"You said," Tegan said, shaking her head. "I should have recognised the sound, I was only thinking about it recently. One of your housemate's friends, right? Plays the bagpipes, and is looking for a band."
"I think it's more like Brit's friend's brother's flatmate," Theo answered. "But yeah. I was just talking about him, how everybody wants to be in a rock band these days even if their instrument isn't one you'd expect to be suitable. Maybe I should call Dean back, see if he can put you in touch with the guy."
"Might be good," Tracer said with a nod. "Realistically, we'll probably need to be a bigger band than the original anyway. Learning so many different instruments would be a big challenge for anyone."
"Yeah," Tegan nodded. "I was kind of thinking about that. Maybe it would be better to have as many members as we need for all the instruments. And then for the tracks that don't have a piper part, this guy could be in a kind of background chorus. Everybody has their chance to shine. And we... Okay, I really want to keep thinking about this. But this isn't band time, there's only two of us here. Unless the karaoke gang want to join the band too. But right now, we need to go see if Ness is joining us."
"Good point," Theo said. "If we're meeting him in Gaim Park we should probably have set off a couple of minutes ago. Let's get moving."
Nobody suggested leaving Ness to his own devices; even Tegan realised that she had to give him a chance. And she really didn't have to worry about any more pranks, because she had her secret weapon to protect her. She could take the high road, be nice to him, and hope that for once he wasn't going to throw it back in her face.
It did take a couple of minutes to get to Gaim Park, but Tegan wasn't surprised to see Ness sitting on a bench exactly where her dad had said he would be. People were walking in all directions; some of them filtering out of the day's last lectures in swarms, while many more were eating as they walked, and some were already setting off on whatever their plans for the evening were. Ness just sat there, staring into space. The only sign of life was his fingers drumming on the bench beside him, maybe composing music in his mind.
"I don't know if he'll be interested," she said to Theo. "He's kind of antisocial, don't think he'd be comfortable hanging around in a group where he's not in charge. But I promised my dad we'd at least offer."
"I'm sure we can redeem him," Linus said, and Tegan was immediately struck by worry that he would take Ness's side; believing whatever rumours her brother might come up with. The boys had always been more inclined to believe whatever Niles and Randy had said about her at school, too. But she didn't want to become as bad as he was, and she already knew that it could be just as easy to lose friends through being too suspicious. She wanted to give Ness a chance to behave, and promised herself that she wouldn't try to drive him away as long as he seemed to be acting reasonably. Maybe Theo had been right, and the right environment could really help him to grow out of whatever emotional problems he still had.
"Ness?" she said, walking closer. They were coming from the teal zone, so he was facing away from them, and didn't seem to have realised anyone was there until Tegan spoke. "Hey, Dad said you've got a couple of hours to kill. He asked me to come over and invite you to join us. We're going for karaoke this evening, not a big deal but... you want to come along? I don't think I ever heard you sing, but I think there's a whole range of talent in the group."
She blushed slightly as she said that. She knew that her own voice would be one for her friends to laugh at; she'd done a good deal of vocal training in an attempt to add one more instrument to her repertoire, but had never managed to be anything other than awful. She could perform technically, and probably hit all the right notes in the right order, but her lyrics always sounded too clinical and emotionless to her own ears, and so she'd been too embarrassed to let the other members of her band hear her sing. Tracer would hear her now, and she could only hope that his own weakness with high notes would keep him from openly laughing at her. In fact, now she thought about it, the two who were actually in a band would probably be the weakest singers in this group. Was that ironic, or just sad?
"I guess..." Ness mumbled. "I used to like singing, but I was a little kid then. And you know, it's kind of embarrassing without anybody to perform for. I had my problems in school, and it's only recently I've had enough confidence to talk to anyone at all. So I'm probably the worst singer you've ever heard."
"No, you got a lot of competition there," Karina answered, and Tegan wondered if her friend was jumping in with insulting her for the one thing she had no confidence in at all. A friend wouldn't do that, would they? It took a long second for her to realise that the comment could have been self-deprecating. Everybody was putting themself down now, and Tegan wondered how many of those were based on genuine beliefs, and how many were hoping to garner a little extra praise for a fairly decent performance.
"Hey, hey," Theo wagged a finger like a stern teacher, and suddenly it was hard enough to keep from laughing. "It's not about being best or worst, it's about having fun. The only way to win is to have a good time, and I promise you, I'm going to enjoy myself more than any of you!"
"Yeah. We can all be bad," Karina agreed, and then they were all walking together. Ness was hesitant, but all of the others were eager to support him. Even Tegan didn't want to put him down at that moment. They didn't go to karaoke right away, but stopped at Friedville Moist Chicken first; and it wasn't long before someone started singing at the table. There was something about the atmosphere; everyone nervous about their singing skills and wanting to reassure each other. It was silly, but it was easier to dissolve the tension when they were all together.
Tegan tried to remain calm, and not to worry about her brother ingratiating himself with her closest friends. But she knew that her friendships were at risk if he decided to put her down, and she knew that she needed to do something. So at any opportunity, she would remind the others that Ness's newfound good behaviour could all be an act; and that they shouldn't trust anything he said about her. She took care not to say anything when he could notice, keeping her snide comments to subtle hints, and maybe a little comment to Linus when they were both away from the table fetching more dip. But when she suddenly felt her bladder relax, she knew that he must be more perceptive than she had thought.
She took a deep breath, and did her best to pretend that whatever he had done hadn't worked. It was the only way she could think of to discourage him. And for now, she thought that she had managed to conceal her accident from any of the others. It was her secret; nobody could know how embarrassed she was. But she decided that she couldn't rely on it staying secret if there was a repeat performance. As they moved on to the karaoke club, she decided that she would pander to Ness as much as she needed to. It wasn't a surrender, just a tactical withdrawal. She would get him back for this sooner or later, but right now her best option was to let him believe that he had won, even if the diaper allowed her to hide her humiliation for now.
They sang. Everyone was a little nervous to arrive at Bronze Karaoke Night and see a drunk girl belting out a song tunelessly on stage. They were all sure that they could do better than her, but the number of people in the audience was still intimidating. But it didn't take long to figure out that they could get a private room if they wanted; and that seemed like the best option for everyone. They wouldn't have to sing for the whole crowd unless someone was feeling particularly proud of their performance.
Tegan picked a random pop hit from the menu when it was her turn. Real Girl. She was aware of every note that didn't quite hit the mark, but her friends had nothing but praise. Tracer and Ness somehow decided that they were going to try the same song; an old one called Electric Eye, which Tegan wasn't familiar with. Ness could hit the high notes, surprising her with his range, while Tracer poured feelings into the scream but could barely get any volume above his natural range.
"You need to train your head voice," Tegan said, shaking her head. "Look, John, I guess that song means something to you? But I know you could wow everyone if you picked something that's a better fit for your voice. And Ness? I was surprised there. You can reach the high notes, but you're not hitting them. I was expecting to find something to criticise you on, but all I can say is that you need training. The voice is an instrument like any other, and you can't just throw your vocal folds at a song and expect it to work. I really... I think you could be really good if you had some actual training."
"I've never seen anyone offering lessons," he answered with a dismissive shrug. "Like, guitar? Yeah. Or piano lessons. Everybody does that. But voice coaching is hard to find, and Dad's taken a pay cut to move out here, you know?"
"He did?" Tegan gasped, before she could even think about what he was saying.
"They offered him a job in Fortiscale," he said. "Would have been a decent raise, and assistant manager responsibilities. But there wasn't enough money to cover college costs. Dad had to sacrifice his shot at promotion to be somewhere we could go to college. We don't have the money now for classes in something like that. Sure, we're not a middle class family, are we? So let me sing. It's supposed to be fun, isn't it?"
Tegan opened her mouth to respond, and then realised that she didn't know what to say. She'd never even thought about Logan and Ness's financial situation, but a voice in the back of her mind was screaming that it was her who'd been so determined to have a chance at university. Did that mean that Ness was giving things up so that she could follow her dreams? She didn't want to see it that way, but it seemed to be what he was implying. And just then, she felt like she might be becoming as cruel as any of her brothers. That was a person she didn't want to be.
"I didn't know that," she said eventually; although she could remind herself that whatever Logan had chosen to sacrifice, it wasn't actually Ness deciding that her education mattered. And then she needed to show her friends that she wasn't as cruel as her last statement could make her seem. "I mean... It's not all about professionals. I just thought... your voice is good, okay? You have talent. And it would be a shame to waste it. Hell, maybe I could teach you if you can't afford pro lessons. I might not be that good, but I know the theory. And you're good enough that it would be a shame to waste it."
"I... Thanks," Ness mumbled, and everyone else murmured their support. Tegan just had to wonder what she had gotten herself into now...