Disclaimer: I do not own PhofOp.

Epic Failure Provides Insight

Raoul listened quietly as Christine began to sing an upbeat fast pace song as Erik played the music on the piano. Raoul sat there on the stage floor a little ways from where Erik was sitting on the piano bench, giving him a good view of the two musical people. Erik had offered him a spot on the piano bench next to him when Raoul had first started showing up to practice but he had denied, partly because he really didn't want to get in Erik's way. Mostly it was because if he had been so close, he wouldn't be able to admire the length of Erik's body as it shifted and rolled into every motion as he played. When he had first picked his spot on the ground to do just that, Christine had smiled knowingly at him. He responded by sending her back a wink, luckily Erik didn't notice either motion.

It had been some weeks now since he and Christine begin their subtle motions towards seeing if Erik could be in the least bit attractive to them that way. They wouldn't do it too often and definitely not at the same time, not wanting Erik to get too suspicious, but just enough to where he might noticed enough to acknowledge or deny the flirts. Mostly this was done when they met up outside of Christine's lessons. The three would take turns choosing a spot and they would come up with a time that they could all meet. Most of the time Erik favored weekends, "There are less people around," he had explained when the couple asked. Which was understandable since the town was basically the campus itself, so on the weekends a lot of students drove back home if they could. After hearing his answer, the two tried to make sure every outing was on a weekend day, sadly, it didn't always work out like that because an exam would come up or paper would be due. However, Erik would always nod in understanding when they told him about their assignments and send them off after wishing them luck.

Anyway, when they could meet up, they would try to do what they could to see if Erik was possibly opened to them. Both of them would get flirtier in speech, Christine would let her hands linger when Erik and her hands touched or she find a reason to touch his arms or trail her hand across his shoulder when she passed behind him. Raoul? Well, he was always the more direct of the two of them anyway, so he liked it when he could get his hand on Erik's leg, or the few times he somehow managed to wrapped an arm around his waist, usually with the excuse of trying to get something behind Erik but would stay longer than necessary.

However, the results have been very discouraging. So far there has been little success. And the mask definitely didn't help! With the majority of his face covered, they had to try harder to notice any possible tells and with someone who had apparently mastered displaying his emotions when he wanted to that made that task nearly impossible. Still they tried, still they failed. Epically failed. Erik would neither deny nor acknowledge the flirts or purposeful touches, which Raoul suppose could be seen as a good thing since he wasn't denying them, but it's frustrating not knowing if their attempts were even being noticed.

Raoul's attention was brought back when Erik had stopped playing and Christine stopped singing. Christine had an attentive smile on her face as she listened to Erik giving her the last few pointers before he ended their session. When he did, he turned away from her and began sorting through the music sheets that he had brought with him for the lesson today, taking out a pencil to make notes.

"Erik? I have some left over cake from one of my club meetings, if you want it?" Christine asked having grabbed her backpack and pulled out a wrapped slice of lemon cake.

Erik's eyes went to the cake slice in her hands and then up to her. "Thank you kindly, Miss Daae. You can just leave it here and I shall eat it later."

Christine nodded with a pleased grin, going over to him to place the cake slice on the piano bench's edge.

She then turned to Raoul.

"I'm just going to go to the restroom real quick then I'll meet you in the car, okay?" It wasn't really a question since she didn't even pause to wait for his answer.

Now left alone with Erik, Raoul felt that he might as well as use the opportunity before heading out. Turning so that he was facing away from the composer, he made a show of standing up. Stretching and standing up slowly, putting each movement on display.

Of course he then heard the last thing he had wanted to hear, making him swear softly and straighten up fast.

Turning quickly, Raoul was relieved that Erik was still looking down at his music sheets. Well he was disappointed that Erik hadn't noticed what he had been doing, but was willing to get over it if it meant he also didn't see the result. Slowly, he tried to back away off the stage without being noticed, but he should have known that wasn't going to happen.

"Did I hear a ripping sound just now?" Erik questioned, still not looking up but causing Raoul to stop.

"No, I didn't hear a thing." He answered quickly trying to play it cool.

Erik now raised his head from his notes and considered Raoul, making him want to shrink into himself or have the ground swallow him up. Either or would have been perfect at that moment.

"Lies do not suit you. Apparently, from the way you are standing and the redness of your face, you tore your pants, Mr. de Chagny." Erik remarked. Raoul wanted to think that Erik was teasing him because maybe that would mean it was a flirtation. However, the gold eyes were completely serious and even thoughtful. Which Raoul thought that was actually worse. "Do you have the means to fix it?"

Well Christine and he had a sewing kit in the apartment, but neither knew how to use it.

Raoul shook his head and he got stared at by those eyes for a few more moments, making him increasingly edgy.

"Wait here." Erik told him suddenly, before walking around the piano and going off to the backstage.

Raoul waited a couple minutes, standing there awkwardly before Erik came back.

"Here." Erik tossed him a pair of shorts that was obviously part of a costume. When Raoul sent him a look, he rolled his eyes. "It's only temporary and it should fit you just fine."

Erik then turned his back, obviously waiting for Raoul to change. Feeling a little self-conscious since they were standing in the middle of the stage even though it was deserted, Raoul tried to switch pants as fast as possible. The pants almost fit him perfectly, which made him pleasantly surprised that Erik was able to guess his size so well. When done he told Erik he could turn around.

"Where on earth did you purchase such a thing?" Erik inquired after he faced him, holding his hand out.

"…a thrift store." Raoul answered awkwardly, handing him the ripped pants. "I've seen the style around campus so had thought I would give it a try."

"Ah, a slave to fashion then." Erik confirmed with a nod as he took the pants. Raoul didn't know what to think about that. It didn't really sound like an insult because of his tone but it definitely wasn't any type of compliment either.

"Quality is a very important factor to consider when one searches for the right clothing Mr. de Chagny." Erik advised as he signaled for Raoul to follow him and, after heading back to grab the cake slice Christine had left, began making his way through the backstage.

"Yeah well, being a current college student isn't all it's cracked up to be when it comes to spending money on clothes." Raoul countered and Erik conceded by nodding once, walking a few paces ahead of him. Raoul let his eyes roam over Erik's fashion choice and had to admit, nothing on him looked cheap and looked very, very fitting on the man.

"How are you able to afford your closet? Working here really pay that much?"

Erik snorted.

"Not in the least, sad to say." Erik answered his question, stopping in front of a door with no name plate and getting out a set of keys.

"Soo…" Raoul pressed.

"I was able to get a contract that promises me a portion of whatever sales made off of my play go to me." Erik explained, opening the door to his office. "It was slightly difficult because I wanted to remain anonymous but was able to get it done. The account cannot be traced back to me either, another difficult task but worth the trouble. Since my play is still being performed in many theatres, I am getting quite the paycheck."

"O. G." Raoul stated and Erik nodded. "Can I ask what it stands for?"

Erik chuckled, wandering over to his desk, placing the cake slice on top and starting searching through the draws. "Opera Ghost. When I had been twenty, I had wanted to prove myself clever all the time. O.G. did its job perfectly."

"Would you use the same pen name if you put out another piece?" Raoul asked interested.

Erik shrugged and found what he was searching for because he straightened. Raoul saw that it was a small sewing kit.

"Possibly. I have grown considerably attached to the name, but people are egotistic and with the name being so known anything else that would be published under its name will have automatic high expectations that would cause tremendous backlash if anything were to be a disappointment. They would judge it from what they have seen before and not see its own specific beauty."

Raoul thought about that for a few moments, but in the end saw Erik's point and agreed with it.

Erik moved a couple things off his desk so that he could settle on top of it, placing a foot on his chair for balance. He didn't say anything else after that, lying Raoul's pants on his lap and taking out the appropriate thread to lace the needle with.

Raoul left him to his silence, roaming around the small office. It was slightly difficult since he didn't want to step on any of the books or music sheets, but he saw it sort of an adventure to discover another side of Erik. When he was on the other side of the desk from where Erik was sitting he saw something on one of the shelves out of the corner of his eye that made him do a double-take.

"Is that a mask with purple glitter?"

Erik didn't even look up to see what Raoul was referring to. Instead he just shifted a little as he begun to sew up the pants.

"When my niece, Meg, was four, she had for a time found my mask awfully fascinating. One day during a class at her pre-school they had a craft day. She decided to make a mask for herself. She also loved purple and glitter at the time, to explain its design. She wore it every day for a couple weeks."

"That's sweet." Raoul grinned, taking the mask carefully in his hands. It was a lot smaller then what Erik wore and you could tell it was made by a child for a child.

"Yes well, there was a bit of a complication when she kept going on about how she wanted to be like her uncle who wore dark clothes and a mask all the time." Erik continued causally, though Raoul could see the slight twitch of his lips as he said that.

Raoul chuckled and put the mask back down, strolling towards Erik. "So why do you have it?"

Raoul was now by Erik's side, having settled his hand behind Erik's back next to that side's hip but not touching him. Raoul did the same with his another hand on the other side, practically pressing himself into his side but again, not touching. Being so close he could smell Erik which he was not surprised to find that his scent was that of ink and parchment mostly but was taken aback by the hint of apple as well, probably from his shampoo.

Erik didn't even twitch, head still down towards the sewing. Though he answered his question.

"Because even after Madame Giry explained what Meg had meant, she was no longer allowed to wear it. She was quite heartbroken over the fact so she gave it to me to use. Though she had not realized that it was way too small for me."

"Would you have worn it if it did fit?" he whispered next to him. Surely, this is obvious? Raoul thought, his head so close to Erik's that he could place his chin on his shoulder. Surely, Erik would see this as a come on? Though he had wanted Erik to keep talking, because he was honestly curious. Christine and him knew so little about the man, that they took every opportunity they could to learn something from him.

"Any time if she so desired." Erik replied simply, making Raoul's heart stutter in his heart at the affection in his tone. Oh how Raoul wanted Erik to speak to him in such a voice…

Erik shifted the pants in his lap, raising the needle up. Turning slightly to open his top draw, completely brushing over where Raoul's arm was around him. He pulled out a small pair of scissors and cut the thread.

Erik lifted his head, the distance between them so close that their eyes were only a few inches apart. Gold eyes that stared at Raoul with not the faintest hint of…well, anything that Raoul had hoped for. There wasn't even the slightest trace that Erik was finding their distance different then any other time!

"Here you go." Erik stated steadily, not breaking eye contact as he held up Raoul's now untorn pants to him. "Though I would personally recommend getting rid of them. Next time, they might be a hopeless cause."

Raoul blinked at him in amazement. Nothing. That got nothing!

Almost in a stupor, he certainly knew he couldn't speak at the moment, Raoul took the pants in his hands and backed away from Erik. Erik, who stood up off his desk in one graceful motion and made a gesture towards the door.

"Come. I'll show you the way back."

Dazedly, Raoul followed him and together they made their way through, Erik showing him the way to the backstage restrooms for him to change.

"You can change in here and just leave the shorts there so that you do not have to try to make your way back to the office. I will retrieve them later."

One more time he turned to Raoul, giving him a short nod in goodbye before walking away without another word.

When he had disappeared, Raoul stumbled into the restroom and changed quickly. Leaving the shorts on the sink he made his way back to the car where Christine had been waiting in this whole time.

"Oh my god!" Raoul exclaimed as soon as he got into the car, causing Christine to look at him in alarm.

"What?! What happened?! Where have you even been this whole time!?" she demanded.

Raoul slammed his head into the dashboard in front of him. "He's too much! He's just too damn adorable! Pure soul! That man has a pure soul!"

Turning his eyes to glance at Christine, who now looked amused but confused, he told her what had happened from when she had first left to when Erik and he were in the office and how they separated. By the end of it, she was laughing so hard that she was holding her sides and her eyes were wet.

Another chapter is up. This was actually a chapter that I only knew that I had wanted to write about the purple glitter mask so was worried about the length. Luckily, the thing about writing is that you just go along as to write, making it a lot longer than I thought it would be. Hoped I got a few of you to laugh in this one, or at least feel embarrassed for Raoul's sake. I do so love embarrassing him!

I'll admit to feeling a little down about the lack of reviews—especially for the third chapter! So I don't know what my dear readers had enjoyed about the chapters. So yes, reviews are loved and hopefully you enjoyed this chapter enough to leave one.

Next chapter is in Erik's POV but then has a switch at the end in Christine's.