Chapter 4 #2
She cackled, and dug a pointy elbow into his middle, before straining onto tiptoes to plant a kiss on his cheek.
He still had to lean forward obligingly for her to manage it.
“I’m pulling your leg, mate, and you know it.
Also, you need to shave. You’ve a chin like sandpaper.
” She hooked her arm around his again, making it difficult for him to test his bristliness.
“Where we going?” he asked after a moment or two.
They seemed to be steering him, subtly, but purposefully, towards the opposite end of the band enclosure.
There were fewer big buses at this end of the field and more tents nestled between the trees.
Numerous people nodded to them as they passed by.
He recognised a lot of old-timers from his parent’s generation, which honestly was a little odd, this being a rock festival and his mum and dad traditional folkies.
He nodded at guys from a few other bands and exchanged a passing hand slap with Mikey Ruin of Wrath even by fifteen they’d both realised holding on too fast to another person was a recipe for heartache.
No, what concerned him here was the possibility of surprises of the unwelcome kind.
The kind that would put him on the spot and crush the carefully constructed cocoon he’d created.
Thankfully, his entrance didn’t prompt any sort of scream, or hug cavalcade. Thus, he could shove his justifications to the back of his mind again and purge his unease with a shake.
Inside was carpeted and cosy. A bit gloomy, but that was goths for you, and it wasn’t like the Black Halo colour palette was all that different.
Eloise’s sister, and his one-time kissing friend Severina, stood off to the left, hunched over a tablet pointing out something to their Uncle Damon, while their father Steve D’Amon lounged on a plush velvet couch near the central pole, nursing what looked like a pint of swamp juice.
He gestured them over and they exchanged hand clasps, before he offered Paul a seat, and a spinach smoothie.
“Good for colonic health. I can have one of the girls rustle you one up. Swear by them. Not bad with a splash of vodka, either.”