Wishing for the Normal
Summary: When Catherine Parr and Anne Boleyn go to Peaks for their open mic night to support Katherine Howard, the couple get pulled up by the young woman to sing a duet. With a giggle, she, and the three other ladies at their table cheer them on. Boleyn and Parr grab the microphones, and just hope for the best from this experience.
Character(s): Parrlyn (Anne Boleyn / Catherine Parr) Katherine Howard Jane Seymour / Catherine of Aragon (Catalina) / Anna of Cleves
A/N: Kit + Soho Cinders + Parrlyn = Ideas.
Moral of the story: don’t leave me alone to think. I will think and it will come out on paper. This is inspired by Soho Cinders’ most iconic number, “Wishing for the Normal.” Because this takes place in the universe of Out of a Book, some of the references and places might not make sense. It will all be explained in due time. And you all can bet your little tails the whole song is written out.
This is also my apology to all of you who dealt with my total chaos earlier. I love all of you and I am so sorry you had to witness me being a huge nerd and evil gremlin.
Tag List: @bchcadcd | @watercolored-lemonade
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Thursday nights were for coffee, laughter, and open mic nights at Peaks Coffee Company.
It was a tradition, for the six ladies to go to Peaks whenever Katherine was back in town from classes. It happened to be the winter break, and the ladies were all excited to go out together. It was about 7 on the dot when the ladies got there. Catherine gently pulled on Anne’s arm, leading her to one of the cozy corners. Close enough that they could see Katherine perform whenever she decided to go up there, but far enough that the two could have a nice conversation. It was bliss for the two of them, as they thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company, even with other people around. “I always love coming here with you, Cathy,” Boleyn whispers, leaning on Parr and resting her head on Parr’s shoulder. “There’s just good memories with this place. I feel like such a saddo for saying that.”
“Don’t. And you’re no saddo! I agree, this place... it has very nice memories,” Parr chuckled. With a glance up, Parr noticed the other ladies approaching. Catalina set one of the mugs down in front of Parr, and another in front of Boleyn. Sitting up, Boleyn nodded as a thank you, a smile coming across the mellow face. Katherine sat right next to Parr, Jane was right in front of Katherine, Catalina was in front of Parr, and Cleves was in front Boleyn. “I swear, I wonder how I would live without you, Lina,” bringing the mug up to her lips, Cathy took a sip of her coffee. Catalina just shook her head, grinning. “You wouldn’t be alive at all. You would literally die from drinking nothing but coffee and not eating.”
Laughter came from Cleves and Seymour.
“Considering all she does is stay in her room, yeah. I don’t doubt it! Sie schläft auch nicht, oder?” Anna gave a cheeky smile, with Catherine’s face being so deadpan at the comment, she just chose to roll her eyes as a response. “I do sleep, thank you very much. It only takes me three hours to fall asleep because I spend two of those writing.” Catalina raised an eyebrow at the response, knowing Parr stayed up late at night unless she had to be up before 8 am. There was more laughter at the table.
“Sleeping is important,” Seymour nodded over at Katherine, “and this one could tell you all about it. You slept last night when you got home, right?” The youngest of the ladies nodded with sincerity. “Yeah! I stay up late sometimes with homework, Miss Parr. If I learned one thing about uni, it’s that balancing sleep and homework is difficult. So I definitely get why you stay up at night. I do the same thing,” Katherine allows her smile to shine, Parr letting out a bit of a laugh. “You’re not wrong. Balancing sleep and work is very difficult. Now, how long are you going to keep us waiting, star in hiding?”
That’s where the mischievous smirk came from Katherine Howard. “I’m not singing tonight, actually.”
The other five women stared at Katherine with wide eyes, in actual shock that the reason they normally came on Thursday nights was not the center of attention. Digging through the backpack she brought, the youngest of the group pulled out a binder, and handed it to Parr. A second one got pulled out, and was handed to Boleyn; the third she kept in front of her. “I’m showing off my piano skills tonight, and you two are going to sing for me while I play!”
The look on Anne Boleyn’s face was one of fear, and the one on Catherine Parr’s face was total embarrassment. The couple looked at each other, and gulped in unison. Boleyn had a blush running across her face, but more notably across her cheeks and nose. “I... Sing? You want us to sing?”
“Why not?”
Parr felt her face lose color. “I... we’re not singers, Katherine.” This was the instance where Parr reached for the coffee and began to down it like water on a hot day. Catalina raised an eyebrow, with a more confused look this time. Anna however, began to actually laugh. She knew that habit of hers all too well. Jane was looking at Katherine with furrowed eyebrows, but her face was full of confusion, much like Catalina’s. Sucking in a nervous breath, Parr stood up, setting the mug down. “Okay, Katherine. I’ll sing.”
Anne Boleyn let out a shaky sigh, but she nodded and also stood up. “I’ll do it too. What are we singing, Kat?”
Standing up, Katherine took her binder and opened it up, skipping to the keyboard up on the stage. She sat down on the chair, setting up with a little too much excitement. All she did was let her right hand play the first few measures of the song. “Wishing for the Normal from Soho Cinders! I’m sure you’ve both heard of it. You’re both English, right?” A rather awkward moment of silence, before the two women nodded. “This will be fun, come on!”
If there was one thing Katherine loved about majoring in music, it was the fact she got to play piano. She loved it. And just to make Anne and Catherine feel comfortable, she slowed down the beginning.
Raising the microphone up to be near her lips, Anne hid the nervousness with a smile. “Just imagine pouring your cornflakes, looking up and someone's there. Someone you have just spent the night with, someone’s life you're proud to share! Haven't put my face on, haven’t done my hair. Haven't had to worry, as it’s her standing there.”
The piano began to pick up a little pace. Catherine was going to match it, with a similar smile to Anne’s. “Just imagine out on the dance floor, turning ‘round and there she is. It's your lady, the one you came in with, three years on, your hand in hers. Living in a semi, maybe have a cat. Nothing that's too fancy, tell me what's wrong with that?”
Looking up from the music for a brief moment, Katherine Howard began to smile.
The couple looks at each other, the nervous smiles seeming to grow into genuine ones. The two nodded, knowing they had to sing on together. “Wishing for the normal kind of dream. Nothing too excessive or extreme. Hoping for the hum-drum, is that aiming high? Others seem to find it, tell me why on earth can't I?”
Catalina’s jaw could honestly hit the floor with how impressed she was. Anna just had a wide-eye expression that screamed her shock for her. Jane was thoroughly impressed by all of this, but mostly by Katherine’s piano playing ability.
“Wishing for the normal kind of dream. Trouble is they're harder than they seem. Am I too ambitious? Am I out of touch? Am I wishing for too much?”
Frantically flipping the pages, both ladies chuckled while the piano kept on going behind them. Lucky Parr, she got to start off this time. “Just imagine cooking lasagna, like those adverts on TV.” And the biggest smile came out of Boleyn with this line. She just felt all warm and fuzzy from the fact she was spending time with her girlfriend. “Sitting on a fake leather sofa, babies bouncing on my knee.”
“Living within reason, loving when I can. Feeling I am someone, not some sad old lass.”
Almost instinctively, as if she knew Katherine would start playing softer, Anne made her voice softer. She could only hope Catherine would follow. The other three at the table began to smile, quietly cheering them on from their spot. “Just imagine mowing the lawn.”
And the hopes came true, because Parr did soften up her voice. “Just imagine popping some corn.”
Even Katherine Howard herself was cheering them on from the piano. She wanted to laugh, but really couldn’t, so... she did what she does best. Giggle it out.
Boleyn’s free hand reaches down for Parr’s, with the two allowing their fingers to interlock. The look on her face said it all, she was smitten by this woman in front of her. “Just imagine breakfast in bed.” “Just imagine owning a shed,” Parr let out a chuckle right after the lyrical line. She was not one to sing, but this was an exception she was happy to have made. Memories were all she wanted, and memories was what she was getting.
“Just imagine doing the school run.”
“Going for picnics.”
“Keeping a goldfish!”
A laugh from the two. They nodded again, allowing themselves to sing right on through to the end. “Wishing, wishing! Hoping for the hum-drum, is that aiming high? Others seem to find it, tell me why, why, why can’t I? Wishing for the normal kind of dream. Trouble is they’re harder than they seem.”
At this point, the table was standing up. Catalina was nodding along with Anna, but Jane? Jane was already clapping. “Go ladies!” The blonde woman giggled, happy to see some of her now closest friends so happy with each other.
“Going to a nightclub, cinemas and such,” Boleyn’s eyes finally met Parr’s. “Eating in a restaurant, happy to go dutch,” the smile on Parr’s face grew from seeing Boleyn’s smile grow as well.
“Am I too ambitious? Am I out of touch? Am I wishing far too much?” And while the two lovebirds stared at each other, their young pianist allowed herself to continue the instrumental, even playing the accompaniment to the last few lyrics they had forgotten. Laughing, Katherine Howard stood up and started clapping. “You two sounded amazing!”
“Go Cathy!” “Way to go Anne!” “I’m proud of you, Kitty!”
The couple just kept looking at each other, with laughs eventually coming from them both. As much nerves as they had to fight, they loved every second of it. Being just a smidge taller, Catherine Parr leaned downwards to peck Anne Boleyn’s lips, but little was she expecting for Anne to actually stand on the tips of her toes to meet her halfway. “You sly little rascal you!”
“You love me.” Anne set the microphone back on the stand, before grabbing the binder off of the stand and walking herself back to the table. Parr just laughed, repeating all of Anne’s actions before sitting down next to her. Katherine Howard, however, remained on the stage and allowed herself to continue to play whatever came to her mind. For the duration of however long they would stay, there would be a newfound sort of joy in the ladies, and the soft lullaby of a piano in the background.
