fandomtownies | Groovy Tunes, Thursday Evening

Well, this was it. These were the last few moments Jonothon was going to spend on the island, doing last-minute checks to be certain that he'd tied up all his loose ends at the Groovy Tunes, carting around a woebegone feline in her carrier, with a knapsack with only his most personal belongings in it slung over one shoulder.

Most of his things, his magazines and all of his music with the exception of a select few albums, had been put into boxes labelled 'For George.' In his bag, it was the few articles of clothing that he hadn't already sent back to Massachusetts with Angelo and Jubes, wrapped carefully about the last odds and ends from his side of the room. His guitars had gone with them, as well. There was no way he was going to be able to haul those back there on his own through the Portalocity terminal madness. Especially if this went anything like his first time going to Massachusetts.

Which just left the few things he couldn't bear to part with, that he didn't trust in anybody's hands but his own. A slightly broken animatronic parrot, for example. A nautilus shell. A rather handsome leather jacket. A crown. Tokens. Mementos.

What he didn't need, sadly, were his keys to the Groovy Tunes. And if he was lingering a little longer than absolutely necessary when he'd stopped by to drop them off, just soaking in the feel of the place one last time... Well, who would blame him?

[This is going to be Jono's last post on the island, at least until I, you know, have another excuse to make a post on the island for him. Being Jono, he didn't really announce that he was leaving today, but if you have a reason to stop by the Groovy Tunes to catch him, feel free!]

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Alice needed to work. It wasn't the money, exactly; she was staying with Lady Ghanima, and though she would hate to impose, she could imagine that money itself would not be a difficulty. But she preferred not to rely on another's largess, and work would give her something with which to occupy herself.

So long as it wasn't strenuous, or dangerous. It wasn't that Alice had suddenly lost her taste for fun. More that she was carrying the one-and-only chance she and Leto would ever have at offspring, and was unsure exactly what sort of bumps and hurdles might threaten their daughter.

(Still convinced the tiny tadpole was a daughter, and still with no facts to prove it, one way or the other.)

And so naturally she gravitated towards Groovy Tunes. It had been a delightful place to work, and Dinah had enjoyed sunning herself there, as well. She recognized the figure in the jacket immediately, and some bit of her smiled at the cat carrier and knapsack. It echoed her own arrival, just two days ago, as that was very close to what she herself had brought.

"Jono," she said, warmly. It had been too long.

Well, there was a voice that Jono hadn't heard in a while. He had only been intending to stay for a couple of minutes, long enough to leave a note for the two remaining employees and to find a safe place to tuck away his keys, but the door had been open, and a light was on, and so...

//Alice, luv,// he greeted, offering her his best approximation of a smile. //I haven't seen you in some time. How've you been?//

It was interesting that she stop by. She'd been the one who had given him the job here, just about forever ago.

"I'm well," she said, although her eyes still looked tired. She was sleeping better, perhaps simply because of how much stress had dissipated. "Well, I'm not entirely well, but I'm not un-well in a way that's cause for concern. Sometimes one isn't entirely well but for expected reasons, you know."

She was still Alice, which meant still mad. In case he was thinking she might have developed some sort of sense while she was away. She hadn't.

"Are you leaving, then?" she asked, a trace wistfully. She was no longer sure who, here, was from her time, or who would remember her fondly. "I apologize for missing your graduation. There were ... other concerns that had to be attended to, I'm afraid."

//It's life, luv. I won't hold it against you.//

Really, his own family hadn't shown up for his graduation. Not that he'd been expecting them to, but it would have been nice. A little. Maybe.

//I've got a school in Massachusetts waiting for me. Not college, per se, but what I learn there should be fairly useful to me in th'long run nevertheless. Still, I'm going to miss this place, though.//

"Thank you," she said, graciously, dropping him a curtsy.

It was hard not being Queen; she'd spent nearly a year immersed in her Queendom, remembering all the tricks. It was enough work not to refer to herself accidentally as 'we.'

"It seems strange to me, this place," she said, nodding to the store itself. "It looks exactly the same. That seems odd, considering how much else has changed."

//That's Fandom, I suppose... Th'more everything else changes, th'more constant this place is bound and determined to be.// He shrugged, tossing hsi keys up thoughtfully and catching them again. //Part of me hopes that it'll still be th'same if I ever come back. Life otherwise always seems so hell-bent on moving along faster'n anybody can keep up, after all.//

"That's rather more true than I wish it would be," Alice admitted, one hand flitting almost imperceptibly to cover her stomach.

She (or he, but she wasn't a he) had completely upended Alice's life, and she had only existed a little under two months. Impressive, that.

"So, we shall keep Groovy Tunes as a safe harbor against change?" she asked. "Reassuringly constant, only the music itself will adapt to what comes next."

//I suppose we'll have to,// Jono agreed, giving the room one more good looking over before turning a thoughtful glance in Alice's direction. //It's a shame I won't be here to make certain that it sticks.//

He tossed the keys up again. Caught them again. Tilted his head at Alice thoughtfully.

//It would be nice if I happened to have somebody with managerial experience to pass these keys to. Somebody who appreciates that constant...//

She smiled at that, a bit like the smile her old friend The Cat used to give.

"In what I'm quite certain is a coincidence," Alice said, "I had just been musing on how very desperately I needed a job for the summer. Though I daresay I would have to pass the reigns on to another qualified employee a handful of months from now."

//Oh? My, but that is good luck, innit?// Toss and catch. Toss and catch. //... Take care of it for me, luv.//

He imagined that Alice had a decent catching arm. And that would be why the keys that he'd been intending to tuck away were now sailing in a slow, graceful arc toward her, instead.

"I will," she said, catching the keys easily. "Your store is in good hands. I suppose it isn't your store any more than it is mine, now is it? Though I suppose being employed her allows ownership in the reverse pattern, that is, the store has a strong claim on me."

//Maybe th'truth of it is that we both simply belong to th'shop, and it's just letting us take the occasional breather before it calls us back,// Jono mused.

He liked that train of thought. He certainly didn't mind entertaining the idea that he might find himself living here on the island again, someday.

"I shall hope it releases me gently, when the time comes," Alice said lightly.

She pocketed the keys. "But I shall keep the store ready, for whoever it is that might come next."

Groovy Tunes, Thursday Evening

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