Disclaimer: I do not own PhofOp.
Falling Hard
"Here. What do you think Erik?"
Erik's eyes take in the scene before them, they were on the field a little ways from the center of the campus. Nearby the main academic building loomed over the plaza it had in front of it. The day was Saturday, so the campus was not occupied by many students, though a few would go by here and there, and there was a small group of students playing soccer on the other end of the field. He looked at Christine, who was already fanning out the blanket she had brought.
"I do not think my opinion is required since you are already making yourself comfortable."
She pouted, hands twitching as they held the second blanket. "If you really don't like this spot—"
He shook his head to stop her. Taking the blanket from her hands, he began unfolding it. "Now that is not what I said, was it? This is fine."
He got a big smile in reply, causing his grip on the blanket to falter. Luckily, that just helped make it look like he allowed it to unfold.
Once the blankets were laid out they sat down and Christine began rummaging through the basket she brought.
"Raoul will be here shortly, he had to go pick up a few more things." Christine enlightened, pulling out two water bottles and handing one to him.
Erik took it from her and twisted the cap off to take a sip. The weather was very agreeable today, while the days were gradually becoming cooler as of late, the afternoons were still warm. He had decided to leave his jacket in the theatre because of it, only wearing the cream white dress shirt underneath. And even that he had to unbutton the top three buttons. Most inconvenient but more realistic for today's outing.
Erik laid back on the blanket, trying to soak up as much sun as he could while it was feeling pleasant and before the days where it would be hidden by a cloud covered sky. He tucked his arm behind his head as a pillow, and bent his knee up for balance. Closing his eyes, he could still hear Christine digging through her basket some more.
They stayed like this, neither saying a word, they were comfortable enough with each other now that they did not feel the need to fill up silences with mindless chatter. Not that they had really done it in the beginning either, but Erik sometimes felt that Christine had felt awkward during such times then. It was nice knowing that she was more at ease with him now.
He was dozing when a voice joined them.
"Nice view."
Erik opened his eyes to see Raoul standing above him, looking down at him with a grin on his lips.
"Certainly not one of the most satisfactory fields for a view but when one is limited to the area, campus will just have to do." he replied, gaze trailing over the grounds before meeting Raoul's eyes again.
He blinked down at Erik in what appeared to be disbelief but then let out a loud chuckle. Shaking his head, Raoul sat down next to his foot that was stretched out and by Christine. Erik noticed then that when he sat he was carrying small plastic bag that contained what looked very much like…
"It that alcohol, Mr. de Chagny." Erik probed firmly, narrowing his eyes when Raoul suddenly seemed to be unable to look at him.
"We're with a responsible adult?" he replied weakly.
Erik scoffed and held out his hand that was not under his head to him. Moping, Raoul reached into the bag and took out a bottle of red wine. As he took it, Erik noticed what was in Christine's hands.
"You even brought glasses?" he accused. Christine shrugged and clicked two of the wine glasses together.
"Well we weren't going to drink it out of the bottle!"
Shaking his head he brought the bottle to his face to read the label. It was not an expensive brand but certainly not one from a convenient store either. It had a low alcohol content. The couple were both twenty which was close but still they were technically underage. Erik took a glance at them and found that both were staring at him with equally pitiful pouts on their lips. He stared at them for a few moments, neither even blinking under his gaze. Finally, he let out a sigh.
"One glass and one glass only. I shall be taking the bottle as well." Erik relented.
"Deal!" Raoul agreed excitedly, taking the bottle from his outstretched hand before opening it so that Christine could pour the wine.
He sat up, but left his leg stretched out since Raoul had taken to playing with the end of his pants, folding and unfolding the edge between his fingers. Christine poured one glass after another and handed the last one to him. Erik took it, swirling the wine in the glass a few times before taking a sip. Yes, not too much alcohol and had a sweet flavoring to it. Pretty decent he would say.
Putting the glass down carefully he helped Christine pass out the items from the basket. She had brought a variety of sandwiches meats and a whole loaf of bread slices. Condiments and sandwich toppings, plus a side dish of pasta salad. They begin assembling their plates, Raoul took up most of the ham and Christine took different things for different sandwiches, and himself taking larger portions of the pasta salad.
They spent some time just eating, Raoul eventually taking out a bottle of water to drink from with his meal.
Right as Erik had taken a particularly large bite out of his sandwich, the silence was broken.
"So Erik, got a girlfriend or something?" Raoul asked casually giving a slight tug on where he had resumed playing with Erik's pants as he did so.
His breath caught in his throat and he began choking as the sandwich had tried to go down the wrong tube. Coughing for few moments as he got his breath back, Erik brushed off Christine's concern look and took a few sips of his water.
"Sorry." Raoul whispered sheepishly, letting go of his hold on his ankle.
"Its fine." he croaked out, trying to clear his throat he drank more water. "Just please pay attention to timing next time."
"Soo, do you?" Raoul pressed.
Shaking his head. "No, I do not have a girlfriend."
"Oh okay, boyfriend then? Which is fine by the way." Raoul continued.
Erik stared at him bewildered on why the sudden interest he was displaying towards his social life.
"I know its fine, but no, I have no partner to speak of at the moment."
Christine and Raoul shared a look at his reply, making him more confused.
"Do you have any preferences then?" Christine now asked, tone curiously innocent.
Furrowing his brows, Erik rubbed the back of his neck.
"If you mean sexual orientation, then no, I do not have a preference towards men or women." Bringing his hand back down, he peered at them. "Why the sudden interest?"
"No reason. So you're bi then?" Raoul pushed.
"Ah, no." Erik denied, making the couple frown.
"But you said—" Christine began.
"There are more orientations then just hetero, homo, and bisexual, Miss Daae." he replied firmly, causing Christine to blush.
"So then you are…?" Raoul trailed off on purpose.
Erik rolled his eyes this time, confused and now partly annoyed that they were being so persistent on the subject.
"If you must know, I'm asexual."
That just got him blank stares, not that he was surprised, a lot of people do not know what it is, fewer people understand it.
"It means I do not find sexual attraction towards anything." he explained, since they were probably going to ask.
"But, how do you know you just haven't met the right person?" Raoul asked curious.
Erik's jaw tightened and his eye twitch, the boy had to ask one of the worse questions that could be asked.
"The best comparison I can give is this. How do you know whether you do not like hugging cacti if you have never tried it? Go ahead. I will wait, go hug a cactus." he replied sarcastically.
Mr. de Chagny blinked before taking on a thoughtful expression, as did Miss Daae.
"That's…actually a pretty good comparison." Raoul eventually said.
"So you never want to be romantically involved?" Christine tested biting her lip, appearing disappointed for some reason.
Again Erik shook his head. "Romantic attachments are another matter. Just because I do not find sex an appealing factor, that does not mean asexuals cannot want a relationship. Not that all of them do, but it's an option."
"Are you a virgin then?" Raoul asked eyebrows wriggling.
He sighed, still perplexed by this whole conversation but had surrendered to their questions. "Another misconception about asexually. Just because we do not find people sexually attractive, does not mean all of us die virgins. And no, I am not."
The couple's eyes widened.
"Oh my god! When? If you don't find sex likable, how you do it?" Raoul listed, leaning forward, face excited and overly interested.
At that moment, Erik was sure glad that his mask was able to cover the majority of his face, hiding the hideous blush that was painted on it.
"Isn't that a little personal, Mr. de Chagny?!" he almost yelped.
"He's embarrassed!" Raoul continued delighted. "We made Erik embarrassed! Now you're definitely talking!"
As Erik observed both Mr. de Chagny's and even Miss Daae's! determined expressions, he knew they would not let this go any time soon. Really, why are they asking such questions? Forcing himself to take a deep breath and letting it out slowly. Now calm, or as calm as he could get within this situation, he replied evenly.
"It was years ago and I had been a little younger then you two. As I said before asexuals can still have sex, it is not like there is anything physically wrong with us that would prevent that. Anyway, I was still unsure at the time. I had believed something was wrong with me because I was not like others my age. A friend of mine was kind enough to help me out and soon after I discovered the word asexual and happily associated myself with the term since."
The couple had listened quietly and intently as he spoke. Keeping silent even after he finished speaking. Abruptly, Christine straightened, eyes going wide, mouth agape.
"Oh my god. It was Madame Giry wasn't it?!" she exclaimed loudly.
Raoul was now gaping at him as well, eyes wide in shock.
Erik was very, very glad for his mask.
However, they took Erick's silence as confirmation and both squealed, throwing themselves backwards onto the blankets.
"I will not be able to look Madame Giry in the eye ever again!" Christine announced.
"Very, very good friends." Raoul added.
Though still flushed with flames in his cheeks, Erik rolled his eyes.
"Now, enough of that you two." he scolded. "Or else, I will have to conclude that you both had too much alcohol and take away your glasses."
"But we haven't even taken a few sips." Raoul protested, still lying down, arms throw out at his sides.
"And if you want to have more you will both sit up and not ask me further questions on the topic." he countered.
Christine was the first to sit up. She did so slowly, an apologetic smile on her lips. Erik gave her a nod to let her know he accepted her apology. After a few moments Raoul sat up with a sigh.
"What can I say, I love it when people are firm with me."
Raoul spent the remainder of that outing sulking after Erik had taken away his glass.
"Let's follow him." Christine suggested out of the blue, causing Raoul to look at her with a raised eyebrow.
"The heck you talking about?" he replied as he turned his eyes to follow where Erik was walking away from them, after the end their picnic.
"The food!" she insisted. "I've seen him do it before. He's been taking some of the meat but not eating it. He's so sneaky about it that I had to watch him closely these past few times to make sure I haven't been making it up for some reason."
Raoul shrugged, shifting the basket from one hand to the other. "Okay?"
"I just want to know what he does with it." Christine huffed. Without waiting for Raoul to answer, she began to make her way towards the direction where Erik was heading. After a few moments, she heard Raoul grumble but follow after her, causing her to smirk.
Eventually they spotted Erik walking, and followed him at a distance, hoping that if they got too close, he would think they were just random students walking. He never turned around in any case. Christine found that they were heading towards the theatre and as they had fewer and fewer places to hide, they let him get further ahead of them. When Erik got to the theatre, he made his way to the back, Christine tugged on Raoul's arm to pull him to the corner of the building and stopped.
Christine peeked her head out from the corner, enough that she could see, Raoul doing the same pressed behind her, his head above hers.
Erik hadn't gone inside. Instead, he slowly started pacing back and forth the short length that covered the dumpsters. When he started humming, Christine's brows furrowed downward.
"What's he doing?" Raoul questioned quietly and she shushed him, gently poking him with her elbow.
Erik continued to pace and hum for a few minutes more and they continued to watch.
Eventually something interrupted the humming.
A cry so soft that Christine almost didn't hear it from this distance came from dumpsters. Erik paused in his pacing, turning to face the dumpsters, but looking downwards. There was a smile on his lips.
"There you are." Erik observed gently.
He kneeled down, in dress pants and all, beginning to hum again. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a bag that contained the sandwich meat Christine had noticed him taking. When he was able to actually bag it, she had no idea.
Opening it, he tore off a piece of one of them and placed it a littles way from the dumpster. He waited there patiently, humming softly and smoothly to whatever was under there. Then something slowly crawled out from under the dumpster and the sight made Christine's heart tighten.
It was a cat, though it was in a poor state. It was a she. Her fur was tangled and dirty, and her body underweight. One of her ears looked like it had been bitten off and she came out with limp. Though Christine saw that the bad leg was also wrapped up firmly.
The cat gave a pathetic meow at Erik, but moved closer to him to reach the meat he had laid out. As she ate the piece, Erik continued to hum as he tore up the rest of the meat into pieces and would place another when she was about to finish to one she was on.
"Will you allow me to check on your leg?" Erik asked, voice smoothly transitioning into a verbal version of the humming. Reaching towards the cat as she ate. When the cat didn't move, he shifted a little and without really touching the cat, checked on the binding he must have placed on her.
"Looks alright." Erik fussed, stroking the cat after making sure the leg was fine. "Soon maybe you will allow me to take you away from here. I'm sure you will be most satisfied with the place I have in mind."
The cat meowed and butted her head into his hand in answer. Christine couldn't hear it from her spot, but she had no doubt that the cat was purring.
Erik continued to stroke the cat, humming as he did so. Satisfied and heart officially melted, Christine straightened, causing Raoul to do so as well. She gestured for him to follow, which he did, the two left to head back to her car.
They walked in silence, Christine knew that they were both thinking of what they had seen. She knew that Erik was a kind person, but this? This was just…wow. They had witnessed another part of Erik, one that he hadn't intentionally showed, but Christine felt honored nether less.
When they had made it to the parking lot where they had parked Raoul suddenly stopped, causing her to stop as well. She turned to him to ask him what was wrong, but his shocked expression made her pause.
"Oh god!" he blurted out before she could say anything. "I love him! I've fallen in love with Erik! I think I had realized it at lunch, but it just hit me now…"
Suddenly it became clear and Christine smiled at him in understanding. Cupping his cheek in her hand, she placed a sweet kiss on his other cheek.
"Glad to know you've finally admitted it. I've been waiting for a while now. Don't worry I feel the same."
"But—but," Raoul stuttered, panicked. "We still have no idea whether he even thinks about us in anyway other than friends! And even that's a maybe. Plus he just told us he's asexual, which might mean we really don't have a chance with him, and—"
"Raoul," Christine cut him off firmly. "We will figure it out. He did say that he was open to romantic relationships so I wouldn't count us out completely yet. I'm sure we can find out more about asexually online. For now, we'll continue what we've been doing. Okay?"
Raoul nodded into her hand weakly and she gave him another kiss, this one on the lips, before pulling back.
"Come on." And Raoul followed her.
Originally it had only been the picnic scene, but as you'll realize later the cat scene needed to be added. So now Erik is outed as asexual and Christine and Raoul are in love with him. It just got real! Just kidding. Next chapter is in Erik's POV again and finally you'll be introduced to Meg!
Comments are loved and appreciated.