ephemeraltea prompted: Babs/Dinah- karaoke night.
I'm getting the distinct impression you have an agenda, Tea. One that involves forcing this to be another success story of yours – like getting me to start shipping JayTim! I'm on to you.
But I'm actively enjoying this ride so you might've already won ;P
Birds of Prey and related properties © DC Comics
story © RenaRoo
It's Just Not My Cup of Tea
It's Cassandra's twenty-first birthday and Barbara just isn't sure why she agreed to not ask questions for the night when she promised to spend it with her girls. Her girls being a distinctly, bright eyed and bushy tailed daughter, the other being her distinctly should-know-better-than-this partner.
They're testing her. And Barbara is at least ninety percent positive she doesn't appreciate it one bit.
Karaoke bars are just distinctly not her thing.
But, as she takes another drink and tries (and fails) to give Cass an incredulous look for downing another of her own, Barbara has to admit that listening to Dinah on the stage is something of pure beauty.
"Mosh pit!" Cass decries in the middle of "Hit Me With Your Best Shot," leaping up from her chair to dance at their table.
Babs buries her face in her hands and listens to Dinah cackle from the stage. It's by pure luck that Barbara happens to look up just as her two little party animals exchange a knowing look.
"You're next!" Dinah declares in front of the wide audience of five other patrons, emphatically pointing in Barbara's direction. She and Cassandra are sharing the same wild grin and that's enough to be disconcerting.
"No, I'm not, don't you two dare -" Barbara is getting out just before Cass grabs her arms and lightly pulls her toward the stage. Babs returns the gesture by elbowing Cass, hard, in the thigh. It only makes the birthday girl laugh darkly in amusement.
"Oh, Barbara, please! For Cassie's birthday!" Dinah begs over the mic, inciting a chant of 'Barbara' from the three of the five other patrons.
Cass makes it four.
"You two are incorrigible!" Barbara snaps, yanking her arm away from Cass and pushing herself toward the stages. Seven people cheer.
Dinah smacks a kiss on Babs' cheek on the way out, hardly even pausing as she continues on down and plopping herself into the formerly abandoned chair between Cass and Babs' spots. Cassandra sits on the edge of her seat.
Before Barbara even has her mic situated, the music begins over the speakers. She glares at the giggling girls at her table and huffs.
It's a familiar beat that she can't place until she looks to the monitor and recognizes the first few lyrics she's missing already.
She snaps her head back in their direction. "Endless Love!? Really?" she hisses.
Dinah and Cass howl.
"Turn around and sing!" Dinah instructs between bellows.
Barbara takes a deep breath before looking to the monitor. She begins to feel uneasy in her stomach, hot on her forehead. The lights are too bright, she thinks. And there feels like more eyes on her than she logically knows there is.
She can't keep up with the beat.
After a dry swallow, she pulls the mic closer to her chest and begins, wondering why the mic is shaking so bad in her hands.
"A-and your… eyes," she pauses, curses under her breath at how fast the words are moving. "Your eyes. They tell me how much you… Oh! Ooooh? - will always be… my…"
The queasiness becomes overwhelming and Barbara drops the mic, leers at the no longer laughing Dinah and Cass, and takes off as fast as her wheels can take her to the bathroom.
Dinah takes her time to get in the bathroom, but once she's in she doesn't even have to look at Barbara sitting on the tile floor before leaning up against the wall and sliding down herself.
They look across the way at each other for a few moments, Dinah decidedly neutral in her features and Barbara rocked with emotions she's not comfortable fully expressing.
"You've got yourself a worried twenty-one year old out there," Dinah finally says, cocking her head to the side. "Are you cooled down enough to acknowledge that just maybe you had an over reaction out there."
"No," Barbara snaps. "I hate doing public things out there like that. I hate people staring at me. And I hate…"
Barbara takes a breath, removing her glasses and roughly rubbing at her face. She's not crying.
"What? Saying love in public?" Dinah scoffs.
"Oh, don't even," Babs returns, looking at her girlfriend tiredly. "I hate singing. There. I said it."
Dinah looks at her, blinking owlishly, before releasing a long stream of laughter. She shakes her head. "Are you serious?"
"Of course I'm being serious!" Barbara growls. "Who jokes about that?" She hugs herself, taking another steadying breath. "I… I hate singing."
The graceful Canary pulls her legs up against her chest and smiles sympathetically to Barbara. "You don't exactly have the voice of an angel, I'll admit."
Barbara releases an exasperated groan and covers her face yet again. "Don't say that. I already know that, you don't have to say it." She looks wearily at Dinah. "I sound pathetic, don't I?"
"You don't sound pathetic, Babs, oh my god," Dinah laughs, scooting up to be closer to Barbara. "You can't be perfect at everything, I mean my god. You're one of the most amazing, perfect people I have ever known. And I can sing better than you. That's about the only ego I have claim to. Can't you just rescind that to me?"
She then curls her hands around Barbara's own, traces her thumbs over Babs' knuckles. Dinah wears a knowing smile as she leans forward, touches her forehead against Barbara's.
"And for what it's worth - which I'm assuming shouldn't be that much - you've definitely got a more beautiful voice than you seem to think you do."
Babs laughs, smiling at the showering of affection. "Oh, shut up."
"No, never," Dinah chuckles back. "And I'm not joking. Do you really think that so many heroes would call you in states of emergency if you weren't pleasant and reassuring to hear from?"
"The voice alterer does wonders," Babs hums, though she feels a weight being lifted off of her already. "Thank you."
"Any time," Dinah whispers before leaning in and pressing her lips to Barbara's. the kiss fills Barbara with warmth and confidence like she wouldn't believe before receiving it.
The door to the bathroom opens just slightly, though neither woman moves to stop their kiss.
"Perfect birthday," Cass hums before shutting the door.
Barbara and Dinah break their embrace with a good laugh.