Aug. 8, 2012: Maya The Psychic

Joel and Sonny had been on set since noon and it was 5 now, but Gerard still hadn't shown up. Granted, they couldn't start shooting anything until sundown- and in the lazy days of August that wouldn't be for another few hours, and anyway Mikey’s flight wouldn’t get in until 6 after a delay- but it still made Sonny antsy, because he said he'd be there at 3. Everything made Sonny antsy now. It had been 7 months, and nothing. 7 months and he still wasn't able to conceive, and there was nobody he could talk to about it, and the specter of his own mortality haunted him like a ghost every fucking day. How could it not bleed into everything else?

Late, late, late. 

"Sonny." Joel prodded at his shoulder. They were sat on top of their tour bus, eating tacos from the food truck they'd hired to feed the fans who had shown up for the video. Just a quick break from their tour before it was back to playing shows- Gerard had insisted on it. "Are you gonna eat that?"

Sonny glanced down at his half-eaten taco. It was probably only lukewarm by now. He shook his head and pushed his little paper tray aside, leaning against Joel. Joel frowned and ran a hand through his hair. 

"You haven't been eating enough. It's starting to worry me."

"I know. I should have been eating for two since, like, February. I've been worried this whole fucking time, join the club."

Joel wrapped an arm around Sonny and pulled him into a hug. "Baby, don't-"

"No, Joel. I'm sick of pretending it isn't a big deal!" Sonny huffed, pushing Joel back. "I have four months left to live and I don't have the slightest clue what's wrong with me and you're acting like it's nothing!"

"Son." Joel grabbed Sonny's wrist, thumb tracing over the lines of his palm. "I know it's frustrating. I'm frustrated, too."

Really, on the inside, Joel was starting to question the whole alien thing again. If everything Sonny told him was some bizarre delusion, if all their attempts to get Sonny pregnant were redundant. But he would never say as much. He was a dick but he wasn't that rude.

"Then- Then just act like you care!"

Joel wanted to say something to that. That he did care, that he didn't need to act, something. But his phone started ringing. He picked it up to see that the call was from Gerard. He gave Sonny an apologetic look that promised we'll talk later before answering it. 

"Hey, I'm here. Sorry I'm late, something came up."

"Oh, don't worry about it, it's not like we could record anything." Joel assured, giving Sonny a sort of awkward thumbs up. "Just tell the security guys who you are and they'll show you to the bus."

"Yeah, I'm on my way there. Not my first rodeo. Just thought I'd give you a call so you wouldn't worry."

"Uh… thanks. See ya then." 

Joel hung up and rolled his eyes as he slipped his phone back into his pocket. "Was he late to everything at Warped Tour, too?"

"I don't know, he wasn't in my band. We didn't talk a lot unless he caught me puking behind the buses."

"That happen often enough that you made sure to get his new number?" Joel asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"It, uh…" Sonny shifted uncomfortably. Before he had to say anything to that, he noticed Gerard approaching on the ground, flanked on either side by big, muscled security dudes, arms wrapped snugly around his waist. He looked a lot smaller than Sonny remembered, and he definitely seemed to be enjoying the attention from the big guys. In one hand, he held a half-full caramel macchiato from Starbucks. 

" Something came up, my ass," Joel grumbled.

"I thought you were a top."

Joel turned bright red and began sputtering out some take-back, but Sonny paid no mind to it. He clambered back down the ladder and ran over to Gerard, greeting him with a big hug. 

"Gee, dude! It has been way too long!" 

Gerard grinned and squeezed Sonny in return. "You could say that. How's my little rockstar?"

"Ha, same old. Recently married. Multimillionaire now. Not much different."

The two old friends laughed at that, even though Joel didn't really see the humor, or understand their relationship with each other now he was looking at it up close. He climbed down the ladder to join them. 

"You've grown up so much…" Gerard sighed as he looked down at Sonny. "Makes me so happy when I hear about you. Congrats on the Grammys!”

“Thanks!” Sonny smiled, wide and unabashed, cheeks turning the faintest shade of red. 

Joel, a twinge of jealousy nagging at him, approached the two, hands shoved squarely into his pockets. Gerard let go of Sonny and turned to face Joel, gesturing openly toward him with his macchiato. “And the man of the hour! Hasn’t been too crazy out here, has it?”

“Eh, no, just tacos and chatting with the fans who showed up early.” Joel shrugged, staring hard at Gerard’s drink. “Must’ve been a pretty crazy hold-up if you’re this late. What happened?”

“Oh, I just got held up.” Gerard shrugged and took a sip of the beverage. “So many fans wanted to talk to me, you know, and I didn’t want to turn ‘em down. Sure, mostly your fans, but I saw one guy with a Mousekat head I thought was super cool.”

Joel didn’t really buy the excuse, but whatever.

“Well, want to come up to the roof with us while we wait on Mikey?” Joel offered. “We’ve got beer and a megaphone. And, like, half of a taco Sonny didn’t finish.” 

Gerard looked at Sonny with some kind of surprise on his face, though Joel couldn’t begin to figure out why he’d be so surprised. Of course, Joel was a little surprised when Sonny didn’t finish his food, but Gerard hadn’t been living with him and paying for groceries the past 7 months.

“Sure, sounds great. I’ll, uh, pass on the taco, though.”

Up on the roof, Gerard sat and cracked a beer as Sonny finished making his way up the ladder. He made his way over to Gerard’s side and sat, the warm evening sunset casting an orange glow upon the three of them gathered there now. 

“So, Skrillex now, huh?” Gerard turned to Sonny with a smile, taking a sip from his alcohol while the macchiato sat between his legs. “Don’t you get weird attention, using your real name?”

“I mean, not… really…” Sonny trailed off as he realized the implication there- that Gerard knew Skrillex was his real name. He blinked once, twice as he slowly processed it, then muttered, “How did you…?”

“Hey, don’t worry, I’m Teegeean too.” Gerard’s voice came out hushed. “I won’t say anything, I just recognized it and wanted to ask.”

“Teegeean?” Joel cut in, confused. Sonny seemed equally perplexed. Gerard glanced between the two. As if to clarify, or maybe hazard to guess, Joel added, “Like, not… human?”

“Yeah, do you not- Do you not even know what his species is called?”

“Gerard, I…” Sonny tugged at the eldest’s sleeve. “I was raised by humans. If he doesn’t know, it’s because I don’t either.” 

“Oh…” Gerard shifted, then scrunched his nose a little. “That explains why you’re not covering your pheromones. Decency, man, use some deodorant. I could smell your heat from the parking lot.”

“Sorry?” Sonny muttered, awkwardly. He felt so small, all of a sudden. “I didn’t know.” 

“Don’t worry about it, little rockstar.” Gerard’s gaze flitted toward the half a taco sitting beside Sonny, now feeding a few fat flies. He looked back to Sonny. “This is your first, right? You’d be 24 now.” 

“Yeah. It’s my first.”

“And you’re not… falling into old habits again, are you…? It’s important to eat right if your body’s preparing to-”

“Gee, it’s not like that,” Sonny promised in a hushed voice, a hand coming to rest on Gerard’s shoulder, gentle. Joel felt, suddenly, like he was intruding on something private by just sitting there. Sonny sighed, something like defeat in his voice. “I just don’t have the appetite I did when it first started. And I’m not… pregnant yet.”

“That can’t be good. When’s your birthday?” Gerard inquired, sitting up a little straighter.

“January. It’s been 7 months, almost 8. And we’re trying.”

Gerard’s eyes widened as something dawned on him, all of a sudden. “You’re not seeing a doctor about any of this, are you?”

Sonny nodded, a little worriedly. “Should I?”

“Yeah. Hold on, let me…” Gerard reached into his messenger bag and pulled out a pen. A few minutes of rifling around later, he produced his Starbucks receipt and began to scribble hastily on the back of it, before handing the paper to Sonny. “Here, he’s a Teegeean doctor right here in LA. He can’t talk about anything over the phone, but make an appointment and talk to him about your heat.”

“O-Okay…” Sonny took the paper and tucked it neatly into his shirt pocket. “I will when the tour-”

“Don’t wait for your tour to be over. Cancel shows if you need to.” Gerard took off his sunglasses just for a moment, giving Sonny a perfect view into the depths of his worried, hazel eyes. “Really. I’m just looking out for you, rockstar.”

“Cut!”

Joel let go of Gerard, Mikey let go of Joel, and Gerard quit squirming away from the big muscled guy trying to pull him off Joel. Expectantly, they both turned to Sonny. Even the camera guy looked over.

Sonny was perched on one of the mini-Cube control booths set up for the shoot- Joel’s was out of frame, so he was watching from there. Later in this shot he was supposed to come in and try to break things up, but he didn’t like how the current shoot was going.

“I think that’s a little too handsy.”

“But we’re wrestling,” Mikey deadpanned.

“Yeah, but you were grabbing his hips.” Sonny walked over and took Mikey’s hands, guiding them upward toward Joel’s shoulders. “Do this. Looks more like you’re trying to actually pull him off Gee instead of trying to hump him.”

“I’m not fucking humping your husband.”

Joel glanced back at Mikey. “You’re not?”

That got a laugh out of Gerard, at least. Mikey scoffed, but it went ignored as Sonny backed up and stood by the control console. “Alright, let’s try that again.”

“One, two-”

And the shoot resumed, Joel and Gerard slamming into each other with feigned ferocity, sweaty and hot under the blinding lights of the arena. It was fascinating to watch, like animals battling for dominance, horns interlocked.

And god, what a stag…

Sonny had to consciously remind himself not to miss his cue. Once the big guy had pulled Gerard away from Joel, Joel and Mikey toppled to the floor and tussled- eventually, Mikey wound up on top, and that was the cue for Sonny to rush in and pry Mikey away. The two of them stumbled back and into the Cube console, knocking the breath right out of Sonny. For a moment, it felt like Sonny was falling, or that the world had turned upside down on him. Sonny dropped Mikey, and Mikey skittered away from him, ending the shot. They were going to do that again and film from a few different angles, but… holy shit, Sonny needed to catch his breath. He slid down the side of the console, crumpling to the floor, legs feeling all of a sudden boneless. Gerard was the first to come kneel next to him.

“Hey rockstar, you okay?” Gerard prompted, holding a hand out to help him up. “That looked like a pretty heavy hit.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Sonny mumbled, shooing Gerard away. “I just need to sit down for a minute, I got this vertigo spell.”

“Okay.” Gerard looked up at the camera guy. “We’re taking a break from shooting.”

The camera guy nodded and backed up as Joel and Mikey made their way over. Mikey stood, almost awkwardly, like it was his first day on planet Earth, while Joel knelt by Sonny.

“Everything alright?” Joel asked, quietly.

“Yeah, a little dizzy…” Sonny tilted his head back and closed his eyes. “Pretty sure Mikey just gave me a concussion.”

Mikey shifted on his little twiggy legs. Flamingo-like. Nervous. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay… just… get me some water, if you could.”

That was a language Mikey spoke. Mikey scrambled off like a junebug in search of water, and Joel came a little closer, glancing over to Gerard. “You think it was just the impact that did that?”

Gerard thought on it for a moment, before giving an inconclusive shrug. “I’d hope so. You really shouldn’t be asking me that question.”