Echoes of Eclipsed Fears (Frerard)

20. The Taste of Ink

Days passed, and Frank and Gerard spent their time mutually exploring one another, delving deeper into each other's personalities. They played video games together, read together in the comfortable solace of the library, cherished the simple pleasure of each other's company and, of course, fucked. A lot.

One lazy Saturday, the pair lay restfully in Gerard's four-poster bed. They shared a bed sometimes, mostly on the nights after they had sex. Whilst Gerard didn't need to sleep, he was still happy to lounge around beside Frank until the morning came. Frank was sprawled on his stomach, his breathing creating a gentle rhythm in the otherwise silent air. Dust motes swirled in the crack of light that streamed onto the sheets. Gerard propped himself up on his elbow, tracing the lines of Frank's jack-o-lantern with his free hand.

"Do you want more tattoos?" He asked lazily, his finger following the zig-zag of the pumpkin's mouth.

"Yeah," Frank said, his voice sounding muffled since his head was turned into the pillow. "I had a couple ideas for some, but never got around to designing them."

"You should describe them to me and I'll draw them on you, just for fun," Gerard purred. Frank rolled over to face the vampire, shooting him a lopsided grin.

"You can draw?" He asked.

"Yeah," Gerard said. He reached out to brush a strand of hair out of Frank's eyes. "Wanna do that?"

Frank nodded, slipping out of bed.

"Gonna shower first," he said.

Gerard watched as Frank padded over to the ensuite, pulling a towel from the towel rack with a rattling sound. Frank stepped into the shower, but Gerard was yet to hear the sound of the taps being turned on.

"I didn't say you couldn't join me," Frank called from the bathroom. 

Gerard grinned, springing out of bed to join Frank in the shower. He made it a quick one; Gerard didn't sweat, much to Frank's envy, so he really only needed to wash last night off his body. Frank had his usual morning shower, which was still quick enough since he didn't need to wash his hair. Once drying off, Frank wrapped his towel around his waist and disappeared down the hall to select some clothes for the day.

"Up for a late breakfast?" Gerard asked. "Or is it technically lunch since it's later..."

"Morning tea," Frank settled on, retrieving a plate from the cupboard. He had gotten to know Gerard's house well enough, now, and helped himself to the kitchen whenever he felt like it. Gerard didn't mind, of course; Frank never had to worry about accidentally eating the vampire's leftovers. Gerard seldom fed from Frank, usually leaving it as long as possible before topping up his energy supply. Currently, it had been three days since Gerard's last bite, and his skin was still sporting a rosy glow thanks to it.

Gerard watched silently as Frank made himself toast, planting a light kiss against the boy's cheek when he sat down.

"So, tell me about these tattoo ideas you have," he said.

"Well," Frank began, "I wanna get these birds on my stomach, I just haven't got the money for 'em yet. And uhh..."

"Birds?" Gerard cut him off. "What kind of birds?"

"I dunno," Frank said, "I drew a rough sketch a while ago but it wasn't great; I was planning on taking the idea to a tattoo artist and hopefully they would work something out."

"Well, you can redraw the idea for me, if you want," Gerard said, "and I'll try and make something out of it."

"So you're an artist?" Frank asked, a slight smile playing on his lips.