mwestbelle | commentfic again

"We'll." Mikey glances up at Frank, small limbs wrapped all around Gerard like some kind of creature and Gerard obviously taking great enjoyment from it, and smiles a little. It's a dark smile, but not nasty, though he's not sure anyone can really tell the difference. "We'll talk later, Gerard."

Frank has no idea what's going on. It's like Mikey and Gerard are talking their own language, which is so not fair and he huffs against the back of Gerard's neck, annoyed.

Gerard shivers a little at the feel of Frank's breath, warm on his neck, and he frowns, trying not to let on that he's nervous. He's assuming from Mikey's words that Frank isn't going to be there when they talk (or do more than talk, and memories of burning wax and leather straps come flooding back into his mind, which is really not something he needs at the moment) and he's glad. He doesn't want anything to happen to Frank, much as Mikey might dislike him.

"Come on, we should get dressed," Gerard says, trying to unlatch Frank from around his waist. "I don't want you to get any sicker than you already are."

"'M fine," Frank insists against Gerard's skin, nose poking into the curve of his shoulder. "'M comfortable. Maybe I'll stay." He rubs his cheek a little against Gerard's back in demonstration, making a soft happy sound.

Mikey watches the display with carefully hooded eyes. He knows Gerard must be squirming, not knowing what his true reaction to this is, and though he doesn't like to see Gerard unhappy, he's pleased to have evidence of the control he holds over his brother outside their bedroom.

"Frank, Frank. Come on. You're going to get sick and then your mom is going to find out you were with us and she's going to get mad." Gerard tries again to unlatch Frank, but he's clinging on tight, monkey-like.

"Oh fine," Frank says finally, unwinding himself from Gerard and dropping down into the warm sand. He scuttles along the beach, still naked, until he finally finds his clothes in a heap, slipping them on gingerly. Gerard reaches for his own, fastening them as quickly as he can with his eyes still glued to Mikey's face. Please don't be angry with me.

Frank wanders back over, shivering a little in the night air, and gives Gerard a pitiful look until he bends enough to let Frank clamber back onto his back. "Maybe you can come over for lunch tomorrow? And we could go swimming again, if you wanted. Or maybe you could stay the night." He snuggles against Gerard, apparently unbothered by his abnormally low body temperature, but it's Mikey he glances at. Somehow, he understands that if Mikey says no, nothing happens.

Mikey rises, dusting the sticks and bits of sand off of his breeches, and tucks his book primly under his arm. "We shall see."

They make their way back slowly, across the beach and down the narrow winding streets, Frank still hanging off of Gerard. When they finally reach his house, he climbs down, unwinding his legs from Gerard's waist and clambering halfway up the tree next to the house before they can blink. "Come by tomorrow, okay?" he calls, scaling the last branch and crawling in through a still-open window. Gerard stands there staring for a long moment before he finally turns back to Mikey.

"Can we talk now or do you want to wait until we get back to our room?" He scratches the back of his neck, more than a little nervous.

Mikey straightens his waistcoat, making a small face. He refuses to make eye contact, instead watching as Frank's shadow still moves in the room, visible through the window, until the light is gone and the whole house is dark, except for a lantern burning over the front door.

"Let's walk." He'd like to offer Gerard his arm, or wait until Gerard offers his, but he's still not sure how Milan would take to that, so he just starts walking, keeping an eye out for other late-night pedestrians. "Frank certainly make an impression tonight."

Gerard pauses, stopping in the shadows between the lights that line the streets. He doesn't know how to answer and he knows Mikey is being intentionally cryptic, refusing to tell him what he actually thinks. It's frustrating.

"And?" he says, finally.

Mikey stops a few feet ahead of him, looking down at his shoes. He straightens his shoulders a little and looks back at Gerard in the shadows. "And...I was thinking I may want to keep him." He allows a small smile to play at his lips.

Gerard stops dead in his tracks. "What? You... really?" He was expecting Mikey to be nothing short of furious, with the way Frank had clung to him and the way he'd encouraged it; he wasn't expecting this. He allows himself to smile back while his mind swims with possibilities. Now, if they can get Frank to agree...

"I thought you were beautiful together." Mikey's voice is soft, but his eyes are dark and heated. The memory of Frank and his soft little body against Gerard brings him to thoughts of Frank's soft little body against Gerard in an entirely different way. He holds out a hand, beckoning Gerard closer.

Gerard moves forward, insinuating himself into Mikey's personal space easily. "Do you want to--change him? Keep him with us for good?" Frank is still young, almost too young, but from what he's seen of Frank's sickness they run the risk of losing him entirely if they wait.

Satisfied that the street is clear, Mikey lifts a hand to thumb fondly over Gerard's cheek. He smiles. "Yes. I think I'll like it. Having both of you." He honestly has no idea if he could actually orchestrate the three of them together, but he has grandiose visions of mouths and hands and he's sure that they'll figure something out.

(AIM?)

"We'll have to convince him," Gerard points out, still smiling faintly. "But I'd like that." He doubts Frank will say no--they would be offering him the ability to travel as much as he wanted and never be sick again and he knows Frank would jump at the chance for either. "But... have him have him?" He coughs meaningfully. As much as he'd like to, Mikey seemed far from enthused about the idea before.

(Yeah, just let me finish up my English project I'm working on and then sure)

"You were pretty convincing with me," Mikey snorts a little. "I don't think there'll be any trouble." At the second thought, he gives Gerard a speculative look. There's clear want on his face, though Mikey can also see his trepidation. And yes, the thought of Gerard with Frank makes his stomach clench, but for some reason, when he adds himself to the image, it's not so bad. Not bad at all. "Yes. I. Want you to have him. And then I want to have him. And then perhaps we'll share."

Gerard shivers at the kind of thoughts going through his head at that--the idea of them sharing Frank alone would drive him mad from want alone if he thought about it too long. "I don't know that he understands what that means--what that would mean," he says, considering. "He's younger than even you were when we first... well."

"Well." It's a good point, and Mikey considers for a few moments before a slow smile quirks the corners of his mouth. "I suppose we'll just have to explain." He walks his fingers down Gerard's forearm and laughs shortly. "Possibly have demonstrations."

Gerard huffs out a laugh. "He'd be fascinated, I'm sure." And he is--he can practically see the wide-eyed wonder of You two do that? But, but. But you're brothers, isn't it weird? of Frank's face in his mind's eye. "But we wouldn't want to scare him off. Just kissing, at least at first, I think."

"At first." Mikey smiles, broader this time, because the tension between them over Frank was driving him to the brink of madness. It feels so good to just be able to converse normally without the underlying thread of angst. "Perhaps we'll come return tomorrow to visit him?"

"We should," Gerard agrees, resting his head on Mikey's shoulder. "And we could decide when to do it, if he agrees, when we're there." He sighs, relaxed for the first time in nearly four days, since the first time they found Frank.

Mikey snakes a hand down to Gerard's side and squeezes, affectionate. He's not exactly sure how tomorrow will go--"we aren't strictly human, we want to make you like us, this is what we do to each other," it's all a lot to deal with. He was thrust into this (not that he would make any other choice given a chance), as was Gerard. It will be very different, but he suspects that it will also be highly amusing.

Gerard smiles and leans into him, thoughts not dwelling on how they'll bring it up to Frank. For now all he can think of is what they're going to do once they have him.

They pass the morning in their room, going over vague plans of how to tell Frank properly, until finally it's dark enough that Gerard deems it safe to go out.

They head straight for the Ieros, and though a maid answers, Mrs. Iero is at the door in a moment, and smiles brightly at the pair. "Oh, Masters Way, how nice to see you again. Frankie said that you might be coming to visit again tonight."

"Yes, well. We do love chatting with him." Mikey's smile is colder than he usually lets it get around normal people, but Mrs. Iero doesn't seem to notice.

"You'll forgive me if I'm a poor hostess, I'm simply buried in preparations for the masquerade, so many invitations to write. I'll have yours sent to your rooms." Iero family tradition dictated a masqued ball for the son's thirteenth birthday, and Frank is tremendously excited.

Mikey pats her hand with a warmer smile. "We'll be fine. We'll just go up to his room."

Gerard exchanges a glance with Mikey, trying to quash his nervousness. What if it doesn't work?

They climb the stairs together and find Frank at the top, in his room staring out the window. Once he hears them coming he snaps his head around so fast Gerard is almost surprised he can't hear a crack. "You came!" He jumps up, hugging Gerard around the middle.

Gerard grins down at him. "Yeah." How do we even bring it up?

Mikey feels a spark of instinctive jealousy, but forces himself to look at the scene through darker eyes, see Frank's arms stretched wide and his cheek pressed into Gerard's chest and imagine better things. He smiles a little, trying to decide where to begin, how to persuade little Frankie to come to their side. The best way to start must be with the biggest temptation, their strongest selling point with the wide-eyed boy.

"Frank." Frank looks over, arms still around Gerard. "How would you like to travel with us?"

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