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Despite her terrible sense of direction, March finds the building easily. There’s a huge neon sign pointing her to the second floor, so she takes the stairs up, leaving the bustle of the Dreamscape behind her.
“Welcome to Golden Hour karaoke!” the girl behind the counter says. “How can I help you today?”
“Hi! I’d like to book a room, please,” March says.
“For how many people?”
“Oh, it’s just me.” Stelle would have come with her if she’d asked (Dan Heng would have too, but he would have whined about it), but March just felt like belting it out on her own today.
“Okay! And for how long? We do increments of one hour.”
“That’s probably fine,” March says. “My voice will get tired by then anyway.”
“Actually, in the Dreamscape, it won’t,” the girl says with a wink, “but I’ll put you down for an hour to start. Here’s your tablet.” She passes it to March and shows her how to choose songs and order food. “You can go to room eight. Let me know if you need anything!”
“Thank you!” March leaves the counter with a skip in her step. Everyone in Penacony is so happy and nice, and now that the Nameless have saved the world, they can stay that way.
She makes her way down a long hallway with lights in the floor cycling through shades of blue, purple, and pink. The way the light shimmers on the walls makes her feel like she’s underwater. When she gets to her room, she flicks the lightswitch, and a disco ball sparkles to life on the ceiling.
“So cool,” she whispers. This place even matches her dress!
Once she gets settled in, she starts making a playlist on the tablet. She’s got a long list of songs she wants to sing, but she starts with the most important: Robin’s “Sway to My Beat in Cosmos.” It was Robin’s first hit, the song that made March a fan.
After, she changes the artists up, singing some happy songs and some sad ones, until she hears a knock on the door. Is the hour up already? She could have sworn she had more time. When she checks the tablet, she finds she’s right: she still has fifteen minutes left. Weird. It’s probably Stelle or Dan Heng, come to collect her for some reason or another.
When she opens the door, her eyes go so wide they nearly fall out of her head. It’s not Stelle or Dan Heng. It’s not even Himeko.
“Hi,” Robin says. “Um, sorry for interrupting.”
“You—you could never interrupt me! Ever!” Okay March, calm down. “I—I mean, what are you doing here?”
“May I come in?” Robin asks.
“Of course!” March opens the door wider. “Please!”
It occurs to March that this could be a trick. There are people in Penacony who are not what they seem. But she’s in a dream—the worst that can happen is that she wakes up. And honestly, even in the real world, it’s not like she’d say no to Robin. That would be crazy!
“I was passing through the Golden Hour on my way to a meeting,” Robin explains, “and, um… because I’m so in tune with the Harmony, I can hear things here that others can’t, and I heard someone singing my song. I recognized your voice, so I wanted to come over and say hello.”
“You heard me singing?” March says. “Oh god, that’s embarrassing.”
“No! Not at all. Your voice is lovely, March.” Hearing that is even more embarrassing; March is glad it’s dark so Robin can’t see her blushing. “But what I really wanted was to thank you. I didn’t get to tell you in person how grateful I am for everything you did for Penacony.”
“You don’t have to thank me. It’s… it’s what we do,” March says. Despite Robin’s words, she looks sad. “Um, how is your brother?”
“He’s alright. He’s safe, which I guess is what’s important. Sorry, I didn’t come here to talk about him. I just wanted to thank you, um, and…?”
“And?”
“Well. Since we’re here…” Robin pauses, twisting her fingers together. “Would you like to sing a song with me?”
“Really?” March squeaks.
“Only if you want to—”
“I would love to! That would literally be the coolest thing ever.”
Robin laughs. “But you’re a Trailblazer. You see cool things all the time.”
“Yep,” March says, “and it’s still true!”
“Aha, you’re funny.” Robin won’t meet March’s eye. Is she… shy? March wonders. “Okay, do you have a song you’d prefer, or—
“Anything you want,” March says. “I know all of them!”
“Okay.” Robin picks up the tablet, tapping at it with her fingers. “Let’s do this one, then.”
March recognizes the opening bars of “Hope Is the Thing With Feathers.” She quickly finds another microphone for Robin, surreptitiously wiping her sweaty hands before touching it. “Don’t laugh if I’m bad, okay?”
“You’ll be great,” Robin says. “Just sing from your heart.”
It turns out that March didn’t need to worry. Singing with Robin is magical. Her voice sounds like heaven, and she makes March’s sound better too. March has been her fan long enough to understand her amazing power, but feeling it, hearing it up close is completely different. March feels like she understands the Harmony for the first time, how it can lift others up in just a few notes. She can’t stop watching Robin as they sing.
“That… that was amazing,” March says as the song comes to an end.
“Yeah,” Robin agrees. Her voice sounds dreamy, like she’s somewhere far away.
A notice flashes on the screen, snapping them both out of their reverie: There are five minutes remaining in your karaoke time. Please contact the front desk if you wish to extend your stay.
“Oh, no,” Robin whispers.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m late for my meeting,” she says. “I wish I didn’t, but I really have to go.”
March wishes that too, but she knows Robin’s busy. “It’s okay. It was so nice of you to even come here!”
“How much longer are you staying in Penacony?” Robin asks.
“I’m not sure, but I think a while? We’re stakeholders now, or something, so there are things Himeko and Mr. Yang have to take care of.”
“Good,” Robin says, “because I want to see you again. And everyone else,” she adds, like it’s an afterthought. “Do you have my number?”
“No, but I think Stelle does.”
“Okay. Get it from her and text me, okay? I’m sorry I have to run. But, um…”
She doesn’t say anything more. “Robin?” March says.
It happens so quickly that March doesn’t have time to react: Robin closes the distance between them and kisses her. Her hand rests on March’s cheek, her lips like petals on her mouth. By the time March gets it together and kisses her back, she’s already gone, leaving only a trace of breath behind.
“Let’s sing together again soon, March,” she says. She waves, and then she’s gone, the door slowly falling shut behind her.
March’s knees give out. She collapses in a heap on the couch. Robin kissed her! Robin kissed her! Oh my god, she could die happy right now, but she would rather live and do it again!
The intercom on the wall crackles to life. “Miss?” It’s the same girl from earlier. “Your hour’s up now. Would you like more time?”
“Y—yes!” March sputters. “I’ll take another hour.”
“Of course. Have fun!” March nods dazedly, then realizes the girl can’t see her.
She just feels so… wow! Part of her wants to run out and find Stelle and Dan Heng and tell them every detail of what happened. She needs to get Robin’s number from Stelle and text her! She can’t let her think she doesn’t want to see her again, even for a second.
But first, she needs to calm down, and she knows exactly how to do that. She takes a drink of water, picks up the tablet, and prepares to let her emotions out through song. She queues up a list of them, and though not all of them are by Robin, all of them are about love.