Chapter Text
OK, Trent, we’re ready to hang you!” Mark laughed awkwardly at his own joke. Trent scoffed and rolled his eyes.
“You’ve been waiting to use that joke all day, haven’t you?” He smirked back at him. Leaning back in a folding chair, Trent once again allowed himself to think that everything was going really well with this shoot. It had been a long few days on the set, but he and director Mark Romanek knew they were making something special. “Closer” as a song was so complex to Trent, and he had groaned internally at the thought of having to do a music video for it. More MTV bullshit. He had been pleased to discover that Mark was willing to work with him on everything. Everything from having compressed air blown in his mouth to dragging old film containers around the parking lot outside the studio. They were about to film a scene where he would be tied up in handcuffs from the ceiling, blindfolded.
“Trent, this is Daisy, she’s going to get you set up.” Trent looked up and an attractive woman was walking over carrying the ropes, handcuff, and costume for the scene. She was barely 5 feet, with shoulder-length light brown hair and blue eyes. She wore a simple cropped T-shirt Jeans and sneakers.
“Hi, nice to meet you!” She beamed at Trent. Trent swallowed so hard that he worried that she and Mark had noticed. This girl was stunning. Her blue eyes met his and somehow despite not quite knowing how to react he heard himself reply “Hey, nice to meet you too.” Ugh. Did I just sound like a total douche? Daisy quickly turned to Mark.
“So, I was just told wardrobe need to check the lighting for this ummm costume...” She held the clothes up so he and Trent could both see. There were a pair of elbow-length leather gloves and the blindfold of course.
Fuck. Trent remembered he needed to be shirtless for this scene. Never ever having had a problem with being shirtless or even naked, the thought of being shirtless and vulnerable in front of Daisy caused a lump in his throat. Hell, he’d recently worn less than this on stage with thousands watching. Trent snapped back to reality as Daisy, Mark and a couple of other people were discussing the shot. After a couple of minutes, they seemed happy to begin.
“OK, Reznor-” Mark said, grabbing the gloves and blindfold- “Suit up!”
"Yeah.” Trent replied, standing up. Well, here goes nothing. He thought to himself and pulled his shirt up over his head. He ran a hand over his face framing black hair, smoothing it back down, and as he did so, he could see Daisy in his peripheral vision, doing that looking-but-trying-not-to-look thing.
“OK, ready to torture me?” He asked Daisy, smirking slightly as he pulled on the gloves. She laughed. Holy shit. Her face lit up like a pinball machine as she laughed, her soft features dancing in the light. They walked over to the spot where Trent had to stand for the scene and their eyes met again. Trent half-smiled and laughed awkwardly. She responded in kind.
“I know, this is super awkward, but I think it’s going to be a great shot!” She said “OK, lift your arms up-” She positioned herself on a ladder behind him.
“I sure hope so, I can already tell that this is going to hurt!” Trent replied, lifting his arms up. As the handcuffs clicked around his wrists, he could feel Daisy’s breath on the back of his neck, and it was sending a chill down his spine. With Daisy so close to him, and the unspoken but so intense erotic nature of what was being done to him, Trent quickly reminded himself to be professional. Use the arousal he was feeling to his advantage. Worth a shot, right? And he was sure the crew would enjoy the show. Suddenly, she heard Daisy say “Oh, hold on- You’re not quite in the right place.” She put her hands on his waist, on his bare skin to adjust him. “uhhh!” Trent exclaimed.
“Oh, I’m sorry!”
She removed her hands. The spot on his bare skin felt burning hot. He laughed.
“Sorry, I’m a little ticklish” He smiled, then immediately cringed at the use of the word ticklish. Ugh. Thankfully Daisy laughed too as she walked around him “That’s OK, I’m sorry I guess I forgot you-” She trailed off gesturing to Trent’s bare chest.
Fuck. Forget being tied up, this was torture for Trent to be in her presence and try to not look like an idiot.
She walked around in front of him and looked up at him. Fuck, those eyes. She met his gaze a smiled, and Trent could swear she blushed a little. OK, so maybe it’s not just in my head. He thought to himself. She raised the blindfold up and began to secure it in place around Trent’s eyes. Even blinded now, he could sense Daisy even as she let everyone around know that Trent was secured for the shot and began to walk away.
“Thanks.” He said, leaning to one side and looking vaguely in her direction.
Daisy had heard of Trent Reznor and his band Nine Inch Nails, but the photos of him she’d seen didn’t do it justice- he was good looking a very understated and unconventional kind of way. His jet black hair, piercing green eyes, that felt like staring into the sun, and of course that smirk. Trent acted like he didn’t care, that he was aloof but he really did. It was just all swirling around just under the surface, driving him insane a lot of the time. She stared a little too long and hard at Trent’s smile, secretly glad he couldn’t see at least for now. Her eyes wandered down his bare chest and she swallowed hard, then she tore her gaze away.
The director walked over to Trent and started talking about the scene, and giving him instructions, Trent nodded and said he was ready to begin.
“OK, quiet, we’re going to do a take!” The director called out.
“Comfy, Trent?” Mark asked, grinning at his own joke.
“Fuckin’ peachy,” Trent smirked back at him, making a thumbs up in the long gloves.
The area right behind the camera was getting really crowded. Mark noticed as he glanced around that pretty much every female was suddenly very interested in how this particular take was going. He smirked to himself at that, wondering if Trent would enjoy knowing that information. Daisy stood among them, completely and physically unable to tear her eyes from Trent’s chest. Although it wasn’t even just that. The raw sexuality practically oozed out of Trent. The way he writhed and thrashed around in the restraints, looking almost as though he had previous experience of this kind. She swallowed hard, sure that the lump in her throat was visible to everyone. Never before had she had such a visceral reaction to a man. Her stomach was in knots. When Trent licked his arm and a string of saliva trailed off his tongue and down his arm, a shiver went down her spine. She found herself imagining what that tongue might feel like. He seemed to know how to use it, that was for sure. Putting her hands up to her temples, she reminded herself she was at work, and to keep herself in check. Finally, almost to Daisy’s relief, she was needed elsewhere for another shot, and glancing at Trent one last time, walked off with her co-worker.
*Several hours later*
Trent swigged from a large bottle of water, in big gulps “Jesus...” He breathed to no one in particular, replacing the lid and setting it down. He sat lacing up his boots in preparation to leave, feeling pretty exhausted from the long day on set. Not to mention his arms fucking hurt from being tied up. He ran his hand along the muscles that ached, trying to rub them a little. Instantly, he thought back to the moment Daisy had been tying him up to the ceiling and felt his stomach flip a little, thinking about her smile and those eyes.
He was interrupted from his own thoughts by Mark walking over and setting his hand briefly on Trent’s shoulder.
“Great work today!” He told him sitting down across from him. “That shot of you hanging up from the ceiling, I know it was a lot, but I really think it’s going to turn out great!” Trent smiled and nodded in agreement. Mark then lowered his voice and moved a little closer to Trent. “You know, I don’t know if you noticed this, but when we were filming that earlier, pretty much every girl in this place was suddenly VERY interested in how everything was going” he chuckled. Trent’s eyebrows rose a little in surprise but mostly embarrassment.
“Well Mark, I uh, had a blindfold on for a while, and my arms hurt like fuck, so no, I didn’t really!” Trent grinned. Mark laughed. “But speaking of, Daisy is very nice to work with, she handled that like a pro,” Trent told him. He figured the very least he could do for her was compliment her work to her boss.
“Oh? Yeah, no she’s great!” Mark agreed enthusiastically. “There’s more to come tomorrow!” Trent swallowed hard once again at this
“What do you mean?” He asked
“Well, I’m sorry to say this, but- we gotta tie you up again tomorrow. Oh, but this time I’m going to spin you too.”
Oh, THAT shot.
“Ah, yeah,” Trent said. “Well, I need a drink.” He said, “I’m out, Mark, see ya tomorrow.” He stood up, slapped Mark heartily on the back, and headed out for the night.
*About an hour later at the hotel bar*
“I’m sore as fuck, but I’m telling you, it’s going to look sick when we’re done” Trent gave the rundown of the day’s events to Danny and Robin as they sat in the corner of the bar, all drinking beer, vaguely watching the sports on the TV and making eyes at any girls they happened to notice. Robin grinned and nodded approvingly.
“Nice!” He said, taking a swig from his beer. Trent chuckled to himself-
“Mark said the dumbest shit right before I left though-” Trent continued. “He goes- all the girls in the place came by to look at me while I was tied up.” Robin faked a spit-take at this, and without even looking at Trent, Danny said “Bull. Shit!”
“No, he really said that”
“Well, were they?” Robin asked, still grinning.
“The fuck if I know, I was tied up and blindfolded!” Trent responded with a laugh
“Ooooh, maybe they were all going to line up and take turns wiping you and playing with your nipples!” Robin said, Danny snorted with laughter at this, and Trent throw a coaster at him.
“Fuck off!” He laughed. Then he stretched his arms above his head and ran his hands over his chest, letting his shirt ride up a little “I mean, maybe, who could blame ‘em?” He said, grinning.
“Get the fuck outta here!” Robin yelled, throwing the coaster back at Trent. All three of them laughed. “So, even with this information, you didn’t notice any girl in particular that you like?” Robin asked him. Trent felt himself blush a little and suddenly found it very important to look at the score of the game that was playing on the TV.
“Nah, I mean..I don’t know...” He trailed off, avoiding Robin’s gaze. Robin started laughing and leaned over the table to try to poke Trent in the ribs.
“Ooooooh, that’s totally a yes!” He teased. Trent slapped at his hands
“Get the fuck off!” Trent retorted. Robin sat back down, still grinning at him.
“What’s her name?” Danny piped up from the corner.
“Yeah, Trent- What’s her name?” Robin added, with all the giddiness of a little kid fed too much sugar.“Look- the girl was like 5 foot nothing, but she was tying me up, she had me at a disadvantage- it’s an interesting situation to be in, you know?” Trent looked down at the table, wishing he hadn’t said anything. Having his band-mates tease him about girls he would meet didn’t normally bother him this much, but Daisy had most definitely hit a nerve with him. Robin seemed to take the hint, and shot Danny a pointed look, but Danny didn’t seem to notice.
“She’s hot, right?” Danny asked.
“Danny! Fuck’s sake!” Robin exclaimed, rolling his eyes. Trent decided to answer anyway, even though this question annoyed him to no end.
“Beautiful, actually.” He said quietly. Danny nodded slowly in approval.
“Nice,” he said. Robin, desperate to break the tension, pointed his beer toward Trent and joked
“Hey, just remember, no bondage play on the first date!” Trent allowed himself to smile a little at this. He wasn’t sure he would even get that far, but damn it, he had to at least try. He reasoned that this had already happened, in a way.
“I’ll just settle for not looking like an idiot when I am being tied up, spun around and whatever the fuck else they are gonna do to me tomorrow!” He replied.
“The man suffers for his art,” Danny said with an exaggerated serious tone. They all laughed. Trent finished his beer and went to stand up.
“OK guys- I’m out. Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone”
“Pppfffff! As if we would!” Danny retorted. Robin just grinned and shrugged. Trent rolled his eyes.
“Good night,” He said and went to head upstairs to his room.
He entered the elevator and leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes briefly. He sighed deeply, mostly out of exhaustion, but partly annoyed about what Robin and Danny had said to him earlier. Then suddenly, he was ripped from his thoughts by the sensation of the elevator slowing to stop. Shit. Someone was getting on. Damn, the other bar on the third floor. Fuck. Trent’s eyes fluttered open as 2 girls got on the elevator, giggling about something.
“Hi!” One of them acknowledged Trent.
“Hey.” He replied, wishing that the damn elevator had just gone to his floor. They both looked at him, pushed the button for their floor, then talked quietly to each other for a second. Here it comes. Trent could practically count down to the exact moment by this point.
“Hey, you’re Trent Reznor, right? Nine Inch Nails?” Ding ding ding, we have a winner here, folks.
“Maybe,” Trent replied, not meaning to sound as playful as it had come out.
“Oh my God!” They exclaimed practically in unison. Trent laughed and looked at the floor of the elevator. Then for the next couple of floors, it was the usual- We love Pretty Hate Machine, you’re so cool, your music is so cool, what are to working on right now? Etc. etc.
Then they looked at each other for a second.
“Trent- what room are you staying in?” One of them asked. Jesus.
“Umm...” Trent was stunned for a moment. This had definitely happened before, but not usually this quickly. He chuckled nervously “Why would you need to know that?” He asked.
“Maybe we can come hang out with you for a bit.” One of them said, taking a step closer to Trent and looking him up and down. Trent’s eyes went wide for a second and he swallowed hard. Ordinarily, he would probably revel in this opportunity. These girls were definitely hot, but this time something was stopping him. Or someone. Someone with the most beautiful eyes and smile he had ever seen. Fuck. He cleared his throat.
“Ladies, it was really nice meeting you, but I’m super beat from today- but I appreciate your support in my music, though” He responded politely. They stared at him for a second, bewildered. Thankfully, just then the elevator dinged, and they were at his floor. Oh, thank God. “Goodnight, ladies.” He said and quickly left. He walked quickly down the hallway to his room, opened the door, and went inside.
“fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!” He exclaimed, banging his head on the door several times.