The Co-Dependent
Title: The Co-Dependent
Pairing: Gerard/Frank
Rating: R
Summary: An amazing promotion and a new apartment opens Gerard up to enjoying life.
Author: clairejw
Word Count: 5285
Author’s Notes:Title taken from a Sia song of the same name.
Beta: slashxmistress
Most days, Gerard hated his job. When he left school, his plan was not a nine to five desk job in an office with one tiny window (and even that was in the bathroom). When he’d moved out of his parents basement, his intention really wasn’t to go work in another one. Every morning he woke up, took a piss, had two black coffees and a piece of toast, woke Mikey up, got dressed and left for work.
He would arrive at work; put his lunch in the staff room fridge, sit at his desk and wait for nine to roll around, before starting work.
He’d spend all morning inputting figures into the computer, take half an hour for lunch at half past twelve, input more figures, leave work at five, get home late and exhausted, eat dinner with Mikey, watch TV, jerk off in the shower and go to bed. Five days a week, for the past ten years. Most days Gerard hated his job.
This day started no differently - he woke up, took a piss, had two black coffees and a piece of toast, threw a cushion at Mikey to wake him up, got dressed and left for work. He arrived at work, put his lunch in the staff room fridge, sat at his desk and waited for nine to roll around, before starting work.
This day at nine a.m., Gerard was called into the CEO’s office. The guy in the next cubicle patted his back consolingly, and the pretty receptionist whose name Gerard could never remember tilted her head sympathetically. Gerard was pretty sure he wasn’t getting fired, but when people looked at you like that it was kind of hard to not walk into the office shitting bricks.
The CEO’s office was huge - one wall was a window, with a view over Central Park. As much as Gerard hated the work he did, he kind of really wanted to work somewhere exactly like this one day.
“Mr Way,” the CEO said, smiling. He stood up and shook Gerard’s hand, before gesturing to one of the expensive leather chairs Gerard was standing near.
“Good morning, Mr Bryar,” Gerard said, sitting down.
“Please call me Bob. How long have you been working with us?” Bob asked.
“Ten years,” Gerard replied. Bob nodded, tapping at his laptop keyboard.
“I imagine that data input is not what you want to do for the rest of your life, correct?” Gerard hesitated before answering - telling your CEO that you don’t like your job is probably not a great way to avoid being fired. Regardless, Gerard shook his head.
“Not exactly,” he said.
“Someone in your department has brought to my attention your talent for drawing and customer relations. I’m offering you a promotion into the marketing department. It’s a fifty thousand dollar per annum pay rise, and the hours are a little more flexible. Would you be interested in the position?” Bob asked, still smiling. Gerard sat in stunned silence for a moment - he didn’t think that blurting out ‘fuck yeah’ was a great way to start.
“Customer relations?” Gerard asked.
“You can relate to the general public more than most people who work here. We need that kind of knowledge and rapport in marketing. Can you start there tomorrow?” Bob asked again. Gerard would have been really fucking stupid to turn it down.
--
Gerard was never one to spend money before he had it, but that night he took himself and Mikey out for a celebratory dinner at an expensive restaurant in Manhattan.
“If this works out, we might be able to move here,” Gerard said casually. “Closer to work, closer to Alicia.”
“You hate New York City,” Mikey said carefully. “You’ve always said you wanted to stay in Jersey.”
“Sushi,” was all Gerard said.
“Gee…”
“Alicia and sushi,” Gerard said with a smirk. “Come on, are you really going to argue with that?”
“No,” Mikey said, “but if we commit to this now and then you change your mind in three months, I’m still moving.”
“If you’re moving, I’m moving,” Gerard said. “So it looks like we’re both moving to Manhattan.”
“Really?” Mikey asked, standing up from his seat. Gerard slipped some cash into the waitresses hand with a smile as he stood up as well. He stepped towards Mikey, shrugging his coat on. It was fucking cold outside.
“Really,” he said. Mikey pulled Gerard into a tight hug and pulled his phone out of his pocket to call Alicia.
--
“First days at a new job are always nerve-wracking,” Mikey reasoned, yawning loudly as Gerard flung shirts across the room. He had to leave in five minutes and he’d only had one coffee.
“But it’s not really a new job, it’s just a better one within the same company,” Gerard said. He settled on a black button-down. “Go make me another coffee.”
“You’re doing new work, with new people, in a new office. It’s a new job. A better job,” Mikey said. He handed his half-full mug of coffee to Gerard. “You don’t have time for me to make you a new one. Drink this and go.”
“Thanks, Mikey. I really needed to feel more nervous about this,” Gerard muttered, draining his coffee. He set the mug down, picked up his bag, and headed for the front door.
“You’ll be fine,” Mikey insisted, patting Gerard on the shoulder. “Have a good day.”
“Thanks,” Gerard sighed, walking outside. He made the commute to work and went up to the sixth floor instead of the second. A blonde receptionist greeted him with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
“Gerard Way?” She handed him a file and pointed down the hall.
“I’m Meagan,” she said. “Your office is that way, third door on the left. There’s a team meeting at ten every Tuesday, so people usually don’t turn up until then.”
“Thanks,” Gerard murmured absently, flicking through the papers in his hand. He walked down the hall and into his office, which had a large window along one wall. Gerard grinned, flopping into the expensive leather seat.
--
The team meeting was…interesting. The marketing team seemed to have their own set of social rules and boundaries, and no concept of punctuality. They trickled into the board room between ten and eleven, and the meeting was less of a meeting and more of a social catch-up.
“So, new kid. Got any ideas for our Halloween campaign? I know it’s almost five months away, but we like to get a head start,” one guy asked.
“It’s Gerard,” Gerard said. “And if you give me a couple of days I’m sure I can come up with something.”
“Awesome,” the guy said, putting his legs up on the table. “I say we order lunch in and charge to Bryar today.”
“When do we not do that? Yesterday it was Thai, and on Friday we ordered pizza,” another guy said.
“Chinese today,” Bob said as he walked into the room. He sat in the chair next to Gerard, and flicked a rubber band at the person sitting opposite him. “Like it here so far?”
“Yeah,” Gerard replied with a grin. “It’s different.”
“Data input is boring as fuck,” Bob snorted. “I only ever go down there if something is wrong.”
“You’re not kidding,” Gerard replied. “So, this ordering lunch thing…”
“Every day,” Bob sighed. “These fuckers are wasting my time and my money.”
“You love us,” someone shouted from the hallway.
“If they didn’t bring in ten times what they’re costing me, they all would have been fired months ago,” Bob said with a grin. He stood up from his seating, patting Gerard on the shoulder. “The way I see it, keeping these losers in the lifestyle they’ve grown accustomed to keeps them motivated and keeps making me money. Any specific lunch requests?”
“I’ll eat anything,” Gerard replied.
“That’s what I like to hear. If you have any problems, let Meagan know and she’ll call me down. Don’t take any shit from them.”
“We would never!” The guy from the hallway shoved Bob out of the way as he walked into the room.
“Frank, I swear to god if you make another new employee cry I will fire your ass,” Bob growled. “And what makes you think that what you’re wearing is appropriate office attire?” Franks jeans were skin tight, and his t-shirt was covered in profanities.
“I don’t deal directly with the public, does it really matter what I wear?” Frank protested. Bob frowned, but said nothing else. “He actually doesn’t care what we wear here, as long as we’re wearing clothes that we’d wear in public.”
“Yeah, the suits never really stuck,” Bob said. “Seriously, just don’t show up in anything you wouldn’t wear out and about, and you’re fine.”
“Okay,” Gerard said. Gerard was pretty sure he’d found the working world equivalent of nirvana.
--
When Gerard arrived home, Mikey was still at work. Gerard couldn’t remember the last time he’d got home before Mikey. He spent around two minutes freaking the fuck out, before remembering he’d left work an hour and a half early. Apparently, ‘the hours are a little more flexible’ actually meant ‘you can pretty much come and go as you please, as long as you get your shit done’. Gerard had been the last to leave. He’d been sitting in his office, when Bob had walked past and asked him why the fuck he was still there. Bob then told Gerard not to bother coming into work until eleven the next day, as no-one would be here before then anyway.
Gerard started dinner - something he hadn’t done in a while, and had it pretty much finished by the time Mikey got home.
“What the fuck,” were the first words out of Mikey’s mouth. “Did you get fired?”
“No,” Gerard replied, rolling his eyes. “Marketing has its own set of rules, apparently. I left work at three thirty.”
“So coming home to a hot meal is something I can expect on a regular basis, then?”
“I’m not your fucking housewife,” Gerard said. Mikey grinned at him, and stole a snow pea out of the wok.
Part Two
Pairing: Gerard/Frank
Rating: R
Summary: An amazing promotion and a new apartment opens Gerard up to enjoying life.
Author: clairejw
Word Count: 5285
Author’s Notes:Title taken from a Sia song of the same name.
Beta: slashxmistress
Most days, Gerard hated his job. When he left school, his plan was not a nine to five desk job in an office with one tiny window (and even that was in the bathroom). When he’d moved out of his parents basement, his intention really wasn’t to go work in another one. Every morning he woke up, took a piss, had two black coffees and a piece of toast, woke Mikey up, got dressed and left for work.
He would arrive at work; put his lunch in the staff room fridge, sit at his desk and wait for nine to roll around, before starting work.
He’d spend all morning inputting figures into the computer, take half an hour for lunch at half past twelve, input more figures, leave work at five, get home late and exhausted, eat dinner with Mikey, watch TV, jerk off in the shower and go to bed. Five days a week, for the past ten years. Most days Gerard hated his job.
This day started no differently - he woke up, took a piss, had two black coffees and a piece of toast, threw a cushion at Mikey to wake him up, got dressed and left for work. He arrived at work, put his lunch in the staff room fridge, sat at his desk and waited for nine to roll around, before starting work.
This day at nine a.m., Gerard was called into the CEO’s office. The guy in the next cubicle patted his back consolingly, and the pretty receptionist whose name Gerard could never remember tilted her head sympathetically. Gerard was pretty sure he wasn’t getting fired, but when people looked at you like that it was kind of hard to not walk into the office shitting bricks.
The CEO’s office was huge - one wall was a window, with a view over Central Park. As much as Gerard hated the work he did, he kind of really wanted to work somewhere exactly like this one day.
“Mr Way,” the CEO said, smiling. He stood up and shook Gerard’s hand, before gesturing to one of the expensive leather chairs Gerard was standing near.
“Good morning, Mr Bryar,” Gerard said, sitting down.
“Please call me Bob. How long have you been working with us?” Bob asked.
“Ten years,” Gerard replied. Bob nodded, tapping at his laptop keyboard.
“I imagine that data input is not what you want to do for the rest of your life, correct?” Gerard hesitated before answering - telling your CEO that you don’t like your job is probably not a great way to avoid being fired. Regardless, Gerard shook his head.
“Not exactly,” he said.
“Someone in your department has brought to my attention your talent for drawing and customer relations. I’m offering you a promotion into the marketing department. It’s a fifty thousand dollar per annum pay rise, and the hours are a little more flexible. Would you be interested in the position?” Bob asked, still smiling. Gerard sat in stunned silence for a moment - he didn’t think that blurting out ‘fuck yeah’ was a great way to start.
“Customer relations?” Gerard asked.
“You can relate to the general public more than most people who work here. We need that kind of knowledge and rapport in marketing. Can you start there tomorrow?” Bob asked again. Gerard would have been really fucking stupid to turn it down.
--
Gerard was never one to spend money before he had it, but that night he took himself and Mikey out for a celebratory dinner at an expensive restaurant in Manhattan.
“If this works out, we might be able to move here,” Gerard said casually. “Closer to work, closer to Alicia.”
“You hate New York City,” Mikey said carefully. “You’ve always said you wanted to stay in Jersey.”
“Sushi,” was all Gerard said.
“Gee…”
“Alicia and sushi,” Gerard said with a smirk. “Come on, are you really going to argue with that?”
“No,” Mikey said, “but if we commit to this now and then you change your mind in three months, I’m still moving.”
“If you’re moving, I’m moving,” Gerard said. “So it looks like we’re both moving to Manhattan.”
“Really?” Mikey asked, standing up from his seat. Gerard slipped some cash into the waitresses hand with a smile as he stood up as well. He stepped towards Mikey, shrugging his coat on. It was fucking cold outside.
“Really,” he said. Mikey pulled Gerard into a tight hug and pulled his phone out of his pocket to call Alicia.
--
“First days at a new job are always nerve-wracking,” Mikey reasoned, yawning loudly as Gerard flung shirts across the room. He had to leave in five minutes and he’d only had one coffee.
“But it’s not really a new job, it’s just a better one within the same company,” Gerard said. He settled on a black button-down. “Go make me another coffee.”
“You’re doing new work, with new people, in a new office. It’s a new job. A better job,” Mikey said. He handed his half-full mug of coffee to Gerard. “You don’t have time for me to make you a new one. Drink this and go.”
“Thanks, Mikey. I really needed to feel more nervous about this,” Gerard muttered, draining his coffee. He set the mug down, picked up his bag, and headed for the front door.
“You’ll be fine,” Mikey insisted, patting Gerard on the shoulder. “Have a good day.”
“Thanks,” Gerard sighed, walking outside. He made the commute to work and went up to the sixth floor instead of the second. A blonde receptionist greeted him with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
“Gerard Way?” She handed him a file and pointed down the hall.
“I’m Meagan,” she said. “Your office is that way, third door on the left. There’s a team meeting at ten every Tuesday, so people usually don’t turn up until then.”
“Thanks,” Gerard murmured absently, flicking through the papers in his hand. He walked down the hall and into his office, which had a large window along one wall. Gerard grinned, flopping into the expensive leather seat.
--
The team meeting was…interesting. The marketing team seemed to have their own set of social rules and boundaries, and no concept of punctuality. They trickled into the board room between ten and eleven, and the meeting was less of a meeting and more of a social catch-up.
“So, new kid. Got any ideas for our Halloween campaign? I know it’s almost five months away, but we like to get a head start,” one guy asked.
“It’s Gerard,” Gerard said. “And if you give me a couple of days I’m sure I can come up with something.”
“Awesome,” the guy said, putting his legs up on the table. “I say we order lunch in and charge to Bryar today.”
“When do we not do that? Yesterday it was Thai, and on Friday we ordered pizza,” another guy said.
“Chinese today,” Bob said as he walked into the room. He sat in the chair next to Gerard, and flicked a rubber band at the person sitting opposite him. “Like it here so far?”
“Yeah,” Gerard replied with a grin. “It’s different.”
“Data input is boring as fuck,” Bob snorted. “I only ever go down there if something is wrong.”
“You’re not kidding,” Gerard replied. “So, this ordering lunch thing…”
“Every day,” Bob sighed. “These fuckers are wasting my time and my money.”
“You love us,” someone shouted from the hallway.
“If they didn’t bring in ten times what they’re costing me, they all would have been fired months ago,” Bob said with a grin. He stood up from his seating, patting Gerard on the shoulder. “The way I see it, keeping these losers in the lifestyle they’ve grown accustomed to keeps them motivated and keeps making me money. Any specific lunch requests?”
“I’ll eat anything,” Gerard replied.
“That’s what I like to hear. If you have any problems, let Meagan know and she’ll call me down. Don’t take any shit from them.”
“We would never!” The guy from the hallway shoved Bob out of the way as he walked into the room.
“Frank, I swear to god if you make another new employee cry I will fire your ass,” Bob growled. “And what makes you think that what you’re wearing is appropriate office attire?” Franks jeans were skin tight, and his t-shirt was covered in profanities.
“I don’t deal directly with the public, does it really matter what I wear?” Frank protested. Bob frowned, but said nothing else. “He actually doesn’t care what we wear here, as long as we’re wearing clothes that we’d wear in public.”
“Yeah, the suits never really stuck,” Bob said. “Seriously, just don’t show up in anything you wouldn’t wear out and about, and you’re fine.”
“Okay,” Gerard said. Gerard was pretty sure he’d found the working world equivalent of nirvana.
--
When Gerard arrived home, Mikey was still at work. Gerard couldn’t remember the last time he’d got home before Mikey. He spent around two minutes freaking the fuck out, before remembering he’d left work an hour and a half early. Apparently, ‘the hours are a little more flexible’ actually meant ‘you can pretty much come and go as you please, as long as you get your shit done’. Gerard had been the last to leave. He’d been sitting in his office, when Bob had walked past and asked him why the fuck he was still there. Bob then told Gerard not to bother coming into work until eleven the next day, as no-one would be here before then anyway.
Gerard started dinner - something he hadn’t done in a while, and had it pretty much finished by the time Mikey got home.
“What the fuck,” were the first words out of Mikey’s mouth. “Did you get fired?”
“No,” Gerard replied, rolling his eyes. “Marketing has its own set of rules, apparently. I left work at three thirty.”
“So coming home to a hot meal is something I can expect on a regular basis, then?”
“I’m not your fucking housewife,” Gerard said. Mikey grinned at him, and stole a snow pea out of the wok.
Part Two