Time was an odd concept in the towers of Notre Dame. Sometimes, it felt like weeks when it had only been mere hours. Other times, especially when Erik was messing with the bells and writing songs, a whole afternoon could feel like minutes. It was weird that Quasimodo always knew when to ring the bells. He was never late, but he had nothing but the sun to base his internal clock on. No matter how hard he tried, Erik could not tell time the way Quasi could.

At the moment, both boys were enjoying a wonderful afternoon on the roof. They had just finished a rather complicated and dangerous race from one end of the slanted roofs to the other and were now panting heavily, leaving large puffs of white air.

"Paris is so beautiful." Quasi sighed wistfully, hugging his legs to his chest. Erik nodded his agreement, looking up at the multitude of clouds that covered up the sun and only let a few rays slip through. It was a bit warmer today than usual, but pretty soon they would need heavy cloaks to go outside, lest they catch a cold.

Winter was destined to be a real beauty from their vantage point.

Erik let out a groan as he tossed about in the cot.

"It's your own fault." Quasi admonished, dipping the rag into the lukewarm water. He frowned, knowing he'd have to go back downstairs to get fresh water. Again. "You were jumping around the roof in the middle of the night! It's freezing out there!"

"shut up." Erik grumbled, lacking the usual fire behind his words. He gave a weak bout of coughs before falling back against the hay. "I'm thirsty."

Quasi nodded. "I'll be right back." He jumped up and went in search of some clean water, leaving Erik to drift in and out of a dreamless sleep.

It had been a long three weeks since he'd gotten sick and Quasi was a strict nurse. The younger boy wouldn't let him leave the room at all, fearing he would get even more sick and possibly kill himself. Erik thought it was preposterous, but he didn't have the strength to fight it. Why not let the boy play nursemaid for a while? It gave him a distraction, one that Quasi seemed to be enjoying.

Besides, he could use the attention.

Today, though, was the first day he was well enough to step out to the balcony. He had the thickest blanket available wrapped around him and a worried Quasi following close behind. He felt achy all over from his lack of movement lately, but loved the feeling of fresh air. He took a deep breath, and then fell into a fit of coughs.

Quasimodo gasped. "See? You shouldn't have left the room. Oh, now you're going to get worse and-"

"Quasi, I'm fine." He put all his effort into giving him a reassuring smile. He sniffed loudly and leaned over the railing. "I need this to get better."

There was an easy silence between them as Erik soaked in the sunlight, basking in the open winter air. It felt good, but he knew he'd have to go back in soon. He was feeling tired again and couldn't stand much longer. Once he felt refreshed, he turned to go back inside, barely noticing as Quasi tucked him in and wiped a layer of sweat from his forehead.

"Ready?" Erik looked over to his friend, flinging the bag over his shoulder.

The hunchback nodded, smiling nervously. "Where are we going?"

They both looked across the dark expanse while Erik mapped their route. "We'll head over to that dome-topped building, then circle around to the library and climb back up here." He shivered and tugged his make-shift cotton cape around him more securely. It had rained that morning, meaning the roofs would probably be slick and everything felt drearier and colder than usual. But maybe that was just Eriks dower mood from being sick.

Erik led the way as they set off down the railing. As predicted, the metal was slick and, more than once, Erik had almost fallen. Thankfully, Quasi had been there to pull him back up. He wouldn't admit how helpless that made him feel.

"It looks so different from here." Erik commented, stopping only to take in the scenery from the top of the new building. You couldn't see as well, since the building wasn't so tall, but it was still amazing. Quasi nodded in agreement, pointing to the beautiful, large mansions nearby and reciting who lived in each. Once they had their fill, they moved on towards the library.

"Almost the-ah!" Erik tripped over a roof tile, pin wheeling his arms as he tilted over the side of the roof. In an almost slow-motion maneuver, Quasimodo stretched out his hands, barely brushing his fingertips on the edge of the boys shirt.

"No!" Quasi watched his friend fall out of sight. He immediately crawled to the edge, peering over with tears forming in his eyes. "Erik!" He cried, frantically searching the streets below for any sign of his skeletal body. A few nearby windows were lighted, but no one dared to stick their heads out in the cold weather to see who was shouting.

"Quasi, be quiet!" Eriks voice hissed in his ear. When he looked to where the voice seemed to come from, he saw an empty roof.

"Erik?" Quasi whimpered, fearing that he was already hearing the older boys' ghost.

"Down here." Erik waved his arms from a low balcony to get his attention. It was a fairly long drop, though the skeletal boy seemed to be perfectly fine.

Quasi let out a shaky laugh and wiped away the tears trailing down his cheeks. "A-are you alright?" He asked in a loud whisper. Erik nodded. "How are you going to get back?"

For a moment, the boy seemed to ponder this. Erik leaned over the railing, assessing the much longer distance and slick building walls. There would be no way to climb down from the outside, nor could he jump back over to the apartment building he had just fallen from.

"Meet me on the street below. Hide in the alley and wait." His calm whisper said. Quasimodo balked at the new skill Erik seemed to have acquired. When had his best friend learned to throw his voice so perfectly?

Erik turned back to the dark room to see what kind of horrible situation he was in. It seemed perfectly fine. It was very spacious and lightly colored with a few articles of clothing scattered around the floor. One, he noticed, was a white dress.

"This… is a girls room." Erik blanched. From the small amount of time he'd spent around normal humans, he'd learned that young boys should never be in young girls rooms. He didn't want to scare the poor thing.

With deliberate gentleness, Erik closed the balcony doors and flew through the room in quick, silent leaps. He looked over to the two beds where a pair of young girls were resting soundly and gave a sigh of relief. Surely the rest of this adventure should be this easy.

The lock clicked softly, but the door creaked in protest when he swung it open. The loud noise caused Erik to jerk back and freeze in place. After a tense moment, Erik let out a sigh of relief. It seemed the girls were still sleeping.

"uhn..." A soft coo, followed by the shifting of bed sheets, came from the bed closest to the door. Erik prayed that she would just go back to sleep, but it seemed that would not be the case. The girl sat up, rubbing at one of her eyes. "Who are you?" She asked drowsily.

Erik shrunk back uncomfortably, unsure of what to do. He was tempted to stay silent and get out, but another part wanted to get to know another real human.

"I'm very sorry to have woken you. Go back to sleep." He whispered.
The girl tilted her head slightly with a worried frown. "Boys shouldn't be in girls' rooms." She brushed her long brown hair behind her ear, raising a brow at the nervous way Erik shifted from foot to foot. "Tell me your name."
"E-erik." He mumbled. "Who are you?"
"Antoinette." After watching him for a moment, she smiled and rubbed her eyes. "Good to meet you, Erik. Now get out of our room."
Erik jolted at her abrupt statement and rubbed the back of his neck- an act that he wasn't sure where he'd picked up. "oh, uh.. right. Very sorry miss. I fell on the balcony and-"
"You're babbling." She stated, staring down at her bedsheets. "Can you sing?"
It was an odd question, but Erik decided not to complicate the already awkward moment. "Yes, I suppose."
This seemed to cheer the girl up a bit. "Good." She smiled and patted her bedsheets. "I'll tell you how to get out, and you sing me a lullaby. It's the only way I can get back to sleep."
Erik rubbed his arm nervously. He'd never sung in front of someone, mostly because no one cared to listen to him at the circus, so he wasn't too sure how good he actually was. But it was his fault that she was awake. The least he could do was sing a simple lullaby. There was one that came to mind that he was sure his mother had sung to him, back when she wasn't drinking her sorrows away.
"Baby sleep, gently sleep..." His voice shook and it came out unsure and quiet, but Antoinette seemed to be lulled by his accurate notes. "life is long and love is deep. Time will be sweet for thee, all the world will see. Time to look about and know, how the shadows come and go.."
The young girl settled back into her bed and closed her eyes, urging him onward. "How the breeze stirs the trees, how the blossom grows. Sleep, baby, sleep. Sleep, gently sleep."
Antoinette smiled over at him, filling his chest with a comfortable, but foreign warmth. "That was...pretty good. You should come to the Opera house some time."
"Is that where you work?" Erik asked, feeling a strange urge to brush back a strand of her hair. She nodded and sighed.
"I'm a chorus girl there. We're staying at this hotel because we were going to tryouts across town. You have an amazing talent." She cracked open her eye to study his face. "Anyway, once you leave this room, there is a staircase to the left, down the hall. We're on the fifth floor. Be careful of the clerk."
Erik thanked her, getting up to leave. Before he could get too far, he was pulled down by his cape and pecked on the cheek. Yet another foreign warmth filled his chest, making his face heat up. Antoinette smiled sleepily and shooed him away. "I expect to see you soon, monsieur Erik."

Quasi stomped his feet and walked around in circles, trying to keep his toes from turning purple. His breath puffed around him ceaselessly, increasing in rate the longer he stood staring at the door. It had been nearly ten minutes! Where was he?
A few moments later, the door swung open and Erik came stumbling out. Instantly he ran to the hunched boy with a wild grin.
"Erik!" Quasi berated. "Where were you? What-"
"I met a girl, Quasi! And she looked right at my face! Oh, my heart is swelling!" He breathed, resting a hand on his chest as if Quasimodo would actually be able to see. "She had a wonderful voice. And she lives at the Opera house!"
"Erik, you're going to get a constricted throat! Calm down!" He whispered harshly, patting his friend on the shoulder. "We will talk about it when we get home. I'm freezing."
"You're right, you're right." Erik sighed contently, trying to calm his smile before the edges of his mouth broke. "Lets get going."