Title: Lost Boys (Halloween Variation 05)
Author: Lucifer Rosemaunt
Summary: Short ficlet variations on a theme: Halloween meet cute. Because Raoul does not know how to stay out of trouble.
Fandom: Phantom of the Opera
Pairing(s)/Character(s): pre-slash Erik/Raoul, Philippe
Warning(s): modern!AU, kid!fic
Word Count: 1,789
Rating: K+
o.o.o.o
Raoul shrieked when a mummy popped out of the bushes he thought he had seen a cat sneak into. "Brother, did you see that?" He turned around only to be jostled by other children walking past him, and his brother was nowhere to be seen.
"Philippe?" he called, backing up into the fence and looking around frantically. "This isn't funny!" He clutched onto his felt, spider-shaped bag. The candies within it rustled. Even the recorded scream of the mummy popping out again did not scare him, not as much as the fact that he could not find the telltale bright red and gold knight's surcoat with the family crest on it nor the wooden broad sword only his brother had been old enough to get.
"Mom said we had to stay together," Raoul said it as accusatorily as he could manage even though he knew that he had been the one to stray from his brother's side despite his stern words. There had been a cat though.
He looked up and down the sidewalk and could not seem to find any adults among the bodies that jostled him in the near darkness. The streetlights seemed more dim than they had been just moments before and the light in his candy bag was barely enough to distinguish him from any of the other decorations. Only the older kids seemed to be moving about and none of them noticed the small dragon pressed against the fence all alone. He reached behind him to grab his tail. He tried to remember what his parents told him to do if they were separated but he could not seem to remember. It was so dark and there were so many noises. Nothing looked familiar.
If he kept walking forward then maybe he would be able to catch up to Philippe, but then again, he should probably walk the way they had come in hopes that maybe he could find his way back home. He could do that. They had not walked very far and he knew what his house looked like. Hopefully the darkness did not change the way it looked; so, he turned towards the direction he was certain they had come and started walking.
He kept getting jostled and knocked aside despite his best efforts at walking like he knew where he was going. Philippe always said attitude made a lot of difference when you were unsure of anything. He had to be strong, but no matter how hard he tried, Raoul could not help the tears that spilled down his cheeks. He sniffled and kept walking, trying not to draw attention to himself because at this point he was too embarrassed to want anyone to see him. He kept to the side of the sidewalk and tried to make himself as small as possible.
He thought he was doing well, some of the houses started to look familiar until they all started to look alike, but at least he had stopped crying. Then, out of nowhere, a hand grabbed his shoulder. He screamed and ducked to the ground. The hand was gone but the person who had grabbed him was not. When he looked up from his position on the floor, he saw a boy around Philippe's age, wearing a mask but not a costume.
Holding his hands up to show he was not going to touch him again, Erik asked, "Raoul?" It was a question, but Erik knew this child to be his classmate's younger brother. It was difficult not to be able to tell when the young boy was often at their high school, lingering in the main hallway and waiting to fling himself into the elder Chagny's arms. He was certain everyone knew the young boy and although he was not in his school uniform, there was no mistaking the blond wisps of hair that peeked out from beneath the dragon hood.
Raoul did not know how to answer him. He was not supposed to talk to strangers, but this one knew his name.
Erik crouched so that he could be eye level with the little dragon. "I'm in Philippe's class," he explained, leaving out the part where he and Philippe were hardly anything more than classmates, but he had never once seen the older Chagny lose his composure until tonight. Philippe had been terrified at having lost his younger brother, the self-recrimination not only visible but also audible in his voice, enough so that Erik had to offer his assistance despite wanting nothing more than to return home. "He asked me to help look for you. Do you want to get off the floor? It's dirty."
"You know where Philippe is?" Raoul ignored his suggestion, clinging onto the important statement. This teenager knew Philippe. He was still not certain he should trust this person, but it was hard not to when he not only knew his name, he knew his brother's name, too.
Erik nodded. "You don't have to follow me anywhere," he explained, a little surprised that even as scared as the little boy was, he was smart enough not to trust a stranger blindly. "We can just stand here and I will call Philippe to come meet us. Is that okay?"
Raoul nodded slowly and watched as Erik pulled out his cellphone. The conversation was brief and Erik eventually stood up to look for Philippe's arrival. He was not quite sure how to hold a conversation with a six-year-old or how to explain why the boy was still sitting on the floor. However, Raoul eventually did stand up, now clutching both tail and bag to his chest.
More teenagers ran down the street, using air horns to cut through the chaos of an already noisy night. Raoul started at the sound, bumping against Erik's leg.
The teenager awkwardly patted his head, saying, "It's okay. He's going to be here soon."
Raoul believed him, and not wanting to lose his only connection to his brother, he let go of his tail in order to grab Erik's hand. When the older boy did not shy away from the touch, he held on tightly, like he should have done with Philippe. It took a second before the older boy held his hand back.
When Raoul finally caught sight of his brother's familiar costume down the street, he ran forward, not even releasing Erik's hand. The older boy had to run awkwardly behind him. Only once they were a few steps away did Raoul release his surprisingly strong grip in order to run into his brother's waiting arms. Philippe lifted him into a tight hug, muttering, "Don't ever do that to me again. Okay? I was so scared. You disappeared on me."
Raoul laughed in relief. "I was scared, too." Tears once again began to brim as he thought of just how alone he had been. His breathing became shaky even though he was not outright crying just yet.
Philippe felt the unsteady rise and fall of his chest and lowered them so that Raoul could stand. He kept the young boy safely in his arms still, unwilling to let him go just yet. He showered his face with wet kisses interspersed with "You were very brave" and "Just don't scare me anymore" and other nonsensical things until Raoul began to giggle and push Philippe's face away from his own despite loving all the attention.
Erik awkwardly watched their touching reunion until he realized he should probably try to sneak away now that the Chagnys had been reunited, but his timing was bad enough that he had barely taken two steps away when Philippe looked up and caught him.
"Erik."
It had been something of a surprise that the other boy had known his name earlier, given the number of times they had spoken to each other in all the years they were forced to be in the same class was something he could count on one hand.
And suddenly he had both Chagnys attention on him. The little boy smiled widely at him and Erik could not understand why that look made him want to smile in response. He quickly looked away and spotted a black spider candy bag haphazardly dropped onto the ground. Bending to pick it up, he handed it to Raoul though he spoke to Philippe.
"I'm glad we found him quickly."
"Hey, yeah." Philippe stood but made sure to have Raoul's free hand in his own. "I don't know what I can do to ever repay you."
Erik shrugged, just wanting to leave and get away from uncomfortable displays of forced gratitude, but Philippe truly did look grateful and not grudgingly so either, like Erik thought he would be. After all, what kind of luck would bring the outcast of the class to be the only one willing to stop and help you?
"We've still got some houses on the way back home we haven't hit, if you're not doing anything. We could trick or treat and then have some real food back at home," Philippe suggested. "We made rice crispy treats."
"They're ghosts," Raoul added.
Erik immediately shook his head, thinking about how much he did not want to spend the evening trying to make small talk, but a small hand with a felt bag still in it took his own and Erik was faced with that smile he somehow still wanted to return and definitely did not want to disappear.
"Thank you for finding me," Raoul said, eyes wide and hopeful.
The older boy looked up in time to see Philippe hiding a smirk and he felt defensive for a moment, feeling like he was being made fun of until Philippe said, "He's the worst to say no to." He gestured down at his costume, "The only reason I'm wearing this was because he," he nodded down to the little boy, "would have chosen one for me otherwise. And jester or princess was quite high on his list."
"But we have to match!" Raoul replied, an emphatic response that Philippe was obviously expecting. Turning his attention back on Erik, Raoul said, "We have the princesses at home."
Erik looked to Philippe for a translation. He was at a loss of what to do with an excited little boy who would not release his hand once more.
"My two sisters."
Raoul began to tug both Erik and Philippe along, one of whom was less willing than the other but kept pace all the same.
Philippe stopped him though, "Raoul. If Erik does not want to go trick or treating, we can't make him."
"But," Raoul jutted his lower lip out and looked between the two.
Philippe just smiled and Erik, well, Erik caved.
o.o.o.o
End ficlet
A/N: Honestly, apparently, I don't care what age they're in. All I want in life is Philippe being the best older brother ever to Raoul and Raoul just downright adoring him. Philippe just needs to stop leaving Raoul alone.
Fic Review: It can't really be considered a meet cute, can it, when it's nowhere near romantic. But Erik ends up walking the way back home with them, keeping an eye on the small dragon who only ever reluctantly lets go of either Erik's or Philippe's hands and that's only so that he can knock on the door or pick out a candy. They have a snack when they reach the Chagny household and it's less awkward than Erik would have thought until Raoul lets it slip to his parents that Philippe lost him and then it becomes crazy awkward and impossible to escape when Philippe is scolded by both his mother and father – although to Erik's surprise, Philippe thanks him for his presence since his parents would have been much worse. Erik does not quite understand how that works. Ultimately however, Erik and Philippe become really good friends despite all of Erik's protestations.