Burn As Bright (Frerard)

36

Getting back to Frank's room was a blur. It was still late, but activity was beginning to stir due to the arrival of the Force Commander on the horizon. Ray had split off to his own barracks, but Jamia had made sure Frank made it fully back to his room without incident. Now, he was alone. Once again stuck in this grey room alone.

Frank sat on the edge of his bed. He was tired, but his brain was whirling with thoughts at the same time. How was he going to get to Gerard? How could he be sure where he even was? Assuming it was the labs was only a guess based on what Patrick had experienced, and he was so back and forth on realities it was hard to be sure where he really was when he experienced it...

Frank shut his eyes as his magic whispered to him. It swirled around his chest, trying to soothe him.

"No..." He shook his head, "I can't... We have to find him. How can I just sleep now?"

More whispers filled his head as Frank realized just how heavy his eyelids were. He couldn't pry them back open as he leaned to his side, letting himself fall to the mattress. Please, just sleep. Frank exhaled a soft breath. Maybe he should... today had been a lot...

"No..." The word was a faint breath as his body began to relax into unconsciousness. He couldn't... There was no time...

He had to find...

He had to...

Knocking at his door made his eyes snap open. He shot upright like a bolt, chest rising and falling rapidly. Had he fallen asleep? It felt like he had barely closed his eyes. He brought a hand up and pushed it through his hair. His magic wasn't whispering or moving. It was settled in his chest, resting. He lowered his hand, pressing it against his chest. He could feel it alongside his heartbeat, giving off a slight pulse as it rested. He had never felt it like that before.

Another soft set of knocks pulled his attention to the door. It didn't sound like the knocks of his father. Frank maneuvered off of the bed and made his way over to the door. When he opened it, he was surprised to see Jamia standing on the other side. She stood in a black dress that went just past her calf muscle. It covered one shoulder while leaving her other exposed. Hr hair was up in a nicer style than usual and she had a small chain around her neck. She had a smile plastered on her face until she stepped into the room and Frank shut the door behind her.

She spun around, eyes wide. "You aren't ready?" She exclaimed, gesturing to his attire.

He looked down, seeing the bare bones of his under uniform. "Uh..."

"Frank, he's already landed!" Jamia hurried over to his wardrobe. She pulled it open, swiftly flicking through his attire to find his suit, "Only top officials had to be present for that, but dinner is now!"

"Wait, what do you mean now?" Frank made his way over to the wardrobe just in time to have his suit jacket thrown at him. He barely managed to catch it before the matching pants were thrown to him as well. "We barely got back, didn't we?"

Jamia shook her head. "Frank, it's been hours. I tried to sneak back sooner, but they have personnel everywhere because the Force Commander is on base. It was way too risky."

Frank looked between the suit and Jamia. "Hours?" He repeated as she tugged a dress-shirt from its hanger. "It was so late and I barely just..."

She turned to him with a softer expression. "You've also had a lot going on." She pulled the suit jacket from his hand and held out the dress-shirt instead. "We can afford a bit of time, but we really do need to not waste much of it. Get changed." She tuned around, still holding the suit jacket as she moved towards the door.

Frank quickly swapped his current clothing, though he almost tripped on a pant leg, and swapped into the more formal attire. He called out for Jamia to turn back around as his shaky hands fumbled with the buttons of his dress shirt. She swiftly made her way across the room, suit jacket draped over her arm as she reached out to help with the top buttons of his shirt.