A7X One Shots

Gnome. Short shit. Leader of Avenged Sevenfold. He had many names, but he was best known as Johnny Christ, the bassist of my favorite metal band. Everyone made fun of him because he was short, but he was the absolute craziest bassist I had ever heard. And I had heard a lot considering I was a music producer.

I loved when the boys came to my studio. They were always fun to record and produce. Half the time they were goofing off and the other time they were being solid musicians. Johnny was my favorite to record though because he brought such passion to his instrument. He loved what he did, and he didn't care that the guys made fun of him.

And today, I would get to see him at work again. They were putting the final touches on their latest album which was unlike anything I'd heard from them yet. It was like a touch of everything, and I loved what they were doing in regards to covers. Their new drummer, Brooks, brought back the spark they were missing.

Johnny was laying down his separate tracks for two songs today. Zacky and Brian would be joining him in the studio first thing this morning. They wanted to get the base line down so that they could layer in the guitars and then throw Shadows' vocals on top. It was going to be a totally sick record.

"Hey, Angie!" Johnny's jolly voice greeted me.

I smiled at him, waving at him through the glass. He was going to be behind the glass for the first song and then we'd talk about what they wanted and I'd add in my two cents. I really did love my job and working with one of the greatest bands, in my opinion, was only icing on the cake.

"Which track do you want to start with?" I asked as he pulled his base over his body.

"Let's do Paradigm. I know Matt wants to lay the vocals down on that really soon. I think he'd prefer if we get that perfect before moving onto the beast."

The beast is what they called the song "Exist." It was the longest song they had written, and they had some ten minute songs in their arsenal. Most of the song was guitar work, but Matt and Neil DeGresse Tyson both came in with some vocals. I was excited to lay that track down and to meet my favorite scientist. Who knew the guys knew him?

"Sounds good. Get your headphones on."

Johnny threw up a thumbs up and waited for the track to come on. He always looked so concentrated when the music played. You could tell how much he not only loved his work but how good he was at it. A lot of artists just came in and put out shit. But not Avenged. They put heart and soul into every song and beat. They wanted their fans to love it as much as they did. They weren't in it for fame or money; that was just a bonus.

I watched as Johnny worked his fingers along the neck of his instrument. For such a short guy, he had lovely fingers. He could make them stretch between chords like no one else. I had no idea how he did it, and I was a music producer. I was supposed to know everything about music that there was to know.

Johnny kept playing, bobbing his head to Brooks' drums. I could tell this was one of his favorite songs as he started jamming along, not even thinking too much about his part. Even when he was laying down a track, he brought energy and fun to what he did.

"That sounds good, Johnny. Come on in here and let's talk about it."

He nodded and came into where I was. Playing with his mohawk, he sat down and looked at me. Johnny was always nervous about what I had to say. It was never anything bad. Out of all the guys, he needed the least amount of time to get his part perfect. Matt, of course, needed the most since he was the vocals.

"So, what do I need to improve on, Angie?" He always cut straight to the point.

"The bridge is a little flat, so pump it up there, and don't forget that you're not performing right now. You need to hit every note and not get too into the song. As fun as that is, the song needs the right notes for the record."

Johnny smiled softly. "Sorry, I like that song."

"I know." I smiled back, blushing at his smile. He was such a cute little gnome.

"What are you blushing for?"

I looked away from him. "You have a nice smile."

Johnny cleared his throat and stood up. I could tell I had overstepped a boundary. Johnny was married and his wonderful wife was pregnant. I shouldn't have said anything. I thought him and Lacey were so cute. What the hell had I been thinking?

"Thanks, Angie. So do you. Now let's get back to work."

I nodded and watched him leave. Why did I always make things at work awkward with these guys? Two days ago, I had told Zacky he had pretty eyes. Four days ago, I had told Syn he had amazing hair and in the same breath told Brooks he was the cutest. And then yesterday, I had told Matt he had a cute butt. They were all married with kids or kids on the way, but they all made my brain stupid, especially Johnny.

"Angie, put the music through."

"Shit, sorry!" I turned the music on and hit my head against my control board. God, could I be any dumber?
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"Ang?" Johnny came into my booth. They'd finally started working on the beast, and they were taking a break. "The guys want to talk to you."

Fear pulsed through my body. They were going to fire me because I kept making inappropriate comments to them. They were technically my bosses, and I was practically hitting on them.

"So, Angie, we've come to the conclusion that you have no filter," Johnny said with a huge grin. "Now, we love the compliments, and we can tell you're embarrassed by it because you always blush after so we just want to say, we don't mind. Trust us, we're used to people yelling crazy things to us and about us."

I sighed happily. "Oh thank god. I thought I was going to get fired."

"We'd never fire you, Ang." Johnny hugged me. "You're our favorite producer. We need you just as much as you need us."

I laughed and hugged each of them, giving Johnny an extra long one. "I'll try to keep my comments to a minimum."

The guys chuckled, and Johnny shook his head. "No, don't do that. We love them."

Notes

Short story, but just a little something to brighten your day, hopefully. Johnny really does need more love, and he does have a nice smile!