Ah! I think I'm turning into Leroux phantom! Help meeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Need food! Need sleep! I want my nose back, damn it all! GIVE ME BACK MY NOSE! Hehe. Two hours of sleep every night for three weeks... Apparently, one needs more sleep in one night than I've gotten all this week. I am pathetic... and I have no one to blame it on!
SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! The Kay novel is finally MINE! ALL MINE! MWAHAHAHAHAH! That's why this update wasn't as speedy quick as I originally intended. I had to tear myself away from Erik's tragically awesome past! Lenis has a new favorite book! Yes she does! I've read Nadir's part at least three times now... And to the ending: HAHA! In your stupid, foppy face, Raoul! In your face! points and laughs at Raoul... who begins to cry
Ah yes, and I'd like to apologize in advance for the crappyness of the first part of this chapter. I've written it, re-written it, edited it, revised it, re-edited it... in fact, that's the other reason this wasn't up a day after chapter eleven! I re-wrote the beginning no less than five times... and I still hate it! At least it's better than it was, though! Thank heaven for that!
Ah yes! It's very important to acknowledge Nota Lone for this chapter! The "this one's less of a Fop" line is entirely hers! She suggested it to me way back in chapter... um... three or four or something! I don't really remember! Thanks so much!
Sandra: I'm such a bad person! Chapter 12 was anything but speedy! I deserve to be beaten senseless!
MJ-Skywalker: Ahh! Noooooooo! Not the squirrels! Run away!
kim sparrow: There are plenty more juicy ones where that came from... take this chapter, for example...
Synchiro Kagemoru: And I'd probably drop dead without awesomely encouraging reviews like yours! What a wonderful symbiosis this makes! And exclamation marks are good! Good! Good! Good!
Gothamin/Gothi/Avateine/Ava/G, and Gothamin: hiss Mine! Mine! Mine! And the Kay novel... mine too! They are mine... my own... my precious!
horsegal: I'm glad you like it!
Marianne Brandon: Yeah, Stella summoned Erik as part of her qualifications to gain a higher rank in her cult (don't ask me where the heck I come up with stuff like that)... I think it's in chapter two. I just can't see a new relationship coming too quickly for Erik... The whole Christine thing just cut him too deep. I just love writing stubborn banter... I can't help myself :-D
friend5: Yay! I need a happy room with padded walls! Boing! Boing! Yes, of course it's a Carmen/Erik fic!
AJNemo: Oui! I love the idea of drunken Erik...don't ask me why
Neko: I feel so bad! Me and my blasted slow updates!
Diana-Lupin: Mwahahah! Let operation forget-Christine-ever-happened commence! Yes, a phan, but not quite psychotic enough to scare the bejeezus outta poor Erik! That's Carmen!
Gem: I'm glad you liked the randomness. I was worried that people would just look at it and be like... WTF!
Misty Breyer: Merci! I am rather proud of the ocean mist thing... I was looking at my shampoo one day, but I just could figure out what the heck ocean mist was supposed to smell like... It made me laugh, and thus, into the PhanPhic it goes!
Celestia Memora: Yay! I love Spongebob! The movie kinda freaked me out, though...
Affirmed Hope: Throws self on the ground I am undeserving of a speedy review! That was like, the slowest update ever... well, not quite, but it wasn't speedy at all! I'm sorry! I lose!
raoulisafop: What does he do, you wonder? You shall just have to read and find out.
Moon Avenger: pouts I've got a really icky sore throat, now... I think Erik might have taken my immune system with him when you stole him again... sobs Come on! I treat him really, really nice in this chapter! Please?
Solecito: Not you too! Moon Avenger already steals Erik on a regular basis! Every time Erik is stolen, I get sick again... of course, I'm always sick in the summer mutter mutter. Anyways, I like randomness, but I doesn't quite fit with the way I'm writing this particular story, so that's why there isn't as much of it. I've got one in the making, though, that you should like... completely and utterly random!
Ridel: Not all of their attempts will backfire... but plenty of them do! After all, if they were complete failures, I would lose my main conflict... and my awesome ending (shhh... I said nothing! Nothing, I tell you!)
Lauren: Writing more, writing more, lalalalalalala! Hey, what's up with the random "I" at the end of your review?
TheWhitePrincess1: No starving the poor children! Bad! Aww... bunny plushie!
LaRoseDeSoleil: I'm so glad you read! I hate it when my characters get all stupid and Mary-Sueish (I have a second cousin named Mary-Sue... totally random comment)
angel718: Sure, of course I'll review your story!
Erik's Chris: Believe me, there will be arguments... but they need an actual relationship before I can stress it to death cackles madly
Olivia N.: Wow. You rock! I think my ego just quadrupled in size! B-D You get a hug! hugs P.S. You don't have to beg. I love writing this story!
miss insane: Getting in trouble, are we? wags finger naughty, naughty... Eh! Who am I kidding? Read away!
Chapter 12: Attack of Zee Fluff!
Erik did not wake until early the next morning. He could hear Carmen rummaging around, but he wasn't really listening. Should he tell her what he'd heard?... No, best to wait until he knew, once and for all, how he felt... And she'd kissed him of her own free will! Okay, so that had nothing to do with his current train of thought, but he simply couldn't stop himself from dwelling on that gleeful thought. True, he'd always found Carmen extremely attractive, but did he love her? For the life of him, he just couldn't seem to figure it out!
While he still didn't know how to react, he did know that she'd been right. Well, mostly right, at least. He wasn't sure about whether or not he deserved to live, but the fact remained that he was, in fact, alive, and there wasn't much he could do about it. Christine obviously wasn't coming back, particularly not when they were separated by just over a hundred years, so he really was destroying himself if he couldn't find it in him to move on... He'd known that before, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was the actual moving on... it was far easier said than done. Perhaps he could be happy without Christine... If he could learn to love Carmen, did he still have a chance at his happily ever after? Would it even be happily ever after without Christine!
All of his life, he had dreamed of having the love of a woman. As a child, it had been his mother. As an adult, it had been a wife, specifically Christine. Now that he had it, even if it wasn't Christine, could he really give it up? Carmen was the only person, he realized with a mixture of horrified disbelief and a massive upsurge of affection for the girl, that had ever dare to say those magical three words, 'I love you', to him... not Christine, not even his own mother!
No! He had decided! He would not let this slip away! He would tell her how he felt... but not right now. Not after he had just given her such a show of exactly how stupid he really could be at times... Honestly, what had he been thinking! Letting himself drink like that! It was odd, though. He only remembered having a little to drink, just enough to give himself a bit of a nightcap and allow him to relax... He would have had to go on an absolute binge to end up as drunk as he'd been the night before last!
But that didn't matter, he reminded himself, wrenching his thoughts back into place. He had planing to do! Somehow, he was going to arrange something that would create the proper atmosphere for him to explain to her that he'd heard her confess her love, and confess his own feelings as well. He did not plan on making the same mistakes that he had made with Christine... Erik rarely made mistakes, and when he did, he never made the same mistake twice. He was going to open and honest... none of this Angel of Music muck! He had to wonder, even now, if his complete honesty would have changed the outcome of those events... but it didn't matter! He was moving on! No more thinking about that!
Meanwhile, Carmen was on inspector duty. Erik had said the alcohol was in the closet, right? So there was no reason for it not to be there any longer...
Grabbing a flashlight as she opened the door, Carmen planned on making a thorough inspection of the place, but as it turned out, an brief glance was all it took. Out in the open, there was a bag, clearly foreign to her closet, and upon opening it, she realized it was full of "fine french wines". Now this, she thought, was rather eerie. Erik couldn't buy wine; he'd need identification, which he would not get until they were finished with the heaps of paperwork they'd gotten from the chief of police, and he couldn't have bought it off of the frat boys, who always seemed to have something they were willing to part with (for a price, of course), because they would never have anything so... classy. That left her with no obvious answer... could she trust Erik's word that he had simply found it there? It seemed far-fetched, perhaps, but it was not impossible, and as of now, it was the most plausible answer she could come up with...
She was suddenly started from her deep reverie when Erik spoke. She hadn't expected him to wake for at least another hour, so his speaking came as a great surprise.
"Good morning." he said, the air of a perfect gentleman both disturbing and refreshing her. "I feel I really ought to apologize for the past two days. My behavior has been, to say the least, inexcusable. I can only hope you will find it in you to pardon me.
Erik?... Apologizing! Carmen suddenly wondered if he'd developed a fever. He had never apologized before!... He hadn't heard her, had he? No, he couldn't have! He'd been sound asleep. It wasn't as though she was afraid of telling Erik that she loved him... that had never scared Carmen one bit. The real fear was that she would make his already turbulent love-life even more confusing, thus hurting him even more. She didn't want to hurt Erik, that much was for certain!
"I do, Erik. Anyone can make a mistake, even you."
The corners of Erik's mouth twitched. "You flatter me." he said, his newfound good humor displaying itself in his voice, "What do you want?"
Carmen laughed. "Not all women reserve flattery as a form of manipulation... although if you would like to give me another lesson, I won't protest."
Amazing, Erik thought to himself, It's as though she's reading my mind! He'd been planning on giving her more lessons as the first part of his plan. He was going to drop little hints to her... make her suspect that her feelings were reciprocated, but think she was merely flattering herself... before her came straight out and told her. Yes, Erik was sneaky... very sneaky indeed.
"That sounds like a wonderful idea." Erik agreed. "What to sing..."
"Not Des Ires again," Carmen pondered, shaking her head. "It's far too nice a day to be singing requiem."
"An aria, perhaps." he suggested, "Do you have any favorites?"
Carmen paused. Yes, she did have a few favorites... Think of me and Phantom of the Opera, to name a few, but either of those would likely have plunged Erik's current awesome mood into the vast chasm of Christine-induced despair, and much as she hated to admit it, Carmen was deathly afraid to bring up the subject of Erik's past... How could she say anything to comfort him without making things worse? She knew other arias; she would simply have to choose another...
The lesson went, in Erik's opinion, extraordinarily well. Carmen had a truly lovely voice, with much of the purity that he had admired in Christine, but with a certain, slightly more authoritative quality that was uniquely Carmen. She did not sound like one that was easily manipulated, malleable to one's will and credulous enough to accept absurd assumptions without question. No, Carmen was undoubtedly much smarter than Christine had been, and perhaps that was what had made her so attractive to a man who had never shied away from a challenge... a man who was best motivated by looming "impossibility".
When the lesson was over, Erik looked up at his pupil. "You could be truly excellent, you know, under my instruction. Perhaps we ought to make these lessons a regular habit."
Carmen simply could not contain a singular squeak of delight. "Really?", she cried in joyous disbelief, "You would help me?"
"But of course. You must think me a most notorious talent-miser to assume that I would not!"
"Oh thank you! Thank you thank you thank you thank you! You're the best phantom-buddy ever!" Carmen exclaimed, hugging Erik tightly around the waist.
"Du rien!" Erik croaked. "Now... I'd be much obliged if you would please allow your 'Phantom-Buddy' to breathe, now!"
Carmen grinned sheepishly and let go of Erik. "Sorry," she muttered. "It's so fun to hug people..."
"I wouldn't know." said Erik grimly.
"That's it, Erik! Hug me!"
"I beg your pardon!"
"Hug me! It'll make you feel better, I promise."
Erik looked at her as though she were quite insane. True he wanted to hug her... but could he? Was he ready? Oh, how he wanted to...
"Don't look at me like that! I'm being perfectly honest! You need to learn to hug–!" Carmen was cut short when Erik momentarily abandoned his impersonal barriers and enveloped her in his arms.
"You were right," he whispered into her ear, "I do feel better."
"Good. I hate it when you're sad like that."
Erik resisted the urge to say "I know".
Before Erik had the chance to move away, Carmen deftly turned her stereo on with her foot, and changed the track until she found a waltz, hoping Erik would get the hint.
He got the hint.
"Would you look at that," he chuckled, "a waltz. Do you dance, Carmen?"
Carmen moved so that they were in proper waltzing position and smiled at him. "Since I was eleven." she said, happily following Erik's firm, yet gentle lead as they began to twirl about the annoyingly small room.
Erik was an amazing dancer; his cat-like grace made her dance instructors seem like drunken chimpanzees by comparison. Before Carmen knew it, they'd danced through three different waltzes. She was hopelessly trapped in his powerful gaze... They came closer and closer until their bodies were separated by mere inches.
So much for subtle hints... Erik thought as he led Carmen through a graceful twirl. His heart was pounding so loudly in his chest that he could feel it's steady percussion in his eardrums. When they were back in closed position, he drew her steadily closer to him, at first subconsciously, but later more decisively. This was it, he told himself, He was going to snap and tell her right now. Who needed preparation when fate had been so utterly provident?
With half lidded eyes, he drew his lips closer to Carmen's. He wasn't sure about her, but he was beyond the point of self-containment. He needed to tell her... He needed to kiss her.
When Erik drew closer, Carmen felt her blood begin to race. Yes, she loved him, and she desperately hoped that this meant he felt the same way... but this was a frightening new experience for her. Her parents had never really been the hands-on sort, preferring to leave her in the care of various nannies. They'd never kissed her before, and none of her stupid, high school relationships had lasted long enough for a first kiss --probably because she tended to scare the crap out of most males– , but the fact was... Carmen had never been kissed before... and quite frankly, she was scared out of her mind.
Frightened or no, she was determined not to shy away. She refused to hurt him like that!
"I–", Erik began.
Then the telephone rang on Carmen's desk, shattering the moment.
"I-I should get that..." Carmen stammered, breaking away from Erik to retrieve the phone. "H-hello?" she said shakily into the receiver.
Erik sat himself down on the sofa... what had he been thinking? She hadn't been ready for that! Even if she did love him... he should never have tried to press her so quickly. Now, she would be frightened of him... just like everyone else!
"Erik... It's for you." Carmen said slowly, handing him the phone.
"Er... hello?" he said.
"Hey, Erik!" Jessica's voice came through the earpiece. "How's life?"
Erik raised an eyebrow, even if Jessica couldn't see him do so. "I was about to find out, but you interrupted it." he answered pointedly.
"Well that's a shame. So, Ava and I were wondering if we could borrow your title... you know... Phantom?"
"Why?"
"Well... the rats had a few little ratlets... and there's this one that's–"
"NO!" Erik interrupted her. "You are not going to name one of those disgusting little pieces of walking cat food after me!"
"Well technically, the word Phantom is public domain... We don't have to ask you at all. We just wanted to see your reaction... But anyways, it's an adorable little fuzzball, all black with white around his nose and eyes... you should come and see him!"
Erik sighed. Now that Carmen knew there were baby rats, he seriously doubted that he would have any choice in the matter.
He was right. Carmen had immediately insisted they go up and see the new rats. She seemed determined to ignore what had just happened, and for the moment, Erik was fully willing to do the same.
"Aww... It's cute!" Carmen cooed, picking up Phantom and stroking his downy fur. "How can you not like him, Erik?"
Erik studied his rodent impersonator with guarded interest. "Well, I will admit that he has excellent taste in role models... Fine, I'll hold the little bugger."
As soon as Phantom was set in Erik's hands, the tiny rat wasted no time running up his arm to sit smugly on his shoulder and nibble his ear affectionately. Well, he had always had a way with animals.
"So?" prompted Ava, "You dying of bubonic plague yet?"
"No," Erik chuckled, "Actually, this isn't so bad at all... Let's see the others, then."
Ava pulled a little shoebox out of the closet and opened it. Inside were about seven tiny little balls of fluff. One ball of fluffy in particular caught Erik's attention... It was a rather ugly yellowy-brown color that reminded him of his mother's living room curtains... or perhaps the Vicompte's hair!
"I have an excellent name for this one." he exclaimed, picking up the Raoul-colored rodent. "...Raoul!"
This comment procured a snort of laughter from everyone in the room, including Phantom... but that might've just been a sneeze...
"Done!" cried Jessica, taking the rat from Erik. "I christen thee... Raoul!"
When they set Raoul back in the shoebox, Erik bent over to examine him... "Hmm..." he began thoughtfully, "I'm afraid this one is less of a fop..."
"Indeed!" Carmen agreed. Whatever premonitions she may have had about kissing this man vanished completely when she saw him laughing as he played with the baby rodent on his shoulder... It was good to see Erik so... carefree.
They spent another hour with Ava and Jessica, before heading back to their room for supper. Now that they were alone together... Carmen couldn't help but notice a guarded hunger in Erik's gaze. That was it! She decided. It was time to satiate this once and for all!... For both of their sakes!
"Erik?" she asked shyly.
Erik looked up to show that she had his attention. This was it... She was going to ask what he had been about to do before the phone rang! He was going to feel like such an idiot!
"I should have told you before, but I was too afraid... I love you." Then, without waiting for a response, Carmen swooped down and devoured his lips with a passion that had been building for weeks.
"You did tell me before." Erik said when they broke apart. "I wasn't asleep last night... You've cost me rather a lot of sleep these past few weeks, you know... I've been calling myself a fickle bastard into the early hours of the morning every night for weeks... but it hasn't done any good. I still love you."
Erik barely had time to get the words out before he lost his self control and plunged into another, deeply passionate kiss.
Grins I've been wanting to get that out of my system for weeks... but stupid camping trips and other distractions kept me from posting until now! I can safely assure you all that chapter 13 won't be up for another week or so, because my aunt is getting married, so I've got a wedding to go to, and then I have go camping (again!) for the rest of the week, so I won't have access to a computer...
Don't get me wrong, I like camping as much as the next person, but I'm getting very sick of it, very quickly!
Anyways, reviews make me oh so very, very happy... even if I'm being forced to camp!