Frank on a Leash

Frank grinned like he used to when his mother claimed he was up to no good--and that usually meant something breaking/being glued to his cousin's face--as he stepped up to his front door, dragging Mikey along behind him. By some miracle he avoided making both of them trip as he ran up the porch steps. He stopped abruptly at the door,but his arms were working slower than the rest of his body, resulting in Mikey being pulled uncomfortably close to his chest. He quickly spat out an apology and went to work digging around in his pockets for his keys, jumping up and down and standing on tip-toe like it would help his hand squeeze into the too-small and over crowded space.

He pulled out an assortment of items--change, two Dunlop picks, a half-eaten packet of peanut butter crackers (Mikey's favorite, just in case in the middle of the day he decided that Mikey was looking a bit peakish)--until his finger looped around his keychain and he yanked it out with a triumphant cry.

"You know, this means that you'll get to see my baby," he said conversationally, slipping the key into the lock. Ignoring Mikey's raised eyebrow, he went on. "She's usually asleep this time of day--that's why you haven't seen her before. She's so lazy." The lock clicked, and Frank was pulling Mikey into the house eagerly, bumping into walls and not caring as he scurried into the laundry room. He let go of Mikey's hand in the kitchen when he realized that he was still dragging the poor boy around.

Mikey leaned against the counter in Frank's kitchen, watching Frank disappear into the adjoining laundry room, biting his lip fretfully and expecting the worst. It was the words 'baby' and 'her' and the look of adoration Frank had on his face as he spoked about her that had him worried. He knew 16 year olds that had babies...but Frank couldn't be one of them. It doesn't work like that. Those were the kind of things like rape and murder that happened to a friend of a distant relative, not to his boyfriend. He heard Frank groan and straightened up a bit, pulling down his shirt where it had risen above the waist band of his boxers, visible under the loose pants he wore. Frank stumbled out in his clumsy-graceful way with a little moving bundle pressed closely to his chest, giggling as he hid it from Mikey with his sleeve.

"Close your eyes," he instructed. Mikey smirked, thinking how dorky this was, but humored Frank anyway.

He heard Frank creep closer, the weak points of his linoleum floor creaking under his feet, heard the thin strain Frank was putting on himself not to laugh, then--

"Holy shit, what was that?" Mikey squealed, jumping back until the counter dug into his back, scrubbing furiously at his nose. He opened his eyes to see Frank beaming, cradling a small black and white dog in his arms that was trying against all things holy to break free and sniff at the stranger in the kitchen.

"Isn't she adorable, Mikey?" Frank bowed his head to kiss the top of the puppy's head, giggling when she pawed at his chin.

Mikey smiled down at his boyfriend, torn between feeling jealous of a fucking dog and wanting to push Frank up against the wall and kiss him. He reached out a hand nervously to scratch at the puppy's perky ears, hoping that he didn't get his hand bitten off. He was really more of a cat person, but Frank obviously loved her, so he wasn't about to make Frank feel bad. She actually was kind of cute, some kind of mini-bulldog with a stubby little nose and wide set dark eyes that reflected Frank's in a way.

"Yeah, almost as cute as you, Frankie," he mumbled fondly, smiling and re-thinking his stance on puppies when she raised her head to lick at his fingers.

Frank blushed shyly and looked down in a way that tugged at Mikey's heart, giggling softly. Instead of acknowledging the compliment, he went on.

"Her name's Bella, and I wuv her to death. Mom says it's unhealthy--but oh well. I can't help it, she's too sweet. She never bites people, ever, she's actually quite cuddly, and she's always trying to crawl into my lap when I'm watching TV...heh, kinda like you, Mikey." Frank set Bella down on the kitchen counter, where she immediately padded noisily over to Mikey and began sniffing at his jacket, pressing a cold wet nose into his hand. Frank watched the exchange quietly, smiling inwardly at the two best things in his life. It made him feel like such a fucking girl--fawning over a little dog and his boyfriend--but they were his, and he loved them. It was really amazing, he thought, that he was really to this point in his life, completely happy and in love at just 16. But then again, he always loved so readily, it wasn't surprising. He could love everyone, no matter how evil they were, he always just wanted to give them chances and hug them better.

"Aw, she likes you, Mikey," Frank cooed as Bella started pawing at Mikey's arm, wanting to be picked up and knowing that it'll happen because Frank had her spoiled. Mikey put his arms around the puppy and hoisted her up to rest against his chest, scrunching his nose at the way she licked at his ear. He didn't miss the look Frank was giving him. It was the same look he gave when Mikey started rambling about whether The Incredible Hulk was really all that incredible (pft, not really. Superman could knock him on his ass.), or when he compared Pop Tarts to other, less appetizing foods (like honey buns, eww).

"What, Frank?" Mikey hid his smile by pressing his nose to one of Bella's ears.

Frank shook his head and smiled, leaning his weight on the kitchen counter. "Nuthin', you just look so sweet." He slinked forward to carefully lift Bella out of Mikey's arms and put her on the floor. She immediately bolted for the living room, yipping in the way that puppies do when they haven't learned to properly bark yet. Frank took a moment to watch her before turning back to Mikey and throwing his arms around his stiff shoulders, pressing their stomachs together. He pressed a wet, sloppy kiss to Mikey's cheek and giggled at the sounds of protest his boyfriend made. His hands played at the back of Mikey's shirt, tracing circles on his shoulder blades, and his lips continued to make messy wet spots on Mikey's face until he had the good sense to kiss back.

The sound of the door opening broke them apart quickly, both assuming innocent poses with their hands clasped primly behind their backs. Linda Iero walked into the kitchen with her bag of groceries and looked at the two boys suspiciously, setting the bag on the counter.

"Hello, Mikey dear," she greeted as she took the bag of chips and assorted cans of soup out and put them in their rightful places in the cabinets.

Mikey looked down shyly and murmured, "Hi," quietly. No one would ever have guessed that Mikey spent every afternoon here, with the way he was still so uncomfortable around Frank's mom. He was still hesitant about what she wanted to be called--he knew that Frank's mom and dad were divorced, so he wasn't sure if she still went by 'Mrs. Iero', and didn't want to offend her if she didn't.

"So, what were you two doing before I got here? You both look pretty suspicious." She had a feeling that she knew exactly what they were doing. *insert childish laughter* Frank didn't get so flustered over just anything, and right now his face was burning a bright red and his eyes seemed glued to the floor.

Frank gasped at the upturned note in his mother's voice. "You know!"

She smiled condescendingly and reached out to tuck Frank's hair behind his ear. "No offense, but Mikey, sweetie...you wear too much make up to be straight."

Frank couldn't help but laugh and look over at Mikey apologetically. He slipped his hand into Mikey's and swung their hands between them. "Yeah, but it makes him really pretty." He stood on tip toe to kiss Mikey's forehead, then turned back to his mother, slightly put out that he couldn't make a dramatic announcement at dinner that he was gay. He'd really been looking forward to shocking his mom. "So, you're not even surprised that your only son is dating a boy?"

She smiled and shrugged, handing Frank the pack of Oreos she knew he would soon be looking for. Once, he'd trashed the whole kitchen looking for cookies until she had to tell him that she forgot to buy any.

"Yay, Oreos," he gushed, hugging the box to his chest, distress over his mother's lack of emotion gone. A quick glance over at Mikey told Frank that it was time to go up to his room so his boyfriend wouldn't hyperventilate. He tugged on Mikey's hand. "C'mon, I want to show you the newest issue of Shojo Beat! I got."

---------------------------

The sky hung suspended over their heads aquamarine and clear, host for a sun that was shining much too brightly for Mikey's tastes but he didn't mind, really. Not when he had the heavy, dead peace lurking around the slab of granite he was leaned up against, not when he could watch his boyfriend hunch down close to the earth and carry on a conversation with a snail

Frank rested comfortably on his stomach in the cool grass, arms supporting his head as he chatted away with the mollusk he named Ramona about the sky.

"It's very pretty today, don't you think? Yeah. And there's no clouds, which is something of an anomaly for Jersey, what with all the pollution--have you ever left the state? I went to New York once, it was nice. Not as good as here, but nice. The vendors had tofu burgers, and that was nice. What do you eat, Ramona? Grass? Flies?"

"They eat plants and algae," Mikey supplied quietly, toying with a button on his jacket. He almost felt bad for disrupting their conversation, for all he knew that Frank was talking to a snail, it still felt like a private conversation.

Frank smiled and crawled over to Mikey, curling up in his lap. He took Mikey's arms and folded them around himself. "You're kind of a nerd, Mikey."

He could almost hear Mikey's self-esteem being crushed as he let out a gloomy, "I know," and laid his head on Frank's shoulder. Frank twisted his head to softly peck Mikey's temple, silently apologizing because he knew he was treading on depths of water best left undisturbed.

"But you are also my unbelievably hot and gothy boyfriend, and I reserve the rights to call you a nerd. If anyone else tries that shit, I'm bashing their face into a wall." He saw Mikey's tiny smile, leaned forward, and kissed him flush on the mouth. "Besides," he breathed out against the corner of Mikey's mouth. He pulled back and grinned. "I love the fact that you know all the stuff I wonder about. You're amazing. Even if you do drag me to graveyards."

Mikey tightened his hold on Frank and pouted. "You don't like graveyards?"

Frank shook his head and closed his eyes, using Mikey as a pillow. "Nah. I don't like to think about death. I don't like mortality. I don't think anyone should have to die," he murmured, spilling more of his good natured naivety and general love for life and all its inhabitants.

"I don't think dying is scary. Death is beautiful." And necessary, Mikey thought, but he knew that focusing more on the beauty than the practicality was the best way to go with Frank. If he said that the earth needed death, Frank wouldn't like it, no matter if it was logical or not.

Frank frowned and kissed the nearest patch of skin, not prompting Mikey to go on but not stopping him either. If Mikey wanted to talk, Frank wanted to listen.

"Death...is comfortable. It's the moment that you're reunited with all the people you lost during your life, and you know that the people you leave behind will join you soon. It's a new start...I don't see it as the end. I think people are afraid of it because it's such a big change, leaving all their possessions behind and just...not being able to hide anymore. The Egyptians actually embraced death, you know, they buried their dead with their possessions and thought they could take them into the afterlife so they won't be so naked. They weren't afraid because they didn't look at it like we do. It's just...a different plane, that's all."

He glanced down to see Frank just...fuck, dreamy eyed, like he was just reciting 17th century poetry instead of talking about dying like the goth boy that he was.

"You make everything sound so beautiful, Mikey...but I still can't think of you, you know. You can't go, you're mine." Frank punctuated his point by slipping his arms around Mikey's waist and kissing his shoulder through the layers of black clothes.

"I know, Frankie. But, y'know, like the song goes, Who wants to live forever? While everyone around you dies? Honestly, sometimes I think it's scarier to live than to die. Like, if I ever got in an accident and was in a coma or paralyzed, I'd rather just let go instead of letting some machine run my life. I don't want my parents to have to take care of me for the rest of their life, or my brother. That's just not fair to them."

Frank nodded, but he knew that if anything like that did happen (hell no it won't, Frank'll make sure of it even if he has to wrap Mikey in a plastic bubble) he wasn't letting anyone pull the plug on him. Fuck that, Frank still needed Mikey too much. He needed about...80 more years of being with Mikey, at the very least.

"I get that, that you don't want to be a burden, but..." Frank sniffed a little, because, hell, he didn't mean to think about this but now the fear was set and it wasn't going away. And now he didn't really know how to end the sentence rather than saying, but I love you and you're not going to die even if I have to make Superman fly around the world backwards to reverse time to stop it. So he didn't, and let Mikey interpret it however.

Mikey just nodded kissed the top of Frank's head. "I know. And...really, the reason I like to come here is to look at the gravestones. Not the death part. And I also like to imagine how their funerals went, if that doesn't sound too demented."

"What do you mean? Aren't all funerals the same?" Lots of crying people and a dead body?

"Not always. Sometimes they aren't a sob-fest, sometimes they get it right and it really is honoring the dead. I like those. Like, it's not about the flowers and the eulogies and how many people are crying, it's just the fact that so many people were affected by this person's death, that's how many people loved them, and therefore their life had meaning. I don't want mine to be a downer. Oh, and also, I want to be buried with my Smashing Pumpkins shirt, cause I got it at their concert."

Frank cracked a little smile and sighed. "Okay. Now, we talk about something different."

"Like?"

"Like, did you read the new issue of Loveless? Seimei might not be dead! This is epic!"

Mikey didn't point out the fact that, no, he didn't read it, and let Frank go on about how cute Ritsuka and Soubi were together, and how he wanted cat ears. Even though even if he was in the Loveless universe, he still wouldn't have ears.