It’s not forever, Nace has to remind himself as he watches the band. Don’t go getting too attached.
He’s worked with so many different people in so many different places that at times they start to blur and melt into each other, but he’s sure he’s never been around people who are so damn comfortable with each other. It’s not just the chemistry of their performance either, although there’s plenty of that too.
It starts off with the nicknames, thrown around with a casual ease that shows off their years of friendship: Bojči, Krisko, Martinček, even standoffish Jan gets Janči and Jure appears to have so many that they’re different every time someone wants his attention. There’s a bit of a sting to being called by his full name alongside that, although he’s sure they won’t mean it. He’s just not been around long enough. There’s nothing new about that.
And then, of course, there’s the hugging, if you can call it that. Cuddling might be a better term, and it comes apparently as easy as breathing to all of them. Jure is the biggest culprit, casually hanging off of anyone like a limpet when he’s in their proximity – except for Nace, of course – but Bojan isn’t far behind with the easy way he throws an arm around whoever is closest when he’s happy about something.
Except for Nace, of course, but he’s just a stand in until a permanent solution is decided on.
But even more than that, it’s the way that they just know each other inside and out. If Nace believed in such things, he might go so far as to call it telepathy, seeing the way Kris can take in half a rambled speech from Bojan and put into chords exactly the effect he can’t verbalise himself, or how Jan has a lighter and papers at the ready for Jure when he’s patting his pockets down before heading for a smoke, or how Jure has a bag of sour candy ready to throw to Kris whenever he senses him being about to crash. It goes beyond the music and performance, etched somewhere even deeper into all of them.
It might only be Nace’s third practice with the band, but he knows he’s watching something special, a bond deeper than any he’s witnessed in any of his previous projects or ever experienced himself.
It’s not forever, Nace reminds himself time and again as he watches how close the others are.
