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Simon and Grace woke up the same way they had for a while. Bored out of their minds. Rocky was also bored, but less antsy than Simon and Grace. While Rocky was making new figures and studying humans both in person and through the internet, Simon and Grace had nearly run out of things to do. They would tell each other jokes, talk, sit in silence with their thoughts, and sit in the Don’t Go Crazy room for hours every day. They were getting sick of it.
It left them both a bit snappy at times, although the disagreements never lasted long. As the days drifted on, they both got hungrier, more tired, and increasingly agitated. They tried to think of something to do that wouldn’t burn so many calories but was still stimulating and fun.
That was when Grace had a flashback. He remembered Stratt singing to him in a bar. What was it called again? It wasn’t just for him.
Simon waited patiently for Grace to return to him. When he finally looked at him, Simon asked calmly “You alright?” Grace shook the thoughts out of his head and looked at Simon with a new vigor. “Have you ever tried karaoke?”
“Have I ever tried… what?” Simon asked, confused. Grace chuckled softly and took Simon by the hand, leading him off the bed and out of the bed room. Simon smiled sweetly. Rocky followed along as he heard them leave.
“Where going, question?” Rocky asked Grace as Simon was drug along. “You’ll see, bud.” Grace replied, finally arriving at his destination.
Grace began to set up the Don’t Go Crazy room as quickly as possible through the computer. He dimmed the lights and set up an illuminated strip where the singer would be standing.
“Umm… what exactly are we doing here?” Simon asked cautiously. “Karaoke is a game kinda. We basically take turns singing our favorite songs with just the backing track and just kind of have fun with it.” Grace explained.
Simon had never even heard of this concept. I mean, people hummed or sang sometimes but not to entertain each other. It felt a little embarrassing to even think about. He’d never sang on his own with others watching before.
Grace finished set up for the most part as Simon and Rocky made themselves comfortable in the room. Grace, sensing some hesitation from Simon, shook out his own nervousness and offered “it’s alright, I can go first. Do you have a song preference? We’ve listened to a lot of music together so…” “I dunno, it’s your performance.” Simon teased. “Right, yeah. Yes.” Grace reassured himself as he began to look through songs on the computer.
When he finally found one, he clicked on it quickly. Then he went to the center of the illuminated area and waited for the part where he sang, taking a deep breath.
It was a little awkward for the last 10ish seconds of music only. He was trying to focus on not missing the start of the words, but Simon was staring at him and so was Rocky. Then Simon smiled at him a bit and he began to sing.
The song wasn’t fast but it wasn’t slow either. He purposefully chose an easy-ish song that he knew well and would be a good opener. It was a vaguely worded love song that just repeated the same chorus 3 times with slightly different words in between.
Simon was caught up in Ryland. His face, his voice, every movement he made. As the song drew to a close, Simon was suddenly very nervous. Both at the prospect of singing for Ryland and because he was sure his face was very red.
If Grace noticed, he didn’t say anything. Just coming to sit down next to Simon. “Boo! Grace bad at singing. Not good like Eridian. Make many mistakes. Statement.” Rocky heckled as he sat. Grace chuckled once again. It was like Simon’s heart had been lit on fire. In a good way.
“Alright, think you can manage that?” Grace said, a little out of breath. Simon nodded, standing to walk to the computer.
Simon’s nerves ticked up quickly while looking for a song. Luckily he found one fairly quick. It was one he listened to frequently and it had a couple guitar solos where he could take a breath.
As the song began to play, Grace grinned. He was thrilled Simon would give this a try, plus the song he picked kind of reminded him briefly of his students. This song had come out less than a year before he began working on Project Hail Mary and it was very popular with younger teens.
Simon began to sing, kind of giggling at himself between every section of the song. He was trying to feel as little embarrassment as possible.
When the song concluded, Simon finally looked up at Ryland. His eyes were sparkling. He looked so pleased with himself and Simon. “Boo-!” Rocky began, before Grace banged on his enclosure. Rocky made a startled unhappy noise and sat back down.
“You know what, I have an idea.” Grace said as he left the room. “Where is it, where is it?” Grace repeated to himself. He knew there was some vodka somewhere. It would probably be the last of it, but it was worth it to give Simon a good time.
“Aha!” Grace’s voice rang through the ship. “Alright, I found some vodka. Do you want some?” Grace offered as he came back into the room. “Vodka?” Simon asked. “Y’know? Like Alcohol.” Grace responded.
Simon’s eyes went wide for a moment. He’d only had alcohol maybe a handful of times. Mostly to numb pain. He was kind of still doing that. Just emotionally this time.
“Yeah, sure.” Simon finally said. “Sorry it’s in a bag. I’d put it into cups but you kind of have to suction it. I don’t need to have any if it’s weird. I just figured it would help a little. But go slow! We haven’t had too much to eat recently and we definitely don’t want to be throwing up.” Grace rambled.
“Alright, yeah. I don’t mind sharing. It’s not a big deal. But if you don’t want to-.” “Nono, I do!” Grace interjected. “What is that? Question.” Rocky asked.
“It’s alcohol. Specifically vodka. It helps humans lighten up a little. Have fun. It can make us sick if we have too much though.” Grace explained.
“Eridians have equivalent Rocky thinks. It’s *insert array of musical notes*.” Grace swiftly typed it into the computer.
Simon took a sip. It took a minute for the vodka to reach his mouth. But when it did, oh boy. Simon hissed. “It burns.” “Yeah, we’ve got some strong stuff here.” Grace responded.
Simon handed the tubed bag to Ryland. “Your turn.” He said with a grin. Ryland slowly put the tube up to his mouth and sucked some alcohol into it. He blinked quickly and then put it back down. Simon was honestly kind of impressed. He barely reacted to something that Simon thought was burning his insides for a moment.
Then they resumed karaoke. Maybe three rounds in of singing onstage and then sipping off of it while Rocky monitored them and occasionally heckled Grace, the two of them were starting to get a little drunk.
Unfortunately Grace despite his upped tolerance was still a bit of a lightweight and Simon had virtually zero tolerance. They were tipsy fairly quickly and steadily working their way towards drunk.
When Grace stood up for his turn and nearly fell onto Simon, Rocky cut them off. Simon finished the last couple of sips remaining quickly as Rocky berated him.
Grace sang his second to last song a little slurred. Simon sang his last song giggling his ass off. Then Grace stepped up for what would be determined as the last song trying not to cry.
He picked an emotional song and just let the tears flow as he sang. Maybe half way through, when Ryland began to actually cry with more than just his eyes leaking, Simon shut the program off and led him off stage, back to a sitting position. “That’s enough of that.” He slurred.
“Rocky think humans stupid. Statement.” Rocky huffed as he got into his ball. Simon and Grace were just kind of slumped against each other by the time Rocky got to them. They attempted to lay down to go to sleep right there, but Rocky wouldn’t stand for that.
“No comfortable. Must sleep in bed. Statement.” Rocky scolded as he lightly rolled into their backs a few times.
After a few minutes of convincing, they were finally ready to get off their butts and head to the bedroom. It was a slow, careful walk. Rocky being extra cautious of their feet and letting them use him as a steadying tool as needed.
They finally got into bed and both slumped over against the wall. “No! Simon, Grace lay down!” Rocky scolded once again as he went to his sleep-watching spot, no longer able to reach to help out.
Both of them laid down as Rocky made it to his spot above them. Grace began humming the first song Simon had sung quietly, slowly getting more and more distorted until he finally quiet into slow, steady breaths. Simon smiled to himself, kissing Grace on the head and whispering “cute.” To him. Grace was too knocked out to hear. Simon fell asleep moments after.
It was a good night.