Work Text:
Trev Ev: need to flex my singing skills at least once per stream for the fans and i have a duet idea. u in?
Arasha stares at the text, a myriad of conflicting feelings swirling in her at the simple question. The games channel has another charity karaoke stream coming up, and Arasha ended up on the cast list for it through no fault of her own. She's happy to raise money for a good cause and she knows that karaoke isn't necessarily supposed to be good, but singing in front of people isn't something she tries to do, especially not on a public livestream. Still, she wasn't going to say no when asked. She likes the cause they're fundraising for, and she's a team player, even if every uncomfortable thing that they do at Smosh is somehow less daunting than this.
Arasha just... doesn't have a good voice. It isn't bad, and she can carry a tune and match pitch, but she hasn't been trained for it like Angela or Chanse, and she doesn't have the natural versatility that Amanda and Trevor have. Her lack of natural talent used to bother her a lot as a kid, when she realized she would never get a good part in a school musical because of it and she switched to forensics. It isn't as much of an issue here in LA since the projects she auditions for never have singing components, but it's still much easier to sing badly for a laugh than to sing seriously and be found lacking. Singing an awkward intro for a video or rapping so badly that Angela full-body cringes in front of actual recording artist bbno$ is great because it gets laughs. Doing a funny karaoke song will be fine because it'll get money for a good cause. Dueting with Trevor while he sounds amazing and she sounds awkward and mediocre? That doesn't sound like her idea of a great time.
Trevor is not the issue here. He thinks she's a good singer, because during one of the rare times they hung out outside of work he heard her singing along to the radio and hasn't stopped praising her since.
"Dude, you're a great singer," he had said from the passenger seat of her car on the way to a bar to meet the rest of the cast, then doubled down when she tried to laugh it off. Arasha appreciates getting complimented as much as the next girl, but it's harder to swallow when she genuinely knows, from an objective standpoint, that she's not that great.
It's worse because Trevor is legitimately good. He's not perfect by any means, but he has the ability to mimic the voice of the original artist for any song he covers. They've all heard about the fan reaction to his previous appearances in karaoke streams, and Arasha has gone back and watched them herself. She might have swooned a little at "Accidentally in Love" with the rest of the Trevor girlies. Imagining singing a duet with him not only makes Arasha worry that she's going to start actually swooning if he makes eye contact with her during it, but worry that she'll sound like absolute shit in comparison.
Arash-A: you sure you want me as your partner? amanda and ange are singing too
The reply comes almost immediately.
Trev Ev: shut tf up ur a great singer!!!
i wanna sing it with u 🥹
Arash-A: don't send me that emoji your pleading doesn't work here
what song?
Trev Ev: lucky! jason mraz and colbie callait
cailat
calleight?
idk how to spell her name
i think we'll sound good
we need at least 1 serious song per stream
Arasha bites her lip. She’s familiar with the song. It’s cheesy and far more romantic than she was expecting him to suggest, and she probably wouldn’t be able to turn it humorous if she tried. It’ll probably be incredibly cringy for everyone involved.
Trev Ev: pwease?
Arash-A: that is not the way to convince me
Trev Ev: srry srry
for real tho
i want to sing this one with u
Warmth floods through Arasha, complete with an embarrassing giddiness at being chosen by him for a love song.
Here’s the issue: Arasha has a crush on Trevor. It’s a small, manageable thing that she’s sure won’t go anywhere, and she respects him too much as a colleague to try anything unless he sends her some major signals first. They’re friends, and he’s goofy while still staying kind, and he can cook, and he’s tall and nice to look at. She likes how he’s put in more effort to get to know her, and how they can joke about being the two youngest cast members and it feels like an exclusive club for the two of them. She likes when they’re put on shoots together, and she likes when she’s filming and glances up to see him watching by the crew. She especially likes when he greets her with a huge grin if she arrives at the office later than him, like he was waiting for the day to start until she arrived.
It’s nice, but it’s mostly fluff and the mark of a good friendship, rather than any sort of huge romance. She’s not about to pine after him for years before dating and getting happily married, like Courtney and Shayne. There’s only one great office romance allowed per workplace, even if she knows there have been other pairings here and there.
Still, that doesn’t make situations like this any easier. If someone else was asking to do a serious, slow duet with her live on stream in front of thousands of people, she’d say no immediately. For Trevor, though? That’s a lot harder to deny.
She also doesn’t necessarily want to watch him sing this song with someone else.
She pulls up the song on her phone, listening to the slow guitar and the way the two voices weave a story about love and distance and friendship. She thinks they harmonize, which will be near-impossible for her to do, but it’s a nice little thing, and it could be really cute. Trevor’s parts will get clipped in compilations for sure. It probably won’t set any shippers too crazy, because the song isn’t really applicable to them. Sure, they’re friends, but they’re not best friends like the song is suggesting, and they work together rather than needing to plan times to meet in tropical paradises to see each other.
Arasha flicks back to their text conversation, reading through the messages again.
Arash-A: you really want me to sing this with you?
Even though she left him on read for a few minutes, his response is immediate. She can picture him sitting with his phone open, leg bouncing with energy, maybe listening to the song, too.
Trev Ev: yes!!!
Arasha hesitates with her fingers over the buttons, then types one word and presses send before she can second-guess herself.
Arash-A: okay
She sends a picture of the “Let’s Do This!” title card right after, for a little levity. Trevor hearts both messages, then sends a row of exclamation marks.
Trev Ev: this is gonna b so good
the internet wont kno wwat hit it
Arasha is sure of that. She just hopes it’s in a good way.
-/-
Arasha finds herself sitting on Trevor’s couch a few days later, listening to the song while he nods his head along. He asked her to come over and practice, but she’s been here for over an hour already and they’re just beginning now. He said he couldn’t let them practice on empty stomachs and insisted on throwing together a quick dinner first. She likes that even after being paid to cook for the internet, he likes cooking for people at home, too.
Eventually, though, Arasha’s attempts at procrastination via conversation faltered and Trevor insisted they actually sing. It’s probably for the best, because if she can’t get over herself and sing the song in front of him, she definitely won’t be able to do it on the stream.
She’s been listening to the song non-stop since he suggested it, but it sounds new with Trevor’s faint humming and the ambient noise of his apartment in the background. She closes her eyes, trying to let the music wash over her as she sinks into his couch, following the familiar melody but heart tripping over Trevor’s faint additions. As the final note fades out, she takes a deep breath and opens her eyes to find Trevor already looking at her, smile barely visible in the soft yellow light of his living room. He immediately turns to his phone before she has the chance to say anything.
“I was thinking we could sing through it with the regular version before we try it with the karaoke track, if that’s okay?” he asks.
“Sure,” she says. He nods once and clears his throat, hands rubbing against his thighs, then huffs a laugh.
“Sorry,” he says. “Why am I more nervous now than I am on the streams?”
Arasha laughs, half of the tension dissolving now that she knows he feels it, too.
“It’s just me,” she smiles. “I’ve seen you at much worse.”
“Hey now,” he protests, and she gently kicks at his foot.
“I’m serious, you have nothing to worry about,” she says. He looks at her like a kicked puppy and she rolls her eyes fondly.
“Just press play,” she says, nudging him with her foot again.
“Alright, alright,” he concedes, pressing play on Spotify and then immediately flipping to a tab where he has the lyrics pulled up.
He sounds amazing, because of course he does. His voice is light and soft, and it sounds kind of like it does when he says her name in the middle of a laugh.
Arasha pushes that thought to the back of her mind while she scoots closer to see the lyrics as well, knowing that if she lets herself keep thinking it she’s going to do something silly and embarrassing, like miss her entrance for the verse. She lays a hand on his arm to tilt his screen towards her, allowing herself to press close enough that she doesn’t have to risk looking at him.
When she begins her part, Trevor’s face completely changes in the corner of her eye. She can’t help but look up and stumbles over the words at the proximity of the blinding grin that has overtaken him, breath stuttering in her chest.
“No, keep going! It was so good!” he says while Colbie Callait continues serenading them in the background. Arasha turns back to the lyrics and doesn’t find her place again until the chorus hits and Trevor starts singing with her. They aren’t close enough for her to feel the vibrations from his voice, but the sound almost makes her shiver, anyway.
“That was awesome!” Trevor says when the song ends. Arasha is once again startled by his grin, because her focus was fixed firmly on the lyrics after her fumble. She returns his smile, a bit more tension easing with his enthusiasm.
They run through the song twice more as is before switching to the karaoke track. It goes better than she anticipated, even if they both sound more cautious without the support of the original voices. The third time they sing through it, Trevor attempts a harmony, then they spend a few minutes trying to sort that out so it sounds the way it’s supposed to, tapping out notes on a piano app that Arasha didn’t know Trevor could make sense of.
“I’m trying to learn a bit,” he says when she questions him about it. “I’m getting pretty good at reading music! But if I want to actually learn to play I need to get a keyboard or something.”
Getting a coworker a full keyboard would be too much for a birthday present, but maybe Arasha can get some other cast members to split with her. If multiple people buy him a keyboard, it can’t be that weird, right?
“You’re already doing a harmony here without realizing it,” Trevor says, interrupting her plans to rope Courtney, Shayne, and Spencer into her birthday idea. She focuses back on him, and he plays some different notes that sound like what she and Colbie Callait have been singing, but that’s different from his part. She feels a little swell of pride that she managed to hold firm with her section while he tried singing his, rather than being pulled by his stronger voice.
They run through the song a few more times, each rendition feeling better than the last. It’s going to be a great piece, and it definitely fulfills Trevor’s desire to provide a serious, genuinely good song once per stream.
Arasha doesn’t want to leave at the end of the night, which is how she knows that she absolutely has to if she wants to keep the crush manageable.
“Hey, thanks for doing this for me,” Trevor says as he walks her out to her car. LA is fading into darkness around them, streetlights doing their best to fight against the inky black that is chasing the very last rays of sunlight. Arasha can’t see him as well as she would like, but he looks just as good in this light, too, half-shadowed so his nose and cheekbones are highlighted while everything else hides.
“I’m really glad you said yes,” he smiles. Arasha’s heart does a traitorous little flutter.
“I’m glad you asked me,” she replies, matching him for sincerity. The moment stretches like taffy, and Arasha wonders…
No, not tonight. They’re not quite ready for it yet.
“See you tomorrow?” she asks, reaching for her car door.
Trevor shakes his head, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
“Shoot day at Mythical,” he says. “Will you be at the meeting on Tuesday?”
“You know it!” Arasha says, throwing in a wink. Trevor giggles, an adorable sound, and Arasha ignores her heart doing another butterfly flutter. “I’ll see you then.”
“See you. Get home safe,” he replies, stepping back from her car. He stays out by his apartment’s door until she gets out of the parking lot and onto the road, humming the song to herself and hearing Trevor’s voice fill in the other pieces.
-/-
When it actually comes time for the stream the next week, Arasha is back to being nervous. She and Trevor sneak off to the crying bathroom to practice a few times the morning of, but seeing the cameras and crew bustling around the games set as the clock ticks down to zero snaps everything into a terrifying reality.
“Are you ready?” Trevor asks quietly on the way to his seat in the back while Spencer calls a few last-minute directions and other cast members get settled, the hum of the cast and crew covering his words. Arasha gives him a tight smile, and he squeezes her shoulder.
“It’ll be awesome,” he assures her. “It’s going to be fun, I promise.”
“I believe you,” she replies, which is half a lie, but he doesn’t have the chance to call her on it because Spencer tells him to sit down and Courtney takes their place at the other microphone, bouncing with energy.
“Let’s go!” she grins, and then Spencer starts the countdown for the stream and Arasha has to focus on the song she’s doing now , not the song she’s nervous about for later.
She and Courtney kick things off with “Baby” by Justin Beiber, because no one does a woah intro like Arasha and no one loves a woah intro like Court. It turns into a full group dance party, with Angela and Courtney dominating the Ludacris verse and everyone singing along. It feels like karaoke is supposed to, where it doesn’t matter if they sound good or not because it’s a good time anyway, and Arasha is so glad that this is the tone they’re setting right off the bat.
They cycle through a few other songs, like Amanda and Ian breaking out “My Heart Will Go On” from Titanic , Damian and Angela giving an enthusiastic performance of “Call Me Maybe” (which ends up pulling in Courtney, Amanda, and Trevor as backup dancers), and Shayne singing “I’m Just Ken” with support from the rest of the boys.
They’re six songs in when they hit a lull and Spencer asks who’s going next.
“Arasha and I want to go!” Trevor yells, throwing his hand in the air like they’re in elementary school and he’s competing to be the teacher's pet. Every organ and nerve in Arasha’s body freezes, then restarts with a jolt.
“Do we?” she asks.
“Yes!” Angela cheers.
“You’ve got this, baby!” Courtney calls while Ian hoots and hollers. Amanda starts a clap and chant, and at that point Arasha really has no choice. Trevor offers both hands, and she lets him haul her to her feet and over to the microphones.
“We’re gonna slow it down a bit,” Trevor says while adjusting his microphone stand. Arasha grips her mic tightly and watches Spencer pull up the karaoke track they’ve been practicing with on the monitor.
“Going to get a little cheesy here,” Trevor continues, struggling with the microphone stand still. Amanda asks if he needs help, and the others heckle him for a few moments until he turns puppy dog eyes to Arasha and she reaches over to fix it for him. That prompts a loud “Go Arasha!” from Angela that turns into a cheer that Arasha plays into, relishing in the praise and insincerely asking them everyone to stop multiple times only to keep encouraging them right after.
It breaks some of the tension, because Arasha can do this part. She can “yes, and–” bits and play into her friends’ support. She knows that they’ll keep supporting all through the song, even if she messes up.
“Thanks, Arasha,” Trevor says. “Glad I have one friend who has my back. Don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Arasha preens for the camera and tries not to show how much that simple sentence actually affects her.
“Guess you’re lucky that we’re dueting,” she says with an exaggerated wink, prompting a laugh from Trevor. Spencer takes that as his cue and starts the music.
Arasha keeps her eyes firmly fixed on the lyrics all throughout Trevor’s part of the verse, listening to his light, smooth voice and blocking out Amanda and Angela’s quiet aw’ s from the couch. She doesn’t freak out, she doesn’t think about all of the people watching, and she doesn’t glance at the cameras or the crew or the cast members off to the side. She keeps her eyes glued to the screen, where the words fade in and out, highlighted in gold. When it’s her turn to sing, she’s ridiculously relieved that her voice doesn’t waver and she thinks she’s on pitch, and then it’s time for both of them in the chorus.
They sound good together. Arasha feels a smile creep up her face, letting herself glance at Trevor to find him grinning, too. Their voices blend just like they practiced, harmonies staying strong. Arasha’s tension leaks out of her as they continue, voices weaving together on the bridge and reconnecting on the chorus again.
Out of the corner of her eye, she can see someone get a cell phone light out on the couch, waving it gently in the air.
“And so I’m sailing through the sea ,” Trevor sings to her, leaning towards her so much he has to tilt his microphone stand. Arasha giggles, loving the sparkle in his eyes. “To an island where we’ll meet. You’ll hear the music fill the air; I’ll put a flower in your hair .”
He reaches towards her, fingers brushing her hair. Arasha couldn’t look away if she tried.
“Through the breezes, through the trees ,” she sings with a smile. Trevor watches her like he doesn’t want to look anywhere else, either. “Move so pretty, you’re all I see. As the world keeps spinning round, you hold me right here, right now. ”
They sing the last chorus to each other, Trevor’s voice and gaze keeping her tethered in the moment with him instead of distracted by anything else. By the time their last note fades away, she’s completely forgotten that there’s other people in the room. The applause and cheers are a surprise, and when Arasha smiles at her friends it feels like she’s coming up for air after being underwater.
“Wait, that was so cute!” Amanda says earnestly.
“That shit was adorable!” Ian agrees. Arasha’s face heats, but she gives them both a cheeky smile.
“Aw, thanks, guys,” she says. She glances over her shoulder to Trevor, who’s looking at the floor with a pleased smile. Her fingers itch with the urge to do something stupid and embarrassing, so she high tails it to her seat as an important preventative measure. Shayne gives her a raised eyebrow when she sits, and she expertly pretends that she didn’t see it, although she acknowledges his low compliment when he leans over to give it.
Trevor gives an update on their donation goals, then sings a silly song to get everyone back in the karaoke mood. Arasha is grateful for the excuse to stare at him for a few more minutes, then steadfastly refuses to stare for the entire rest of the stream. He stays a distracting, ever-present entity on the edge of her thoughts, but she is an actress by trade and covers it smoothly. The rest of the stream goes by in a blur, and before she knows it the cast is all standing and dancing for one last song, crowded around the makeshift stage, then Ian is thanking the viewers and encouraging them to keep donating even after the stream ends.
After, while everyone is congratulating each other and the cast is dispersing so the crew has space to tear down, she feels a tug on her hand.
“Hey,” Trevor says when she turns. “Do you have a second?”
“For you, Trevor? Always,” she says. It’s supposed to be a joke, and by his goofy grin and eye roll that’s what he takes it as, but she hopes no one around them overheard.
They end up tucked back by props storage, near enough to the entrance to not be suspicious but far back enough that they won’t be immediately bothered by anyone who happens to pass by. It’s one of Arasha’s favorite hiding places, a treasure trove of eccentric pieces and fun discoveries, but she barely processes which aisle they’re in, too focused on Trevor’s fluffy hair, broad shoulders, and light eyes.
“So…” Arasha starts when a few moments have gone by without either of them saying anything, just Trevor’s fidgeting.
“Look, I’m just going to come out and say it,” Trevor says with a heavy, deep breath, gaze moving from just over her shoulder, to the shelves of props, to his shoes with only brief glances at her face. “And if I’m way off base that’s fine and this isn’t going to change things, but I’ve been thinking a lot lately and… I really like you, Arasha. I value our friendship so much, and I think you’re really smart, and talented, and really fucking funny. And you’re gorgeous, too! So I was wondering if you would, maybe, want to go on a date sometime? And again, if not then it’s totally fine, I know that dating coworkers can get weird and I don’t want to put you in an awkward position or pressure you into anything, but I wanted to ask.”
Arasha waits for him to look at her, a grin fixed to her face. He scuffs his foot against the ground instead, eyes fixed to whatever pattern he’s digging with his shoe. Arasha coughs.
“What?” he asks when he finally looks up, cheeks dusted pink. “What does that look mean?”
“Trev, I’ve had a crush on you for a long time,” she says.
“Really?” he asks, smile blooming like a flower. She gives him a look.
“I wouldn’t agree to sing a romantic duet like that with just anyone,” she teases.
“I wouldn’t ask just anyone,” he replies, giddy excitement evident in his voice. “Does this mean it’s a yes to the date, or…”
He reaches for one of her hands as he trails off, fingers brushing the back of it. Arasha bites the inside of her lip and nods, linking them together.
“It’s a yes to the date.”
Trevor’s grin is the brightest thing she’s seen all day. Her heart backflips, and she doesn’t try to suppress it or ignore it this time.
“Let’s go slow, though, okay?” she requests, squeezing his hand. “You’re right about the workplace thing. I want to be sure we do this right.”
“Yeah, of course,” he says, nodding like a bobblehead. The motion brings them closer, and Arasha has the desire to completely ignore her own request and tug him down to meet her.
“Did anyone see where Arasha went?” Courtney calls from somewhere in the office. Arasha steps back with a chuckle, spell broken. Trevor brings his hand up to rub the back of his neck.
“Maybe we don’t plan the rest of it here,” he says. “Unless you think the random toilet we have there creates a romantic atmosphere?”
Arasha looks at the item in question, sitting innocuously on the shelf by her shoulder.
“Well…” she says, pretending to consider. She’s rewarded with the huff of a laugh. It’s a sweet victory.
“How about you text me the plan, okay?” she suggests instead.
“I can do that,” he says. “I can definitely do that.”
“Arasha!” Courtney calls again.
“We’d better go before she thinks we’re canoodling back here,” Trevor says. She’s almost embarrassed by how much she likes this dork, except she did just make a joke about finding a toilet romantic and he’s still here, so maybe they’re well-suited.
“Wouldn’t want that,” she says, in a tone of voice that she hopes implies she would like that very much. Based on the color still present on Trevor’s cheeks, she succeeded.
She said they’d go slow, not that she wouldn’t push any buttons. Trevor has gotten pretty good at reading her, and she knows that he’ll ask if he has concerns or needs clarification.
“Text me,” she commands and–in a sudden surge of confidence–presses up on her toes to press a kiss to his cheek. She walks back towards the bullpen with one last look over her shoulder. Trevor stands with a goofy smile and a hand pressed to his cheek, watching her leave.
As soon as she’s out of sight, she pumps a fist in the air and does a small, silent dance. Then she continues on her way very, very casually.
A first date doesn’t mean a forever partner. It might not go well, or it’ll go well for a few dates and then fizzle out, or something will happen that makes it difficult. But it could also lead to something amazing, and Arasha is feeling lucky.