{"id":1089,"date":"2024-04-24T01:02:41","date_gmt":"2024-04-24T06:02:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/?p=1089"},"modified":"2024-02-10T10:22:49","modified_gmt":"2024-02-10T16:22:49","slug":"a-moment-that-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/a-moment-that-matters\/","title":{"rendered":"A Moment That Matters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The set had ended nearly twenty minutes ago\u2026
But Gabriel<\/em> was still completely pinned near the merch table, buried under a sea of fans shouting praise, shoving homemade artwork and torn scraps of posterboard for autographs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGABE! I LOVE YOU!\u201d
\u201cSIGN MY ARM!\u201d
\u201cYOU\u2019RE THE FURRY PRINCE OF BASS!\u201d
\u201cPLEASE PLAY MY WEDDING!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel was laughing, flustered, tail swishing wildly as he tried to sign things with both claws and zero coordination. Someone gave him a friendship bracelet. Someone else gave him a ferret.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He held the ferret like it was sacred and mouthed, \u201cWhy me?\u201d at the sky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few feet away, Thane<\/strong> was coiling up his mic snake, guarding his battered portable case like it was a newborn pup. A teenage fan in a too-big hoodie tripped nearby\u2014and her chocolate milkshake nearly arced through the air<\/em> right into his cabling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He caught it in one clawed hand mid-spill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looked at her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Growled \u2014 not hard,<\/em> just enough to vibrate the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The girl gasped, nodded frantically, and backed away like she\u2019d just crossed the wrong line on an ancient forest path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane sighed. \u201c…Kids.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, over by the side of the makeshift stage, Cassie<\/strong> had crouched down next to a younger boy \u2014 maybe 12, maybe 13 \u2014 who was sitting quietly off to the side, watching the crowd with wide eyes and arms wrapped tight around his chest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHey,\u201d she said gently. \u201cToo loud?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He nodded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She sat next to him. \u201cYou came for the music, though?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He nodded again. \u201cI like the lyrics. Yours. I didn\u2019t think anyone else felt that way\u2026 not in this town.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cassie\u2019s eyes softened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She reached into her pocket, pulled out a crumpled setlist, and handed it to him. \u201cYou ever write music?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSometimes. I don\u2019t show people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s okay. Most people don\u2019t show their hearts either. But it\u2019s worth it when you do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He stared at the setlist like it was a map to a better place. Then whispered:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c…Thanks for singing it like you meant it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cassie smiled. \u201cAlways.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Near the edge of the event, Mark<\/strong> stood next to the bus with his arms folded, eyes scanning the scene like a quiet sentinel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diesel stood next to him, sipping from a can of something probably older than the tour itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot bad,\u201d Diesel muttered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark grunted in agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou think they realize how rare this is?\u201d Diesel asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark shook his head. \u201cThey will. Eventually. Maybe not today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThink that\u2019s what makes \u2018em great?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark looked out over the crowd \u2014 Gabriel overwhelmed with affection, Cassie talking softly to the quiet kid, Thane checking every cable like it held the world together, Maya teaching someone how to hold a power chord, Jonah breakdancing with toddlers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He nodded slowly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not the music. Not alone. It\u2019s what they give away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diesel raised a brow. \u201cWhat they give?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark turned toward him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith their whole hearts,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s what makes something great.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diesel smiled. \u201cHeh. That almost sounded poetic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon\u2019t let it get around,\u201d Mark muttered. \u201cI\u2019ve got a reputation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Back by the mic snake box, Thane finally relaxed \u2014 just a little.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The milkshake girl came back, this time with a paper towel and a quiet \u201csorry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He blinked. Took the towel. Nodded once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026It\u2019s alright.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The set had ended nearly twenty minutes ago\u2026But Gabriel was still completely pinned near the merch table, buried under a sea of fans shouting praise, shoving homemade artwork and torn scraps of posterboard for autographs. \u201cGABE! I LOVE YOU!\u201d\u201cSIGN MY ARM!\u201d\u201cYOU\u2019RE THE FURRY PRINCE OF BASS!\u201d\u201cPLEASE PLAY MY WEDDING!\u201d Gabriel was laughing, flustered, tail swishing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tour-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1089"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1089\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3082,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1089\/revisions\/3082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}