Summer's Voicemail.

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Uh, yeah, this is Summer's voicemail. Who the hell calls people anymore? Just text me. But I guess if you insist on being weird and living in the dark ages, go ahead and leave me a message. And I'll text you back, like normal people do. Okay? Cool. I mean, the government is probably tapping all of our conversations anyway, but whatever."

*BEEEEEEEP*

Comments

[suitably_heroic]

You know, there was a kind of give and take to the friendship between him and Summer. A avoiding-too-much-vulnerability-by-taking-the-piss kind of relationship, if you will. Jack tried to honor that. It was a good vibe! They had a good vibe.

Of course that didn't account for the occasional sudden downward maudlin bents his brain could take. And that while Dane was out braving the Los Angeles night.

summer i think i might actually be homesick? wtfffff

Sorry, Summer.

[somethingwithturquoise]

This analysis of their friendship was so on point that Summer was almost tempted to just respond to that with simply 'new phone who dis?'

But she didn't. Instead, she just typed out:

they do say absence makes the heart grow fonder or whatever 😘

I think maybe there's just a limit to how long a road trip can be tolerable and ur finding that out

u good tho?

[suitably_heroic]

idk. la is too flat. did you know it was this flat? i look outside and there's not a single skyscraper and NOBODY is out on the pavement, let alone yelling at someone else for taking a wrong turn or w/ever.

He stared at his phone. Yeah, yeah, he knew his coping mechanisms at work, ugh, whatever, therapist.

never really had a homesickness before its weird

[somethingwithturquoise]

did u ever really feel like u had a home to be homesick for tho?

What? It seemed likely!

but almost there buddy! U got this!

[suitably_heroic]

no.

Jack considered the text he just sent.

space thats depressing u ever been homesick?

[somethingwithturquoise]

There was kind of a soft, sad smile at her phone. Summer love being right more than pretty much anything, but definitely not about everything...

yeah but usually when things go all to shit and it's horrible wherever I am at the time

I usually get like the opposite. Wanderlust or whatever.

Unless I get to count space in general as home, which like, geez summer presumptuous enough???

[suitably_heroic]

idk a good space ship can be a home i guess.

The Hawk had probably come closest to home before, which was a depressing thought in a completely different way. kinda weird uve been on island that long if u get wanderlust tho

[somethingwithturquoise]

I've been keeping myself busy

In ways that extended well beyond her control, too!

it helps me keep my feet on the ground

But if I stop for too long...

She was trying not to let herself stop for too long in this conversation.

Good thing she had all those Reese's pumpkins horded from the store!

[suitably_heroic]

well ur welcome on the next tour if u want. You could practically feel the shrug coming from that message, right?

Not that Jack wanted to think about the next tour right now. But hey, he could admit in the confines of his head that a tour with Summer would be nice.

[somethingwithturquoise]

FUNNY YOU SHOULD SAY THAT, NARRATIVE, BECAUSE....

what? Like in a million years after u manage to recover from this one?

Which she felt like was one of the most 'not a no' answer she could give, but it was also so 'not a no' that she realized she should probably at least say an actual 'yes.'

but that would be dope

[suitably_heroic]

yea in like a million years so like dont get excited. Because she was clearly excited! Or something!

Whatever.

last show tomorrow night, he added. then we start drivin home. just in time for xmas season.

[thatwaslucky]

Rey had listened to radio, and between the mood on Wednesday and this, a text was going out.

How are you doing?

Allowing for the idea that she could have interpreted all the noisemakers wrong.

[somethingwithturquoise]

Summer saw the text and immediately groaned, because she could only imagine what had happened on radio that morning, and was left wondering if she really should have been more mindful of the rum or if that would even matter, all things considered.

Eventually, her curiosity would probably get the better of her, but for now? Ugh, she so did not even want to know.

But she did want to at least keep Rey up to speed, for sure, so there was definitely a text back:

i'm fine. im pretty sure im not the one u should be worried about in this one

[thatwaslucky]

Yeah, skip radio. It was generally the way to go about this sort of thing, but especially when, again, noisemakers.

I can multitask. Is this a sangria night situation?

[somethingwithturquoise]

Ugh, some people were the absolute worst when it came to radio. And sometimes, those people were squirrels.

maybe. idk. it all happened kinda fast

Well, in the grand scheme of things, as far as 'existential relationship crises while also being a squirrel' went, anyway.

so i might just need some time and space u know?

It wasn't the worst idea. She was also floating around the idea of crashing at Jack's for a few days. What she really wanted to do was just fuck off to space for a little bit, but she knew that was probably the worst look at the moment.

[thatwaslucky]

Whatever you need, you know I'm here for you.

While at the same time really, really hoping she didn't get Stark's version first. She'd been on that end of this sort of thing before.

[suitably_heroic]

It had taken a while, but on Tuesday, a neat package of ten songs landed in Summer's messages, in a folder labeled 'Boxer'.

The first track was a thoughtful little thing, beginning with sparse instrumentation - just some piano, a hint of bass, the drums slowly kicking in while Jack's voice kept a meandering, thoughtful rhythm.

"I’m sitting here on this New York beachfront property
somewhere on Long Island, with a drink in my hand,
sand in my pockets, watching the sea roll into shore
Wondering – how did I get here? What did I do?
Where did I run to that led me to this place?
While I work on tracks about the past and letting go
I’m also staring into the waves of a new life
That tipped over the cusp before I could say no
And now it’s here, its waters so concise..."

The guitar picked up there, bringing a wryer edge to the song as Jack got into a more melodic, "I spent so much time saying goodbye to everything I ever was that I had no idea that who I’d be was waiting all along--"

It was a long track. It was meant to - to meander like his thoughts had on that baffling day out less than a week after Lana and Summer had helped bail him out. The song didn't lose that dreamlike, waves-to-shore quality even as it moved on, though it got rougher with the guitars, and the piano fell away.

From there it arced into darker territories - a morbid reflection on time spent feeling ambivalent about death, an even darker track about how there was always another body, before hitting a wryer, more almost-a-pop-song anthemic piece somewhere between hardcore punk and thrash metal called 'Still an Asshole' ("Look, I know I'm an asshole, I don't know how to sit still/And there's not a problem I can't fix with a punch and some kicks/I'm a boxer"). There was a song about the Force with lots of wild prog drumming and thoughtful, stretched-out guitars, a sarcastic track about Broadway, a dry love song with the notable title 'I'm not here to fix you'--

And then it finished off with the brooding, thoughtful song about ghosts he and Dane had written together to get Dane out of his funk, and the coda of the track he'd already sent Summer a minute of. 150 beats per minute of loud poppy-punk fury, more defiant than anything else on the record, with almost a hint of a laugh.

Musically, the whole record definitely sounded more cohesive and less like four people with slighly different tastes in music attempting to duel each other than the first one.

its done. will be at the bar tomorrow. dont murder my ego before then i need it to travel