deliver me from reasons why

A terribly crowded room, teeming with screaming fans who suddenly surged forward as one when the music reached its final note, fading out into the great shout of applause until nothing of its melody remained, all but overwhelmed by the cacophonous sound of numerous voices unifying under the guise of adoration and excitement. 

Elbowed aside by two very impassioned women as they determinedly - or rather, frantically - worked their way toward the stage, Cassius bit back a wince, running his fingers through the thick strands of his dark brown hair - he’d fashioned it into a ponytail earlier that evening, but sometime during the show, several strands had escaped the black elastic hair band, giving it a slightly disheveled appearance - as his dark gaze passed from unfamiliar face to unfamiliar face in search of his coworkers, both of whom had invited him to attend this concert with them but who had disappeared within seconds of filing into the packed room, the intensity of their excitement permeating every inch of the atmosphere. Despite their claim that they’d both feel much safer if a man tagged along, they hadn’t wasted any time in abandoning him to his own devices, leaving him to fend for himself and against a mob that practically demanded crowd control. 

        Quite rude, if you asked him.

   Fighting his way through the throng of people surrounding the stage, aiming for the outer edges of the crowd, Cassius shrugged off a few loose hands here and there, accustomed to being groped at least once whilst in public. He didn’t know what it was about him that inspired such inappropriate behavior, but he’d long since learned to live with it, refusing to let it affect his life. Luckily, they knew where to draw the line, and in certain situations, that was all that mattered. 

           Before he could reach his intended destination, however, the horde of loud, obnoxious fans moved yet again, dragging him along with them -

                                     It was in that moment he finished the song. The high was better than anything you could buy recreationally, and with the microphone dangling from one hand Echo kissed his fingertips in adieu and left the stage. Noteable not by ducking behind a curtain but by descending down the stairs, guitar still strapped to his back. Already eager fans were gathering round, hopeful to be picked up by one of the band members, some of whom were notorious for taking after show lovers. 

                                                                 Not Echo— though many tried. So a body crashing into him didn’t come as a surprise, nor did the hands on his shoulders, but the face he saw when he looked up did. Beautiful long natural lashes and masculine lips, who had something none of the fangirls who’d tried this move before did, a cock. Swallowing, Echo didn’t move— didn’t shrug the fan’s hands off, and stared in transfixed fascination as the poetry strewed forth.  

                  A poet?

Not even the commotion of an approaching bodyguard had the power to make him look away, Echo merely calmly raised a hand to pause the guard in place and listened with peaked interest until the beautiful stranger was done. Well then. Lifting his aviators a crack Echo took the man’s beauty in before settling the mirrored glass back in place. Call him intrigued.

   “Come along then.” With that verbal all clear, he took one of the stranger’s hands off his shoulder and led him and the band (most of whom were too taken aback by their singer’s actions to find groupies of their own) towards the exit backstage. 

                                                                                                  All eyes were on them. 

                                    Echo Lane had never done anything like this before.                                                              Much less with a man. 

mythology meme ; echo.