Authoress: I am a lump!
Erik: Was there any purpose to that proclamation?
Authoress: No, just thought I'd point it out to everyone.
Erik: You should go to bed earlier, you are becoming increasingly disturbed.
Authoress: I know, I'm having the insane urge to giggle at random words.
Erik:…
Authoress: (sigh) Just shut up and give me a hug! Mm…thankyou! You are all sooooo gonna hate me for this one. Sorry but no replies, I'm lazy and the bells about to go…but to naomi, Jacques has a big nose, like Ian Thorp style.
"Erik?" Adriana called impatiently,
"Yes?" he replied from his organ.
"Shut up,"
"What!"
"Please?"
"I'm composing,"
"You are not, you've been playing the same three notes from Music of the Night for an hour now, and your interfering with what I'm doing."
"Which is what?"
"I'm trying to work something out,"
"Such as?"
"A dance move,"
"Go ask Madame Giry,"
"She doesn't know tap,"
"Tap?"
"Yes, tap-dancing, you put steel caps under your shoes and it makes a lovely little click when your feet hit the stage."
"And this is significant because?"
"Because it's fun."
"Is that why you were flirting with the blacksmith's yesterday?"
"Yes, well that and the fact that they have such nice muscles…not much gets past you, does it?"
"I like to think so, this is my Opera house after all."
Adriana laughed in reply.
xXx
After a while, Erik looked over at his young companion,
"So how does one perform 'tap'?" he asked. Adriana was sliding the balls of her feet across the floor, and then hit her toe twice against the flagstones.
"Hmm?"
"I asked how one performs 'tap-dancing' might I receive a demonstration?"
"Why not?" Adriana grinned, "But not here, I need the stage,"
"What for?" Erik asked, puzzled. Adriana looked back at him
disparagingly,
"Because," she said as if speaking to a very
small child, "I did not waste all that effort with the smiths to
ruin my shoes on your stone floor." She picked up Erik's cloak
and twirled it round her shoulders expertly, then picked up her
makeshift tap shoes with one hand and held out the other to Erik,
"Come," she imitated, "to the stage."
Erik stood and folded his arms, "May I have my cloak back first?"
Adriana sighed, "Alright," she replied regretfully, swirling it off and handing it to him.
"What is your endless preoccupation with my cape?" Erik asked as he poled them across the canals. Adriana shrugged, reclining against the bow of the boat to look up at him, "It's just fun," she replied, her arms under her head. (And swishy!)
xXx
The stage was still set with the ballet of the third act of Il Muto, Erik stood to one side as Adriana walked to the middle of the stage and tied on her shoes. "Do you need music?" he asked, watching with amusement as she scrapped her heels over the wooden floor to test them. "I didn't think of that," she frowned, "I guess it wont matter for Tapdogs."
"Tapdogs?" Erik queried, gliding effortlessly across the stage to sit on one of the vine swings, his long legs stretched lazily out in front of him.
Adriana stood facing the red velvet seats, counting the beat in her head. Then she struck her foot forward and scrapped back with her toe cap, the clack echoed across the empty theatre as she stood straight again and began a Tapdogs routine…
(Ok, I can't write choreography, and it would all be one big mess of toes, heels, and flicks, so just use your imaginations. Or watch the Tapdogs from the Sydney 2000 Olympics Opening Ceremony)
xXx
Erik swung idly on the vine covered swing, "Not bad," he applauded, Adriana bowed extravagantly,
"Thankyou," she replied, clicking over to him. Erik held out his arms and she settled in his lap, he wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Somehow I don't think I can see it replacing the ballet anytime soon, however." He told her, Adriana nodded,
"It would scuff the hell out of the floor," she replied, looking into his eyes. Erik found himself unable to blink as his breathing slowed. Holding his gaze with hers, Adriana lifted a hand to run trough his dark hair, the warm touch of her fingers sending heat rushing down his spine. He brought his face close to hers, so close that she could feel his lashes brush her cheek as he closed his eyes. Their lips were a mere hairsbreadth away and Adriana's eyes fluttered closed when one of the vines holding the swing up decided at that very moment to snap. (Always when you least want it to!)
The Phantom and his Wraith tumbled onto the stage with a yelp and a shout of dismay, followed by a tiny, "Damn!" hissed very quietly in frustration. Erik struggled up onto his elbows and looked at Adriana, whose legs were tangled in his. They looked at one another helplessly for a moment, and then Adriana started to giggle.
"Oops," she said dryly, and then dissolved into laughter, Erik stared, then started to chuckle as well. Suddenly he stopped and sat up straighter, sending Adriana into a tumble of skirts.
"Hey…" she started, Erik motioned for her to be silent,
"Quiet" he hissed. Adriana closed her mouth and listened.
"It's over here… on the stage!" men's voices carried through the dark and to the ears of our hero and heroine.
"Run!" Erik hissed, jumping up, Adriana rolled around and up in one fluid motion, straightening her skirts, Erik paused and looked at her, impressed. She flashed her dimples at him and as one they turned and bolted off stage. About ten steps past the curtain, Adriana grabbed hold of Erik's cloak and stopped him,
"Can you carry me for a moment?" she gasped. Erik stared at her, this was not the time…she pointed at her feet impatiently, "Shoes!" Of course, her tap shoes were marking a clear trail for anyone trying to follow them.
"Oh," Erik swept her up into his arms and ducked past a curtain. They turned through several corridors like a ghost and his prize before Erik arrived at a tiny cavity, "Hold on," he warned and stamped down, the floor gave way and together they fell down and into a soft pile of hay. Above them, the door swung closed again, cutting off the sounds of their pursuers.
"Nice move," Adriana commented to Erik, whom was still clutching her tightly. Suddenly he realised where his hands were and dropped them abruptly, Adriana looked a little disappointed, but flopped back onto the sweet hay beside him.
"Well that was fun," she commented, Erik groaned,
"Why does your idea of fun usually involve something life-threatening or insanely stupid?" he asked, starting to pick stray bits of hay from her gold locks.
"I think it's a character defect," she replied, brushing straw from his shoulders.
"I knew there had to be a reason," he smirked, Adriana grinned and looked down shyly, then frowned, staring at his shirt. "What have you done?"
Erik looked down in surprise at the red stain spreading across the white silk on his shirt, "I must have caught it on a nail somewhere,"
"Ouch," Adriana murmured in sympathy, she plucked at the rag dangling from his chest and peered underneath, Erik tried to shift away, "No, let me see."
Erik held still as she peeled away the red soaked material, she hissed and touched the fabric lightly, "Ow, I'm sorry"
"It's fine," Erik slid off the hay pile and held a hand out to her, "It doesn't matter." Adriana jumped down and landed beside him, "Sure it doesn't," she frowned, "Come on, I want to check properly." Rolling his eyes, Erik followed, he poled them across the lake, wincing at each push, Adriana frowned for about twenty seconds then put her arm out, "Stop," she commanded, "I'm taking over,"
"You?" Erik almost laughed, and then touched a hand tenderly to his ribs.
"Yes, me. Stop before you do yourself another injury." She knelt up and took the pole firmly in her hands, "You. Sit. Stay."
Erik, knelt opposite her, relinquishing his hold on the skull-topped pole, "Roll over and beg as well?" he asked dryly. Adriana shuffled past him and began pushing the forward again, "Now that would just be silly." She replied tartly, starting to hum "That's Amore" under her breath. They arrived back at the pier by the house on the lake and she leapt out, holding her hands out to Erik to help him up. With a groan, the Phantom hauled himself out of the gondola and crossed to the main room, tugging the cords on his cloak to let it slip to the floor. "Shirt off," she told him calmly, walking towards the corridor. "I can do it myself," he called back. Adriana disappeared into the kitchen and came back a few minutes later with a bowl of steaming water and a handful of rags as Erik leaned against his organ closing his eyes in pain.
"Shirt off," she commanded, "Now." Erik refused to move, she gave a sigh of exasperation at his stubbornness and reached her hands up to his collar, unbuttoning the fine French silk. Erik jerked back "I said I can do it myself," he growled. Adriana "Hrmph-ed" plucked the shirt neatly from his pale fingers, "And I've told you I'm doing it for you," she replied, quickly slipping the pearly buttons from their holds. She untucked his shirt and peeled the blood soaked rag away from his skin, a jagged shallow score ran across his side, oozing blood down to his waist to congeal on his skin. "Ow, poor baby," she murmured, dipping a rag in water and smoothing it over his skin. Erik folded his arms and gritted his teeth, "It's only a scratch," he protested, Adriana looked up at him with a grin, "A scratch? You're arm's on the ground?" Erik stared at her, "No its not," Adriana pointed behind her, "What's that then?" Erik twisted to look behind him and she pushed down the waistband of his trousers to catch the trail of blackening liquid, Erik jumped and glared down at her. "It's only a flesh wound!"
Adriana started giggling, taking up a clean cloth to press over the scratch. "This is insane," she murmured, Erik winced as she pressed the gauze over his wound, "What is?" Adriana snorted, "The fact that I haven't seen Monty Python in at least six months and you've never seen it, and we're both quoting it in perfect timing."
Erik tapped his fingers on his bare shoulders as Adriana wrapped another roll of bandages around his chest, securing the patch while surreptitiously casting glances at his bare chest, "Do I wont to know?"
Adriana grinned, "In all honesty? No."