Work Text:
Tomás Vrbada:
✧He’s genuinely SHOOK.
✧You??
✧His sweet, sunshine-coded partner??
✧Listening to dudes growling like they just crawled out of Neatherrealm fire pits???
✧Confusion.exe
✧He ONLY found out because you wore a Metallica shirt, and he made the mistake of asking “Oh cool shirt, who’s that?”
✧You lit up like a blown fuse
✧Suddenly he’s getting the WHOLE documentary
✧Founding members, genre shifts, albums in chronological order, why Lars is controversial, and what thrash metal actually is
✧Tomás just stands there with wide eyes
✧“Wow… this is… so much information… you good?”
✧You introduce him to "Enter Sandman"
✧His face does the emotional equivalent of a Windows XP reboot
✧He’s mildly intimidated. Mildly intrigued. Mildly overstimulated
✧“…Wouldn’t this… damage your hearing?”
✧But listen–
✧Show him a music video with cool effects and he’ll be like a cat swatting at the screen
✧He tries headbanging once
✧He never tries headbanging again
Kuai Liang:
✧This man is the definition of calm, collected, respectful confusion
✧He discovers your music taste by accidentally hearing it blasting from your headphones
✧He genuinely thought someone was being murdered
✧When you tell him it’s just your favorite band, he just blinks
✧He absolutely didn’t expect it from you, but unlike Tomás, he’s NOT thrown off about it
✧If anything? He finds it… kinda hot
✧When you explain the genre you like, he listens with full sincerity like you’re giving him sacred wisdom
✧You play him Slipknot’s “Duality” and this man just stands there
✧Arms crossed, silent, evaluating it like it’s a new fighting style
✧“The rhythm is… compelling. The screaming is unnecessary, but I respect the passion.”
✧Kuai 100% tries to meditate to metal once
✧Claims it didn’t work
✧He’s lying
Bi-Han:
✧Oh he LOVES this
✧The way he finds out?
✧You’re sparring, he notices your stance syncing to some internal rhythm, and asks what you’re thinking about
✧”The opening riff to Psychosocial.”
✧And he just stops
✧Dead stops
✧Drops his guard, stares at you like you sprouted devil horns
✧But not in a bad way
✧More like:
✧“…Continue.”
✧When you tell him you’ve been a metalhead since childhood?
✧Everything clicks in his head
✧This explains the unhinged streak you sometimes possess
✧You show him your favorite playlist
✧He looks at it like it’s a collection of battle hymns
✧You put on Korn’s “Freak on a Leash”
✧He’s still as a statue
✧Then his lip twitches up
✧Next day?
✧He trains to your playlist
✧He claims it helps with “aggression focus”
✧You catch him mouthing lyrics once
✧He denies it with the fury of a thousand suns
✧Introduce him to glam metal?
✧He looks physically offended