Antoinette couldn't think of anything to say. It was something out of the ordinary to meet a talking skeleton, but it was something else entirely to meet a hunchback.
She almost felt bad for the way she flinched when he entered the room, but Quasi hadn't seemed to notice. What a strange name; Quasimodo. At least 'Erik' was kind of normal and noble sounding. To be named 'low Sunday' almost sounded like an insult.
"Quasi, this is Antoinette. Annie, this is Quasimodo." He introduced with a nervous smile. There was a nervous tension in the room as each of them observed the other. It astonished Erik how well Antoinette was taking this. He had only met her once and it was dark. Truly, God had sent a miracle for this girl to accept them both in broad daylight! Well... maybe not 'daylight', but copious amounts of candlelight.
Finally, the tension was broken as Annie stuck out a sure hand and smiled. "It's good to meet you. Did you say you two were brothers?" She looked over to Erik. "You look nothing alike."
"Not by blood." Erik commented. "But we are both demons. That's got to count for something."
Annie frowned. "Neither of you are demons." She said surely. "Demons are evil and work in secret. As far as I can tell, you're just unfortunate people. And there's no reason to be ashamed of that."
Erik and Quasi shared a look of faint surprise and utter disregard. What would SHE know of what they were? Everyone else told them they were demons and they were usually adults!
"Whats it like living in the Opera house?" Erik asked, looking around the storage room she had brought them to. About a dozen backdrops rest against the far wall and a bundle of curtains lay rolled up in a large pile, which Antoinette was sitting on.
"It's wonderful, actually. I love to dance." She looked down to her feet. "It gets boring sometimes, but there's a lot to do in town when the weather is nice." For a moment, she paused to think something over, then looked back up. "Everyone will be asleep by now. Do you want a tour?"
Before Quasimodo could give a stuttered warning, Erik beamed and exclaimed "Yes!"

"Isn't this gorgeous? I know the man who painted this. Oh, he's so talented. I sometimes wish I could make something so great." She gushed over an exposed backdrop hung behind stage. It was a colorful landscape with rolling hills and a yellowed sky with the sun setting behind a puff of clouds. It really was amazing and Erik wished he had paint supplies to make something as well to make Antoinette this happy.
"Whats it for?" Quasi asked, reaching out to touch a very lifelike tree, his candle coming a little too close to the canvas.
"Be careful!" Annie admonished lightly, gently moving his arm away from the painting. Quasi blushed at the contact, but took a step back and nodded.
"Our newest play is called L'Agricoltore di Montagna Sherman." She pointed to a fake set of boulders around a paper pond. "There is a girl who meets a farm boy at this pond every day to collect water. They fall in love after a while, but his father has to sell the farm and they have to move. He leaves her heartbroken, but they meet again and live happily ever after."
"That sounds really sad." Quasi mumbled, looking around.
"Yes, but its beautiful." Antoinette shot him a smile. "Come stand on the stage." She pushed past the heavy curtains, beckoning them to follow. Both boys stepped forward, lifting the curtain to see the large room. From what their candlelight showed, the room was filled with nothing but soft looking chairs and golden decorations.
"Imagine this room filled to the brim with people." Annie placed a hand on both of their backs, pushing them to the center of the stage. "Isn't it exhilarating?"
"Terrifying." Erik laughed. "So many people come to see these plays?"
"All the time. Only the creme de la creme of Paris can afford to come to plays so often, but they love it. They wear big dressed and fancy suits as if they're meeting the queen." Each of them smiled at the thought, picturing poofy gowns and glossy suits with pompous expressions and too much jewelry. "It's in Italian, so most of them can't even understand it."
"Then what's the point?" Erik asked, frowning out at the seats.
Annie shrugged. "Come along. I want to show you the entrance hall! The front doors are massive."

Both boys clamored through the window, breathing heavily from the intense exertion of climbing their way up the tower. They shared huge grins before stumbling tiredly into their room and collapsing onto the hay.
"So many things I never knew existed." Erik shook his head disbelievingly, then turned to look at Quasi. "The world is such an amazing place."
Quasimodo, for the first time in his life, agreed. He bobbed his head happily, still trying to catch his breath. "Being in the middle of it, knowing what goes on..." his eyes sparkled with delight. "It almost makes me feel normal."
Erik laughed, looking up at the ceiling. "It does."
Neither boy could get to sleep, though their bodies were exhausted. Too many new images filled their heads for them to properly shut down. They didn't mind, really. It was worth it to be able to go over what they had learned many, many times.