multifandom oneshots/preferences

xxxvi. deskmate--joey jordison (slipknot)

a/n: thank you for reading, shoutout to everyone who's been commenting and who has ever left a request!

set in high school, 1990ish? see the far away series for better worldbuilding i'd say

Okay, Joey won't lie. He thought you were a bit uptight until you were seated next to him in his math class. You get good grades, he's not seen you at a single party, you don't seem to be doing anything sketchy. You tend to keep to yourself and your little group of friends. In the most polite way, you're a fucking nerd and you need to loosen up.

You were a bit nervous around Joey. Something about being in the back of the classroom with a guy you didn't really know in a period you didn't share with any of your friends made you naturally uneasy. 

You noticed early on that he was struggling in math, which, you won't lie, boosted your ego. Boring you may be, but at least you can figure out a goddamn unit circle. 

Ah, but today, two weeks into the semester, Joey taps on your shoulder. 

"Hm?" you look up from what you're working on. 

"I need help with this," Joey relents. 

You smile to yourself. "Yeah, what's up?"

"I don't know what a unit circle is."

"I need more context," you pull the corner of Joey's worksheet between the two of you to see how much he had butchered figuring out the value of sin(π/4). 

"Holy shit, you fucked that," you say without thinking. 

"You swear?" Joey raises an eyebrow. 

"Yes?" you cock your head to the side before writing out radian to degree conversions. You guide him through the steps of this problem and the next few questions. 

"Y/n, I need help again," Joey taps your shoulder not three minutes after you've helped him. 

You glance over at his paper. "I told you how to do that two minutes ago. Are you sober?"

"Yes. I'm just stupid," Joey scoffs, making you laugh as you shake your head and start to help him again. 

...

The next day, you come into your math class wearing a Black Sabbath shirt that catches Joey's eye. You do tend to wear a lot of black, but Joey had somehow never correlated that with you being the alternative type. 

"Nice shirt," Joey mutters as you sit down beside him. 

"Thanks, man," you smile. 

"What's your favorite album?" 

"Tyr, I have to say."

"Interesting choice, I have to go with Headless Cross."

"That's a close second," you nod, taking a sketchbook out of your bag and continuing some metal inspired drawings. 

"Holy shit, that's cool," Joey leans over to watch you draw. "I gotta say, I never pegged you for a metalhead."

"I'm not too too into metal, but what I've heard so far is pretty kick ass."

You're officially cool in Joey's book now. When the class ends, Joey comes up to you in the hallway and just starts talking to you again. He asks what other kinds of music you like, if you play an instrument, how many times per week you headbang, and if you happen to have heard of a small band called Slipknot.