{"id":75,"date":"2023-03-30T01:00:24","date_gmt":"2023-03-30T06:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/?p=75"},"modified":"2024-02-10T10:23:15","modified_gmt":"2024-02-10T16:23:15","slug":"after-the-howl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/after-the-howl\/","title":{"rendered":"After the Howl"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Outside the venue, behind the gear truck, well past midnight<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The energy from the crowd had finally faded into the distance, replaced by the low rumble of road cases and the clack of boot soles across the pavement. The crisp night air carried a mix of ozone, diesel exhaust, and faint traces of sweat and fried food from the nearby concessions that hadn\u2019t been cleaned up yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane stood at the open tail of the Feral Eclipse gear truck, clipboard in one clawed hand, grease pencil in the other. The rigging box sat open beside him, tools neatly arranged despite the chaos earlier. A pair of damaged cable runs lay across the loading ramp like limp snakes, and one of the rear par cans was hanging crooked in its cradle, waiting to be logged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His fur was still slightly damp along his shoulders, light gray strands catching the moonlight. He jotted a note with practiced efficiency:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Replace left-side lift chain (sticking again)<\/strong>
\u2013 Re-wire rig 4 junction, possible short in DIN plug<\/strong>
\u2013 Gabriel\u2019s main vocal input channel: intermittent dropout under heat<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A familiar set of footfalls crunched lightly on the gravel behind him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHey,\u201d Gabriel said quietly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane didn\u2019t turn, but the twitch of his ears said he heard him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou hiding out?\u201d Gabriel added, stepping closer. He had changed into a dry black tee and was barefoot now\u2014large clawed feet quiet as they padded across the asphalt. His bass was nowhere in sight, finally tucked away in its case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot hiding,\u201d Thane replied, still scribbling. \u201cJust trying to stay ahead of next week\u2019s meltdown.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel gave a soft chuckle and leaned his shoulder against the side of the truck. \u201cYou really don\u2019t slow down, do you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnly when things aren\u2019t on fire.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a beat of quiet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then Gabriel said, \u201cI saw you shield me back there. With the fans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane finally paused, pencil hovering in midair. \u201cYeah, well\u2026 I didn\u2019t do it for<\/em> applause.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know. That\u2019s why it means more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane glanced over at him now, eyes softening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou were amazing tonight,\u201d he said. \u201cEven with the mic going out, even with half the rig misbehaving\u2014you held it together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel looked down briefly, then back up with a small grin. \u201cBecause I knew you and Mark had me. Like always.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A low hum rumbled in Thane\u2019s chest\u2014a sound not quite a purr, but something close. He stepped down from the loading ramp and came to stand beside Gabriel, clipboard tucked under one arm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without a word, he reached out and nudged Gabriel\u2019s nose with his own\u2014just a slow, warm press, fur to fur. Gabriel closed his eyes and leaned into it, their foreheads touching for a brief moment in the hush of the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t say it enough,\u201d Thane murmured, \u201cbut I\u2019m proud of you. Every damn night.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel smiled, one arm slipping briefly around Thane\u2019s back. \u201cAnd I\u2019m proud to have my wolf out here with me. Even if you do snarl at everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane chuckled, then tapped the clipboard against Gabriel\u2019s chest. \u201cHelp me finish logging this gear and I\u2019ll consider not snarling at you<\/em> for the rest of the night.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel laughed. \u201cNo promises. But I\u2019ll carry the rigging box if you buy me a pizza.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou drive a hard bargain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They turned back to the truck, claws clicking softly on the metal ramp, working side by side under the soft yellow glow of the loading dock light\u2014tired, a little sore, but grounded in the quiet kind of love that didn\u2019t need an audience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Outside the venue, behind the gear truck, well past midnight The energy from the crowd had finally faded into the distance, replaced by the low rumble of road cases and the clack of boot soles across the pavement. The crisp night air carried a mix of ozone, diesel exhaust, and faint traces of sweat and […]<\/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-75","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tour-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75","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=75"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3321,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75\/revisions\/3321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}