When Erik first met Raoul de Chagny, he didn't note anything special about the boy. He was a young lad with a handsome face and short sandy hair, much like many of the other jarheads that came and went through the base.
The only thing standing out about Raoul was that his pretty features never crumbled in fear or disgust when faced with his lieutenant's horrifying visage. Erik would be lying if he said that this wasn't unsettling to him. He was used to the jarheads' reactions when they saw his face for the first time: fear, revulsion, anger, hate. He was allowed to wear a mask at their base, as a way of giving him privacy (and avoiding nauseated marines), but he had to take it off in the field, so everyone could see that he wasn't an enemy. Sadly, seeing his face was enough to make everyone treat him as one.
But Raoul was different from the start. Because of this, Erik tried to stay away from him as much as possible. Luckily, he wasn't obligated to join the rest of the troops at meals or at leisure time; they didn't need a reminder at every moment of what could happen to them if they were wounded in the field. (They didn't know that his ghastly appearance had been with him since birth.) Therefore, Erik always kept to himself, instead spending his time composing on his violin that he'd gotten permission to bring; he also manufactured new kinds of weapons, traps and gadgets to help them on missions. The captain allowed most of them to be used, but would deny all knowledge of Erik's inventions if questioned. It worked to both their benefits.
In many ways he preferred inventing instead of being an acting lieutenant as his main responsibility was to command the troops - a difficult task when every marine was repulsed by him. But managing Raoul's platoon was even worse because every time he was with them, he felt the boy's eyes on him. He was used to people scrutinizing his face, but Raoul seemed to measure him as a human instead as a deformed freak. It was disturbing to say the least. The staring didn't even stop when Erik was wearing a mask. While the boy seemed to concentrate on his tasks, his eyes would stray to Erik when there was a free moment - at least that's what Erik felt. But the worst was that the boy tried to intercept him, attempting to small talk.
After two months as Raoul's superior, Erik was ready to ask for a transfer. However, everything changed one fateful Saturday morning as he went on a simple recon mission in a nearby village with Raoul's platoon. They'd talked to local merchants from the village many times and observed the comings and goings when scouting for Iraqi troops in the area, but they'd never found a reason for exploring the small community.
Erik was aware that it was to keep the troops occupied; they had advanced several times through the desert, but still hadn't met any enemy forces. They had now been told to stay put at the base and it made the jarheads restless. A pointless mission was better than sitting still. However, they quickly noticed the strange glances from the villagers as they went through the small streets, even that early in the morning.
It was sheer luck that no one from the platoon was killed when they breached through the designated and supposedly empty warehouse; eight men, most of them young, started firing the moment they knocked open the door. He wondered if some of their luck was due to the shock of his face because he'd heard a shared gasp from their assailants as they entered the building, hesitating briefly, before they'd fired at the soldiers.
He ordered the jarheads to seek cover and bring out the teargas. In only a quarter of an hour they managed to take down each of the men, killing six. The last two were injured and he called for backup and an extra medic team to aid the hostages who were patted down in case they had more weapons; they didn't.
The platoon settled in the main hall of the building only occupied by old, ruined furniture and a few dozen old barrels. Further into the building was a large room with hundreds of crates stacked, reminding Erik of the end of The Raiders of the Lost Ark; he decided to leave the contents of the crates a mystery until backup had arrived. At the other side of the room he spotted a staircase.
He should've waited until back up had arrived before continuing through the building. Instead, he tasked a few soldiers to cover the bodies of the dead enemies, others to tend to the wounded and the rest - Raoul not one of them - he ordered to search the building. He split them into teams to search each floor, personally staying by the staircase as stand by if a team needed assistance, though he doubted it.
As expected, the jarheads followed his orders without question them. However, Raoul chose to completely disregard the order to respectfully cover up the bodies; the boy began moving several crates around in the storage space. The kid disappeared into a maze of them, forcing Erik to go after him - the young soldier being his responsibility.
It was the blatant disregard for a superior's orders that saved Erik's life, as well as Raoul's. Erik heard a soldier in his walkie talkie cursing a wire, then a loud click that would echo in his ears for years to come. The explosion was more forgettable; whatever it was his mind blocking out the tragedy or if he was knocked out too fast to remember, he never remembered to have heard the explosion.
When he woke up, it was dark and dusty. His usual cold frame was covered in warmth. It reminded him of the time he was a child and ran away from his third foster home. He'd sought shelter in an old barn with cows who, unlike his fellow humans, welcomed him. He'd slept between the cows several days before he was discovered; it was the most contact he'd ever had with another living being.
He was shocked to discover that he wasn't having a flashback or reliving the best moments of his life before he died. Instead, he found that the warmth came from a young jarhead. When a familiar baritone voice asked him if he was feeling alright, he realized that he was lying with his back to Raoul's front and his legs between Raoul's. Though his shoulders were broader than the young soldier's, he laid there comfortably, considering the fact that he had survived an explosion.
He hummed in response to the boy's question while trying to discern how he was actually feeling. It took him a few moments to feel anything but the heat from the other man. "I'm glad," Raoul said in obvious relief. "I haven't heard any other survivors…" He trailed off, clearly distraught. He was worried about his friends, most of them probably dead. And it was Erik's fault. He should've waited for backup like it was protocol instead of rushing through the building. Raoul was the only reason that he was alive at all.
"How is your head?" Raoul asked again and Erik lifted a heavy hand to feel for anything. He winced as he touched a wound on the left side of his head, approximately two inches long, but luckily less than half an inch deep. The blood was beginning to coagulate. "I apologize for the awkward position, I mean, I know you don't like to be close to others, but I wanted to hold your head high to keep the blood from rushing out, I think that's what you're supposed to do, but I don't remember the emergency help seminar we had, so I-"
The boy was babbling, clearly in some state of shock. The best Erik could do was lead his thoughts away from the situation and he grabbed the first thing that came to mind. "You think I don't like to be close to others?" He interrupted the boy who quieted instantly. It wasn't that his assumption was wrong; Erik wasn't comfortable around others and did what he could to avoid people, but he'd always found that the feeling was mutual.
They sat in silence for a while and Erik wondered if Raoul really had gone into shock, but finally he moved a little, seemingly uncomfortable. Erik attempted to move away from him, but his body felt too heavy at the moment. Raoul lay a hand on his thigh for a moment to still him, before pulling it away. "Well, you're always avoiding everyone and seem to cringe whenever someone tries to talk to you about something not work-related. Especially me." Erik almost heard a little pout in his voice as he said the last part and he found it strangely endearing.
Erik paused before answering, trying to figure out how to phrase his discomfort around him. "I... have not lived a life that has taught me how to handle people. While I know how to be a soldier, I don't know how to be a man, and it disturbs me when someone - like you - tries to talk to me like one. The others avoid me, however you do not." It was jarring to reveal such private thoughts to another, but he didn't have much to lose. Chances of them getting out of this situation were slim; he might as well unburden himself while distracting the boy from realizing their fate. "I don't understand why you care to engage with me."
The other man hummed slightly behind him. "I don't know myself... I guess you remind me of my girlfriend." Raoul started to search his inner pocket for something, shifting Erik a bit to the side to reach it. After a moment he withdrew a thin wallet with pictures. "She always seems to be somewhere else in her own world. People call her ditsy, but you just have to reach her." Flipping through pictures of his parents and a much older brother, he finally found a picture of himself. His sandy hair was longer and in a ponytail, before getting the army buzz-cut. He even had a small mustache which made Erik cringe inward - how tacky.
But next to him in the picture stood a beautiful young woman. Her hair was golden, reaching her waist. Her skin was pale which only enhanced the sea blue of her eyes. Despite looking at the camera, he noticed the faraway look in her eyes as Raoul had mentioned. It intrigued him. "She's incredibly intelligent, compassionate and has the voice of an angel." Erik stared at the picture of the perfect couple, a longing rising inside him; it must be wonderful to have someone else, to be loved by another human, like this Christine was loved by Raoul who still talked about her: "I hate to have left her all alone back home. Her father had recently passed, so she has no one except me and a guardian. I feel like it's my responsibility to take care of her."
Raoul tugged the photo wallet away in his pocket again. "I guess I have a small messiah complex, like my brother says. I want to save everyone." He laughed, at first sarcastically, then more genuine. It was infectious and reluctantly, Erik began to laugh as well. He knew that they were likely running out of oxygen in their grave of rubble, that their laughter only was a sign of it, but he did not care. There could be worse ways to go out, he figured.
"Some people can't be saved." Erik said solemnly when he finally stopped laughing. "I have always been one of them. That's why my mother never dared to grant me a kiss." He felt a stab in his heart as he remembered her
Raoul quieted instantly, his breathing slightly erratic, struggling to get enough. "She never kissed you?" He said incredulously, moving Erik to the side, so they could finally see each other. Erik shook his head in response, feeling light-headed. They would only have minutes before falling unconscious. "Have you ever been kissed?" Raoul asked with wide, disbelieving eyes. "Not even by a nanny or...?" Erik shrugged at him with an exasperated look in his eyes; surely, the boy could understand, looking into his corpse-like face, why no one had ever wished to kiss him.
He didn't wish to speak about the subject, well aware that in a few moments he would die without having been kissed by another human. He fought against the tears filling his eyes, nearly convincing himself that it was because of the lack of oxygen. He was so caught up in his head that he didn't even realize what Raoul was doing before he felt warm lips against the saggy skin on his forehead, causing a fierce shiver to run through his body. He stared at the boy with bewilderment as he pulled back, but Raoul just smiled before lowering his lips to a sunken cheek, surely tasting the tears that fell from Erik's eyes.
Before he could stop what was happening, Raoul's lips had traveled to his mouth and kissed him tenderly. Erik reached a hand up to grip his neck, but instead of pulling him away, Erik drew him closer, kissing the other man back with a passion he usually only let out in his compositions - the only outlet he had. But Raoul's lips were so inviting, lighting a spark in Erik's body that he'd thought had been extinguished long ago. He gasped slightly when Raoul licked at the seams of his thin lips and Raoul took the opportunity to dip his tongue inside.
It was impossible for Erik to contain the feelings it created in his body, along with the dizzying headache from the oxygen deprivation. He pulled back, trying to catch his breath; a useless endeavor because they were running out of air. Raoul lifted his hand to his lips, a smile in his eyes before closing them. "That was... nice." He muttered, clearly fighting against the void that was going to take them both.
Erik didn't have time to contemplate the words or Raoul passing out because at that moment he heard muffled voices on the other side of the left wall. Sitting up, ignoring the pain in his ribs, he began to pound his fists against the wall of rubble, screaming for help. "Hello! We're here! Here!" He kept at it until even his voice failed him and his limbs grew too heavy.
The last thing he saw before passing out was light hitting Raoul's handsome face as the rescue crew dug through to them.