Egotistical.
Title:: Egotistical.
Author:: _ohholyfoolsx
Pairing:: Mikey and Gerard, but later, Mikey and Frank
Bands:: My Chemical Romance and The Used.
Rating:: R
Summary:: Mikey and Gerard are brothers with a past. Secrets sometimes can be overwhelming and this proves true as Mikey continually works to discover what makes his brother the way he is.
POV:: 3rd Person.
Authors' Note:: AU.
Dedications:: xburningcities for the idea. This was all her.
Disclaimer:: Untrue.
Attitude, noun, 'a state of mind or disposition'.
Today wasn't going to be a good day. Mikey could tell by the way Gerard walked in, hair a mess, clothes torn and obviously not the café's required uniform, and late for his shift, as usual. Bob groaned and mumbled something about firing him, but they all knew it would never happen. Bob was too easy going on Gerard because most of the customers were friends of his, friends of friends of his, or had heard about his amazing looks and almost sexual personality.
It was an especially busy day and they hadn't even begun it yet. People were lined up from the counter to the door and Mikey was busily chatting it up with the customers while taking orders as quickly as possible, handing them to Bob and Quinn as he went through them. Bob was skilled with making the products his store sold and had every order ready within three minutes of it having been ordered, but Quinn was falling behind and was so backed up by the time the 20th order came through that Bob rushed Gerard into the preparation area and forced him to start cooking.
The room grew almost silent, save for the whispers coming from the customers lined up throughout the whole store. Mikey was standing in close proximity and could hear every word, starting from the "Oh my goooosh, his hair is beautiful!" to the "look at that body! He is perfect, perfect!" Mikey stood at the counter and sighed, used to the looks and whispers from men and women alike. All this talk usually prodded him into a comment like "Well, what if he really had a vagina? Would he still be perfect?" or "Yeah, but I heard he had syphilis. Isn't that contagious or something?" Of course, this was all a lie, but it didn't stop people from visiting the little street café for a look now and again.
Today was going to be one of those days.
"Bob, I don't want to make anything else!" Gerard whined, throwing down his knife in front of all the customers and starting a huge scene between him and his boss. Mikey rolled his eyes and sighed with a smile.
"Lover's spat," he whispered to a customer standing in front of him. The middle-aged woman tore her gaze from Gerard and looked at Mikey, astonished. "Yeah, apparently the bald guy found out the dark haired guy has AIDS and is scared he has it now." Mikey shook his head dramatically and sighed loudly. "Doesn't it make you glad you're straight?" The woman gave an eerie chuckle and excused herself. Mikey smiled fondly and watched as Bob threw his hands up in annoyance.
He turned to Mikey, but continued to glare at Gerard. "Mikey, kitchen with me, please. Let the whiner have counter." Gerard smirked at Bob and strode over to the counter, blithely ignoring the customers as they swooned over him immediately.
As Mikey began to tie on his apron he'd taken from the hook, he heard Bob whisper, "Some day that guy is going to meet his match in a less attractive, but more intelligent guy. I hope I'm around to see it." Bob laughed and Mikey smiled, starting to help the flustered Quinn with the orders he was behind on.
*
Cut to: Two hours later and the place was less hectic. Mikey rubbed at his sweaty forehead as he cleaned the tables and watched his brother at the counter. Some days it shocked Mikey how different he and his brother were, but how they always ended up in the same place, the same situation and almost always involved with the same guy. Usually.
Mikey had worked at the café long enough to notice when someone suddenly became interested in his brother. Christ, he'd known his brother long enough to notice when his brother was completely not interested in someone else. This was one of those cases, but the guy in question did not know how to leave well enough alone. Every day he knew Gerard was working he'd stroll up to the café from his apartment in the upper North area and sit in the same seat and try to start a conversation with Gerard. Bob would usually shake his head and comment about how the guy, Ray, was in too deep and was only going to get hurt. From what Bob knew, Gerard was straight, but Mikey knew differently. Again, Bob also though Mikey was straight, so every time they'd be closing up the store, Bob would ask if either of them had met a nice girl and bought her flowers. Each time Gerard would smile knowingly to Bob and say that he hadn't met the right person yet. Mikey just chuckled to himself.
Ray was sitting in his usual place next to the window, sipping his smoothie and watching Gerard chat it up with some attractive girl with black hair. From where Mikey was, across the room from both of them, he knew Gerard was just trying to push Ray's buttons like he always did, so when Gerard slung his around the girl's waist and asked her to sit with him for a minute, Ray stood angrily and left the building, his puffy hair blowing in the breeze as he walked back up the street. Mikey shook his head and turned to Bob, who shrugged and made a straight line with his finger and then pointed to Gerard. Mikey laughed and finished wiping down his table just as Gerard was saying goodbye to the girl.
"You're breaking Ray's poor heart, Gee." Mikey said as Gerard came to turn over chairs to sweep beneath them. "It's not so cool."
Gerard shrugged, like Gerard usually did. Mikey rolled his eyes and took off his apron, saying goodbye to his brother, Bob and Quinn and walking out the front door.
He closed his eyes and he walked down the empty side walk and opened his mouth to the cold night air, filling his lungs and exhaling slowly, feeling his muscles unclench and back relax.
"Mikey! Wait up!" He slowly opened his eyes and stopped, turning around and watching his brother chase him up the sidewalk. He rolled his eyes, shook his head and kept walking; hoping Gerard wasn't really in the mood for company. Gerard was always persistent when he wanted to be, though...
"I was calling for you, bro." he said, mildly out of breath as he finally caught up. Part of Gerard's obvious beauty was his body and he knew it. He smiled at his brother and Mikey shook his head again.
"I was looking forward to the walk home without a tag-along." he muttered, digging his hands into his pockets and quickening his pace until his brother had to almost run to keep up with Mikey's long legs. "Why do you keep leading Ray on, Gee? He obviously likes you a lot; it's hurting him to see you do this."
Gerard chuckled and Mikey groaned at his blatant brush-off attitude when it came to Ray. "I never asked him to like me, brother, just like I never asked you to move here after I did." Mikey slowed down, seeing his point.
"That's different, though. I'm not in love with you. New York is a big city; I didn't even know you were here."
Gerard shook his head this time. "With Ray, it's a matter of letting him figure this out for himself, just like I let you figure it out for yourself. If he wants me, he wants me. Everyone seems to." he chuckled at Mikey's expression of surprise. "Oh, you know they do. Ray will learn to understand he can't have me and by then I'll have moved on as well." he shrugged. "It's not really that big of a deal to me. It's only one guy."
Mikey watched as his brother hailed a cab and was off to his own apartment and sighed, thinking back to Bob's words during the rush at the café; someday someone was going to put him in his place.
Author:: _ohholyfoolsx
Pairing:: Mikey and Gerard, but later, Mikey and Frank
Bands:: My Chemical Romance and The Used.
Rating:: R
Summary:: Mikey and Gerard are brothers with a past. Secrets sometimes can be overwhelming and this proves true as Mikey continually works to discover what makes his brother the way he is.
POV:: 3rd Person.
Authors' Note:: AU.
Dedications:: xburningcities for the idea. This was all her.
Disclaimer:: Untrue.
Attitude, noun, 'a state of mind or disposition'.
Today wasn't going to be a good day. Mikey could tell by the way Gerard walked in, hair a mess, clothes torn and obviously not the café's required uniform, and late for his shift, as usual. Bob groaned and mumbled something about firing him, but they all knew it would never happen. Bob was too easy going on Gerard because most of the customers were friends of his, friends of friends of his, or had heard about his amazing looks and almost sexual personality.
It was an especially busy day and they hadn't even begun it yet. People were lined up from the counter to the door and Mikey was busily chatting it up with the customers while taking orders as quickly as possible, handing them to Bob and Quinn as he went through them. Bob was skilled with making the products his store sold and had every order ready within three minutes of it having been ordered, but Quinn was falling behind and was so backed up by the time the 20th order came through that Bob rushed Gerard into the preparation area and forced him to start cooking.
The room grew almost silent, save for the whispers coming from the customers lined up throughout the whole store. Mikey was standing in close proximity and could hear every word, starting from the "Oh my goooosh, his hair is beautiful!" to the "look at that body! He is perfect, perfect!" Mikey stood at the counter and sighed, used to the looks and whispers from men and women alike. All this talk usually prodded him into a comment like "Well, what if he really had a vagina? Would he still be perfect?" or "Yeah, but I heard he had syphilis. Isn't that contagious or something?" Of course, this was all a lie, but it didn't stop people from visiting the little street café for a look now and again.
Today was going to be one of those days.
"Bob, I don't want to make anything else!" Gerard whined, throwing down his knife in front of all the customers and starting a huge scene between him and his boss. Mikey rolled his eyes and sighed with a smile.
"Lover's spat," he whispered to a customer standing in front of him. The middle-aged woman tore her gaze from Gerard and looked at Mikey, astonished. "Yeah, apparently the bald guy found out the dark haired guy has AIDS and is scared he has it now." Mikey shook his head dramatically and sighed loudly. "Doesn't it make you glad you're straight?" The woman gave an eerie chuckle and excused herself. Mikey smiled fondly and watched as Bob threw his hands up in annoyance.
He turned to Mikey, but continued to glare at Gerard. "Mikey, kitchen with me, please. Let the whiner have counter." Gerard smirked at Bob and strode over to the counter, blithely ignoring the customers as they swooned over him immediately.
As Mikey began to tie on his apron he'd taken from the hook, he heard Bob whisper, "Some day that guy is going to meet his match in a less attractive, but more intelligent guy. I hope I'm around to see it." Bob laughed and Mikey smiled, starting to help the flustered Quinn with the orders he was behind on.
*
Cut to: Two hours later and the place was less hectic. Mikey rubbed at his sweaty forehead as he cleaned the tables and watched his brother at the counter. Some days it shocked Mikey how different he and his brother were, but how they always ended up in the same place, the same situation and almost always involved with the same guy. Usually.
Mikey had worked at the café long enough to notice when someone suddenly became interested in his brother. Christ, he'd known his brother long enough to notice when his brother was completely not interested in someone else. This was one of those cases, but the guy in question did not know how to leave well enough alone. Every day he knew Gerard was working he'd stroll up to the café from his apartment in the upper North area and sit in the same seat and try to start a conversation with Gerard. Bob would usually shake his head and comment about how the guy, Ray, was in too deep and was only going to get hurt. From what Bob knew, Gerard was straight, but Mikey knew differently. Again, Bob also though Mikey was straight, so every time they'd be closing up the store, Bob would ask if either of them had met a nice girl and bought her flowers. Each time Gerard would smile knowingly to Bob and say that he hadn't met the right person yet. Mikey just chuckled to himself.
Ray was sitting in his usual place next to the window, sipping his smoothie and watching Gerard chat it up with some attractive girl with black hair. From where Mikey was, across the room from both of them, he knew Gerard was just trying to push Ray's buttons like he always did, so when Gerard slung his around the girl's waist and asked her to sit with him for a minute, Ray stood angrily and left the building, his puffy hair blowing in the breeze as he walked back up the street. Mikey shook his head and turned to Bob, who shrugged and made a straight line with his finger and then pointed to Gerard. Mikey laughed and finished wiping down his table just as Gerard was saying goodbye to the girl.
"You're breaking Ray's poor heart, Gee." Mikey said as Gerard came to turn over chairs to sweep beneath them. "It's not so cool."
Gerard shrugged, like Gerard usually did. Mikey rolled his eyes and took off his apron, saying goodbye to his brother, Bob and Quinn and walking out the front door.
He closed his eyes and he walked down the empty side walk and opened his mouth to the cold night air, filling his lungs and exhaling slowly, feeling his muscles unclench and back relax.
"Mikey! Wait up!" He slowly opened his eyes and stopped, turning around and watching his brother chase him up the sidewalk. He rolled his eyes, shook his head and kept walking; hoping Gerard wasn't really in the mood for company. Gerard was always persistent when he wanted to be, though...
"I was calling for you, bro." he said, mildly out of breath as he finally caught up. Part of Gerard's obvious beauty was his body and he knew it. He smiled at his brother and Mikey shook his head again.
"I was looking forward to the walk home without a tag-along." he muttered, digging his hands into his pockets and quickening his pace until his brother had to almost run to keep up with Mikey's long legs. "Why do you keep leading Ray on, Gee? He obviously likes you a lot; it's hurting him to see you do this."
Gerard chuckled and Mikey groaned at his blatant brush-off attitude when it came to Ray. "I never asked him to like me, brother, just like I never asked you to move here after I did." Mikey slowed down, seeing his point.
"That's different, though. I'm not in love with you. New York is a big city; I didn't even know you were here."
Gerard shook his head this time. "With Ray, it's a matter of letting him figure this out for himself, just like I let you figure it out for yourself. If he wants me, he wants me. Everyone seems to." he chuckled at Mikey's expression of surprise. "Oh, you know they do. Ray will learn to understand he can't have me and by then I'll have moved on as well." he shrugged. "It's not really that big of a deal to me. It's only one guy."
Mikey watched as his brother hailed a cab and was off to his own apartment and sighed, thinking back to Bob's words during the rush at the café; someday someone was going to put him in his place.