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justmeinadaze · 1 year

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Take It Out On Me (Steddie X Plus Size Reader)

A/N: *melts into goo* I swear the vibes I get from this story and where I can go with it are a mix of Ariana Grande's "Dangerous Woman" and "I Didn't Change My Number" but Billie Eilish lol That lost song is actually where I got the title because I saw a TikTok where some did the Steddie AI followed by the lyrics "Take it out on you...and your best friend to."

So this is set in the 80s and I chose to make the reader plus size because I haven't done it before with these two and because we plus sized babes are sexy bitches ;). (All you souls, no matter your size are beautiful. Never forget that <3)

Warnings: Dominate Steddie and Sub Reader, she's not a virgin but she's definitely new to this. Everything in this story is consensual! Even though they are rough with her they do come up with a safe word and tell her she can stop if she wants (and they would! I would never write a version of these boys who wouldn't.)

There is degrading (mostly about how the reader wants to be used), spanking, choking... rough smut for sure but followed with aftercare.

Word Count: 3953

This wasn’t normal for you. You never got in trouble at school but today was just one of those days. Carol was picking on you again because of your appearance. Every day it was something different. Your hair looked flat, your clothes were hideous, or something you were reading at the lunch table made you “a dork”.

Today, it was how fat your ass looked in your jeans. You slammed your locker shut as you turned to face her. “At least I have an ass, you ugly bitch!”

“Y/N Y/L/N!”, Ms. O’Donnell scolded. You hadn’t even noticed she was there. She sent you to the principal’s office where he gave you a week’s worth of detention after school.

You were surprised when you entered the designated classroom to find it empty except for the teacher in charge.

“Ah Miss Y/N, I presume. In for offensive language and bullying a fellow student. Come in and have a seat. I’m waiting on two more.”

You flash him a soft smile as you slide into the desk in the front corner. The door opens again and fear dances through your eyes as Steve Harrington saunters in and throws himself down in a desk in the middle of the room.

“Our very own basketball and swim star himself, Steven Harrington. Currently in detention today fooooor…”, the teacher looks at the papers in front of him. “Being caught in the girl’s bathroom. Huh. Did you get lost?”

Before he could respond, the final student entered loudly swinging the door open as he flew in. “Hey! Mr. C! How are we this fine afternoon?”

“Mr. Eddie Munson. Always a pleasure, sir. What are we in for today?”

“I may or may not have caused a disruption in the lunchroom today.”

“Mhmm. Well, since everyone is here, we can start. Detention begins at 5pm sharp and if you aren’t here on time, I do get to tell the principal who will do with you as he will.”

“Sounds sexy.”, the metalhead grins as he sits on top of a desk and crosses his legs.

“Mr. Munson, I know you’ve heard this many, MANY times but for the new prisoners can you please…shut up.” The boy salutes him as the teacher continues. “The majority of the time, you guys will be here, SILENTLY, doing homework or reading, I really don’t care. Just be quiet. Depending on what is going on that day this week we may help out with things. The theater kids have a play on Friday and need help with the sets. As I’m sure Mr. Harrington knows, there’s also a game so the pep squad may need stuff set up.”

“Other than that, let’s just shut up and get through the week, okay?”

The first twenty minutes go by extremely slow as you try to focus on the homework in front of you. After a while, you felt someone watching, turning your head to see Steve staring at you. Something in those admittedly gorgeous brown irises sent a tingle through your body. It felt like he was trying to read you with the little information he had in front of him.

You jumped as a loud beeping echoed through the room and a small devious smile spread across his face.

“Shit.” The teacher pulled his beeper off his belt, furrowing his eyebrows anxiously. “That’s my wife. I’m going to make a quick call but if I come back and I catch you all talking or fucking around…” He points at the metalhead accusingly as he runs out the door.

“Jesus Christ. I thought he would never leave.” Eddie sighed as he got up and slid into the desk in front of Steve reaching out to high five him. “Harrington. What are you in for?”

“Fucking Tammie told Ms. Luhrmann I was hiding in the girl’s bathroom.”

“You pervert.”

“It’s not what you think, ok! I left Nancy a note but she never showed up.”

“I told you, man. You need to stay away from those good girls. Speaking of…” Eddie swivels around on the desk to face you. “What are you in for, sweetheart?”

You curl a bit into your body, hoping they’ll just leave you alone. You don’t belong here. This isn’t normal for you. You just wanted to get through the week and never think about this again.

Two hands, one of them covered in rings, come into your field of view in front of you as they press against your desk. “I asked you something, princess. Don’t be rude now.”

You closed your eyes at the deep tone of his voice. He sounds so sexy…

“She can definitely speak. Talked back to Carol today. It was amazing.”

That grabbed your attention as you turned to look at him. When you yelled at Carol, he wasn’t in the immediate group but he must have been nearby. They were his friends after all.

“What did that bitch say?” Eddie asked Steve but his eyes never left you.

“Said she had a fat ass.” The other boy rolls his eyes.

“And what did you say?” He asks, speaking to you again.

Your eyes found his before they left to scan you lips, down your curvy body, and back up to your face.

“Boo!” Eddie shouted as he slammed his palms on the wood in front of you, making you jump again. He and Steve both chuckled as he sauntered away, back to his friend.

“She commented on the fact that Carol lacks any kind of an ass and then followed that up with the word ‘bitch’.”

“Ooooh, you bad girl. You’re not wrong. That evil little person has nothing behind her. I prefer a girl who has some extra umph you know? Plus, their pussy always tastes the sweetest.”

You exhaled shakily at his words, having only heard or read them in stories. You definitely weren’t a virgin. You had been with men and had boyfriends but none of them ever spoke like Eddie had. They were always extremely shy type guys who had no idea what they were doing on top of you.

“Mr. Munson!” The teacher came back, sighing with his hands in the air. “Really?”

“Sorry, Mr. C. I had a question for the pretty girl but she doesn’t seem to be capable of speech.”

“I don’t blame her when it comes to you.”

################

The next day, you became more aware of Eddie and Steve’s presences. You didn’t realize you actually had a couple of classes with Steve and lunch with both he and Eddie. The metalhead’s eyes watched you walk past the Hellfire club table as you tried to ignore him and the other boy constantly turned to glace at you as he ate with his friends.

At the end of the day, you filed into the detention room, surprised to find both boys already there and seated in the front row, much closer to you than they were yesterday.

“Ok troublemakers, collect your things, we are headed to the theater room.”

“I believe thespians refer to it as an auditorium, sir.” Eddie replied in a comical voice that made you smile but only Steve caught it.

“Yeah whatever. I don’t care. Just paint and behave. I’ll be right back there watching so no funny business.”

“Can we talk, Warden or is that still a no-no?”

“Yes, Mr. Munson. You can speak as long as you paint.”

You descend to your knees and they both follow suit. Steve reaches over for the paintbrushes but as he leans over towards you, he lifts it out of your grasp and hands it to his friend.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Did you want something? You gotta ask for it.”, he smiled over at you as he waited. “No? Ok then.”

“Please.”

They froze as he sat back to look you over. “Please what?” He laughs as your face scrunches in disgust. “I don’t know what you want unless you ask me for it.”

“Please, Steve…can I have a brush?”

He nods as he passes it to you and you immediately duck down again to focus on the task in front of you.

“Your voice is pretty. You should talk more.” Eddie’s eyes remained on the board as he painted.

“It’s not that she doesn’t want to talk. She just doesn’t want to talk to us.”

You don’t know why but hearing Steve say it like that made you feel bad. It wasn’t exactly that you didn’t WANT to. You just didn’t trust or know them. King Steve was close friends with the people that tortured you daily and Eddie was the resident bad boy your parents warned you to stay away from. They both intimated you greatly not just because of their air of dominance but because you wanted them to wield it on you.

You wanted them to use you until you or they couldn’t take it anymore and that scared the hell out of you. You were so inexperienced when it came this stuff plus…how do you explain that to someone? Shouldn’t you want to be wined and dined? Yes, you did. You absolutely did but you wanted to be fucked senseless first.

“I do want to talk to you.”

“Then why don’t you?”, Eddie asked.

“You scare me.”

“Well, shit, sweetheart. I’m not a fucking devil worshipper like these asshole people think.”

“It’s not just you and that’s not why.”

“I’ve never made fun of you, Y/N.”

“Oh, hey. She has a name! Steve, you should have told me.”

“Yeah, you never made fun of me but you never stopped them either. You laughed along with them while they picked on me and degraded me in front of the entire school. You’re just as much an asshole as they are.”

“Y/N!”, the teacher hollers from his seat. “As much as I am enjoying watching you tear the king of Hawkins high a new one, I don’t see much painting happening.”

Blinking, you shut your mouth and begin moving the brush again.

“If you ever talk to me like that again, I don’t care where we are or who is in the room, I will throw you over my knee and punish you. Do you understand me?” You turn to look him, finding his angry eyes penetrating yours. “I said, do you understand me?”

“Steve, come on.” Eddie rolls onto his back as he stares up you. “She doesn’t play like that. Do you? Probably still a virgin.”

“I’m not a virgin.”

“I see. Ok, not a virgin but definitely not a hardcore kind of girl, right? You like the missionary, vanilla, candles by the bed, listening to slow 70s tunes. Am I right?”

“You don’t know me. Jesus, no wonder you two are friends.”

“Oh wow, Eds. Look at her. No, she doesn’t like that at all. I mean, on some nights yeah, but you prefer being told to shut the fuck up and do as your told.”

“N-n-no. I don’t.”

Your answer makes them giggle. “I would not have pictured that. You like being used?”

“Edward Munson! I swear to God. If I have yell at you guys one more time, we are going back to the classroom to sit silently.”

As detention came to a close, the teacher asked if you wouldn’t mind staying a little later to put everything away. You agreed especially since he told the guys they could leave. You needed that space away from them.

When Steve scolded you, you felt your panties dampen but you meant what you said. He never did anything to keep the popular kids from picking on you. You saw him laugh with them multiple times. Thinking about Eddie asking if you liked being used, had your pussy clenching around nothing as you rubbed your thighs together. You didn’t know enough about him to really form an opinion. The town talked about him a lot and his club he had at school but you two never crossed paths.

You kept thinking about them as you collected your things and headed down the hallway to leave for the day. Suddenly, a hand covered your mouth as arms lifted you by your waist into a nearby open classroom.

“Hey, sweetheart. Steve and I wanted us to finish our conversation. Now that that asshole isn’t here, we can!” Your eyes widen as you listen to Eddie speak. His tone light but there’s a strength behind it that frightens (and excites) you. “Now, where did we leave off? Ah, yes. You were just about to tell us if you liked being used.”

Steve lifted his palm from your lips, resting it gently against your throat. “Please.”

“Nope. We already had that discussion. You have to say what you want to get it.” Eddie sighs as you push back against the man behind you and he quickly tightens his grip on your neck. “Sweetheart, give me a word. Any word you feel like you’ll remember in any…overwhelming situation.” His eyes seductively raked along your body.

“Vanilla.” You aren’t sure why that’s the first word that came to mind but it was the only thing you could think of as Steve loosened his grip and your head fell back against him.

“If there’s one thing you are not, baby, it’s vanilla but… that’s fine. If at ANY point during our little talk here you feel unsafe or you want to stop just say that word. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, I understand.”

He steps forward, running his thumb along your bottom lip. “Good girl.” His fingers trailed down to your shirt, grinning before he roughly ripped it open exposing your bra covered breasts. “Now…I’m only going to ask one more time. Do you…like…being used?”

“I-I-I don’t know. I want t-t-to be.”

His eyes widened in genuine surprise.

“You said you’re not a virgin, right?”, Steve asked and you shook your head.

“Aw, Harrington. What she’s telling us is she’s never been fucked properly. Is that right?”

“Yes.”

“Yes what?”

“Yes, Eddie, that’s right.”

The metalhead rolls his eyes in frustration and takes a few steps back. Steve flips you around and slams your upper body down against the desk, reaching around to unbutton your pants as he pulls them below your ass. You hear the sound of a lighter being closed before the echo of his palm slapping your skin reverberates through the room.

As a handcuff belt buckle places itself in front of you, the smell of smoke fills the air.

“Sweetheart, this would go a lot smoother if you just listened and did as you were told.” He bent down on his heels so his face was level with your own. “Yes. What?”

“Yes, Eddie, I’ve never been fucked properly.”

“That’s better.”

Steve’s hand moves to hold your face flat to the wood and your arms reach to claw in front of you. You whine as he spanks you again. “Stop moving!”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m…” Your apology trails off as the tears start to fall down your cheeks.

Eddie balances the cigarette between his fingers as he runs his thumb under your eye. The gesture was sweet in contrast and he noticed you begin to settle. His eyes flicked above you and a few moments pass before Steve slides his hand off your head to between your shoulder blades.

“You said you were afraid of us. Why?”

When you don’t immediately answer he sighs and the other boy delivers two hard slaps to your bottom. Instead of pushing back or fighting underneath the weight of his palm holding you down, you laid still, accepting it. The only movements you made were with your face as you winced at the feeling.

“Why?”, he repeats.

“Be-be-because of… how you m-m-make me feel.”, you whisper.

“Did you hear that, Stevie?”, Eddie smirked up at him.

“Just barely but yeah. Y/N, I was there when you shouted at Carol, remember? I know you can speak louder than that.”

Your face scrunched at his words and the metalhead held his chest as he laughed. “It kills you doesn’t it, princess? To both hate someone AND want them at the same time.”

Suddenly, you felt yourself being lifted as Steve tugged on your shirt and adjusted you so you were facing him again. “You hate me, Y/N?”

When you took too long, his fingers pinched your cheeks roughly as he tilted forward till his nose was touching yours. “I asked you a question. You fucking answer! Do you hate me?!”

“Yes! You fucking asshole! I hate you!” You defiantly glared at him as you screamed at him.

“His friends kind of suck. They don’t even know about me. Do they, Harrington?” Eddie snuffed out his cigarette, tossing the butt in the garbage. “I mean it’s fine. I don’t care. What I do find fascinating through is this electricity between you two even though you both hate each other.”

“I don’t hate her.” Your eyelids fluttered at his admission. Why did you torture you with his friends if it wasn’t because he didn’t like you? “If I hated her, I wouldn’t want to make her cum right now.”

Eddie pressed himself to your side as his lips hovered over your ear. “Has anyone ever made you cum before?”

You couldn’t tear your eyes from Steves and you didn’t even both trying. “No. No one has ever made cum.”

“Good girl. See? She’s learning. I knew you were smart.” Eddie’s palm slid along your shoulder, bringing your bra strap down your arm. His fingers, almost delicately, freed one of your breasts from its confine and you panted out a silent moan as the pad of his thumb grazed your nipple.

“Do you want Steve here to make you cum?”

You couldn’t help it. Your hand wrapped around the back of the other boy’s neck as you brought his lips to yours. The first thing you noticed was how delicious he tasted. You felt like you could orgasm just from this alone. His hands remained still against your hips except for the little twitch of his fingers when your mouths connected.

Your bliss was short lived as a hand abruptly clung to your neck and violently shoved your back flat to the desk.

“Did I ask you if you wanted to fucking kiss him?!” You trembled as Eddie angrily shouted in your face. His gripped tightened against your neck for a brief moment before he let go and you turned to the side as you gasped for air.

“Munson.” The metalhead glanced at Steve realizing quickly the man was gone. His eyes were black with lust and need, practically hyperventilating as his hands dug into your meaty hips. “Jesus fucking Christ. Fine. She said she wanted to be used. I guess we’re doing it this way since someone can’t fucking listen.”

Steve hastily unbuckled his belt, pushing down his pants just enough to free his cock before spitting in his hand and stroking it along his length. You gasped as he breached your entrance, giving you no time to adjust to the size of him as he stretched you open. He was much bigger than anyone you had every been with and you cried out as you reached out into the air, grazing your hand along Eddie’s shirt as you grabbed the fabric.

“How does she feel, Harrington?”

The man’s grunts filled the room as he slammed his hips into yours. “So, fucking tight. My god.” He slowed his pace as he craned his neck to watch between your legs as his dick disappeared inside of you.

As you continued to moan, you focused on Eddie as he unzipped his pants and pulled out his own cock, pumping it with his fist. “Open your mouth, princess.” You did as you were told as his fingers tangled in your hair, pushing you lips to length. “Good girl. Fuck me…” His teeth bit into his bottom lip as he slowly thrust hips.

The feeling of you moaning around him causes him to wipe his head towards Steve, watching as the boy pressed rapid circles into your clit. With both of them inside of you, you were quickly hurtling toward that ledge.

“Yes, pretty girl. Take it. Fuck…your mouth feels amazing.”

Both boys thrust into at a fast pace, Steve slamming his hips into yours so hard the desk underneath you began to shake. You started to gag and gurgle around Eddie’s cock.

“Wh-what, baby? You gonna cum? That’s right. Just let go and feel it.”

He pulled himself out from between your lips, continuing to pump himself as he watched you. Your body shook as your back arched and you came.

Steve murmured obscenities under his breath as your pussy clenched around him.

“God damn. That was so fucking sexy.” The metalhead shoved his cock back into your mouth as they both chased their highs.

Steve came first, pulling out of you just as he released ropes of his seed on to your stomach. Eddie soon followed, holding your head in his firm grip as he came down your throat.

You laid flat against the desk, staring up at the ceiling as you tried to catch your breath. As you heard them pull up their pants, you half expected them to leave you there having got what they wanted but were startled when you felt a napkin being run along your stomach.

“Geez. Always so jumpy.” Eddie gripped your arm as he helped you sit up so he could adjust your bra and shirt. “Shit.” You followed his eyes realizing what he did; that when he tore open your shirt a lot of the buttons flew off with it. On impulse you covered your chest with your arms as you tried thinking of excuses to give your mom when you got home.

While his face furrowed in thought, Steve lifted you off the desk and guided your pants up your legs before buttoning them back up.

“I got it.”, the metalhead snapped his fingers as he tugged his shirt over his head. Gently, he removed your blouse, handing it the other boy before throwing his own over your head. He smiled in triumph at himself as he walked around you both towards the student desks and put on his leather jacket.

“Do you drive here or…?”, Steve asked.

“Yeah, my car is out front.”

“Good. Come on. We’ll walk with you.”

As they started to head for the door, you reached for Eddie’s arm, turning him around, and yanked him to your body as you leaned up to kiss him. It startled him at first but after moment he keened into it as his hands cupped your cheeks. He definitely tasted different than Steve but you still wanted more. You could kiss him all night if he let you.

After pulling away, you pushed past them and headed for the parking lot, feeling their eyes watch you as they followed. When you guys got to the parking lot, you were thankful for the slight breeze as it cooled your still somewhat sweaty skin.

There were only three cars remaining; yours, the BMW you assumed was Steve’s, and Eddie’s van. Steve reached across you, cutting you off as he opened the vehicle door for you. You paused for a moment before turning to look at them. You weren’t sure what you were expecting but the soft eyes that looked back at you were completely different than what you had experienced these last two days.

You wanted to say something but weren’t sure what. Thankfully, they understood as Eddie stepped forward, placing his hand on your shoulder as he guided you into your car.

“See you tomorrow, sweetheart.”

#################

@sidthedollface2 @luna-munson83 @devilinthepalemoonlite @corrodedcorpses

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roosterforme · 9 months

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roosterforme's '80s Rocktober Playlist fic challenge

For those about to rock, we salute you!

Let's rock 'n' roll the Top Gun way! Choose an '80s rock song (or pop or country or rap...), and write a fic about one or more of our favorite Top Gun characters! Just make sure the songs are from Rooster's favorite decade, the 1980s!

Or create a banner or mood board! Go with an '80s vibe or a specific song to inspire you and run wild.

Banner credit to @mak-32. Rock on, Mak.

Rules for fics:

Please use the #top gun rocktober hashtag!!!

Once you have your song selected (first come, first served, no duplicates), please send me an ask letting me know which song and character(s) you want to write about. If your song is not listed below, just let me know what you want with your ask and I’ll add it (as long as it fits the decade). If your song has been claimed already, I'll let you know so you can choose another one.

You can use the song in the fic however you would like. Use it as the title, use some lyrics, have the song playing in the background, use it as inspiration, anything you want!

There is no real time limit, but please try to post in September or October.

Please make sure you tag me (or send me a message) when you post your story so I don’t miss it. I can’t wait to read and reblog!

Please reblog and share this with anyone who may want to participate. And reblogging fics is always a treat for writers!

If you’re under 18, do not submit or read smut.

Rules for banners and mood boards:

Please use the #top gun rocktober hashtag!!!

If you want to use a specific song, please send me an ask letting me know which song. If you want to participate with the '80s vibe and no specific song, just send me an ask and let me know you'll be submitting an image or images.

Please make sure you tag me (or send me a message) when you post so I don’t miss it. I can’t wait to reblog!

Please reblog and share this with anyone who may want to participate.

Songs and fics we are rocking out to:

1 @roosterforme What's Your Name by New Order (Bradley)

2 @beyondthesefourwalls Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper (Bradley)

3 @sylviebell Faithfully by Journey (Natasha)

4 @wkndwlff Love Walks In by Van Halen (Bob)

5 @desert-fern Jump by Van Halen (Bradley)

6 @yanna-banana Like a Prayer by Madonna (Jake)

7 @fanboyswhore9 Addicted to Love by Robert Palmer (Mickey)

8 @cherrycola27 Born to Be My Baby by Bon Jovi (Bradley)

9 @trickphotography2 Start Me Up by The Rolling Stones (Bradley)

10 @blue-aconite Every Little Thing She Does is Magic by The Police (Jake)

11 @roosterforme Do You Wanna Touch Me? by Joan Jett (Bradley)

12 @startrekfangirl2233 Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go by Wham! (Mickey)

13 @bradshawsbitch Hungry Eyes by Eric Carmen (Bradley)

14 @bellaireland1981 Can't Fight This Feeling by REO Speedwagon (Bradley)

15 @wkndwlff Lay Your Hands On Me by Bon Jovi (Bob)

16 @beyondthesefourwalls Jessie's Girl by Rick Springfield (Javy)

17 @thedroneranger Boys of Summer by Don Henley (Bradley)

18 @cottagecori Dancing With Myself by Generation X (Bob)

19 @sweetwhispersofchaos I Hate Myself For Loving You by Joan Jett (Natasha and Jake)

20 @sometimesanalice Straight Up by Paula Abdul (Bradley)

21 @lovinglyeternal Call Me by Blondie (Jake)

22 @roosterforme Adult Education by Hall & Oates (Jake)

23 @beyondthesefourwalls Your Love by Outfield (Bradley)

24 @mayhemmanaged You Shook Me All Night Long by AC/DC (Jake)

25 @topherwrites Love Shack by The B-52's (Bradley)

26 @ficsilike-reblogged Take On Me by A-ha (Bob)

27 @cottagecori Rock You Like a Hurricane by Scorpions (Bradley)

28 @jupitercomet Kissing a Fool by George Michael (Bradley)

29 @startrekfangirl2233 Don't You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds (Jake and Bradley)

30 @topherwrites Just Like Heaven by The Cure (Jake)

31 @sweetwhispersofchaos As the World Falls Down by David Bowie (Natasha and Bob)

32 @inmyloveworld Open Arms by Journey (Bradley)

33 @thedroneranger Centerfold by J. Geils Band (Jake)

34 @gretagerwigsmuse Can't Hardly Wait by The Replacements (Bradley)

35 @bellaireland1981 Love is a Battlefield by Pat Benatar (Jake)

36 @blurredcolour Push It by Salt-N-Pepa (Jake and Bradley)

37 @blackwidownat2814 White Wedding by Billy Idol (Jake)

38 @keep-on-burnin The Look by Roxette (Bradley)

39 @cherrycola27 Secret Lovers by Atlantic Starr (Natasha and Javy)

40 @topherwrites Uptown Girl by Billy Joel (Bradley)

41 @jynxmirage If I Could Turn Back Time by Cher (Jake)

42 @notroosterbradshaw Edge of Seventeen by Stevie Nicks (Bradley)

43 @ficsilike-reblogged Hungry for Heaven by Dio (Beau)

44 @callsign-magnolia Who's Crying Now by Journey (Bradley)

45 @trickphotography2 Every Breath You Take by The Police (Bob)

46 @sarahsmi13s Pour Some Sugar on Me by Def Leppard (Jake)

47 @roosterforme Cover Girl by New Kids on the Block (Natasha)

48 @bobfloydsbabe Alone by Heart (Jake)

49 @ughthisisntright The Stroke by Billy Squier (Bradley)

50 @wkndwlff Special Secret Song Inside by The Red Hot Chili Peppers (Jake)

51 @sylviebell Thriller by Michael Jackson (Natasha and Javy)

52 @xoxabs88xox Why’d You Come in Here Lookin' Like That by Dolly Parton (Jake)

53 @paigewinchester67 I'm On Fire by Bruce Springsteen (Bradley and Jake)

54 @sarahsmi13s Fishin' In the Dark by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (Bob)

55 @callsign-joyride Need You Tonight by INXS (Bradley)

56 @foreverrandomwritings Paradise City by Guns N' Roses (Beau)

57 @cherrycola27 Whoever's In New England by Reba McEntire (Bob)

58 @1234-angelika The Bluest Eyes in Texas by Restless Heart (Jake)

59 @decantedenchanted Right Here Waiting by Richard Marx (Mav)

60 @the-authoress-writes Black Velvet by Alannah Myles (Jake)

61 @withahappyrefrain Somebody to Love by Queen (Bradley)

62 @valhallaas Hold on Loosely by 38 Special (Javy)

63 @talktomegooseman The Chair by George Strait (Jake)

64 @foreverrandomwritings Master of Puppets by Metallica (Mickey and Bob)

65 @poetrieshouse Hungry Like the Wolf by Duran Duran (Mav)

66 @tongue-like-a-razor Poison by Alice Cooper (Jake)

67 @1234-angelika Real Love by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers (Bradley)

68 @the-authoress-writes The Flame by Cheap Trick (Ice)

69 @hangmanstigerlily Can't Fight This Feeling by REO Speedwagon (Jake)

70 @samsgoddess Hysteria by Def Leppard (Bradley)

71 @eternalsams Cherry Pie by Warrant (Jake)

72 @love-in-light Livin' on a Prayer by Bon Jovi (Bradley)

73 @thatdammchickennugget Summer of '69 by Bryan Adams (Bradley)

74 @whatislovevavy Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Tears for Fears (Jake)

Totally rad cover art:

@ryebecca She Drives Me Crazy by Fine Young Cannibals

@bettycooper Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) by Kate Bush (Bradley)

@ryebecca The Power of Love by Huey Lewis and the News (Bob)

@mak-32 Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car by Billy Ocean (Bradley)

@laracrofted I Love Rock 'n' Roll by Joan Jett (Bob)

@sebsxphia Come On Eileen by Dexys Midnight Runners (Bob)

Need some song inspiration? Check out these bangers:

Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic - The Police

Start Me Up - The Rolling Stones

Livin’ On A Prayer - Bon Jovi

Eye of the Tiger - Survivor

Shout - Tears for Fears

You Give Love A Bad Name - Bon Jovi

Every Breath You Take - The Police

The Final Countdown - Europe

Angel - Aerosmith

Edge of Seventeen - Stevie Nicks

Uptown Girl - Billy Joel

Call Me - Blondie

Take Me Home Tonight - Eddie Money

Free Fallin’ - Tom Petty

Hysteria - Def Leppard

I Hate Myself for Loving You - Joan Jett & the Blackhearts

Just like Heaven - The Cure

I Won’t Back Down - Tom Petty

Magic - The Cars

Love Is A Battlefield - Pat Benatar

Addicted To Love - Robert Palmer

Love Shack - The B-52’s

Without You - Motley Crue

Material Girl - Madonna

Legs - ZZ Top

Paradise City - Guns N’ Roses

Can’t Fight This Feeling - REO Speedwagon

Cum on Feel the Noize - Quiet Riot

#top gun rocktober #roosterforme #top gun fanfiction #top gun maverick fanfiction #top gun imagine #top gun maverick imagine #top gun #top gun maverick

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like-a-diamondinthesky · 7 months

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love songs | skz

pairing... bf!skz x gn!reader (separately) tags... headcanons, fluff, super soft, song recs!, incredibly self-indulgent 😊

stray kids members as my favorite filipino love songs

wc... 1.3k words a/n... hi sorry i'm super obsessed with romantic filipino songs and i wanted to share them with you!!! i translated the titles but i heavily recommend looking at the translated lyrics if you plan on listening to the songs bcs theyre so good i melt every time i swear! i hope you're able to enjoy and share my appreciation for my native language 🫂🫂🫂 (let me know if you're interested in a f2l version cos i've got some ideas brewing haha)

⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆

ɞ° ‧₊˚ ◡̈° CHAN → when i met you - apo

this song is from the 80s and it’s a classic! the whole song is in english and it’s about how one’s lover opened their eyes to a beautiful romance

i once saw a tiktok saying chan is so “first love trope” coded and i AGREE. he gives first and forever vibes. your love is just so pure and overflowing with meaning yk?

i feel like he’s so used to taking care of others and when he meets you the tables are turned cos all of a sudden you’re the one smothering him with love and care and he’s like 😮

you redefined what love means for chan and that’s what made him fall so deeply in love with you

he has a newfound appreciation for life and he’s always looking forward to tomorrow because another day alive is another day with you. also, each day he finds himself loving you even more than the day before

♡ you gave me a reason for my being and i love what i’m feeling

ɞ° ‧₊˚ ◡̈° MINHO → tahanan - adie

tahanan is tagalog for the word home, and this song fits minho because you are his home

this song is about one’s lover being the brightest aspect of their life and i definitely believe that’s how minho would feel about you

everyday he looks forward to going home, not to the literal physical structure, but to you. he feels safe and so so so loved when you’re right by his side

minho is a big softie on the inside, and he shows it to the public sometimes, but it’s 100% out on display when he’s with you. like he’s so smiley and giggly and lovey-dovey when it’s just the two of you it’s insane

he’s actually sooooo clingy like he’s attached to your hip pls. he’s constantly pulling you into hugs honestly. and he loves them so much it makes his heart feel so fuzzy and warm

labis ang ngiti kapag ika’y ka-harap ♡ i smile the most when you’re in front of me

ɞ° ‧₊˚ ◡̈° CHANGBIN → paraluman - adie

the word paraluman refers to someone with indescribable, god-like beauty

this song is about love at first sight and being completely engulfed in one's beauty

and you can see that from changbin through how he looks at you with literal heart-eyes 😍 no matter what you’re doing. you could quite literally be doing your skincare and in the reflection of the mirror you see him smiling at you with admiration painted all over his face.

changbin holds you above everything and everyone. you are the sole reason for his existence like every fiber of his being belongs to you.

he literally praises the ground you walk on. he’s so drunk on your love like he will do anything and everything for you. you are his muse, his inspiration, his god.

namumukadkad ang aking ligaya sa tuwing ika’y papalapit na ♡ my happiness blooms whenever you’re near me

ɞ° ‧₊˚ ◡̈° HYUNJIN → mabagal - daniel padilla, moira dela torre

mabagal means slowly, and this song is purely about one wanting to slow dance and cherish every moment with their lover

hyunjin wants to cherish every single millisecond with you. and dancing happens to be one of his favorite ways to do so.

he will randomly pull you from wherever you're sitting and lead you in a slow, loving, passionate dance

he's such a hopeless romantic, he's a goner. he falls in love with you all over again whenever you have your hands on his neck and his hands on your waist. you’re just gazing into each other’s eyes and talking in hushed tones.

your conversations while dancing hold so much meaning for the both of you. you could talk about something lighthearted or deep, either way it always ends with you expressing your deep love for each other once again

hawak kamay, pikit mata, sumasabay sa musika ♡ holding hands, closed eyes, in sync with the music

ɞ° ‧₊˚ ◡̈° JISUNG → uhaw - dilaw

directly translated, uhaw means thirsty

and lord this boy is THIRSTY for your attention (but it in the best way possible!) he hopes that you think about him as much as he thinks about you

this song is about being head over heels in love, and that's how jisung feels about you. the way you talk, the way you smile, the way you show kiss him. he’s obsessed with every single part

he wants to know everything about you, he wants to be around you 24/7, he wants to be the one you rely on. honestly, he just wants you

the chorus is like i’m so in love with you but i don’t really understand why. that’s jisung. he isn't exactly sure why his heart yearns for you to the point it sometimes hurts, but he doesn't care as long he gets to spend his whole life with you

bakit uhaw sa’yong sayaw, bakit ikaw? ♡ why do i thirst for your dance, why for you?

ɞ° ‧₊˚ ◡̈° FELIX → unang sayaw - nobita

in english, unang sayaw means first dance and this song is about the happy memories of falling in love

felix gets so giddy from everything you do and this song captures that perfectly. his heart does cartwheels every time you look at him and he smiles so wide when you’re with him that his cheeks ache

sometimes the feeling of love overwhelms him so much he just needs to let out a little scream HAHAHA like he needs to let everyone that he’s yours and you’re his 💞

usually, he would tell you that the sun reminds him of you. but one time, he told you that you shine so brightly that it surpasses any star in the whole multiverse and he melts every time he’s with you

he doesn’t mention it, but every time he recalls the journey you’ve gone on together, it ensures him more and more that he wants to marry you one day.

sa ilalim ng kalawakan, pangalan mong isisigaw ♡ under the galaxy sky, i will scream your name

ɞ° ‧₊˚ ◡̈° SEUNGMIN → mundo - iv of spades

the song mundo emphasizes the importance of pure, committed love. mundo means world and it has two uses in this song

for one, it’s used in a way to call one’s lover their whole world. i fully believe that that’s how seungmin sees you. you are his whole world, his everything

and for two, it expresses forgetting everything else except each other; forgetting the whole world around you because what matters is the love that you share

seungmin wants to be your shield. he will protect you and listen to all the problems you have, making sure that you know that he’s by your side every step of the way. you'll never be alone as long as he's alive

he’s not very big on words so he shows his love through actions, and i think that’s very fitting to the meaning of this song

limutin na ang mundo nang magkasama tayo ♡ forget the whole world when it’s just the two of us

ɞ° ‧₊˚ ◡̈° JEONGIN → come inside of my heart - iv of spades

idk if many people know, but this song is in fact by a filipino band! come inside of my heart is about reassuring one’s lover that they are the love of their life, even if they don’t always express or show it very well

jeongin is big on quality time and subtle acts of love and he doesn’t really use his words to tell you how much he loves you. because of this, he sometimes worries that you think he doesn’t love you when that’s not at all true

instead of “i love you,” he prefers to send you playlists of songs that remind him of you. or maybe he’ll leave some of his hoodies at your place so that you can wear them without asking him.

there are times when jeongin wishes you could see inside his mind and his heart so that you would understand how much he loves you (a LOT)

you’re constantly plaguing his thoughts and his heart. he genuinely believes that his life revolves around you because you’re just that significant to him

♡ come save me ‘cause you’re the only one for me

⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆

taglist: @jinnixxn @elllisaaa @captainchrisstan @laylasbunbunny

comments, reblogs, and feedback are appreciated! © like-a-diamondinthesky 2023

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allyeardepression · 24 days

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@jegulus-microfic | april 22 evoke | words: 1,6k

big shout out to @frnkmush for helping me with this one, you’re such an angel 🫶🏼

tw: swearing, mentions of wounds

part one

On Monday evening, Regulus received an Instagram message request from someone called jfprongs. He went to check on the person’s profile to see who they were, and—oh god.

At the sight of a radiant smile, bronze skin, and golden glasses, all memories from the night before evoked in him. He suddenly remembered making an absolute fool of himself by asking a doctor who just stitched him up on a date.

While he was drunk.

The first thing he did was send a screenshot of the profile and the message that read just a simple ‘Hi’ to the group chat.

i can fix him (i can’t)

Reg

<2 photos attached>

that’s the doctor from last night

what do i do??????????

Barty

skakksjsksjsjsjsjajsjsj

Evan

Pandora

what is he doing in your dms?

Reg

…

i may or may not have asked him out

There was a short pause before his phone started ringing.

“What the fuck do you mean you asked him out?” Pandora asked, amused. In the background, Regulus could hear Barty and Evan laughing hysterically.

“Well, I was drunk, and he was really hot. We should all be grateful I only did that instead of trying to convince him to fuck me on his desk,” he responded, trying to take off the bandage off of the fresh wound without making it hurt more than necessary.

On the other end of the line, he could hear Panda huffing a small laugh. “Yeah, thank god that whore didn’t come out.”

“Any—oh fuck, it hurts—anyways, what do I do now?” Regulus asked again, finally throwing away the old bandage and starting to clean the cut. He hated using disinfectants on any part of his body, really, but on the face, it felt worse than anything.

His friend hummed thoughtfully. “I think you should text him back and see how it goes,” and so he did.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

On Tuesday evening, exactly at 7:36 p.m., Regulus was sitting on a bench in front of his apartment building and waiting for a grey Mercedes to arrive.

After he answered James yesterday, they talked a bit and agreed that Drunk Regulus’ idea about meeting sooner was actually a pretty good one. So he sat there, checking his phone every three seconds, hoping to see a message that would say ‘I’m here’.

He picked it up again when a grey car parked next to him and the passenger’s window rolled down.

“Hi Regulus, come in,” James invited him with a warm smile painted on his lips.

As Regulus took the front seat, the other man reached to the back, pulling a small bouquet of purple carnations.

“What’s that?” Regulus asked, confused. James eyes widened at that.

“Well, I assumed it’s a date, and I thought it would be a nice gesture, but if I overstepped or misread—“

“No, no, no, absolutely! That is a date, and those are lovely, I just—I'm not used to getting flowers.” He could feel his cheeks starting to burn a little when James smiled wildly, like a happy Golden Retriever.

They finally drove away from Regulus' block, heading towards the city center. The radio played some soft, lofi music that, added to the soft humming of the engine, started lulling Regulus to sleep. James must’ve noticed, because he handed his unlocked phone to him.

“Choose the next song; I’ll pick something after you,” the bronze-skinned man told him. Regulus, extremely eager, grabbed the phone and typed in the title he needed to hear right now. Thankfully, the chill music ended shortly after, and an 80s synth-pop melody came on.

“Somebody runnin’ through the field/Somebody shoulda stayed home/Somebody pickin’ up the body of somebody they were gettin’ to know,” Regulus hummed softly to Matty’s lyrics. James whipped his head at a light speed and looked at him with wide eyes. Regulus gave him a questioning look in response.

“First of all,” James began, “is it the one about the school shooting?” Regulus nodded, smirking. “Okay, that’s surprising. Second of all, you have quite a nice voice.” Now Regulus wasn’t smirking, just smiling sheepishly.

After ‘Looking for somebody (to love)’ ended, there was a disco bit, and Reg wanted to whine as soon as he recognised the song. The only thing that stopped him was that sparkle in James’ eyes.

And then the other man started singing.

“OOH, YOU CAN DANCE, YOU CAN JIVE, HAVING THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE!” and Regulus couldn’t help but laugh hysterically. “What? Don’t you like my vocals?” James chuckled, knowing damn well he sounded like a cat in heat.

“Oh no, your vocals are just as lovely as your smile,” the younger man giggled.

They continued to take turns choosing songs, becoming more and more comfortable, and singing louder and louder.

They reached the restaurant as Olivia’s ‘all-american bitch’ was coming to an end.

“Wait here,” said James, getting out of the car and running around it, just to open Regulus’ door. The older man held out his hand in a dramatic gesture.

Reg rolled his eyes, taking the hand and getting out as well.

“Such a gentleman,” he commented sarcastically, yet still, he could feel the warmth spread inside of his chest at this small move.

They walked into the restaurant hand in hand, talking lightly about their favourite type of pasta. James gave the hostess his name, and the woman led them to their table, giving them two menus. Regulus scanned it in search of the cheapest meal, so he could afford it. The restaurant wasn’t really fancy, but it was still expensive.

“15 pounds for Carbonara? Is it made of gold?” He mumbled, but apparently not quietly enough, because James replied, ‘Don’t worry, it’s on me’. This caught Regulus off guard. “What do you mean? I asked you out; I should be the one paying.”

“Yeah, no,” was all James said, and the other man kept looking at him in confusion. “You’re a student; I work full time; it’s only fair if I pay,” he continued, looking up from his menu.

Regulus opened his mouth as if to argue, but quickly shut them back up. “Yeah, okay, you have a point.”

After that, they talked only about what they should order, settling on a lasagna for James, pumpkin ravioli for Reg, and a bottle of rosé.

“So,” the older man started. “What do you study?”

“Oh, um, painting. I’m in art school,” he mumbled in response, taking a sip of his wine. “I’m not gonna lie, I know it won’t get me a lot of money, but I love it. I can’t imagine doing anything else, even if it means I’ll have to eat pesto pasta for the rest of my life.” He couldn’t exactly read James’ face; it looked kind of blank.

“Can I see any of your work?” he asked finally, sounding actually interested. So, of course, Regulus reached for his phone and started scrolling through it in search of the pieces he was most proud of. When James saw the one with the white stag running through a blue forest, he pointed at it and exclaimed, “That. I want that one in my living room,” and Regulus laughed lightly at him. “What? I mean it. How much do you want for it?”

“A thousand pounds!” the younger man kept chuckling.

“Deal.”

“Wait, are you for real?” He looked at the man opposite him in bewilderment, and as the other nodded with a smile, he couldn’t help but smile himself.

It was how the rest of the evening went—they ate, talked, drank wine, and talked some more. They left, again hand in hand, discussing a playlist for the ride home.

They were just a few blocks away from Regulus’ building when he decided to turn the radio down a little.

“Thank you,” he said, turning to James. “I had a really good time.”

“Would you like to do it again sometime?” The other man asked, also turning.

“Yeah, sometime,” he answered softly, pink blooming on his cheeks. He received a small smile back.

When they finally reached his block, Regulus didn’t get out immediately. Instead, he fully turned to face James and looked him deep in the eyes. The older man didn’t break eye contact; he only smiled brightly.

Please, kiss me. Please, kiss me. Please, kiss me.

James reached in his direction, brushing a loose curl from Regulus’ face back behind his ear. Instead of withdrawing his hand, James put it on his cheek, caressing it lightly with his thumb.

They stayed like that for a few seconds (or hours) before James broke the silence.

“Can I walk you to your flat?” and Reg just nodded in response.

They got out of the car the same way they did before. Holding hands, they walked up the stairs to the third floor. As they reached his door, Regulus turned to James again. And once more, James’ hand found its way to Reg’s cheek. The moment was tense, almost tangible. Until-

“Can I kiss you?” The older man whispered, like a secret.

Yesyesyes

Regulus only managed to nod once before he felt soft lips on his. It wasn’t an obscene kiss with a lot of teeth and tongs; it was gentle and sweet, like the first kiss in middle school. It didn’t last long either—far too quick for Reg’s liking. James rewarded him with another sweet kiss, this time on the forehead, before he pulled away with the same bright spark in his eye that appeared during ‘Dancing Queen’.

“Good night, Regulus,” he said softly, taking a small step back.

“Good night, Jamie—I mean James,” the older man chuckled, shaking his head.

“I like it; you can call me Jamie. I’ll see you soon.” And with that promise, he turned around and walked down the stairs, throwing just one last look at Regulus before disappearing on the floor below.

#jegulus #starchaser #sunseeker #james potter #regulus black #james x regulus #the marauders #dead gay wizards #jegulus microfic #modern au #artist!regulus #doctor!james #1k words or more #by: allyeardepression #slytherin skittles

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the-authoress-writes · 6 months

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Wherever You Go

Prologue

Tom “Iceman” Kazansky x Aviator!reader (Callsign: Thorn)

Moodboard by @bradshawsbaby

Written for @roosterforme’s Top Gun Rocktober Playlist Fic Challenge

Synopsis: Tom Kazansky made a mistake.

Or rather, a series of mistakes.

He chose to take the assignment as an instructor at TOPGUN.

He fell in love with one of his students.

He broke her heart.

He chose to leave TOPGUN, and redeploy.

Now, he was stuck onboard the USS Nimitz with the woman whose heart he broke, with no way out.

Unbelievably, that’s not the problem.

Problem is, he still loves her.

Series Warnings: Teacher/Student relationship (but you already knew that) with no real age gap, warnings will be updated as the series progresses.

Warnings: Here be some cursing, because they are men in the Navy—they will curse.

Other than that, nothing really.

Author’s Note: “It’s only going to be a oneshot.”

Every author knows that those are the famous last words, and that is no truer than with this story.

I really, really thought I could make this into a oneshot but then I gave up on that.

Because I am so in love with this storyline, that it deserves space to breathe.

So this one shot is now going to be at most (hopefully), a six-part series.

*sigh*

Darn it, Val, what have you done to me?

Thank you so, so very much to @roosterforme for hosting the Top Gun Rocktober Fic Challenge, and for allowing me to use one of my favorite 80s rock ballads, “The Flame” by Cheap Trick.

Lyrics from the song will be peppered in throughout this series, because it’s too good not to, and the song is the reason this story exists, as it is what birthed the plotline.

Another thank you goes to the incredible @bradshawsbaby for making the stunning moodboard for this fic, which was beyond my wildest dreams!

Special thanks also to @valmare, the fact that I am writing Tom Kazansky x reader! fic is all your fault; but thank you so much for dragging me down with you, it’s been an absolute joy!

Not much plot happens in this prologue, but I think it’s important to set up the narrative.

Ice cold, no mistakes.

That’s what everyone said about him, and he knew it.

He’d be lying to himself if he said that some part of him didn’t enjoy it, that reputation for perfection.

But now, as Tom watched her doing preflight for her CAP in the shadows of his little nook in the superstructure of the Nimitz, he knew that he was staring at the biggest mistake of his life.

He watched her hands lovingly run across the airframe of her F-14, and he inhaled sharply in remembrance.

He’d only been able to feel her touch him like that once, but it was more than enough to burn it into his memory forever.

As he watched, the large form of her RIO, LTJG Emmett “Romeo” Kinford, came up behind her, slapping her on the shoulder, which elicited a bright smile from her.

It tugged at his heart, to see her smile, even though it wasn’t the same smile she used to smile at him.

What he wouldn’t give to have her smile at him again.

She was the first woman he’d ever really loved, and he knew she’d be the last.

But he’d broken her heart two months ago.

It tore him apart to have to do that, but he had no choice—not if he wanted her to keep her wings, much less her title as Top Gun of TOPGUN Class 1, 1987.

And he knew she belonged in the sky, so he made the bitter choice, and he suffered for it—they both did.

He was still suffering.

It was why he’d chosen to redeploy, even though he loved teaching at TOPGUN, could easily have seen himself doing it for at least another few years, because he couldn’t stand to stay at Miramar, where he had so many memories of her, about her, with her.

He hadn’t missed the half-pitying, half-understanding look Viper had given him as he turned in his transfer papers—the now-Captain had always been intuitive.

“You’re a damn good instructor, Kazansky, we’ll be sad to see you go.”

“I’m sad to go, sir, but I… feel that I need to do this.”

A nod.

“Alright, son.

I’ll turn these in.

You and Kerner should get your new orders in two weeks.”

Within a week, he and Slider were deployed on the Nimitz.

One week after that, VF-1 chopped in, Mav and Merlin included.

“What the hell are you doing here, Mav?” Tom grinned, smiling for what felt like the first time in weeks as he hugged his wingman while Slider did the same for their former Academy classmate.

“I quit teaching.”

“What?!” Tom and Slider exclaimed, while Merlin sighed longsufferingly, shaking his head.

“You loved teaching!” Tom continued.

The dark-haired aviator shrugged. “It was boring without you there—no one else gave me a run for my money.”

“Sounds an awful lot like you’re admitting that I’m the better pilot, Mav.”

“In your dreams,” Mav scoffed. “But again, I will admit it was boring without you there.”

Tom smirked. “Love you too, Mav.”

“Fuck you, Kazansky,” his wingman retorted with a grin.

“No thanks, not in the mood,” Tom deadpanned.

Mav guffawed, making Tom’s deadpan melt into another grin, before the other pilot threw one arm around his shoulder, the other around Merlin’s upper back (as that was as high as it would go without effort, given the RIO’s borderline absurd height of 6’ 5”). “The Layton Boys are back!”

Slider interjected, “Technically, we’re missing Wood and Wolf.”

Mav rolled his eyes, “Okay, most of the Layton Boys are back—better, Ronald?”

Tom sighed, preparing for the bitchfest he knew was coming—he’d learned at Annapolis how much Slider hated his full first name.

(That wasn’t even mentioning the absolute hissyfit that would occur if the middle name was whipped out: Evelyn.)

(It was his great-grandfather’s name.)

“Yeah, Peter,” Slider retorted.

Okay—nothing was going to stop this now, to paraphrase the song—Mav was just as bad; Goose was the only one who could call him “Peter” and get away with it.

An all-too familiar pissy look came over Mav’s face. “Dickhead.”

“Yardstick.”

“Asswipe.”

“Petey Pocket.”

That was new—he and Merlin held their breath to see what would happen next.

Mav stared.

Slider stared right back.

A black-haired blur rushed forward, and Slider took off running, the flight deck now thankfully free of planes, the next CAP not starting preflight for another hour.

“Should we stop them?” Tom asked Merlin, as they watched the other pilot and RIO run across the Nimitz, a faint “Come back here, asshole!” carrying on the sea wind.

“If it’s all the same to you, I say let them go; you don’t know how wound up Mav’s been.”

He chuckled. “Fair enough—Sli could use the exercise.”

Eventually, Slider finally slipped up, and half-tripped on a padeye, allowing the smaller man to tackle him, the chase devolving into a wrestling match, which further devolved into what could only be described as a third grade slap-fight, before it finally ended with both men on their backs, heaving breaths into their lungs.

Tom and Merlin looked at each other, and in unspoken agreement, headed over to their RIO and pilot.

“Missed you too, Shortstack,” he heard Slider mutter, once he and Merlin came close enough.

“Didn’t say anything.”

“I know.”

“You done, you little gremlin?” Merlin asked, a wry expression on his face.

Mav glanced warningly at Slider, who silently raised his hands in surrender. “Yeah, we’re done.”

“Alrighty,” Merlin sighed, offering his pilot a hand up, Tom doing the same for his RIO.

Once both of them were hauled off of the flight deck, the aviators/infants stared at each other once more, and Tom was just about to pinch the bridge of his nose in exasperation, when Slider extended his hand. “Truce?”

Mav considered the extended hand for a beat, before slapping his hand into the other man’s. “Truce.”

Slider grinned, and used their clasped hands to pull the diminutive pilot into a hug. “It’s good to see you, Mav.”

A sigh. “You too, Sli.”

They finally made their way below deck, Mav and Merlin dashing off to report to the Air Boss, before they met again in the Officer’s Mess, the quartet eating dinner leisurely, as none of them had a CAP until tomorrow.

To their surprise, Tom and Slider found out that Mav and Merlin would be sharing their berthing, and Tom couldn’t help but wonder at the Hand of God making such happy coincidences occur (or perhaps the hand of a certain TOPGUN instructor).

The four of them easily settled into the layout they had set up on the Enterprise; who would take which bunk or locker, which segued into the boisterous exchange of stories between them.

In the midst of the familiar camaraderie, Tom could almost forget the ever-present gaping hole in his heart, ignore the pain which always threatened to swallow him whole when he was alone.

But bedtime soon came upon them, which drew the exchange of stories to a close, and had them all lying in their respective bunks, and soon, Merlin’s deep breaths could be heard, indicating the man was asleep.

Mav was, as usual, dead silent, which always made him unsure if his wingman was actually asleep.

And he’d tried to see if there were any auditory tells in the other pilot’s sleep, but there were none.

Maybe eventually, he would figure something out to give away a sleeping Mav, but hopefully, he was asleep.

Slider, however, was pitifully attempting to convey sleep, his deep breaths a little too measured, Tom knowing all too well how the man breathed when he was actually asleep.

Ron, loyal brother that he was, wanted to make sure Tom was asleep before allowing himself to drift off.

So he allowed his breathing to slow, gradually adding the slight rasp in his breath that he knew Slider was listening for.

The last week of being back in a berthing with Slider had been a testament to his acting skills, not having had to hide how he was sleeping (or not, rather) from the other man since the Academy.

Eventually, his RIO succumbed to the siren call of sleep, and Tom settled in for another cold night, in more ways than one.

He blinked up at the ceiling, seconds passing like sand through an hourglass, and though he could feel fatigue pressing in on him, he couldn’t fall asleep, despite all the techniques the Navy had taught him, his restlessness punctuated by the sound of the launch and recovery of two night CAPs.

But eventually, between one blink and the next, Tom woke up to the alarm clock going off.

Realistically, he knew he slept, but it really didn’t feel like it, he felt just as tired and weary as he always did.

He dragged himself out of his bunk, swiftly silencing the clock, as the Slider-shaped mass of blankets began to stir.

“Ugh—I hate mornings,” his RIO moaned.

“Shouldn’t have joined the Navy then, Sli,” Merlin cheerily fired back, feet thudding onto the berthing’s floor from the top bunk.

“Yeah, what the hell were you thinking, Kerner?” Mav grinned, already in the act of making his bunk.

“Why, oh why, God, did I have to be cursed with morning people,” Slider declared, finally throwing off his blanket.

“You love us, Ron,” Tom smirked, unable to help himself, the affectionate snark coming easy to him amidst his brothers, despite his exhaustion.

“Ehh—ask me again after I’ve had a coffee.

Or a dozen.”

The berthing rang with laughter, and as the day progressed, it confirmed to Tom that he’d made the right choice to redeploy, the brotherhood they had, the self-proclaimed “Layton Boys”, being exactly what he needed to nurse his broken heart.

Their CAP was uneventful, being flown with Mav and Merlin, the guard frequency filled with their light-hearted teasing and conversation, and they had to be the cheeriest four men on deployment in the Navy’s history.

But inevitably, another night slowly closed in, leaving Tom alone with his thoughts, his loneliness and pain threatening to overwhelm him as usual, and all the façades in the world couldn’t do a damn thing against thoughts and feelings from your own mind and soul.

The call was, as they said, coming from inside the house.

He felt like he was going crazy; he was losing sleep, he knew he was in too far, in way too deep over her, and he wasn’t sure when he would ever stop feeling like the world had fallen out from under him.

As he fought the urge to toss and sigh for the umpteenth time, he heard a soft “Can’t sleep?” from across the berthing.

Tom fought the urge to sit bolt upright, which was a good thing, as it kept him from banging his head on the top of his bunk.

When he caught his breath and calmed his heart some, he whispered, “Mav?”

“That’s me.”

“What are you doing up?” Tom hissed.

“Pot, kettle.”

“I—sometimes people can’t sleep, Mav.”

“Bullshit.

You couldn’t sleep last night either.”

“How do you know that?”

Mav kept silent.

“I knew you had to be awake,” Tom scoffed.

“Yeah, well.”

Here, Merlin stirred, turning in the bunk above Mav, which caused Slider to also stir and the two pilots held their breath, waiting for their respective RIOs to still.

When they did, Mav crept out of his bunk, grabbing something out from under his mattress, before leaning over Tom. “Come on—if we’re going to be awake, might as well be awake together.”

Tom sighed, nodding.

Maybe if he got up, he’d have some hope of feeling sleepy, and he’d be able to get some sleep.

Mav led him to the unoccupied half of the berthing, on the other side of the lockers, and plopped himself down on the floor between the empty bunks.

Tom took that as invitation to sit next to his wingman, and he leaned his head against the mattress behind him.

A soft noise which he belatedly recognized as the sound of a zip bag opening had him looking down.

Despite the darkness, his eyes had long since adjusted enough to see Mav holding out what appeared to be a cookie of some sort—chocolate chip, if his nose didn’t deceive him.

“Carole made these fresh before I shipped out.

Have some.”

“Thanks, Mav.”

“No problem,” the other pilot murmured, mouth already full.

Tom bit into the cookie, just the right amount of chewy and sweet, with the perfect amount of chocolate chips.

He must’ve made some sort of sound, because Mav chuckled. “Good, huh?”

“Don’t interrupt me, I’m enjoying my cookie.”

“I keep telling Care she can sell these suckers—heaven in a cookie, am I right?”

“Mmm.”

For the next few minutes, neither said anything, and no noise was heard save the sound of plastic rustling, cookies being eaten, and the distant sounds indicating deep sleep from their RIOs.

But then.

“You’re thinking about her, aren’t you?

That’s why you can’t sleep.”

Missile lock—tone.

Sigh.

“How’d you know?”

“Doesn’t take a genius, Ice, even if I am one.”

Tom scoffed, lightly bumping Mav’s shoulder, even though he knew his wingman wasn’t being hyperbolic—the younger pilot had a Master’s in Aerospace Engineering.

Mav good-naturedly took the bump, bumping right back.

When they had settled again, Tom whispered, “Can you blame me?”

“No, I don’t.

But you had no choice, Ice, Jester made that clear.

You were between the proverbial rock and hard place.”

“I loved her, Mav—I still love her.

And she loved me too.

And I broke her heart.

I can’t just… forget that,” he frustratedly said, running a hand through his hair.

“I’m not asking you to,” came the even reply. “All I’m asking is that you admit it.

It’s not good for you to keep this all in, you know?

Isn’t that what you told me before?”

“Yeah, it is,” Tom sighed—he felt like he’d been doing a lot of that lately.

“Have you told Sli?”

“Kind of,” he muttered.

Mav hissed, “What does ‘Kind of’ mean?”

“He… he knows that I was in a relationship that ended badly while I was at Miramar, but he doesn’t know that—” despite the fact that the two of them were the only ones awake in the berthing, he whispered, “that she was my student.”

Tom didn’t know it was possible to hear a shocked expression. “Way to bury the lede, Ice.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.

I just—I didn’t want to talk about it.”

“So you stonewalled your RIO?”Disbelief dripped from the sentence.

“I…” Tom vaguely gestured, “gently led him around the full truth.”

“You fucking Obi-Wan Kenobi-ed him.”

He sent the other man a glare even if he wasn’t sure Mav could see it. “You’re the worst therapist ever, you know that?”

“I’m a naval aviator and an engineer, Ice, forgive the slight fumbling.”

“‘Slight’?” Tom scoffed humorously, and in the darkness, he could see an ebony-haired head shake.

There was a joke that a more uncharitable person could have made about engineering in regards to him, but he and Mav were long past that, and he was grateful, something he never would have said before.

“You should tell him, you should have someone other than me who understands, who knows what you went through, Ice.”

Tom could see the point.

And it would feel better, he had to admit, even if it would trigger Slider’s mother hen instincts to the max, even more than they were right now.

“I’ll think about it.

And don’t think I forgot that you were just as sleepless as I was.”

“This about you, not me.”

“Uh-huh, sure—for now, you little shit.

Now hand over another cookie, will you, Mav?”

“The things I do for you.”

The plastic rustled again, and a cookie was placed in his hand.

And as he ate Carole’s heavenly consolation in a cookie, Tom reflected on just how he’d ended up in this position.

To be continued…

Next Part

CAP: Combat Air Patrol

Women were not allowed to participate in combat units and fly combat missions until 1993, so a healthy suspension of disbelief is required to read this story, 😂…

The USS Nimitz (CVN-68) is the lead ship of her namesake class; commissioned in May 1975, she is the oldest US Navy aircraft carrier in service, and the oldest serving aircraft carrier in the world.

If you look at the nametags they’re all wearing in TG86, the second row says “TOPGUN 1”, so I’m assuming that there’s more than one TOPGUN session a year, at least in the TG/TG:M universe.

VF-1, a now inactive squadron based out of NAS Miramar, is the squadron that Mav and Goose belonged to before they went to TOPGUN, although it must be noted that, like most of the squadron patch designs in Top Gun, the patch design as seen on Mav and Goose’s flight suits, is incorrect and not matching the squadron designation.

I am assuming, though I have no confirmation, that Merlin was also part of Tom and Slider’s USNA class.

The “Petey Pocket” insult is a reference to the toy Polly Pocket, which is a toy from the late 80s, notable for its tiny size, which is being sold again by Mattel.

However, the toys did not come out until 1989, and they did not come out until much later than that in the States, and despite my best efforts to find a more period-accurate insult/comparison, the insult was too good not to put, so again, healthy suspension of disbelief.

“Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” by Starship, from the 1987 film Mannequin, is the song Tom references.

A padeye is used to secure aircraft to the flight deck.

Taglist

@valmare

@callsign-skydancer

@permanentlyexhaustedpigeon88

@tadomikiku

@malindacath

If you’d like to join my taglist, just send me an ask!

#top gun rocktober #top gun #top gun fanfiction #top gun fanfic #tom iceman kazansky x reader #tom kazansky x reader #tom iceman kazansky #tom kazansky #val kilmer

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mezmer · 1 year

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‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ Mezmer Music Ask Extravaganza ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

Please share 🙏 and have fun <3 ⋆｡ ˚༘ ♫

1. first song that comes to mind

2. song you would impress a potential mate with

3. song that sounds better in the car

4. song that you cried to in middle school

5. song that you like from a genre that you really hate

6. least favorite song by your favorite band or artist

7. song you would have played at your funeral

8. song you loved as a child

9. favorite classic dad rock song

10. song with a number in the title

11. song that you're embarrassed about liking

12. song you like that gets radio play

13. favorite breakup song

14. favorite love song

15. song that reminds you of spring

16. song that reminds you of summer

17. song that reminds you of fall

18. song that reminds you of winter

19. song that reminds you of home

20. a song your parents or a family member showed you

21. a really goofy song

22. song you would choose for your wedding dance

23. favorite song from 70s

24. favorite song from 80s

25. favorite song from 90s

26. favorite song from 00's

27. favorite pop song

28. song by an artist from your region

29. song you used to love, NOT anymore

30. song you wish you could make somebody listen to who isn't in your life anymore

31. most emotional song you can think of

32. song that used to be you and somebody's "song"

33. extremely underground song, that probably nobody's heard

34. song with an amazing music video

35. song that you listen to when you need to relax

36. song that you think changed your life in some way

37. song with a lyric you think about often, would maybe get it as a tattoo

38. song you like in a language that is not your native language

39. song that is musically technical (difficult to play)

40. song you listen to while inebriated

41. song that AMAZES you :)

42. if the world was ending and you had the ability and time to just play one song, what song would that be

43. song that gets you energized! when you need to get a chore done

#music game #ask game #music asks #new ask game #please share #pls share

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he-goes-down · 7 months

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There Was A Time:

fic chapters,warnings, ext

SORRY IF THIS IS SO CONFUSING I APOLOGIZE

1. Move To The City:

Warnings:

Implied sexual acts

Drinking

Time travel (confusing)

Second person POV:

All the things that you just experienced had been forgotten in an instant. It felt like nothing had happened.

But everything happened.

You cursed under your breath, you're about to miss the band playing and you haven't even said good luck or more importantly get the roadies and other technical teams managed. 'Shit. what if they're not even ready?' You thought to yourself in a panic. You started rummaging through your satchel to find your phone for any missed calls and to check how late it is. Everything else was in your bag; notebook, passport, ID and documents. But no phone and a wallet with only one card and loads of cash. Instead of a phone there was a Walkman and your handwriting on it spelling out: 'Best Tunes'. "What the fuck" You whispered under your breath. Who still uses a Walkman? And why do I have one? Why the cringy ass title? You thought. Anything and everything was going through your head. You searched the windows of the shops on the street just for a glimpse of a clock or anything, but all of them were closed. One of the shops windows glowed, an electronic shop, every kind of tv was there and playing the same thing. Box TV's. No smart TV's. 1 or 2 flat screens. The news is on but it's grainy and the presenters aren't the same. The time.

'8:45' it read on the top left of one of the screens.

28th February 1985.

Headache. High pitch ring.

You nearly fell back onto the pavement.

Your head kept pounding.

Your face scrunched as you pierced your eyes shut.

Scenes of past memories came flooding back and replacing the ones you had, but they were both still in your mind, just supressed.

'Fuck, what was I doing?'

You searched your bag again, this time taking out a little notebook. You always had things to do written down in case you forgot something important. 'Find new band' it wrote and under it was suggestions on which bars to search. Luckily you could hear the thumbing bass of a band playing down the street in one of the bars. The Whisky a Go Go. As you walked closer you heard the song getting clearer and the higher frequencies the guitar was producing. The drums were hard driving, it nearly made you shake ass in the middle of the street. The guitar wind and you noticed there was another that kept the rhythm. The bass made something in you tingle. You finally got to the entrance of the bar, it was packed in the front of the stage and the booths but there were about only two people sitting on the bar stools, it was dark, the bright lights shone on the stage and only a dark dim light was provided at the bar for bartenders to be able to make drinks. You sat down by one of the stools closest to the exit, sitting your small suitcase in front of your stool under the bar top. The band was loud, and the crowd was going wild, the mics and speakers weren't good quality, but you could feel the raw energy from when their instruments were struck and when the lyrics spat out their mouths.

All the members had long hair; it was the 80's anyway. The singer was like a live wire, ginger hair and mouth that could burn anyone by how he screamed and made it sound like ecstasy in hell. The two guitarists, one with curly hair that bounced when he bopped his head as he strummed, sweat dripped down his chiselled brown abdomen as he arched his back to shred. All that was heard were screams from girls in the front, I mean you couldn't blame them, something in you wanted to throw yourself at him and let do anything. The other one had black hair and was the most modest looking; the rest had no shirts on or the very least a sleeve-less mesh shirt on. He wore a white long sleeve and a black waist coat, and he was gorgeous in sickly, pale, ill, vampire way. The last two members were blondes. The bass player tall and handsome as he plucked the strings of his bass, you had to stop yourself from meowing out loud, because good god. Although you couldn't see the drummer all that well, he was super cute as his fluffy blonde hair bounced around and his smile brightened the room.

You tapped your feet to the beat of the song. It sounded familiar. You order a long island iced tea before you continued to watch them play. 'Why does it sound so familiar' You thought to yourself as the ginger front man sang "But you, you had to move to the city!" He sang, and you took a sip of your drink that the bartender just sat down on the bar top. It was cold and a small piece of ice touched one of your teeth. "Into the city where it all began!" It began to ache, and it travelled to your head.

That's fucking Guns 'n Roses. Time stood still for a moment, and you couldn't move from the shock that just went through your body.

"What the fuck." You mumbled to yourself, your mouth slightly a gape. 'This can't be happening' you thought. 'I'm in the 80's?' 'Guns 'N Roses is right in front of me.' It was like every dream was coming true in that moment. You starred at them not believing they were right there, and you were the only one in the crowd that knew the lyrics off by heart. The black-haired guitarist looked straight back at you and his eyes widen. He strutted closer to the bass play and nudged him, the blonde looked up, the guitarist nodded to where you were and his plucking faltered slightly, and then they went back to playing but with more focus than before. You were confused then remembered why you were there in the bar. You had a job to do, they probably knew you were coming to scout for bands to sign. You tried to focus and forget about all the weird things, there is nothing you can do. There are no time machines in the 80s, rather make the best out of this situation. Work now, panic later. They finished their song and walked off, the guitarist and bassist made it painfully obvious that they were searching for you in the crowd before walking off. You stood up to walk to back, but you asked to bartender to look after your bag in case it got stolen. You searched where the entrance to the back was, you saw where all the girls were going and followed.

It was a large dressing room, with a mirror that spanned across two of the walls. Graffiti scattered on the dirty yellow walls. Groupies already surrounded the band, and giving them all special kinds of favours, on chairs, couches and walls. You tried to keep your confidence to not look completely lost, but you really wanted to shrink down into a hole and die. To your rescue the shorter blonde haired one that had two girls on him as he was pressed against wall, noticed you. "Shit!" he breathed loudly and tried to push the girls off him. The rest of the band did the same and shooed them out the dressing room door, some members didn't even have women on them but had to put away their bottles upon bottles of alcohol. 'How do they drink that much, they just got off the stage.' You thought. You crossed your arms as you leaned against the wall, the five of them stood in a line across the room. 'Did they rehearse this?'. It was silent. One of them started to swing his arms slightly, like a 5-year-old that was bored. "Is this like the final boss groupie or...?" The curly haired on said but got elbowed in the stomach before her could continue. You couldn't help but giggle a bit. "You guys have a lot of potential." You knew they were going to one of the best bands in history, but you weren't going to spoil the surprise. "I'm here to sign a deal with you. Well, if that's what you want-." "YES" The short blonde interrupted, he then cleared his throat, "Please."

You sat with them at one of the booths for about 2 hours, having light drinks and discussing management, recordings and contracts. It was like there was two versions of you, the past and future, the past version was currently in charge as you were talking business and the other lied dormant. "You've been telling us all these things about your job, but you haven't told us your name beautiful." The ginger flirted. You already knew all their names and government names before they even told you, but that doesn't really matter. "Y/n." you told them. "Are you going to be the one managing us?" The black haired one said coldly, Izzy, with his one arm folded and the other holding his cigarette. He sat on the opposite side of the booth. "If all goes well, yes." You said, but you could feel he might have wanted a different answer. "All goes well as in, if Axl doesn't fuck shit up before the time." The taller blonde laughed, Duff, as he nudged the ginger, Axl, who sat next to you. He elbowed him back in the ribs harshly, whispering curses at him. "You're gonna see this and a lot worse." Slash, the curly haired one, said in a chuckle. He gently put his hand on your shoulder as he got up, "I'm gonna get another drink, want one?" He looked down at you, giving a small smile while raising an eyebrow. Though you couldn't see it as his hair covered his eyes. "Nah, I think I need to head off." You said, as you got up as well. "Um, I need a number to call you guys with." "Are you asking for my number?" Axl yelled as he slammed his hands down on the table as he got up. "What are you yappin’ about?" You laughed

Izzy wrote down the house number on a piece of paper as Duff and Steven excitedly asked about tours, interviews and photoshoots. You tucked the paper into your pocket, got your bag from the bar, said your goodbyes and left. It was a cold night; the streets were empty and silent, and there was an even chillier breeze. You just wanted to go to a hotel and roll in the bed, as you just met your favourite band. 'Shit the hotel'. You booked a hotel to stay at for your band's venue back in future. "Shit" you muttered, as you searched your bag for a sign that you at least have a place to stay for the night. Nothing.

"Fuck". You slumped down and next to a wall of a building. Every emotion rushed through you; panic, confusion, hatred, depression. Your other half wasn't speaking to you, it was like there was a limit on how much you could each version of yourself. You started to tear up as you started to overthink; Does this past version of you have friends? A partner? A place of your own? You couldn't remember anything except for the night you just had. You laid your head on your knees and closed your eyes just trying to compose yourself. Streams of tears just rolled, and you couldn't do anything, your brain was all muddled up and mush. You felt yourself spiralling, it was out of your control now. It was cold and it started to rain, just what you needed. You wanted to call up one of the guys and ask for some salvation, but you didn't even know where the nearest pay phone is. All the roads were just twists and turns in a maze that kept changing.

"Y/N?"

———

If you hated this you can like, push me down stairs or sumthing

#guns n roses #axl rose #axl gnr #slash #slash gnr #duff mckagan #duff gnr #izzy stradlin #izzy gnr #steven adler #steven gnr #gnr fanfiction #guns n roses fanfic #axl rose x reader #slash x reader #duff mckagan x reader #izzy stradlin x reader #steven adler x reader #Spotify

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tomorrowxtogether · 7 months

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TOMORROW X TOGETHER Unpack the “Story of Growth” in New Album The Name Chapter: FREEFALL

"I thought about how far we’ve come," says Beomgyu

In the music video for TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s new single, “Chasing That Feeling,” Soobin, Yeonjun, Beomgyu, Taehyun, and Hueningkai quite literally crash-land back on earth. It’s an apt visual for the focus track off their latest project, The Name Chapter: FREEFALL, which brings the boys back to reality after their spring EPfeatured a dreamy stint in a Neverland setting.

While TXT’s discography has explored young love and other narratives, so much of the group’s music hovers around themes of growing up in an increasingly complicated world. “We want to talk about the experiences that are unique to our generation,” Hueningkai tells Consequence. The Name Chapter: FREEFALL is the group’s first LP in over two years, and their longest collection of new music since 2021’s The Chaos Chapter: FREEZE. There are a few new angles to this project — a harder commitment to rock along with playing around with Jersey club hallmarks — but it’s a TOMORROW X TOGETHER project through and through.

“Happily Ever After,” like 2021’s “Ice Cream,”sounds bright but contains more serious themes in the lyrics . There’s also a song dedicated specifically from the members to their beloved fan base, MOA, titled “Blue Spring.” With more lyrical contributions than ever before from the members themselves, it’s exciting seeing TXT continue to develop as artists and creatives, and Soobin, Yeonjun, Beomgyu, Taehyun, and Hueningkai are back to reflect on the process. Read the full interview with the members below, and catch the music video for “Chasing That Feeling.”

youtube

I feel like this album goes bigger with ideas you’ve played with before. Where “Good Boy Gone Bad” and “0X1 LOVESONG” played with rock sounds, “Growing Pain” dives all the way in. Meanwhile, “Chasing That Feeling” is straight-up 80s synth. What are some words you guys would use to describe this project as a whole?

Soobin: I’d call it a story of growth. It looks at the growing pains of our generation and picks up where we left off in our previous album. The main backdrop for the previous album was this beautiful but irresponsible Neverland. This album is about leaving this Neverland and facing the real world. Growing pains are inevitable in this process, and we wanted to delve into that in this album.

Yeonjun: I’d say a soundtrack for today’s youth. We wanted to talk about the courage and determination of today’s youth to face reality head-on.

I feel like you guys have accomplished so many goals we’ve talked about over the past few years. In 2022, you told me you hoped to perform at bigger venues, and to do well at your first appearance at Lollapalooza. You’ve since crushed a stadium tour, dome concerts in Japan, and headlined Lolla! How does it feel to see those things happen in real time?

Taehyun: As you said, this year has been a really big year for us with our Lollapalooza headliner set, first U.S. stadium tour, and most recently the “Back For More” (with Anitta) performance at the MTV VMAs. It’s an incredible honor to perform at such iconic venues and events and be able to share our music to connect with a wider audience. I’m very proud of the hard work we put in, but we won’t be able to do this without our fans’ support, so we are truly thankful for them.

To that point, now that you’ve accomplished a few really huge goals, what do some immediate next steps look like for you? What are some smaller goals you have for finishing out 2023?

Hueningkai: The new album is another opportunity for us to connect with MOA, so I just want to enjoy myself and cherish each moment. As it’s our first studio album in a little over two years, we really gave our all into it. I hope that the album resonates with as many people as possible around the world.

I’m obsessed with “Deep Down,” it’s easily my favorite on the album. The synth-pop direction is so fun. Do any of you have special memories from being in the studio, for this song or others on the album?

Beomgyu: It was a lot of fun recording “Deep Down.” “Deep Down” talks about how a “horn,” something that you try to keep hidden, can actually be a crown, or a source of hope that represents who you are. There’s a clear connection to our debut single, “CROWN,” so while recording, I was reminded by those times as a lot of different emotions came to mind. I thought about how far we’ve come, both as individuals as well as artists.

Which song on the record do you feel is the most quintessentially TOMORROW X TOGETHER?

Hueningkai: I’d say “Happily Ever After.” It’s a song about coming to terms with the fact that there are no fairytale endings in reality. And with that realization, instead of giving into despair, you can decide to write your own story. That’s something that we as a group have tried to do with our music over the years. We want to talk about the experiences that are unique to our generation. I’d say that it’s a song that really speaks to our DNA as a group.

I know how much you guys love the song “Blue Spring,” and it’s so different from some of your other songs dedicated to MOA, like “Sweat” or “MOA Diary.” Why do you think the song fit with the concept of The Name Chapter: FREEFALL?

Beomgyu: This album looks at the pain and challenges of reality, but within this reality, there are still magical moments that we share with one another. On “Blue Spring,” we compare our fans to spring that brightens up a blue world. Our fans have always been part of our magical moments that fuel our spirit, so it felt right that this song was included in the album.

I love seeing you all becoming more and more involved with lyric writing with each project. Do any of you have something you’ve learned about your songwriting process during the making of this album that you’d like to share?

Taehyun: I think we have become better at putting our honest thoughts and emotions into our lyrics. This comes as a result of many hours of writing that we put in over the years, but I think it also has to do with the fact that we have become more confident in the kind of message and music we want to share with the world. I hope many people can feel that when they listen to our music.

All five of you wrote for the lyrics in “Blue Spring.” Do you have any dreams of someday sharing an entirely self-written project?

Yeonjun: That’d be amazing. Manifesting that for the future! I do love working with other songwriters. I’m always learning a lot from them. We also feed off each other’s creativity, so it’s an experience I very much enjoy.

Is there anything else we haven’t touched on that you’d like to share?

Soobin: This album talks about reality as it is, which is also reflected in our visuals for the album. We shot the music video for our lead single at Universal Studios, but it looks as if we land somewhere in a real city like New York or London. We wanted to show a world seen without a filter, so I think that’s another element that our fans can enjoy along with the music.

#txt #tomorrow x together #231021 #article #consequence #soobin #yeonjun #beomgyu #taehyun #hueningkai #freefall #the name chapter: freefall #Youtube

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rip-quizilla · 11 months

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Your Leather, My Lace ~ Part 5: Enter Sandman

Pairing: Rockstar!Eddie Munson x Rockstar!fem!Reader

Summary: It's the release of Metallica's new album, and you weren't lucky enough to snag a copy. Fortunately, Eddie managed to buy one and he's very eager to get back in your good graces.

Word Count: 6.9k

Tags for Entire Fic (from AO3): Enemies to Lovers, Rival Bands, Tension While Singing, Leather, 80's Rock References, Song Lyrics, Slow Burn, Sexual Tension, Thinly Veiled Hex Girls Inspiration, Eddie Munson Lives, 1991, Porn with Feelings, Shameless Smut, Mutual Masturbation, Hate to Love, Oral Sex, Consensual Sex, Smut, Eddie Munson Has No Sense of Personal Space, Cunnilingus, Nipple Licking, Catholic Guilt, brat!reader, Dom/sub Undertones, light degradation, Car Sex, The Lord of the Rings References

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

If asked whether or not 7 AM is a stupidly early time to be starting your day, most average adults would probably answer “no”. For a musician, however, 7 AM is basically the buttcrack of dawn. Hence, the second cup of coffee of the morning that you held in your hand as you waited in line for Mad World Music Store to open.

Today was the release of Metallica’s new album, and you were determined to get a copy. You didn’t want a single day that a whole album’s worth of new songs by your favorite band were out to pass without at least starting to memorize every line, every chord progression, every complicated riff- you ached to have every new song rolling around in your brain. So here you were- thirty-seventh in a line of metalheads that didn’t mind being temporary early birds if it meant getting their hands on a copy of Metallica’s self-titled album. The line was so long that it wound around the outside of the tiny music store; you used your free hand to wrap yourself further into the large thrifted fleece jacket you wore over the thickest hoodie you’d brought with you. The morning chill wasn’t too bad, but with so little sunlight on this cloudy day there wasn’t much to balance out the wind that stung the bare skin exposed between the ends of your pants and your lace up Docs.

You sipped your coffee and busied your mind by letting it wander back to what had become the center of your every waking moment lately- your band, your setlist, and literally every possible thing that might keep you from winning Indie Battle.

When the line finally began moving in your favor, you felt your heart rate pick up as you shuffled forward a few inches. Before you knew it, you were through the door, inching forward minute by minute until you reached the checkout counter. You could practically feel the plastic-wrapped cassette tape in your hands, until-

“Sorry, we’re all out. That was the last one.”

Your eyes turned to ice when you looked up at the stout, curly-haired cashier. “What?” You grit out, your voice stony and barely above a whisper. You set your coffee down on the counter, splaying both hands on the surface “I’ve been out there waiting for almost an hour.”

The man shrugged apologetically, and you empathized with every groan you heard from the customers in line behind you. “We’ll have more coming in at the end of the week, but that’s all I’ve got for now.” He made a sort of sorrowful grimace as you sighed, shoved your hands in your pockets and accepted defeat. You turned around to walk aimlessly down an aisle of used vinyls, listening to the grumbling of customers as they left empty-handed. Amidst the shuffling of dejected feet, however, you noted that one set of white sneakers moved hurriedly in the opposite direction toward the cashier.

“Hey man! You got it?”

Damn that voice, you’d started hoping you’d never hear it in the same room as you again.

You checked over your shoulder to check if that voice belonged to whom you thought it did, and sure enough, there he was.

Eddie Munson, in all his glory, strode down the center walkway of the music store toward the cashier you’d just finished speaking to.

Slowly, you backed further into the aisle without completely losing sight of the two objects of your attention. You grabbed a random record and pretended to gaze at the faded album cover while you listened in on their conversation.

“Yeah, dude, I put one aside for you the minute they came in.” your eyes bugged, glancing quickly to see whatever the cashier was referring to. Sure enough, held in his hand was a shiny, brand new tape of the Metallica album. “There was a line out the door for these, you owe me big time.”

Your eyebrows pinched as you shook your head softly and stifled a scoff. This guy just couldn’t seem to stop pissing you off. What were the odds that he knew the guy working at the music store well enough to get him to save a copy of the most anticipated release of the year? You inwardly cursed your shitty, shitty luck and craned your neck to get a better look between shelves at the two behind the counter.

“That’s the understatement of the century, Grant,” Eddie said congenially. “Anything you want or need, just say the word. You can even hop back on the stage with us, you know that’s a standing invitation for life, man.”

The cashier- Grant, apparently- smiled fondly at Eddie, clapping him on the back with one hand and scratching an itch in his beard with the other. “Ah, thanks man… haven’t been on a stage in years, you know that. I’d probably sound like dogshit.” he laughed good-naturedly, picking up an empty box that must have held all of the new tapes and heading toward the back of the store.

“Even if you did, I wouldn’t give a fuck,” Eddie followed Grant, fiddling with the plastic on the tape as if he were itching to open it up and stick it into the nearest stereo. You couldn’t blame him; if that tape were in your hands, you’d be anxious to listen to it too. “Corroded Coffin isn’t the same without you, man.”

So that’s how they know each other.

This guy must have been a band member at some point. You wondered why it was that Eddie and his band hadn’t competed in the past when they had a friend in the music industry working at a music store that was located so close to all of the venues where Indie Battle took place. No doubt they’d heard about it from this Grant guy before… what took them so long?

“Fancy seeing you here, Galadriel.”

Eddie’s voice at the shell of your ear surprised you so much you dropped the record straight down to the carpeted floor. You quickly retrieved it, spinning around to face him. Eyes wide, you took in the sight before you.

Eddie wore ripped jeans the color of charcoal gray, a red T-shirt sporting a graphic made to look like the poster for Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, that damn leather jacket, and a denim vest that was loaded with patches and pins. He was smirking at you through heavy lidded eyes, and in his hand he held… your coffee cup.

You had left it on the counter, and your name was written very clearly across the surface in thick, black lettering.

You cursed yourself inwardly for your carelessness; If you had just remembered to grab it, he might have never known you were there. You sighed, reaching for the coffee cup, and as he handed it to you he grabbed the record from your other hand.

“Little Willie John?” Eddie questioned, quirking a grin as he studied the vinyl that you’d been practically hiding behind while he’d been talking to Grant. “Didn’t peg you for a soul man.”

You scraped your brain for something to say while you stood there awkwardly holding your coffee cup with both hands. Tapping your thumbnails on the plastic lid, what finally came out of your mouth was “Yeah, well… ‘Fever’ is good.”

Eddie continued to stare at you with that fucking smirk, letting you chew on your lip and avoid eye contact like it was the black plague.

“Yeah, ‘Fever’ is good,” he said, his voice even. You weren’t sure if he was being patronizing or serious. “Have you… ever heard the cover by The Cramps?”

You eyed him suspiciously. He was making civil conversation, which you hadn’t been expecting. Teasing? Yeah. Condescension? For sure. But civility? You weren’t sure what to make of that. “Yes, I have.” you said cautiously, nodding your head. “It’s good.”

Eddie smiled softly, nodding his head to match yours. “Good.”

The way you were looking at him, someone might think he’d just grown a second head. “Good.”

The two of you must have made a strange sight, standing quietly facing each other as you nodded in tandem. After a few seconds, your distaste for awkward silences got the best of you and you were barely able to stop the strangled chuckle from bursting out of your mouth. Eddie seemed to be right there with you, chewing his lips to keep a smile from showing itself. You had thought you’d be more angry with him, but you felt strangely neutral about Eddie at the moment. Performing the other night had been like therapy- all of the anger, the betrayal, the itch to prove him wrong and so very stupid- most of it had been left on the stage that night. You weren’t exactly a fan of the guy right now, but the venom you’d felt before was- for the time being- nowhere to be found.

“Are you here for the Metallica album?” Eddie asked, the words tumbling out of his mouth rushed.

You sighed, “Yeah. They ran out before I got one though.” You nodded towards the checkout counter. “I overheard bits and pieces of what you were saying up there; being friends with store employees has its perks, huh?”

Eddie raised an eyebrow as he placed the Little Willie John album back in its place. “Overheard, huh? You spying on me now, babe?”

“Don’t call me babe.”

Eddie’s eyes widened, his lips snapping out of his smirk into a thin line. A chill breezed through the store as a departing customer opened the door, the jingling of the bell on the doorframe echoing through the room. A harsh breath left his lips as Eddie stuck his hands in the deep pockets of his leather jacket. Your fingers twitched, remembering the smooth satin lining and how it had felt on the pads of your fingers when you’d worn it less than a week ago.

“I deserved that.” Eddie said, his voice barely above a whisper. “I should have been honest with you from the beginning, and I took things as far as I did with you without letting you in on the full truth, and that was an asshole move. I get why you were mad.” He closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath before tagging on, “I’m sorry.”

You stared at him, eyes betraying none of the very sappy emotions you were fighting to keep at bay. “I appreciate the apology,” you said, careful to maintain a neutral tone.

Eddie’s chin tilted upwards in question. “Aaaand you forgive me?” Oh gosh. His voice was so hopeful, you couldn’t help but take one look at those big brown eyes and imagine a puppy at the pound. Your heart made you feel like putty in his hands… but your brain? Your brain knew better.

You decided to make him work for it a little more.

“You do know that an apology doesn’t automatically entitle you to my forgiveness, right?” you said, one hand finding purchase on your hip as you slowly moved to take a sip from your coffee.

Eddie shook his head, eyes still wide and- to your delicious satisfaction- a little bit desperate. “No! I mean, yes, of course I know. You don’t owe me anything, I just… I wanted to say that I…I regret-”

“-being too much of a little bitch to just tell me the truth from the get-go?”

Eddie’s gaze narrowed at that. Adios, puppy dog eyes.

“Hey now-”

You shrugged, your ego inflated at the fact that you were getting a rise out of him. He’d had his fun playing with you; it was your turn now.

“I’m just saying, a man who’s honest enough with himself that he can admit when he’s been a truly pathetic-”

“Whoa-”

“-sad,”

“Sad-?”

“-too horny to properly function-”

“Oh see now, coming from you-”

You were smiling ear to ear now, “ -Little. Bitch.” You punctuated each word with a condescending nod of your head. “...A man who could admit that to himself, I might just be prevailed upon to forgive.”

Eddie looked about ready to explode. Eyes narrowed, mouth agape as if warming up to open fire, head softly shaking back and forth, hands tensing to fists in his pockets. After a moment, his voice- eerily steady- spoke up.

“You’re playing a dangerous game here, sweetheart.”

Your smile remained intact. “Not your sweetheart.” you purred. “Unless…” you leaned forward, eyes narrowing in on him. “-you say it.”

The only change to his expression was the corner of his mouth drawing up into a challenging smirk. “You want me to- no. No way.”

You shrugged. “Say it.”

“Are you an actual child?” Eddie scoffed.

“You’ve seen the proof that I most certainly am not.”

Eddie blinked twice. Slowly.

“Not saying it.” he reiterated.

“Then I don’t forgive you.”

The air between the two of you was about ten degrees hotter than the rest of the air in the music store. The electricity in your eye contact could have powered the whole building. The silence was only permeated by the quiet hum of radio music buzzing in the store speakers, only interrupted by the chime of the bell above the door once again.

Finally, Eddie let out a heavy sigh. “Okay, let me propose a compromise.”

You stood your ground, hand on hip while the other brought your coffee back to your lips. “I’m listening.” you murmured into the plastic lid.

Eddie pulled from his pocket the plastic-wrapped Metallica tape. “The two of us get in my van-”

Your eyebrows shot up so high, they practically got absorbed by your hairline.

“-in the front seat,” Eddie rolled his eyes. “Jesus. We get in my van and listen to the new album, because I’m a good person and don’t mind sharing.” He shook the tape in the air two feet from your face. “What do you say, princess?”

You sipped your coffee. “Don’t call me princess.”

Eddie took a step closer. “Why not, is it affecting you?”

“It’s affecting my patience.”

Eddie smiled, and it wasn’t a snarky smile this time. It was bright and warm and made your heart do a little backflip, which you chose to pretend didn’t happen.

“I really am sorry.” Eddie’s voice was sincere, low and came out in a throaty rumble. “And there’s nobody I’d rather listen to this album with than someone who shares my adoration for the way Kirk Hammett can fucking shred his way through a song that- were it by any other band- I would probably think was way too long.”

A chuckle bubbled out of you before you could stop it, and your free hand flew up to cover your smile daintily with the tips of your fingers. That only made Eddie’s goddamn grin grow wider. His lips quirked around it, like it were something to savor, to chew on and revel in its flavor.

“So…” again, that deep, sincere voice. He said your name; it sounded sacred on his lips. “What do you say?”

Dammit.

You shook your head, exasperated by the smile you just couldn’t wipe off your face. “Lead the way.” You conceded. “But we’re stopping for breakfast.”

Eddie led the way out of the music store, a smug little grin lingering in the corner of his mouth the whole time. At one point you saw him look over his shoulder at something, and when you followed his gaze you saw Grant redirect his attention and hide his thumbs up faster than the speed of light.

***

Two doors down from the music store was an old, wacky-looking diner called “Deedee & Bub’s” that looked like it had been opened by a hoarder who ran out of room to put things.

You had to admit, the place had a weird, retro sort of charm that rubbed you all the right ways. Every square inch of wall space was taken up by old photos, strange art pieces, old license plates from not only different states, but different countries. Whoever “Deedee and Bub” were, they undoubtedly had stories to tell, judging by the amount of conversation pieces decorating the entirety of the store. They even had a whole corner of the diner dedicated to the largest collection of Santa Clause memorabilia you’d ever seen in your life. It was like a shrine to Christmas capitalism- weird as hell. You loved the energy of it.

As you and Eddie sat yourselves down in a squeaky red booth, Eddie voiced exactly what you had been thinking. “Well this place is weird as shit in the best kind of way.” His brown eyes darted from wall to wall, taking in everything that he could even though this was the kind of place where, no matter how many times you visited, you would always notice something you hadn’t before.

You grabbed one of the menus clipped to a stand on the side of your table closest to the wall. “It’s cute… but I’m withholding judgment until I get my food.”

It only took a moment of looking at the menus for your waitress to arrive at your table. Eddie was quick to tell her his order, which consisted of “french toast with strawberries and extra whipped cream, please” accompanied by a flutter of his eyelashes. You smiled politely at the waitress as you closed your menu and placed it back at the end of the table.

“The Elvis Oatmeal and a black coffee, thank you.”

You watched the waitress jot down your orders in her little notebook before walking away, at which point Eddie pounced.

“Oatmeal, huh grandma?” he chuckled.

You scoffed, “Oh you’re one to talk,” you imitated him by batting your eyelashes the same way he had moments ago. “Yes ma’am, I’ll take a plate of sugar with a side of diabetes, please!”

He laughed good naturedly at your impression, arms crossing over his chest as he leaned back into the booth. “Don’t hate me for having a sweet tooth, princess, that’s just how God made me.”

“Not your ‘princess’, and God made you with the palate of a six-year-old.” You laughed as

the waitress returned to set down your coffee. Before she could turn and leave Eddie asked, “Excuse me, miss, what are these cards here?”

You craned your neck to look at the cards Eddie was referring to- beside the menus, there was a small compartment that had been cut into the wooden surface of the tables, just big enough to hold a deck of cards.

“Oh those are so fun!” the waitress replied, brightening at Eddie’s question. “The cards all have little conversation starters on them. Owners found a deck of them in a little gift store somewhere and came up with the idea to put them at the tables. Some come from the original deck, but the majority of the cards have prompts that staff members came up with over the years.” She waggled her fingers toward the deck as she turned away to attend to her other tables. “Feel free to use them if you’d like!”

As expected, Eddie was absolutely into the idea of the two of you interrogating each other with the questions on the cards. It didn’t take him long to divide the deck in half, place the cards between the two of you, then sit silently vibrating and smiling like a kid in a candy store as he watched you expectantly. You couldn’t see his knee bouncing under the table, but you could feel it nonetheless.

You let a moment pass watching him, playing up the exhausted look on your face as you smirked at him until finally you sighed dramatically. “Fine, I’ll play, but I reserve the right to refuse to answer whichever questions I want.”

Eddie nodded excitedly, placing his elbows on the table and sitting his chin on fisted hands. He looked adorably ridiculous.

You read the question off your first card. “What did your fifteen-year-old self imagine you’d be doing right now?” you raised your eyebrows, impressed. “Wow, that’s actually a pretty good question.”

Eddie’s expression shifted from excited to pensive, nodding absently as he pondered the question. “I’m proud to say that I expected myself to be doing something exactly like this.” He said. Something about his voice was quieter now, more reverent in the way he spoke. “Actually, I probably would have said I’d be working at the plant like my uncle. This- competing in something like Indie Battle that gets attention from real producers and shit- this was a pipe dream.”

You smiled softly, touched by his honesty. “So this is quite literally the dream for you, huh?”

Eddie nodded, eyes warm and honey-sweet. “Pretty much. I think little Munson would be proud of future-me.”

You placed the card face-down beside the deck. “That’s all any of us can hope for.” you shrugged softly before nodding toward Eddie’s deck. “Hit me.”

A wicked glint sparkled in his gaze as he pulled his top card. “I hope it’s something dirty.”

“For your sake, I hope it isn’t.”

His chest shook in a silent chuckle before reading the card. “What do you ask people for help with?”

You blanched, thinking about it for about two seconds before replying decisively with “Nothing.”

Eddie rolled his eyes. “Now why doesn’t that surprise me?”

You laughed into your coffee cup as you took a sip. “I’m good at handling things myself, that’s not a fault, it’s a skill.”

Shaking his head, Eddie placed the card on the table. His gaze was joking, but something in his eyes told you he wasn’t the biggest fan of your answer. “See, you say that, but all I see in front of me is a control freak-”

“Hey!” you interjected.

“-who wouldn’t ask for help even if she needed it.” Eddie punctuated the end of his sentence with a pointed look that you couldn’t help but feel a little bit judged by.

You didn’t like how perceptive he was being. It made you feel… too bare. And not in a good way.

Redirecting the attention would do the trick.

You ignored his comment, plucking the next card from your deck. “What’s your theme song?”

Eddie smirked. “I’ll let you know when I’m done writing it, sweetheart.”

You snorted at his cheeky reply. “Not Master of Puppets?” you pushed.

“I think that would be a little too obvious, don’t you think?”

You nodded, glancing at the tattoo on his forearm and trying not to think about the fact that you remember the way the raised, scarred skin felt under the caress of your thumb. “Fair.” you replied.

You waited expectantly for Eddie to take the next card from the top of his deck, but he only sat there smiling at you. You quirked an eyebrow. “What?”

“You let me call you ‘sweetheart' that time.” He replied.

This smug little bastard.

You rolled your eyes and sighed, shaking your head. “Oh my god, just draw the next card.”

Eddie’s smirk stayed plastered across his face at full power while he read the next question silently. Then, his smirk somehow grew even bigger as a dark chuckle escaped his lips.

“What kind of-” his big brown eyes flicked up to yours, “-shower ideas do you get?”

You almost choked on your coffee.

“There is no way that’s what it says.” you coughed. Eddie turned the card around for you to read- that was what it said.

You almost cashed in on your right to deny him an answer, but when you thought about it, you found that the answer actually wasn’t too embarrassing.

“Actually, I don’t do much thinking in the shower.”

You could tell from the dark blush on Eddie’s cheeks that his mind went straight into the gutter before you had even finished your answer.

You chuckled, shaking your head. “What I mean is that’s kind of the only place where I can let my brain go blank. Usually I like to blare my music loud enough to hear over the water and sing along at the top of my lungs.”

Eddie nodded, seeming to have overcome whatever naughty image he’d created in his head enough to comprehend what you were saying. “Gotta say,” he said, voice huskier than it had been a moment ago, “after what I saw on that stage the other night, that’s a show I wouldn’t mind buying a ticket to.”

Your smile dropped, and your expression shifted into the very picture of unamused. You sighed, wordlessly taking the white beverage napkin from beneath your coffee cup and crumpling it up into a little ball. Deadpan, you looked Eddie in the eyes and gave him a disappointed “Boooo,” as you tossed the napkin ball at his face.

He grimaced, not making a move to block the incoming projectile as harmlessly bounced off his cheek. “Right, I deserved that.” he grunted.

“Damn right,” you snarked, pulling a new card from the top of your deck. Upon reading the question, your easy smile faded a bit, lips thinning into a melancholy line. This question was a bit more serious than the last.

Which was fine, because the way you felt about this guy was completely and totally indifferent, so his answer to this question shouldn’t affect you in the slightest. You really couldn’t care less what his opinion was on the subject.

“Do you believe in love at first sight?” you read aloud, tone remaining as neutral as you could manage.

You watched Eddie’s brows pull together, really taking his time to think about this one. His idle fingers sought purpose in twisting open the corners of the napkin you’d thrown at him, eyes trained on the wooden surface of the table as he came to his own conclusion. When he finally opened his mouth to speak-

“Alright, that’s one Elvis Oatmeal-” This waitress’s timing was award-worthy, you had to hand it to her. “-and one strawberry french toast, extra whipped cream!” With both breakfasts placed before you, she placed her hands on her hips and smiled wide, oblivious to any tension she’d interrupted. “Anything else I can get ya?”

The two of you shook your heads, smiling politely and thanking her for the food. As soon as she walked away, Eddie dove into his french toast head-first, almost as if he were hoping you would forget about a certain question on a certain card.

“Well?” you prompted.

“Hm?” Eddie asked, coyly avoiding the question. “What?”

“So what’s your answer?”

Eddie smiled around a bite of strawberries and whipped cream. “I’m still thinking about it.”

He chewed his french toast while you took a bite of your oatmeal, crushing a banana slice on the roof of your mouth. You both ate in silence for a moment before you chimed in. “Well I don’t.” you decided.

Eddie’s expression betrayed nothing. “And why is that, sweetheart?”

You rolled your eyes. “Not your sweetheart.” you corrected, “And I think real love doesn’t happen until you actually, truly have had the time to know and understand a person.” Shrugging, you brought your coffee cup to your lips. “Anything felt before that is just lust or passion or infatuation.”

He nodded while he listened, really taking in your words and mulling them over. “You make a good point,” he conceded, “I’ll give you that. But I’m gonna have to side with the romantics on this one.”

You smiled, surprised at his answer. “Okay, Mr. Romantic,” you teased. The irony of the nickname wasn’t lost on either of you. “State your case, then.”

Eddie shrugged as he crushed a syrupy strawberry with his fork, mixing it into the whipped cream. “I’m not on a quest to change your mind or anything, like I said- you have a point. Love takes work, takes time.” You listened carefully, lips resting on the rim of your warm ceramic coffee mug. “But I think love can start before you know someone, really know them, I mean… not saying I’ve experienced it, I’m not that lucky…but I want to believe in it.” Your heart started to beat a little faster; you didn’t want to think about why. “I don’t know, something that pure and that rare…”

Eddie’s eyes flicked up to yours, their gaze sudden and intense. “You know how people say everything in life eventually balances out? Like, there’s a “yin” to every “yang”, all that shit?”

You nodded, hanging on every word, your eyes held captive by his blazing brown ones.

“This world can be so fucked sometimes… for that to make sense, then I’ve gotta believe that something as mushy-gushy and naive as love at first sight can exist. For every time this world feels like a living hell, there’s got to be a time it feels like heaven. Otherwise, what are we doing this all for, you know?” he shrugged, stabbing his fork through a bite of french toast and dipping it in his strawberry-whipped cream concoction. “So yeah, that’s my answer.”

You weren’t sure when you’d started holding your breath, but it was definitely time to breathe now.

Once oxygen filled your lungs, you huffed out a soft, breathy laugh. “Well damn, do I feel like a cynic.” You stirred your oatmeal, a smile latching itself to your lips and taking up residence whether you liked it or not. “Maybe if I had your way with words, Next Hex would have at least one original song by now.”

Whoa. Where had that come from?

You didn’t want to give him a chance to comment on the biggest insecurity you had about your band- even if you had just voiced it out loud like a fucking moron. “How’s your food?” you asked.

Eddie’s eyes were wide, a little confused about the abrupt subject change, but he followed your cue beautifully. “Fucking delicious.” he practically moaned around a particularly large bite. “What is that you have over there, anyway? Is that peanut butter?”

You laughed airily, grateful that he wasn’t commenting on your original song dilemma. “Oatmeal with peanut butter, banana, and honey. If it was good enough for Elvis, it’s good enough for me!” You shoved a heaping bite into your mouth in hopes that it would shut you up enough to prevent further stupid comments.

The two of you were able to eat in comfortable silence for several minutes before Eddie spoke softly, “I could help you, you know. Write a song.”

You narrowed your eyes on him. “What makes you think I need help with that?”

He put up both hands in the air, a silent I surrender. “I’m not saying you do, just… offering, I guess.”

You still felt suspicious of such an offer, from your competition, no less. “Why?”

“Your band is good- really good. Too good to just be a cover band.” He stabbed another strawberry with his fork. “I mean, not so good that you could beat Corroded Coffin, but…”

You scoffed, his cockiness was so insufferable that it was almost funny. Almost. “Oh, we could cruise through the rest of the competition doing nothing but covers, and still wipe the floor with you guys.” You teased.

“Oh you could, huh?”

“Without a doubt.” you smiled confidently. “But if I, ah…” You struggled to keep your voice from shrinking. “...if I ever find myself wanting… a second opinion when it comes to songwriting, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to ask someone with experience in that field.” You pointed your spoon at him sternly. “Not that I would need help.”

Eddie fought a smile from creeping across his lips. “I know you wouldn’t, Galadriel.”

A mutual understanding- your pride couldn’t take another hit from this guy; he knew that. Eddie regretted the way that things had gone down between you two; you knew that. So he offered you help, and you accepted it- maybe not with the words you said, but fortunately you were both very good at reading between the lines.

When you complimented his way with words, you were really saying ‘I wish I was as good at that as you are’. When he offered to help you, what he was really saying was ‘you can be’.

A secret code, just for the two of you.

***

Breakfast had been a balm to the bitterness between the pair of you. The conversation cards and smell of strawberries and peanut butter had settled over the pair of you to form a sort of truce- neither of you had woken that morning with the intention of making amends, but you did have one thing in common:

You both fucking loved Metallica.

Now, the two of you sat in quiet anticipation as Eddie carefully unwrapped the plastic from the brand new tape. The sun had come out to warm the morning air, and you’d since shed your fleece and rolled up the sleeves of your baggy sweatshirt. You tried to assuage your impatience by taking the time to fold your fleece while you waited for him to finally pop the tape into his van’s radio, but you were getting antsy.

Groaning impatiently and dropping the fleece into a pile at your feet, you shifted in the passenger seat and began to drum excitedly on the worn leather surface of his console. “Oh my god, just open it already!”

Eddie chuckled, carefully peeling the clear plastic off of the precious commodity. “I’m not scratching the case on the first day, sweetheart. Have a little patience.”

You pouted, eyes narrowing. “No.”

He paused, looking up at you curiously. There was a twinge of darkness to his pupils that made you suck in your stomach for some reason. An eyebrow raised. You matched it with your own.

After a moment where Eddie looked as if he were about to say something, he apparently decided against it and huffed out a charged breath through his nostrils, disguising it as a laugh. He peeled the last bit of plastic away from the tape before carefully opening the case with a soft click. You could have sworn your heart rate skyrocketed with the knowledge that in a moment, you would hear the first new Metallica song to grace your ears since ‘88.

You closed your eyes and waited until finally- the low strum of an electric guitar filled your ears.

Often, Metallica’s songs started out brash, jarring. The rage with which they were composed was evident in the immediate ring of harsh guitar and drums. This… this was deeper. It crept, it rolled around in your brain, allowing the grungy darkness of its tone to slowly crescendo. You felt an infectious sense of euphoria as its melody crawled into your chest and wrapped itself up in your pulse. Before you knew it, your head was bobbing to the beat, and when you heard James Hetfield’s familiar voice growling through the speakers? Oh, you were gone.

By the time the first chorus began, there was a giant, sappy smile on your face. You cracked one eye open to look at Eddie, and what you saw made your smile grow even wider.

Eddie Munson sat in his driver’s seat, head bobbing, knees bouncing, fingers drumming, eyes closed and grinning like a maniac. You’d never felt more seen in your entire life. Every time you’d locked yourself in your room and listened to music for hours? Every time you had been mocked for the metal band stickers on the inside of your locker and the band pins on your backpack in high school? Every time that you had blared your music as loud as it could go through your headphones so you could fucking drown in it, because you knew you wouldn’t hear your own thoughts reflected anywhere except within those songs to which you’d clung so desperately? All of that was validated with one look of this man who gave himself to his music with reckless abandon.

It was almost like he could feel your gaze on him. Eddie opened his eyes and took in the sight of your smile, your head as it bobbed to the beat of the music, and for a split second you wondered if he felt that same sense of validation when he looked at you; if there was a part of him- maybe that fifteen-year-old Eddie who’d already surrendered to an inevitable life working at the same plant his uncle returned to day after day- who saw this moment for what it was. Two kindred spirits, two twin souls, two freak metalheads, seeing and recognizing each other in a world where loving the music you loved could get you hurt by those who refused to try and understand it- and the two of you had not only kept on loving it, but made it your world.

You thought he might say something, but he simply returned your smile and gave his wild mane an extra shake as he turned his headbanging up to the next level. You laughed; so did he. Then you both just listened- you let the music continue to wash over you. There would be time to talk about it later.

That was how you passed the next hour. You both just sat there, taking in the music and letting every note, every word, every mood roll through you. By the end of the third song, you’d shucked off your boots and tucked them under your thighs to sit criss-cross-applesauce in the passenger seat. Neither of you said much, other than the occasional “damn” or “fuck yeah” whenever a chord progression or certain lyric hit one of you where it hurt.

When the sixth track on the tape began, you scrunched your nose in concentration as you struggled to place the melody that was…yep, definitely familiar to you. When it finally landed in your memory, your eyes grew wide.

“No. Fucking. Way.” you said, voice low and from your chest.

Eddie glanced at you curiously. “What?”

You giggled, shaking your head in disbelief. “This riff is from West Side Story!”

“West what now?”

You only laughed harder. “West Side Story, it’s a musical!”

He eyed you warily, “You’re telling me that Metallica referenced a musical in this song?” He shook his head, “You’re mistaken, fair Galadriel.”

You smiled smugly as he rolled his eyes, clearly not convinced. “Dude, I was in that play in high school. I know the song, it’s America, it’s all about the American dream versus the realities of being an immigrant, and- wait, gimme.” You grabbed the plastic case from where it sat on the dash. “...Hah! The song is called ‘Don’t Tread on Me’, so that reference makes complete sense.”

Eddie was smiling now, but his eyes still narrowed to show his obvious suspicion. “Yeah, I still don’t think Hetfield is a musical theater junkie, sorry.”

You shrugged, replacing the tape case before relaxing back into the seat with your hands behind your head. “Tell yourself whatever you have to, Munson.” You smirked at him. “I know what I know. Metallica just referenced a fucking show tune.”

He shook his head, shoulders shaking with a silent laugh. “Whatever you say, sweetheart.”

The two of you continued through to the end of the tape, listening with easy grins and tapping out drum lines on your knees. It was so simple; the way two people sharing something they both loved could so effortlessly just fall into comfortable silence with each other. To put it simply, time ceased to exist as long as you were sitting in the van and the tape was running. Unfortunately, however, all good things must end. Eventually, the tape ran out and Eddie offered you a ride back to your hotel. When he dropped you off, you lingered in his passenger seat for a minute even after he had parked.

Looking into Eddie’s big, hazelnut eyes, you surprised even yourself with the words that tumbled out of your mouth. “You’re a pretty cool guy, Eddie Munson.”

Unsurprisingly, that made him smile. “Yeah?” he asked airily. “Y’know, you’re pretty cool yourself.”

You grinned down at your boots as you laced them back up your ankles, a wonderful excuse to not have to look Eddie in the eye as he returned your compliment. Shyly, you hopped out of the van onto the concrete of the hotel parking lot. Before you shut the passenger side door, you glanced back at him and smiled sweetly.

“Hey Eds?”

Eddie’s brows shot up, taken completely by surprise at the use of your new nickname for him. He audibly gulped before recovering with a “Y-yeah?”

You narrowed your eyes. “You’re still a little bitch.” Immediately, you shut his door and turned tail, practically skipping to the front door of the hotel.

After he’d picked his jaw up off the floor, Eddie began to laugh deeply, darkly into the silence of his car. He shook his head as he threw his arm over the headrest of the passenger seat, checking his rear windows before reversing out of the parking lot. “Cheeky little brat…” he murmured under his breath, and his tires squealed against the pavement as he drove closer to the front doors on his way out of the lot. He honked his horn twice before you turned around just in time to see the big ‘ole birdie he was flipping you as he drove by. You doubled over as you laughed, heart fluttering, elated from the way your morning had turned out. As you made your way through the lobby to the elevator, you wondered how long it would take for him to call.

After all, you had left your fleece jacket in his van, and Eddie would need to get it back to you somehow.

Taglist: @cloudroomblog

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