Staring Through the Demons (Frerard) [Bexless]

Staring Through the Demons

Gerard looked from Frank to Mikey and back again, confusion all over his face. "I guess I didn't think - sorry,

Frank."

Frank waved him off and turned back to the painting. Mikey waited until Gerard had gone away to look at a sculpture in the middle of the room, then said, "You read that off the plaque on the wall, didn't you."
Frank snickered. "Busted."

Mikey rolled his eyes. "You're an asshole."

"Your brother's a know-it-all," Frank replied, but when they drifted over to join Gerard, he said, "Explain this one to me?"

Gerard sighed lavishly for a moment, then grudgingly offered, "It's a Pieta." "I thought that was in St. Peter's," Mikey thought out loud.

"That's Michelangelo's Pieta, yeah. It's the most famous. He made it a lot bigger than they usually were. And his Mary is really young, and kind of peaceful looking? Usually she would be shown as older. And a lot more sad."

Frank touched the little statue in front of them, fingers lingering on Mary's face. "Have you seen it?"

Gerard smiled softly, his eyes going a little unfocused as he remembered. "Yeah, I always try to see it when I'm over there. It's beautiful. There's a reason why people refer to it as The Pieta, you know? But any work of art which shows her cradling Christ's body is a Pieta. Well, technically..." he trailed off, looking sheepish. "I'm doing it again, aren't I?"

"No," Frank pressed. "I want to know, come on. Tell me."

Gerard hesitated, then went on, "Technically it's only a Pieta if they're alone. If anyone else is shown standing around watching, then it's a Lamentation."

"Pieta," Mikey said out loud, just to feel the word in his mouth. "What does it mean, like, pity?"

"Yes, good," Gerard said, like Mikey was a kid in Sunday School. "That's the literal translation in Italian, but it comes from the Latin pietas, which is a word the Romans used for duty and devotion. So I guess in this context we're meant to pity Christ, sure, and Mary for what she's lost, but it's also a study on devotion, on what people will give up to save the things they love."

"Oh, good," Bob said suddenly from behind Mikey, making them all jump. "I was hoping we'd be in time for Sister Wendy's Grand Tour."

Gerard beamed at him. "Sister Wendy rocks."

Mikey looked around Bob to Ray and Brian. "What'd they say at the bank?"

"In layman's terms?" Brian spread his hands, paused for drama or whatever, and said, "We're broke." "Oh," Gerard said, face falling. "Oh."

"I know how you feel about asking people to pay for us to help them," Brian said quickly, before Gerard could get started on a rant. "I do, and I get it, but the bottom line is we either need to make some money or we need to go home."

"Do we even have enough money to go home?" Bob asked him quietly. Brian shrugged. "We do if we don't eat until we get there."

"Shit," said Ray. Mikey thought that summed it up.

Gerard was chewing his thumbnail, eyes darting around anxiously. "We can't go home. Well, I can't. I have to get to Chicago."

"Well, you're getting paid for this," Brian reminded him. "So that's your call."

"We can't go home either," Frank said. "We don't have jobs anymore. Or apartments." "I agree," Brian said calmly. "But I can't magic money up from nowhere."