-Midnight Melodies- || Aphmau AU

- Chapter 17: Cadence -

Chapter 17: Cadence

Zane walked into the family restaurant, looking around for his friends. 

"Oh, there he is!" KC yelled, waving at him. "Over here!" 

Zane joined them and sat in the booth across from the two girls. 

"Sorry I'm late." He apologized. 

"It's alright!" Aph said. "FC's not here yet." 

"He texted that the werewolf teacher wanted to talk to him for a bit after class, so he was gonna be late." KC said. "He should be here soon!" 

Aphmau sighed. "Even though we've known each other in real life for a while, it almost feels like this is our first time meeting each other again!" 

"I know what you mean!" KC laughed. "It finally feels like you both exist! What a weird feeling.." 

"Hey, whaddya mean by that!" Aph said. "You've come to my house for a sleepover before, of course I exist!" 

"Sorry!" KC exclaimed. "It's just a little different. Likeee, now I know that you have a soft spot for Aaron~" 

Just as Aphmau was about to strangle KC, Aaron walked in and joined the group. "Sorry for the wait..." 

"Oh, hi FC.." Aphmau said, blushing. 

"Don't worry about it!" KC said, smirking at Aph. "We haven't ordered anything yet." 

"Oh, that's good. Can I sit next to you?" He asked, looking at Zane. 

"Uhm, sure.." Zane said, awkwardly. 

"Alright then, let's break up the awkwardness by reintroducing ourselves!" KC said, trying to get rid of the weird atmosphere. "I'm Kawaii-Chan, but you can just call me KC! Next up, Shu!" 

Aphmau grinned. "Ah, yeah! I'm Aphmau Bravura. It feels kinda weird to say my real name after all this time!" 

"Yeah, but it'll get less weird once we all start using our real names! Alright, next up is.." 

"My name is Zane Ro'meave." Zane said, taking the initiative. "Your turn, FC." 

"Ah... Aaron Lycan.." Aaron said softly. 

"Lycan, huh? I think my dad works with a family under the same name.." Zane said before smiling. "Well, I look forward to working with you Aaron." 

Aaron nodded. "Yeah, I'm sorry for causing you all trouble." 

"Hey.. do you really mean that?" Aphmau asked, slightly angry. 

"I don't know.." Aaron said. "I don't really know myself.." 

Aphmau pouted. "Hmph, you made us go through so much trouble, and you can't even show a little more regret?" 

Still, she smiled and looked at Aaron, happy he was still here. 

Aaron looked away from her, a little embarrassed. "Yeah.. I think I do regret it.." 

KC couldn't help but gush looking at the two. "A-Anyways! Let's order some food" 

She turned to Aph. "What are you gonna order, Aphmau?"

Aphmau looked at the menu and shrugged. "I had a late lunch, so I'll just get a cheesecake and an iced tea." 

"Anything is fine with me.." Aaron said while pushing the menu away. 

"Please!" KC begged him. "Even if anything is fine, just choose one thing!" 

He looked at Zane, who was still scanning the menu. "What are you going to get, Z?" 

"Me?" Zane said, looking up from the menu. "Uhh, probably the wonton noodles, and the oolong tea." 

Aaron nodded. "Me too then." 

"Yay, we've all decided then!" KC beamed while raising her fist. "Lets order, then let's make a toast!" 

"A toast? For what?" Aph asked.

"For N25's first official offline meet up!" KC proudly declared. "That's why I had you all come!"

She looked at Zane and Aaron, who seemed a little uncomfortable. 

"Oh! Sorry, am I making the atmosphere too hyper for you two?" she said sheepishly. 

"N-No! It's alright!" Zane said. "Sorry, I'm not really used to hanging out with other people.. B-But I feel quite comfortable!" 

Aaron smiled. "I do too." 

Suddenly the waitress came, her tray filled with glasses. 

"Here are your drinks!" 

The waitress handed them their drinks while they all said their thank yous. 

"Alright, oolong tea for Zane and Aaron, and ice tea for Aphmau..." KC counted. "Alright then, we've got all our drinks!" 

"Then, let's celebrate N25's first offline meeting!" she yelled while raising her glass. "Cheers!" 

Aphmau grinned and clinked her glass against KC's. "Cheers!" 

Zane mumbled a quiet "Cheers.." and clinked his glass against theirs as well. "You're all way too excited.." 

Aaron smiled and clinked his glass as well. "Cheers." 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zane was back in his room again. Like always, it was late at night, and his family was fast asleep. However, he was hard at work, composing another song for Nightcord at 25:00 AM. 

He sighed and leaned back. "I'll stop here for today. It's about time for me to sleep anyways..."

Suddenly, his computer beeped, and a red circle appeared in the corner of the Nightcord application.  

"Huh, a Nightcord notification?" Zane thought, clicking on the notification. "Oh, a DM from FC-  Aaron?" 

He read it to himself. "Are you awake?" 

Zane quickly replied. "I am." 

"I listened to the song you made for me." 

Zane smiled. "He listened.." 

"How was it?" 

Aaron didn't respond, 

"...He stopped replying. Did he go to bed?" 

Zane looked down, feeling determined. "My song  isn't enough for Aaron yet, but someday-"

Suddenly, one more notification popped up from Aaron's DMs.

"Zane... thank you for finding me." 

Zane read it and smiled again. "Aaron.." 

- END OF NIGHTCORD AT 25:00 STORY 1 -

- LOGGING OFF FOR THE NIGHT... SEE YOU TOMORROW AT 25:00 AM... -