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

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[Beep]

[Pickup]

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KANE: [Urgently] Jason! Apparently Ricardo already left you a message about this, but anyway, he took me aside this morning and asked me how long Helen's been able to use magic! Helen!

I was completely speechless. I mean... did you know Helen was doing magic? I sure as hell didn't, and I thought maybe... like, at first I thought maybe he just thought she could do magic, because she's just generally a really comforting person, you know? Like, maybe he thought it was magic, but it's just her being her.

But... he told me that she's done the exact same things that we do. She can reach inside people and affect their emotions. It's not nice words or good hugs, he said it feels physical. He can feel her gently smoothing out the spikes in his emotions. Which is... which is just like how it feels when we do it.

I... what's going on? How did we not know? She's been here over a year, how did we never notice that she can do magic too?

[Hangup]

[Beep]

KANE: Okay, so, Helen update. Ricardo tried to ask her about the magic, but... she misinterpreted, I think. Which was easy to do since he basically just asked her "hey, how is it that you can make people feel better so easily". She just waved it off.

So... then he tried to be a bit more specific. Told her that the way she soothed people seemed supernatural, like she was weaving magic. And... she laughed it off. Said she was flattered.

I can't tell if she doesn't know she's doing it, or if she just doesn't want anyone to know that she can. Which, y'know... I can relate to, on both of those counts.

I don't know. Should we push harder, or should we just... leave it alone? I mean... whether she knows about it or not, she had the opportunity to talk to us about it when we asked, but she didn't take it, so... maybe it's better to just leave her be, at least for a little while?

God, I don't know. Fuck. I am... I take back everything I said about this not being dramatic. This is... [Astounded scoff] I don't even know! I am completely flabbergasted.

[Hangup]

[Beep]

KANE: Hey. Bedtime voicemail. I'm... kind of having trouble getting to sleep, to be honest.

I feel so weird about today. Like... I can't believe we didn't know Helen can do magic. I feel like an idiot. Like... looking back on it? She's been... [Exhale] How did we miss it, you know?

Then again, I mean... it's not like what we do is particularly noticeable, right? I mean... it took Ricardo to notice it. As far as we know, no one else has ever felt our soothing clearly enough to know that an outside force was doing it.

[Sigh] Ugh. I just keep going round in circles. I just... I don't know. I guess I just wish it was easier to talk to her about it. I don't know.

[Hangup]

[Beep]

JASON: Hey babe. Quiet night tonight, just closing up now.

Ricardo and I had another go at talking to Helen. And honestly? I don't think she knows she's doing it.

I ended up getting kind of... direct, which... sorry in advance, I know you're probably not a huge fan of that idea. But I mean... I'm not the brightest crayon, you know? I can only talk in code for so long before I get kind of confused myself.

She was... not particularly convinced that she's doing anything magical. Honestly, the conversation reminded me a lot of when it first started happening to us, and you were like, "oh, no, it's just a coincidence, it's just this, it's just that..."

I asked her some stuff about how she feels when she's comforting people, and stuff like that since... you know, we definitely feel it when we do magic. It makes our brains all tingly and stretchy and stuff.

She did say that she gets that feeling sometimes. But she thinks it's like an ASMR type deal.

Ricardo asked her when it first started happening, and... apparently it started a few weeks after she moved in with us. So... we have a bit of a timeline, I guess. So that's something.

But... yeah. She's not really buying it, and... I don't know. I don't want to push her, you know? I think maybe you were right, maybe we should just... let sleeping dogs lie, at least for a little while. Maybe if we get anywhere in figuring out where all this comes from, we can revisit talking to Helen about it? I don't know.

Well, anyway. Other than things being confusing and Helen being a lot like you in terms of not recognizing the coolness of magic powers, everything's good otherwise.

I love you. I'll see you tomorrow.

[Hangup]

[Beep]

CJ: [Nervous] Hey, Ricardo, it's CJ. I hope this doesn't wake you. I know you tend to sleep pretty late.

Um, I kind of miss you. It's been like, over a week since I saw you last and... yeah. I was wondering if you'd like to come stay over at my place this weekend? My housemates want to meet you anyway, and... yeah um, I was thinking maybe we could head up to Healesville Sanctuary on Sunday? I remember you saying a little while ago that you hadn't been, and... yeah, I think you'd really like it. At first I thought maybe I'd take you there as a surprise, but... then I remembered that surprises are kind of bad and triggery for you, so... I'm asking about it instead.

Um, yeah. Let me know.

[Hangup]

[Beep]

RICARDO: [Awkwardly] Hey, CJ. Sorry I missed your call. I, uh... yeah, I was sleeping.

I miss you too. Things have been kind of strange lately. I wouldn't even know where to begin with explaining it, and I mean... [Sigh] It's kind of not my business to talk about anyway, so... ugh, sorry. Can't really talk about it. I hate to be cryptic like that, but... well, I know you get it.

Anyway. I'd like to come meet your housemates. And... yeah, I'd really like to go to Healesville Sanctuary with you. That sounds like a really perfect weekend. Sign me the hell up.

And... thank you. For not surprising me. That... really means a lot. Because, yeah, surprises can set off my PTSD in a bad way. So... thanks.

I, um... yeah. I really like you. Talk to you later.

[Hangup]

[Music]

ROSLYN: 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. Ricardo is voiced by Justin Jones Li. CJ is voiced by Jai Moore. 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.

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