Somewhere in Canada, Thursday FT

[whenshewasnice]

Envy's debut solo tour was several dates in, and going well. City after city, the crowds were big and enthusiastic, and even the merch sales were great. And that was just the business side of things. It was all unlike anything Envy had ever experienced. And she was thriving. It turned out attention was something she enjoyed. And yes, she'd known that since she'd first been in a band back at university, but it was a different thing when she wasn't just fronting a show but was the show. She felt at home on the stage.

And tonight was no different.

Post-show, she was backstage, getting ready to catch her ride to the hotel. Overseeing her assistant packing up her costumes and other gear. Basking in the afterglow.

It seemed like the time to call a certain someone back. They'd left things on poor terms last time, but not so bad that any continued weirdness was likely to ruin the post adrenaline rush feeling she was having right now.

So she put her phone to her ear.

[ooc: NFB, primarily for one but open for other texts/calls!]

Comments

[pursuedthestars]

Jim was on the Enterprise tonight. The ship wasn't out flying but docked for routine maintenance. Still, Jim liked being there so he was currently settled in the captain's chair, feet up and ignoring dirty looks from techs around the area.

When his phone rang, he put it to his ear and said, "Hello?"

[whenshewasnice]

"You said to call when I had time."

Envy's voice was pretty mild, as per usual, but a little on the softer side than where they'd left things off last time. It was a subtle thing, but then that was often the case with her, wasn't it?

"I have time. Hey."

[pursuedthestars]

"Hello," Jim replied, sounding slightly surprised. "Didn't know you'd have time so soon. Where are you?"

[whenshewasnice]

"Winnipeg." She was pretty sure, even if the post title was unhelpfully vague. "Fourth show of the tour just ended."

[pursuedthestars]

Jim arched his eyebrows. "How'd it go? Good show? Good crowd?"

[whenshewasnice]

"Good crowd, good energy, good everything," Envy replied. "It's going well." She quirked a ghost of a smile. "Doesn't look like I need a band to be popular."

She had a band, of course. But they were back-up musicians, as far as the audience and the general public were concerned.

[pursuedthestars]

"Can you even perform music without a band?" he wondered. "Or do you mean it another way?"

[whenshewasnice]

"I could, with a tape," Envy pointed out, before explaining, easy and conversational. "But I mean it like I'm not billed as The Clash at Demonhead, which was three people. I'm billed as Envy."

Just Envy, even. No last name.

[pursuedthestars]

"Very provocative, Jim told her, snickering. "Did you sell the place out?"

[whenshewasnice]

She was going to have to see about sending him one of the fliers from the tour. Most of it was taken up by a picture of her face. The rest was ENVY in huge letters.

"Close to it." Close enough to please her. Close enough to make her sound pleased. "Alberta was fully sold out."

[pursuedthestars]

"Congratulations," Jim said and though he didn't sound exuberant, he sounded sincere. "And how are you feeling? Aside from the music and the touring and everything?"

[whenshewasnice]

Envy watched her assistant for a second before answering. The room had been mostly cleared. Ready for the next performer to come on through the next day.

"Like I'm happy I can sleep in an actual bed tonight."

[pursuedthestars]

"Lucky you," he said with a snicker. "I'm on the ship right now. Watching people work. Annoying people."

[whenshewasnice]

"Get better staff," Envy quipped, knowing it didn't exactly work like that. "Mine's not annoying."

[pursuedthestars]

"Oh, they're not annoying," Jim admitted, smiling at one of those staff members as they walked past. "I'm annoying them."

[whenshewasnice]

Envy let a little laugh slip out. "I don't know how I got that wrong when it's you," she said, lightly teasing. Her assistant motioned at her to tell her they were ready. She grabbed her bag. "Stop annoying people, Jim."

[pursuedthestars]

"Why?" Jim shrugged, smiling pleasantly at another passing tech. "I think they like it. It keeps them awake. On their toes. It makes me a good boss."

[whenshewasnice]

"Keeping them on their toes, yes," Envy replied as she headed out after her assistant. "Annoying them, no. Annoying them can damage loyalty."

[pursuedthestars]

"Speaking from personal experience?" Jim asked curiously.

[whenshewasnice]

"Peter annoyed me right out of his entire enterprise."

That was a joke. Though with a sliver of truth in it, she supposed. If you were willing to squint and look at it from that angle.

[pursuedthestars]

Jim paused and tried to figure out if it was truly a joke or if it was the truth. It was hard to tell when it came to her. Her tone tended not to change.

"Really?"

[whenshewasnice]

"Not really."

Only from that one angle. There weren't too many people in the hallway, so she felt like she could explain the angle, anyway.

"It was when Todd came back. I was going to leave the Hegemony soon anyway, but we got into an argument, because I was having a nervous breakdown and didn't notice it at the time. He annoyed me. I left."

[pursuedthestars]

"Nervous breakdown?" He winced at that and sighed. "Because of Todd? Or something else?"

[whenshewasnice]

"Being in love with Todd was the nervous breakdown," Envy replied dryly. "Or maybe more of a psychotic break."

[pursuedthestars]

"Not that it's important anymore but being in love isn't supposed to give you a nervous breakdown, you know," Jim said lightly. "Glad you got out of that one."