Of Stalking and Tomatoes

Chapter 14

The smell of the wood surrounding them, the sounds of people carrying equipment as they ran around the area, the feel of the curtains as it touches his fingertips, the sound of the crowd behind those same curtains. It was chaotic and nerve cracking, and yet he was abnormally at ease with this. The staff was yelling out commands to each other as they set up the tables and the cable wires. There were calls for water and extension cables. There were calls for missing plugs and a defective microphone. It had been years since he had seen this sight. The sight of the backstage crew prepping the stage before a performance.

He stood near the theatre drapes as he tried to stay out of everyone's way. He wasn't doing anything in particular. He was just watching everything as he leaned on the wall.

"Fuck. Shit. Jesus Christ," Jul was crouching on the ground beside him, "I want a burger."

He snickered and that earned him a glare. Jul was obviously nervous. A bundle of sensitive nerves crouching on the wooden floorboards. He wasn't like this earlier though. He was a ball of energy and raring to go out there all 'awesome' and everything but as the clock counted down to curtain call, well, he slowly became this ball of wreck beside Nyx's feet.

"You shouldn't eat before a performance," Nyx told Jul, "You might throw up."

"I fucking know that, shithead!" Jul replied.

He shrugged, "Just saying."

Jul was a total wreck and Nyx was enjoying it. At the very least, his eardrums aren't breaking with all the screams of 'I'm awesome'. But in all honesty, Nyx wasn't even sure why he wasn't panicking like his friend. That crowd was more than what he expected and he is going to act with barely any scripted lines. It's going to be a mainly improv performance. That should be a terrifying thought but he was unusually calm. He felt at home in this chaos, even.

"What's up with him?" a voice to his left said.

He saw Ren adjusting her collar as she walked towards him and Jul. She was wearing Romano's original outfit, a khaki uniform similar to Spain's, with ¾ sleeves. She seemed calm for the most part although she has been very talkative since earlier this morning, one of the few indications of her nervousness.

"Nervous and at the brink of breakdown," he replied, "He also said he wanted a burger."

Ren cringed at the mention of a burger, "That's not a good idea. Maybe fries but not burgers before a panel."

"The fries won't make a difference!" Jul said, "I just want something to sink my teeth on so I can get rid of this...thing!"

Nyx's shoulders trembled in silent laughter as Ren rolled her eyes. Jul was too nervous to even do a proper retort.

"Just don't eat the floorboards," Rodney came in from lower backstage, "We don't want anyone falling down a hole."

"Shut it, prissy pants!" Jul replied.

Rodney had stopped bothering him after that day. The day when he stayed over Ren's place. He had been friendly, not too much because that would've been weird, but enough to make Nyx erase him from the dangerous list. He even placed him on the 'call in case you want Jul to leave me alone' list. Rodney seemed to have a way of shutting Jul up. A skill he should be asking Rodney to teach him.

"You seem calm," Rodney stated as he adjusted his cravat. Austria's noble stance really fit Rodney well.

Nyx shrugged, "Yeah. It's weirding me out too."

"You did say that you have theatre experience." Ren stated.

"True. But I don't remember being this calm before an act." Nyx replied.