Sparkling Water - 1. Chapter 1

Nilus was hiding from his bodyguard.

He had a few hours before he needed to be at the arena for costuming. In his opinion, it was far too much effort for a guest performance. But, he'd found a parking lot near the arena that turned out to be food truck heaven. Several different street vendors were gathered in a circle around wooden bench tables. As much as the overly freckled singer wanted to try something from each one of the stalls, he opted for the shortest line and ordered himself a box of loaded nachos.

Without any of his performance ensemble and makeup, he knew he was unrecognizable. A plain gray hoodie and faded blue cargos were enough to cover his lithe self from top to bottom. His silver hair was in disarray, and the bags beneath his eyes were haggard, so he was partially relieved that the hood also kept all of that under wraps. When his nachos were ready, he rushed over to one of the empty bench tables and dove right in.

"This is the absolute best!" The words were followed by the unmistakable crunch of the tortilla chips.

"Nilus."

Though the tone of the voice was calm and even, the singer immediately tensed up, whipping his head around until Nil's brown eyes met with blue. "Max, mah man!" Nil greeted him with a shaky grin.

"You could have sent anyone on an errand to do this," the bodyguard admonished, his pale blue eyes focused so intently on Nil that the singer felt his genetic instincts rising. He had his contractual responsibility as a guest performer to fulfill, but damn if a part of him didn't want to give Max a primal chase.

"Sure, and have Dione judge me with her big-ass eyeballs for not sticking to my diet? So much easier to grab some grub on my own."

"Without even me?"

Nilus sent him a guilty glance. "Yeah, but only due to indigestion seeing you so tense guarding my behind all the time," he admitted while opening his arms wide as his voice drifted into sing-song. "Just look at how chill everyone is."

Nil saw Max tensing up immediately, having spotted something behind the singer that put him on edge. "Time to go," he warned before lifting the artist into his arms bridal style and rushing back to his tinted car.

"God damn it, Max," Nilus hissed, feeling embarrassed at being carried off. "Doing these kinds of dramatic things is what'll get us more attention, not my singing a little line or two in public-" He trailed off when he peered over Max's shoulder and saw a few young ladies dragging one another by their elbows while pointing at his bodyguard's back with mouths agape. Crap! Had he accidentally enchanted them?

"You were saying?"

"I got it, I got it," Nilus grumbled as he was shoved into the passenger side, the door closing him in. "Time to head back. What a waste of nachos."

Nil kept his arms crossed and a surly expression on his face as they drove back. He'd only had three bites of those amazing loaded nachos before they were left behind, completely wasted. One of the many things Nilus highly disliked was wasting food. He usually went out of his way to only order what he could handle, leaving nothing behind except whenever they toured in China.

The sudden sound of loud ringing coming from the speakers of the car startled the singer. When he glanced at the screen, he realized that Max was calling his flipping understudy. Had that guy been following Nilus, too?

"Lei, you shadowed us well," Max said aloud. "Nilus left a box of nachos behind at the southwest table. Please bring that back with you."

After a moment of silence, the man on the other end of the line finally responded. "Will there be anything else?"

"That is all."

"On it, sir," Lei said before ending the call.

The smile that formed on Nilus's face was both smug and spoiled. But he couldn't help it. "Thanks," he told Max. "I knew you cared more about me than that jerk."

"You might want to keep those delusions to yourself," Max refuted, though the smile that tugged on the edge of his lips spoke otherwise.

"Nope," Nil countered. "Can't dampen my mood. Actions speak louder than words."

"Oh?" the bodyguard taunted. "If only you applied some of those idioms yourself."

"Did you just call me a loud-ass?" Nilus gasped.

"No, but it's nice to know you're self-aware enough to wonder about that."

"If I didn't have a song to perform right now, I'd prove you wrong."

"You mean you can't prove me wrong by doing both?"

As soon as they parked, Nilus stormed right out of the car. "The nerve," he muttered to himself as he walked through the backlot of the arena towards his dressing room.

Nil opened a bottle of sparkling water and downed it. Within seconds, his white hair and eyebrows became a dark green with bright blue tips. All that aquatic kin needed to amplify their gifts was humidity. But he was too flustered to worry about going a bit over-the-top in his performance by drinking twenty-four ounces of water.

He wondered if Max had been defending that Lei guy the whole time as he sat down in his makeup chair and was immediately attacked with foundation and powder by Dione. Nil had already gotten used to the tall woman rushing over out of seemingly nowhere and fussing over him. She was what Nilus described as a "Managerial Maniac," booking his appearances as well as taking over his nutrition and costuming. But she was his cousin and could handle all of those roles and more. No mere human could.

"Di, he practically said my words speak louder than my actions!"

"Mm-hmm. Don't talk when I'm doing your lips," Dione scolded as she painted half of his upper lip with a dark teal color and used white on the bottom. She flicked his forehead when he began to pout and took advantage of his indignant face to add a touch of highlighter powder to the edges of his lower eyelids. "It's always the ones we can't enchant that we want to chase the most."

Nilus's expression fell to confusion, and Dione shook her head.

"Nil, don't tell me you don't even realize how badly you want Max." When the singer's mouth fell open, she let out a snort of amusement while dusting the tip of his nose with a brush. "Had I known that shocking you was the key to keeping your face still, I'd have done so from the beginning."

"I can't enchant Max?" Nilus questioned aloud. "Of course, I can't." He affirmed as he slapped his forehead, transferring glitter and powder onto his fingertips, prompting Dione to complain about having to cover up his freckles again. "That club-bouncer pose he always does off-stage instead of dancing makes so much sense now."

Dione nodded indulgently. "Yes, and the fact that you want to enchant him means…" she urged while spraying his white hair with water to keep the colors vibrant.

"That means I want him to…" Nilus stammered as he tried to sort through his thoughts and feelings. The bulky bodyguard had kept him safe for the last five years. Max humored him and teased him. Sometimes, he riled him up for no reason. "I want him to…" The image of Max's face came to mind. Despite his large size, the massive guy looked like a mixed human. Medium-toned skin, dark hair, and pale blue eyes. Nilus had never bothered asking Max what his lineage was. Did the bodyguard's hair change when exposed to his family's element like his locks did? "Does this mean I want him to be a fan of my music-OW!?"

Dione had tugged him hard by the hairstyle she'd been perfecting. "Nil, you better figure your feelings out before someone else snatches Max from right under your nose."

"Damn, Di," Nilus whined as he held his stinging head, his fingertips tracing a side braid. He understood where she was coming from. In her own way, she was worried about him. But Nil wasn't ready to face whatever feelings he may or may not have hidden away. Not when he knew Max couldn't even be enchanted.

"Let's get this show started, then."

When Nilus was dressed in his full dramatically-themed performance gear, he stood on the side of the stage until he was announced. The band was made up of handpicked kin, and they were already waiting for him. On the other side of the stage, also hidden behind the curtains, stood Max in his intimidating club-bouncer pose. The sight brought a goofy grin to the singer's face, breaking his persona. For a moment, he saw concern flicker on Max's face, but then it was time. When he walked onto the stage with a dancer's grace, he allowed himself to drift into the zone.

"Upper right. Center left. Not alone, and not bereft."

A mist licked the bottom of the stage as Nilus danced. The musicians behind him and the crowd repeated his chant as he urged them with hand signals. Then, the guitarists began playing the music he composed half a year ago, guided by the rhythm set by the drummer. As the sounds blasted through the speakers, the audience roared. He waited until everyone settled down a bit before he continued to sing.

"The rising heat has the coral beat, makes me feel unhinged right down to my feet," Nilus's voice rolled over the crowd like waves. "Creatures far and wide, lost from tide to tide. Will we still abide; will we let them die?"

By that point, Nilus knew that he had the attentive ears of everyone in attendance. Everyone except Dione, his musician kin, and Max. While the audience members swayed and sang along, Nil's bodyguard remained as still as stone. That irked the singer to his core. Determined to make Max feel something with his music, Nilus put his all into his singing. His brown eyes began to glow an iridescent green-purple.

"This ain't a new paradigm! Where do they get off fucking with someone else's time?" He saw Max twitch when he sent him a sideways glance. "Why ain't it declared a crime to make them all extinct just to pocket one more dime?"

Nilus held his microphone out to the crowd. They didn't hesitate to sing back to him. A rueful smile formed on his face at the sound.

"Just look at how chill everyone is!"

"Just look at how riled everyone is!" Nilus joined them, all voices singing in unison. "If we're more than one, we can fight this! Deep in an oceanic abyss!"

The singer gave a dance step as he moved aside for one of his guitarist kin to rock his solo. Nil's gaze met Max's for a moment. He sent him a wink on impulse and had to stop himself from laughing when the bodyguard pointedly began to look out at the crowd instead.

"Won't you join me?" Nilus sang while looking directly at Max with his iridescent eyes. "And swim in my sea?"

For a moment, Max seemed as if he'd walk right onto the stage before he caught himself and shook his head. This pleased Nil to no end. His enchantment had never been strong enough to persuade the massive man to do anything. He could hardly believe what he'd just seen. When the guitar solo was over, Nilus continued to sing, urging the audience to join him every now and then. Max's reactions were small but significant to him. They fueled him up and spurred him into giving his best performance yet.

Nil instilled a sadness into his voice, a hint of his real feelings as he sang the closing lines. "...a new paradigm," a small gasp. "Is that a crime?"

A beat of silence was followed by a raucous applause. Nilus took a bow, gave the musicians their accolades, and walked right over to his stiff bodyguard. The singer's eyes were still iridescent, his voice charged with enchantment.

"Are my words still bigger than my actions?"

The larger man stomped onto a cable on the ground. Nilus thought he heard a spark somewhere when Max's eyes began to glow, as well, a startling lightning blue. Nil wondered if the other man felt threatened. He'd never seen that variation of his eyes before.

"I don't particularly enjoy being taunted," Max responded with a charged voice of his own, his dark hair shifting into a shimmering silver hue. "So, settle down."

Nilus felt himself recede so fast that it was surprising. His eyes shifted back to brown, and he didn't even have to look to know that his hair had gone white again. While there was enchantment in Max's voice, the sensation was different, more compelling than persuading. Was Max part aquatic kin? Nil couldn't help but imagine what that kind of enchantment would do if the bodyguard ever decided to sing for a living.

"Wh-what kin are you?" the singer questioned, his turmoil bleeding into his voice.

A smug expression formed on Max's face as he placed his hands on his hips and leaned down to whisper into Nilus's ear. "Electric."

No wonder Nilus couldn't so much as persuade Max to dance! Electric kin were all but immune to aquatic enchantments. If Nil had been born terrestrial kin, it'd have been a different outcome. "Guess I'll never be able to make you a fan of my music, then," the singer mumbled.

"I never said I wasn't one."

"Are you?" Nil asked. "I've never seen you singing or playing any of my songs."

"Why listen to recordings when I'm privy to all the live performances?"

Nilus felt something filling him up from deep in his gut, a quivering that reminded him of a bubbling stream. "I've been trying to enchant you for months!" He confessed.

Max nodded, his face displaying amusement. "I'm aware."

"I don't care if I never get you to dance to my music," Nil continued. "If you'll just agree to go out with me!"

"How brave of you," the bodyguard responded. "If I agree, dare I ask where you'd like to go on this first outing?"

The biggest smile formed on Nil's face. "Food truck heaven!"