Arcane Guardian ↣ Avenged Sevenfold

39 ☼ soft

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"You've never even heard one song off of Nightmare? We had radio play, dude! Not to suck myself off or anything but--"

"But you're kind of a big deal?" Arden mocked. It was the next day, and she and Brian had met in the studio to discuss her producing Avenged Sevenfold's next album. Deja vu. All, fucking, over again. "I think I heard Bat Country, once in a record store. Never heard anything else." The irony. Oh, the IRONY. It's not like she could rattle off their self titled album front to back in her sleep or anything. Why did she dig herself into the hole of pretending like her, someone so prominent in the music scene, had never heard of Avenged Sevenfold!? This was just about hell. 

Brian laughed. "Okay, can I at least show you a song off it? I'm actually so ridiculously proud of this record." And I know Jim is too, Arden thought. "We typically self produce but we all kind of needed the added push, you know?" 

"Sure. Go ahead." 

He handed her a pair of headphones from beside them and smiled at her. "This is called Buried Alive. It's my absolute favorite song on the record." She listened through the entire song, most of which with her eyes shut, and could practically hear Jim's influence. She tried really desperately not to cry,  but she had always been horrible at controlling those kinds of emotions, and she couldn't stop tears from spilling. 

"Fuck dude," Was all she could say. "Far better than Bat Country in a record store." 

Brian laughed. "That's all? Should I be insulted?" 

"Not at all. Just need to uh," She grabbed one of the Monster Energys' in from of them and chugged some. "It's early in the morning and good music moves me." And it was true. It was why once they were separated the first time, she threw herself into music. Songs made her feel the same sense of vividity she felt as a child. But this song was just different. "It's really upfront and the lyrics are just... It's pretty safe to say I'm speechless. This is a great fucking song. You've definitely proven to be someone I want to collaborate with and I'm gonna have a hard time waiting to listen to this album until I get home.

Brian had a hard time wiping the smile off of his face. "Thanks, Arden." He said semi quietly. She smiled warmly back at him. "You want to get coffee or something?" 

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When Arden was alone it was easier to pretend she could slink into her future in this timeline like a chameleon. Going for coffee and pretending she 100% was who she said she was made her feel normal. Heading there side by side with Brian took away any normalcy it could've brought her. 

It was a chilly day and Arden pulled her blazer around herself tighter. She had never exactly been one to dress overly formal--it was just their first meeting that made her whip out the fancy shit. "If I'd known we would walk for coffee I wouldn't've worn heels." She peeled them off and held them in her left hand, Brian walking to her right. "I'm thanking god right now the cement is dry." 

"It's the afternoon on a weekday and you're holding your heels." He gave her a joking look. "You're a mess, hon." 

"Oh if you only knew." She smiled tightly.

"I like how little you seem to care about other people. When I first got on your ass at the bar you didn't let me win. It's like people are so sensitive with me now that they always let me throw a fit. I felt like a toddler getting a yelling at, and all you had done was dish my shit back at me." 

"I learned over the years that caring what people think of you doesn't really get you far in this industry." That was also a truth. The assholes in The Used (yes, she will ALWAYS remember them as shitstains) did their best to make her feel like an incompetent stupid female and she grew a backbone really quick. "Not everyone is as kind as you guys."