{"id":202,"date":"2023-04-29T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-29T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/?p=202"},"modified":"2024-02-10T20:00:59","modified_gmt":"2024-02-11T02:00:59","slug":"damage-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/damage-control\/","title":{"rendered":"Damage Control"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Backstage, five minutes after the cosplay catastrophe<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane kicked the door open so hard the hinges protested in fluent French. The green room fell into silence as he stormed in, claws flexing, teeth bared, eyes blazing like twin ice storms ready to swallow a city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark trailed a safe distance behind, wordlessly shutting the door. He gave a quiet nod to the others in the room that clearly said: \u201cGet out. Now.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maya raised both brows, grabbed Rico and Jonah by their shirts, and hauled them into the hallway. She knew that look. The “casual homicide pending” look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alone now, Thane launched into a tirade like the air itself had insulted him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCosplay?<\/em> Furry OC dragon-wolf sparkle disasters?!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He flung a folding chair halfway across the room. It exploded against the wall like a paperclip in a jet turbine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey made me into a goddamn cartoon mascot!<\/em> What the fuck is wrong with people?! I am not some soft, plushie-friendly… fanfiction fuel!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He picked up a plastic water bottle and crushed it in one clawed fist. \u201cThey wore fake claws,<\/em> Gabriel. FAKE. CLAWS.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel, who\u2019d followed him in mid-sip of his eleventh post-show coffee, blinked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane was just getting warmed up. He turned, jaw clenched, fur bristling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have bled<\/em> for this band. I\u2019ve soldered busted cables in the freezing rain. I\u2019ve fixed trusses with a broken wrist. I\u2019ve held this chaotic hell-train together with my goddamn claws and sweat.<\/em> And now? Now?<\/em> Some TikTok disaster in glitter ears wants to be me? \u2018Team Feral Thane\u2019? \u2018Smells like burnt marshmallows and leadership\u2019?! WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He flipped a table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel set down his cup, walked straight up to Thane, and put both hands on his shoulders with firm pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThane.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStop.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy?! So I can keep getting turned into a sparklewerewolf OC trading card<\/em> by a bunch of giggling\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel shoved him\u2014not hard, but enough to interrupt the meltdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLook at me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane froze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel\u2019s icy blue eyes locked onto his. No anger. Just… sincerity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is what happens when you matter to people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane blinked. That wasn\u2019t what he expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel kept going. \u201cYou gave them something real. Something raw. They\u2019re dumb about it, yeah. But they love what you built. They\u2019re trying<\/em> to honor that\u2014even if it comes out all wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He sighed, resting his forehead against Thane\u2019s. \u201cDon\u2019t hate them for loving you the only way they know how. You’re not a joke to them. You’re a legend. Even if their legends wear glue-on tails.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane stood there, fists trembling, breath heaving… and slowly let out a ragged sigh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark cracked the door open. \u201cCan I come back in, or is this still a war zone?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel turned with a grin. \u201cDe-escalated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane muttered, \u201cBarely.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark stepped in, surveyed the broken chair and bent table. \u201cJesus. Looks like someone held an exorcism in here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane rubbed his face. \u201cI\u2019m gonna need six drinks, a shower, and maybe a ritual cleansing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark deadpanned, \u201cIf someone shows up in a fursuit next show, I\u2019m setting myself on fire.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel grinned, patting Thane\u2019s back. \u201cThat\u2019s the spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Backstage, five minutes after the cosplay catastrophe Thane kicked the door open so hard the hinges protested in fluent French. The green room fell into silence as he stormed in, claws flexing, teeth bared, eyes blazing like twin ice storms ready to swallow a city. Mark trailed a safe distance behind, wordlessly shutting the door. […]<\/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-202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tour-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202","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=202"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3328,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions\/3328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}