Disclaimer: I do not own PhofOp.

Questions Answered

"Tell me about how you feed." Erik stated, as he was inspecting his violins, picking them up one by one to check them carefully, before putting them back.

"Not really a good question to ask in the middle of a public space." Raoul countered, leaning forward to rest his weight on his elbows on the front counter.

Erik sent him a smirk. "You think I would not be able to tell when there is someone else in the shop?"

"True, but that doesn't make it okay." Raoul answered.

"Are you going to tell me or not?" Erik asked, with a head cock. Raoul wasn't sure if Erik knew that he had a weakness for that move. He was pretty sure that he didn't.

Pretty sure.

It has been a week since the big reveal. Raoul was amazed by how easy everything had turned out, even with Meg's presence. If anything, the girl had helped make Erik believe them. Since then, Erik has allowed the two of them to visit him in his shop and Raoul certainly never wasted an opportunity. Sure it was part agony being around Erik because of his scent and Raoul's urge to bite him, but at least the pull cooled down when they were together, at least a little. Christine had told him that the pull would lose a lot of its strength after the first time a mate is bitten but they haven't brought the topic up with Erik.

Raoul had figured that Erik would keep them being vampires a secret, and while he hadn't told anyone, Meg had. It had resulted in a very awkward conversation with Mme. Giry and Mr. Khan with Erik in the middle. Raoul and Christine had to explain everything to them, sure they could've wiped their memories but Erik had been present so that idea never came about. It was strange how accepting everyone was about them being vampires, though Raoul supposed that it had something to do with the fact that Erik had given them the okay. It was his final decision after all. Plus they had told them that they wouldn't harm anyone that Erik cared about, which probably helped.

They hadn't mentioned the fact that Erik was their mate, though they were sure that Meg had told them. Luckily, neither Mme. Giry nor Mr. Khan asked any questions about it and after everything was settled, Erik apologized for the trouble.

Raoul had found that adorable and gave Erik a peck on his lips.

Erik had blinked in shock and Raoul felt frozen for doing something that could already endanger their relationship. There had been an extremely awkward silence for what Raoul felt like had been an eternity. Then Erik had cleared his throat and bid them a goodnight.

Raoul had basically sprinted out the door in embarrassment and Christine had found him later sulking by the pool the apartment had.

Erik had made no mention of the event since and a part of Raoul was grateful, yet couldn't help but wonder if that meant that Erik had no interest in them that way. That would suck at the very least. Sure Christine has told Raoul that there were friendship soulmates but Raoul was positive that wasn't the case for them.

Raoul didn't know what to think.

"You know how I'm a delivery guy right?" Raoul offered and when Erik nodded he continued. "That's how I feed."

Erik turned towards him with a frown. "You feed off your customers?"

"When you say it like that, it sounds weird, but basically yes. You would be surprised by how easy it is to drink from them. They open themselves a lot to a delivery boy. Christine gets hers from the hospital. She's very careful to make sure no one notices anything is missing."

"And you what? Bite them and leave?" Erik probed, going back to his violins. "Sounds risky."

"Not really, I make sure to erase their memories. It's easy enough."

"Tell me about that."

Raoul leaned up, his palms on the glass counter. "It's simple. Vampires have the power, if you can call it that, to compel people into doing things. That makes them pretty willing…yeah that sounds terrible."

"Not necessarily." Erik countered, inspecting a violin with his hands. "There are many predators that have the ability to hypnotize their prey to make them compliant, it's an ability that nature gave you, and it would be foolish not to use it."

Raoul gapped at Erik for a few moments then shook his head in disbelief. This man was amazing, truly amazing.

"Anyway," Raoul continued. "That's basically it. We compel them to let us bite them and take away their memories of it when we're done. Vampires don't need a lot if they feed regularly, the person wouldn't even noticed the blood loss."

"Have you ever tried to compel anyone I know? Me?" Erik asked causally but Raoul suspected that it was more serious than the tone.

"I will not lie to you." Raoul answered. He went around the counter and slowly headed towards Erik, making sure that he could hear his footsteps. "We had Mr. Khan compelled when we had first met. I was drunk and had puke blood and to make sure he didn't tell, we made him see something else. We also did it to find out why you had asked us to leave you. We are not proud of that moment but we had been desperate."

Raoul stopped a few feet away from Erik, who didn't acknowledge his distance for a moment but then placed the violin back in its stand.

"I'll be sure to not tell Nadir than, but please refrain from doing that in the future." Erik stated softly, not looking in his direction.

"As for you, no, we have never tried to compel you. We wouldn't be able to even if we wanted to, not that we do." Raoul added.

That made Erik turned his head towards him with a bewildered frown. "Oh?"

Raoul swallowed hard and shifted from foot to foot. "Um, yes, vampires need, um, eye contact to be able to do a compel."

"Which I cannot provide." Erik looked away and placed his hands on his waist. "Well, that's something at least. Is that why neither of you have brought the topic back of wanting to bite me?"

Raoul glanced to the side, he noticed that he had been wriggling his hands together and forced them still. "Part of it, compels aren't required to drink but if we don't, it's painful for the human. Very painful."

"Yet you want to." The tone of Erik's voice made it into a statement rather than a question.

"Yes." Raoul admitted. "Being a mate means that the vampire will be drawn to bite you, it will be a constant thought in their mind, but we cannot bite a mate without their permission. If we try, our instincts stop us."

Erik frowned. "You sound like you have experience with that feeling."

"Christine does, from when she first met me." Raoul explained. "But yes, I also have it…on you."

"You tried to bite me?" Erik frowned, facing Raoul completely.

"It was the day we met actually." Raoul confessed, he reached forward and tried to take hold of Erik's hand, which the other man allowed. "You scent had made me come back to your apartment and I had followed you on your way to the shop…"

"You were the one that attacked me." Erik finished matter of fact, his tone emotionless.

"Yes, but I cannot say I regret it because it was what made me curious about you. I didn't know that we were mates, that was after Christine had met you, but the moment I tried to bite you and couldn't, I looked at you and realized that I would make sure nothing harmed you."

Erik was quiet for a long time. His glazed golden eyes facing the floor as he processed Raoul's confession. The more time went by, the more stressed Raoul got. The only thing that was keeping him for losing it completely was the fact that Erik hadn't withdrawn his hand from Raoul's hold.

"You're hurting my hand." Erik remarked softly and Raoul realized that he had been tightening his grip on Erik's hand.

He immediately let go of Erik's hand and watched as Erik clenched and unclenched his hand as he shifted his wrist. "Sorry."

"It is alright." Erik stated, stopping his hand movement. "Mates. Tell me about them."

Erik was really interested in learning about them today, Raoul thought. He wasn't about to deny Erik answers.

"You will also feel a pull, but it's not nearly as strong as ours. You have the ability to break off the connection if you reject us and fully mean it. Mates are fine when that happens but vampires are stuck feeling the pull and a void in their gut the rest of their lives. Rumor has it that those vampires don't live much longer after a mate's rejection, luckily, it doesn't happen often."

"So the great night predator does have a weakness." Erik remarked lightly.

Raoul grinned sadly. "Yes, you can say that. Mates are many relationships, they can be meant to be like friends or siblings or lovers, it depends on the bound and people involved."

"You and Miss Daae…you two are lovers?"

"Yes."

"And I suspect that the two of you wish for the same with me? If your kiss was anything to go by." Erik stated, not harshly just matter of fact.

"Yes." Raoul was grateful that the undead didn't blush, because he would be a ripe tomato that moment. He hadn't wanted that slip to be mentioned ever again.

"Interesting…" Erik whispered almost to himself. He started walking towards the front counter, and Raoul got out of his way. He watch the other man.

"Why interesting?"

Erik stopped at the counter. "Because, Mr. de Chagny, I do not feel sexual attraction, I never have. I'm what you would call an asexual."

Raoul blinked, he had heard a little bit about that orientation, but has never met anyone that identified as one. "So you…"

"Yes." Erik answered simply, going behind the counter and grabbing a small case from underneath and opened it. Inside were a few simple tools for instrument repair.

"Can you…?"

"Yes."

"But you never…?"

"No."

"Wow…"

"That's a common reaction."

Raoul snorted. He went back to the counter and faced Erik on the other side of it. "Alright, that's fine. Mates are more than physical attraction you know. We were brought together because our souls called to each other."

"And it only took you forty-six years to catch up." Erik remarked, though he had a small grin on his lips that told Raoul he was teasing.

"Better late than never." Raoul countered, the smile in his tone.

"I do consider myself bi-romantic." Erik offered, messing with the tools in the case. "Which is a different thing from sexually, mind you, I just…"

"Never found interest?" Raoul offered.

Erik shrugged. "You could say that, it certainly didn't help that I'm blind and disfigured. Not exactly attractive qualities for anyone."

"We don't mind it." Raoul countered.

Erik paused, his hands going still on his tools. For a second, Raoul thought he had over stepped something, but then he saw the small grin on Erik's lips.

"No, I suppose you do not." Erik agreed pleased.

Later that night when Raoul was getting ready to go to work, Christine called his name from the living room. Raoul left their bedroom and walked into the other room to see Christine sitting on the couch with concerned eyes.

"What is it?" Raoul asked, slightly put off by her worry.

Christine didn't say anything, instead she pointed at the TV and Raoul turned to look at it. He saw that it was the news and there was a broadcast about a gruesome murder that had happened within the city. The newscaster was explaining how the body was found without any of its blood, the throat being ripped apart.

Raoul felt a cold wave wash over him at the news and turned towards Christine.

"It's them, she found us!" Christine declared, her voice high in panic.

Raoul immediately went to her side, kneeling in front of her and took both of her hands in his.

"We don't know that yet. For all we know, it could be the work of a disturbed human." Raoul tried.

Christine shook her head. "No, I doubt it. It's them, I know it is. Oh god! Erik! He's in danger!"

"Shh, shh." Raoul comforted, pressing his hands down where they were resting on her lap to keep her from getting up. "Erik is fine. How about this? We'll take a look around, okay? We'll see if it is them and if it is, we'll react accordingly."

Christine gained a helpless look that made Raoul's chest ache. "We barely told him we were vampires and he's still getting used the idea of being a mate. He's not going to want to be turned this soon."

Raoul squeezed her hands. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

Christine squeezed his hands back, not appearing comforted but Raoul couldn't blame her.

If this was done by the people they think it was, Erik could be in a lot of danger.

I'M BACK! Luckily my trip was only the month long instead of the full many months. Granted, that's still going to happen but at least I'm going to be able to put up a few more chapter before I leave again. SO! Hope you enjoyed this latest chapter, be sure to leave a review if you did! I know that I left it as a little bit of a cliffhanger right now. But at least I didn't leave it like that before I left! Lol Next chapter will be in Erik's POV. See ya next time!