A Visit to the Gallery • frerard

Chapter 1. Alluring

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Gerard Way shoved a hand through his burnt orange hair as he wandered along the sidewalk. The day had, over the last few hours, heated up until it had reached a boiling point. Gerard's blue suit pants were chaffing the backs of his knees from the heat, and his button up was clinging in places he preferred it wouldn't. That said, he was in the home stretch now, twenty feet away from the place he so passionately called his second home. After all, he had yet to find something more alluring and welcoming than a piece of artwork, much less a building full of artwork.

He reached the glass door and shoved it open, feeling the cool press of the freezing glass and a burst of cold air as the air conditioning billowed out on to the busy street for a a moment. A friendly woman called Lola awaited him at the front desk, hair tied in a clean pink bun. She smiled as he approached.

"Hey, Gerard," she smiled, already reaching down under her desk to find his laminated plastic card. She pulled out the card moments later, dangling from a long striped lanyard.

"How's business?" Gerard asked with a knowing smile as he accepted the lanyard from her and slipped it over his neck. It was a pre-paid pass, something he bought annually for the year.

"A couple dozen elderly couples and some college kids working on a summer project," Lola chuckled, returning to her monitor as Gerard walked towards the entrance to the gallery. He'd started coming to this museum midway through college and after his twenty second day in a row of visiting, Lola had brought up the option of a pass for the year, rather than buying a fresh ticket each time. "One of the girls flirted with me, the guard at the door, and the guard inside in a matter of minutes, so that's exciting," Lola continued with a laugh and a shake of her head.

"I'll avoid her at all costs," Gerard smiled at the guard at the entrance as he grabbed the door and pulled it open. "See you around," he called, half-hearing as she gave a kind reply.

The first thing Gerard noticed about the museum was the smell. A strange mix of a light disinfectant and aged canvas. His eyes wandered the vast space and the familiar paintings marking the halls as he slipped his hands behind his back and started to wander. He'd seen every painting before, of course, but he always noticed something new. For example, the Truth of Nature by Claude Monet housed a crease in the painting's lower right corner, something he'd never caught before. He strode past a Picasso and a Rembrandt, eyes drifting every now and then to the occasional elderly woman in bright red lipstick or college student elbowing his friend and pointing at one of the paintings. He paused to appreciate the large statue in the middle of the room, a Henry Moore piece, but as he turned to the Van Gogh waiting on the far wall, his eyes landed on something else.

Standing in front of the Paul Cezanne piece was a gothic-looking young man in cut off jeans and a dark button up, the visual opposite of Gerard's own bright hues. The man was scratching the back of his neck, eyes lost in the piece before him, Pyramid of Skulls. The guy had the most tattoos Gerard had ever seen on one man, and the mere thought of how many times the stranger had been under a needle gave him chills. He watched as the man tilted his head a little, looking lost.

Gerard furrowed his brows a bit before smiling and making his way towards the man, orange socks flashing over his dress shoes as he walked.
"You look confused," he decided on as an opener, keeping his hands thoughtfully behind his back as he reached the painting and the man.

"I am confused," the man answered, keeping his eyes on the painting. Gerard found himself smiling at the man's features. To his relief, his face was un-inked, with soft brown eyes and a mess of brown-black hair. "He drew fuckin' skulls. Am I supposed to be impressed?"