I spent an hour or two just wandering about town. The air was nicely chilled, not too cold by Wisconsin standards. The winter had been mild so far, with chilled nights and not a lot of snow. It's not a lot of fun to play in the snow by yourself, though. Mini snowmen, throwing snowballs at stationary objects, like trees, snow angels. I would have climbed a snow bank or two if the snow had been piled higher… Oh well.

…Ice sliding's fun, too, but there wasn't enough on the sidewalk and street, and I wasn't about to test what ice was on the river…

On my way back to the hotel, probably at some ungodly hour, I found Erik. He was leaning with one hand against a building and shaking his head as if to clear it.

"Erik…?" I asked, approaching him. He turned to look at me and hissed, turning away again. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," he said gruffly. "What on earth are you wearing?"

I smiled. "It's my outfit for the day. I was feeling rather dark…" I trailed off as I spotted blood on the side of his head and frowned. "You're bleeding. What happened?"

"It's nothing." He started to walk a little unsteadily down the street. "You're insane for choosing to dress like that."

"And you're insane for telling me it's nothing. Just come back to the hotel with me and let me clean it."

"No."

I stood in front of him seriously with my arms folded across my chest. "Erik, I could kick you in the shin, balls, or both and drag you back with me, but neither of us would likethat…"

He wrapped his bony hand around my throat. "And I could strangle the life out of you right now, but only one of us would like that…"

I stared at him stonily, and he glared back. Funny how it didn't seem to bother me anymore, his stare. I simply stared back, waiting for him to let go. A melody started playing in my head, though, and my lip twitched up in a grim smile.

"Seems a downright shame... Seems an awful waste... Such a nice, plump frame wot's 'is name has...had...has! Nor it can't be traced... Bus'ness needs a lift, debts to be erased... Think of it as thrift, as a gift, if you get my drift… No? Seems an awful waste... I mean, with the price of meat what it is, when you get it, if you get it..." Erik let go and brushed past me, staggering down the street, but trying to look like he wasn't. I smiled a bit brighter and skipped lightly over to him. I touched his arm lightly as I sang, but he jerked his arm away. "Good, you got it. Take for instance Mrs. Mooney and her pie shop--bus'ness never better using only pussycats and toast… Now a pussy's good for maybe six or seven at the most… And I'm sure they can't compare as far as taste!"

Erik spun on me, his eyes blazing. "Stop it!" he hissed. "Just stop it!" I shrank back a bit, a tremor going down my spine and all humor leaving me. "What right do you think you have to dress like that?! To look like…that?! Do you really think it's humorous to look like that? You put the make-up on on a whim, and you take it off again when it suits you! Just a mask for you! An article of clothing! You don't have to live with it as your face! The human race staring while trying not to!" He started to stalk towards me, and I scrambled back just out of his reach, frightened. "You, who has such a beautiful face, want to disfigure your face in such a loathsome way. And for what?! Your amusement! To see others shrink from you and whisper behind your back."

I shrank back a bit, another shudder coursing through me. "I-I'm sorry…" I whispered meekly, looking down. "I'll take it off… I was just kind of bored, and the music was stuck in my head…I didn't mean anything by it, really." He glared down at me for another moment, then turned and continued his almost hidden stagger. I blinked back the tears that were threatening. "But I'm not pretty…I'm not even close… I was just trying to help you, Erik…"

I brushed past him this time as I hurried by, back to the hotel. It was best just to go back to my room. I really should have stayed there. I could have stayed and sung. But no, I had to go out and scare people today as Mrs. Lovette… I slipped a few times on the ice in my hurry. Those shoes are not good on ice. And I was going to have the bruises to prove it. Once I landed hard on my hip, and I ended up kind of limping back to the hotel and up the stairs to my room. Once back behind the safety of a locked door, I dropped my cloak on the floor and set to work taking off that damnable corset. I still hate that damn thing. Once I could breathe properly again, I washed off the make-up. Never again would that make-up come back out, either.

I sat in a corner for a bit, only half dressed, when I finally looked up because it had suddenly gotten cold in my room. My window was open, thanks to the Erik standing in my room now. I gave a small sigh as I looked away.

"I thought you would have retreated to your cave under the opera by now…"

"You said you wanted to help."

I looked up again. "Would you let me?"

"Would I be here if I wouldn't?"

I let out a small laugh as I got up and got something to clean the wound. "Maybe. Just because it might be humorous. People do strange things when they're bored." I sat on the edge of the bed and waited. Finally, I had to say "Sit. You be tall person. I be short person. Short person no reach tall person's head if tall person be standing." Erik sat reluctantly. I bit my lip before hesitantly asking my next question. "…Can you take off the mask, please? I-it's kinda in the way…"

"Then you can 'kind of' ignore it," came his terse reply.

"Erik, please. I can't do much with it still on, and you're not going to scare me." He still didn't go for it, and I sighed. "…Please…just for a few minutes. I'll show you something I don't normally show anyone, either, afterwards. All right? You can think what you want of me after that…"

Erik reluctantly untied his mask and set it aside. I had to kneel on the bed to reach his forehead. Thankfully, de Chagny is a bad shot in the dark and had only grazed the side of his head. Erik didn't flinch as I cleaned it, but then again, he didn't look at me, either. He had his eyes shut the entire time.

Erik's face wasn't horrifying, as some think. It was a bit more pitiful than anything. Years away from the sun had made his skin so very pale and sickly-looking. His eyes and cheeks were sunken in—he really should get more sleep and more to eat on a regular basis. It looked like his nose had gotten torn off at the base—or maybe it had just never grown in the first place. And his lips were so thin, they almost didn't exist. Angry, Erik would look terrifying. His eyes blazing in fury, his jaw set, and his voice hissing through his teeth. Just sitting there, though…he looked kind of…pitiful…

I wrapped his head gently and left to put the supplies back. When I turned back, his mask was back in place. I took a deep breath.

"I've always found dragons to be majestic creatures—powerful and noble, though not always distinctly good or evil. Metallic dragons tend to be good creatures, while chromatic dragons tend to seek their own good. But…I've always had a fascination with the black dragons, despite what would send others running—like its ability to spit acid, or its tendency to pickle its food for weeks before eating it…"

"And what's your point?"

"…I figured I might as well show you my fourth tattoo, since you've already seen my other three, and you let me see under your mask…"

I turned my back to him and took a deep breath as I carefully tugged up my shirt, passing it over my head, but keeping it in front of my chest and stomach. And three it was—my masterpiece of my tattoos. A black dragon rearing on my whole back. Outstretched to the sides, its wings would have gone out to my elbows, but they had been pulled back in the picture, as if about to come down in another devastating whirlwind. Its scales were the color of coals, dulled and etched with acid. Its underbelly was covered with sickly yellow-green scales. The front claws were up, poised to attack, and acid drooled from its mouth. A horn curled out from either side of its head, as if they were eye guards for the massive creature, but they, too, were acid-stained a sickly grey-green color. Its face was frightening, though, if you were to look in to its eyes. Yellow slitted eyes stared back, daring you to attack, out of a skull for a head. The eyes were sunken deep in the head, the base of every tooth showed, and would have been even if the half-gone lips hadn't been pulled back in a snarl, and the scales were all etched with the acid that the creature loved so much, almost disintegrated while still on the skull. The wings pulled back across my shoulder blades while the dragon sat of my spine, and its long tail curved around my body, over my hip, and to my belly-button in the front, the end covered in barbs.

Erik got up, and I could feel his fingers lightly brushing against my back. And then he was gone. I was left alone in my room once again without so much as a—well, anything.


Shame-ed begging and A/N: I was told today, after he had read part of this story, that I was the most random person he had ever met. ^^ It made me happy. Anyway, PLEASE review for me! School's starting again, and I'm trying my hardest to keep writing this for you all!