(no subject)
This next ficlet is for margueritem who asked for 'PatD as Gerard's imaginary friends. :-D' with Frank/Gerard from this AU.
Gerard's life is a special kind of weird that means he isn't surprised to find Brendon shimmying through his kitchen singing -
"The Chiffons," Jon says, watching the coffee maker as though he really doesn't trust it to produce quality coffee. "There was an infomercial last night for one of those music collections."
If Jon actually thinks Gerard's brain is ready for any sort of conversation before he's had his coffee, Jon clearly hasn't been paying attention for the past, oh, fifteen years or so.
Jon seems to realize that a moment later, and steps aside so Gerard won't have to go through him for his precious coffee. "You should think about upgrading," Jon says while Gerard paws through his cabinets looking for his coffee mug. "This thing is a piece of junk."
Grunting his reply, Gerard grabs the coffee pot and pours the coffee. Taking a drink, he watches Brendon for a moment. Brendon flits from song to song, singing the words he knows from the clips played during whatever infomercial he saw. Gerard knows he's going to have make a stop at a record store on his way home from work if he wants to keep his grasp on sanity.
A hefty chunk of his paycheck had gone into the box of records sitting in his living room when Brendon and the others were obsessed with the Beatles after hearing a song on the radio. They go through phases, some of which last longer than others.
"I draw the line at poodle skirts."
As far as things go, it's a weak attempt at trying to assert control over his life, but Gerard's learned to pick his battles.
Jon grins when Brendon starts singing falsetto.
====
====
Spencer and Ryan are waiting in his bedroom. Spencer's arms are crossed, his bitchface in place. Ryan's humming to himself as he sews yet another rose onto the vest he's been working on for a while now.
"You're late."
Cradling his coffee mug in his hands, Gerard glances at his alarm clock. "It's six o'clock," he points out carefully. "I don't have to be at work for two hours."
Spencer raises an eyebrow.
Gerard knows better than to get into it with Spencer when he gets that look on his face. He never wins when it comes to Spencer.
====
====
The hell of it is, Gerard thinks, poking through the music store's music collection with Brendon watching over his shoulder, he's a little too old to have imaginary friends.
"That one! Go back!"
Brendon has his chin hooked over Gerard's shoulder, arm brushing the side of Gerard's face as he points at the CD's.
The four of them don't. They don't give off body heat, but they're never cold or, and Ryan really hates this one, room temperature. None of them are sure if Gerard's mind is filling in the blanks, or if there is something there for him to sense, but it doesn't really matter. They look and feel real enough to him, which is more than enough.
Ryan and Spencer are a few aisles over, judging some poor unfortunate soul's clothing and footwear. Jon's framing shots with his hands, trying to find the right angle, the perfect something before he uses the camera hanging around his neck.
Gerard has no idea how he ended up with the four of them, whether it was some sort of gift - or more likely - punishment for something he did in a past life. He didn't even start seeing them until he was a teenager and long past the point where having an imaginary friend was considered normal, but then. Oh, but then.
One day Gerard went into a music store looking for an elusive album. He left with Brendon tagging along behind him and a mild headache.
Spencer and Ryan showed up out of the blue when Gerard was running an errand for his mom, and Jon. Gerard still has no idea where Jon came from. One day he wasn't there, and then he was. Brendon adopted him on the spot, and Spencer and Ryan didn't seem to mind.
Every so often one of them will slip and talk about their original assignments, some kids they played with and kept company until one day they all decided they were too old for an imaginary friend. Completely convinced it wasn't cool to have one anymore. Brendon and the others had had a choice between being reassigned to someone else or taking some time off.
Not ready for new assignments just yet, they had all opted for time off, and somehow Gerard ended up being stuck with four imaginary friends who weren't his. And since they weren't, there was no way for him to keep them from pestering the hell out of him unless he reached a compromise with them.
He's way too old to have imaginary friends, and yet, here he is. Digging through a discount CD bin for '50s music for one of them while two others offer fashion advice to someone who will never know, and another takes pictures.
Brendon pokes Gerard's cheek, bringing him back to the matter at hand.
Gerard focuses on the CDs in front of him. "This one?"
Brendon flashes him a grateful smile. "Yeah. That one."
====
====
Over the course of the next week Gerard wakes up to Brendon singing along to the CD he bought at the music store, Jon staring the coffee maker down, and Spencer bossing him around to get him to work on time while Ryan adds more roses to his vest, just like always.
He takes his cigarette breaks at work, watching Jon taking pictures, and tries not to smile at Brendon and Ryan bickering over chords. Gerard could just buy the sheet music, but they like to figure it out on their own so he leaves them to it. Spencer watches people walking by, shaking his head when he sees someone who has committed some unforgivable crime against shoes everywhere.
And then.
One day Gerard's taking his cigarette break while the Brendon and the others work on a song in the shade of the building.
"Hi?"
Gerard looks over to see a tiny guy - a tiny, hot guy - with tattoos smiling at him.
"I see you out here all the time, so I thought I'd come over and see if the view's any better on this this side of the street," the guy says, a faint tinge of pink on his cheeks.
Gerard stares at him, his mind a complete blank.
The guy fidgets, his smile faltering when Gerard continues to stare. "So. Uh," he mumbles, eyes sliding away from Gerard's. "Now that I've done that, I'm just going to go." He points to a building across the street.
"Don't be a dumbass!" Brendon yells.
Gerard shoots a dark look at him, but Brendon just grins and makes 'Go on, go on,' gestures.
"Hey," Gerard says, turning his attention back to the guy. "Sorry about that, I was thinking about something."
The guy cocks his head to the side. "Yeah?"
"Big project at work, you know how that gets." Gerard smiles apologetically.
The guy grins, quick and bright. "Oh, man. Yeah. Totally sucks, right?”
Gerard nods, laughing a little. “More than words can say, yeah.”
A shrill beep fills the air, causing the guy to glance at his watch. He grimaces and rubs the back of his neck. “I need to get back to work,” he says, looking up at Gerard. “I'll see you out here tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah, I'm usually out here around now," Gerard says, feeling even more socially inept than usual.
"Cool," the guy says, smiling again as he turns to go. "See you then."
Gerard watches him go, aware that he's staring and probably smiling like an idiot.
“Wow,” Brendon says, slinging a companionable arm over Gerard's shoulder. He's grinning, Gerard can hear it. “That sounded like a date.”
“It wasn't a date!” Gerard's not sure he wants it be.
Ryan snorts, coming up on Gerard's other side. “It was a date.”
Gerard turns to Spencer and Jon for support, even though he already knows they're going to side with Brendon and Ryan.
“It was a date,” Jon says, laughing like the bastard he is.
Spencer looks at him and sighs the sigh of the eternally despairing. “It was a date.”
Gerard blinks and looks back at the building the guy went into. Things like this don't happen to him. Tiny hot guys with tattoos don't happen to him. “Seriously?”
Brendon lays his head on Gerard's shoulder, a smile stretching his mouth when Gerard looks over at him. “Seriously.”
Ryan hums agreement, and when Gerard looks up again, Spencer and Jon are smiling back at him.
“Oh.” Gerard's really not sure what to do with that information.
“Your break is over in five minutes,” Spencer says, effectively putting a stop to Gerard's freak out before it even starts. “Work now, freak out later.”
That's definitely a plan Gerard can work with.
Gerard's allergic to cats. He knows this. He's known it most of his life. Normally it wouldn't be a problem.
Jon's staring at the kittens with a soft, delighted smile on his face. He's crouched down to press his hand against the glass while the kittens bat at them. Spencer's standing next to him, arms crossed and trying to show how unaffected he is by scowling, but it doesn't seem to be very effective.
From the way the puppies are barking, Gerard knows Brendon and Ryan are working them into a frenzy. When he turns to look, he sees Brendon dangling the end of one of Ryan's scarves over the puppies, laughing at their frustrated antics when he pulls the scarf just out of their reach. Ryan's head is bent to watch the puppies, one side of his mouth tugging upwards into a small smile.
"I just wanted a hamster," Gerard says quietly. Sadly. "Just one hamster."
One of the salespeople gives him a strange look, whispering to a co-worker before coming over with a cautious smile on her face. "Sir? Can I help you? My name is Emily."
Spencer pulls his attention away from Jon fawning over the allergen spawning balls of fur to look at him. He looks. Spencer looks sympathetic, which doesn't really help Gerard out.
"Yeah." Gerard shakes his head and walks up to the kittens. "I was thinking about getting a kitten."
He sneezes.
"For my niece," Gerard lies when Emily gives him a skeptical look. "She loves cats."
The puppies are freaking out about something, Gerard has no idea what, but he's certain Brendon and Ryan are involved somehow. When he looks over, he sees Emily take a step toward the puppies, frowning slightly.
He knows she only sees the puppies jumping at the barrier, barking their furry little heads off about something. What Gerard sees is Brendon dangling Ryan's scarf over the top of the pen. His laughter is bright and happy, Ryan's a quieter counterpoint.
Spencer points towards the small animal section of the pet store. "I'll meet you there," he says, not quite laughing at Gerard. He knows a defeated man when he sees one.
The Chiffons - One Fine Day
Four Seasons - Walk Like a Man
(Gerard so wanted to have a talk with Brendon about these songs, but Spencer was bitchfacing at him. *hands*)
Gerard's life is a special kind of weird that means he isn't surprised to find Brendon shimmying through his kitchen singing -
"The Chiffons," Jon says, watching the coffee maker as though he really doesn't trust it to produce quality coffee. "There was an infomercial last night for one of those music collections."
If Jon actually thinks Gerard's brain is ready for any sort of conversation before he's had his coffee, Jon clearly hasn't been paying attention for the past, oh, fifteen years or so.
Jon seems to realize that a moment later, and steps aside so Gerard won't have to go through him for his precious coffee. "You should think about upgrading," Jon says while Gerard paws through his cabinets looking for his coffee mug. "This thing is a piece of junk."
Grunting his reply, Gerard grabs the coffee pot and pours the coffee. Taking a drink, he watches Brendon for a moment. Brendon flits from song to song, singing the words he knows from the clips played during whatever infomercial he saw. Gerard knows he's going to have make a stop at a record store on his way home from work if he wants to keep his grasp on sanity.
A hefty chunk of his paycheck had gone into the box of records sitting in his living room when Brendon and the others were obsessed with the Beatles after hearing a song on the radio. They go through phases, some of which last longer than others.
"I draw the line at poodle skirts."
As far as things go, it's a weak attempt at trying to assert control over his life, but Gerard's learned to pick his battles.
Jon grins when Brendon starts singing falsetto.
====
====
Spencer and Ryan are waiting in his bedroom. Spencer's arms are crossed, his bitchface in place. Ryan's humming to himself as he sews yet another rose onto the vest he's been working on for a while now.
"You're late."
Cradling his coffee mug in his hands, Gerard glances at his alarm clock. "It's six o'clock," he points out carefully. "I don't have to be at work for two hours."
Spencer raises an eyebrow.
Gerard knows better than to get into it with Spencer when he gets that look on his face. He never wins when it comes to Spencer.
====
====
The hell of it is, Gerard thinks, poking through the music store's music collection with Brendon watching over his shoulder, he's a little too old to have imaginary friends.
"That one! Go back!"
Brendon has his chin hooked over Gerard's shoulder, arm brushing the side of Gerard's face as he points at the CD's.
The four of them don't. They don't give off body heat, but they're never cold or, and Ryan really hates this one, room temperature. None of them are sure if Gerard's mind is filling in the blanks, or if there is something there for him to sense, but it doesn't really matter. They look and feel real enough to him, which is more than enough.
Ryan and Spencer are a few aisles over, judging some poor unfortunate soul's clothing and footwear. Jon's framing shots with his hands, trying to find the right angle, the perfect something before he uses the camera hanging around his neck.
Gerard has no idea how he ended up with the four of them, whether it was some sort of gift - or more likely - punishment for something he did in a past life. He didn't even start seeing them until he was a teenager and long past the point where having an imaginary friend was considered normal, but then. Oh, but then.
One day Gerard went into a music store looking for an elusive album. He left with Brendon tagging along behind him and a mild headache.
Spencer and Ryan showed up out of the blue when Gerard was running an errand for his mom, and Jon. Gerard still has no idea where Jon came from. One day he wasn't there, and then he was. Brendon adopted him on the spot, and Spencer and Ryan didn't seem to mind.
Every so often one of them will slip and talk about their original assignments, some kids they played with and kept company until one day they all decided they were too old for an imaginary friend. Completely convinced it wasn't cool to have one anymore. Brendon and the others had had a choice between being reassigned to someone else or taking some time off.
Not ready for new assignments just yet, they had all opted for time off, and somehow Gerard ended up being stuck with four imaginary friends who weren't his. And since they weren't, there was no way for him to keep them from pestering the hell out of him unless he reached a compromise with them.
He's way too old to have imaginary friends, and yet, here he is. Digging through a discount CD bin for '50s music for one of them while two others offer fashion advice to someone who will never know, and another takes pictures.
Brendon pokes Gerard's cheek, bringing him back to the matter at hand.
Gerard focuses on the CDs in front of him. "This one?"
Brendon flashes him a grateful smile. "Yeah. That one."
====
====
Over the course of the next week Gerard wakes up to Brendon singing along to the CD he bought at the music store, Jon staring the coffee maker down, and Spencer bossing him around to get him to work on time while Ryan adds more roses to his vest, just like always.
He takes his cigarette breaks at work, watching Jon taking pictures, and tries not to smile at Brendon and Ryan bickering over chords. Gerard could just buy the sheet music, but they like to figure it out on their own so he leaves them to it. Spencer watches people walking by, shaking his head when he sees someone who has committed some unforgivable crime against shoes everywhere.
And then.
One day Gerard's taking his cigarette break while the Brendon and the others work on a song in the shade of the building.
"Hi?"
Gerard looks over to see a tiny guy - a tiny, hot guy - with tattoos smiling at him.
"I see you out here all the time, so I thought I'd come over and see if the view's any better on this this side of the street," the guy says, a faint tinge of pink on his cheeks.
Gerard stares at him, his mind a complete blank.
The guy fidgets, his smile faltering when Gerard continues to stare. "So. Uh," he mumbles, eyes sliding away from Gerard's. "Now that I've done that, I'm just going to go." He points to a building across the street.
"Don't be a dumbass!" Brendon yells.
Gerard shoots a dark look at him, but Brendon just grins and makes 'Go on, go on,' gestures.
"Hey," Gerard says, turning his attention back to the guy. "Sorry about that, I was thinking about something."
The guy cocks his head to the side. "Yeah?"
"Big project at work, you know how that gets." Gerard smiles apologetically.
The guy grins, quick and bright. "Oh, man. Yeah. Totally sucks, right?”
Gerard nods, laughing a little. “More than words can say, yeah.”
A shrill beep fills the air, causing the guy to glance at his watch. He grimaces and rubs the back of his neck. “I need to get back to work,” he says, looking up at Gerard. “I'll see you out here tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah, I'm usually out here around now," Gerard says, feeling even more socially inept than usual.
"Cool," the guy says, smiling again as he turns to go. "See you then."
Gerard watches him go, aware that he's staring and probably smiling like an idiot.
“Wow,” Brendon says, slinging a companionable arm over Gerard's shoulder. He's grinning, Gerard can hear it. “That sounded like a date.”
“It wasn't a date!” Gerard's not sure he wants it be.
Ryan snorts, coming up on Gerard's other side. “It was a date.”
Gerard turns to Spencer and Jon for support, even though he already knows they're going to side with Brendon and Ryan.
“It was a date,” Jon says, laughing like the bastard he is.
Spencer looks at him and sighs the sigh of the eternally despairing. “It was a date.”
Gerard blinks and looks back at the building the guy went into. Things like this don't happen to him. Tiny hot guys with tattoos don't happen to him. “Seriously?”
Brendon lays his head on Gerard's shoulder, a smile stretching his mouth when Gerard looks over at him. “Seriously.”
Ryan hums agreement, and when Gerard looks up again, Spencer and Jon are smiling back at him.
“Oh.” Gerard's really not sure what to do with that information.
“Your break is over in five minutes,” Spencer says, effectively putting a stop to Gerard's freak out before it even starts. “Work now, freak out later.”
That's definitely a plan Gerard can work with.
Gerard's allergic to cats. He knows this. He's known it most of his life. Normally it wouldn't be a problem.
Jon's staring at the kittens with a soft, delighted smile on his face. He's crouched down to press his hand against the glass while the kittens bat at them. Spencer's standing next to him, arms crossed and trying to show how unaffected he is by scowling, but it doesn't seem to be very effective.
From the way the puppies are barking, Gerard knows Brendon and Ryan are working them into a frenzy. When he turns to look, he sees Brendon dangling the end of one of Ryan's scarves over the puppies, laughing at their frustrated antics when he pulls the scarf just out of their reach. Ryan's head is bent to watch the puppies, one side of his mouth tugging upwards into a small smile.
"I just wanted a hamster," Gerard says quietly. Sadly. "Just one hamster."
One of the salespeople gives him a strange look, whispering to a co-worker before coming over with a cautious smile on her face. "Sir? Can I help you? My name is Emily."
Spencer pulls his attention away from Jon fawning over the allergen spawning balls of fur to look at him. He looks. Spencer looks sympathetic, which doesn't really help Gerard out.
"Yeah." Gerard shakes his head and walks up to the kittens. "I was thinking about getting a kitten."
He sneezes.
"For my niece," Gerard lies when Emily gives him a skeptical look. "She loves cats."
The puppies are freaking out about something, Gerard has no idea what, but he's certain Brendon and Ryan are involved somehow. When he looks over, he sees Emily take a step toward the puppies, frowning slightly.
He knows she only sees the puppies jumping at the barrier, barking their furry little heads off about something. What Gerard sees is Brendon dangling Ryan's scarf over the top of the pen. His laughter is bright and happy, Ryan's a quieter counterpoint.
Spencer points towards the small animal section of the pet store. "I'll meet you there," he says, not quite laughing at Gerard. He knows a defeated man when he sees one.
The Chiffons - One Fine Day
Four Seasons - Walk Like a Man
(Gerard so wanted to have a talk with Brendon about these songs, but Spencer was bitchfacing at him. *hands*)