{"id":398,"date":"2023-07-04T01:00:12","date_gmt":"2023-07-04T06:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/?p=398"},"modified":"2024-02-10T10:23:02","modified_gmt":"2024-02-10T16:23:02","slug":"aftermath-in-the-breakdown-lane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/aftermath-in-the-breakdown-lane\/","title":{"rendered":"Aftermath in the Breakdown Lane"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The van finally rolled to a stop at a lonely rest area just over the Mississippi state line. The air was thick with dew and silence\u2014no traffic, no lights, just the soft whirr of the van\u2019s cooling engine and the occasional chirp<\/em> of night insects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel slumped sideways in the bench seat, a trail of dried blood near his ribs. \u201cWe need, like\u2026 a spa. Or a salt lick. Or both.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cassie handed him a first aid kit. \u201cYou\u2019re furred. How do you even bruise?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t,\u201d he groaned. \u201cI just get sore in my soul.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonah was curled up in the back with an ice pack clutched to his head and a bag of mini donuts on his chest. \u201cYou know what hurts? Pride. Also my elbow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane stood outside, crouched next to an open side hatch, inventory clipboard in one paw, brow furrowed. Mark hovered beside him, flashlight in one hand, chewing silently on a toothpick. The light glinted off the fur on his muzzle as he made slow, deliberate checks of the gear racks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSub snake\u2019s gone,\u201d Mark muttered, marking it with a short scribble. \u201cThat\u2019s fifteen hundred.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPower distro box,\u201d Thane added grimly. \u201cAnother twelve hundred.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark grunted. \u201cCouple lights, maybe more. We were lucky to get out with the board and mains.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah,\u201d Thane muttered. \u201cLucky.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He sat back on his haunches, claws curling around the clipboard, frowning hard. Gabriel appeared behind him, silently easing down into the grass beside him. \u201cHow bad?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFive grand. Minimum. Maybe more if the monitors got cracked.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel let out a slow whistle. \u201cWell. That\u2019s almost exactly four grand more than we\u2019ve got.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cassie poked her head out from the side door, face half-lit by the interior dome light. \u201cWe could sell Jonah\u2019s drum kit?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver my dead<\/em> body,\u201d came the groan from inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel snorted. \u201cHonestly, they\u2019d probably just try to stuff you in a cage again if you tried to pawn it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane didn\u2019t laugh. Not really. He just stared at the clipboard like it personally offended him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark finally broke the silence. \u201cWe did the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane didn\u2019t look up. \u201cDoesn\u2019t mean we can afford it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark tossed a small roll of electrical tape onto the rack and stood, dusting his paws off. \u201cNope. But broken gear\u2019s better than broken pack.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a long pause before Thane gave a low, tired exhale through his nose. \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel leaned his head gently against Thane\u2019s shoulder, letting their fur mingle in the dark. \u201cWe\u2019ll figure something out. Sell shirts. Busk. Rob a bank.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cassie: \u201cHonestly, I\u2019d pay good money<\/em> to watch you try to sweet-talk a loan officer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel tilted his head dramatically. \u201c\u2018Hi, sir. I\u2019d like a small business loan for my totally legitimate rock band\u2014ignore the claws and glowing eyes.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rico, half-asleep in the passenger seat, muttered, \u201cWe could<\/em> do another sketchy gig. Just not one hosted by cultists this time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maya piped up from inside, dry as ever: \u201cNo basements. No velvet curtains. No freaks in red suits.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane finally cracked a faint grin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He stood, stretched, and looked up at the fading stars. \u201cAlright. Sleep while you can. Tomorrow\u2026 we hunt down an audio supplier who takes pity payments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel grinned up at him. \u201cOr we start charging for backstage cuddles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane rolled his eyes and climbed back into the van. \u201cWe\u2019d still be broke. You give those away for free.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel huffed, mock-offended. \u201cOnly<\/em> to you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The van finally rolled to a stop at a lonely rest area just over the Mississippi state line. The air was thick with dew and silence\u2014no traffic, no lights, just the soft whirr of the van\u2019s cooling engine and the occasional chirp of night insects. Gabriel slumped sideways in the bench seat, a trail of […]<\/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-398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tour-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398","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=398"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3229,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398\/revisions\/3229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}