Chapter 6 #4
Reno tuned them all out and focused on getting his contacts in and carefully applying his makeup for the night.
He went with all black, opting for a darker look to match his more modest outfit for the evening.
The black makeup fading under his jaw and down his neck would help hide any hickeys that might show at least. Arnaud gave him an approving look then asked Reno to do the same to him.
Reno loved it when they matched. He carefully painted stage makeup along Arnaud’s jawline and blended it down his neck.
It looked even nicer on him with his black throat tattoos peeking out from where the makeup ended.
When he finished, he pressed his lips to Arnaud’s jawline and got shoved away for it.
“You’re not helping the rumor mill.” Arnaud brandished a makeup brush at him.
“It keeps the fans happy.” Reno pouted as Arnaud flicked setting powder at him.
“There are no fans down here,” Arnaud argued.
“Yes, there are!” Christoph said from across the room, flashing them both a charming smile.
Reno giggled, “See, keeping the fans happy. Just look how he smiles.” He brushed the setting powder from his outfit, ignored Arnaud’s heavy look, and finished his face with a setting spray.
Once his face was dry, the person who looked back at him in the mirror was still Reno, but it was a version of himself that was invulnerable, tougher, and it made his contacts and makeup feel like a shield from his own emotions.
Sebastian had the Polaroid camera in his hand when he showed up next to Reno in the mirror.
He looked dashing in a torn black outfit with reflective pieces that matched Reno’s top.
His hair was wild, even curlier and fluffier than usual from how he'd pinned it up with long pieces framing his throat and trailing down between his shoulder blades.
“You about ready?”
He looked between Arnaud and Reno and held the camera up. Reno checked the time on his phone and nodded.
Taking photos never took too long, but Reno always liked the process of it.
Hitting different poses, watching the images appear like magic on the Polaroid film.
He took the photos of Sebastian last while Arnaud and Jaewon snapped some with their phones to post online alongside clips from the show last night.
When they had gotten through all the packs of film for the night they each picked five at random to sign before mixing them all into a box for the merch stand.
Reno could hear Christoph and Ina warming up in the green room and his fingers started to itch to play.
“I’ll be back,” Reno said to his bandmates before dipping away to grab his guitar and sling it over his back.
He left, wandering alone backstage, getting a feel for the shape of the space, and he slowly walked to center stage and crouched down in a squat, elbows on his knees, as he looked out into the empty venue.
He thought about Jaewon’s words earlier.
Reno was sure he’d never trade this for anything or anyone either.
He loved the smell of the venue, he loved standing where so many other musicians he looked up to had stood, he loved the lights on his skin and the buzz of his instrument, and he loved making music most of all.
He loved music, the magic of it, its impermanence, its shape and feeling, so much that if he thought too much about it, he’d choke up.
He wanted to feel that way about a person too, one day.
He dropped to the stage completely, moving his guitar to his front to slowly lie down.
From here he could hear Angel on the bass, plucking out something new that Reno hadn’t heard yet.
He smiled at the overhead lights, imagining Angel playing it on stage with the lights on.
He pictured the colors, the machines rolling fog around their feet, the enormous presence everyone in the bands had, and felt extremely lucky to have people around him who inspired him to write more, to play more, to make even better sounds than they dreamt possible.
He listened to the patterns and started picking out a melody to lay on top of the bass coming up through the stage floor. He played along on his guitar, twanging softly with nothing to power it. His eyes fell shut as he improvised, fingers finding where they needed to go without much thought.
“Reno." Sebastian was walking towards him. “Come warm up with me.” He held a hand out and Reno took a moment to admire the way light spilled through his brown and blond hair and around his broad, strong shoulders, the neck of his bass cutting a hard line of shadow away from his sculpted body.
“Of course.” Reno took his hand to stand and moved his guitar out of the way. He threw an arm around Sebastian’s shoulders, enjoying being in his stacked boots and tall enough to do so.
Voltage's roadies were busy at work backstage, just starting to bring everything from the van into the venue.
Kandi orchestrated the whole thing like usual, double-checking that the merch found its proper places and everything was well-stocked.
She flashed them a bright smile as they passed and Sebastian waved at her before ducking into the green room.
Arnaud was in the corner doing push-ups and sit-ups interchangeably, and Jaewon had his headphones on as he hit a practice mat in complicated patterns with his drumsticks.
Sebastian grabbed their travel amps and cords and handed one of the amps to Reno to carry back out of the room.
Angel spotted him and paused their playing.
“It sounds good,” Reno said to them, and Angel smiled up at Reno and tucked a few strands of their long white hair behind their ear. “Wanna hang soon and write?”
Angel nodded. “Tonight? You’ll be around, ja9?”
“Yup!” Reno beamed before adjusting his grip on the travel amp’s handle. Angel was wearing red contacts tonight and he liked them. He said so, making Angel flustered, before waving goodbye and wishing them well on their set as Sebastian pulled him away by the sleeve.
They walked back towards the stage and found a spot out of the way to plug in and tune up together.
They played through some of the set, stopping halfway through to check the time and found only twenty minutes until doors opened.
They packed up and went back to the greenroom to find water and wait for showtime.
Reno curled up on the ground in the corner and popped his headphones in, tuning out everyone in the room.
Luka
The last few hours have been so busy "( - ? - )
I lost track of time drawing
can i see?
not yet, soon though once i get it looking a little more how i want it
sorry
I like that you tell me no.
freak
yes. u got me
[image attachment] outfit for the night as promised
Sage
Plants watered, i miss u slut
I miss you, whore.
can u go on ur fake account and tell all my fans they r stupid
nope
you do it
and get murdered by the label? u wouldnt get in trouble
fine, what am i doing?
they called my new man ugly
your WHAT NOW? since when did this turn into 'your man'
im being presumptuous. but, hes still texting me today so I must have done something right
lord know what idk what anyone sees in u
congrats on getting ur dick sucked or whatever queen
I… I actually did not
wat
Luka
fuck haahh sdkjfhhkjghg excuse me???
人( @｀?′@) ehehehe
I'd say u werent real but I know better now
Sage
what do u MEAN you didnt get ur dick sucked!?
i did for him, that counts right?
oh is he big give me the tea bestie
i actually do not know how to answer that question.
Luka
I don't get how i'm this lucky lmao
I could say the same. Can I have a photo of you?
um sure hold on
Sage
u are so confusing why cant u just answer questions like a normal person?
i dunno but i rly liked what i found there thats all i feel comfortable saying.
a customer just walked in! good luck tonight babe
thanks babe
Luka
[image attachment]
oh my god luka
seb is giving me a disgusted look after the noise i just made. he just doesnt understand what it is to want to consume a man
im sorry?
oh was that too much?
…no
u can keep going lol i'm into it, i just cant believe this is my life
I want you as easily as I want to breathe
…smooth talker
I won't deny that. Doesn't mean I dont mean it though
mhm, we will see about that.
we will, won't we :)
Doors just opened, gonna get in the zone. I'll try to catch you later if you're awake still.
I'm usually up until midnight or so
perfect
Reno pulled his headphones out and got up to stretch.
He could hear the venue’s floor filling all the way from the greenroom and the sound of the crowd made his skin tingle with excitement.
He tucked the fresh memory of a shirtless-and-sweaty-Luka photo out of his head.
Luka’s eyes were the most gorgeous shade of blue-grey against his magenta hair and rosy cheeks and Reno had to take a series of deep breaths to get himself to focus.
He stretched his arms, took a bottle of water from Arnaud, and got ready to face a screaming crowd once again, doing what he loved most in the entire world.
1 Sorry
2 It is not
3 Yes, Ma’am
4 Yes, manager Kandi
5 my angel
6 Yeah
7 yeah
8 freak/crazy (teasing tone)
9 yes?