Meet and Greet

There it was - the blush. Right on cue, as if Bubbles talking turned on some kind of switch inside Cicilia and lit her up like a Christmas tree. It was kind of amazing, really - here was this Juggernaut, this unstoppable, unflappable punching machine of a woman, and she could still get so embarrassed and look adorable. A rare combination.

The conversation was quick to turn and Bubbles let it do so, since it was moving to one of her favorite subjects: Mariah, wearing kinky outfits. She finishing off her honey-drenched croissant with a playful smile and a wink, just for Cicilia.

”A sexy girl scout outfit?” Mariah placed a thumb under her chin, picturing that for a moment - more importantly, picturing it on her ”Could see myself looking good in that. I just hope Bubbles doesn’t rip the thing up.”

She cast a sly glance towards Bubbles, who held up a finger in response. ”One time. Got a little carried away the one time, and the zipper was being stubborn, and.”

”And shredded my cheerleader outfit.”

Bubbles sighed. A wistful, longing noise.”A tragedy, yeah.”

As much as she would’ve loved to keep ribbing her wife on that, she was much more into what Sayumi was saying about her singing, her little routine. ”Well, I didn’t rent that setup for the look, would love to hear you." She thumbed back towards it the machine, already plugged in and waiting for someone to put their humility on the line. "Whenever you’re ready, feel free to go at it. Oh!” She clapped, the telltale sign of an idea popping into her head. ”We should do a duet.”

Cicilia did her best to ignore that look Bubbles was sending her way and instead went to focus on her girlfriend's singing routine, something she certainly didn't expect... WELL she should really get used to the unexpected at this point because beside all the fancy food Mariah and Bubbles had put together for them, it seemed that was ALSO being served at the table this day.

Cicilia blushed a little harder as Sayumi not only took her hand, but placed a kiss on her cheek too, compelling the boxer to flip up her hood to HIDE THE UTTER EMBARRASSMENT!... the best kind of embarrassment.

The German laughed a little as she learned that not only did Sayumi do Karaoke, but she went once a week and so often that she got friendly with the man who ran the joint, friendly discounts and all. Wow... She really was the social butterfly of them weren't they... She couldn't IMAGINE herself standing up there on stage, shaking hand holding a microphone as she sang out lyrics to a song she didn't even like to a crowd of strangers...

Well! She stood corrected! Because she just imagined it!

In all seriousness though, Cicilia had a serious admiration for her sweetheart that she had the will to go up in front of random people and sing to her heart's content. Enjoying something like that seemed so alien to Cicilia, let alone actually doing it herself! Stage fright had a way of keeping you from trying such things... It seemed as time continued to pass during their date, the German found herself falling deeper and deeper in love with Sayumi, her blush growing more and more intense from inside her hood.

When Mariah suggested both she and Sayumi actually do a duet, Cicilia was very quick to respond, much to her own chagrin, unable to keep any of her responses cool and composed apparently.

"Yeah! You should!" The German exclaimed, slapping herself internally for her... enthusiasm. "Hey... maybe do one before Bubbles and I have our match! Give us a little encouragement and all!"

"No zippers. Got it." Sayumi had been joking about the girl scout outfit, apparently it was in consideration. If the two were interested though... "Maybe velcro? You are more likely to pop buttons than break a zipper, so that seems like the best solution." She gave a small sheepish smile. It didn't bother her that much to dwell on this. She didn't picture Bubbles and Mariah when it played in her head, she envisioned herself and Cicilia. It wasn't a stretch same for the size of the bodies involved.

She taps her plate lightly. "As soon as I finish eating, you had better believe we are doing karaoke. All of us." She gave her fork a sweep over all the women at the table. Nobody was safe. Nothing was sacred. She grins over at Cicilia. "You have to sing too. No sitting idle." She gave Cicilia's hand a small squeeze as she stared through her, completely serious.

She turns her attention back to Mariah. "I've never sung a duet, that sound fun. Show these ladies how it's done." She glanced between Bubbles and Cicilia. Despite being the smallest woman at this table, she was feeling mighty big and strong at the moment. Tailoring, singing, and wrestling. This was her world. They had hit all of them within a few minutes.

Bubbles held up a hand. ”Let the record state that I don’t regret the zipper incident.” She folded her arms and held her head high. ”That zipper was keeping me from my wife’s chest. It had to go.”

She was playing proud now, but Mariah recalled how much she freaked out when it happened. She would keep that little detail to themselves, though. ”It’s a good idea, Sayumi, and we certainly appreciate the notion. I’ll make sure that anything you make for us stays in one piece, too. Solemn promise.” As much as she could promise when it came to Bubbles, anyway.

Seeing Sayumi so ready to sing made Mariah eager to hear it. The Cherry Bomb had a naturally pleasant voice - soothing, cute, but not with a fair dose of sex appeal. It was the kind of voice that could’ve been playing a character on some little kids’ show, but also the kind of voice that could’ve played well in the darker, lewder corners of the internet.

”It sounds like I’m in for a treat, then.” She rubbed her hands, already imagining a few good picks to sing, and looked back to her wife. ”What about you? Ready to give that accent of yours a workout.”

”Sure enough.” Bubbles’ thick, country accent had a habit of fading in and out, but it usually popped back in for her more excited moments, and this qualified. ”Feeling some Johnny Cash. Folsom Prison Blues, Walk the Line, Ring of Fire.” Her eyes widened, as a particular question popped in her. ”Don’t suppose they’ve heard much of the Man In Black in Germany, have they?”

"A...all of us...?" Cicilia asked weakly, watching as Sayumi's fork eventually came around to her. Why did she do this to herself, jinxing her life by thinking about the exact thing she didn't want to be doing right now. Sayumi seemed to smile at her misfortune, remarking that she too had to sing, "no sitting idle" apparently. The German looked at her girlfriend with a gaze that could only be described as "why....?", her sanguine eyes wide, actually somewhat fearful. T'was a similar feeling to what she'd felt when she had her first ever hentai match with her lover, back when they hardly knew each other and were... friends...? Suffice it to say, Cicilia had a grave sense of stage-fright, especially when there was nothing around to lose herself in... A fight, sex with the woman she loved, something so interactive she could tune out the world. Singing...? And with Sayumi? The most she's ever done was mouth lyrics and hum in the shower! It was like jumping from a 1 to a 9000 instantly!

The squeeze her hand was given helped her heart slow a little, but the chill of fear still iced her veins... Now that she was commandeered into this act, her next fear was messing it all up... She didn't know many songs outside of video-game sound tracks and most of those didn't even have lyrics! How was she supposed to get the pitch right?? How was she supposed to know the words???

Everyone else seemed so excited by the idea of getting up on stage and singing together... She'd be such a fool to put her foot down and just say no... Everyone would look at her like she was some kind of freak... ruin the happy mood that'd existed from the start. The only real option was to get over herself and do it right...? After all, even if this all went so south it hit the equator, Sayumi wouldn't mind....

Right...?

Bubbles directed a question her way, one Cicilia nearly missed, asking if they had any Man-in-Black in Germany

"I wouldn't know." She shook her head. "I don't listen to much music outside video-game sound-tracks. I know a few... but I have no idea who that is."

"Mhmm!" Sayumi had started eating again so she could respond to Cicilia right away. Once she had swallowed, she reiterated. "All of us. Which includes you, Snugglebunny." She grinned wickedly, having dropped the dreaded nickname in public! Mariah and Bubbles were so open about things, she didn't see much reason to not be to. At least some of those things. Part of her may also have enjoyed embarrassing her girlfriend a bit though. It was harmless fun after all.

She returned back to eating, letting Cicilia no doubt freak out again. She was pretty sure the other women would find the name cute. She certainly did.  She glanced between everyone at the table. She assumed Bubbles was talking about American songs, of which Sayumi's repertoire was sorely lacking. If she was going to sing a duet with Mariah, they were going to have to find some sort of common ground... Or maybe she would just sing something she didn't know. That sounded fun too.

"You could always be adventurous and just pick something at random." She smiles over at Cicilia. Suddenly she perks up, another topic for them to talk about! While she isn't very familiar with it, perhaps the two Americans were. "Cicilia loves to play video games in her free time. She is quite good too. I've seen her best up all manner of small and large creatures and make them explode... It's a strange game when you say it out loud."

Mariah just sighed when Cicilia mentioned she hadn’t heard of Johnny Cash. A half-resigned, half-laughing sort of sigh. ”You’ve done it now.”

”Really? No Johnny Cash?” She sat back, agog with her mouth agape. ”Think, like...Elvis Presley, only better. Better songwriter, more creative, darker, deeper work, more original. Elvis was good, don’t get me wrong, but Johnny was just…” She shivered. ”...the soul.”

”You’re gushing.”

”I am totally gushing. But seriously, check him out. Badass music.” With her promotional spiel done, she turned to Sayumi as she mentioned videogames, wrinkling her nose at the topic. ”I was pretty good with games back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Duck Hunt, Megaman, Master Blaster. These days, though…”

Mariah held up her hands. ”Old woman fingers. Just wait, you’ll both get the slowdown in a few years.” She took a moment to wipe off said fingers, getting clean. ”Me, I like to play RPGs when I have the spare time. Mass Effect, Witcher, pretty much anything with a good story going on. Has to have a good story, that’s key.”

And there it was... Sayumi just haaaaaad to use her pet name in public...

"Stoooooop...." She protested, pulling her hood so far over her head that her burning red face couldn't be seen. She was blushing so hard, in fact that the hue of her face was a deeper shade of red than her eyes... When she dared Sayumi to use that in public she wasn't being serious! Oh she was expecting teasing any moment now from their hosts, gushing about how utterly cute and squishy and whatever it was...

When all that never came, Cicilia peeked out from under her hood, checking to see if the coast was clear. Looks then... If not out-right mocking remarks then she'd be getting looks! Especially from bubbles... She did it before, why wouldn't she do it now, especially with this juicy little tidbit out there... Again, though she was surprised to find that everyone had simply ignored that, either seeing nothing out of the ordinary with the name "snugglebunny" or simply distracted with other conversations. Whatever divine being that controlled the world must've been looking out for her today, apparently judging that Cicilia had felt her share of shame for the day...

Poking her head out of her hole a little bit, Cicilia went on to discuss how little she actually knew of Bubbles' preferred musicians, the American bursting out with all kinds of disbelief and descriptive phrases to describe the name "Johnny Cash." The German just went on staring blankly, having no clue who this "Elvis" was nor whom he was being compared with. Apparently the King of Rock and Roll didn't make it over to Europe.

"Like... I'll go have a look, sure... I don't really focus on the artists though.. So... Fireflies from Owlcity, right...? I'll listen to that one song but then jump over to Immortal by Adema... I don't usually stick around to hear an artist's whole album. I just pick my favorites and move on."

And like that, as Cicilia mentioned her preference for video-games, the topic of the conversation shifted, Bubbles stating how she used to play the old CLASSICS back when they were a thing while Mariah was a bit more modern in her choices. She could respect both... They each had their sets of challenges... Cicilia turned Sayumi's way as she... accurately describes Smash-Brothers to the group, earning a quick kiss to her lips... Why did she earn it...? Simply because she was there... being adorable at Cicilia's expense...

"Having a good story is cool, yeah but I prefer just fighting games. Go figure, right? Smash Bros... Mortal Kombat... Streetfighter... Soul Caliber... They're all right up my ally. They also tend to have the best music too! Favorite non-fighting game though? Dark Souls. Great story, great fighting mechanics, great monsters..." Ah... now it was HER turn to gush...

"Noooope" Sayumi playfully reached over, tugging on the draw strings of Cicilia's hoodie to close in her safe haven around her. Zwiiiiiip! She popped some more food into her mouth. She found revenge for earlier this evening to be a lovely sweetener for her lobster. Simply delicious! She was content to eat as the others spoke, her change in subject buying her plenty of time. Some of her food had gotten a bit cold by now, but it was honestly still better than most of what she was use to. She had finally polished off most of her plate. She could go for seconds later, when Cicilia and Bubbles were in the ring. It would be easier to manage eating more with just Mariah to speak with.

"I didn't play many video games honestly. I have one of those little game guy systems... and we use to sometimes hang out in the arcades when I was younger... We always had a little bit of money to play, then the rest of the afternoon was spent looking for if people dropped tokens to keep playing." She shook her head, giggling. "I was so bad at all of those games, except this one with these guns, where you shoot bad guys that pop up around corners... You even have this little push pedal to duck behind stuff too. "

She nudged her cleared plate aside, picking up her water to sip at the glass. "I'm ready now, I think, when the rest of you finish."

If Cicilia was befuddled by Bubbles music tastes, the latter certainly held true - the Virgin Killer had absolutely no idea what she was talking about with those weird names. Owlcity? Adema? Hadn’t heard of it. Whatever the boxer’s musical tastes were, they were far afield from where Bubbles pitched her tent. [color=#0099ff]”I’ll send you some stuff are we’re done here, sweetie, don’t you worry. Once you taste country - good country music - you won’t be going back.

Mariah was starting to get into what Cicilia was saying, too, talking about Dark Souls, a game she’d been considering trying out this year. She would’ve asked more about it, too, maybe even asked to borrow it, but Sayumi started talking. She seemed ready to get things started, and Mariah was thinking about the same way.

”Push pedals...sounds like Time Crisis.” She nodded, sure that was it. ”At any rate, I think I’m good, too.” Mariah pushed at the table and started to stand. ”You can help me setup, if you don’t mind. The controls are in Japanese, and I’m getting better at reading it, but…”

While Mariah headed that way, Bubbles turned to Cicilia, right before she started in on the final bites of her meal. ”You know,” She brought the glass to her lips, ready to finish off her tea. ”You never did say what kind of match you wanted to do with me, I think.”