Ian
There isn't a lot to do on a tour bus. What
little activities are available start to get pretty old after a month.
All things considered, the bus that Ian's dance company rented for this
leg of the tour is actually pretty nice. It's spacious and comfortable,
and... well, it was clean at one point. Parts of it still are.
There's a neat little section of it that Ian and Emma have carved out
for themselves: a couple of bunks and a sofa-seat. Across from this
area, Benji and his boyfriend have made an absolute disaster of their
shared bunk, but earlier that week Ian made sure they'd help keep the
floor clean - mostly via a long, intimidating stare.
It's late
afternoon and they're in the middle of a long drive from Boston to
Chicago. Most of the other dancers are hanging out in the middle of the
bus where the flat-screen and the Xbox are located. There's a movie on.
Some of them are watching, others are chatting. Still others are
lounging around checking things on their phones or tablets. Shannon's
husband is driving.
Ian is sitting alone on the small
sofa-seat by his bunk, watching the countryside pass by outside the
window. At some point he gets his phone out, checks his messages, then
navigates to Kalen's number in his contact list.
He hits the dial icon and rest the phone against his ear, pulling his knees up loosely to his chest.
When Kalen answers he says, "Hey you. I heard you went to Hawai'i."
Kalen
Kalen is not expecting to hear from Ian. He answers halfway through the second ring, with a slightly guarded sounding hello.
And
then, when what Ian says is that he hears that Kalen went to Hawai'i,
there is a soft exhalation. "Yes," he says quietly. Even quiet, his
voice is warmer now. Richer.
"It was quite the adventure,
but, for once, in a rather unsarcastic non-traumatic kind of way. No
friendships damaged beyond repair, no near-death experiences, very
little existential crisis." There is a slight pause that is probably a
smile. "How are things there?"
Ian
"Mm,
I'm glad to hear that. Kiara sent me some gorgeous pictures. I wish I
could have gone with you." There's a note of genuine wistfulness in his
voice when he says that. Kalen asks him how things are and he gives this
rueful little laugh.
"Well, I've been on tour for three weeks
and I haven't strangled anyone yet. I suppose that's a success. I've
definitely been tempted a few times." There's a beat before he adds,
more seriously, "I'll be glad when I get back."
"How are you? We haven't really talked in a while."
Kalen
"I
think," Kalen says, after a slight pause that is probably not a smile,
"That we have both been busy. I can't...there isn't much I can say now.
When you get back." He takes a breath.
"Everything is okay.
Well, no. Everything is a mess, actually, but I'm okay. And it's a
mess that will hold awhile, I think. I finally understand, I think,
what people get from having lives. There is nothing here that is any
reason to return home early. Hell, I'm about to leave for Chile and
then Australia. Both for personal reasons, not business. I'll have
company in both places and on the actual trip to Australia and back.
And I'll try to limit the things I do that are things you wouldn't do
to spending days doing that whole prayer and confession thing." There
is no sense of anything but some fondness in that set of assurances.
Whatever anger Kalen had about being monitored during some vampire
escapades seems to have given way enough for that.
"How is your tour going? And...whatever else you can tell me about."
Ian
There isn't much he can say now.
"Yeah,"
Ian murmurs, his tone understanding. He doesn't interrupt while Kalen
tells him about his vacation plans, just listens with quiet interest as
he rests his elbow on the back of the seat. Outside the window, the
rural landscape swims past in this stream of meditative sameness.
Earlier that morning it rained a little. The weather still hasn't
dropped into a proper winter climate. Christmas is only a few days away,
but it doesn't entirely feel like it.
There are things he'd
like to say to Kalen. Things that he can't say (right now.) He doesn't
bother dropping ominous hints. They wouldn't serve any useful purpose.
He utters a muted laugh when Kalen promises not to do too many things that he wouldn't do.
"Parts
of it have been pretty great. I like getting to travel. I wouldn't
choose to do it on a bus with a bunch of other people if I could help
it, but... it is what it is. A lot of it's been kind of a whirlwind,
honestly. We'll be stuck on a bus all day and then spend the next day
setting up stage and performing. Then we're back on the road. We did get
to stay in LA and New York for a few days each. The New York shows were
packed. I was kind of surprised. Afterwards I went and visited the bar I
used to work at and wandered into my old modeling agency, which was...
interesting. Somehow I got stuck at a party filled with like... eighteen
to twenty one year olds, plus a handful of requisite older men being
fucking creeps. Probably good I got out of modeling when I did. I'm
hitting retirement age."
There's a bit of a wry twist to his voice there.
"What
else, let's see. I had some amazing food in San Francisco. Charmed my
way into an underground hip hop club in Atlanta. A bunch of us got drunk
in Dallas and one of the other dancers and his boyfriend tried to lure
me into a three-way. Seattle was gorgeous and rainy. LA was LA. The
beaches were beautiful. Especially at dawn."
"Why Australia?"
Kalen
"Sunrise
over the ocean is something." Kalen laughs, but there is something in
it, some undertone that is wistful. "All the things I have seen," he
says softly, "And until Hawai'i I had never seen the ocean. I wish,
sometimes, that I had more time for that. Sunrises and poetry and
ceramics classes." There is another laugh, this one less wistful. "Did
I tell you I was taking ceramics classes? And photography?"
Things
that he has kept after they served a strict purpose. Like a house.
Like a phone with a handful of numbers in it that are decidedly not
part of the life he shares with Ian and Grace and Kiara and Alexander.
Normal human people, save one.
"Grace picked it. Years ago.
It is a long-delayed vacation. I kept refusing to leave. But...in the
unlikely event the sky does fall, I doubt that it will be because I
went on vacation." There is a slight pause. "She wants to look at the
penguins."
Ian
Did I tell you I was taking ceramics classes?
"And
dancing," Ian adds, his tone warm with memory. "I don't think so, no.
It's good to do that though. Have a normal life. As much as we can,
anyway."
Sadly, for many of them, that doesn't leave very much.
"It's probably not a bad idea. Getting away right now. Maybe you'll be safer there."
Ian
doesn't add any more to that claim, but he doesn't really have to. They
were both present for that meeting with Atreyu. He doesn't tell Kalen
that he invited Kiara to spend Christmas in Wisconsin for much the same
reason.
"Try not to get eaten by a spider," he teases. "I hear they're huge there."
After a little pause he adds, "Did you know Kiara sent me a picture of your ass?"
Kalen
"And
dancing," Kalen agrees, and though he did not summon that memory so
deliberately, now that Ian has he lets the warmth of it linger.
"I
seem to find trouble everywhere I go, but I wouldn't mind being away
from Denver for a minute in some senses. Still, I have quite a lot to
do. Clay does not, after all, transform itself into little sets of
glazed dishes. And I want to experiment with macro photography on
snowflakes. Various other projects." Various other projects, he says
like an afterthought. As though the thing with Atreyu and whatever
happens with this crown could be so easily left to being after thoughts.
The
warning about spiders gets a little huff. "I will be sure to be
prepared for spiders. Like...dog-sized? Zebra? Mastodon? Because if
it is like that last one I may need help."
Kalen laughs. "I do like her." That is not, precisely, an answer. Though it may be noted that he does not sound surprised.
Ian
Kalen
offers an answer to a different question, though it could be argued
that the question he answers has been lurking in the background since
the moment Ian greeted him with I heard you went to Hawai'i. As
for the nature of Ian's own relationship to Kiara, the degree of
awareness that Kalen may or may not have is an unknown factor for Ian.
He doesn't know if Kiara mentioned anything to him. Doesn't know if they
spent nights exchanging stories or if the topic remained carefully
untouched. There are things that can be assumed, perhaps, by Ian's easy
association with her (the fact she sent him pictures of their trip.)
After a moment he says, a little carefully, "She's easy to like."
It
leaves room for an awkward silence to slip in, and when he feels it
starting he adds, "I'm going to stick around Madison again. Over
Christmas." Talking about holidays is always a bit fraught for him, and
Kalen might pick a little of that up in his voice. The way Ian kind of
pauses before he clarifies the dates.
"I invited Kiara out too. So I guess we'll see you in January? Or will you be gone longer than that?"
Kalen
"She
is. I...." But the things that Kalen thinks about Kiara that he is
interested in sharing are not so easily spoken here. And the rest of
it...not really easily spoken at all.
"I should be back for a
few days after Christmas, I need to get a few things in order that I
can't really manage from Chile. And then I'll be probably about a week
in Australia. You should be able to see me in January. If for nothing
else because now I have pictures of sunrises to show off and presents to
give you. And, if all goes to plan, I will be testing out underwater
photography in Australia. Though, I must say, I am mostly expecting all
that will come of that is blurry pictures of kelp."
"We should catch up though. There's...there's just a lot going on."
Ian
"Yeah,
there is." Some heaviness weighs in his voice when he offers that, but
the tone of it shifts to something a little warmer when he goes on to
say, "You really don't have to get me anything."
As if Kalen would ever neglect the opportunity to offer someone a gift.
"If
you do, keep it small, alright? No more paintings." That comment could
be taken as a complaint, were it not for the wry twist of sentimentality
evident in his voice. "Otherwise I'll never be able to pay you back."
(Truth is, that is likely already the case.)
"Alright,
I guess I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing. I hope... you
have a good holiday. If you get bored you can always text me."
Kalen
"That
isn't how gifts work," Kalen says softly, more amused than anything.
"But, if it is any consolation, I promise that the most expensive cars I
could buy for what I've paid for these come with remotes."
"I
hope you also have a good holiday. I will text if I get bored. Quite
possibly with pictures. I doubt though, that I will be getting drunk
enough that they'll be anything like Kiara's.
"Take care."
Ian
He laughs at that - the joke that his pictures likely won't be as scandalous as Kiara's.
"I won't get my hopes up then."
He's quiet for a beat, letting the goodbye linger a little. Then: "You too."
