Musical Beers (Sebastian Stan x Reader)
Your glam team was making their final touches on your hair and makeup, while your manager briefed you on what was going to happen.
“So, Jimmy is going to call you out with Elizabeth, Paul, and Sebastian, and you’re going to play Musical Beers. It’s like Musical Chairs, but instead of taking a seat, it’s whoever grabs a cup of beer and drinks it first when the music stops. It’s just to show some friendly competition between you and your fellow co-stars before your movie comes out, so the main point is just to have fun and give the audience a good show,” she says, closing her planner, to look up and smile at you from behind her glasses.
“Cool, sounds easy enough,” you shrug, standing up to check your final look in the mirror. They’ve dressed you all similarly tonight in black and white. Your team has put you in high-waisted, black, wide, leg suit pants, a black, cropped, short sleeve, lace top, and pointed nude heels.
“Have you never met those guys?” Kate, your manager, sneers, “When I say 'competition', I mean competition.”
“Ha-ha, believe me, I know, but come on, have a little faith in me. I may be shorter than all of them, but I’m pretty competitive,” you say, stretching out your arms and legs, putting your game face on.
You’re about to hype yourself up, when one of the crew staff from the show, knocks on your dressing room door. “Five minutes until you’re on, Miss Y/L/N.”
“Okay, good luck and have fun,” Kate says, leading you out to where all of your castmates are waiting.
“Y/N, hey,” Elizabeth greets, pulling you in for a hug. “How are you? You look great.”
“Aww, well I’d have to give my glam team all the credit for that, but you look amazing!” you smile, “Honestly, I’m a little nervous. I just hope I don’t seriously injure anyone trying to grab a cup.”
“Don’t worry, it’s all fun and games. We can do this. We can beat those guys. We’re a pair of badass women!” she says, staring you dead in the eyes, trying to boost your confidence.
“Yes, you are,” Sebastian agrees, smiling sweetly, just coming out from his dressing room. He gives you both hugs and kisses on the cheek. “I hope you guys are ready because my number one goal is to get Bettany out first. You guys in?”
“Yeah, I’m game for that,” you answer.
“Sebastian! I forgot, I need to have a quick talk with you before you go,” his manager says, taking him aside.
A few moments later, you hear Jimmy going back on air and you’re all lining up to make your appearance. “…please welcome Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Y/F/N, and Sebastian Stan!”
You turn to wish Sebastian good luck, but his face has gone into concentration mode, with his fists clenched at his sides. As you enter the studio, the cheers from the crowd are wild, and you wave and smile before you’re warmly greeted by Jimmy Fallon and Jeremy Renner. “…so, we’re going to do five rounds, and the last one standing is the Musical Chairs Champion.”
You all stand around the round table, with your game faces on. You look at the equally spaced cups trying to come up with a strategy. That is all lost however when the music starts to play. You keep a close eye on all the cups, which thankfully are all no bigger than an arm space away from each other. You have Sebastian in front of you, while Jeremy is trailing close behind. You’ve just reached for the next cup when the music stops. You rush to grab the red cup and the beer is soon sliding down your throat, as you hear a gut-wrenching shout of despair. You look up to see Paul banging his fist on the table.
“I’m English. This can’t happen,” he says disappointedly, as the rest of you are just relieved that you weren’t the first ones out.
Paul shamefully hangs his head low and he takes his place next to the DJ to watch the game as four new cups are placed around the table. Again, the music starts, and you’re all concentrated on the game, walking anticlockwise, your arms outstretched to the closest cup available. Everything is going as normal when there’s a trick in the music as if it’s about to stop, and Liz picks up the closest cup to her. She realizes that the music is still playing and puts the cup back down, however, Sebastian is too concentrated on the game that he accidentally drinks from another cup.
“Spit it back! Spit it back!” Jimmy shouts as the music is still playing. Sebastian spits the beer back and moves on with the game. From all the confusion and shouting, you don’t realize that the music has stopped, and every cup has been taken except for the cup Sebastian has drunk from. You stare at Jeremy, who’s backing away saying, “You gotta drink that, baby! I’m glad to lose!”
Your eyes go wide realizing what you have to do, and soon the shouting from the crowd is overcrowding your thoughts.
“Drink it!” “Do it!” “Drink, drink, drink!”
You gulp uneasily as you stare at the dangerous red shade of the cup taunting you. Somewhere you know Kate is watching. If she could, she’d say to do it for the fans and the show. You look up at Sebastian who has an apologetic cringe on his face. You know you’re stalling, so you purse your lips, give him a nod and shakily pick up the semi-scrunched cup.
“It’s soda. Just a nice fresh cup of soda,” you repeat over and over in your head, trying to make yourself believe it more and more.
The rim of the cup is so close to your lips and you just want it to be over and done with. You take a final breath and close your eyes, but as your lips touch the edge, the cup is smacked out of your hand and everything goes by in a blur. Sebastian’s hands are cupping your face as he kisses you full on the lips. You freeze as he pulls away and you exhale the breath you’ve been holding, into a soft laugh. It takes a moment for your brain to catch you up, but the memory of his lips on yours is still pounding in your head.
His hands are still on your cheeks as he stares repentantly into your eyes, “I’m so sorry, I just didn’t want you to do that to yourself.” He hugs you, clutching you close to his heart. He looks back at you, trying to read your facial expression. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah. Don’t worry. I was just taken by surprise. It’s okay,” you smile reassuringly, hugging him back.
You look out into the audience and see half of them in shock, smiling and laughing, while the other half, the majority of them being girls, are crying to their friends and staring at you jealously. The wave of one of the writers brings you back as he signals that you’re still in the game.
“Oh, apparently you’re still in the game!” Jimmy laughs, as the music is started up again. “I don’t know whether to apologize or congratulate you.”
The game starts up again, but you’re finding it more difficult to stay concentrated. Round and round you go again, this time it’s harder as the distances have grown, but luckily, you’re able to snatch a cup that’s between you and Elizabeth.
“I tried,” she shrugs, as she makes her way next to Jeremy and Paul.
It’s down to three and Jimmy and Sebastian seem to be even more competitive. They’ve made it even harder by placing the cups, side by side, but now your concentration is back in full gear and you’re ready to destroy these two. They play with the music, speeding it up and slowing it down, but Jimmy’s out next when Sebastian’s too quick as they both reach for the same cup.
You and Sebastian are on opposite sides of the table, missing each other’s gazes, still shy from your earlier stunt.
“Does it even matter at this point, who wins?” Jimmy asks, still trying to keep it light and funny.
“Yes, because I’m going to win,” you challenge, staring Sebastian down.
“Oh, okay, we’ll just see about that,” he retaliates, raising an eyebrow. His eyes have turned into a deep stormy blue, as he stares back at you intently.
“Wow, I don’t even know who to root for. I feel like you’ve both already won,” Jimmy says.
The music is up and running again and you’re both watching each other, calculating who’s closer to the cup. The DJ is messing with you to the point where neither you or Sebastian are walking around anymore, both just guarding the cup on either side. You manage one more walk around the table when the music seems to be coming to a halt. You think all is lost when Sebastian picks up the cup, but the music plays on. As he sets it back down on the table, it suddenly goes quiet. In an instant, you take it away and drink the last cup of beer.
“Damn it!” Sebastian yells jokingly, as he brings you in for a hug.
“And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. The Musical Beers Champion is Y/F/N!” Jimmy shouts as the studio is full of life and cheers. “Thank you to Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Sebastian Stan, and Y/F/N! Goodnight, everybody!”
As the show ends, you laugh about the whole thing with your castmates and everyone else working on the show. Backstage, your manager is thrilled with how the game ran and is pleased that you won.
“Congratulations on your win, but I think I should be congratulating you more for that kiss,” she winks.
You bashfully shake your head, as your cheeks turn red. You’ve just about collected everything from the dressing room and are about to head out when you hear someone calling after you.
“Y/N!” Sebastian shouts as he reaches you, “I just wanted to talk to you quickly.”
“Um, sure. Kate, I’ll just catch up with you outside,” you say.
Kate and Sebastian’s manager, Emily, walk together out of the building taking quick glances back at the both of you, giggling and chatting away.
“So, what’s up?” you ask.
“I just wanted to make sure that you’re okay. You know after everything that happened,” he replies.
“Yeah, I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about anything,” you smile.
“I hope you don’t think that I kissed you just for the show and for the audience,” he says, “Because that’s definitely not why I did it.”
“Don’t worry. I know you wouldn’t do something like that,” you reply.
“Okay, good, and just for the record, I don’t regret it,” he admits, smiling softly at you.
“Me either,” you whisper, looking down at the floor, trying to hide your blushing cheeks.
“So, usually I ask before kissing, but since we’ve passed that point already, do you, maybe, want to go to dinner sometime?” he asks.
You look back up into his gorgeous blue eyes with a fixated smile, “Sure, I’d love to.”
He lets out a sigh of relief, delicately wrapping your right hand in the crease of his left arm, as he leads the two of you out, excitedly making plans for your first date.