dancer in the dark | frerard ✓

xviii

the art museum had both modern and classic pieces. gerard likes them both, after all, art is art. what matters to him is that the creativity that was inspired to create the painting and that final product looks well thought out. even if that's so, he's always been more of a classic art fan, it was as if modern was just splashing bits of colour onto a canvas and not putting any effort into it.

maybe that's just him.

they spend most of their date looking at modern art. frank seemed amused, that's really all that matters to gerard. he was the one who asked frank out in the first place. he would carefully read the blurbs plastered near the framed work and ask gerard for his opinion. gerard could care less, modern art is nice, sure, but it isn't something he could go in depth with.

"i really like the colours the artist used in this.", frank says. "it's very - uhm-"

"abstract?"

his eyes grow wide, a smile appears on his face and he nods. "yeah! abstract.", he exclaims. "abstract art is rad. i like how you're able to splatter paint wherever you want and call it art."

"yeah, i guess you're right.", gerard sighs, looking up to the canvas.

"but i'm not much of an abstract art fan.", he says. "are there any landscape paintings here?"

"there should be.", gerard mumbles, he steps away from the canvas and lets the other visitors take his places. frank follows behind him. "what do you like about landscapes?"

"i don't know, i guess there's just something about how an artist captures it with paint. i guess it makes it feel more lively?", frank shrugs, shaking his head as he gazes at the floor, watching his and gerard's feet move in sync. "sorry, it sounds stupid."

"what? no, it doesn't sound stupid at all!", gerard assures as they continue to walk through the halls of hanging art. "i think the same."

"rad. oh hey, this one looks interesting.", frank catches gerard's attention as he leads the other to the painting.

"the lovers ii, by rene magritte.", he reads before studying the piece.

it's a picture of two people, one male and one female, with some sort of bag covering their faces. they're leaning in, faces touching as if they were kissing but they weren't because the cloth is preventing them from doing so. gerard finds it to be disturbing but fascinating at the same time.

"the lovers ii.", frank slowly repeats with a nod. "what do you think this one means?"

"well, we have to look at the image first.", gerard starts off. "what do you see?"

"uhh.. two people kissing? well, two lovers kissing."

gerard hums. "what else?"

"what is this? twenty questions?"

gerard ignores the other's statement. "i see a cloth that's hiding their faces and a plain background.", he says. "knowing that these people are lovers, it's weird to see them doing something so intimate when they can't see each other. it's like they've been blinded."

"oh. yeah, i guess you're right."

"going with what i said, i think that this painting is telling us that no matter how much two people love each other, there'll always be something hidden between the two. it's like.. even if you consider yourself to be close with your partner, there will always be some sort of distance between you and them."

"that's..", frank pauses, trying to find the right words. "that's depressing."

"yeah..", he agrees. "depressing but beautiful."

silence circles the pair, it's as if everyone else in the museum vanished from sight and it's just them and the painting of the lovers. something about this image has frank mesmerized, maybe it was gerard's perspective of it but his explanation opened up frank's eyes.

carefully, he slips his hand into his, their fingers interlock as their hands intertwine, forming one and bonding each other together. frank gives his hand a gentle squeeze.

we won't end up like that, right?

gerard squeezes back with more force.

no, never.