the science of sleep // frerard

6/9

The next few days pass in a strange blur. Frank throws himself into his work in both worlds, trying to forget about Party-fucking-Poison but despite the initial relief that he's not going to see him again, Frank's more on edge than ever. He nearly has a heart attack one morning when someone with red hair walks past his cubical in his own world, and then realises it's only Audrey from the Fraud department and he's an idiot, it's the complete wrong shade of red anyway as Audrey's got more of a natural auburn colour to hers while Party Poison's is a slap-you-in-the-face-motherfucker-everybody-pay-attention-to-me-cherry-bomb red and why is he still obsessing over him anyway?!

"I'm losing it," he says, rubbing his temples with his fingertips, ducking down behind the walls of his cubical. He settles for going outside, smoking several cigarettes and jotting down more notes about Better Living Industries.

Maybe that's the key, he thinks. Maybe if he can help the Killjoys figure out who Fun Ghoul was, it'll be the thing that snaps him back to his own reality and stop this whole thing. He's actually getting pretty good at memorising things in one world so he can work on them in the other, which he tells himself is always a useful skill to possess (although he's not too sure if it's one he can put on his CV).

He doesn't get to see Gerard much though; hit with pure inspiration for The Black Parade and a looming deadline for several pages he was supposed to have done weeks ago, Gerard disappears again, locking himself in his studio and only emerging for toilet-breaks, coffee and cigarettes. Trying to be supportive, Frank gives him his space but he does go round Gerard's house once after work, turning up on his doorstep with the largest cup of coffee money could buy and some kind of vaguely-healthy food from Starbucks.

"Aw, Frankie! You didn't have to –" Gerard says, sounding delighted but Frank cuts him off.

"I'm making sure you actually eat something during this time!! You can't live off nicotine and caffeine alone!"

"Best. Boyfriend. Ever," Gerard says, giving him a quick kiss. In all honesty, his clothes don't look any more paint-splattered than usual although it's pretty obvious he's been using his arm as a colour pallet. "How's work going? You heard back about the promotion yet??"

Perhaps more coffee was a mistake... Gerard's already pretty wired. Or maybe he's just buzzing from the adrenaline.

"Nothing yet, I'll find out soon enough."

"That's great!!" Gerard says, beaming widely. "Hey, you're still coming to the gig, right?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world! I'm curious to see what kind of music Mikey plays -"

"Great!!" Gerard says again. Frank notices him try to discretely check his watch.

"Don't worry, I'm not staying," Frank says, trying to sound fine. "I just wanted to provide fuel and make sure you hadn't accidentally drunk paint thinner by mistake."

"That was one time!!" Gerard laughs. "I'm fine, I'm fine," he says, though it sounds more like a mantra he's been repeating to himself a lot. "The deadline's tomorrow morning anyway, so this time tomorrow, I'll be freeee!!!"

He leans forward and gives Frank another quick kiss; it's almost aggressive. Man, Gerard must be really stressed.

Back at Better Living Industries, Frank spends his time exploring Battery City, safe in the security of the highest tower of Scarecrow surveillance. Battery City actually reminds him a lot of the world he came from. For one thing, despite the high-tech nature of everything else, there's still public transport that consists of trains and buses which run every ten minutes from 5am to midnight. They're always on time, even with how at certain times in the very early morning and incredibly late at night there are power glitches that cause everything to momentarily stop.