fandomtownies | The Boards, Saturday Morning

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The Boards, Saturday Morning

Someday, Jono was going to come downstairs and decide that he was too bloody old for Fandom being... Fandom. Someday. And granted, he told himself that bloody near every morning he woke up around here, but this time he meant it.

... He meant that someday, he'd decide that? Er.

He was going to blame that pear-shaped train of thought on the fact that he couldn't have coffee anymore, and there was nobody around who could string up a psionic link in order to share. Years of living back and forth between Fandom and Kaeleer had spoiled him, and now he was tripping through the building, thankful for the glow his flames gave off while looking around for the reason the lights in the Boards were so bloody dim this morning.

He hadn't been expecting to see the power packs for his collar out and charging, all things considered. He hadn't used the thing in ages, and for obvious reasons, but the sight of them coupled with the fact that he hadn't woken up with a cat on his feet were at least a decent clue that the island was messing with him somehow. He gave his head a shake, swapped the charging power packs out for a few new ones in case he was the odd factor here as opposed to the charging collar components, and then sat himself down in the lobby and pulled out his acoustic guitar, which was looking a good twenty years of wear and use younger than he remembered it. Fandom.

No Stratocaster today. Not with the amount of power he was re-routing to those power packs he couldn't even use. But there was definitely music.

[Open Boards!]

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And where there was music, there was an Envy, too.

Well. It didn't always work like that. She seldom happened to be here when he was, in no small part because she visited the island pretty rarely just in general. But, sometimes. Sometimes it held true.

And this was one of those times. She came in, and she stopped, and she listened.

Jono glanced up when she came in, of course. As a telepath, it was difficult not to notice when someone familiar entered the room after an entire night spent in a building alone. He didn't stop playing, though, simply kept his fingers moving over the strings, fingerpicking songs that were old even when he was still young.

A smile moved across his features, settling in around the corners of his eyes, and he gave Natalie a nod.

//It's been a while, luv.//

Edited 2013-06-15 13:37 (UTC)

"Always is." Envy was a busy woman. Had been for quite some time now. But she smiled. "How are things?"

//About the same as they ever are,// Jonothon replied, some vague sense of amusement filtering through along with his psionic voice. When were things ever the same, really, between the handful of worlds that he considered home? //Teaching again. It's always gratifying seeing the looks on the faces of the students when they realize that yes, a man physically incapable of singing is going to lecture them on their vocals, and he's going to be ruthless and thorough about it, too.//

Because Jono had to do something to keep himself amused around here, after all.

//How's fame been treating you these days, luv?//

Envy's shrug was light, because some things had to remain the same. Even if it was just small gestures. "Same as ever," she said. "We're aiming for a December release with the new album. Touring again after that."

//Making a stop in Baltimore this time around? I'd like to take a few of my students on a field trip to see, show them how it's supposed to be done.//

Because if you asked Jono, every batch of students he was going to get until the end of time were clearly singing horribly out of spite and entirely because the universe was out to get him. Even that one semester when most of the kids in his class had been princesses with their own songbird accompaniment.

Especially that one semester.

"Baltimore or DC." One of those was pretty much mandatory at this point. Minor sentimentality towards Fandom. Maybe. She would probably not own up to it. Kind of like her insistance on always including a specific Seattle in her tours. "Maybe backstage passes too."

He was pretty much the only person she knew that she'd let bring a bunch of teenagers backstage at one of her shows, yes.

//They'd be much appreciated if you could arrange for them,// Jono replied, pleased at the prospect. //I've always got a few fans of yours in my classes these days, it'd definitely make them happy.//

Him too, of course. They so rarely had the chance to touch base like this, these days.

//Odds are you'll have one or two ask if you're in the market for roadies looking to haul your equipment about. It'll be nearly time for some of them to graduate, by then.//

And with the sort of people this island attracted...

"Well, if they're reliable types who can deal with the demands of multiversal tour life, there might be space for them with me," Envy replied. "Fandom types are an asset because they're not likely to freak out the first time we go somewhere that looks like Space Battles."

//Of course they're reliable, luv. They're my students.//

Jono would have it no other way. He wouldn't even be mentioning the possibility if he didn't think they were capable of handling the work, and handling it well.

//I've had a couple of years with them to thump a sense of responsibility into their heads, and Fandom has done the rest. It usually does.//

"It has a way of doing that." By often being an environment unsuitable for irresponsible teenagers. But still. She knew how it went. "Then, they have a shot. We'll see about it when that time rolls around. And I know Lucas might try to recruit people away from my crew too, anyway."

Mostly he liked the Fandom folks who called him Captain America because it amused him.

And that surprised Jonothon... not at all.

//Someone who knows their way around a skateboard and a film set?// He nodded a little. //I'm sure there are a few of those running around here, too. Not many have actually watched Action Doctor, though.//

Jono had attempted. It was on cable on night and he had been sick of infomercials. That had been a mistake.

Hey now, he'd made better movies since then! Or at least ones that were a little more dramatic. Even though even Envy wasn't entirely sure what the Academy had been thinking in giving him an Oscar or two.

"Lu has DVD sets handy for education purposes." Sadly, not a joke. "And he pays well."

Okay, they both did.

//I'll pass that information on to my students, if it looks like they're still struggling for a place to belong come gradation,// Jono mused, strumming a few aimless notes on his guitar as he pondered what to say, what song to play next, what to do about those teens that he worried about the most.

The usual.

//I'm sure they'll appreciate knowing, too.//

"Good." She nodded, and fell quiet for a moment. She'd never had a problem with a little bit of silence, and that had not changed. A moment passed like that. And then, "Fancy a song?"

//Always, luv,// came his reply, along with a little nod. //It's been a while since I've had somebody to play with. Piano's right where it's always been, waiting for someone who knows her way around it to coax something good out, if you'd like.//

Envy's nigh-impossible heels were already clicking against the floor. She knew the way to the piano, of course she did.

"London Calling?" she suggested. "Lucas keeps listening to nothing but various kinds of punk lately. Says he's going back to his roots."

//If you don't mind that it'll be an acoustic cover, I don't,// Jono replied, carrying his guitar as he followed along. //Building's a little low on power at the moment. Haven't figured out if that's because the island has messed around with my things, or if I'm actually doing a favour to a younger, more vocal me.//

He nodded toward the power packs, charging against the wall.

//Really, acoustic or not, I'll never say no to The Clash.//

They happened to be Jono's roots, too.

Envy's eyes passed over the power packs with mild curiosity. But, since waking up in a bouncy castle this mornig, she'd once again adopted the point of view that this was Fandom, and things would sort themselves one way or another.

"Acoustic is fine." She'd been veering back towards a louder, more electronic sound in her career for a while now. Playing something else was always an interesting contrast. "Lu plays his records loud and electric enough."

//Well, then the variety will do you some good,// Jonothon decided, a bit of a smirk in his tone. //You come here to relax anyhow, don't you? Acoustic's good for that.//

There was a reason Jono hadn't moved the piano in all these years.

"I would have to be dumber than I am to come to Fandom to relax."

Her wry tone said that was exactly what she did, though. Here, specifically. Sometimes, for a moment or two, she could actually remember the mild-mannered girl she'd once been.

She took a seat at the piano.

Hey, Jono wasn't about to judge. There was a reason he still owned the Boards after all these years. There was a reason that he kept coming back, even though there were two other worlds that he easily referred to as 'home.'

//Don't worry, luv. I won't tell.//

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a guitar pick.

Envy didn't reply, though her soft snort was probably reply enough. She reached down and pulled her ridiculous high heels off. She could've actually played just fine with them on (years of practice, see), but she wanted to feel the floor under her feet. And it wasn't as if she had to maintain a perfect image here of all places.

Not that she'd had to consciously maintain an image for a long time now. There was no Natalie. There was just her.

She straightened up, her shoes neatly next to the stool. And then she began to play.

And if she was playing, Jono was going to play along, fingers moving over the strings of his guitar as he silently marveled at how new it felt in his hands. He couldn't sing. Not the way he used to, deep and wild, like something untamed had been taught to make music and had taken to the idea with a passion. But he could do the next best thing, singing the way he spoke, with a twist of feeling and notions that managed to form, at their core, the suggestion of a song.

//London calling to the faraway towns
Now war is declared, and battle come down...//

What he couldn't convey with his voice, he was going to play with his guitar. It was the best he could do.

And Envy could have enough of an actual voice for both of them. A little deeper and darker with age, he kind of voice that routinely sang about raw sugar, breathing underwater, and destroying to create. The piano didn't feel as old as it should have, but that didn't mean she couldn't get jangling notes out of it.

"London calling to the underworld
Come out of the cupboard, you boys and girls."

With his guitar in her ears and his telepathic voice in her brain, his best was good enough. It always had been.

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The Boards, Saturday Morning

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