“Pretty much,” James replied from where he was seated to the left of the bonfire from them. It was odd not to see Lady Luna Lily out there with him on her little harness and leash. She loved being outdoors and got a thrill out of scaring the scales off whatever lizard she could chase. “Though there is some cinnamon and nutmeg in their too.”
“Where has this been all my life,” Zakk moaned, taking a longer sip.
“On the internet, where I found it and decided to give it a shot for the night. We all need to get used to making shit for ourselves again, or we’re going to be fucked when we hit the road.”
“I’ll admit it, this place has spoiled the hell outta me,” Damien said.
“More like out of all of us,” Dez replied.
“No shit,” Tripp added.
“I swear to fuck,” Kane growled, glaring over in Tripp’s direction, his boyfriend’s bassist one mean looking, badass motherfucker. “If you call me Gaston and ask me to grab you so much as a soda from the refrigerator, I’m gonna launch it at your head.”
Tripp didn’t even blink. “What if I ask for the soda without the Gaston bit?”
“Then I might be nice and hand you one.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Be sure you do.”
Tripp was silent for a moment, then leaned forward with a grin. “What about Jeeves? Can you work with that?”
Zakk wouldn’t have thought it possible for Kane to look any more menacing than he already did, but god damn, if lasers had shot out of his eyes there’d have only been a scorch mark left where Tripp was sitting. Then, just when it looked like he really was trying to torch Tripp with just a glare, he shifted his attention to Damien and grinned.
“How about you slide over here and play with us, and we’ll leave Tripp with them,” Kane suggested.
“I was under the impression that you guys already had a drummer?” Damien said.
“Oh, right, yeah, those guys can have him too,” Kane replied.
“Hey!”
Kane just shrugged in response to their aqua haired drummer’s outraged protest and beckoned Damien his way. With the way the flames and shadows danced across his face, Zakk couldn’t tell if he was fuckin’ with Damien or making an earnest pass at him.
“How about you stay over there were it’s safer for the rest of us,” Damien said. “If the doorway to the pool is any indication of how you make an entrance, do us all a favor and do not touch anything in or around our RV, or the repair bill will be something of tremendously epic proportions.”
“I can show you some epic proportions if you wanna take a walk with me later.”
“Down puppy,” Damien ordered, voice stern even as he looked past Kane to where the rest of the band was seated. “You gentlemen might wish to consider putting him back on his leash before he gets himself in trouble.”
“Oh hell yeah!” Kane replied, which just prompted a face palm from Zakk as his drummer shook his head. Zakk knew he was smiling though, especially at the thought that someone as massive and rowdy looking as Kane would want to put the handle of his leash in Damien’s delicate hand.
“Behave and I’ll think about it,” Damien finally said when Kane wouldn’t stop looking eagerly in his direction.
“Are you all done now?” James asked.
It was like getting called out by the teacher. All of them settled down and gave him their undivided attention.
“Thank you. Now, in honor of this new joint endeavor of ours, I thought we should kick things off with a bit of a celebration. So, get comfortable, watch the sky, and enjoy.
Just when Zakk was about to ask what was so celebratory about the stars, a burst of green erupted overhead, arching and falling in a glittering pattern. As the last of the light faded, silver sparks erupted a little higher, followed by an aqua pop of colored streaks. Purples, oranges, reds, yellows. Zakk tipped his head back and watched the sky come alive, his head contently pillowed on Tripp’s shoulder.
“You know what they remind me of?” Dez murmured a few feet away from him. Zakk looked over to see him gazing up at Riley, brilliant colors reflected in his eyes.
“Glowing butterflies?” Riley replied.
“Close,” Dez murmured, pulling him down into a kiss. It was only when he loosened his hold on Riley enough that their lips were barely touching, that he whispered the answer. “Neon fireflies.”