Echoes of Eclipsed Fears (Frerard)

11. Bloodletting

Gerard flipped pancakes with a slight smile on his face, glancing up to see Frank swaying slightly on his swivel stool. He may not have cooked human food in a long time, but he'd had a knack for pancakes back when he and Mikey had lived in Jefferson all those decades ago. Frank seemed to be settling in nicely; he was still wary, but he was cooperative. Gerard reminded himself that it had only been two days; he ought to give Frank more time.

"I can go to the music store today for you, if you'd like," Gerard said to Frank as he transferred some pancakes to a plate, shimmying the spatula slightly as he did so. He placed the plate down on the breakfast bar and turned it round so the cutlery was facing the right way for Frank. "Let me get you some syrup or honey, I'll see what I've got..."

"Can I come to the music store, too?" Frank asked. Yesterday, Gerard had offered to pay to get the pickups fixed on his guitar, that way he could play it plugged into his amp. "It's a Monday," Frank reasoned, "it shouldn't be too busy there."

Gerard thought for a moment.

"I suppose I can trust you to tag along," he said slowly. Frank grinned. Maybe, if Gerard took him somewhere public enough, he could slip away in the crowd. It wasn't that he hated living with the man, it was more to do with the fact that Gerard was a vampire. Frank was anxiously anticipating the day that Gerard would try to drink his blood again. He couldn't make that a regular occurrence; it would fuck with his iron levels. Either way, if he couldn't escape today, he could at least go check out the music shop.

"Also, I was thinking," Frank began. "My landlord is due to take my keys from me today. Because I got evicted and all."

"I left your keys on the hook near the door," Gerard said hastily. He couldn't let Frank be near people he knew yet, could he?

Frank's face fell.

"Okay, I understand," he said plainly. "Just one more thing, though."

"Yes?" Gerard smiled. He was starting to grow fond of the way Frank asked him things; he was always so polite.

"Do you remember if, when you cleaned out my apartment, you saw a box with a PS2 in it?"

"A what?" Gerard asked. He felt his lips curl into a smile again. What the hell was a PS2?

"A PlayStation," Frank explained. Gerard nodded, finally understanding. "I think I left it in my cupboard? It belonged to my friend, so I'd like to have it here."

Gerard stood in silence for a minute, thinking while Frank tucked into his pancakes.

"I'll tell you what," he began. "I'll take you to your apartment. We can get your PlayStation and double check that everything's fine over there - you can write a note to your landlord, too, if you want. And then I'll take you to the music shop and we can get your guitar fixed."

Frank smiled, beginning to like Gerard's kindness.

"Sounds cool."

✽

Frank gingerly lifted his guitar from its case, checking to make sure that everything was in order before he and Gerard took it to the music store. It was an Epiphone Les Paul Custom, and one of the only belongings Frank had managed to consistently take care of throughout his teenage years. Sure, its pickups were faulty, but Frank chalked that up to a combination of age and him fiddling with the switch too much. It wasn't from dust, after all; he'd already troubleshooted for that issue. He needed to take it back to a music store and have an employee look at the wiring. Frank smoothed his hand over the silver stickers which adorned the white finish; the Y in 'PANSY' was starting to peel. He thought back to the day Ray had bought him those stickers as a joke.