{"id":161,"date":"2023-04-15T01:00:25","date_gmt":"2023-04-15T06:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/?p=161"},"modified":"2024-02-10T10:23:15","modified_gmt":"2024-02-10T16:23:15","slug":"complimentary-regret","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/complimentary-regret\/","title":{"rendered":"Complimentary Regret"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

8:17 AM \u2013 Lobby Breakfast Area, Sunrise View Lodge<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The smell hit first: burnt coffee, rubbery eggs, and the vague sorrow of powdered orange juice. The complimentary breakfast area looked like a crime scene designed by a cereal mascot\u2014stale pastries under plastic domes, a toaster older than Thane, and one very overwhelmed waffle machine coughing batter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane shuffled in first, fur fluffed and still damp from the world\u2019s most aggressive showerhead. His black Feral Eclipse shirt was only half-tucked into his jeans, and his claws clicked faintly on the linoleum floor as he grabbed a paper cup of coffee with the same reverence as a relic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He passed Mark, who was already seated in a booth with one half-toasted bagel, staring into space like he was experiencing war flashbacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo coffee yet?\u201d Thane asked, lifting an eyebrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark didn\u2019t blink. \u201cThere was one cup left. The machine screamed. I took it as a warning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane slid into the booth across from him. \u201cYou look like you were mauled by dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was,\u201d Mark said flatly. \u201cYou tried to eat my tail in your sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A moment later, the front door opened with a squeak and in bounded Gabriel\u2014fur neat, tail wagging, coffee in hand, and acting way too chipper for someone who spent the night half-curled on a questionably clean motel bedspread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMORNING, LOBBY DWELLERS!\u201d he sang, spinning into the booth next to Thane and almost sloshing coffee on his fur. \u201cGuess who found a box of Fruity Dino-Pebbles in the cereal cabinet?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane raised his mug. \u201cGuess who doesn\u2019t have the emotional bandwidth to guess?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel took a huge slurp of coffee, then grinned. \u201cSpoiler: it\u2019s me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Behind them, Maya stormed in wearing sunglasses, a hoodie, and murder in her stride. She grabbed a paper plate and tossed three mystery danishes onto it like she was challenging fate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon\u2019t talk to me. Don\u2019t look at me. Don\u2019t breathe my air until I\u2019ve had four cups of coffee and a victory pastry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rico and Jonah stumbled in shortly after\u2014Rico with pillow creases on his face, Jonah carrying a plate of hotel sausage links like they were treasure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonah dropped into the seat next to Mark. \u201cThese taste like despair and meat glue. I love them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rico sat beside Maya and muttered, \u201cSomeone in the next room was playing polka covers of Kesha until 4 AM.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPolka should be illegal after midnight,\u201d Maya said, deadpan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel leaned into Thane. \u201cYou snored so hard last night the lamp fell off the nightstand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane nodded solemnly. \u201cGood. That means I\u2019m still alive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They sat in silence for a few beats, sipping bad coffee, eating worse breakfast, and watching the single waffle machine sputter like it wanted to be put out of its misery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, Mark broke the quiet with a sigh. \u201cSo\u2026 what time is load-in?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane checked the time and winced. \u201cWe need to be rolling out in ten.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel stood up, still clutching his coffee. \u201cLET\u2019S GOOOOOO!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maya didn\u2019t move. \u201cI dare someone to try to make me leave this booth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rico groaned. \u201cDo they make tour insurance for emotional damage?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonah, still chewing: \u201cI think that\u2019s called tequila.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the team slowly rose and shuffled toward the door\u2014bags dragging, breakfast regrets mounting\u2014Gabriel was already halfway to the van, tail high and singing some off-key pop song with alarming confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark took one last swig of his lukewarm coffee, sighed, and muttered, \u201cDay two of the chaos parade.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane gave him a sideways grin. \u201cWe march with claws.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

8:17 AM \u2013 Lobby Breakfast Area, Sunrise View Lodge The smell hit first: burnt coffee, rubbery eggs, and the vague sorrow of powdered orange juice. The complimentary breakfast area looked like a crime scene designed by a cereal mascot\u2014stale pastries under plastic domes, a toaster older than Thane, and one very overwhelmed waffle machine coughing […]<\/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-161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tour-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161","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=161"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3306,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161\/revisions\/3306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}