Missy wasn’t quite ready to go public yet. 

She wasn’t ready to feel the weight of the world on her shoulders, the gaze of every eye on the planet in her direction, or the attention, the rumors, the gossip.  God, the gossip.  She shuddered at the thought of seeing herself featured on the Dethklok Minute.  She had only just dipped her toes into the world of being a rockstar.  Clit Leech’s first album was barely off the presses and she wanted to ease herself into fame a little more before plunging into the deep end.  Having the honor of being on the same tour as the legendary Dethklok as their support was more than enough attention for her.  Hell, it was a dream come true if she was being honest.  She didn’t realize how many people gave a shit about the opening act.  Streams and sales had surged basically overnight, leaving her learning to adjust to her rising popularity.  In her mind, she was still just a little unknown bass player that had barely crawled her way out of playing in dive bars.  She didn’t think it was unreasonable that she wasn’t ready to make it known that she had not only caught the attention of metalheads all over, but of one of the members of the biggest band in world as well.  If word got out that she had been fucking around with Pickles since the start of this tour, she’d kiss her sweet privacy goodbye.

While she had expressed her desire to keep things under wraps to him and he tried to comply, none of the members of Dethklok had a penchant for subtlety.  They lived a life of excess, which Missy was getting very accustomed to in spite of herself.  There was rarely a gig where she didn’t sneak off with him after Dethklok’s encore so he could show her firsthand what this lifestyle was all about.  Their nights together were the embodiment of “sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll,” and the evening before was no exception.  So, here she sat during Dethklok’s soundcheck, applying makeup to her neck in an attempt to hide the marks left over from the night prior.

It was no easy task.  Love bites littered her skin from beneath her ears all the way down to her collarbones.  She grew hot as she looked at them, biting her lip as she smeared concealer over the dark spots.  The foggy memories of his teeth raking across her skin made her ache for more.  Her cheeks grew flushed as she remembered the heat of his breath ghosting past her ear, and how he slurred over his words as he asserted that every inch of her belonged to him and only him.  Her bandmate chuckling as he stepped into the dressing room tore her from that fantasy.

“God damn,” Axe said, causing her to roll her eyes.

“Shut up.”

“What?  I didn’t say nothin’.”

“I know what you were thinking,” she said.  A beat passed, then she looked over her shoulder at him.  “Are they really still that obvious?”

With another laugh and a shake of his head, he grabbed a beer from the rider and took a swig as he sat in the stool beside her.  He pulled the sponge from her hand and tilted her chin up.  As he dabbed at a hickey that she hadn’t noticed, he asked, “So, do you guys actually fuck or does he just suck your neck all night?”

Missy groaned, but otherwise didn’t respond while he continued applying the makeup.  She leaned forward, reaching past him to grab his bottle and take a sip, making him snicker again.

“What’s so funny now?”

He made a point to lean in and sniff her hair before sitting back up with a wide grin.

“You’re starting to smell like him too, Miss,” he teased.  “Did you bathe in a bottle of whiskey?”

“Oh, fuck off,” she said, shoving him and snatching her sponge back.  Maybe she should have washed her hair when they got to the hotel, but she was too busy trying to get over her hangover so she could perform.  Whatever.  No one would be able to tell when she got finished hair-spraying it.  “Don’t you have your own makeup to do?”

“If there’s any left by the time you cover all these hickeys, sure.”

She flashed her middle finger without tearing her focus from on the mirror in front of her.

“Shit, if it were me, I’d own it,” he said.  “We could use a little publicity.”

“I bet you would.  However, I’d like to get famous for my talent instead.”

“Well, you still would be… just maybe a different talent.”

Missy sighed as Axe winked at her.  She did her best to ignore him while he watched her with a goofy smile.  It was all in vain when he spoke up again.

“I bet he’s doing it on purpose.”

“What?” she flatly asked.

“Yeah.  I mean, think about it.  Hot new little metal mama on the scene.  Only female her band.  They stuck her in the back playin’ bass, but she’s still gettin’ all the attention.  So far, the only thing that’s bein’ said about her is that she’s mysterious.  Fans can’t get hold of her backstage, neither can reporters, and she’s never seen around outside of shows…”

“What’s that have to do with him?” she interrupted.

“I’m gettin’ to it.  Damn.”  He grabbed his bottle and chugged the rest before wiping his mouth with the back of his wrist.  “Anyways, you got this new hot commodity under your thumb…  Wouldn’t you want to spice things up?  Give ‘er a little somethin’ to give those that don’t have ‘er somethin’ to talk about?  Sure, she’ll cover it before going on stage, but you could still mark her so that the guys backstage know what’s up.”

Missy lowered her sponge and raised a brow.

“Oh, c’mon,” Axe leaned forward, voice dropping to a whisper.  “You haven’t noticed how jealous he gets?  Especially around those other guys in Dethklok.  He may have told you he’d keep his lips zipped, but that doesn’t mean he’s still not trying to make it known.”

Missy did notice…  It was hard not to with the way his arm always draped over her shoulder or tightened around her waist when others were around.  In fact, she enjoyed it and even if she pretended that she didn’t, Pickles knew she did, which earned her more marks and teasing.