"Fillies and Gentlecolts, it is time for your favorite bunch of cover crooning cohorts! It's the Scratch Batch! Featuring Mic Drop, Pick Guard, Kick Pedal and introducing Graceful Bass!" The introduction kicked off a horde of butterflies in Grace's stomach. Squishing them back down, Grace strode unto the stage with confidence behind the other band members. They all waved to the cheering crowd and took their positions.
'Come On Twily' was this Scratch Batch's show opener and they always gave it an up tempo rock/ska twist. The result was a high energy kickstart to the performance. Grace had played behind the scenes for this song enough to know it by heart. But, to his surprise that wasn't what Mic started singing.
Instead, he started on an unfamiliar vocal run. As Mic continued, Grace belatedly realized it was a new take on the cool-down song. Quickly changing his settings to fit the song, Grace watched the other members to see if they were playing tricks on him. Pick followed the change easy enough, which was suspicious, but Kick had to scramble for her whisk, chucking one of her drumsticks in apparent frustration. In the backdrop, Grace could hear the twins start on keyboards. They were late coming in, too.
Grace realized his biggest problem right after the second verse. Pick was playing over the bass line, adding in elements Grace hadn't heard before. His freestyling forced Grace to play normally to help Kick keep the song on track. Continuing this freestyling over through the song transition, Grace went silent again as he had no idea what song they were leading into. Kick kept her namesake going to keep the beat, but she seemed at a loss as to what was coming as well. It turned out to be the Scratch Batch's usual closer song.
Then something completely unexpected happened. Pick's low and high E strings snapped simultaneously, eliciting a yelp of pain and surprise as the guitar player's hoof and forelimb were struck by the strings. Mic turned to look at Pick but soldiered on, dragging Grace and Kick along as he doggedly attempted to finish the song. Pick fled the stage to grab another guitar but didn't make it back in time to finish the song. Abruptly, Mic left the stage to go after Pick. This left Grace, Kick, and a confused crowd.
Struck by a certain realization, Grace took the center stage and started up the bass line to 'A Diamond Dog Bites The Dust.' Looking back, he saw Kick smile before she started up her drums. A voice that sounded suspiciously like Sunny's yelled out, "Sing!" This drew a round of cheers from the rest of the crowd. Strutting up to the mic, Grace started singing.
***
The ceiling, and his orientation to it, confused him. But, in the haze of pain and early-waking confusion, he was decidedly fixated on it. Eventually, there would be some sort of sense. The memories might be booze-tinged, but he had faith he would remember his name, his location, and the sequence of events that led him to stare at this ceiling. It was familiar, yet still failed to ring a bell.
At the thought of ringing bells, the pain went his head as if it were struck by a hammer. The hangover was strong, fierce, and enduring. Grace could only groan with the waves of pain and nausea. This was no ordinary hangover, Grace realized.
When the bed moved, Grace felt like a small ship on a storm-tossed sea. Juri's voice was incredibly soft, which was nice. "I'm not judging you, just so you know. From what I heard, you had a rousing success beyond your wildest dreams last night. You came back very exuberant, which was infectious until you passed out cold on my bed."
Wait, Grace thought, his bed?
"Which makes sense, given that Blue Hope is on yours. He stayed up late to see you, but passed out just before you got home. Thank Celestia for that at least. I've heard of ponies coming back from a performance with a real high, but you dragged yourself back in, stinking of booze and clinging to this." Juri held up Grace's bottle of diet pills.
When Grace didn't speak, Juri continued. "If these are what I think they are, then you should know they're highly experimental. Griffon trials have found a risk of addiction. Take enough of these for even a brief period and you start losing your head."
"Oh, please. They're a diet pill, Juri." Grace said, sitting up in an ill-conceived attempt to reassure his roommate. He held his head with both hooves as it pounded and a wave of nausea overtook him.
"Fine. How many nights have you come home after drinking?" Juri asked, standing up to look over Grace.
"Drinking or drunk?" Grace asked.
Juri's lips tightened before he spoke. "That you even had to ask that..."
"I work at a club. A few drinks isn't going to kill me. And I was celebrating a 'rousing success' at the performance last night. Thank you so much for asking about that by the way. Mic and Pick went off and left me to run the show with Kick. Crowd ate it up and I knocked them all off their hooves." Grace bragged.
"Very impressive." Juri replied in a tone that was anything but impressed. Belatedly, Grace realized Juri said Grace had already regaled him with this story.
"Thanks." Grace countered, intentionally not taking the hint. "I'll clear out of here."
If sitting up had been ill-conceived, standing up was downright stupid. The room spun, his left side went out from underneath him and he hit Juri's bedside table on the way down, bruising his flank.
"Idiot!" Juri called out in surprise. Scurrying to Grace's side, Juri heaved him back on to the bed with considerable effort. "You're still drunk from last night. Just stay there until you sober up. Then we can talk about the future. I'm going to go check on the foal you agreed to watch." Juri headed for the door.
"I'm sorry, okay? I know I went overboard." Grace said, forlornly. "I just wasn't thinking about the consequences."
Still turned away, Juri shook his head. "Yeah, you sure didn't think. Just went ahead to drink. And now you're so drunk you stink. And you've put me on the brink."
Through the haze of pain and nausea, Grace noticed that Juri hadn't made it out the door yet. "Nice rhyming. You might leave that to a professional next time though."
When Juri didn't move or respond, Grace perked his ears in Juri's direction. "What is going on? You okay?"
Grace quieted even his own breathing and strained his addled senses. He could just barely hear Juri mumbling something, but it didn't make sense. "Juri? Juristic?" When that failed, Grace went louder. "Juristic Note!"
Juri's head perked up and the stallion turned around. His face was a mask of confusion. "Wha-?"
"You were going to go check on Blue Hope." Grace said, lifting his aching head off of his hooves in spite of the pain that came with it. "Then you started rhyming. And just now you were muttering something."
"I...I was?" Juri's eyes widened, his brow shot back. Just as quickly as the shock registered, his face took on a more concentrated look. He turned to look at his dresser drawer. Grace saw his lips move again, as if he was talking to somepony else.
"Juri! You're really starting to freak me out." Grace said, setting one forehoof down gingerly on the floor.
"No! Stay on the bed. Don't fall again. I'll be back. Gotta check on Blue. Through. Too. You. New. Crew. Dew." The stallion looked horrified, then turned around again to leave.
"Juri, focus!" Grace cautioned as the stallion ran into the door. Juri shook his head, looked back in embarrassment and exited the room. From his hoofsteps, Grace realized the other stallion had just gone into the bathroom.
***
The second time Grace woke up, he felt bad. Not just the hangover from hell, but also that he'd stressed out Juri. Getting up gingerly, Grace favored his left side as he got up and walked to the kitchen.
Poking his head into the fridge, Grace saw a jug of some sort of juice with his name on it. He reached out magically, which sent his headache into overdrive, breaking his concentration. Reaching out with a hoof, Grace brought the jug to the kitchen table. He didn't even bother to grab a glass, instead drinking straight from the jug.
After a moment, he realized he felt a little better, his headache was easing. By the time he finished the jug, he was almost back to normal.
"I picked up the strongest hangover potion I could. Dropped Blue back off with his mother. I explained the situation. Made you sound better than you deserved. Said you were sick." Juri explained, his voice devoid of emotion. Grace looked over and saw him sitting on the couch in the dark.
"Thank you. I don't deserve you, either." Grace said, hanging his head at the table.
"You're lucky. You shouldn't have been drinking with a foal around. Or you shouldn't have had a foal around while you worked nights at a club." Juri said, his stoicism holding out.
"I'll keep that in mind. Sorry again." Grace said.
Juri sighed. "You gonna keep taking those griffon pills?"
"I'm not addicted to them." Grace said, defensively.
Even in the dark, Grace could see Juri shrug. "Then give them up. Taking them with alcohol is even worse." Juri suggested. His monotonous tone started to grate on Grace's nerves.
"You're not my mother, Juri." Grace said, wincing at the immaturity.
"And yet this is my home. Boat. Home boat." Juri sounded unsure of himself.
"Houseboat." Grace corrected. "All those hours are starting to add up, Juri."
"I can handle it. I just...forgot to take care of myself. You could say we both have a bit of a problem in that department." Juri said.
"Maybe I'll just take my problems and go." Grace threatened.
Juri's head finally turned to look at Grace. "Go take a walk then. Maybe you'll find someplace better."
Grace stood, feeling quite like a teenager throwing a tantrum but unable to stop himself. "Maybe I will."
Juri shook his head as Grace grabbed his saddlebags and opened the door. "I hope you do."
His first stop was to talk to Blue and his mother. Neither were home, so Grace left a note of apology on the door and went on to see Sunny.
He found the barpony at the Lemonlight, getting some prep work done. Sunny looked up as Grace entered. "Well, you look like you've had a hell of a night."
"My roommate is pissed at me." Grace explained.
"Considering how drunk you got last night, I'm not surprised." Sunny said with a laugh. "I am surprised that you're up so early, though. Well, relatively early."
"Yeah, well, thank the roommate on that score as well." Grace replied.
"You sure this isn't just a roommate? I wouldn't judge you." Sunny said, looking at Grace with a skeptical eye.
Grace lifted an eyebrow. "I...well I don't think he even thinks that way. He's a crime statistic calculating robot with occasional pony-like tendencies."
Sunny filled a glass with ice and water and passed it across the bar. "And those pony-like tendencies include caring about you. Even just as a friend, that's pretty rare in this city."
"We're not from this city." Grace pointed out before taking a drink.
Sunny nodded. "Then I recommend you stay together. Look out for each other. Any pony that would chew you out for getting drunk is probably worth the effort. If my three previous marriages are anything to go by, you can take that as a fact."
"Thanks Sunny." Grace said, looking down again. "You ever picked up a bad habit?"
The barpony nodded. "Quite a few. Went to rehab more times than I can count before I quit my problems and got up enough money to buy an old crumbling church." Sunny said.
Grace shook his head. "Well, that worked out for you."
"I've been lucky. I nipped my problems before they nipped me. I've lost many, many friends to some seemingly harmless habits." Sunny said, wiping the same spot on the bar absent-mindedly.
Grace felt like a proper idiot. "Well, looks like I've got to nip something as well."
"You need any help, let me know." Sunny said.
"Got a place I can stay tonight?" Grace asked.
"Stallion up and go back and apologize to that 'roommate' of yours until he forgives you." Sunny said firmly.
"Yes, sir." Grace said with a teasing grumble. Finishing the glass of water, Grace hopped down from the bar and headed home.