[Night]

Image: Lero (Francis, Frankie, ect)
Francis Jacob Cole was by no means a religious individual. Living in the 'Holy City' was itself an affront to his personal values. Or, it would be, if one actually thought about where they lived with any sort of frequency. As it were, he was so settled in the every day struggle of survival that he rarely spared any worry over it. He had a shitty job and an even shittier apartment. He saw his mother as semi-regularly as anyone else, and rarely had to go without so long as he paid mind to how he spent his money. Really, he considered himself lucky on most days.

Today, however, was not what he might consider 'most days.' His body had decided, yet again, that it just didn't want to continue on with his normal routine. Ever prone towards poor health, he had awoken this morning to unpleasant sunlight streaming directly into his eyes and an equally unpleasant (If not moreso) feeling as though he were going to keel over right this moment. Every part of him hurt, and the occasional seasonal allergies had absolutely nothing on the horrid feeling in his sinuses. He considered calling in to work, but knew without a doubt that Brian would fire him if he took any more sick days and canceled on any more shoots. Hauling himself upright only made the room spin. Through sheer willpower alone, he managed to dress himself in some semblance of presentable dayware and shuffled out the door.

[Night]

With his car locked away in some government tow yard somewhere, and being unable to afford to bail it out, he let out a stream of curses as he began walking in the vague direction of his work. The bright daylight did very little to actually lighten his mood. If anything, it only made the horrid noise in his head amp up the volume. He was already signing his ticket to hell by agreeing to spend the foreseeable future behind a flashing camera lens. Checking his watch, he hesitated for but a moment in front of a second rate coffee shop before ducking in to look into procuring the largest and most caffeinated beverage he could lay his hands out. He was already five minutes late, so he felt little to no remorse for the additional lateness he was racking up. He was going to get a royal dressing down from Brian when he showed up regardless. Why should he suffer without coffee only to incur a slightly less dramatic talking to?

By the time that he was stumbling into the studio ten minutes later, he was significantly more awake and at least twice as convinced that he was going to die. Brian was waiting for him, set up to ambush him like he was catching a rabid animal in a trap. Jay had disappeared somewhere, obviously sensing the oncoming fallout and choosing to get out while he could. Traitor.

"Hey, Brian! Do we have any big shoots this morning?" He croaked, wincing at the sound of his own voice when it came out scratchy and overly high-pitched. Brian's furious look melted into one of concern before it slid into a blank mask.

"You're late. And sick again."

[Night]

Lero didn't say anything, clutching his coffee to his chest and looking down at the ground as though it might swallow him up and save him from the coming conversation. Brian sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between thumb and forefinger. "Just... Get to work, Lero, and try not to sneeze on any of the clients." It wasn't quite the dressing down that Lero had been expecting, but he wasn't going to complain. He ducked into the employee lounge, stowing away his bag and taking a moment to lean his forehead against the cool metal of the lockers. When he turned around, Jay was standing ridiculously close.

"Damnit, Jay, don't sneak up on me like that!" He wheezed, leaning back against the lockers and rubbing his hand over his chest. He had no idea how someone so tall could go completely unnoticed like that. Then again, perhaps Jay was really only tall compared to his midget self. Jay did at least look a bit guilty.

"Sorry, Lero. I thought you heard me come in." He offered the closest approximation to a smile that Lero had ever witnessed on his regularly stoic face. Jay considered stealing the rest of the other man's coffee, but seemed to decide against it when he took in the shorter male's red eyes and generally miserable appearance. "You're not going to have to go home, are you? You know Brian's got you on the fence already over all your sick days."

Image: Jay

[Night]

Lero cleared his throat the best he could before replying. He sounded slightly more like himself when he spoke this time. "Nah. I need the money anyway. Car got towed." Jay raised one perfectly arched eyebrow in his direction, but decided wisely not to comment. Lero drained his coffee in one long gulp, effectively searing his throat into submission, and then they set about their work.

The first shoot of the day was some bridezilla and her mother, wanting to pose for 'pre-wedding photos,' whatever the hell that was. Jay hid himself behind the counter and made himself look as busy as he possibly could manage without the phone ringing even once. Lero was left to suffer through alone, taking picture after endless picture of the pair as they went through every possible pose they could imagine and several more that they found on pintrest while he went to the pack to get an extra roll of film. By the time they decided to leave off, it was well past lunch time. Lero took a single look at what was left of the pizza that Brian had ordered and decided to pass as his stomach gave an uncomfortable squeeze.

[Night]

Jay had taken pity on him, evidently. He appeared with cough drops and advil sometime in the middle of the second shoot, settling them on the table near his camera stand with a small wave. Lero was forever grateful for Joshua Hudson, that beautiful son of a bitch. He downed the pills without any water, almost choking himself before he popped a cough drop. The couple, there for some maternity shoot or some shit, gave him a distasteful side eye, but he could care less. The soft taste of menthol at least made it almost manageable to speak above a loud whisper. He directed them through several more poses before wincing when they suggested the newest 'nude photo' trend as their next film venture for the day. Neither of them were remotely attractive, and he was going to find the person that started that fad and string them up as his final dying wish. Did he mention that he was dying?

Another camera flash seared across his already abused retinas. Advil was not strong enough to deal with this mess. He wrapped up the shoot and promptly disappeared into the back while the couple set about getting redressed.

[Night]

Image: Brian
Brian emerged from his office in the middle of Lero ranting endlessly about the previous clients. "What even is this stupid fad? I'm not a fucking porn director, I should not have to see so many nude pregnant women in my lifetime." He had his head lain on the break table, amber eyes open only barely to shoot Jay with the most pitiful look that Brian had ever seen grace a grown man's face.

"Cheer up, Lero. That's your last maternity shoot for the week." The shorter man made some vague, scratchy noise of victory before Brian broke the news with a smirk. "But we have some girls coming in tomorrow for a sorority shoot." The noise died in Lero's throat as he pinned Brian with a pained look of horror. Really, he ought to feel bad for taunting a sick man, but. Eh. Brian had nothing better to do with his day, anyway. He pulled out one of the chairs and settled himself into it with a sigh.

"Brian, come on! You can't give me all the bad shoots!" Lero rolled his head to face his boss without lifting it from the table. "That's not even fair!"

[Night]

Brian couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes. "You're the only photographer that works here, asshole. Who else would I give them to." Lero didn't let up in his pout. If anything, it only became even more excessively pronounced.

"Hire someone else!" This was the only obvious answer. There was no way that he was going to be stuck with middle aged, disgusting nudity and sorority madness in the same week. While he was sick. It simply wasn't fair. Brian didn't seem to be buying it.

"You know we can't afford to do that." Another eye roll followed directly after the previous one. Jay thought, abstractly, that Brian really ought to cool it with those before his eyes rolled directly out of his skull. He held his tongue, not wanting to get drawn into the fight. "We aren't even pulling enough in to give your sick ass insurance. You really think I'm going to add another payroll on top of that just to keep people from offending your delicate sensibilities?"

Alright, that was a fair point. One that Lero wasn't really sure how to combat. He groaned, burying his pounding head in his arms and squeezing his eyes closed. Maybe, if he wished hard enough, everything would just disappear entirely.

[Night]

The day continued in the same vein. One more client was scheduled for the end of the shift, and was kind enough to show up twenty minutes late just as they were about to close up for the evening. Jay had tried to save him, asking if they would be interested in rescheduling with some kind of vague excuse of natural light complementing the woman's skintone or some equal level of bullshit. They were firm, though, and Lero had the privilege of staying an hour and a half past his normal wage hours to finish their shoot and develop their photos for them because it was apparently "Very important" to have them before the couple left the shop. Who even urgently needed photos taken? Ridiculous.

When he finished speaking with the couple and seeing them out the door, Jay was already finished sweeping up and Brian was waiting impatiently by the door. "Got a hot date or something?" Lero ribbed. "You're in an awful big hurry to get out the door." Not that he wasn't, as well.

Brain snorted, shaking his head. "Maybe I just want to go home and forget about today." He replied, shutting the door behind them as they stepped into the autumn chill. Lero hung back, watching as Brian turned the key over and locked up. He really, really was not looking forward to the walk home. He felt like garbage, and it was dark and cold. The combination of a wretched day and an inkling of illness had him wary to brave the walk alone.

[Night]

Brian took pity on him. "You need a ride, Frankie?" He asked, tilting his head towards his car parked a few meters away on the shoulder of the road. Lero was hesitant to ask, but even more so to walk home in his current state. He nodded, following after the other man and waiting patiently for the car to be unlocked before climbing inside. The brief stint in the autumn air had already chilled his hands to the point that the heater kicking on was a godsend. He could only imagine how brutal winter was going to be on his system. They drove in relative silence, the Misfits playing lowly over the radio. Brian stopped him when he moved to get out of the car in the parking lot of his apartment.

"Lero? Feel better, yeah?" Francis wasn't sure if he was giving him well wishes as a friend, or as a boss. The soft look seemed to suggest the former. "Don't need you getting clients sick or anything." And there it was. Lero knew that Brian was emotionally stunted, but this was just sad. He nodded before waving and shutting the car door, unwilling to speak and feel the grating of his own voice in his throat. He watched the taillights as Brian signaled and pulled out of the parking lot, heading home.

When he got upstairs, his apartment door was already open.

[Night]

The police report read as such. Sometime in the evening, based on the accounts of several people on his floor that hadn't seen anything unusual before a certain time, someone had used some kind of blunt force object to knock in the door. They made off with several of his personal items, including his television, xbox, and all the money he had in the apartment. They had opened the window and left through the fire escape, judging by the fact that no one at the front desk had any recollection of someone carrying out a bunch of electronics. The camera that was supposed to look down his hallway was, in a delightful turn of events, broken, and had not captured any of the events that had transpired on tape.

Lero couldn't help but think that it was all incredibly vague. How were they supposed to catch the guys who robbed him if they had pretty much zero to go on? He shut the door as best as he was able, propping it closed with the end table that normally lived beside the couch. It took a bit of digging, but he managed to find the baseball bat he kept in the closet from when he was a kid and thought he might be athletic. He propped it up near his bed before curling up to go to sleep. Hopefully if the guys came back he would hear them shove the table out of the way and wake up before they could murder him in his sleep. Hopefully.

[Night]

The following day he felt even worse than before. The draft that escaped into his apartment from the hallway through his broken door had only pitched in to make his already failing body even more miserable than before. He could barely breathe, each breath coming out with a harsh rattle. He was starving, having forgotten to eat the day previous after turning down lunch, but everything he looked at just seemed unappetizing. He wasn't even entirely sure if he could keep food down. He showered off as best as he could manage. He felt weak and tired, like someone had tied bricks to his wrists and then glued them to the floor. Today was going to be miserable. He was woefully reminded of the previous evening's events when he had to shove the table out from in front of the door to leave for work. It took fifteen extra minutes that he didn't have on him to figure out a way to keep the door from standing wide open.

He shambled in later today than the day previous, and Brian took a single look at him and just left the room. Lero said nothing as he worked his way through the sorority shoot, simply nodding or shaking his head when he was asked his opinion on poses and such. When lunch rolled around again, he was exhausted. He laid his head out on the table in a mockery of the day before. What even was this absolute bullshit?

[Night]

Jay was appropriately sympathetic to his situation, if unsurprised. "I told you that place was going to be a nightmare when you started renting." He reminded, tilting his chair back until it was leaning on only the back legs. "You really ought to look into someplace in a safer neighborhood." Lero opened his eyes to pin him with a sharp look.

"And how am I going to be able to afford that?" He croaked. "I already have to save up to get my car out of the impound, plus now I have to get someone to come in and fix the door..." Things just kept adding up. Perhaps he wasn't nearly so lucky as he had once thought. Jay sighed, dropping his chair down with a hard thunk and leaning his elbows on the table.

"Just come stay with me until you get back on your feet, Frankie. You can have the guest room rent free." He had suggested it before, when Lero was on a bad luck run. When times were good, they were great - but the other man could also have the absolute worst time when he was on a downhill slide. It wouldn't be the first time that they shared living quarters, either. Though he wasn't sure how much a college dorm counted in the real world.

[Night]

Lero shrugged and pressed his hand over his eyes. He hated to be a burden, but it was starting to look like an inevitability at this point. "I'll think about it, Jay." He replied finally. It was followed with a long pause, and then a mumbled "Thank you." Jay figured it was the best he was going to be getting at the moment.

Lero frowned when the bell over the door signaled a customer. He didn't think they had any other shoots scheduled for the day, and Brian wasn't normally welcome to walk ins. Jay seemed to take pity on his current state, waving him off when he went to stand before pushing through the door to check it out. When he didn't immediately return, he began imagining the worst. It was a terrible shoot that Brian had agreed to take without warning him, and Jay didn't want to break the news. Or worse, the guys that had robbed his apartment had shown up to finish him off, and had taken Jay hostage. Gods above only knew that the guy couldn't handle himself. When another few seconds passed and he still hadn't come back, Lero sighed and pushed his way away from the table. The good friend thing to do would be to check it out. At least if Jay was being held at gunpoint then they would go down together.

Hell, every passing second it seemed like a viable alternative to the hell he was living in.

[Night]

When he followed through the door, Lero was met with the strangest sight he had ever lain eyes on. Jay was entirely wrapped around some stranger that was standing half through the door, hugging him as though it was his last lifeline. The stranger was returning the affection with equal vigor, face buried in Jay's shoulder. Brian was standing outside the door to his office, watching the scene unfold with a look that matched Lero's own; befuddlement. Neither of them had ever known Jay to be a particularly affectionate person. The hug seemed likely to stretch on into eternity, and Brian seemed to break free of his shock after a moment to clear his throat in a pointed manor. "Jay, I don't know that it's really good for business for you to meet up with some guy at work?" He tried.

The pair broke away from one another, but stayed close. Jay was grinning ear to ear, his glasses perched precariously on the end of his nose. The stranger, once he was more easily visible, bore an equally enthusiastic smile. He seemed to be a bit over dressed for fall, with a scarf wrapped neatly around his neck and a slightly too-large leather jacket wrapped around his trim frame. His hair was a blinding white, making it impossible to take in anything else about his appearance due to its distracting nature.

"Brain, Frankie, this is my brother, Oliver!" He introduced, waving between them. Oliver raised a hand to give an awkward wave.

Image: Oliver

[Night]

Brian shot him an inquiring look, and Lero shrugged. He made a waving gesture that was somehow supposed to convey something along the lines of 'I didn't know you had a brother,' or maybe 'that's a weirdly affectionate way to greet a sibling.' Brian decided he would just voice the question for him when the flailing didn't get him very far.

"You never told us you have a brother." He slid easily into what Lero liked to call his 'businessman persona,' straightening his shoulders and offering his hand with a broad grin. "Brain Voles. It's nice to meet you Oliver. What brings you in today? Needing some pictures taken?"

Oliver laughed, a high pitched giggle that sounded entirely ridiculous. "No, no! I'm just here to visit my baby brother." He exchanged a loaded look with Jay, conversing in some kind of strange sibling speak that mostly involved eyebrows. Lero looked on in wonder.

"He's in town on business." Jay added after a few glances in Lero's direction. Oliver nodded, imputing that he would only be around for a few days and just wanted to see the place where his brother worked.

"Jay talks about you guys all the time." He explained, gesticulating wildly. He never seemed to stop smiling that strange, toothy grin. "I thought, since I was close by anyways, that I would swing by and meet these great people I'm always hearing about."