I Wanna Be Somebody

One shot, two shots, three -I watched from my perch on the arm of the couch as River and Rikard slammed down glass after glass. Joakim, who was acting as referee, watched closely, but it was obvious who won. I let out a laugh as River let out a victorious yell, fist pumped into the air, and then proceeded to stumble slightly backwards.

“Ha! That'll teach you to challenge the Jack Daniels queen,” she taunted, a big grin plastered on her face. Drinks had been flowing for a while, now; I had walked off stage, following just behind Kris, and as we neared the venue's backstage lounge room, a torrent of Swedish hit us. Much to all our surprise, our brothers from Sabaton had dropped by for a visit upon hearing that Memento Mori was in their home town. After that, drinking was inevitable, and several of us -River included- were well on our way to being more than just 'tipsy.'

Hearing a drawn out, exasperated sigh, I glanced over at Tygo, who was sitting next to me. Raising up from his relatively relaxed position, he ran a hand through his long brown hair, grumbling something out. Over the din of all the conversation, I could just barely make out his words.

“Queen of Jack Daniels, my ass.” Realizing that I'd heard him and was sitting there looking at him with an eyebrow arched in amusement, he fixed his brilliant blue eyes on me.

“What?” He questioned flatly before taking a drink of his water. I just shook my head, smiling.

“Nothing,” I replied.

“You know I don't like Jack Daniels,” he shot back, “don't give me that look.” Still smiling, I simply rested my hand on his shoulder in reply. It seemed a simple enough gesture, but Ty and I both knew that it was one of attempted, silent reassurance; Tygo hated Jack Daniels. He had ever since I had first met him the summer before I started college. He didn't approve of any of us drinking it, for reasons I didn't bother to ask. I knew enough about Ty to know that if didn't like something, the reason was usually pretty valid.

It was needless to say he definitely wasn't a fan of River's nickname, either.

Turning my attention back to the drinking contest, Sabaton's guitarist regarded River with an impressed look.

“I'll be damned,” Rikard started. “I've been bested by an American.”

“You're damn right you have! Now pay up, Swedish fishy,” the blonde guitarist declared, holding her hand out. Accepting his defeat, Rikard fished out 20 dollars worth of money before handing it over. River took the cash, tucking it into the pocket of the jeans she'd changed into, before grabbing another drink. Following her lead, I reached for mine sitting on the coffee table. As I did so, Ty leaned over, smirking.

“Did she just call him what I think she did,” he asked. Grinning over at our manager, I nodded my head.

“Swedish fishy, yes, that's what she called him,” I replied, letting out a laugh as I took a long swig of my whiskey.

“That's a new-” Ty was cut off as Elize suddenly seemed pop up from nowhere, calling out that it was time to play Truth or Dare.

“River,” the singer chimed, getting her attention. “Truth or dare!”

“Oh, shit,” Tygo cursed, dropping his head to cover his eyes with his hand. “Oh, shit.”

“Truth.”

“Do you have a tattoo on your ass?” Avaa asked with a grin.

“You would like to know, wouldn't you?” she smirked.

“I bet Isaac does,” the drummer chuckled.

At that point, River took the time to glance over her shoulder at her boyfriend, who had mostly stuck to himself since the drinking began. “Isaac, do I have a tattoo on my ass?”

“Yes,” he answered with a smile.

River turned back to all of us, facing Avaalon in particular. “That proves he doesn't know because, no, I do not have anything inked on my ass,” she answered, making sure to put an emphasis on 'no'.

“Then, who's ass were you looking at, Isaac?” Avaa taunted, a shit eating grin plastered on his face.

“Probably yours,” Kris chuckled from his seat on the other side of Tygo, at the far end of the couch.

“Okay, okay,” Elize cut in. “Let's not go into detail on Avaa's bedroom escapades.”

“Oh, admit it, Elize. You'd love to hear about my bedroom escapades,” Avaa chimed with a grin. The Amaranthe singer merely glared at him, but it was Andy who smacked him in the back of the head. Avaa let out a holler of disapproval, but Elize paid him no mind as she fixed her gaze towards Kris, Tygo and I.

“Ty-” She couldn't even finish saying his name before our manager objected.

“Oh, hell no, I'm not a part of this,” he spoke, leaning back against the couch once more. For a moment, Elize narrowed her dazzling eyes at him, as if she could compel him to join in on the game, but when he stayed stoned face, she quickly gave up. Instead, she set her sights on Oblivion, and just by the look on her face, I could tell she was about to try and get revenge on Memento Mori's drummer boy for his earlier comment. And probably the comment about banging something, too.

“Oblivion.” All eyes turned to the raven haired bassist who, as calm and collected as ever, regarded everyone with a straight face, even as he spoke. “Yes?”

“Truth or dare?”

“Dare,” the bass player shot back, not even thinking about it.

“Kiss your brother,” Elize shot before anyone else got a chance to say anything. A chorus of 'ooohh!'s and jeers went through the room, along with a burst of laughter that came from Avaa.

“Is that the best you've got, darlin'?” Avaa questioned with a grin as he got up from his spot. Nonchalantly, Avaa made his way over to his identical twin, and without even thinking twice, wrapped his arms around his brother's shoulders before leaning in and kissing him on the cheek. Oblivion quickly grinned before giving Avaalon a hug. As the parted, the crimson haired drummer stood up straight, turning back to Elize. “Happy?”

Everyone laughed as she silently flipped him off.

When it died down, Elize, this time with much less gusto, ran her eyes over everyone gathered in the room, before her piercing gaze landed on Danny, the drummer for Arch Enemy. A.K.A., the bus mates Memento Mori had for this tour, who probably all thought we were psycho.

“Danny, truth or dare?” Sitting cross legged on the floor, Danny looked thoughtful for a moment.

“Dare.” At that, Simone finally chimed in.

“Let's make this a little more interesting,” the red head hummed out, smiling. Hadn't it already been interesting enough? Poor guy, there's no telling what Simone is gonna say-

“Give Jess a kiss.”

My train of thought came to a crash and as I was pulled out of my thoughts, I found everyone's eyes on me. Even Tygo, who was not only looking at me, but he also had a suggestive smirk on his face.

“Uh,” Danny hummed out, unsure. “I'd rather not get my ass handed to me by one of her bandmates. Or by her.” I couldn't help but laugh at that.

“Come on, bro. A dare is a dare; you have to do it,” Angela, his band mate and one of the other singers on this tour, chimed in from where she sat next to him. Sighing, Danny set his beer down and reluctantly got up. I sent him a smile as he made his way over to me, and he quickly returned it before leaning down, kissing me on the cheek.

''Aww! That was sweet!'' Elize yelled.

"Oh, come on," bellowed one of the guys from Sabaton. I couldn't tell who.

"You call that a kiss?" Avaa demanded. Danny merely shrugged as he walked back over to his seat. Sitting down, he fixed a critical stare at his fellow drummer. “Worked for you, didn't it?” That was enough to make Avaalon swallow his tongue, even if it was only for a moment.

“Fair enough,” he answered. After that, the game continued on, and drinks continued to pour. I, however, did not feel much like drinking, nor like talking. All I could think of was the sincerity in Danny's dark eyes when he'd smiled at me.