Eros vs Thanatos: Whoever wins... We lose

Chapter 7

Bam was having the time of his life.

It felt as if Christmas, Birthday, Hanukah and Halloween with three bags of candies, seized from the neighbours by treating to blackmail them, came all in one day. He realized it would be that way when they reached the venue, because as it turned out on the spot, the Lord of his trembling heart - the Idol and the Gap-tooth - was a real professional and in no way was going to let anyone doubt that.

He stormed up the stage like a hurricane at 6 pm sharp, right on schedule, after the technicians had finished the sound check. Don Miguel and Lily were on point; Gas and even Zoltan were on point too. The latter somehow looked sad and blue, despite the apparent promising vistas for the next 24 hours. Ville even kissed him on the cheek in a rush of feelings. Zoltan's face lit up for a second, but then he grew sad again.

Bam took a seat right on the floor of the club, crossing his legs. He watched and listened as Ville, who was standing at the height of the stage in front of him, began to sing, and then started scolding the sound engineer and promoter's manager, who was standing next to frowning Seppo. He was claiming vigorously that one could get a better sound out of a loo. Probably, the sound was shitty indeed, but to Bam everything was great anyway. More than anything, he liked Ville in his Rock Star character.

Especially from a side.

From a safe distance.

Apparently, Mige was enjoying the play as well, because he was standing with his back turned to the scene, laughing quietly. However, his shaking shoulders were giving him up. Bam noticed that Ville set his glare at Mige's back, so he started waving his hands and shaking his head, pointing with his eyes at the upcoming danger, hoping that only one member of the band would see him. Mige took his hint at once; he turned around sharply, scratched his chin and composed a worried face, which was supposed to show everyone his deepest concern about the situation, leaving Ville empty-handed.

Linde smirked and nodded at Bam, giving him a thumb-up. Bam burst out laughing.

Damn, the adrenaline was boiling in his blood.

Everything was going great...

For a couple of minutes, the venue fell into silence. Mige used the quiet moment to drink some water, while the technicians were anxiously hustling around Linde and Zoltan, connecting them and adjusting the settings. Mige wandered off to the far end of the stage, avoiding Ville, who was walking up and down the stage, anxiously kicking the wires that were impudent enough to get in his way. He resembled a hungry wolf stalking the woods for prey. However, no prey was coming his way, everyone was busy, and Mige, who was ably faking an artistic out-of-body experience, was avoiding looking him in the eyes. Soon enough, Ville began to feel bored.

He grabbed the mic stand with his hand, pushing it aside, and looked down at the auditorium. Bam was beaming at him happily like a rabid cat. And so what, he was happy indeed. Ville couldn't resist, Bam's beaming instantly thawed his harshness. Ville winked at him, grinning broadly in response. It was a little chilly in the club, as the air-conditioning was working for the full venue and the stage lights were still off, so Ville had put on a sweater before going on stage.

Perhaps, a normal human being would've chosen a different behavioural pattern. But Bam Margera wouldn't have been Bam Margera, if he hadn't done what he did. He put his hands to his mouth and cried loudly and distinctly:

'STRIPTEASE!!!'

Mige, who was quenching his thirst behind Ville's back, blew out a fountain of water. Seppo squinted thoughtfully at Ville and Bam, and pensively adjusted his glasses. Ville burst out laughing like a retarded hyena and showed Bam his middle finger. Bam laughed so hard in response that he even managed to fall sideways on the floor from his sitting position.