ROSLYN: This episode of Love and Luck contains discussion of homophobic violence. Please, take care of yourself.

[Dial tone]

[Pickup]

ROSLYN: You've reached the Love and Luck Podcast.

[Music]

[Beep]

[Pickup]

[Beep]

KANE: Hey honey... it's good to have you home. I keep wandering upstairs just to make sure that you're really here. And you are, and you're sleeping, and sleeping well from the looks of it, too. Which makes sense, because I know you haven't slept well for the past few days, but also I want to kiss you a lot, so I kind of hope you wake up naturally soon.

Ricardo seems a little unsure of us all, but that's understandable. I imagine he'll feel better once you're up. Oh, well, except for Helen of course - everyone likes Helen, and Ricardo's no exception to that. She's having tea with him and the other boys.

So, also... [A bit quieter] I've been thinking about the bigots. I know you want to just gear up and go hunt them like we're the cavalry or something, but I don't think winging it is a wise decision. If we don't have a plan, then things might go badly, and I... I don't think I'd handle that very well. I can't even really handle thinking about that. I already don't want what happened to Ricardo happening to anyone else, but I especially can't handle the idea of it happening to you. Seriously, I don't think I'd cope with that at all.

Anyway... yeah. We should come up with a plan when we get a chance, tonight or tomorrow.

I love you. I hope you wake up soon so I can kiss your face.

[Hangup]

[Beep]

JASON: So... unsurprisingly, sleeping as early as I did means I'm awake as hell now. Now I'm the one sadly looking at you in bed and wanting to kiss you but not wanting to wake you up. I mean... not right this second, obviously, because if I was talking while you were sleeping, then I'd probably wake you, and I'm trying not to do that.

I've actually stepped outside for some air for a bit. Also because out here I can talk about magic stuff without anyone overhearing. It's fortunate that none of our boarders are smokers, hah.

So... we didn't really get a chance to plan anything today. Too many other things and people happening around us. So I thought I'd use this quiet moment to do a sort of... count, I guess, of what we know we have the ability to do, and maybe we can go from there.

We know we can affect people's emotions. That's something pretty solid we know how to do. We also know we can affect... I guess "luck" is the best thing to call it. Even our wards are built on both those things as a foundation... combining likelihoods with emotional effects.

Other than that... I don't know. I don't think we've got anything else, magically speaking. I feel like we should have a much better handle on this after, what, two years of practise? But then again, it's not like there's a textbook or class or something for this shit... we've just been figuring it out as we go.

I mean... it's possible we can do other shit? But... we don't know how, or what, so... we probably shouldn't count on it.

[Sighs] I don't know, babe. It's not much. Maybe we'd be better off just using a baseball bat.

[Hangup]

[Beep]

KANE: Hey... looks like you got to sleep again, though you'll probably wake up again in a little while anyway. When you do, I reckon we eat some food and then head out.

You're right about our magic... it's not much, but it's still something. I mean... we already established we're pretty sure we can find them. You found the bar by stumbling across it with magic, without knowing anything about it. We actually do know something about one of these fucks, and we know what kind of attitudes they hold and what kinds of effects they want to have on our area, so... I think we should be able to make ourselves magically lucky enough to find them without too much trouble.

What we do once we find them, however... [Sighs] Yeah, I'm not really sure. I'm kind of betting all our money on the emotional magic card. I figure... or, I hope, I guess is more accurate, that we can make them just... stop hating us. Make them go home and never do it again. Because honestly... that's all I want from this. I don't want to get into a fight or whatever, I just want this violence to stop.

[sigh] Having said that... maybe you should bring the baseball bat too, just in case things go bad. I mean, we can hope they don't, but... it doesn't hurt to be prepared.

[Hangup]

[Beep]

VICTOR: Hey Papa Bear, it's Victor. Listen, we're all a bit lost here without you both. Ricardo's been pretty upset, and Helen's looking after him, but she's kind of shaky, too. We're all on edge, to be honest. I know you guys want to find the people who did this and put a stop to it but... I mean, how do you even plan to do that? You weren't exactly clear on your plan when you left. There's got to be a better way than this.

Look, even if you don't come back right now, at least let us all know you're okay. We're all really worried, and we don't want what happened to Ricardo, or Michael, or Helen to happen to you two. So call me back, okay? Okay?

[Hangup]

[Beep]

KANE: Hey Victor, it's me. We're okay, don't worry. We're still looking for them. Jason's sort of taken the lead, he's better at this sort of stuff than I am. Uh... you know, like, asking people for help, and looking for clues, and uh... stuff like that. Yeah.

Anyway, look, we're not coming back until either we're done or we're exhausted, but we will come back, so don't worry about us, okay? We'll be okay. We're just making sure this shit doesn't continue. [SFX: Shouting] We said we'd look after you guys and that's what we're doi--

[SFX: Bottle breaking]

JASON: (Background) Ow!

KANE: Oh my god! Jason!

[Hangup]

[Beep]

VICTOR: Kane? Kane?? Kane!!! I've dialled like three times and you're not picking up. Are you okay? What happened? Call me back as soon as you get this!

[Hangup]

[Beep]

VICTOR: Jason! Jason, it's Victor. Please, call me back as soon as you get this! We need to know you're okay!

[Hangup]

[Music]

Love and Luck is written by Erin Kyan, and produced by Passer Vulpes Productions. Kane is voiced by Lee Davis-Thalbourne. Jason is voiced by Erin Kyan. Victor is voiced by Darby Turnbull. Credits spoken by Roslyn Quin. Recorded by Kermie Breydon.

For more information about Love and Luck, check out our website, loveandluckpodcast.com. You can also find us on facebook as Love and Luck Podcast, and follow us on twitter, at @LoveLuckPodcast.