The diner’s flickering neon sign buzzed against the otherwise quiet Oklahoma night, casting a soft red glow on the rain-speckled parking lot. A warped plastic letterboard proudly advertised \u201cALL DAY BREAKFAST – NO REFUNDS.\u201d Perfect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The van groaned as it pulled into the lot, all seven members of Feral Eclipse spilling out in various states of exhaustion, crankiness, and post-frat-party chaos. The scent of old grease, burnt coffee, and questionable decisions wafted into the humid night air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inside, the diner looked like time stopped in 1987 and nobody told it to start again. A jukebox in the corner played a suspiciously off-key version of Africa<\/em> by Toto. A tired-looking waitress with a half-faded neck tattoo nodded toward the largest booth in the back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thane led the charge, coiled audio cable still looped around one shoulder like a warning sign. He flopped into the booth with a heavy sigh, clearly one wrong condiment packet away from a meltdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabriel slid in beside him, vibrating with residual caffeine and frat party adrenaline. His fur was slightly ruffled, shirt half-untucked, and he was still humming the melody of whatever chaotic song they\u2019d covered last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mark took the edge seat near the window, his eyes scanning the parking lot like something might still explode. He muttered, \u201cIf someone orders avocado toast in here, I\u2019m walking back to Oklahoma City.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maya plopped in across from Gabriel, her boots thudding against the linoleum. \u201cThat party had more beer than brains.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhich is saying a lot,\u201d Rico muttered, rubbing at a mysterious bruise on his shoulder. \u201cI saw someone doing keg stands off a moving golf cart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jonah, eyes red and hair in full post-headbang disarray, sat down and immediately faceplanted onto the table. \u201cSomeone wake me up when we\u2019re famous or dead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cassie was last to join, still trying to pull her phone charger out of a tangle of cables in her purse. \u201cWe are<\/em> famous. Just… weirdly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A waitress named Debbie (or at least her name tag said so, though the \u201ci\u201d was replaced with a middle finger sticker) came over, chewing gum like it owed her money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat\u2019ll it be?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCoffee,\u201d growled Thane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCoffee and bacon,\u201d Gabriel added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBacon, eggs, toast, hashbrowns, and don\u2019t skimp on the hashbrowns,\u201d Maya said, glaring like Debbie might try.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJust coffee. Black. Leave the pot,\u201d Mark deadpanned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Debbie nodded. \u201cY\u2019all look like you\u2019ve seen some shit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rico blinked. \u201cWe are<\/em> the shit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She blinked slowly at him and scribbled something on her pad that may or may not have been their order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The group slumped in their seats while waiting, the diner\u2019s low hum becoming a kind of lullaby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabriel suddenly sat up. \u201cHey. Remember the birthday party show?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thane didn\u2019t even look up. \u201cIf you bring that up one more time, I\u2019m feeding you to Mark.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jonah raised a hand. \u201cI still have frosting in places that aren\u2019t medically recommended.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n They all burst into exhausted laughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The food arrived like a greasy miracle, and the band tore into it like they hadn\u2019t eaten in a week. Gabriel dunked toast into his eggs with the precision of a man who\u2019d done this many times before. Mark, despite himself, actually cracked a smile as he carefully deconstructed his pancake stack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cassie reached across to clink her coffee mug against Maya\u2019s. \u201cTo surviving another night.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maya smirked. \u201cBarely.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jonah stirred, lifting his face from the table with a syrup packet stuck to his cheek. \u201cWait. Where are we again?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rico, mouth full of bacon, just pointed toward the rain-smeared window. \u201cNowhere good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the diner lights flickered. The jukebox glitched into a distorted version of Sweet Dreams<\/em>. Outside, the rain eased into mist, steam curling from the pavement like ghostly applause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And for one brief, weird, wonderful moment, everything was okay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even if only until the check arrived.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The diner’s flickering neon sign buzzed against the otherwise quiet Oklahoma night, casting a soft red glow on the rain-speckled parking lot. A warped plastic letterboard proudly advertised \u201cALL DAY BREAKFAST – NO REFUNDS.\u201d Perfect. The van groaned as it pulled into the lot, all seven members of Feral Eclipse spilling out in various states […]<\/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-324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tour-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324","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=324"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3249,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324\/revisions\/3249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}