Lerik rarely crept up to the second floor. But the loud decibels coming from the Meriks side of the house were keeping him awake again. Creeping out of the coffin-and failing to apply his mask-Lerik made his way drowsy eyed upstairs.
Mauer jumped back, taken by surprise at the unmasked mute's presence and lack of mask.
Lerik was surprised to hear the ruckus coming from Crawford's door.
Several Meriks' lingered nearby, looking rather concerned and uneasy.
"What's going on?" Lerik scribbled on his board.
"Crawford and Sarah hit a reef the other day," Joback commented with a frown.
"Poor man's been pretty shaken since it seems," Warlow added.
Lerik pointed to the door, "But what is THAT?"
"Adele is his go to music when he's upset."
Lerik blinked, before scribbling again. "Who?"
"I'll try talking to him." Jones said, gently weaved passed the Meriks'.
"Good luck. Monsieur Fantome tried earlier, I don't think it made things worse but it didn't help matters either."
Trying the knob, he found it unlocked.
We could have had it all,
Rolling in the deep.
You had my heart inside your hand,
And you played it to the beat
Jones frowned sadly at his friend. As the music blared, the older Merik was slumped over the desk. While Crawford's back was to Jones, he could see the mask discarded beside him.
Reaching over, Jones turned the sound system down. Crawford didn't even poke his head up at the disturbance.
"Perhaps you need to do something to take your mind off this?" Jones suggested hopefully.
"The music isn't coming to me right now." The older Merik croaked "It's all just jumbled and incomplete without…"
"Maybe something else? We could play another round of chess?"
"Please, just leave me alone."
Jones frowned, putting a hand on Crawford's shoulder. "I just want to help."
Turning to face him, he had certainly seen better days. Even the unscathed half of his face looked worn and tired.
Wiping at his already red rimmed eyes, Crawford shook his head. "While I appreciate the sentiment I don't think there's anything you can do to remedy the situation."
Panaro was beside himself what to do.
Soot trotted over to his masked master, the latter proceeding to rub the labradoodle's ears.
"What can I do boy? I was so foolish." He frowned.
"You're still upset I see?"
The Broadway man jolted up hearing that familiar tenor.
"K-Kari!" Panaro stuttered in surprise at being startled by the West End man.
"What are you doing here? I thought you weren't due back until this evening?"
Closing the door to their room behind him, Karimloo nodded.
"I was suppose to, but I had to come back." The Merik sighed, "I understand how it must have felt for you. I admit I may have become a little jealous myself if you said you were paying Sandra or Mary an unexpected visit."
Panaro blinked, "I…No no it's alright…I just."
"I told Sierra I had to leave early, I couldn't keep thinking about how upset you must have been." Karimloo pulled the hand he had behind his back out holding out a single red rose.
"Forgive me?" Karimloo asked.
Reaching out, Panaro took the offered rose, his thumb and index finger stroked one of the soft petals.
"Of course,"
"Thank you," Karimloo smiled pulling his partner closer. "C'mere."
Panaro felt his concerns and worry just melt away as the West End man's malformed lips were pressed against his own mishapen ones.
Karimloo reached up, curling his fingers along the edge of Panaro's mask. His eyes were dazed slits that asked for the Broadway man's permission. Panaro weakly nodded.
Placing the mask on the adjacent desk table, Karimloo continued his advances, enjoying the feel of Panaro's deformed and twisted flesh against his hand.
Panaro felt his coat be pulled down off his shoulders. He sighed tilting his head back once Karimloo had pushed him onto the bed and had climbed overtop of him. He could feel Karimloo fumbling to release the confides of his bowtie.
"W-What's that?" Karimloo asked, breaking the trance he had Panaro in.
Sitting up, Panaro looked up in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
Getting off the bed, Karimloo rummaged in the very back of the desk drawer, pulling out a dust coated mirror. Wiping the dust away with his sleeve, Karimloo held the handheld glass out for Panaro.
"What. Is. That?" Karimloo asked again, his voice a little more icy.
Panaro's face went white as a sheet, looking back at his reflection. But it wasn't his face that caused a heavy feeling in his gut.
It was the fresh teeth marks Kerik had left on his neck.
"I…I.." Panaro mumbled. "I just…"
"You were mad about me seeing a friend and then you would sneak around behind my back?" Karimloo gaped.
"No…Well yes. No but I mean I almost did but-"
"What do you mean almost?!" Karimloo was angry by this point, "Do I even want to know who it was?"
"No you probably don't want to," Panaro hung his head in shame. "Please, Kari. I am so sorry. It was just kissing, nothing happened."
Karimloo crossed his arms, "Just kissing. As if I don't feel denied and betrayed enough."
Panaro stood and tried to place his hands on the West End man's shoulders.
"You are my partner, you are my angel. Please, I am so sorry."
But Karimloo shrugged him off, backing away.
"Keep away from me." He snarled.
Before Panaro could say another word, Karimloo stormed out slamming the door behind him. Reaching over, Panaro cradled the rose to his chest. Soot trotted over to him with a concerned whine as his master broke down on the floor a sobbing mess.
"Kari, please forgive me." Panaro whimpered, "I can't lose you…"
Sarah opened the door to see Jones crouched over on the side attempting to slip something under her door.
The masked Merik blinked looking up at her and stood.
"Oh! Um good day Sarah," Jones smiled nervously.
Sarah frowned, "What are you doing here?"
"I came to give you something."
"Come in then," She offered as Jones stepped inside, "Wait, Crawford didn't send you here did he?"
Jones held his hands up in innocent defence. "No, no he didn't. I'm not sure he even knows I'm here. He seemed rather out of it when I left."
Sarah turned around, "What do you mean 'out of it'?"
"I shouldn't really say, it's not my place."
Sarah crossed her arms. Sure she was mad at him at the moment, but she would hate to hear something bad happened again.
"Anyway, I came here to bring you this." Jones said handing the brunette a stack of papers.
"What are these?" Sarah asked.
Jones just gestured to the papers, "Open it"
She did so, noticing the familiar red handwriting that read 'For my Sarah'. After the cover page she could see handwritten sheet music and accompanying lyrics.
Her pale eyes glanced at Jones dark blue ones.
"Go ahead," The Merik gestured.
Clearing her throat, the chestnut haired woman sang.
If I ever fall in love again,
It'll be with someone just like you.
I don't say that I'm in love again
But on the day you came my way, I knew.
If I ever fall in love again,
This is just the way it ought to be,
But if it's really love again,
I'll leave to fate, I'd rather wait and see.
Sarah stopped, reading through the rest. She stared up at the Merik.
"He wrote this for me?" She asked, a hand over her heart exasperated.
Jones nodded, "That's why Dale was over that day. Given their history he needed someone with a fair voice to sing it rather than do so himself. That's why Crawford didn't tell you about her being over, the song was meant to be a surprise for you."
Sarah blinked shaking her head, "Oh. I didn't even think to- My god I feel terrible. I can't imagine how he must be feeling. Please promise nothing bad's happened?"
His eyes seemed to reflect the sad truth he was hiding. "Maybe you should just talk to him? If you two really love each other, there's no reason why things can't work out right?"
Sarah sighed, "I'll….I'll think about it. Thank you for stopping by and bringing me this."
The Merik nodded, "I just don't want my friend to get hurt."
Before he left she brought him in for a hug.
Pulling away she said, "That's the last thing I want to do to him."
Cherik smiled down at his new furry companion.
"That's much better isn't it?" He asked, the rat tilted its head squeaking up at him.
Since liberating the close to death rodent, Cherik had given it five much needed years of its life back. It no longer smelled like it had crawled out of a sewage pipe and had been well groomed and trimmed since then. After giving the rodent a thorough scrubbing, Cherik was surprised and delighted to realize it's fur was not naturally brown as the caked on dirt washed away it seemed this rat had a sleek white coat. Although the only thing it seemed to have a problem with was when Cherik attempted to put a ribbon around its neck.
Or at least the red one, the blue ribbon still remained neatly fastened.
The rat scampered down on the piano keys, down to the floor and through the ajar door.
"Want to run around then?" Cherik asked, chasing after it. "Must be careful of the cat though."
But as he opened the door his eyes were met with that of Jerik's dark disturbed ones, whom currently clutched the squirming rodent.
"Just what have you done?!" The long haired man asked flabbergasted.
The redhead raised a brow from behind his mask, "I fail to understand what you mean? I've been taking care of her is all."
"B-But she smells so…so-"
"I think monsieur, the word you're looking for is clean."
"And this?!" Jerik asked tugging on the ribbon.
"She likes it. Now stop squeezing her like that! Polo is getting scared" Cherik protested taking back the rat, whom seemed to calm in his hands.
Jerik blinked, "Polo? What kind of nonsense name is that?"
Cherik huffed, petting the rat's trembling head. "For your information she likes it. And as I am a better caretaker she is no longer your cause for concern."
Turning back around, Cherik closed the door on the long haired man's face.
Harley wasted no time heading toward the park. He knew Sarah had agreed to meet Crawford here. So once the older Merik had left, Harley waited a few minutes before following him discreetly.
He was quite giddy to say the least. Surely Sarah had invited him to finally end things, and Harley was more than happy to be there to comfort the brunette.
His smirk all too noticeable behind the metallic mask, Harley ducked behind a nearby willow as he spied Sarah coming down the park trail.
Crawford's tired eyes lit up seeing Sarah. He stood from where he was seated at the bench as they mere steps away from each other.
"Good morning," The older Merik greeted her, taking off the fedora.
Sarah nodded, "Morning. You seem good."
Crawford shook his head, "I really don't, but as always you're very kind."
"I'm-"
But before she could say her piece, he interrupted her.
"May I go first?" Crawford asked. "Please, before you go any further I just need to tell you."
"Alright."
"If you need to leave in order to be happy, I understand. I let you go once before remember?" He smiled sadly recalling that confrontation under the opera house. "I don't want to of course. You have to know I've always loved you. All I want for you is your happiness, that's why I let you go. But if you wish to end this in order to have that, I will leave you be."
Sarah shook her head, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand.
"My turn," She said quietly.
'Here it comes!' Harley thought eagerly to himself.
But before any of them understood what was happening, Sarah grasped the lapels of Crawford's coat through the heavy cloak he wore and kissed his malformed lips. Both Crawford and Harley's eyes were wide with shock, the former's hands nervously trembled with a startled flail at his sides.
Pulling away, Sarah wrapped her arms around him, she could hear his heart beat erratically.
"I don't want to end anything, I just wanted to say I'm so sorry." Sarah mumbled.
"I jumped to conclusions and it wasn't very fair of me to do to you. Jones came by, he showed me the song you wrote for me. It was truly beautiful."
She rested a hand along his masked cheek, looking up at him.
"I love you," Sarah smiled, seeing the one of joy and relief cross the unmasked half of his face.
"I could never stop loving you if I tried my dear," He confessed, caressing her small hand in his.
Sarah let her arms loop around Crawford's neck, pulling him in for another hug.
"Michael…" She sighed happily.
It was a very rare instance for any of the Meriks' to be called on by their given name, on only one occasion had Panaro called upon Karimloo in a similar fashion. All the more signifying how much he meant to her after all.
Behind the willow, Harley sunk to his knees shaking his head. He had meant to break them apart and instead they were all the more closer.
This truly was not his day.
"I just can't believe he would do that," Karimloo shook his head glumly as he paced the room.
Mr. Y sat across from him, "I'm not trying to defend his actions by any means, but he was pretty upset."
Since the argument, the West End man was offered a temporary place to stay with him on the third floor. The two were unlikely but pretty well off friends once they'd gotten to talking when Gerik was absent.
"I may not be the best one for advice on this," The older man admitted, "But perhaps you two should talk it out. It was only kissing, it's not like he and Kerik actually went through with it."
Karimloo's shoulders tensed as he whipped back around.
"It was KERIK?!" THe Merik hissed, his brown eyes seething with anger.
"You didn't know? I thought he told you," Y blinked-a rare instance when he did so.
The older man sighed as with a roar Karimloo slammed his fists down against the wall in rage.
"It'll be war upon them both!" The West End men growled through gritted teeth.
Standing up, Y patted his angry masked friend's back.
"Don't do anything rash-we've all already made one too many rash decisions in our past."
Karimloo sighed. He glanced down at the floor hearing a familiar sound
Still you don't walk through the door
And in a haze, I count the silent days
Till I hear you sing once more
Panaro sang, or attempted to do so without getting choked up. He had heard Karimloo sing it many times when he thought no one was listening.
And sometimes at nighttime
I dream that you are there
But wake, holding nothing but the empty air
Upstairs Karimloo and Y glanced at each other.
"I mean it's already been a few days," Y shrugged, "You can't be mad at him forever? You two should talk."
Karimloo felt low and saddened hearing the choked up notes coming through from downstairs.
"Maybe you're right…"
Joback sat in the parlor, happily situated at the organ singing to the instruments low groan.
"Glad to hear you singing again. But your pitch sounds rather higher than it normal-" Jones paused, seeing the Swedish man in the parlor. "My apologies! I thought Crawford was in here."
Joback shrugged, "Not the first time I've heard that. I'll be away for a little while. That's why I was working on my reps you see."
He continued, "Speaking of, things seem better. He came home not too long ago looking quite happy to say the least."
Wilkinson seated nearby nodded "That's true. You had something to do with it didn't you?"
Jones looked over, "I just didn't want anyone getting hurt."
The former Merik smiled, "Good for you stepping up. You're not such a bad leader after all."
"R-Really?" Jones stammered, feeling himself blush behind the half mask. "I suppose I- Oh my! What's the time?"
Joback checked his pocketwatch. "Just after eight?"
Standing upright, Jones straightened his jacket, "I told Cherik I would meet him for some practice together on a duet. Excuse me gentlemen."
~The following songs featured were:
-Rolling in the Deep by Adele
-If I Ever Fall in Love Again by Sarah Brightman
-Till I Hear You Sing by Ramin Karimloo
~In an interview back in 2012 among other topics Crawford said he enjoyed Adele when asked about anything modern he listens to.
~The name Polo is a reference to Teri Polo, the actress that played Christine as well as Belladova in the PotO tv miniseries.
~As Peter Joback is Broadway's current Phantom albeit temporarily I couldn't resist inserting that in an easter egg fashion somehow
~This might be a YMMV joke. For me as well as several people in the PotO server I'm part of Joback or at least his English version of the Phantom comes off similar to Crawford but at a much higher falsetto like pitch. Hence Jones' confusion.
~The joke about Mr. Y blinking is kind of a running gag about his performance in the Melbourne production as he a sort of wide eyed never blinks expression during the show like a Boris Karloff character.