Velvet Café [Childe x reader]

+ 16 : Tone deaf +

  
By the call time, everyone has arrived. Childe had to ring Zhongli's phone as he was last to present himself.

Turns out the male who was always-broke-despite-having-a-job entered the manor without ringing the doorbell and got lost inside.

Barbara got the karaoke machine ready in the lounge, Xiangling was directed to the kitchen and began cooking dishes with the variety of food in the fridge.

"Your house is certainly much larger than I imagined it to be." Zhongli commented. Except for the young chef, everyone was in the lounge.

"If it wasn't then I wouldn't be lending you money all the time."

The group shared a short laugh. Once Barbara got her machine working, she was quick to input the digits to her favorite songs.

"This one's for you!" The blonde said with an intrepid tone, pointing at Noelle.

Noelle held her hands close to her face, feeling honored someone was dedicating a song to her. "Aww Barbara!"

The instrumentals for the song Ophelia began to play, Barbara started singing with her supple, calming voice which suprised everyone in the room.

"Oooh she's good!" (Y/n) said silently. The lovely melody to bless her ears instantly gave way to a mirthful atmosphere. Even Diluc who had a deadpan on his face since his arrival had seemed to deadpan less. Or perhaps look less grumpy.

"You better sing something too." Childe nudged the girl.

"Ehhh I don't know..." Despite what she said in the groupchat during the planning of the party, she didn't have the same confidence. Especially after hearing how well Barbara sang. "Maybe... But only if you sing with me."

"Sounds good to me. You'll have to look for a song that the both of use know though."

(Y/n) paused to think. A song that both of them knew... "Bohemian Rhapsody!" She exclaimed. It was the first song that popped into her mind, because it was almost impossible for one to have never heard of such a legendary song.

The orange haired male blinked twice, inhaled deeply, then smiled. "I would've wanted to sing something more romantic, but that'll be fine too."
   
   

---

    
Barbara's short concert of five songs came to an end. Three of the five she dedicated to Noelle who sincerely appreciated the dedication, as she felt her heart melt into Barbara-is-a-sweetheart soup.

(Y/n) took the songbook to look for the digits of Bohemian Rhapsody, after she did so, the blonde female handed her the mic.

"Ohoho? The man with more money than sense is going to sing?" Kaeya spoke after Childe stood up to sing with his girlfriend.

"I don't think that's for you to say." Baizhu replied, pushing up his red framed glasses.

Childe shrugged off the male and his taunting. It has been ages since he last sang. Normally one would be trembling to the very atom of their body, but this man and his self-confidence and pride- Was simply unbreakable.

"Shall I start it?" (Y/n) asks.

"Sure."

"Aight." The female took a few deep breaths and began. "Is this the real life?

Is this just fantasy?" Her voice wasn't amazing, neither was it terrible. It was quite normal- and so normal it felt uncanny. Although that was just enough for (y/n) because anything would be better than starting off with an off pitch and quivering voice.

"Caught in a landslide

No escape from reality." Childe continued.

"Childe..." (Y/n) uttered his name instead of continuing the song. Xiangling entered the lounge to take a break from cooking just then to witness everyone in the room looking lifeless except for Kaeya who was holding back laughter. "You're tone deaf!" The girl shrieked.

"Aha...ahahaha." The male deemed as tone deaf casted his gaze to the ground. He would've expected his voice to be at least decent, but he was keys away from hitting the correct note even though he felt like he was.

(Y/n) looked at him sympathetically, putting one hand on his shoulder while the other held the mic. "Cheers to another memory that will haunt you for the rest of your life." She paused and turned back to look at the kareoke machine. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to continue singing the song."

The moment of sympathy, and Kaeya's wheezing lasted until the beginning of next verse, where the girl who currently wielded the power of the microphone was about to continue singing with passion.

Childe silently returned to his seat. Taken captive by the sheer embarrassment, he instantly learned his lesson to tone down the ridiculous confidence he had in himself.

"Mamaaaa just killed a man

Put a gun against his head

Pulled my trigger, now he's dead" (Y/n) continued to sing.

As the song went on, the lively mood quickly returned and everyone started singing along with (Y/n). Not Childe though. He was busy facing his own demons. It'll probably be a while until he ever decides to sing again.

    "Anyway the wind blows..."

+ tone deaf +