotions. She may have shared with Shari how she prefers energetic music, that listening to things that get your adrenaline going is how she relaxes. The full story... may have been a more than she ever implied. But, there it is.
Shari objecting to Uriel's assertion prompts a smile. It looks a little tired. She really did put everything she had into that. Yet, she still feels the need to nuance it a bit. "Not my best, but... it was alright." She peeks at the score. "92 out of 100 seems about right." A perfectionist in anything she does.
The earlier confidence disappears like snow in the sun when Shari gets up to stand real close to her. That prompts her to straighten up and go rigid, the fight or flight response throwing an error message. "W-well... I'm glad you uh... heard the message."
>"You'd have to be deaf not to have heard THAT."<
Naoko ignores Uriel's commentary, instead responding to Shari, "Oh, um. Sure... I can pick something good for us both to sing, I guess, uh.... I wonder what would be best..."
Ariel flutters up next to her, suggesting, >"Shari's a beginner, so it's best to go with something less fast-paced, with easy lyrics... and, how about something a bit more... hopeful?"<
Naoko looks pensive a moment, mulling that over, looking a little absent-minded as she rapidly scrolls through the song list... but evidently knowing exactly what to look for, stopping exactly where she meant to. "...Yeah... something more... hopeful."
Though that previous confidence seems to be gone, which has everything to do with the prospect of singing together. Another thing she hadn't planned for. Looks like it was possible for singing to become embarrassing after all. Still, she retrieves a second microphone, handing it to Shari. All the advice she has is, "Sing the way that feels right to you, that's all that matters."
Her hand hovers over the start button before she thinks to add, "...I'll do the intro, join me when the main thing starts, okay? It's a short and easy one with repeating lyrics, so, no need to think about it, just... feel." With that, she lowers her hand onto the 'start' button, with far less force than last time.
BGM: Dragalia Lost - We Are the Lights https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZg8UByFC0I
It's hard to tell what this song's going to be. The way it starts has a bit of an epic feel to it, before the intro moves into an entirely different style. Naoko seems to have zero issue switching to the entirely different vibe as she vocalizes the intro.
In the darkest night ever seen
We just stand still on line
I know the trigger is in your palm
And I'm a bullet
As the music builds up to the main melody, Naoko faintly smiles to Shari, indicating with her hand that the part to join in is coming up. Regardless, Naoko won't miss a beat, quick to once again put her all into this entirely different kind of song.
We'll be the lights
Brighter than sunshine...
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
Shari likes loud music, herself. She's always liked it loud enough to drown out her own thoughts--and the thoughts that aren't really 'hers', too. So this is a little different... but in the right spirit. So Naoko's tired smile gets a smaller one out of Shari. "You're harsh on yourself," she points out. "...But OK. I don't want to think too much about grades anyway..."
Naoko goes rigid, and Shari notices--but she's just impish enough not to step back as a result, grinning a little at something in her own mind. "I did!" she enthuses.
"OK, cool."
Ariel's suggestions are helpful. But hopeful? "Huh. Yeah.... Well, okay."
Naoko may not have a ton of confidence now, but Shari remembers it from earlier. "...K. I'll um... I'll try."
Feel. Shari knows how to do that, but... this isn't how she usually does it.
Shari is glad she doesn't start immediately; she doesn't get the vibe at first, and hearing Naoko start first is better. But when she smiles, Shari hesitates, an--
"W-we are..."
Her voice is quiet, at first. She has a clear tone, but she's very shy about this. Her voice is high. And--
"Brighter than sunshine--"
But with Naoko's guidance, she gets a little less broken and uneven in her singing, starting to go smoother, and then... "Even if the world's on fire,"
We'll be the lights
We'll be the lights
Shari watches the lyrics, and she doesn't always get the words quite right, but she starts to put more feeling into it, growing louder, until she might even match Naoko.
<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.
Everything's hard at first. Barring things that get Whispered to you from the Omnisphere, anyway. Probably no Whispered is born a genius at singing. You have to practice, something which Naoko has had plenty of. In private. This is new for her, too. And while it's no issue when it's just yourself singing... she hadn't predicted how different it would feel singing with someone else. Mostly because it's something she wouldn't have thought she'd dare doing.
But, here she is. And here Shari is. She normally has little trouble with this song, but when Shari struggles, it's so... endearing, to watch her try. For once Shari is the more embarrassed one, and it's just really... dare she even think it... cute. It causes her accuracy to waver just a tad, subconsciously trying to be more in tune with Shari, but for once other elements matter more than the machine's opinion of her performance.
Naoko can't help but smile the entire time, nodding to encourage Shari to keep going. She's got it, she just has to believe in herself. It's just that pesky element of not thinking while you sing, only feeling. Naoko's got that part down. As long as she's singing, she doesn't seem to have a care in the world. As they go, Shari seems to develop more of that too, and Naoko is more than ready to put her all back into it as well.
We are the lights
Lit as you fly high
Clearing your sight
Uniting the starlight
Free your mind brave fighters
Even if the world's on fire
We are the lights
We are the lights
This, too, is a song containing Naoko's emotions. It's what she hopes to be - a beacon of light to the world, providing hope in dark times. And after the teamwork they displayed together, piloting their respective creations... that makes her feel the 'we' element of the song all the more strongly.
When the music winds down, Naoko leans on the machine, smile still plastered on her face. "See? Told you it would be short and easy. You did great."
Not coincidentally, she's covering the machine's grade with her hand. That doesn't matter right now.
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
That'd be nice, right? A Whispered who was an expert in music. It doesn't really occur to Shari right now though. Naoko is expert enough for her, and the truth is--it's easier for her to sing with Naoko than it would be to sing alone. It's just a little difference between the two of them that works out this time.
Shari doesn't notice the lack of accuracy in Naoko's voice when it happens; she notices Naoko looking at her, notices her smile, and it's... nice. Eventually Shari does manage to avoid thinking, and just feels it. So when she and Naoko put their all into the song--
Even if the world's on fire...
"We are the lights..."
Shari is not used to being a 'light', frankly. She saw that in that other world she was. But it's not her experience. It's more that she's a darkness, if anything. But she felt that teamwork, too. Her first time out in the new unit, getting to fight with Naoko...
She doesn't know to look at the machine's grade, so she doesn't notice Naoko covering it. "Ahah... Yeah, I--"
She notices the tears at the corners of her eyes. "Y-yeah. It was--it was great," she says. "Let's..." She sniffles once and then inhales sharply, fanning her face with her hand. "Um--I'm fine," she says.
"Just... feeling a lot..."
"Hey, I've got one. Um, it's pretty loud, let me see if they have it..."
She turns immediately to start flipping through. "I-it's by--a band called Empty Spiral, they're from AEU Italy..."
She is trying not to cry more, but not succeeding very well. Despite that, Naoko might notice--
She's smiling.
<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.
Needless to say, Naoko's confidence lasts only about as long as it takes for her to notice tears in Shari's eyes. That causes agitation to return with a vengeance. At a loss at what she should do, if anything, she very slightly reaches out with a hand, but stopped by a different agitation, that of getting any closer than they're already standing. "A-are you, um..."
She's fine, Shari says. Naoko lowers her hand. "O-okay. If you're sure." ...Otherwise, what? What would she even do? There's probably very little she could get herself to do. She really is starkly different from her usual self when she sings, no sign of all that earlier confidence.
Feeling a lot, though... yeah. Yeah, that was the point, wasn't it? This is... probably good, then. "Must have been what you needed right now... I hope. Sorry, if this was a little much."
And then Shari suggests singing more, causing her to miss a beat in surprise. "I... okay? I mean, sure, show me what you've got!" If it's loud, it's bound to be good. The mixed emotions do cause her some confusion, but she should be able to navigate that alright. If all else fails, she does have two helpers she can count on for advice.
>"Hit the random button, cowards!"<
It won't always be good advice.
<Pose Tracker> Shari Loom has posed.
Shari moves a little away from Naoko, but she regrets that a little bit when Naoko lowers her hand. ...Only a little, though. She smiles at Naoko, though there are still tears. "Yeah," she says. "And if I let myself start crying I'm not going to stop for a while..."
"But I want to sing some more first."
Pause. "And I think you might shut down if I gave you a hug anyway."
What she's got is--
Well, it's metal. That's what Shari's got. But there's two voices in the next song, so it's easy to assign one of them to each of them.
"Wait, there's a random button?"
...Shari does not always require 'good' advice.