Life Is Stranger Than Fiction... No, It's Better Than Fiction

Part One

It's one-shot time! Actually, it's a two-part one-shot. I got the idea to do this out-of-the-box topic about two months ago. I had a lot of different ideas of where to take the concept. Some of the ideas were vastly different from what I eventually settled on.

I do hope you enjoy it. And I hope that no one takes offense with the reaction that Nikki has to Tommy's new hobby and the things that he has to say about it. This is just meant to be taken with a grain of salt and in good humor.

Sorry to be vague and supply you only with weak tags and a weak summary. I don't want to give anything away before you even read it. But Tommy's new hobby will be revealed pretty early on. Nikki's poor reaction to it will be ongoing.

I just wanted to take a moment to thank my friends Palliwow and TwelveBubbles for ideas after pitching the concept to you. Also, mucho thanks to my beta-reader, VirtualBettie, for editing this story in record time. And, I'd also like to thank my friend BneJovi for putting thoughts in my head that led me to dream up this concept. She often reminds me that this might be a thing that happens. My response is to put my fingers in my ears and say la-la-la-la-la. No!

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February 2023, Stadium Tour-

Nikki leaned back and shut his eyes as the Def-Crüe jet leveled off after its assent into the night sky, heading towards their next destination from Monterrey, Mexico to Bogota, Colombia.

"Heh...heh... duuude, no way." Snorting, sly laughter ensued from the seat behind him.

Nikki shifted to a slightly different position and tilted his hat over his eyes as if that would block out the whispering and snickering that was continuing on behind him.

"D'fuck? That's crazy," the voice continued. "Sick."

The irritated bassist cleared his throat while aggressively elbowing the back of his seat to send a non-verbal, shut-the-hell-up warning to his overly-humored buddy who sat behind him.

"Hey, Nikki, you gotta check this out," Tommy blared, getting to his feet to lean over the back of Nikki's seat.

"No... I'm exhausted after tonight's show. I just wanna get some sleep. So if you could quiet the fuck down, that would be great."

"Dude, seriously... you're never gonna believe what I stumbled across."

"C'mon, Tom. Even if it's a photo of your ex blowing a goat, it can wait 'til morning," Nikki resolved, as he turned towards the window, pulling his hat even further down to cover his eyes, as well as a light blanket tugged up to shield the rest of his face.

He could hear Tommy sigh and grumble as he sat back down in his seat with a heavy plomp, which lightly shook the floor of the plane. Although piqued curiosity swept through Nikki's mind as he tried to fall back into a state of twilight sleep, it wasn't enticing enough to pull him away from a soon-to-be round trip to dreamland.

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Some hours later, Nikki sensed the presence of someone taking up the seat adjacent to his. With some stretching he stirred awake, blinking his eyes to see Tommy sitting next to him. "What time is it?" he asked, in a sleepy, throaty voice.

"Uh, like five in the morning," Tommy answered, confirming the correct time on his phone.

Nikki groaned as he stretched some more. "The hell is wrong with you. Did you even sleep?"

"I just... I can't...," the drummer revealed, putting his focus back on whatever was on his phone screen.

"You're killing me... what the hell is it that has you so wound up? Just show me or tell me really fast, then go away so that I can sleep for another hour or two. When's the plane landing, anyway?"