[2009 – October]
Sitting next to Jean, who had taken Elijah's seat, and Clarice, who sat in her own, her back to the wall, Celeste felt very comfortable around the Hellions and the guys from Xavier's mansion even if it was her first night out in the city.
The fact that Elijah was present was naturally a big part of that as he was undoubtedly the one that gave her the greatest sense of comfort and security, his tyrannical demonic strength having left an inerasable mark on her wounded heart.
At this moment though, her thoughts couldn't be further from this fact as her shoulders danced and carefree vocals left her lips as she almost subconsciously picked up the lyrics from the unprotected minds of the people all around her.
Her eyes glittered with waves of wonder as she looked at her young uncle as he made music unlike anyone else, his passion for the melodic art burning brighter than any flame ever could.
It was infectious, his fully awakened charm and presence drawing people in without fail.
She had never seen this side of him and by the looks on the faces of the mutants around her, none of them had either, the exceptions being Jean and Laura.
Celeste had only seen the unfathomable powerhouse in Elijah until now, as well as the ultimate deterrent and judge. But she hadn't seen 'him', hadn't seen the young man with his own passions and dreams behind all that immeasurable strength.
When the applause erupted all over the place, the faint smile, that she was used to seeing on her uncle's face, had returned to his lips as he stood on the stage with calm confidence.
Still, Celeste was now aware that there existed a much more human side of Elijah, which made her look at him with different eyes as she struggled to understand how these two completely different sides of him could merge together so peacefully and seamlessly.
Suddenly, she had a new understanding of the hardships and burdens Elijah might have had to endure when she remembered her mother's words of concern for her younger brother. Emma was clearly afraid for this side of Elijah, afraid that it would be buried under the apocalyptic strength that he possessed, turning him into 'something' that lacked any sense of humanity.
In the end, seeing him so carefree in comparison, it was strangely beautiful to watch and it made Elijah seem less distant and ethereal, though not less extraordinary.
Suddenly though, Celeste saw Laura step on the stage, her own microphone in hand, her hands moving to pull down the zipper of her parka, showing off the short top beneath and her toned midriff without hesitation as she approached Elijah.
She looked at the dark-haired young man as she mouthed something, and while Celeste couldn't hear it from the distance, she knew how to read lips and understood her anyways.
'Now together.'
…
Looking at Laura as she approached me with graceful steps, the headlights bathing her perfect figure in their radiance, her dark hair shining and pale skin glowing. Her bright green eyes were filled with anticipation as a quiet smile danced on her lips.
"Now together.", she stated before giving the music guy a signal upon which he nodded and gave her a thumbs up and caused the speakers to roar to life with a melody and beat that was impossible not to recognize.
Laughing lightly, I couldn't help but smile as I grabbed the mic from the holder and waited for her to start, which she did, spitting pure fire in the process.
"Look
If you had one shot, or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted
One moment
Would you capture it or just let it slip?
Yo
His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy
There's vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti
He's nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready to drop bombs
But he keeps on forgetting what he wrote down, the whole crowd goes so loud
He opens his mouth, but the words won't come out
He's choking how, everybody's joking now
The clock's run out, time's up, over, blaow!"
[A/N: Nothing to be said for all those who get it. For those who don't, I dare you to listen to 'Lose Yourself' from Eminem this instance!]
It took barely two verses for the people that had just calmed down to become hyped again, the unique vibe of this masterpiece capturing everyone's attention.
The lines were flowing from Laura's lips with perfect rhythm, her attitude not inferior to that of a rap god as her hand cut through the air with precision, flipping off the corner of her jacket at perfect timing while still looking incredibly womanly in the process.
Spinning the microphone on my palm for a moment as I watched her perform with a soft light in my eyes, I eventually brought the mic to my lips as I knew that this was what she wanted, her eyes aflame with wild affection and the desire for a challenge.
And so I obliged.
"Snap back to reality
Oh, there goes gravity
Oh, there goes Rabbit, he choked
He's so mad, but he won't give up that easy, no
He won't have it, he knows his whole back's to these ropes
It don't matter, he's dope
He knows that but he's broke
He's so stagnant, he knows when he goes back to his mobile home, that's when it's
Back to the lab again, yo
This whole rhapsody
He better go capture this moment and hope it don't pass him
You better lose yourself in the music, the moment
You own it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime
You better lose yourself in the music, the moment
You own it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime
You better
…"
…
"This is just insane … ", Ellie uttered speechlessly, chaos all around as the club was seemingly on fire, Laura's and Elijah's voices battling for supremacy. They intertwined, they clashed, they sublimated.
They alternated who was singing every few lines, their coordination simple perfection as they never once exchanged any kind of signal. They just knew after they looked into each others eyes, communicating in a way that couldn't be understood, nor replicated.
It was almost hypnotic and she had never seen or heard anything like this, though Yukio's crazy cheering pulled her out of her thoughts and caused her to turn her head and look at Jean.
The redhead had already risen to her feet, her hands moving to the beat, she was bouncing on her feet as her slim waist twirled and popped, her lips moving as she sang along with Elijah and Jean.
She looked youthful and incredibly sexy, her glittering eyes overflowing with pride as she watched the pair on the stage.
Ellie wasn't sure what to make of this as it certainly looked as if crazy sparks were flying between Elijah and Laura, or at least to her it looked like that was the case, but Jean didn't seem angry or despondent at all.
In reality, the relationship between Elijah, Jean, and Laura was somewhat of a mystery to the group.
The only thing that was clear was that the bond between the three was complicated and everything but ordinary. It had to be since none of them had ever seen Laura so lively and unrestrained.
…
Eventually, Jean couldn't help but drag me and Laura onto the stage one after another to sing with her after some short breaks.
The two of us took on 'Demons' from Imagine Dragons while she and Laura did another popular number from Eminem called 'Without Me'.
I wasn't sure if I had ever seen something more precious than the two of them laughing and rapping together, fooling around as they spouted those crazy lyrics. Nor did it go over my head how much we had needed this night out, just beeing young and carefree with all the serious stuff that seemed to constantly pop up.
And for our last performance of the evening, all three of us did 'The Real Slim Shady' together, which made it the best part of the night as the three of us just forgot about everyone else and had fun together.
I had known that Laura loved Eminem since he had been through a lot of shit but had managed to turn that into motivation to walk forward, which she obviously found very relatable.
As such, how could she not be a fan considering her own less-than-pleasant past?
At one point, Celeste had also mustered her courage and gone up to sing 'Naive' from The Kooks by herself as if to prove herself, which had made all of us a bit wide-eyed as the shy blonde had turned out to be outrageously good at singing, which had caused Pietro to lament about unfair genetics.
I didn't correct him or bothered telling him that it was basically impossible for me to be a bad singer since I didn't just have perfect pitch but also absolute bodily control, which included my vocal cords.
In truth though, I didn't use these advantages since there was not really a reason to as music was one of my few passions. It was also an art form that rewarded the imperfect and unique while leaving behind the generic, which is why I loved it so much.
Eventually, Pietro, Ellie, and Yukio had also dragged me on stage again, having insisted that we perform together, which we did with varying degrees of success.
Pietro's voice was truly terrible as he seemed to have a talent for not hitting even a single note correctly, while Ellie turned out to have a bit of stage fright, which was kinda adorable. Yukio and I, on the other hand, blew the roof off the place with 'Stressed Out' from Twenty One Pilots.
In the end, this had most certainly been the most fun night out that we had had as a group, and judging by the exuberantly happy glow in Jean's eyes by the end of the evening, it might not be too long before we did that again.