Terrence Knight looked aghast. "Are you serious?" he said incredulously. "No way! I don't sing, anyway."

Lisa mock-glared at him. "Oh, sure, we can get up there and strut our stuff for you, but you won't show off for us?"

Terrence looked pained. "Aw, Lisa, that's not what I meant... I just don't sing, is all."

Rhea set down her drink and stood, sauntering around the table to where Terrence sat nursing a glass of mineral water. Around them the party raged on; up on the stage, Flamebinder -- introduced by Mag as "the red-hot bondage elf herself, ladies and germs!" -- enthusiastically if somewhat poorly belted out the words to Pat Benatar's "Hell is for Children".

As Rhea passed by Lisa, she squeezed the redheads shoulder briefly, tossing her a coy wink. Then she was crouched down against Terrence, her chin on his shoulder, lazily trailing one fingernail up and down his arm where it lay on the table. She raised her lips to Terrence ear and whispered briefly. The table thumped.

"P-promise?" Terrence demanded hoarsely. Rhea nodded and grinned at him. He furrowed his brow in thought. "Okay!" he said at last. "I'll do it." He drained his nearly-full glass as if it were a bracing shot of a stiff drink, and stood; Rhea stepped back and looked proud of herself. Terrence stomped off towards the DJ booth with the same determination he displayed when battling Romans in Cimerora; relentless and willing to stop at nothing to achieve his goal.

Rhea dropped down in Terrence's vacated chair and grinned across the table at Lisa.

"What'd you say to him?" Lisa wanted to know.

Rhea shrugged. "Oh, nothing much. I told him if he got up there and sang one song for us, really sang, then I'd let him be My Hero, who rescues the Helpless Catgirl from the tortures of the Evil Villainess, who can only be defeated by the hero's... mighty blade." She winked.

Lisa raised an eyebrow. "He went for it?"

"Only after I told him you'd be the Evil Villainess."

"That sounds fair."


--sofaspud
--"The stabbings will continue until lethality improves." --OpMegs