Chapter 2 #2
It was a selfie, Reno’s startling blue contacts staring right into the camera and his sleek blond hair feathered perfectly over one side of his face.
Luka zoomed in a little; one of the contacts was askew, and the imperfection only added to the charm of it all—a little flaw in Reno’s otherwise perfect photo.
He saved the selfie to his phone.
The second was everyone else at the table.
Clearly, Reno had just turned the camera around and told everyone to smoosh together.
King and two other people had to crowd in over the booth, standing up while the members of Hearts n Hell and Voltage, minus Reno, crammed together to fit in the frame.
They looked like they were having fun and Luka had to wonder if they always had this good of a time.
The last picture was another selfie, but it was blurry and someone’s arms were wrapping around Reno.
He was laughing, eyes creased shut, and Luka noticed his bottom teeth were slightly crooked.
He pressed his tongue ring against the permanent retainer they put on his bottom teeth after his braces came off in middle school and felt for a moment that it was dangerously intimate for a photo like this one to end up in Luka’s inbox.
He was seeing sides of Reno that weren’t shown to the public.
Things that were probably private. He couldn’t remember ever seeing Reno do more than smirk in press release images.
Why in the world was this happening to him?
[Unknown Number]
Yeah I showed him your photo. Pinks my favorite color, and yours?
Yeah, same.
[Unknown number]
Good morning! ???? ????
Luka stifled a yawn as he pulled the milk from the fridge and poured it into the bowl of cereal on the kitchen island, trying not to splash it everywhere.
He cracked open a Red Bull and considered making eggs, but decided the dishes wouldn’t be worth it.
Shift didn’t start for another two hours, and he dreaded sitting with his phone in his hand wondering what to even talk to Reno about.
Maybe he would brave Twitter, see if things had calmed down on there. Probably not, though.
[Wulf0025]
bro, you alive? you're not usually afk this long.
you dont have to call me out like that.
weve been playing halo together since we were 13 I don't think you've ever gone 24 hrs without messaging me back. Trust, I know i'm just as bad lmao
all that shit on twitter was real. I've been hiding out, kinda.
wtf really?? tea
idk man. what if he thinks im a girl? We haven't seen each other in ten years.
hold up, seen each other? What are you talking about?? also bro, no one would mistake u for a girl.
Tell that to the ppl in public who misgender me almost every day.
Well, ok. no more than any dude with long pink hair living in the midwest. get real.
What do you mean 'seen each other'?
Luka scrubbed his hand over his face and regretted getting into a conversation at all. He looked at his half-eaten cereal, appetite gone and still no closer to knowing what he would say to Reno.
[Wulf0025]
I met him at a show in 2005, round back of the venue. We smoked a cig together. Didn't rly think I made an impression… Guess I was wrong. Idk how he recognized me 10 yrs later out of a crowd of people.
Thats weird, isnt it?
You think he's got like, bad intentions or something?
Either way, he's an idiot for putting my name on his twitter. Doesn't he know his fans are rabid?
You are pretty rabid dude.
This is so surreal, but fr its gonna bug u ur whole life if you don't text him back or dm him or whatever.
we're already texting.
I have chills bro and idgaf about this band
whats he saying???
Don't share this anywhere. Like I will kill you if you do – I'm only showing u because ur one of my best friends.
[Screenshot attachment]
Bro…
don't even.
You're not even being that nice and hes still texting u good morning and sending selfies.
What if he's some kind of stalker?
You really think someone that famous has time to be a stalker?
ur right.
what should i even say though? I'm no good at small talk.
He poured the last bit of milk down the sink and dropped the bowl on the bottom, leaving it to clean later, after work.
He put food in Michael’s bowl and clicked his tongue for him.
The cat came running, purring loud enough to be heard across the room before beginning to devour his breakfast. Luka scratched him on the head then straightened up, went back to his room to change, then toed into his running shoes and tied his hair back.
The weather outside was still turning to spring and it looked like it would rain soon.
The clouds hung heavy in the sky as Luka made his way on his daily path.
The trees were blooming, just the beginning of little green sprouts and white petals peeking out all over the dogwoods.
Twenty minutes later, he was turning the final corner back onto his block when the tornado sirens started up with their monthly test. Luka ducked through his front door, hands over his ears, right as the first few drops of rain started to hit the ground.
He slumped down against the door, out of breath from the sprint he'd kicked up once the sirens started to blare, and Michael looked at him with a clueless expression from where he sat in the kitchen next to his empty bowl.
His ears flattened against his head as the sirens swept over them before fading again.
“Me too, buddy.” Luka peeled off his shirt and used it to wipe off his face before heading to the bathroom for a quick shower.
It still gave him pause when he saw himself shirtless in the mirror, a moment of relief to see the fading scars still there and nothing more.
He turned to the side and flexed his arms, finding them underwhelming before giving up and starting the shower.
The water eased his tense muscles and when he climbed back out, he had a new sense of determination. He’d text Reno back, try to be more friendly, go to the concert, keep his location on his phone streaming to August the whole time, and just play along. What was the worst that could happen?
He cleared the mirror off and towel dried the bit of moisture in his hair before snapping a photo of himself from the waist up, phone covering his face, and his hair wild. Before he could overthink it, he dropped the photo in his chat with Wulf.
[Wulf0025]
Idk, just be normal lmao. If you can.
Wait no, nevermind. that will never work for you :) What if you just ask him why he reached out to you? Be direct. You're better at that than being normal.
should I send this? [Image attachment]
Whore. No.
send a NORMAL selfie. Put ur damn shirt on.
but if he sees me without a shirt I wont have to have the whole 'whats ur gender' convo with him.
I'm sighing. That's a very thinly veiled excuse.
Luka narrowed his eyes at his phone. Was it?
He really didn’t think it was that strange, and it would potentially avoid any confusion in the future.
What future? Luka kicked himself internally, finished drying off with still thirty minutes to spare before he had to log into work.
He popped open his chat with Reno and bit the bullet.
[Unknown Number]
Good morning to you too. Do you always wake up early?
Nope, on work days and after I sleep late. I only get up early when I had time off for days. You?
My cat wakes me up at 8 every morning, so I go for a run after I feed him. Then I work all day.
What do you do for work? Can I see the cat
boring things for a bank call center. I'm tryin to quit to do art tho.
I saw on twitter. You're very good.
Oh no. Luka grabbed his running clothes from the bathroom floor and dashed to his room. He dropped them in the hamper and threw the shoes in the closet before yanking his laptop out from under his bed and flipping it open.
He had fan art of Reno on his Twitter. This was a nightmare.
This was a total and complete fucking nightmare!
Forget getting caught with a photo card on his backpack—this was way, way worse!
He looked at the time; he had fifteen minutes before he had to clock in and somehow he needed to locate and delete every piece of art he’d made of Voltage over the six years he’d had this account.
[Unknown Number]
I like this one a lot [image attachment]
Luka opened it and let out a big whoosh of air. It was not one of the drawings of Reno or anyone else in his band. It was a comic he’d made last week about work. Luka was pretty proud of it too, and he hoped it meant Reno actually hadn’t gotten that far down his Twitter feed.
[Unknown Number]
Do you ever do self portraits?
Luka ignored the frankly ridiculous amount of notifications and DMs he still had and found the first drawing he’d made of Reno, deleting it with a cheer.
There were only a few more and he made quick work of finding them and removing them from the internet completely.
Well, nothing was ever truly gone from the internet, but close enough.
[Unknown Number]
Technically that's a self portrait. It's about me at my job.
Oh thats so cool! Maybe u can make one of me at my job
(@`w′@)
He snapped the laptop closed with a sigh of relief.
Surely Reno wouldn’t suggest that if he had already seen the pictures Luka had drawn of him ‘at work’ in the past. What an insane job to have.
International rockstar vs call center grunt.
Luka looked at the clock and saw he had ten minutes, so he went downstairs and logged in.
[Unknown Number]
Not for free, of course. I'm happy to pay for such good art.
Ha, gonna become my patron of the arts?
Maybe!
I'll believe it when I see it. I gotta work – ttyl
Bye :)