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Chapter Text

The party continued fairly well, good, even. Leo and Missy went about the place making sure everyone was doing well. Scary but not too scary movies were going well. Pumpkin carving outside was producing great results. The buffet was sampled consistently but nothing ran out. People were getting along well, particularly with Missy, and Leo, when he decided to mingle.

Leo would occasionally home in on a few faces. Linda and Ruth actually hit it off and began hovering about in awkward but cheery conversation. Henry bounced back and forth from time with the boys and checking in on his wife, Monica. She would do the same, actually, moving from her little group over to his. Missy was currently chatting up that jester he saw earlier, who was either frozen in fear or completely confused. Understandable. Suddenly she turned to his direction and moved toward him.

“You know what time it is?” Missy asked.

“Time to eat some pumpkin pie?” Leo replied.

“No, it’s–” Missy gasped. “Oh, did you see the little fairy? The tiny wings on the back are so cute.” She looked over at a young girl and her mother picking out a helping of food. “And she did her hair in braids! Like her mom! Do you think I could ask her how she did that? It’s so cute. I think it’d look good on me. If my hair got that long. You think I could grow out my hair like that?”

“You don’t know how to do hair in braids?” Leo was pretty sure he knew how to do it himself.

“I know how to do hair in braids, I just want to hear them explain it. It would be so cute with her little costume showing me.” Missy gasped. “I could teach her too!”

“Easy, easy. I’m not sure the kids are comfortable with you yet.”

Missy furrowed her brow. “Yes they are. One of them said my costume was super cool and wanted one like it. That’s how cool I am. They wanna be me.”

Leo rolled his eyes. “Alright, what was it that you wanted?”

“Oh! You know what time it is?”

“No, that’s why I asked.”

Missy spun Leo on the spot to face the television. “Look at that thing someone put next to the TV.”

“Oh, no. No, no, no. Not yet.” A microphone sat nuzzled against a little stereo. A smile picked up on Leo. “C’mon, not yet.”

“Hey, guess what?”

“I can’t even fathom what.”

“I burnt CD’s.”

“We live in the future and you’re still burning CD’s, why am I not surprised?” Leo let out a joking sigh. “So, what are you starting with first?”

“I’m not starting with anything. Someone else can go first.” Missy settled her head on his shoulder.

“Stage fright?”

“I’m not scared of anything, I just don’t want to hog the mic.” She nudged her muzzle against his chin. “You’re gonna go up with me when I do, right?”

“What do you mean? I don’t want to hog the attention from you either,” Leo replied.

“No, no, see, we’re a couple now, so it’s gonna be shared attention.”

“Is that how that works?” Karaoke wasn’t the most acidic idea. Could be fun, but his mind was already busy figuring out how Missy would take it over the top. “If you do a few songs, I’ll join in after.”

“Oh, you better not be lying.” Nudge. “Better.” Nudge. “Not.” Nudge. “Be.” Nudge. “Lying.”

“Quit it before you leave a dent in my face.”

“You should want a dent. It’d be a good way to let other girls know you’re taken,” Missy said with a giggle. “Like a ring but cheaper.”

“I think I’ll stick with a wedding band, thanks.” Leo placed a finger on her snout and inched it away from his face. “Just no Japanese stuff.”

“Just a little bit.”

“No.”

“Itty bit.”

“Nope.”

Missy pried herself off of him. “Fiiiine.” She walked over to the TV once its latest feature was finished and picked up the microphone. “Who wants to do karaoke?!” she shouted, turning a few heads, and bringing in a few hands as well. Linda was among one of those hands, and one of the hands Missy completely passed over, lending it to an older man dressed up like a cowboy. “We got a few western show openings for ya.”

“Thank you kindly,” the cowboy replied. He tipped his hat as well.

Missy led him over to a little stack of CD cases. A set of unmarked ones was set to the side, presumably hers. She slid out a case and handed it to him.

“How’d you guess I love Rawhide?” he asked.

“Who doesn’t love Rawhide?” Missy replied with a shrug.

The disc was slotted in and he was on his way to singing in moments, much to the crowd’s delight. “I could’ve done that one,” Leo said to Missy.

“I could too. Didn’t you hear me? Everyone loves Rawhide.”

“When have you ever heard Rawhide?” Leo asked.

“From one of the best movies ever made is when, duh.”

Linda edged over to Leo around some onlookers. “You gonna go up there?” she asked. “I asked Ruth but she said something about a throat issue.”

“I’ve been thinking about it,” Leo said.

Missy whipped around his side and settled between the two of them. “Ruth has a throat condition? Poor girl,” she said.

Ruth blew her nose into the tissue and said, “Mostly just if I yell really loud. I don’t do it a lot. I wouldn’t be able to speak if I did. I sound like a squeaky toy when I do.”

“Wow. Shame,” Missy said. She edged closer to Leo. “So you ready to go up?”

“Will I even speak the same language of whatever you pick?”

Rawhide finished triumphantly and the cowboy left the stage with a massive smile, making sure to tip his hat at Missy as he did so. Missy nodded right back.

“I will pick een-glesh, yes. Something you want to sing too. Like uhh, ACDC. That good enough for ya?”

“You think I can hit some of those notes? Flattering, really.”

An older lady in regular clothing took up the mantle of singing, shuffling through the CDs to find a copy of ‘Fly me to the Moon.’ Despite her age, she still had quite the voice. It brought a few hollers from the group, only goading on a large smile she had.

“I hope I have a voice like that when I’m old. Older. When I hit a thousand or so,” Missy said.

“I’m sure you will,” Leo replied.

Next volunteer was a young boy dressed up as Batman. Leo got a good chuckle out of that. Missy shuffled through the CDs until she found one the kid recognized, then promptly popped it in the media player. She retreated to her spot and began clapping with everyone else as he yelled out the lyrics to Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You.’

“I’m surprised you didn’t pick that one for yourself,” Leo said.

“I wanted to pick something with more emotion.” Missy nodded.

“That’s not enough emotion?”

“It’s not enough.”

Leo saw Ruth slink away from the circle and grab a few bits of food before sneezing again. Fortunately she had grabbed a few. Leo walked over to her carefully, so not as to somehow startle her. “You OK there, Ruth?” Leo asked.

Ruth snapped to him. “Oh, yeah. I’m fine. Nose itchy a little. Sneezy. I might be getting that cold back. I hope not. I didn’t touch anything with my bad, sneezing hand. Everyone should be fine. I think.”

“Maybe eat something you were allergic to?”

“No oranges. Other than that, I’m not allergic to anything. Isn’t that cool?”

“Sure, yeah. Just be careful.”

“Yup.” She shoveled some grape candy into her mouth. “Completely careful.”

Leo gave her a reassuring nod and returned to the karaoke. Missy was finally up next. She spent a minute or two looking between every CD she could, even the blank ones. “Just uh, gimme a second here, I want it to be great,” she said. A few people nodded and urged her to take her time. Leo locked eyes with her for a moment and she smiled. “OK! I think I’ve figured it out. I hope you enjoy!” A round of applause rose as the song started. Leo made sure to clap along.

Instantly, Leo felt a weird unease as those familiar harpsichord notes hit him. “Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh.” Hours of standing in stores came flooding back. “oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh.” Just had to be this one, right? As Leo watched, he noticed Missy getting further and further into the performance far too excitedly. He could only stare quietly as the rest of the group cheered. The name? He hadn’t a clue, but he sure remembered it. Missy pointed at him. “Caught in a bad romance!”

“I want your everything as long as it's free!” She was really getting into it, gesturing and turning her body every which way. Her happy expression would waver into seriousness then harden, then the song would pick up and she would be right back to a happy, bubbly self.

Leo looked to the crowd and only found a sea of enjoying onlookers. Or as much of a sea as it was, nearing twenty people. A simmering sense of concern came over him as Missy pointed at him again and again. To the rest of the group it was a music video, but it felt like the threat display of a wild animal.

Linda sidled up to him. “Wow, she has a voice on her,” she said, seemingly truly impressed.

“Wow.” Ruth stuffed more candy in her face. “I love Bad Romance. You think she could get me that?”

“Yeah, it doesn’t get better than that,” Leo said, hardly focusing on them. He hadn’t noticed it until it was pointed out. Missy was putting on one of her voices, and in fact, had very closely mimicked the singer. It seamlessly changed pitch as she sunk deeper and deeper into the sad lyricism, but she would catch herself and bring it right back to appropriate levels, and literally hop back to attention. He could even pick up on the slight electrical twang in her voice, following along right to the song. That was also going to be hard to explain.

“You and me could write a bad romance!” Missy sang. Leo’s stoic wariness kept his face from widening in shock. He was mystified by her display and yet needed to keep watching for any dangerous signals.

As the song ended, Leo could see a glint in Missy’s eye as the low light hit it. Was she crying? Her position kneeling on the floor. He took a moment to carefully step up to her. “You feeling alright?” he whispered.

Missy’s expression immediately rebounded as she stood up and she nodded. “Yeah, I’m perfectly fine. One more song to go.”

“One more to go? Until what?” The next song started up and he took a few steps back to get out of the limelight. Missy winked at him and it all came back. Until he had to sing with her, right. He rubbed his forehead.

“This grape candy is amazing,” Ruth said. She handed a few pieces to Linda. “Thanks again for this. I love it. I wish I brought a bag. Or one of those jack-o-lantern candy holders. To be in season.”

“Yeah, you’re welcome,” Leo said with a sigh.

“Oh wow, these are great,” Linda mumbled, downing a few. “I gotta watch what I eat buuuuut… hand me a few more of those.”

Missy’s next performance of a more excitable Blondie song ‘One way or another’ got a few chuckles out of people. For a moment Leo was worried a few things might’ve flown off of her as she shook back and forth. He could explain it off as a rigor test to any curious folks. Another end, another round of applause. Leo made sure she heard his cheering as well, slightly hoping she’d forget about his little promise. No dice.

Missy walked right over to him, microphone in hand. “So whaddya wanna sing together?” she asked.

“You sure I should be singing? I mean, I have to make sure the party goes smoothly,” he replied. Eyes started sticking to him.

“C’mon, you saaaaaaid.” She rubbed her nose against his and settled there. The microphone was placed against his chest. A few in the group cheered him on, of course peppering in a few laughs as well, hopefully because of Missy’s display. “Now what’s it gonna be, hmm?”

While Leo felt unease at the idea of singing next to the super star that was Missy, he did promise it. Perhaps jokingly, but he did. Her smile contained some of that excited energy, showing that her showmanship hadn’t evaporated just yet. He closed his eyes for a moment, then nodded. The simple gesture prompted a round of applause and a cheer from Missy.

The pair walked over to the stack of CDs. Missy crouched down low and began shuffling through them.

“Anything catch your eye?” Missy asked.

“I’m surprised you didn’t just choose one yourself,” Leo replied.

“Oh, I thought about it, but ya know, we’re both singing so you should get to choose too.”

Ah, good, he was the arbiter of his own embarrassment. Leo got down low next to Missy and shuffled through the CDs with her. Most were hastily written in marker that was near illegible. He was going to ask how she knew someone would bring a CD player, but it was incredibly likely she would have just played it from the computer sitting over there originally.

The CDs ranged from pop to “dad rock” and several names Leo was completely unfamiliar.

“How about this one?” Missy asked, holding up a CD simply titled “AC/DC.”

“You were serious about that?” Leo replied.

“I am always serious.”

“Right, I can see that.”

“I know you love this stuff.”

“I wouldn’t say love, but yeah, I know a track or two. I hope you know it as well, since you said together.”

“I know what I said. It’s a duet!”

Again, he asked himself if this was really happening. Sure it was. The crowd certainly seemed more than excited to see him sing. Been a while since he had done it in front of others. Good practice, right?

“So we have to share a microphone, huh?” Leo asked.

“Sure do!”

Of course, it could never be as simple as he wanted it to be. Leo nodded and stuck that bootleg CD in the slot. He took a deep breath as he hit play, settling on one more of the more inoffensive songs. Missy ushered him back up and they stood in front of their admiring crowd. It really did feel like he was up on stage, spotlight and all. Missy held up the microphone between them. Leo grabbed it. She interlocked their fingers. No going back now.

“Ridin’ down the highway!” Missy and Leo sang in unison.

Naturally, the song was an instant hit with the older gentlemen, showing their gratitude with cheering. Leo almost missed the first word out of nerves, but he managed to yank it out of his throat. Missy, however, smoothed on through the words as if she had heard it a hundred times. For all he knew, she could’ve easily studied for this exact moment.

“It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll!”

Missy was already swaying back and forth. Not wanting to smash into her at every moment, Leo had to follow along with her increasingly excited movements. Her eyes flicked to and fro. To the crowd, right back to him, still wearing a wide smile that only seemed to grow bigger. While she had the energy, she didn’t seem to have the almost ravenous nature that previous songs had.

Leo was torn between trying to reach the high pitch of that familiar Australian voice, and just singing normally. Fortunately, the intermission of bagpipes and guitars calling between one another allowed him some rest. Missy needed no such thing. She was right there with him, uttering out every note with expert precision.

As the song went on, Missy started headbanging between every line. Leo wouldn’t indulge in it, but he was sure there to pick up anything that went flying off. He paused as he watched her do another round. Ah, what the hell, it was a good song. He followed along in her charade, though not as intensely, making it that much harder to sing.

“Well it's a long way, you should've told me!”

More incessant shaking.

“It's a long way.”

Missy slowed.

“Such a long way.”

The two came to a stop. Leo blinked as his brain settled right in his head, almost unsure of what had just transpired. The crowd seemed to have loved it. Leo looked to Missy. She looked back with that same goofy grin.

Missy pulled him in for a hug, then stared at him for a moment, smile slowly fading. She forced her mouth against his lips, twisted, and pulled back. The crowd probably swooned, but Leo didn’t hear it for a brief moment. All he could do was stare into the faint green of her eyes.

In a moment, Leo snapped back and looked to the crowd, returning their smile, though perhaps not as energetically. He set down the microphone and turned to exit the makeshift stage, only to be caught by Missy again.

“He’s a little shy!” Missy said.

“How’d she do that with her voice?” someone asked.

“That’s like a weird setup in the microphone, right?” another added.

“Is it in the helmet?” one person said.

“It’s not a helmet,” Missy said. “But no, it’s allllll me.”

“Yeah, she’s kinda a big Michael Winslow fan,” Leo said.

“Who’s that?” Missy whispered.

“Never mind.”

“But yeah! I can do any voice.” Missy’s arm wriggled up Leo’s side and wrapped around his shoulder, splaying her large hand across his shoulder. “Like anyone. Anyone, anyone.”

“So like, even me?” one amazed girl said.

“Sure can!” Missy replied.

“Might not want to blow your voice,” Leo said.

“You know who you’re talking to?” Missy asked. She lazily looked toward him with a smug smile, then back at the crowd, clearing her throat loudly. “Just give me a little snippet to work with.”

“Well, what kinda snippet do you need?” the audience member asked.

“Just anything. Anything you want.”

The girl in the crowd paused, looked around, then said, “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.”

“Peter piper…” Missy said. “How did that go? Oh, right.” She leaned forward and without breaking a sweat, replied, “A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.” All entirely in the exact tone and pitch. Worryingly exact.

Everyone was already in applause, chatter, and surprise. Missy ate all of it up, a wide smile plastered to her face. There were a few more takers that she also flawlessly pulled off. Not even a hint of practice. She just did.

“So can you do a good Leo?” Monica asked with a chuckle.

Missy looked up at him, then back at Monica. “Well, OK, I’m not too good at guy voices, but don’t tell anyone.”

“She knows the consequences,” Leo added.

The crowd laughed.