It pained her to do it, but Callie had to cancel her arrangements with Sam after realising she hadn't in-fact completed all her work for next week. She had forgotten all about a 5000 word essay she had to write for Monday and now only had one night left to start and finish it. He took the news well and thanked her again for the food she'd made him, telling her how tasty it was.
Russ was still nursing his appalling hangover, despite now being able to keep all his food down. When Sam arrived home, she and his younger sibling were both in different states of distress.
"How's the writing going?" Sam asked her, pulling off the cap of his uniform and tossing it onto the table where Russ' head lay against its cool surface.
She let out a gentle sigh, fingers at her temples and eyes glued to her laptop screen showing a half page of text. "I'll manage," she muttered. Sam left her to it, after offering to make her and his brother a drink. She asked for coffee, Russ for water.
Fuelled by caffeine and the determination to maintain her track records of good grades, Callie managed to get the essay done by the time the clock ticked onto midnight. Eyelids heavy and head pounding, she flopped onto her mattress and was greeted swiftly by a dreamless sleep soon after.
The weeks rolled on and it seemed Sam hadn't plucked up the courage to ask Callie out again. However, that didn't mean they didn't go to Grillby's on the regular. The bar was their weekly haunt, where they would meet to wind down, catch up and chill out.
One Friday night, after finishing what felt like a particularly long week, the group met at their usual set of tables at their usual time. But it wasn't a usual night. Rather, Jirou and Kaminari had arranged an open mic and karaoke event. Posters and flyers had circulated around campus and, surprisingly, a lot of people took interest, either to get up on stage or to support their friends.
As they sat around with their drinks while Jirou set up the stage for the night, talk revolved around who would be participating. Unsurprisingly, Kirishima had been more than eager to perform. After listening to a stunning acoustic set by Jirou, the spiky red-head took the mic as an apprehensive round of applause sounded.
"Here we go..." Mina breathed, eyeing Kirishima as he grasped the mic as the ring of an electric guitar sounding over the speakers- the start of a classic rock ballad. The voice that carried throughout the room was uncharacteristically lower than what Callie was used to hearing from Kirishima. She heard Ochako giggle to Mina that he was most likely trying to make himself sound even manlier. But it was the dramatic air-grabbing and knee bending that brought a smile to Callie's lips. She gave him an 'A' for effort. Bakugo on the other hand looked ready to leave his chair. It was Mina who grabbed his shoulder and pushed him back down when he grumbled that he was going to go to the bathroom.
"I don't think so, tough guy. Stay and support your friend!" She tutted, ignoring his growling and twitching eyes.
He resorted to letting his hood swallow him up until the song was over.
"Well, that was...great!" Jirou smiled weakly into the mic when Kirishima hopped off stage, his face beaming. The applause had been a kind one. Although, Ochako and Russ had clapped loud and fast for their bandana-wearing friend.
"Next it's our turn!" Declared Mina as she linked arms with Ochako, climbing onto the stage to the sound of wolf-whistles and whoops. Their song of choice was a love-duet. Mina sang the male part while Ochako performed the female part with theatrical grace. Deku watched on with his face glowing pink, but not just from the neon lights around them.
The crowd loved it and the girls drank in their standing ovation.
"Not bad, ladies." A voice drawled over Callie's shoulder. At some point during the performance, Touya had turned up and was already half way through a bottle of beer.
Ochako smiled at the compliment and wink of the eye, but Mina looked unimpressed, not bothering to conceal her face as it scrunched into a pursed lip and creased brow grimace.
"Yeah, thanks Touya..."
And the crowd's energy only pulsed more after a particularly sassy performance by the most flamboyant and eccentric person Callie had ever seen. Kaminari informed the group his name was Aoyama from the drama school. His hip-shaking, booty-twirling rendition of Lady Marmalade got a lot of the girls in the audience dancing. Cocktails were sloshed and beers were raised when the chorus came on.
"Merci, mes chéries! And don't forget to keep twinkling!" Were his parting words.
"Who's up next?" Jirou's voice called over the microphone, her violet eyes scanning the audience for a potential contester. That's when Kirishima turned to his blond friend, giving him a playful nudge to his ribs.
"How about you, man?" Of course, he should've expected his answer.
"Fuck no." Bakugo snarled.
Luckily, just as his friends were ready to nag him, another person confidently strutted onto stage. However, unlike the other performers, this particular boy didn't quite have the same effect on the crowd. He was a small, young man with tight, purple curls and a tiny nose. He had a lisping voice that didn't suit the rap-song he aggressively attempted to nail. Sam cringed throughout the entire performance as one of his favourite genres of music was slaughtered. Despite knowing all of the provocative lyrics, the young man, whose name was apparently Mineta, lacked the rhythm and flow needed to recite them well. To put it plainly, he lacked 'swagger.'
The crowd was polite enough to clap, yet Callie did see a lot of relieved faces as she quickly scanned the room. Mineta looked particularly pleased with himself as he strutted back to his seat.
"Damn..." Russ breathed, trying to hide his smile.
"That was quite something," Sero chuckled, drinking deeply from his glass as Jirou asked the audience who wanted to get on stage next.
"Hey, Sam!" Ochako chimed, "you would have done that song way better! You should go do one!"
"Ooo! Yeah, Mr Geek Chic!" Chirped Mina. "Go spit some bars!" She threw her hands in a stereotypical impression of a rapper at that last part.
"Eh. I don't think-"
But before he could decline, Touya's hand lifted into the air beside him.
"Yeah, we got one over here!" He called to Jirou, who was still waiting for the next volunteer. He pointed down towards Sam's scowling face. Callie immediately took pity on him as all heads turned towards him and Jirou beckoned him over with a wave of her hand and an enthusiastic, "Oh, Sam! Cool! The stage is all yours!"
A dark chuckle and a heavy shove on the back from Touya sent Sam reluctantly towards the stage. Bakugo was sniggering quietly as the group watched Sam's slouching figure mount the steps.
"This'll be good..." Bakugo grunted, crossing his arms over his chest and stretching out his legs.
Callie cast a quick glance at Russ, who was smiling somewhat serenely towards his older brother who had taken the mic from Jirou with one hand, and was adjusting his glasses with another. Callie swallowed. Would Sam Gaster surprise her again?
The answer was both yes, and no.
After clearing his throat into the mic and casting a bored look into the crowd, the words that poured easily from his lips were neither song nor rap. Instead, he merely talked. At first, the crowd watched with confused expressions as Sam continued his monologue with one hand in his pocket and the other wrapped around the mic. Jirou stood on the sidelines looking bewildered; she had been waiting for him to tell her which track to put on.
It was only when he reached the punchline of his joke that Sam's intentions were made clear. As easily as he solved equations and formulas, he had the entire audience laughing at his spontaneous stand-up act. His humor was dry, made funnier by his accent that he exaggerated slightly for effect, and his demeanour was relaxed and somewhat flippant. Yes, she knew her roommate was funny, but she didn't expect him to be able to hold a crowd like this.
Kirishima slapped at his thigh with tears in his eyes while Ochako and Deku giggled loudly. Callie even snorted at one point, promptly hiding behind her hand as she did so.
Some of the jokes went over Mina's head; she blinked blankly at the science puns and jokes that involved any reference to particular figures outside of campus life. When she caught Kaminari laughing, she leaned over and cupped her hand over her mouth.
"I don't get it, what's so funny?" She whispered.
"I have no idea," admitted the blond, but that didn't stop him from wheezing at every fit of laughter emitted from the crowd. Callie guessed he was merely being lead on by the rest of them.
As she wiped away a tear from her eye 10 minutes into Sam's performance, Callie cast a look towards Russ and Touya. Neither of them were laughing. Instead, they were both staring at Sam with fatigued expressions.
"How long before he tells the one about that scientist guy?" Muttered Russ as Touya clicked his ringed fingers against his beer bottle.
"Nicolas Tesla?" The latter replied, sighing.
"Yeah."
"Give it 30 seconds."
"Bet you he follows it up with that joke about our dad." Russ grumbled, his eyes following his brother as he began to slowly pace the stage.
Touya grunted a laugh. "Yeah but that one's actually funny."
And Callie remembered just how much Touya and Sam disliked Professor Gaster, both of them complaining about him regularly.
Both Touya and Russ' predictions were correct and, although they had clearly heard Sam's jokes over and over again, the many people that hadn't were lapping up the humor. It seemed a good laugh was what everyone needed after a long week.
When Sam ended his performance a couple of hilarious anecdotes later, the audience was a buzz. They applauded Sam as he slouched back off stage again and slumped into his seat.
When Callie praised his efforts with a clink of their drinks, he turned that lazy grin on her and, for the first time since she'd met him, she felt her heart flutter- a sensation she hadn't experienced since high school. The realisation made her turn away quite quickly, only to then find herself looking over at Touya, who's face pulled into an impish smile.