*sings hypnotically and ominously* "I'm heeereee the Phaaantom ooof the Oooperaaa…" (you mean my editor sneaking on the page, who is amazing and if this has not been mentioned you can find her stuff on tumblr at jackspacecaptian and embergeist. She is an amazing artist and writer (also she loves rp on tumblr).
Also I wanna take a minute to thank you guys for all the support and comments. It really does mean a lot to us both.
O.G.
Across the house, the other two were having an even more restless night.
Erik was the only one to actually obtain any effect with the medication and so he found his tired soul relaxing in his bed, eyes slowly shutting as his body was thoroughly exhausted from this very wearing day. Well, more along the lines of week now, he mused sleepily. He had been awake for several days now, but this certainly had been the most taxing of those days.
He could hear his tired bed mate? Bunk mate? He wasn't sure, but he could hear his deep breathing, the bed occasionally shifting. Lazily Erik glanced over at him and saw his mask, white and glinting in the blackness of the room. A blackness through which he could see perfectly well in.
He observed the man. Half of him again wondering if he should remove his mask as Erik knew full well how annoying one was to sleep in. He looked disheveled to say the least. His wig ruffled and slightly askew, mask dirtied from his long day yesterday.
Erik nearly scoffed out loud. Long day did not describe that day for any of them in the slightest. A hell fire filled journey through tartarus after already glancing at Eurydice was perhaps a more apt description. And while Merik had managed to escape- or rather had been transported here while in the act of escaping- unlike Erik himself who was so depressed as to let them try and kill him, he still had… Sympathy for him.
Sympathy. Yes, for the second time today (and possibly his life) he felt a twinge of sympathy for the shorter man, half curled next to him. In his sleep Merik had curled against Erik's arm, and Erik actually let him, knowing he could use as much comfort as possible right now. Even if it was so very off putting to Erik himself. But for tonight, with the medication kicking in more and more as time went on, he let him. In his sleep Merik once again tugged at the wig. That had to be terribly uncomfortable Erik thought.
With a soft sigh he supposed the other would not be too offended if he removed the wig at least. So with a feather light touch, he slowly removed the wig to reveal hair that was oddly enough, identical to his own. Cotton like tufts of hair sticking up at odd spots, struggling to grow. Though the colour was perhaps, tinged with more grey and white than Eriks own. This seemed to calm him slightly, which in turn calmed Erik. It was an odd feeling, to be soothed just because another was a bit calmer. A feeling he was too tired to investigate, as this act of a small kindness had finished the last essence of his energy slipped away and he drifted to sleep.
His face tilted slightly towards the half masked man, as he was always as cold as any corpse and naturally gravitated towards warmth. Which it seemed this twin had an abundance of. With the medication Erik found himself resting rather dreamlessly. A miracle to the traumatized man.
This little peace did not last long however.
Rather suddenly Erik was jolted awake by Merik tossing and turning, tears once again trailing his cheek as he reached out, grabbing onto anything in his reach. Which, unfortunately for Erik happened to be his own mask.
When Marik grabbed hold of the silk veil and tugged Erik's mask was painfully ripped off of his face, the clip that held his filter for his nose taking a small nick of flesh with it.
In this sudden awakening Erik let out a loud shrill yelp of pain as instantly blood started to pool from the parts the clip had been latched onto to hold it in place. He jolted forward and used his hand to cup his hole of a nose and keep blood from dripping everywhere.
He was so preoccupied with this he did not realize Merik had awoken at his yelp.
The half masked man also sat up and backed far into the headboard away from Erik, a shaky hand flying to his own mask and relaxing slightly when he felt it. Then, still panting and very confused he looked down and noticed he held an odd black mask.
Quickly memories of the insanity from the day before came to mind.
He remembered Christine… His rather sudden arrival… Breaking down and clinging in his exhausted state to a man who wore the same mask in his hands…
His cheeks flushed in embarrassment that he had been so weak in front of a stranger. But any thought of embarrassment was quickly overpowered by the hollow sensation in his gut. Did anything matter now? What dignity did he even posses?
He was brought back to reality by the others quiet swearing under his breath as the blood dripped even more profusely.
Confused and very alarmed, he looked at the other in the bed huddled and cupping a…
"Oh god did I do that?" He asked wide eyed and very alarmed as he noticed under the palm of the other there was no nose. Rather childishly he looked at the mask in his hands for the rest of the gore, trying to figure out how on Earth he had managed to cause such an injury to someone in his sleep.
Then he remembered the night before, where the others admitted to having no nose…
He relaxed slightly as the other finally noticed him, saying rather in a rather cranky voice "Yes, you ripped off my mask and yanked off the clip…" As he spoke he further hid his face in his hand, tilting away slightly.
Still very confused, Merik looked down at the mask in his hands and finally noticed the bits of tord flesh caught under the normal convex construction that was supposed to hold a nose. His eyes widened slightly as he stammered "I-I am sorry. I di-d not- Are you alright?"
"I will live… Just let me go clean up…" He grumbled, still very peevish and constantly having to remind himself that it was an accident. Still a rather large part of him wanted to rip off the others mask to make it fair.
Naturally of course things progressed from bad to worse as Erik had completely forgotten he took his prosthetic off to sleep.
The moment his heel on his otherwise non existent foot hit the ground and he went forward, he tumbled face first to the ground.
For a moment he just lay there, allowing his bad luck to set in, before letting out one loud groan of annoyance.
Merik jumped and peered over to see the other on the floor, not moving.
Not quite sure what to do, he slipped out off bed and knelt beside the other. "Are you alright? What happened?"
With a very frustrated sigh Erik just grumbled into the floor "It would seem I forgot my damn foot again. A rather nasty habit of mine at night…"
"Foo… what the hell?" He said looking down at the leg ending in little more than a stump.
"Mob. Lovely lot, aren't they? You should have seen what they did to the rest of me. But then again, if you value not having the taste of vomit in your mouth perhaps it is good you did not." Erik said in a forlorn sigh.
Merik gulped and nodded. He truly had been lucky in that instance, to have escaped. When the other did not moved he asked still rather frazzled "Do… Do you need help up or-"
"I am simply waiting for you to move. As you did unmask me…"
Meriks eyes widened and he quickly stood "Oh, uh. Yes. Do you want it?"
Erik sighed and said in a voice that was clearly running short on patience "I can not wear it for a few days if not longer now, as my… Nose… Hole- Needs to heal." His voice was beginning to come to the beginning of a crescendo. "But if you could turn around so I may grab my 'foot' and make my way to the restroom to clean, I would be a bit less tempted to tear off your own mask." He had lost his last bit of patience now, and was in no mood to lay there idly while his blasted face stained his floors and rugs. God knows how often he has had to clean spilt blood out of such surfaces. It was always a great pain indeed.
Merik stiffened at the warning and having no energy himself to deal with yet another soul seeing his face, he back away and turned around. Perhaps he did have that tiny hair of dignity left he mused passively as he stared at the wall.
In a voice, hoarse from strain from the past twenty four hours Erik said "Alright. You can look up now…"
Merik heard shuffling and a few more curses, most of which were in Russian or Persian, before a few foot steps and the door opening and closing again.
When he left, and Merik had a better grip on his reality, he withdrew into himself and slumped back on the bed. Curling slightly and holding his arms. His head was absolutely swimming with pain to the point he felt little more than hollow shell.
She left you… You ruined everything...She left you and there is only you to blame… That is all you are good for; destruction of all that is good. And no amount of music can fix that, you demon… Devil's Child…
He shuddered again and cupped his ears to his hands, fighting tears that flowed unwillingly down his raw face. The salt soaking into the blisters caused from the mask. But he was glad for the pain, and tried to focus on that rather than the Hell in his own mind.
Meanwhile a little ways down the hall, Erik was stumbling down the hall, Still trying to truly wake up.
Once he was in the bathroom he shut the door promptly. With the lock in place he removed his hand with a sigh, already annoyed at the all too familiar feeling of blood dripping down his face. Grumbling to himself, he went to get the proper medical tools, deciding that Nadir could be kind and clean any blood in the morning.
This thoughts were mulling back and forth between annoyance and anger at the other phantom, and attempting to let it go for it truly was an accident. He hated how easily he had been exposed. It made him feel even more vulnerable in his own home, something he most assuredly did not need at the moment.
He winced as he started to clean the now very open wounds, grimacing as he noted that these too would probably heal back incorrectly and fray the already severely scarred and deformed nasal cavity that stood as a gaping hole, gashed at an angle by the mob. It was ironic in a sense, that now he would give anything for his old face as sadly, between that one and his current one, it was better looking. At least it had been symmetrical. Now however between his nose hole, large random holes in his cheek, and the exposed muscle of his right temple, on top of his already skull like corpe appearance, he made himself nauseas to look at.
As he let out a high hiss of pain while cleaning a particularly nasty gouge he remembered his earlier observation of the other Erik; and wondered if he did in fact need to clean any blisters caused by the mask. He sighed, supposing he really would side with the part of him pleading for forgiveness, as it had been an accident. Erik himself had often had night terrors such as that had he not? Surely he could understand, especially since it was so soon after his twins horrible disaster.
He started to finish applying medication to his wounds and realized the idea of taking care of this younger reflection was not as repulsive of an idea as it had seemed on surface. He actually rather liked the idea, of helping him. It seemed to sooth Erik in a sense. It gave him something to focus on at the very least, and helping a man come to terms with his past surely was an actually decent way to spend his time.
So he gathered up some medical supplies and covered his face with a silk black veil just under his eyes. After all it would not be productive to scare the younger one, now would it?
Quietly he made his way down, pausing as he heard a door further down the hall being hit once. He observed the small barricade done by Nadir and snorted. Whatever they were doing, Erik only hoped it did not require him to replace even more furniture.
Quickly he slipped into his own room and observed the figure in the bed, curled in pain and trembling as if he were caught in a tempest from Hell.
Again sympathy pulled at him and he sat down at his side. Very gently, he shook the other's shoulder "E-erik. Um. Sit up, please." He said awkwardly, still very unsure of how to interact in this situation.
Merik merely grunted but remained in his huddled state. Erik sighed and carefully raised the other up.
Is this how Nadir felt? So lost and confused on how to handle me when I was like this?
Merik -in response to this- shivered and mumbled "She is gone…"
"Yes, she is." He said in a strictly neutral voice. Right now his physical well being was Erik's priority, for mentally he knew it would take awhile for any progress to be made. So he continued "Look, look at me Erik." He said in a similar tone with a bit more firmness. It was odd he had to admit, saying his name when referring to the other.
Cautiously Merik looked at him, dark eyes open wide and shining, still in shock it would seem. Erik, happy he had his attention said calmly, "Now, we are going to clean you up. You need rest and fresh clothes. It will help."
Weakly Merik shook his head. "Nothing can help…"
Erik rolled his eyes. "But it will." He said, fighting the urge to snap at the others resistance.
Merik glared slightly but did have to admit he felt better in the others presence, even if it was only slightly. He was able to keep him rooted in reality, which in turn was allowing him to not focus on the events of late. "Fine." He said stiffly.
Erik sat up straighter at his reluctant compliance. "Good." Then he stood and with the tray of supplies he had brought in his lap, he lifted them slightly and turned to the young man. He observed the peak of a deformity above the mask. Red and as exposed in its tissue as Eriks own right temple.
Yes, he definitely needed help, if the slightly peeling and very chaffed skin there was to go by.
"Now I understand that you may rather dislike the idea of removing your mask in front of me… But you can't have those blisters- and do not deny you have them as we both know that is a lie- but the blisters will become infected if you don't clean them... Not to mention, you will have to come to terms with the fact that we may not be able to send you back to your world… So it will have to happen at some point or another." He said the final part, gesturing to his face. He wore a soft veil now but it was rather a wordless mention of the mask and the bit of nose it had taken with it earlier.
Merik eyed him warily, "However it doesn't mean that the sooner such a thing happens the better now does it…" was his reply.
"But the sooner you are out of infections reaching grasp, the better." he added almost hopefully for his sake. He had no fear after all, at the idea of the others deformity. Surely nothing the other had under his mask could be worse than his own face. And frankly -seeing how his opposite already had some visible exposed skull which wasn't nearly as bad as his own- he had no doubt.
Merik watched Erik move as he unscrewed caps and prepared anything he gathered he would possibly need. Each movement of his hand was graceful and deliberate and he guessed that he did this quite often with himself. He found himself entranced by this whereas his own hands often were found to be more solid and hesitant.
After some time he realized the hands had stopped their little dance and were holding up a swab with something on it. Looking up even further he saw his counterpart's golden eyes looking at him at the ready.
"So?" Erik asked.
Merik heaved another unprepared sigh, even vocalizing his unpreparedness with a hint of his smooth voice escaping with the breath rather shakily.
He reached behind his head with both hands and found the nearly invisible wire holding his half mask in place which had settled in his mess of wispy white hair. Fingers he knew would betray him and show his nerves were shaking when he slipped the mask off, as he slid it behind him and around til it found its final resting place in his lap. Precisely where he was looking to avoid any eye contact though his posture was still stiff and solid.
Eriks breath caught in his throat. It was far worse than he had initially expected.
What lay under the mask was a maze of gnarled twisted flesh and exposed muscle and bone. He supposed the closest possible comparison he could ever come up with; was of a sculptor, working on a beautiful clay bust and after finishing one side, attempted to mold the other. However when he began he had become too fed up with any imperfection and instead grabbed the cheek and lip on the right side and stretched and bore out the clay, leaving such a horrible atrocity that he only paused on long enough to smooth out a few lines before throwing it away in disgust.
He swallowed and reminded himself it truly was simply a face. One that was still not as bad as his own. But still was quite a shock to see, especially due to the unfortunate asymmetricality of it. One side was fine, handsome even, but the other… it made it all the more difficult to look at.
Merik looked up and noted the expression on Erik's face and retreated a bit into himself as he saw his eyes like molten metal branding itself into his already damaged soul.
After a moment of fighting any irrational thoughts of fleeing -thoughts one always has when confronted with anything unnatural, he began to actually look at him properly. Searching for blisters and peeling skin amongst the twisted bits and finding quite a few. Particularly around his exposed skull and temple- a wound Erik knew how to treat very well thankfully- and the half concave nose. Both had mix of dried and fresh blood trailing down the cavernous folds of his face.
Very carefully he raised a small cloth with alcohol on it saying in as calm of a voice he could muster at that moment, "Here… This will sting a bit but I must clean a few of these… Cuts, alright?" He felt he needed to ask for permission, especially now, considering this was such a vulnerable part of his younger reflection.
He slowly and almost in a way searchingly looked again for those eyes. He was hesitant and gave simply a soft nod and let him keep working.
"What do you think of this mess?" He asked after a long silence. His voice was barely above a whisper but still his voice came through.
He drew his lips into an unseen, thin line, pondering. Finally he said "Well. It is worse than I was anticipating I won't lie to you about that. But… It is not nearly as bad as my own face… For example-" He paused and his voice lightened to an almost playful tone "You still have a nose."
He sat up a bit straighter and cocked his only eyebrow. "I was rather referring to the mess in which you are offering your charming hospitality to different versions of me- Ah… rather yourself." He said a bit awkwardly with a slightly amused chuckle, his spirits rising slightly.
Erik felt his ears flush slightly. Naturally, as with most social circumstances in his life, he had misunderstood.
Choosing to not focus on yet another blunder of his, he replied (in what was hopefully a smooth voice) that was the slightest bit lower than his twin "I… Honestly after everything I have seen in this life, it hardly phases me. My only worry is that poor Nadir might have to once again murder due to my error... You did not see how furious he was with the other -the one with mismatched eyes." he said trying to think of a decent description that could distinguish them all. Then he added in a slightly less flustered tone "We truly will have to come up with names in the morning. Though personally I have taken to calling the strange eyed one 'The Prima Donna Ass Hat.' But something tells me he will not appreciate this particular nickname." He ended in a small snort.
In response Merik gave a rather brassy chuckle. "What about my nickname then?" He asked as his laughs subsided. "Any thoughts on that?" He said with a slight snicker.
Erik observed carefully as Merik seemed to slowly relax around him. And even smile. Erik felt a twinge of pride that he had managed to bring out a beautiful warm laugh from him. As Erik observed his face while the other spoke he noted he was much easier to look at when he was smiling like that.
He pondered the other's question for a moment before letting out a small woeful chuckle "I am afraid you are asking the wrong person. For all my talents, naming things is not one of them. I always… always picked names last when… When composing, because of it…" his face and voice dropped and trailed off. His stomach turned again at the very thought of any kind of art. Especially composition. Honestly a knife in his stomach would have been more comfortable than his feelings now.
Swallowing his emotions he let a small mask of stoicism fall upon his face and manner, no need to depress him as well with that past. With their… Terrible mistakes.
His smile fell and became hard once again trying to discern what could have happened in seeing his companion's eyes lower and visibly sadden. And after a minute identifying the problem.
"Music…" he said solemnly, even knowingly.
Erik's eyes flashed and his mouth closed shut and his teeth clashed with a, quick, audible click. He snapped in a whisper that had a certain bite to it akin to that of a frozen winter wind "Don't. Don't say that word around me monsieur. Not-Not here. Not…" his voice softened to a whisp of a sound "Not in its tomb. My tomb."
Merik's eyes grew softer suddenly, his smooth voice took a near velvety quality as he spoke though it also obtained that sharp icy edge. Like a concealed knife threatening to slip and slice it through if he didn't tread lightly.
"I-I'm…" he started. He was never one to apologize, even if he was clearly at fault. In this case he wasn't. "I'm sorry."
"But it doesn't need to be a tomb… Erik." He looked at his hands and tilted his head from side to side. Mouth almost speaking words that'd didn't quite form as a voice but still moving softly. And tears threatening to burst through once again, stinging them.
Erik swallowed and shook his head lightly. "Don't… Don't do that. Let… Just let me finish cleaning you up… Please." his eyes were practically begging Merik to listen. He did not want to talk about all… All he had lost.
He swallowed back his emotion once more and grabbed some medical paste that was great for helping damaged skin heal and recover.
He looked at him dead serious, his dark eyes burning hotly like coals, voice still soothing. "I think you need to talk to someone about this, we've all gone through it be it…" He started. His head tilted like a curious puppy would but slower and more sadly, still however, quite animalistic. His eyes flicked back and forth from his companion's. "Be it recently or years ago it was the same pain but you can't tear yourself away from the only other thing in the world we all know we live for."
Eriks eyes lit like a flame, narrowing slightly as he abruptly stood. "I CAN and I SHALL!" He snapped, voice like a whip cracking through the air as he turned to make his leave, trying so very hard not to strangle him for even… Even considering such an idea.
He had done more than suffer. He had died that day. In more ways than one. Christine had not been the only one who betrayed him that night. But music itself had. Had he never known music, had he never fell in love with its beauty, he never would have built the opera. Never would have become the Angel of Music. He would have never destroyed the life he had tried so hard to make for himself. And for this -this stranger... to even suggest returning to such a harmful demon such as music, was quite literally Hell to his sensitive ears.
He watched as he attempted to leave to the bathroom. This man didn't seem to think that he understood… He himself had been chased by a mob and betrayed by his only love, his only hope, only hours ago. Memories like a terrible nightmare one could not escape from still haunted him as he spoke and each returning thought was an attack on his heart and soul. His life's work was played that evening. Music and darkness was what he was born into, and music and darkness would be what would take him, and seemingly exactly what was slowly consuming Erik.
He stood and with long, swift, purposeful strides he stopped Erik as he approached the door. Unfazed by the height difference between the two -Merik being the shortest. He stood there, muscular arm firmly positioned on the door blocking his exit. His eyes looking up at Erik's with unrelenting persistence. He hissed through his teeth, the voice still weaving itself through under his breath. "If you think for a minute that our pains are different in any way, you are wrong monsieur…"
His eyes narrowed as he said in a growl "Can you truly be so sure of that? CAN YOU!?" As he shouted two things happened at once. Firstly, he lifted the shorter of the two just slightly by the cuff of their collar with one hand so that Merik was facing Erik eye to eye.
And secondly he ripped off his veil with the other, eyes screaming of pain and anger as they were stretched wide open, his teeth -visible through the holes in his cheeks- were tighter than any traps. "Can you be so sure as to say you know my pain? You escaped did you not? With some dignity in tact. Me… Well…" He let out a cold, bitter laugh, "They made my childhood as a sex slave seem pleasant by comparison. They were as so kind as to give me the face you see now along with many other gifts."
Merik was taken aback at this. He was on his toes, now level with Erik's face and he couldn't help but stare wide eyed at the man, if that is what one could call such him thing. It appeared mostly raw. The skin was taut over the bones, and in some cases not there at all. Particularly his cheek bones which were so sharp they cut through the skin appearing as jagged mountain, chipped and eroded over time. The holes in his cheeks were gaping and uneven. His eyes sunken in but wide at their base. The hole that served as a nose was a disfigured gaping gash starting above his left eyebrow and stretching down to nearly the top of his thin upper lip on the right side, muscles and flesh clearly visibly in the gash. His right temple had no bone and only showed the muscle mass of his jaw tendons. He looked like a rotting corpse having such sunken features and tattered face.
His mouth hung agape. His eyes flicked about taking in what he was seeing. How would he look if the portal did not open bringing him here? Like this? Worse? At least there was some symmetricality to the man's face unlike his own regarding the structure and placement of the eyes and mouth, and the asymmetricality wasn't nearly as disgusting as the overall appearance. But any added scars and wounds simply made it hard to focus on one particular aspect of the mangled mess.
Then Erik repeated lines he had once said in a similar situation months ago: "Handsome fellow aren't I…" As he spoke his voice trailed off at the memory, and slowly he realized what he was doing.
Instantly he let go and turned away seeing nothing but all too familiar revulsion in his dark eyes. He clenched his fists at his sides and said in a painfully identical voice to that day after he had calmed "Forgive me… Perhaps it is best we… Drop this subject."
Merik straightened his now wrinkled suit and looked at him intently. "Perhaps…" There was a smooth and dangerous venom to his tone but he really did his best to control his temper. It nearly got him killed less than 24 hours ago and perhaps now even considering the situation. He did begin to feel sorry for the man, but now his heart ached even more, he may have been slightly insensitive, but it did not account for his reaction to a complete stranger who knew no better. He was now equally distraught as guilty and so in being in close proximity to a wall, he leaned back letting it catch him as he slid down and sat there with his head in his hands.
Erik looked down at him and felt horrible. Of course Erik, once again you have managed to fuck up a simple task. You are supposed to be taking care of him. Yet he doesn't seem very well off does he?
No… No he did not…
Gently he slid down next to him, so very careful not to touch him. Quietly he replaced the veil, relaxing the smallest bit as he felt the soft fabric over his wreck of a face.
Finally in control of his temper and voice he said "Do-do forgive me. I… Have no Earthly clue how to handle all of this. And I do not… Do not think I am ready to know yet." he admitted, his voice faltering. But then he continued, looking over Merik's disheveled clothes adding "However… I do know that fresh clean clothes always, always help. Here let me fetch some… In the morning you can bathe as well, but for tonight, I think this will do." he was mumbling to himself now, standing again and traipsing over to the dresser, lost in his own world, hands rubbing away at the sleeve of his night wear.
Merik didn't respond, he resorted to brushing his shaking fingers through his feathery hair and kept his eyes locked on a single spot on the floor before him. He didn't know how to respond to any of this and kept silent. Since Christine had left him and this series of events began to unfold, he found himself more and more at a loss for more than just words.
Erik knelt in front of Merik, eyes distant and guarded beneath a small opening of soft guilt. They were eyes not really seeing their true surroundings. Still he said in a soft voice, almost distracted in a sense "Here… Changing screen is over there… I will stay in bed." As he spoke he nearly glided lost in his own thoughts, hollow and guilty as they were, for once again breaking everything in sight.
Merik changed behind the screen not paying much mind to what exactly he had said. Before he knew what exactly he had done he was wearing some clean clothing. He tiredly returned to the bed and sat there awkwardly not knowing what to do feeling unwelcome in a way though this man had given him his home, his bed, and his clothes.
"M-may I?" He asked gesturing to the bed. He felt suddenly tired now the adrenaline rush had run its course and wanted nothing more than to sleep.
Erik had been curled in a tight ball whilst the other had changed. Constantly rubbing his hands over the sleeves of his nightwear, to remind himself he was indeed clothed and for the moment safe. When he had heard Merik's approach he had bolted up quickly and sat on the edge of the bed in anxiety. At the question Erik paused. Surely he did not want to be in the room with him any longer than necessary. Especially after scaring the poor man.
Not thinking he could sleep anyways he stood quickly and gestured to the bed "It is all yours. I shall… Not burden you anymore tonight. Instead I shall… I shall make tea… Yes tea sounds… Sounds quite good." he finished more to himself, already walking towards the door.
Merik looked at him rather curiously. He didn't care whether or not what this man was thinking as of now. All he cared about was that he was no longer alone. He quickly strode up to his side and stopped him. "P-please don't go right now… I do forgive you, but I'm more sorry for what I did to evoke your response." He said then his voice dropped to just above a whisper. "I shouldn't have pushed you."
Erik blinked as if he were trying to wake from a dream. He looked down in concern and surprise at the shorter man. "I… Why? I… Do not deserve any apology. And-and why on Earth forgive me? Why do... Even after seeing me… Why do you want me here?" Then, growing more panicked in his confusion he added hurriedly "If it is to kill me, do it now. I will not ever fight death agai-"
Merik interrupted him. "Shut up." He said plainly. "What part of 'I understand.' do you not understand Erik?" He asked, odd referring to him as himself. His dark eyes searching for any hint of an attempt at speech again. "Now unless you want to be alone I won't stop you, but I am merely an unwelcome guest, in your home who had the audacity to challenge you. So please, come to bed or do as you please but don't attempt to pull this 'I want to die,' shit with me or so help me God." He said rolling his eyes a bit.
He was slightly slacked jawed as he listened. He swallowed and meekly said "It is less I want to die and more I would not fight death if it came… And what I seem to fail to comprehend is why you have not tried to kill me yet. Or at least rejoice at the idea of giving you peace. Surely you do not wish for me to be here after everything that occurred.." he trailed off, brow furrowed in confusion.
"I could ask the same about you and 'The Prima Donna Asshat,' so make a decision. I'm rather tired and if you don't believe my words just trust that if I wanted to kill you it's likely I would have by now if my anger is really what you think it is…" He said returning to bed and simply flopping down upon the mattress.
He raised an eyebrow in more confusion. Then as it seemed he truly was not unwelcome per say, he cautiously approached the bed with the same air a newborn fawn has during its first few steps.
Slowly he laid down on his side and muttered some what dumbly in shock that he seemed to be actually welcomed after tonight "The reason I have not killed the Prima Donna Asshat is because I know for a fact Nadir would destroy my home and me in it. And I am actually some what fond of what we have been restoring…"
He chuckled a bit and started to settle down a bit. It was odd being in the company of another person for so long, but it was what he felt he needed. What they both needed. He felt at this point any conversation could be held off until later tomorrow or morning -not knowing what the time was, so he decided to try and rest.
As his companion relaxed Erik half curled on his side, facing away naturally. His mind was torn between the rather comforting delight of having someone next to him, someone who possibly… Possibly accepted him it seemed.
The other half however, was filled with scenes and pain. Back and forth played two scenes in particular. Christines horrified face upon seeing him, the fear in her eyes… And the scene from tonight when Erik himself had removed the mask where Merik had looked up at him with that oh so familiar expression.
During this battle his body was fighting sleep, as he would surely have nightmares if he fell asleep now, he began to shake his leg and rub the hem of his sheets quickly and forcefully.
Merik -in hearing constant scuffing, scraping and shifting began to lose patience with the man beside him but said in his calm hypnotic voice laced with tiredness. "Please don't fidget, whatever is keeping you up is keeping me up as well, we will have more time to talk about this later, but for now please, trust me on this when I say it's best we rest."
Erik froze and with the will of a God forced his ever fidgeting body to stop. "Sorry…" he mumbled again. His body tense but still. Yellow eyes tracing the room in an attempt to keep his mind awake. Surprisingly it worked rather well and he soon found himself simply counting all in sight, allowing another sleepless night to take place and allowing his companion rest.
Merik sighed. He could tell by the others awkward stillness and near silent almost rapid breaths that he was nowhere near sleep.
He wanted to do something, anything to ease his companion's mind, first idea was to sing, but decided it best not to. Instead he came up with a better idea.
"Erik?" he asked in a gentle voice warm as any fire.
"Yes? I am not keeping you up a-am I?" he asked unsure and allowing for even more guilt to pile on.
Merik had to fight rolling his eyes again. Honestly it was rather dizzying to watch him go from powerful and assured to a quivering mess in such a short amount of time. But he was hoping to at least give them a fresh start tomorrow where they were both rested. "Have you ever heard of the Kire?" he asked, inventing the name wildly.
Erik seemed rather curious by this change in mood, and so gently turned to face him, veil in place still, even if the edge of his jaw poked through slightly. "No… What is it?"
Merik smiled as it seemed his plan might work. "Well the Kire originally…"
So instead he invented stories, false myths created in his mind to explain the creation of darkness and the night time letting them become Gods of their own worlds. He did this until the strength of his voice entirely faltered and faded into a restful sleep.
Erik for the first time in months, began to truly relax. Only vaguely did he realize in some far recess of his tired head, that he even was relaxing. And more importantly, this was the first bit of art (however basic storytelling might seem to some, it is an art) he had been willingly subjected to and was happy to find he felt no pain there. Only Meriks soft voice and the world it created.
Perhaps one day…
He found himself unbelievably grateful for the others presence. For his… Dare he hope, acceptance of Erik? Even after…
Yes, tomorrow they would have time.
When Merik had fallen asleep, Erik murmured "Thank you… for everything…" before drifting off to a truly peaceful sleep.
O.G.
Whew this one was long and hard. Almost all of Merik is done by my editor. Also I want to add my Erik has his own unique backstory where he was a Persian slave as a child who was heavily abused in every way and ended up being forced into sex slavery before escaping. I don't plan on discussing his past much in this story, just more for this scene for multiple reasons, so if you don't know his story it is completely alright as it should not come up too often.
I hope you all are enjoying it so far.
