Letting Your Voice Out [Gabe/Susan]

It was close to the next night, and just like Gabe had promised her, he set aside some time in order to show her what he liked to do for fun when he wasn't working. Luckily for Gabe, the lucky clover wasn't going to fall in shambles with his absence, giving him the pleasure to make some time for himself. Giving the location of the area, Gabe wasn't too sure if Susan figured that they were going to go karaoke or anything along the lines. The area was quite famous for that, and Gabe was actually quite daring on the stage when it came to singing in front of people. He had no problem whatsoever with doing that, but he didn't want to startle the shy Susan. At the very least, maybe she would be able to sing in front of him?

Once more did Susan have to undergo the discomfort and anxiety she had the night before, although it was stress she was used to. She had to stay later than normal to make up for the morning she had missed, making it so that she really couldn't afford to make this date yet she had inadvertently promised she would. Which she would love to go on of course! But she had to work her schedule around it. Ultimately Susan decided that she could leave at 5:30 and make it home with some amount of time to get ready, though this would come to haunt her later. It would be a very late night and an early morning for her to make up the work that she had missed to make this arrangement. And that was only the first stressor she had to overcome, now there was what to wear, what to talk about, and unlike the night before where she decided on her own accord to go out and have an adventure now she had someone to impress. Which was a blessing of sorts, she no longer had to build her confidence to go out, Susan would not be one to break a promise. She merely... had to quell the butterflies in her stomach to keep herself from feeling sick the entire evening. That was all.


The drive over was utter torture, though she were thankful that she had the small modicum of time to think things over. And panic. She hadn't been on an honest to goodness date since college and even then that was just the one. It was all so very nerve-wracking and she was far under-prepared. She dared not message him, Susan didn't think she handle the pressure of coming up with something meaningful to say without rambling. As it was without doing her research (which was a particularly grievous sin for her) she would assume that they would be visiting a karaoke bar, though she would remain optimistic and hope that he would bring her to a show instead. Or that they could just enjoy the atmosphere. That would be nice. The nervous woman was well aware of the implications yet would remain hopeful it would not be what she feared... or at least, she would be ignorant of the reality of the situation. There was a chance she could be mistaken and she would hold onto that chance.

Susan sat in her car for a little while outside the venue Gabriel had planned to meet her at, mustering up the courage to go through with it. She wanted this. She had promised herself she would try and she had promised Gabriel that she would meet him, she would let both of them down were she to not be on time and make an effort to enjoy herself. Steeling herself, the less-than-confident businesswoman took a deep breath... and left her car. It was no difficult task to spot him, being so much taller than she was and tall in general. Heart aflutter, Susan would approach him and do her best to put on a brave face to hide her timidness.


It was... an acceptable greeting she thought. Not very confident yet she didn't default to her regular stock conversational pieces such as asking how he was. Though she didn't pressure any sort of response or take any risk. She would... merely wait to see what his demeanor was. This would probably normalize over time.

"Oh! The stylish sensation has returned once more! Miss Groves, you are looking absolutely lovely this afternoon. " Pushing up his glasses, Gabe was happy that the woman showed up. Everything happens for a reason, and with this reasonable visit, he was sure that he would be able to open up Susan to more fun things. Or better yet, at least make Susan open up more socially.

As for Gabe's clothing himself, it was casual to his standards. He was wearing a smooth shirt and left it unbuttoned at the top for a more casual look. On top of the shirt he's wearing a stylish vest with 4 buttons, it has a fairly deep v-line, it's just narrow enough for the top to remain visible, adding another layer to the overall look of the suit.

The jacket was a perfectly tailored fit for him. It had an elaborate checked plaid pattern which gives the suit a fancy affluent look. The 5 buttons of his double-breasted jacket are all buttoned up, to Gabe, it's the only right way to wear it. As for the pants, it had the same pattern as the jacket, but a different, complementary color and they create a perfect balance with his shoes.

"Karaoke is one of the more favorite things that I like to do, I hope you don't mind singing for a while? It'll just be us, so don't worry about being on stage or anything. "

Moving on over to Susan's side, Gabe would offer his arm to interlock so they could go in together. "Shall we?"

If accepted, they would both walk inside together as Gabe went on over to the front desk. " An hour please, give us one of the more spacious rooms. I prefer the one I always pick." The waitress nodded as she went into a box and handed Gabe a key. In exchange, Gabe handed her his card.

The businesswoman was relieved to find him smartly dressed yet conservatively so, it had been a worry of hers that she would have over or under dressed for the occasion. Also very relieving to find that he was not wearing jeans, Susan had been afraid of dating herself by appearing as she had in her skirt and sweater. She was still self-conscious about the age gap, while he was clearly a mature adult it was evident that she was older than he was and she feared that it would be noticeable. Especially to Gabriel. What if she was not young enough or fun enough for him? He was a handsome young man and very certainly charming, he could have any woman that crossed his path and yet here was Susan who lived and breathed work and was nearly in her thirties. Her polite smile began to look a little wooden when her eyes emptied of focus much like a doll's, she turning her focus inward on unwinding the death spiral this lack of self-confidence had started.

Though she would be knocked out of her own head for the better at his compliment, shrinking slightly with a shy smile.
"Wh-why thank you...! You are looking very handsome too, Gabriel..." It was a little over the top yet Susan wasn't one to reject a compliment, that would be incredibly rude of her. Astonishing and sensational may have been a bit much, she was far less primped than she had been the night prior though she did make an effort with what little time she did have to do so. Though, the small window she did have to get ready for her date was not nearly enough to steel herself for all possibilities, conversational or otherwise. Much like Gabriel's plan to sing karaoke as afraid as she had been of it.
"O-of course not...! I would l-love to," she fibbed fairly unconvincingly with a sympathetic grimace.

Susan was unsure if it were better or worse to sing in front of a crowd of people or just between her and Gabriel. Obviously the less eyes on her the better, she was not all too confident in her singing abilities outside of the shower or her morning commute, but for just he and she to being singing alone to each other felt... a tad more intimate than she was comfortable with. It was very romantic and she appreciated the sentiment yet the thought of doing so scared her much like the thought of going through with her date did. This was... also another thing she would need to get used to! Y-yes, it would likely be good for her to leave her comfort zone and try something new. Though it did broach an important question and that was how should she act? The timid woman did not want to be dragged along or be a bore, that would not do at all. She had somewhat established herself as a classy woman of finer tastes and women such as that loved to try new experiences. This was their first date after all and it was her first true impression with him. Susan was horrible at those. Y-yet she would have to try! Nothing ventured nothing gained a-after all!

Susan's expression had again gone vacant again as Gabriel approached her and extended an elbow for her to take like the gentleman he was. She would look down at his arm like a completely foreign object and back to him with mild shock before snapping once again out of her anxious thoughts, blushing slightly and threading her arm through his and allowing her other hand to rest atop.
"Y-yes," Shock faded to joy as she walked arm in arm with him smiling dreamily, despite the height difference making things a bit awkward. It was... quite pleasant to be treated like a proper lady and made to feel like she were the most important woman on the planet, she only hoped she could return the feeling in her own special way. Susan's mind began to wander to more happier places this time as they strode together inside, her thoughts filling with little ways she could show she was appreciative like planned picnics or encouraging texts from time to time. Perhaps she could start baking him pastries to take with him to work with little notes to go with them.

Susan would continue to allow her mind to wander as Gabriel led them to the counter, content with keeping to herself for the moment and silently glad that he could take charge in this matter. Not that Susan was unable or incapable, business was her forte after all and she was more than apt but the fact that she did not have to worry about it was thoughtful. Though she made a mental note to pay for their outing next time. It was the chivalrous thing for him to do of course but Susan didn't believe in any of that, in the sake of fairness she would need to make it up to him. Her more positive thoughts would ease her anxiety a bit as she began to observe and take in information as she often did.
"You must visit this place often to have such close rapport with the staff," she commented once out of earshot of their attendant. Their private conversation was nothing she need concern herself with.
"I would hazard to guess this would be a weekly ritual for you?" She didn't mean to pry but noticing things came natural to her. To become a regular one needed to visit weekly or bi-weekly at minimum frequency and often ask for the same thing, appearing on the same days which would typically be one's days off in an establishment such as this to build a footprint and allow familiarity with the staff. Thus, he would need to come here often and pick the same room with frequency enough to be known for it. Though Susan wasn't making any judgments of such nor forming any impressions. She merely wanted to impress him with her attention to detail, one of the things she was actually quite good at. Unlike singing, f-for example.

"Oh, that? Don't worry, I haven't really taken any other women here in this kind of scenario. As the manager of the lucky clover, one of the things that I like to do for my staffers is to have some kind of events when we close early for casino renovations or recovery efforts on busy days. Surprisingly, the casino isn't 24 hours, so I would book a room like this and invite people out to sing and maybe have a drink or so. It's quite invigorating, you would be surprised at some of the song choices of my fellow employees. "

Smiling back at her as he spun the key around, Gabe would make a gesture to lead the way.

"In a way, you would be the first that I took on a date like this. "

Continuing to the room on the third floor,  Gabe would swipe the card and open the door, revealing a rather spacious karaoke room.

"Feel free to get comfortable, would you like to order something? Maybe some snacks? Something to drink? I can order something before we get started if you like? Maybe a virgin pina colada this time round? "

Susan... had not thought of that. A pained look of chagrin flitted across her face though she turned her head away from him for a moment so he couldn't see, acting as if perhaps she had heard something instead. The businesswoman had assumed that, being as outgoing as he was, he would have many friends and he had said before this was how he liked to spend his time. She did not bring up other women at all but now she was worried. Though... perhaps she shouldn't judge too harshly. He was an adult after all, it would be foolish of her to believe that as handsome as he was he could or would not pursue other relationships. Besides, this was only the first date, she should approach this more realistically rather than becoming wrapped up in a fairy tale.
"How kind of you..." she commented shyly, still facing away from him and attempting to compose herself, "I-I believe it is very important to foster that kind of camaraderie among those you supervise, it is an excellent way to show that you care for their successes and it promotes team-building." It was a very clinical answer but one she was familiar with and the clinical was comforting. It gave her enough resolve to look him in the eye again and put her hang-ups past her for the moment.
"I-I am hoping to have fun tonight too."

She would smile hesitantly at her affirmation before he motioned for her to take the lead though what he said had stunned her.
"Y... you really know how to make a woman f-feel special..." There was a slight tinge of restraint to her words that gave her a sad inclection. It was very flattering to know that she was the first but ultimately it also meant she was under a lot of pressure to impress him. This being their first date did not make things any easier. Susan fretted and wrung her hands for a few moments before it dawned on her that should take the lead as he expected her to.
"O-oh. I-I should... u-umm... y-yes." The timid woman murmured as she began to walk in front, searching around for the room though she did not have the key and occasionally needed to point in questioning or guage Gabriel's reaction.

Though they would reach the room with no trouble. Susan's jaw dropped upon her date opening the door to invite her in.
"Oh Gabriel...... you didn't need to go through all this trouble..." she gasped. It was incredibly elegant, fit for a small group of people rather than the two of them. It did ease her a bit. Perhaps... he was under just as much pressure to impress her as she him? It certainly grounded the experience, just a little. Susan removed her coat and laid it in an empty space on the couch, folding it neatly.
"Yes please! May we order a pitcher of ice water along with a non-alcoholic pina colada or two? I-I would not want my voice to go out midway through singing, I'm very thirsty right now." That was only a half truth, however. Her neck was still sore from that morning in the training exercise when she had lost control of Seshat, her sweater was strategically chosen to hide the bruising. She would still sing of course, though it may hurt a little and she would like something cold to rest with between songs. Not to mention that she would delay this as long as she could manage to mentally steel herself.
"As we wait we could chat some. I... I-I was about to ask you your favorite genre of music but I now feel that would be redundant fairly soon," she frowned sheepishly, "B-but you seem so very broad in your interests, music and entertainment... I remember you mentioned opera at the Lucky Clover the other night, what is your favorite opera Gabriel?" Opera was music-themed, so still on task and relevant. Gabriel was very distinguished, she would bet that he would enjoy something classical or Italian. S-she had no other ideas of what to talk about to be frank, she wasn't nearly as interesting as he was.

Taking off his coat and removing his glasses, Gabe shifted across the room towards the intercom phone for the sake of ordering what Susan wanted.


"Some things have to be worth the trouble and the effort. Without it, it doesn't sound all that genuine now, no? People tend to show themselves in different ways, I feel like sharing something that we keep to ourselves to a certain degree is one of them. I don't think anyone would assume that I would like Karaoke, but here I am."

After picking up the phone, Gabe would order some ice, pitcher of water, four virgin pina coladas, and an assortment of fruit for them to share.

"That should be enough, saves the trouble of staff running back and forth if we order most of what we need at one time. Not to knock it, doing their jobs is at the expense of convenience, but it's good to be mindful of others. "

Sitting back down, Gabe would mull over what she said. "As a child, my favorite opera was called the magic flute. It originated from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Egypt was the location of where the ...ahh... I would say "Event" occurred. It had an overall Egyptian motif, which made it unique. Other than that, I feel neutral towards all other operas, maybe it's because of the lack of sentiments? "


As he leaned back, Gabe would mention something else.

"However, my favorite genre of music is Jazz. Today! I will be.... performing one of my favorite songs of all time. If you want to understand me a bit better, I think this is one of the rare shortcuts to evaluating a person's soul. I do believe we all have souls... we... sorry...maybe I'm being too complicated?"

Gabe wanted to make sure he wasn't boring her.

It seemed that Gabriel could do nothing but impress her. She may have been anxious but somehow... seeing him try much harder than she could manage to win her over seemed to ease her worries quite well. Susan believed she understood now, now that she had some time to reflect that is. Pattern recognition was her forte after all and she was beginning to notice that everything about Gabriel was grand, from his mannerisms to his speech, favorites, behavior, he was just so... magnificent in a broad sense. The room was a note of that, large as it was it was just as splendid, as was karaoke were he to have a beautiful singing voice. And the more she thought over it the more things seemed to fall in line. Gabriel was putting his best attempt in making things larger than life and exciting in order to impress her. Susan thought it was rather sweet.

"Yes and I am appreciative of all the thought you have put into this. But..." she would conjecture softly, "...I believe that small gestures can be just as meaningful and genuine, as long as they come from the heart. Though I love how much effort you have gone through to make this evening feel special." The meek woman would not belittle his attempts to win her over, he did go through quite a lot of trouble she imagined. But she would want to stress that he did not need to be so magnificent in front of her. If he were anything like she was she would want to ease that pressure to make a good impression so that they may focus on enjoying their evening.
"I would not be so certain Gabriel, I would assume that an engaging man such as y-yourself would thrive on the stage." Her stutter surfaced for just a moment during her compliment, a nagging tell that though she wanted to relax and enjoy their date her nerves still picked away at her. She would overcome them with time.

Susan's eyes lit up as Gabriel mentioned his favorite opera, pleasantly surprised it wasn't the obvious one by Andrew Lloyd Webber. A musical really, not a proper opera. And yet her focus was more on his choice rather than the meaning behind his choice.
"I agree, it is a well-aged classic for good reason. The Arabic setting certainly lends to the overall mystery and romanticisms yet the romance puncuated by action and underlined by the importance of faith is what has led to it being one of the more adored productions, I believe." Susan smiled as she mused, it was quite nice to be able to speak to someone refined on subjects no one else but her was interested. "Though I can understand how one could become attached to a certain piece that speaks to you. My personal favorite is Le Dance Macabre. I-it's a crude comedic work but ultimately it's about how the will to overcome and the faith of the people survived through the apocalypse. I liken it to our own situation after the Eternal Divide. ...I-I'm sorry for bringing that up again..."

Susan would look away in shame. It seemed no matter how hard she attempted to ignore the subject the Eternal Divide would come to rear its ugly head. How could it not? It was a very life-defining event, she herself owed much of her personal development to it no matter how terrible it was, for better or worse. It shaped the culture of society around them down to the roots and to be frank she did speak frequently of it for two reasons. For one, on a purely subjective standpoint it was interesting. It had a great impact on life as it pressed on and that was worth critical thinking and commentary. For two it helped to depersonalize the thing. Susan had some very personal issues with that event much as most did, much as Gabriel did, and speaking so plainly over it took power away from it. It made it text in a book instead of a tragedy, much easier read and forgotten than relived time and time again in darker moments.

"I do enjoy Jazz," the businesswoman gushed. It was a more artistic and spirited genre of music. "And you are not confusing at all Gabriel. I do believe that we have souls and that we were put on this earth for a purpose, no matter how small. I believe that God has a plan for each and every one one of us, no matter how things may appear at the moment and- ...I-I apologize again, I-I understand that not everyone wants to speak of such things I-I just felt... I-I would really love to hear you sing, Gabriel...!" Susan would halt her own ramblings with an embarrassed grimace. She had forgotten her manners and the F.O.R.D method, of which religion should not be brought up in polite conversation for fear of sparking arguments. She would make note not to bring it up again without prompt as she attempted to deflect to their current affair. It would not due to prattle on and drive him away, which she was convinced she was most certainly doing.

When the eternal divide was brought up again, Gabe's eyes perked up as if she caught on to his full attention all over again.  He didn't mean to react to that or have a concerned look on his face, but Gabe knew that Susan didn't mean that. Everything happened for a reason, some of those reasonings are regrettably out of the control of the hands of a few individuals, leaving them to contemplate lies matters if they were able to take back some control of their lives. Gabe was in this position, and whether being a terrorist was the right path or not, at least Larsinny didn't have the stomach for killing people off like skelker did.

"Don't worry about it. If anything, I'm the one that should be apologizing for how squirmish I am whenever it's brought up. As for the talk of god, I sometimes wonder what the idea was for all of this to happen.  In a personal sense, I am Catholic, but I don't think that means much anymore. In the face of real power, besides the thought of what you believe in, people might drift over to something more tangible and existent in their lives. Maybe....having hope in something that's supposedly omnipresent maybe people don't want to do that anymore."

As soon as Gabe said that, the buzzer for the room rang, leading Gabe to shift over and open the door. A man with a tray o the things he ordered walked into the room promptly and placed everything down. Once he did so,  He would Give the two a small bow as he proceeded onto the rest of his tasks. "Looks like this didn't take too long, and it has grapes..." Gabe would close the door and lock it one more, reaching over to one of the grapes and plopping it in his mouth. "Seedless too, so no hassle. But other than that, who do you think should sing first? I can always break the ice with my best if you still feel unsure. "

Susan recoiled at the face Gabriel made, despite his protests she did indeed believe she had said something wrong. This was far from the first instance she kept bringing up the Eternal Divide and had offended others with it. She did not even give it second thought, to her it was a fact, not a memory. A troubling fact but a fact it was, not something she had experienced. She had long since repressed that memory, buried it under a veneer of professionalism. Susan did not want it having power of her, she intended to put that memory in a grave and let it die. It only brought her pain, it wasn't pleasant to think about, and perhaps if she could move past it at least in name the Eternal Divide would finally be rid of her as if it never happened. Though, others did not feel as such and she should respect that.

"N-no I am... *haaaa...* ...I was being thoughtless..." she sighed, "You should not apologize, I was being insensitive, I would like to promise that I will never speak of it again yet I... promised that last time... Sorry..." This was turning out to be a disaster, the businesswoman could never avoid sticking her foot in her mouth when it mattered. She stared at the ground, ashamed, while she stopped talking and listened. Their date had turned depressing, though she would do her best to salvage things.


Susan tried her best to sound encouraging for Gabriel, she did not want him down in the dumps for her sake.
"Even if it doesn't seem like it for the moment I believe that everyone can find their way, and that people get opportunities all the time. They just need to search deep down and listen to what they truly feel is right, and that we can give them a push to do so." As much as she didn't want to dwell on religion for the sake of good company Susan was happy to have someone to speak to about it. Most people didn't care to bring it up or became offended though she genuinely found the topic to be interesting and worth discussion, no matter what she or her conversational partner believed.

Though she would be interrupted by their attendant, somewhat thankful for the intrusion and saving her from the conversational missteps she was making. Susan would pour herself a glass of ice water and one for Gabriel as well to be considerate. It was honestly beginning to wear on her voice to speak for so long, she could feel her vocal chords begin to ache. She would drink about half her glass as Gabriel spoke, lingering on it so that the ice could sit in her throat and cool the bruised tissue. It... it looked as if it was... time to sing soon...
"O-oh! Yes I..." she would begin, about to offer that he sing since she had been looking forward to it... though that would not be forthcoming of her. She was scared to sing and it showed in her eyes despite her friendly smile. She cast her gaze downward.
"I-I am still unsure. May you sing first please, Gabriel? I-I know I am not taking to this as well you may have hoped but... I would still like to have a good time and want you to have a good time. I believe it may make me more comfortable if you sang first." It never ceased to weigh on her mind that she was still ruining their date, him needing to drag her the entire way through it all. But she would still try, Susan had already made it this far.

"That's quite alright, I should give you my very best right out of the gate, no?" Gabe would walk over to the kiosk machine in order to cycle through the songs that he wanted to sing. There was a song that he was looking for specifically that he felt resonated with him quite a lot. He didn't think of it to be cheating by using this song, but he didn't want to embarrass himself and would rather perform well in front of Susan.

After picking the song that he wanted to play, Gabe would get up on the slightly risen stage and went over to the mic. "This song is very special to me, so I'm happy that I'm able to share it with you. It's one of my favorites called, "nobody's perfect". I hope this puts you in a good mood, Susan. "

After that, the song started to play with Gabe following the lyrics.

English Lyrics

Spoiler:

To say the least Susan was very happy that Gabriel decided to be the gentleman and perform first. It only delayed the inevitable, she would need to sing eventually yet it was quite relieving to put it off. It at least gave her a long enough time to make a decision on her own song choice, it had to be meaningful but not too meaningful. She wouldn't... want to come on too strong or give the wrong impression... As he approached the stage to sing Susan would sit up straight with her hands on her knees to be his attentive audience. It would be awkward but she would smile politely and listen as he poured his heart out on the stage, making an attempt to not retreat into her own head for the duration of his performance.

It was a very soulful song, and Gabriel sung it beautifully. To be truthful she was slightly stunned. It was very apparent that this was a very personal song to him, although she couldn't tell in what way. Everyone had a song such as that, but even the sorrowful ones about standing up in the face of adversity could be either a croon of triumph or harken back to darker times, a sort of sorrowful nostalgia. It could be about them or someone they knew, but it was too varied to tell. She could find herself puzzling about it without meaning to, it was second nature for her to try to figure someone out. She wanted to show her appreciation but felt awkward clapping, so she clasped her hands together and leaned forward instead.
"Th-that was very beautiful, Gabriel," she would gush, "I can tell that song means very much to you... I-I hope you don't mind me asking what, I-I don't mean to pry but... you put your heart into it and it showed and... I just want to know a little bit more about you. I-If that's alright with you." She squirmed in her seat a bit. Susan would like to know what this song meant to Gabriel for him to sing it so soulfully, though it was not an entirely unselfish desire. On the other hand she was buying more time before she herself had to sing her own song.

After Gabe finished singing the song, he would get quiet for a moment as he closed his eyes and nodded back into the past in which this song was the most relevant in his life. Maybe it started to have a bit more meaning when he started to live and do things on his own? people that took the full brunt of the event happening in Endymion could be considered as individuals that made something out of nothing. Gabe had his guts and his whit, and somehow, in spite of being a terrorist, he felt like he became a decent adult. However, the voice of Susan would break him from his trance as he quickly got up and walked back towards the sitting area.

Gabe's hand slowly traced along the ends as he figured how he would be best able to answer Susan's question. He wondered how much he should reveal to her?

"Nobody's perfect, but it's that same indifference or the pain that comes with the struggle that stands as a testament to you being alive as a human being. Or being able to live as a proper human being in spite of the shortcomings, its something to live by that I used as a golden rule in whatever that I do. I mean, you know, there was really no one left to teach me how to be a man, and I was quite sheltered before the event. I'd like to say that the song is one of the reasons why I turned out well."

It came as a surprise that his song was so meaningful to him. She did not know what she expected, but it was quite a statement to credit the way he had grown to a single song. Though she did not disbelieve it. Gabriel seemed very passionate and sentimental to her, she felt special to share in his world. It was often those that had been through hardships that were the most generous... and at the same time she had felt guilty for bringing up the past once more, considering his had been rougher than hers had in certain ways. While no one escaped the Eternal Divide unscathed she kept both of her parents and her life continued onward with little deviation from the path she had set despite it. It was not difficult to forget that the strapping and confident man before her had essentially lost everything and it pained her to realize it again and again. She had never been adept on avoiding stepping on others toes, it seemed every time she opened her mouth to relate to someone she said something involuntarily offensive.

"I-I see..." she answered, giving herself time to compose. This was a very emotionally significant song to him. Susan had never been very good at relating to that at all, she didn't wish to understate its importance. But with nowhere to fall back to she would need to choose between holding back and being generally supportive yet untrue to herself or to approach things naturally and risk frightening him away like she did with most others. ...after further reflection she decided to be blunt. It was more important to her that she speak her mind and remain open, should this relationship develop it couldn't progress with dishonest expectations. She remained silent for several seconds before speaking again as she processed.


Susan straightened her posture just a bit.
"I-I... wish... that I had a song to relate to as you do that I could share, but I unfortunately have none, at least not as meaningful as that one. Y-You did sing it very beautifully and I could feel the emotion behind the lyrics it is just... I suppose I am not very good at this." She shifted and stared into her lap. Susan could not stop herself from talking and placing her foot in her mouth, it was more difficult when she could not plan for these things.
"I-I am sorry, I did not mean to sound melancholic, b-but I did not want to devalue your own experience by pretending I had just as much an important song of my own to share, i-it would be insulting."

But as she fretted and criticized herself for her shortcomings Susan had a spark of inspiration. Gabriel was sentimental, this much was so, and although she did not have such a song as he did the present was occurring. She looked up with a small smile.
"...though I did think of a song to sing that fits this atmosphere. I-I hope that perhaps it can become meaningful for us at some point." She did indeed have a very fitting song in tone, though her heart skipped after she had finished speaking. This would mean she could no longer weasel her way out of singing. Her eyes visibly became shaky behind her careful smile.
"I-I s-suppose this means I should si... s-sing now..." The timid woman hesitated, sipping on her ice water in order to buy time before standing up and shuffling shakily toward the stage, almost visibly paling. She flipped through the songs and managed to find the one she wanted, despite her trembling hands on the buttons. With her selection chosen she began to sing.

Mya - Everything or Nothing:

She had chosen what she believed to be the objectively perfect song for this situation. He enjoyed jazz, s-so he was bound to like it. She did not need to raise her voice either, eliminating the strain on it and preventing it from cracking and it was repetitive so she would not have trouble with the lyrics. Despite this her nerves made her performance... sub-par. She was incredibly quiet for the duration and had stutters and pauses as she sang, though she did improve as she became used to the idea and the song moved forward.

"That's a way to put it, but I also believe that we change every day. With every decision that we try to make or go around to making, it turns us into the kind of people that we ....nevermind. I always seem to have some kind of remark or something to say. Not this time, I brought you here to have fun. I wouldn't want to dwell on anything that would require too much thinking power or ruin the mood. "

Gabe then sat down, Giving her his full attention.

"It's ok if you don't have anything of the sort that's similar to why I sang my own song. I just want to hear you sing, it could be anything that you want. "

Gabe then got quiet as he watched her sing. It was obvious that she was shy and he pretty much expected how it was going to turn out, but it didn't bother Gabe at all. As a matter of fact, Gabe started to get up and clap for her after the singing was over with a small standing ovation.

"You made it through! How do you feel?"