I Command You

(Characters and art by Paper Games.)

"Okay, sure! One more picture!" Kiro threw up the victory sign and the girl next to him snapped another selfie. His face was starting to hurt from smiling for all the pictures with the VIP backstage pass holders. This was regular after show marketing. All these pretty girls just made him miss her. He could tell they were conventionally attractive, but they weren't her. All he wanted to do was get back to the green room so he could think about her. "C'était un plaisir de te rencontrer. It was really great meeting you, Jeanne." Kiro said with all sincerity he could muster. He did truly appreciate his fans, but he was exhausted after the show.

The girl didn't move.

"Okay, Mademoiselle, Kiro is done for the day. Il est fini aujourd'hui." Savin spoke in poorly accented French and gestured to the exit as two security guards approached.

"Non!" the girl shrieked! "I want to stay with Kiro!"

Kiro sighed. He had expected this. It was worse each time.

"Mademoiselle, if you don't leave, we will remove you," said one of the guards, sternly.

"I want to stay with Kiro forever!" Jeanne even stomped her foot.

The two bodyguards exchanged glances and swept their arms behind the young lady's back to start her walking. Instead of following their lead, she slumped to the floor. "I won't!"

They each took her beneath an arm and lifted her towards the door and took her out of sight, away from the backstage area..

"Wow, they were all like that tonight! Nobody wanted to leave!" Savin shook his head. "Your fans are getting crazier and crazier."

"Heh. They are certainly zealous." Kiro said. But he knew. This was his fault. His evol was out of control. He had been looking forward to his powers growing, but the charm being expressed by his evol was not fun for him anymore. There was a special frenzy in the crowd tonight. Fans were pressing up against the stage and getting hurt. They only stopped pushing each other tonight when he said into the mic, "Now I want everyone to have a good time, so take care of each other down there! I don't want anybody to get hurt, okay?" Then they cheered in praise.

Savin said "Crew should take about two more hours and then we can get on the bus and get out of here. You wanna go anywhere tonight?"

"Not really. I think I'll just go nap in the green room."

"I'll come get you when they're done. And great job tonight!" Savin flashed a sideways smile and gave him double finger guns.

In the silence of the green room, Kiro's left ear rang from the echoes of the stage noise. He liked to pull his left monitor out of his ear so he could hear the crowd while he performed, but sometimes the amplifiers were set dangerously loud. It wouldn't be so bad if he would just keep the monitor in, but that canceled all the outside sound and took away all the fun of experiencing the applause.

Savin had directed that Kiro have nothing to eat in the green room after the show except a can of soda water. Kiro pulled on the tab, took a large sip, and poured a flask of herbal fragranced gin into it until it was full. His shirt clung to his back, his damp hair stuck to the back of his head. He took out his phone and scrolled directly to her moments page. Nothing for three days. What was she doing? He missed her so bad! He knew he was head over heels in love with this woman! He felt the urge to call her and then did the time zone math. No good. A text maybe? She could get to it whenever.

He texted: Just finished the show.

He stared at the screen, but she didn't reply. She must have been asleep. Probably at her desk, all cute with her soft hair folded over her papers. He wanted his Miss Chips. Dammit all! He craved her. And he couldn't have her. So now he craved...carbs. His brain lit up at the thought. Junk stash. Fritos. Makeup bag.