Greta Van Fleet // Oneshots

Baby Darling Doll Face Honey // Danny Wagner

Record Archive was always there for you whenever you had a bad day and, on this particular Thursday evening, you were feeling pretty low. You were mentally depleted from work and all you wanted was a vacation but it just wasn't a possibility. The familiar smell of dust and patchouli enveloped you as you entered through the glass doors, the brass bell dinging above your head. You just wanted to browse, to trace your fingertips over the records and CDs, to get lost in all the archives.

As the bell rang he stood up from behind the counter graffitied with stickers--Danny. You had been going to Record Archive for so long and so often that you two then knew each other, though your conversation had always remained slight. Danny was quiet. He was always courteous and always asked if you needed help but he was quiet apart from that, always shuffling around silently putting away records or bent over the counter, looking over stacks of papers and flyers.

"Hey Y/N," Danny greeted you, straightening his body out as he stood and smiling at you.

"Hey Danny," you replied, smiling back. God, he was cute. His long, thick dark hair was half-up and there was one feather earring dangling from his right ear, a little silver hoop in his left.

"Are you looking for anything specific today?"

"No, just browsing. The usual." You smiled again, turning to glance at the display of new local music CDs.

"Okay. Well, let me know if you need anything," Danny said and you turned back to him, admiring his face again, and nodded.

You wished you could have a fun job like Danny's. You would love to be totally surrounded by something you love every day instead of having to devote so much of your time and energy to something that just drained you, that seemed to break your spirit a little more with each passing day. But you had to remind yourself that at least you could retreat to places like Record Archive and carve out those few minutes for yourself, a little time to decompress and feel at home.

As you were browsing through the vinyls, starting at the letter A, you noticed Danny in your peripheral, holding a box in one arm. Still looking from the side, you watched as he cradled the box and stopped every so often to pull out a record, inspect it briefly, then slide it into its proper slot. You smiled a little to yourself, admiring his concentration.

His concentration only seemed to break when he got closer to you. You were looking through the B's and had pulled out a copy of an album you had been recently turned onto, Baby Darling Doll Face Honey, its sleeve still all shiny and new. You held it up in front of yourself, looking over the track list on the back, then flipped it over to glance over the bright red and yellow artwork.

"I didn't know there was an album named after you," Danny said, a little behind you.

You half-turned, not sure whether to laugh or not--you had never heard Danny crack a joke to anyone before and you weren't sure if you were meant to take it as sincere flattery. You managed to give him an awkward smile, which may have been more like a grimace in his eyes, lowering the record.

"Sorry," Danny said, blushing a bit. "That was a bad joke."

You laughed then, his embarrassment endearing to you. "No, that was pretty good. I just--I wasn't sure what you meant at first."

Danny smiled sheepishly. "I thought I was being clever, but--yeah, I don't have an excuse."

"Have you listened to it?" you asked, holding the record by one corner, displaying it.

Danny shifted the box from under one arm to the other. "No, is it good?"

You looked back down at the record. "I've heard some of the songs. It's actually sort of an old album now--I wanted to get it though, I liked what I heard."

"What's the band?"

"Band of Skulls."

"What kind of music?"

"Uh--" you stalled. You were never all that great at describing music. "I guess they're like, blues rock. That's the best way I can describe them."

Danny's face lit up. "I love the blues."

You chuckled. "Well, don't get too excited, I mean, they're contemporary."

Danny set the box down and moved closer to you so you were shoulder to shoulder. "I'm curious now," he said, looking down at the record.

"Well, you get an employee discount, right?" you replied, hoping it sounded like the sort-of-joke it was meant to be.

"I don't know if I'm ready to make that big of a commitment," Danny said, glancing at you and smiling, going along with you. "Maybe we could listen to it together sometime."

Your heart skipped a beat with excitement but then slowed--you thought maybe he was joking again. You slipped the record underneath your arm and started to walk away.

"Yeah, maybe," you replied nonchalantly, glossing over the other letters of the alphabet.

"No, really, Y/N," Danny insisted, catching up with you. "Would you want to?"

You turned to look at him--sincerity, sweet and pure, shone in his golden-hazel eyes, which still managed to take you by surprise.

"You'd really wanna do that?" you asked, wanting to be sure he wasn't just pulling your leg. Danny was smart, beautiful, and inspired--you had your moments in the store but you couldn't imagine why he'd actually want to hang out with you.

Danny looked embarrassed again as he reached his hand up to tuck a strand of hair behind his ear, inadvertently tangling the feather earring with the dark strands. "Oh damn," he whispered, attempting to remedy the mess he made.

You laughed and reached out, brushing back his hair with one hand and gently fingering the feather, loosening his hair from it little by little. "Am I getting paid to help you with this?"

"If we listen to that record together," Danny replied, looking up at the ceiling. "I'll bring over any pop you want; any alcohol; any food. Would that count?"

The feather was back in its place, free. You brushed back his hair, tucking the strand Danny had meant to back behind his ear.

"I guess that would count," you said slowly, your heart racing again. "What are you doing tomorrow night?"

"I'm out of here at 8," Danny told you, the blush still flush in his cheeks.

"Okay, I can do that," you said, the statement making your heart race even more. Danny was going to be at your place, on your couch, listening to your record.

"Awesome," Danny said, smiling. He took his phone out of his pocket and handed it to you. "I'll text you."

You went to type your name in his contacts, then paused, biting your lip before you commenced typing. When you handed it back to Danny he looked at it and, after looking incredulously at it for a moment, he laughed, throwing his head back.

"Okay, Baby Darling Doll Face Honey," he said, looking back at his phone then at you again, his eyes bright and smile wide. "I'll text you tomorrow."