𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙒𝙊𝙐𝙉𝘿𝙎 𝙒𝙀 𝙎𝙃𝘼𝙍𝙀 ᵉᵈᵈⁱᵉ ᵐᵘⁿˢᵒⁿ

☼ 8

; M E T A L M I L I T I A
the trooper by IRON MAIDEN

"Did you know the heart of a shrimp is located in its head?", Eddie asked, mimicking the geography teacher they both despised with a passion.

     "No, but did you know snails can sleep for three years?" He chuckled and closed A Guide to Animals before putting it back on the shelf.

     "You win this one. Three years? These snails are about to make me jealous." Matilda laughed and kept on flipping through the pages of Nature and its Wonders.

     "I don't know. Think about how much music you'll miss if you randomly fall asleep for long periods of time. At some point it's got to become hard to catch up." Eddie's eyes widened and he nodded aggressively.

     "That is so true. I don't know what I would do if I hadn't been there when "Master of Puppets" came out", he enthused, strumming an invisible guitar. When Matilda only shot him a confused glance, he looked appalled.

     ""Master of Puppets"? Metallica? Jesus, Bluford, you have some catching up to do."

     "Sorry, I don't think I'm much of a metal fan." Now he looked like he was about to either jump at her or out of the window.

     "There is no such thing as not being much of a metal fan. You either have taste or you don't", he stated with a serious tone and strode toward a shelf full of records. "Let's see if my dear Reefer Rick has taste." As if knowing exactly how the records were sorted, Eddie started going through the rows. Matilda sighed with a smile and put her book to the side. They'd been reading most of Rick's weird nature books for the whole day – it really was a collection.

     "I mean, I'm not opposed to the genre. I listen to a variety of music. Mostly The Smiths, Tears for Fears, Queen, stuff like that", Matilda mumbled to fill the silence, to what Eddie only proceeded to shake his head.

     "I mean, that's fine. Queen is, well, not bad. But if you have never known the feeling of listening to a good Iron Maiden or Metallica song for the first time – damn, you're missing out." Matilda smiled and rolled her eyes but didn't contradict him. While they both had been in quite a good mood since they'd woken up (at least compared the situation they were in), the feeling of tenseness had been clogging the air around them, pressing down heavily. Ignoring it seemed like the only possible way to deal with it, at least until Eddie would finally open up.

     "Found one! "Kill 'Em All" – not the home of "Master of Puppets", but it'll do." He took out the vinyl and opened the record player next to the shelf, seeming a little confused. "Jesus, these things really aren't handy." Matilda chuckled and walked up to him, taking the vinyl out of his hands.

     "You're a music addict and don't know how a record player works? Just put it in and then...", she teased and turned the needle, "put this here." Before she could turn the whole thing on, Eddie physically pushed her toward the couch, sitting her down. She sighed and leaned back, waiting for him to start the music.