Backstage smelled like ozone, fog fluid, and sweat-soaked denim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The band stumbled into the green room like survivors of an apocalypse\u2014sweaty, buzzing, wide-eyed, and trying to remember how to human<\/em> again. Gabriel kicked the door open with his heel and flopped onto the faux-leather couch like it was the throne of Valhalla.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHoly shit<\/em>, that crowd,\u201d he breathed, wiping his soaked face with a towel. \u201cDid you see<\/em> the kid in the front row with the LED werewolf mask?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thane followed behind, one clawed hand clutching his pack of coiled cables like a python he hadn\u2019t finished choking yet. \u201cI saw him. I also saw the idiot trying to film on stage right while standing on the damn fog cannon. Nearly launched him into the f***ing truss.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mark walked in last, still adjusting sliders on a wireless console in his hands like the show wasn\u2019t over until the lightboard<\/em> said so. \u201cThree beams overheated. One fogger\u2019s clogged. Two strobe units blew their fuses. Great show.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cassie collapsed onto the arm of the couch, makeup smeared, shirt plastered to her back. \u201cI think my spine fused to the mic stand mid-second song. Might need a crowbar.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rico wandered in with a bag of gummy worms and just sort of… fell sideways into a beanbag chair. \u201cNo thoughts. Only sugar.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jonah followed him in, looking half-possessed. \u201cI transcended. I saw sound. It was red.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maya, who had already found the mini-fridge and was halfway through a bottle of water, raised an eyebrow. \u201cYou broke two sticks and<\/em> your backup pedal, dude.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI used the kick drum like a cannon. I regret nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabriel raised a celebratory fist. \u201cThat\u2019s<\/em> the energy I live for!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He then tried to high-five Jonah, missed, and knocked over a stack of plastic water bottles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thane growled and started rewrapping cables with the same energy someone might use to interrogate a spy. \u201cI swear, if I ever meet the promoter who installed those janky power tie-ins\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI already put a beer in their office toilet,\u201d Mark muttered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cassie snorted. \u201cThat\u2019s why you were gone for ten minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n From the hallway, a runner poked her head in timidly. \u201cUh… just wanted to say, you guys have mail. Someone dropped off a package. It\u2019s, uh… vibrating?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everyone stopped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabriel sat up straight. \u201cIs it addressed to me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c…It just says \u2018To the black-furred one with claws.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabriel lit up. \u201cThat\u2019s me<\/em>! I\u2019m gonna open it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thane barked, \u201cDo not<\/em> open anything that vibrates and doesn\u2019t have a return label\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Gabriel was already slicing into the package with a claw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Inside?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A single, blinking LED collar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And a note that read:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou looked so<\/em> dominant tonight. Call me. \ud83d\udc3e\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n There was a moment of stunned silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then Jonah muttered, \u201cSo hey, do we need to, like, screen our fanbase for collars now?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cassie choked on her water. Maya cackled and fell over. Rico was too tired to process and just popped another gummy worm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabriel blinked at the gift, then looked up slowly. \u201cOkay. One: flattered. Two: deeply confused. Three… Thane?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBurn it.<\/em>\u201d Thane grunted, not even looking up from his cables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabriel sighed, tossed it in the trash, and flopped back on the couch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mark clicked a button on his tablet. \u201cCameras off. Lights stable. Fog fans cooling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cassie raised her water bottle like a toast. \u201cTo another night of madness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n They all clinked\u2014plastic bottles, metal cans, and one rogue drumstick from Jonah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And for a moment… just for a breath… it was quiet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then Gabriel, grinning sideways, whispered, \u201cHey, anyone else wanna prank Maya again tonight?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNO!<\/em>\u201d came five simultaneous voices, and a pillow flew across the room.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Backstage smelled like ozone, fog fluid, and sweat-soaked denim. The band stumbled into the green room like survivors of an apocalypse\u2014sweaty, buzzing, wide-eyed, and trying to remember how to human again. Gabriel kicked the door open with his heel and flopped onto the faux-leather couch like it was the throne of Valhalla. \u201cHoly shit, that […]<\/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-281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tour-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281","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=281"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3262,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281\/revisions\/3262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n