[Dial tone]

[Hangup]

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

[Music]

[Beep]

[Pickup]

[Beep]

KANE: [Gently] Hey honey, I hope you're sleeping okay, but... I'm gonna come wreck it in about an hour. The train we were going to take to Wangaratta got cancelled, so... I rescheduled us for an earlier train. Sorry. I know that's annoying. but if we want to have enough time to settle in at Wang before seeing your sister... it's kind of necessary, I'm afraid.

Michael's already here, and Victor's coming in tonight for the late shift, so that's covered. I'm just gonna try and get some last minute stuff done now, so that I can just wake you at the latest possible moment and just kind of... roll you out of bed and onto a train.

Sorry. I know you won't even hear this until I've already done it, but... I'm still sorry!

[Hangup]

[Beep]

[FX: TRAIN NOISES]

KANE: Hey, Michael, it's Kane. This is probably nothing, but can you check the laundry? I think I left the dryer on, and it's been playing up and not turning off when the timer finishes, so... if you could check it and make sure it's off, I'd really appreciate it. Sorry. Thanks.

[Hangup]

[Beep]

MICHAEL: Hey, Kane, I checked the dryer and it's definitely off. So you don't need to worry, everything is fine.

And everything is fine, I promise. Everyone is good here. Nothing bad has happened, so... enjoy your holiday, okay?

And thank you again for letting me show my paintings here - I got talking with someone about them today and they bought two of them!

[Hangup]

[Beep]

[FX: TRAIN NOISES]

KANE: Thanks, Michael. I appreciate it. Sorry. I'm just a bit nervous about meeting Jason's family, I think, and my brain is trying to find literally anything else to panic about. It's alarmly good at that, ugh.

Anyway. Thank you. And congratulations on selling some paintings!! Lots more will sell over the coming weeks, I know it. You're an incredible artist.

Looks like we'll be arriving at Wangaratta soon, so I'll talk to you later.

[Hangup]

[Beep]

VICTOR: [Nicely] Hey, Papa Bear, it's Victor. Jason texted me to ask if I could leave you a message, since you've been stressing out a bit. He thought it might calm you down to hear that things are good here.

Well, they absolutely are. Good, I mean. We're busy but not too busy, lots of new people and regulars as well.

Although if it would be more believable to hear how your children are misbehaving while you're away, Helen and Mira have taken your leave as an opportunity to put fairy lights up over the back lounge. But I promise you, I'll make sure they take them down before we all go to bed. There will be no accidental electric fires, don't worry.

Ah... what else? Oh, I bought in more plants when I came in, like you wanted. I was going to put them up over the bar, but Ricardo said you were really particular about knots that you, umm, wanted to use, or something? So... I've, uh, just put them on top of and around the back of the bar at the moment, and... you can string them up however you like, when you get back.

Uh... yeah. That's all I can think of. I promise I'll call and leave you another message if I can think of more to say, okay?

I hope you guys are having fun!

[Hangup]

[Beep]

VICTOR: [Tired] Hey, Papa Bear. Just closed up for the night, and everything went fine. And yes, the fairy lights have been taken down, so you don't need to worry about that, either. Although, I do have to say in their favour, they looked really good. I know you worry about the fire risk, but... uh, you buy, like, LED lights now, so... you know, I think maybe you should consider it.

[Sigh] You know... I've been learning a lot about gardening from Michael, and... I keep thinking about the Best of Luck, and about you guys, and... I don't know, I feel like I'm learning about more than gardening.

I know this probably sounds strange, but... I feel like our community is a bit like a garden.

Like... there's all these different plants, and they've all got different needs, like... some need more water, some need more sun, some need pollinating insects, that sort of thing. But they all need good soil, that's like... the foundation. You need good soil for a good garden. Without that, it doesn't matter how much sun or water or bees you throw at something, it won't grow if it's not supported by earth.

But it's not enough to ONLY have soil, either. You still need all these other resources - light, water, etc - and you also need to actually tend the garden. You need to pull weeds and get rid of pests, and... all that kind of stuff.

And I feel like... the queer community is a bit like that. We're all queer, that's our soil. But we all need different things, different resources, and different care, depending on our particular situation.

And our gardeners are like... people who run organizations, events, programs, advocacy... that sort of thing. Like, you guys are gardeners. You run this bar and take people in and you're like, actively working on making things nicer for all of us. You're tending us.

[Vulnerable] You tended me, you know? When I was in danger, and scared, and... everything, you took care of me. You're still doing it. You keep me in a job and you're always there to listen if I need to talk, and I just... I wanna do that too. I want to help people, I want to... tend the community.

I don't know if I'm up for being a gardener yet. Maybe just a more useful plant. But I mean that's a thing, too, like... plants can look after each other. Some plants keep bugs away, or enrich the soil, stuff like that.

I want to help, I just... don't know how, yet.

Anyway... god, I've talked for long enough. Sorry. Good thing Telstra increased the voicemail limit, huh?

I'm going to go to sleep now. And... who knows, maybe I'll dream up some answers.

I hope Wangaratta is treating you guys well, and Jason's family is being nice. We'll keep things running smoothly at this end.

And... thank you. For the tending.

[Hangup]

[Music]

ROSLYN: Love and Luck is written by Erin Kyan, and produced by Passer Vulpes Productions.

Kane is voiced by Lee Davis-Thalbourne. Michael is voiced by Oscar Sabogal. Victor is voiced by DL Turnbull. Credits spoken by Roslyn Quin. Recorded by Kermie Breydon and Eris Barnes.

If you're enjoying Love and Luck, consider backing us on Patreon. We do our best not only to make a high quality show for you, but to pay everyone involved in its creation. Your monthly donation will be directly supporting queer art by queer people. Pledge now at patreon.com/passervulpes - that's patreon.com/ P A S S E R V U L P E S.

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, on twitter as @LoveLuckPodcast, and on tumblr and instagram as loveandluckpodcast, all one word.

[Music fades out]