New fic: How You Do That Trick
This is my story for bandslash_usa; my state (as will shortly become abundantly clear, I'm sure) was Missouri. MCR, Frank/Gerard, R, about 2200 words. Many, many thanks to clumsygyrl for her excellence of fabulousness in organizing the challenge! And also Fi is made of awesome and I squoosh her!
How You Do That Trick
Gerard looked out the window at the view, and it was still cornfields. It seemed like it had been cornfields, flat and lined to the horizon, since the sun had come up somewhere south of Rockford.
"When are we due in St. Louis?" he said.
"Lunchtime," Frank said without looking up from his book.
"When - " Gerard started. Frank did lift his head then, reaching over to plant his hand across Gerard's mouth before Gerard could finish his sentence.
"When we get there," Frank said. He leaned up and kissed Gerard on the forehead, right between the eyes. Then Frank went back to reading, and Gerard shut up and sat still for a while.
He liked Frank's kisses. He just didn't know what to make of them yet, because they were kind of new. The kisses outside of the fucking, anyway, because Frank had always kissed during, all the months since he'd first laughed at Gerard's post-show hard-on and said, "Shit, G, let's get off together." But lately Frank had been catching Gerard by the elbow and drawing him in at odd moments, like right after Gerard's first cup of coffee in the morning, or right before soundcheck, when there was no time even for a blowjob, and it was just different.
Ray emerged from the back and poured himself some soda. He looked up while recapping the bottle and, seeing Gerard watching, raised his eyebrows and held the glass out. Gerard shook his head. "Thanks," he said.
"Ray, my good man," Frank said. "Take this poor kid with you and entertain him for a while, would ya?"
"Isn't that your job?" Ray said, but low, under his breath and Gerard thought it was entirely possible that Frank hadn't heard him.
"Have you been working on a new song?" Gerard said, a little more loudly than necessary.
"Beginning of one, maybe," Ray said. "C'mon, you can tell us what you think."
Ray had a nice bit of melody going, and Gerard sat next to Bob's warm silence and listened to Ray play the settled part over and over again, with different notes following each time. It was soothing for a while, but Gerard didn't feel like he could fit any words to the tune until he knew what was going to come next. So eventually he gave Ray a thumbs-up, receiving a nod in return, and headed back up front.
Frank glanced up and smiled but didn't say anything. Gerard stayed standing, not wanting to plaster himself right back against Frank's side. They'd been hanging out an awful lot, Frank sharing all his new comics with Gerard, and bumming smokes from him, and staying longer after they fucked, too; sometimes Gerard would even wake up and find Frank still lying next to him, one of Frank's arms slung over Gerard's waist. And Gerard enjoyed that, all of it, but he worried about pushing his luck. What if he hung around too long, clung too much, and Frank got tired of the whole thing? He didn't want to think about it.
So Gerard stayed put there at the counter and checked on the cornfields again. No change. He decided maybe he wanted a sandwich, so he picked up the bread and unwrapped the twistie from the sack, and then he felt a sandwich might be too much, so he rewound the twistie and put the bread down and opened the cupboard instead. From his left came the sounds of Mikey sliding out of a bunk - had the fucker really been able to sleep all this time? - and opening the lounge door to come up behind him.
"How the hell is St. Louis a gateway to anything, anyway?" Gerard said, looking at the row of cereal boxes. "It's right smack in the middle of the country."
"It used to be on the frontier, moron," Mikey said. His voice was still scratchy from sleep, but rich with scorn nevertheless. He reached under Gerard's arm to grab the bread. "Lewis and Clark left from around there. Lots of people did."
"Yeah, but now," Gerard said. "Now, it's not the frontier to anything."
"Maybe it's like Narnia," Frank said. "'Further up and further in'."
Mikey giggled, and Frank flipped him off. "Moron," Gerard muttered. Mikey flipped him off in turn and took his plate to go sit down in the spot next to Frank. Gerard gave him a look.
"Oh, sorry," Mikey said, not quite grinning, "were you sitting here?"
"No," Gerard said.
"All right, listen, Gerard," Frank said. "When we get into town I am going to take you sightseeing, and you will be so amazed by the wonders of St. Louis that you will never be bored again. Okay?"
"Well," Gerard said. He was still fully prepared to be cranky, but then Frank smiled at him. And when Gerard thought about going somewhere and spending the afternoon with Frank, he found he was smiling too.
Frank had to beg and plead with all his might for them to be allowed to leave the venue at all, though, and in the end Worm would only let them choose one place to visit. "There isn't time, you guys," he said. "I don't even know what you think you're thinking."
"You're totally awesome," Frank said, squeezing Worm around the middle as far as his arms would go. "We'll go to the Gateway Arch, Gerard, you're going to love it."
The cab they got was small and smelled tantalizingly smoky, despite the sign on the window showing a cigarette firmly crossed out. Frank slid over in the back seat to lean his shoulder against Gerard's while the driver tried to engage Worm in a conversation about politics.
"You're in the heart of the nation now," the guy said, "yes, sir. Did you know Missouri has picked the winner in almost every presidential election for the last hundred years? We got 'em all, except for just the one back in '56."
"Uh huh," Worm said. Frank elbowed Gerard and caught his eye in a silent snicker. Gerard had to look out the window to suppress his own laugh. Frank shifted his arm to rest a little more comfortably against Gerard's side.
Fortunately the lines at the Arch were weren't too bad, and they only had to wait for a short while. They went down into the visitor center and skipped the museum in favor of going straight to the north tram. Frank plunked himself cheerfully into an end seat, where the ceiling of the tram was lowest, and tugged Gerard down next to him. Worm took the middle seat thankfully.
When they reached the observation deck, Gerard went to the eastern side first and looked back at the flat country they'd just crossed, and the Mississippi River. The bridges hummed with traffic, and the water glinted in the sun. Then he went to the other side and stared out at the city ahead, with its skyscrapers, cathedral, and stadium.
Frank came back from the far end of the deck stuffing a pamphlet into his back pocket. "Dred Scott had his first two trials in the Old Courthouse down there," he said. "The ones that said he should be free."
"That's pretty cool," Gerard said.
"Also, St. Louis had the first Olympics in America."
"Okay, you can stop now."
"The first Olympics in any English-speaking country," Frank insisted. "And they had them at the same time as the World's Fair."
"Stop! Stop!" Gerard said.
But it was too late. Frank had begun singing, and by the time he reached "don't tell me the lights are shining," Gerard couldn't help but join in.
"You are such an asshole," Gerard said after they'd finished out the chorus. The other tourists near them didn't look too thrilled either. Frank only smirked.
Luckily the tram came back soon after, and Frank behaved himself pretty well on the ride down. When they came outside, Worm stepped ahead to lead the way back to the taxi he'd paid to wait. Gerard looked over at Frank as they crossed between the bases of the arch. Frank had brought Gerard out here to spend their tiny allotment of free time on this thoroughly lame field trip together, and he looked windblown and happy. Gerard took a breath and reached over and grabbed Frank's hand.
Frank glanced back at Gerard and curled his fingers solidly around Gerard's palm. They let go to get into the cab, but held on again for nearly the whole ride back.
"Oh wait, stop!" Frank called out suddenly. "Can you pull over at the corner for just a second? - yeah, right here at the 7-11. I'll be right back. Thanks!" He popped out of the back seat and disappeared into the store.
Worm gritted his teeth and jerked his chin at Gerard to follow. They found Frank at the front counter, buying two cartons of cigarettes.
"Missouri has almost the lowest cigarette tax in the country," he said when Worm advanced upon him. Frank was so smart. Gerard beamed.
Worm was not equally impressed, even when Frank gave him a pack out of one of the cartons and promised him another when that was gone. But at least they made it to the venue without any more delays.
Frank stuck one pack into his jacket and stowed the rest of his stash on the bus. Then Gerard leaned against the wall outside the back door to the parking lot while Frank lit a cigarette and passed it to him. "Thanks," Gerard said fervently. Frank, already holding another between his lips, only nodded.
All too soon, Ray came out to drag them inside for the meet 'n' greet and warm-ups and all the rest of the usual whirlwind. "So, 'dja have a good time?" Mikey asked while they were hunched over the sink doing their makeup.
Gerard turned his head just enough to catch a glimpse of Frank in the corner of his eye. "Yeah," he said.
"Well, all right then," Mikey said. Gerard turned back and saw the mockery drain out of Mikey's smile, leaving it as clear as Gerard's own.
Gerard let Bob's beat pick him up and drive him through the show, fierce and wild, and then before he knew it, it was over, and they were tumbling out the corridors into the parking lot again, being bundled onto the bus. Ray disappeared to his setup in back, and Mikey and Bob settled down at the table in front, but Frank set a hand on the small of Gerard's back and guided him to the bunks.
"Hi, you," Frank said when the doors on either side were shut.
"Hey," Gerard said.
Frank raised an eyebrow, and Gerard stripped out of his jacket and jeans and climbed into his own bunk. Frank followed, sprawling out warm and solid on top of him.
"I," Frank said quietly, kissing him, "have been waiting - to do this - all - day."
"Mm," Gerard breathed, and he spread his legs a little more so Frank could settle between them. "Oh fuck!" Frank smirked and flattened his hand again.
Frank's kisses had gone lighter, teasing, and Gerard lifted his head to reach deeper into Frank's mouth again. Then he had a better idea and shifted his weight to roll them both over, but slowly, to avoid dumping Frank out of the bunk. Luckily Frank was giggling too much not to cooperate.
Once he had Frank on his back, Gerard slid down till he could tug Frank's boxers off, and then, finally, he got his mouth on Frank's cock. Frank bit back a groan, and Gerard felt Frank's fingers in his hair. He was so hard himself, and his lips were stretched so tightly, and there was nothing in his hands or his mouth or his sight or his mind except Frank. It was gorgeous.
When Frank came, Gerard swallowed as much as he could, and then Frank whispered "c'mere, c'mere," pulling him up to wipe his cheek clean and kiss him soundly all over again. Then Frank licked down along Gerard's stomach and it was Gerard's turn to stifle his gasps, bucking against Frank's anchoring hand on his hip. He clawed his fingers into the blanket crumpled against the wall, thrust into the heat of Frank's mouth, and opened his own jaws in loud panting breaths when he came.
Frank pressed one more kiss into the crease of Gerard's thigh before wriggling up to fit himself into the space between Gerard and the wall, stretching out on his side. When Gerard's breathing had evened out again, Frank started stroking the side of Gerard's face gently with his knuckles. He trailed his hand down over and over from Gerard's temple to his jaw. Gerard turned his eyes to meet Frank's gaze.
"Gerard," Frank said. "Listen, I'm serious about you. I want - do you think you could be serious about me, too?"
Gerard tried to swallow, his throat gone dry. "Yeah," he got out. "Yeah. I, uh, I think I already am."
Frank smiled.
Gerard nudged his leg over to line up more closely against Frank's. Frank laid his palm over Gerard's elbow. Gerard looked at Frank out of the corner of his eye. Then they were just kissing and grinning and grinning and kissing some more, while the bus drove into the brand new landscape of the hills of Missouri.
How You Do That Trick
Gerard looked out the window at the view, and it was still cornfields. It seemed like it had been cornfields, flat and lined to the horizon, since the sun had come up somewhere south of Rockford.
"When are we due in St. Louis?" he said.
"Lunchtime," Frank said without looking up from his book.
"When - " Gerard started. Frank did lift his head then, reaching over to plant his hand across Gerard's mouth before Gerard could finish his sentence.
"When we get there," Frank said. He leaned up and kissed Gerard on the forehead, right between the eyes. Then Frank went back to reading, and Gerard shut up and sat still for a while.
He liked Frank's kisses. He just didn't know what to make of them yet, because they were kind of new. The kisses outside of the fucking, anyway, because Frank had always kissed during, all the months since he'd first laughed at Gerard's post-show hard-on and said, "Shit, G, let's get off together." But lately Frank had been catching Gerard by the elbow and drawing him in at odd moments, like right after Gerard's first cup of coffee in the morning, or right before soundcheck, when there was no time even for a blowjob, and it was just different.
Ray emerged from the back and poured himself some soda. He looked up while recapping the bottle and, seeing Gerard watching, raised his eyebrows and held the glass out. Gerard shook his head. "Thanks," he said.
"Ray, my good man," Frank said. "Take this poor kid with you and entertain him for a while, would ya?"
"Isn't that your job?" Ray said, but low, under his breath and Gerard thought it was entirely possible that Frank hadn't heard him.
"Have you been working on a new song?" Gerard said, a little more loudly than necessary.
"Beginning of one, maybe," Ray said. "C'mon, you can tell us what you think."
Ray had a nice bit of melody going, and Gerard sat next to Bob's warm silence and listened to Ray play the settled part over and over again, with different notes following each time. It was soothing for a while, but Gerard didn't feel like he could fit any words to the tune until he knew what was going to come next. So eventually he gave Ray a thumbs-up, receiving a nod in return, and headed back up front.
Frank glanced up and smiled but didn't say anything. Gerard stayed standing, not wanting to plaster himself right back against Frank's side. They'd been hanging out an awful lot, Frank sharing all his new comics with Gerard, and bumming smokes from him, and staying longer after they fucked, too; sometimes Gerard would even wake up and find Frank still lying next to him, one of Frank's arms slung over Gerard's waist. And Gerard enjoyed that, all of it, but he worried about pushing his luck. What if he hung around too long, clung too much, and Frank got tired of the whole thing? He didn't want to think about it.
So Gerard stayed put there at the counter and checked on the cornfields again. No change. He decided maybe he wanted a sandwich, so he picked up the bread and unwrapped the twistie from the sack, and then he felt a sandwich might be too much, so he rewound the twistie and put the bread down and opened the cupboard instead. From his left came the sounds of Mikey sliding out of a bunk - had the fucker really been able to sleep all this time? - and opening the lounge door to come up behind him.
"How the hell is St. Louis a gateway to anything, anyway?" Gerard said, looking at the row of cereal boxes. "It's right smack in the middle of the country."
"It used to be on the frontier, moron," Mikey said. His voice was still scratchy from sleep, but rich with scorn nevertheless. He reached under Gerard's arm to grab the bread. "Lewis and Clark left from around there. Lots of people did."
"Yeah, but now," Gerard said. "Now, it's not the frontier to anything."
"Maybe it's like Narnia," Frank said. "'Further up and further in'."
Mikey giggled, and Frank flipped him off. "Moron," Gerard muttered. Mikey flipped him off in turn and took his plate to go sit down in the spot next to Frank. Gerard gave him a look.
"Oh, sorry," Mikey said, not quite grinning, "were you sitting here?"
"No," Gerard said.
"All right, listen, Gerard," Frank said. "When we get into town I am going to take you sightseeing, and you will be so amazed by the wonders of St. Louis that you will never be bored again. Okay?"
"Well," Gerard said. He was still fully prepared to be cranky, but then Frank smiled at him. And when Gerard thought about going somewhere and spending the afternoon with Frank, he found he was smiling too.
Frank had to beg and plead with all his might for them to be allowed to leave the venue at all, though, and in the end Worm would only let them choose one place to visit. "There isn't time, you guys," he said. "I don't even know what you think you're thinking."
"You're totally awesome," Frank said, squeezing Worm around the middle as far as his arms would go. "We'll go to the Gateway Arch, Gerard, you're going to love it."
The cab they got was small and smelled tantalizingly smoky, despite the sign on the window showing a cigarette firmly crossed out. Frank slid over in the back seat to lean his shoulder against Gerard's while the driver tried to engage Worm in a conversation about politics.
"You're in the heart of the nation now," the guy said, "yes, sir. Did you know Missouri has picked the winner in almost every presidential election for the last hundred years? We got 'em all, except for just the one back in '56."
"Uh huh," Worm said. Frank elbowed Gerard and caught his eye in a silent snicker. Gerard had to look out the window to suppress his own laugh. Frank shifted his arm to rest a little more comfortably against Gerard's side.
Fortunately the lines at the Arch were weren't too bad, and they only had to wait for a short while. They went down into the visitor center and skipped the museum in favor of going straight to the north tram. Frank plunked himself cheerfully into an end seat, where the ceiling of the tram was lowest, and tugged Gerard down next to him. Worm took the middle seat thankfully.
When they reached the observation deck, Gerard went to the eastern side first and looked back at the flat country they'd just crossed, and the Mississippi River. The bridges hummed with traffic, and the water glinted in the sun. Then he went to the other side and stared out at the city ahead, with its skyscrapers, cathedral, and stadium.
Frank came back from the far end of the deck stuffing a pamphlet into his back pocket. "Dred Scott had his first two trials in the Old Courthouse down there," he said. "The ones that said he should be free."
"That's pretty cool," Gerard said.
"Also, St. Louis had the first Olympics in America."
"Okay, you can stop now."
"The first Olympics in any English-speaking country," Frank insisted. "And they had them at the same time as the World's Fair."
"Stop! Stop!" Gerard said.
But it was too late. Frank had begun singing, and by the time he reached "don't tell me the lights are shining," Gerard couldn't help but join in.
"You are such an asshole," Gerard said after they'd finished out the chorus. The other tourists near them didn't look too thrilled either. Frank only smirked.
Luckily the tram came back soon after, and Frank behaved himself pretty well on the ride down. When they came outside, Worm stepped ahead to lead the way back to the taxi he'd paid to wait. Gerard looked over at Frank as they crossed between the bases of the arch. Frank had brought Gerard out here to spend their tiny allotment of free time on this thoroughly lame field trip together, and he looked windblown and happy. Gerard took a breath and reached over and grabbed Frank's hand.
Frank glanced back at Gerard and curled his fingers solidly around Gerard's palm. They let go to get into the cab, but held on again for nearly the whole ride back.
"Oh wait, stop!" Frank called out suddenly. "Can you pull over at the corner for just a second? - yeah, right here at the 7-11. I'll be right back. Thanks!" He popped out of the back seat and disappeared into the store.
Worm gritted his teeth and jerked his chin at Gerard to follow. They found Frank at the front counter, buying two cartons of cigarettes.
"Missouri has almost the lowest cigarette tax in the country," he said when Worm advanced upon him. Frank was so smart. Gerard beamed.
Worm was not equally impressed, even when Frank gave him a pack out of one of the cartons and promised him another when that was gone. But at least they made it to the venue without any more delays.
Frank stuck one pack into his jacket and stowed the rest of his stash on the bus. Then Gerard leaned against the wall outside the back door to the parking lot while Frank lit a cigarette and passed it to him. "Thanks," Gerard said fervently. Frank, already holding another between his lips, only nodded.
All too soon, Ray came out to drag them inside for the meet 'n' greet and warm-ups and all the rest of the usual whirlwind. "So, 'dja have a good time?" Mikey asked while they were hunched over the sink doing their makeup.
Gerard turned his head just enough to catch a glimpse of Frank in the corner of his eye. "Yeah," he said.
"Well, all right then," Mikey said. Gerard turned back and saw the mockery drain out of Mikey's smile, leaving it as clear as Gerard's own.
Gerard let Bob's beat pick him up and drive him through the show, fierce and wild, and then before he knew it, it was over, and they were tumbling out the corridors into the parking lot again, being bundled onto the bus. Ray disappeared to his setup in back, and Mikey and Bob settled down at the table in front, but Frank set a hand on the small of Gerard's back and guided him to the bunks.
"Hi, you," Frank said when the doors on either side were shut.
"Hey," Gerard said.
Frank raised an eyebrow, and Gerard stripped out of his jacket and jeans and climbed into his own bunk. Frank followed, sprawling out warm and solid on top of him.
"I," Frank said quietly, kissing him, "have been waiting - to do this - all - day."
"Mm," Gerard breathed, and he spread his legs a little more so Frank could settle between them. "Oh fuck!" Frank smirked and flattened his hand again.
Frank's kisses had gone lighter, teasing, and Gerard lifted his head to reach deeper into Frank's mouth again. Then he had a better idea and shifted his weight to roll them both over, but slowly, to avoid dumping Frank out of the bunk. Luckily Frank was giggling too much not to cooperate.
Once he had Frank on his back, Gerard slid down till he could tug Frank's boxers off, and then, finally, he got his mouth on Frank's cock. Frank bit back a groan, and Gerard felt Frank's fingers in his hair. He was so hard himself, and his lips were stretched so tightly, and there was nothing in his hands or his mouth or his sight or his mind except Frank. It was gorgeous.
When Frank came, Gerard swallowed as much as he could, and then Frank whispered "c'mere, c'mere," pulling him up to wipe his cheek clean and kiss him soundly all over again. Then Frank licked down along Gerard's stomach and it was Gerard's turn to stifle his gasps, bucking against Frank's anchoring hand on his hip. He clawed his fingers into the blanket crumpled against the wall, thrust into the heat of Frank's mouth, and opened his own jaws in loud panting breaths when he came.
Frank pressed one more kiss into the crease of Gerard's thigh before wriggling up to fit himself into the space between Gerard and the wall, stretching out on his side. When Gerard's breathing had evened out again, Frank started stroking the side of Gerard's face gently with his knuckles. He trailed his hand down over and over from Gerard's temple to his jaw. Gerard turned his eyes to meet Frank's gaze.
"Gerard," Frank said. "Listen, I'm serious about you. I want - do you think you could be serious about me, too?"
Gerard tried to swallow, his throat gone dry. "Yeah," he got out. "Yeah. I, uh, I think I already am."
Frank smiled.
Gerard nudged his leg over to line up more closely against Frank's. Frank laid his palm over Gerard's elbow. Gerard looked at Frank out of the corner of his eye. Then they were just kissing and grinning and grinning and kissing some more, while the bus drove into the brand new landscape of the hills of Missouri.