Now that members of the different factions were intermingling, glad that almost all the animosity had passed, and things were for the most part back to the partying mode, that had become second nature for Forever Knight fans. Those who had not been involved in the water fight outside, stood around, watching as their drenched counterparts attempted to dry off.
Even the show's characters were mingling, and generally enjoying the atmosphere. There were a couple of people who remained guarded about the whole scenario, but overall a good time was being had by all.
Anxious to get in on the fun, Lynn signed to Judy, "Do you remember the story about Urs and the Karaoke machine?" When a positive sign was returned, Lynn went over to speak to Urs.
"Urs!" she shouted over the noise. No response, as Urs was busy at that moment. When Lynn managed to attract Urs' attention, she called out to her. "Urs! Do you know if LaCroix has a Karaoke machine?"
"A what?" She could barely hear her.
Lynn moved closer to her, to try to be heard better. "A Karaoke machine. Do you know if LaCroix has one?"
"I think so. Let me check." Urs walked over to the tall, pale, ancient vampire. A few words were spoken between the two immortals, and a finger was pointed in Lynn's direction. After a guarded look, a half-smile of amusement crossed the older vampire's face.
Lynn shook inwardly. "What the hell am I getting myself into?" she asked to no one in particular, and for once was glad that no one could hear her. The slight desire she had to come into contact, any contact, with LaCroix, was slowly diminishing. But one large gulp from her glass of strawberry daiquiri, and she swallowed any reservations she might have held, as LaCroix approached her. She stiffened her shoulders and sighed, walking over to him.
"Monsieur LaCroix. I was wondering if I might have the opportunity to speak with you later this evening?"
LaCroix looked somewhat amused that some mere mortal that meant nothing to him would approach him so boldly. Little did he know that her legs were shaking like a tree in a windstorm. "And what would this conversation be about?"
"A little matter of removing a hypnotic suggestion placed on me by Natalie."
"Ah, I see." He spoke passively, but the gleam in his steel blue eyes, made her shiver. "Later, then."
Lynn turned and sighed long as she moved closer to the bar, where the still whammied Amy had perched herself. Maureen and Alora had also gathered closer. Alora ordered another daiquiri, and Maureen had a beer. Karen Weston had walked up after talking to Mei and Linda, who were sitting at a booth. Betsy walked around, spotting the ghost of Richard, who was sitting in solitary near the back of the club. She swore that she could see a number of ghosts surrounding Nick that somewhat resembled those from "Dead of Night." She even thought she saw Robert, Janette's mortal love, who had passed away earlier that year. She wondered when she would lose this whammy, as she had no intention of returning to Michigan with the ability to see ghosts.
After seeing that some of the resident vampires had hooked the Karaoke machine up to the system, Lynn took one chug from her strawberry daiquiri (to which she had requested from the bar to have a little extra rum added), and made her way to the stage. Inwardly terrified, but enjoying herself very much, she looked to the NatPack, and gained every ounce of courage she could get. Lynn removed the microphone from its stand and lightly tapped on it to make sure it was on. When a sharp piercing sound was emitted, and more than half of the room's occupants put their hands over their ears, she knew for sure that it worked.
"Sorry about that. Well here we are again. Another WAR come and gone, attacks made, people kidnapped, parcels left here and there, happy Mercs with bundles of chocolate in payment. But we've survived! And now, thanks to Janette, Susan and the Ravenettes, who have so generously given use of the Raven for the evening. It is much appreciated." Thunderous applause from the crowd errupted, and continued for a few minutes.
Once the clapping had receded, Lynn spoke again. "I would like to give wonderful thanks and praise to our WAR Mistresses, who had given up Lots of their time, a severe deprivaion of sleep (haven't we all?) and for everything else that they've done! War Mistresses, would you both come up here to say a couple words?" Another large round of applause and cheers come from the crowd. They mentioned a few words to Lynn, and then began to speak to the audience for several minutes, basically thanking them for their participation, and that they needed some well deserved sleep. Then they called up Amy Albrecht, who had the unenviable task of editing the War. More applause continued.
Lynn briefly took the microphone for a moment, "I just got in some good news. Diane E., Keeper of the Time Line, is doing well, and is supposed to be released from hopsital tomorrow morning, barring anything unforseen." She quickly handed the mike back to one of the War Mistresses.
"I hope you all have a great night. I need some sleep." She smiled and then she and Amy stepped down from the stage.
The War Mistresses and compadres returned to their former spots to continue chatting with friends. Lynn walked back up to the stage. This time with another drink in hand. Getting slightly flushed (hey, I'm a cheap drunk :-)), she gave a large sigh, and spoke.
"Are you ready to Party?!" Mass applause, whooping, cheering, and general mayhem was the response. After a few moments, it died down, and quiet resumed. To the side of her vision, she could see Amy Hull signing at the barkeep. Something about pouring another drink? Judy Freudenthal gave a querying glance and signed to Lynn, <When is the singing going to start?>. Through the darkness, and the glare from the stage lights, Lynn couldn't make out what was being signed, even though her ASL skills were good. She tried whispering to fellow NatPacker, Betsy, who moved to the centre of the room and started semaphoring.
"Judy wants to know when the singing starts," Betsy semaphored.
"Soon." Lynn responded back, same format. Betsy relayed the info. Remembering that another NatPacker was interested in getting up and performing, she continued. "Ask Tina about the Green Cheese..."
"Green Cheese?" Betsy looked puzzled, and then remembered the reference to a particular Due South episode. There were a few snickers from the crowd, who had apparently also picked up on the reference.
"Oops. Wrong spelling. Ask Tina about what song she wants to do?"
Betsy leaned over to Tina and asked her the question, she responded with "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper. Betsy relayed the info to Lynn.
Though with all the semaphoring going on, only a few people knew what was going on, so Lynn reverted back to speaking in the microphone. "Sorry about the interruption. Apparently, there are a couple of NatPackers who seem to want to get on with the party. And, without further adieu, tonight we have in our presence a Karaoke machine." There were a few groans from those who remembered the "Karaoke Party Scene" from War 4, but overall, there was quite a bit of enthusiasm. "For those who would like to get up and sing, either individually or in groups of two or more, there will be a sign up sheet at the end of the bar."
Much confusion arose as many people clamored to get to the sign-up sheet. Seeing that no one in particular was on stage, Alora saw her chance. She walked determinately over to where Perri and Cath Boo were sitting, and cajoled them into going up on stage. Since Lynn was the one who started all this mess, Alora grabbed her by the arm, and gently put her up on stage. Then Alora looked around the room for another victim. Maureen.
Now there were five people up on stage. Conversing for a second, they couldn't come up with a song. And that's when Cousin Star and Merc Lizbet stepped up and pushed a selection button on the machine. Before the performers knew it, the music started to play loudly. And it was "YMCA" by the Village People. Tigon let out a shriek of horror, for she would be singing or humming that song for the next week or so. Tigon glared at Lizbet, who simply returned a smile. For a brief second the five on stage looked stunned, and then went on, in a carefree boisterousness that the NatPack and a couple of Knighties could get. The crowd cracked up laughing as some semi-drunk, and not-so-drunk performers hammed it up.
Soon, the line-up for the sign-up sheet had more than doubled. Even Nick, Natalie, Urs, Tracy, and the others were getting into the act. Well, except for LaCroix, who stood in the back, just watching the scenery as it played out before him. Catherine Siemann and Melanie gathered around the bar and talked with the Ravenettes, well at least the ones who hadn't been delegated to bartending duty. While Berg dressed in his usual black - ninja boots, sport coat, dress shirt, BDU pants, and a pair of expensive black wraparound shades, casually sauntered up to the bar and picked up some crackers that had been in a bowl.
As the party kept going, more people kept adding their names to the list of performers. Some would go up individually, and others preferred a group effort. The Ravenettes, along with Miklos, Urs, and some of the Raven's usual clientele assisted with the handing out of drinks.
Lynn was barely able to keep up in between performances, in that as soon as one group finished another was already up on stage, rearing and ready to go. Dawn Steele was the next to get up on the stage. However, due to an heated, or rather a soaken incident earlier in the evening, her forest green dress had been torn to shreds. So now, being the practical person that she is, she wore a pair of Levi's jeans and McMaster University t-shirt. Her dark blond hair, which had been hung loosely in curls down over her shoulders was now tied back in a braid, to keep it out of her face. She pressed her selection on the karaoke machine, and began to move to the beat. When the cue came to sing, she belted out the lyrics to Alanna Myles song, "Rock This Joint" Most of the room's occupants were up and dancing. When she finished, she went back and sat with fellow Mercs Dianne, Sonja, and Elizabeth.
Natalie and a good portion of the NatPackers were trying to converse, as well as dance. Amy was still at the bar. They began to talk about who would undo their whammies. There were several who debated the benefits, and the disadvantages of having the various vampires in the room. There were a few staunch declarations from some that they wanted LaCroix nowhere near their minds, while a few of them - displaying to the fullest their NatPack characteristic of having no self-preservation skills - along with some perverse attraction wouldn't mind the interaction with the ancient vampire. Not only wouldn't mind, but relished it.
Amparo was still trying to get closer to Nick at every chance she could get. There were a couple of songs in which she tried to coax Nick out to dance with her, but had still had no luck.
"Amp, you might have to wait til the next century for that," Jaime Kohles quipped, seeing that the Knighties still kept a close eye on Nick. Amparo frowned. She was determined to get Nick to herself, without any Knighties around, for more than five minutes. But it seemed nothing more than wishful thinking at the moment.
Valerie looked up from where she was talking with Amy. Well trying to talk to her. Amy kept switching from English, to German, to ASL in the same sentence.
Beth Sheeks, who is deaf, and a friend of Lisa McDavid's, saw this signing, and moved towards the direction of the NatPack. She introduced herself to Valerie, Amy, and Judy, and the four started a conversation.
Jane Credland and Felicia Bollin moved towards the Pack and smiled. The last time they saw the NatPack, or rather their clothing, over 90% of it amounted to surgical scrubs of various colours. This night, they were dressed to the nines. Valerie was wearing her brand-new dress that she had expertly made that afternoon. Others wore dresses or very stylish light-weight pants suits. Jennie Hayes, still with her fancy for things orange, wore a faint, earthy-toned orange sundress which was now drenched in soapy water residue, and her orange coloured glasses.
Valerie stepped up to the microphone to do a semi-encore of her Phantom of the Opera post from the last War, and prepared to sing "Think of Me" from the Toronto cast album version. Recalling the anarchic impromptu performance of Phantom highlights that occured during the previous War, a collective sigh of relief rose at the relatively harmless selection.
But as the end of the last verse approached, a look of trepidation crossed Jennie's face.
"Flowers fade, the fruits of summer fade, they have their season, so do we..."
Leaning over to PartlyK, Jennie began to warn, "You know, I bet she's going to do--"
Unexpectedly for those unfamiliar with the Toronto cast album, instead of a relatively tame little bouncing climb the showy ending of the aria, she rocketed immediately to a C before dancing up and down a few delicate coloratura riffs and finishing up with the familiar B-flat that was normally the pinnacle of the piece.
Blinking behind one cracked lens in its orange frame, Jennie finished, "Rebecca Caine's cadenza."
Miraculous, all but one rack of glasses above the bar had survived the assault, as well as most of those in use throughout the club. Just in case, though, Valerie was safely hustled offstage.
When Lynn saw that brief break in the performances, people sat around talking to friends, she took the opportunity to switch on some pre-recorded music from the Forever Knight soundtrack. People reminisced about earlier Wars and debated the left out scenes in the American first season episodes, compared to the Canadian episodes. A number of people congratulated Valerie on her performance, while others returned to the bar, to top up their drinks. And, for those who glass did shatter, returned for a glass as well as a drink.
When the cue for the song "Black Rose" came up, Cousin Cherri got up on stage, and took the microphone from its cradle. With a long whistle, she drew attention to herself. She called for the music to cut, and then pressed her selection of "Black Rose" on the karaoke machine, and began to sing the lyrics with a sultry voice.
Samantha Smiley, who had spent her time between talking with the Mercs, the Valentines, and the Cousins, worked her way around to the rest of the affiliations with ease. Laura MacMillan, Jenn Dukarski, Pat Witham, Heather DeLong and Gayle MacCreedy were up dancing on the floor, and enjoying themselves to the hilt.
Tracey, Partly K, and the Perkulators made their way across the crowded Raven to meet up with Vachon, Torrey and the Vaqueras.
Everyone clapped when Cherri finished her song, and Lisa McDavid followed right behind her on stage.
Lisa took the microphone and spoke. "This is in dedication to my six cats, which I miss so much." She scanned the music selection for the songs she was looking for. "Ah, here they are: 'The Siamese Cat Song' and 'What's New, PussyCat?'" She began to sing.
In the area of the bar, came one distinct voice, very quietly, from Natalie. "I miss Sydney."
Sharon Bhandari replied to Nat. "Sydney is safe. We asked Grace to look in after him, while we looked after you. If you'd like, Mei will call her to bring him over back to your apartment tonight. We'll go by there when we leave the Raven if you want."
"That would be wonderful. Thank you." While Natalie sat back and listened to the music; a small tear fell down her cheek. She had lost so much time the last few months, and she was grateful for the members of the Pack, who had shown up in Toronto, when word came down that she was very ill. After asking Janette's permission, Mei walked into the Raven office and placed a call to Grace. And as she did, she tried unsuccessfully to not become entangled in the phone cord.
Valerie had managed to get a hold of a video camera, and Kelly Gritten had been recording the events of the evening for posterity. In between mixing weird and wonderful drinks for herself and other affiliation members. She'd even shown Miklos how to make some of them. Alora had gotten Miklos to mix her some vodka and Ribena.
When Janette saw what he was using, she winced slightly, and turned to Alora. "You are actually going to drink that stuff?"
"Yes," Alora responded, matter-of-factly. Then she added, "It's mixed with vodka. Want to try it?"
"No, thank-you, Cher. I've had enough of that to last me a lifetime."
Alora smiled and went back to chatting with Lynn who had finally given up MC'ing and passed the responsibility onto someone else. Lynn ordered a Screwdriver, and sat back and relaxed, with her friends.