Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Silence.

Pure, awkward, silence.

Well, it wasn’t entirely silent; to Katana, there was the tapping of Hyperlaser’s boot on the floor and the very faint noise of his music coming from his over-the-ear headphones; to Hyperlaser himself, there was sick metal music blasting in his ears.

“Hyperlaser,” Katana attempts to break the one-sided ‘silence’, “what are you listening to?” 

…No response.

Katana lets out a small irritated huff. “ Hyperlaser ,” he raises his voice. On the contrary to his previous attempt at getting Hyperlaser’s attention, this time, he succeeded.

Hyperlaser slightly jumps at the sound of his name being called, and quickly presses the pause button on his phone. He hurriedly takes his headphones off. “Yes?” He finds himself heating up with embarrassment.

“What are you listening to?”

He looks at his phone: Duality - Slipknot ・ Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses ・ 2004. One of his favorite songs, one of the only songs he ever finds himself listening to.

“Slipknot,” he responds.

Katana slightly tilts his head, “What is ‘Slipknot?’”

“A nu metal band.”

“Interesting.”

“Would you like to listen to some of it?” he offers. 

“Yes.”

With that, Hyperlaser gives his headphones to Katana. Katana has to weave through his large horns in order to successfully put the headphones on. Once he does, Hyperlaser presses the ‘play’ button on his phone.

Katana’s ears are met with deep – heavier – guitar sounds, intense drums, and interesting singing with interesting lyrics. The lyrics that stood out to him – specifically the lyrics from the chorus – were:

“I push my fingers into my eyes

It's the only thing that slowly stops the ache

If the pain goes on

I'm not gonna make it”

The lyrics were nothing like Katana had ever heard from a song before; they were unique; Katana liked that they were unique. The way that they were sung as well..different from the other parts of the song, which were either sung in a hushed voice or in a harsh scream.

“Your music taste is fascinating,” he says.

Although it was not visible to Katana, a faint blush appeared on Hyperlaser’s face under his mask. “Thank you.”

“Can you show me other songs from ‘Slipknot’?”

“..Maybe.”

Some of Hyperlaser’s favorite songs from Slipknot had concerning lyrics, (at least to others). Such as: 

“Cut cut cut me up and fuck fuck fuck me up

(Cut cut cut me up and fuck fuck fuck me up)

(Cut cut cut me up and fuck fuck fuck me up)

(Cut cut cut me up and fuck fuck fuck me up)

(Cut cut cut me up and fuck fuck fuck me up)”

           - Custer - Slipknot ・.5: The Gray Chapter (Special Edition) ・ 2014

Despite being such headbangers, those were the kinds of songs that Hyperlaser wanted Katana to find in his own free-time—which he most definitely did not have. 

“You can find other songs on your phone.”

“..What is a ‘phone’?”

Right. Katana didn’t know what a phone was. Phones were technically new inventions; they were made in Blackrock 15 years ago, and soon were produced in other factions. They are loved by the newer generations, but to *some* of the older generations, they were considered, quote on quote, ‘useless’. 

Hyperlaser shows Katana his phone. It had a simple black and blue case. “This. It’s for messaging and such.”

“Fascinating. Maybe I’ll get one myself.”

“You should.”

“Then I’ll be able to listen to ‘Slipknot’.”

Chapter Text

Katana's eyeing the electronic device in his palm. It's shaped like a miniature rectangle, and has some sort of soft-metallic touch to it. The black face reflects his face a bit; a black mirror of some sorts.

"OK. Please don't break this," Vinestaff cautions. Her palms make a motion in the air, the type of motion you'd see when a demon is approaching a dangerous animal. She stares with raised brows at Katana. He doesn't mind it. Vinestaff has good intentions. "That thing costs, like, a lot of BUX, you know? And it's your only form of listening to your metal-stuff or whatever. And more importantly - contacting Shuri, Sling, and I."

Katana gives a silent nod.

He doesn't plan on breaking it, nor does he want to. Because this thing just so happens to be a sort of connection between him and that mercenary he finds himself drawn to.

"Oh, and-" she takes a string out of her pocket. It looks like a two-headed snake, but more like the shedding of one. "-headphones. So you can listen to music alone, or like, in peace. I don't know, it's a way for you to listen to music. Or podcasts!"

"Podcasts?" Katana tilts his head to the side.

"Ah…how do I explain it? It's kinda just something you listen to. It's a bunch of demons talking about something, I guess."

The ronin nods. "Interesting."

"Yeah. I like to listen to podcasts - ooh , especially about TDdramas, and stuff. I like the 'Rotten Mango' podcast. Yeahhh. Oh, do you even know what TDdrama is?!"

Once Katana shakes his head, he finds himself stuck in a neverending ramble about drama that specifically happens in the Thieves' Den, their faction. Albeit, annoying, but he's grateful for Vinestaff's generosity. Giving him this phone, supposedly to just listen to music and stay in contact with his neighbors, and explaining to him how this peculiar device functions.

After a few minutes too long, she's off. Running back to her house and ready to play her music. What kind of music did she listen to again? Was it…NCT-teez? Stray-teez? A-Kids? A-127? It doesn't matter. But Katana does remember Kiss Of Life and NewJeans. Vinestaff had expressed that some of the members were, "Awesome! So loveable and sweet!" . 

He finds his fingers tapping on the phone screen again, rushing to download the app Hyperlaser had mentioned before. Spotify . Right. Because that's where he can listen to music. More Slipknot.

It's not like he really enjoys Slipknot, no, if there was a world where he found Slipknot himself then he wouldn't find himself listening to it again. But - that world isn't this world - so he's listening to it. Because of Hyperlaser. A breath hitches in his throat and already he has the app on his phone and an account. He doesn't even remember his password on Spotify. Or if he saved it. Whatever. A random Slipknot playlist begins playing. Some songs make his face scrunch up and cringe at the sound, but he remembers that this… could be a way to get just an inch closer to Hyperlaser('s heart).

"Stay, you don't always know where you stand,
'Til you know that you won't run away,
There's something inside me that feels,
Like breathing in sulfur.."

• 'Sulfur' - Slipknot.

Katana memorizes Hyperlaser's specific words: "I really like.." No, that doesn't sound like something he'd say. How about, "I enjoy…" sounds right. But not entirely right. Not as subtly expressive as he is. As Katana's learned that he is. "I love …" Perfect. 

"I love Sulfur. It's my favorite Slipknot song."

And suddenly, Katana finds his nerves tingling at the sound that reaches his ears. The mixed vocals, from rough and hostile to pained yet melodic, the – bah, he doesn't even know much about music, he doesn't care to learn, it won't help him in anything, but he knows that there's something that he'll have to dig for or understand about music to explain the emotion that he gets from this song. He likes it. Just a bit.

When he goes to his messages, he finds three preset contacts, pinned at the top of his screen (three light grey circles with a letter in the middle, the first letter of their name, and their actual name beneath). They're bland. 

'Shuriken', 'Slingshot', and 'Vinestaff'.

He wants to unpin them. But he'll do that once he gets Hyperlaser's number. 

–that's when he gets an idea.

Slingshot
(+63) 02-XXXX-XXX

(+81) 003-XXXX-XXXX

Hello

Slingshot

Sorry, who's this?

Katana

Did Vinestaff forget to tell you

omg katana! hi! 

yea i guess she did lol, so sorry kuya tana

I see

did you need anything? need any tips on how to use your phone? i can help!

Do you have Hyperlaser's number

uuhhhh lemme check rq

Ok

no, sorry! 😓😓

but i can try and get it for you- or you could get it during the next phight or smth idk

Ok

It is fine

alrighty then

i'll call you when dinner's ready

bye! stay safe! 🫶

☾ Slingshot has notifications silenced

That didn't work. He huffs out and his grip tightens, but not enough to make the phone crack. He can ask Shuriken and then Vinestaff. He doubts that they'll have his number, anyways. He notices that he should probably set a contact for himself.

"Katana". No profile picture, or at least, not an eyecatching one. He wonders if he should set one, later on, when he gets Hyperlaser's number. It doesn't matter right now.

Shuriken
(+81) 570-XXXX-XXXX

Katana

Hello Shuriken

Shuriken

YOOOO WAIT WHO R U ☠️☠️☠️

Katana

😨😨!!!!!!!!

SORRY!!!

Do you have Hyperlaser's number

no

why would i

wait ew why do you want that guy's number ☠️…. isn't he from blackrock like bro he's automatically like unable to b trusted

yoooo is he manipulating you

YOOOOOO

KATANA ARE YOU ASKING FOR HELP

IS THIS EVEN KATANA

Ok

Thank you

KATANA BRO

KATANA

DONT LEVJEA MEON READ

DONT LEAVE ME ON READ

YOOOOOO

Annoying. He doesn't see a point in asking Vinestaff. He's sure that she doesn't have a good view on Hyperlaser, either. Ugh.

Vinestaff
(+81) 685-XXXX-XXXX

Vinestaff

Hi Katana!

So sorry to bother you, but like, if it's okay with you, do you mind if I ask why you're asking everyone for Hyperlaser's number? It's totally okay if you don't want to explain- I don't judge! 😅

He leaves her on 'read'. His muscles frizzle with need, a restless uncomfortability that won't be stopped until he speaks with Hyperlaser again. He huffs, running his claws through his draping hair before tugging at the tips of it. He'll return to his duties, phights, tomorrow, and he should be able to see Hyperlaser again. And speak to him. Right. He can wait. He can wait for now.