Sorry that I haven't updated for a few weeks. I was a bad girl and slacked off...

School made meh do it.

oo0o0oo

The first thing that Tori registered was that the interior of the house was much larger than the outside of the house; it was as if she could bring an entire herd of elephants into the spacious sitting room and there would still be enough space left over! It was plainly decorated, but pretty nonetheless, with a long black couch and two matching armchairs surrounding a shimmery glass table standing on a maroon rug. The walls were plain white, but plans were already forming in Erik's mind to decorate the walls with his own art someday. A piano sat near the entrance to a narrow hallway leading to the kitchen on their left. Just to the right of the door, a spiral staircase led to what appeared to be an equally spacious upstairs.

Tori started to edge toward the stairs, wanting to get the heavy bags out of her grasp. In fact, what she really wanted to do was sleep: take off her simple white wedding gown, curl up in fluffy white pillows, and simply drift off into oblivion. Before she could place her foot on the bottom step, however, Erik called out, "Would you like to sing a tune or two, sweetheart?"

She turned to see him gazing at her with hope and fondness, one hand gently touching the piano and the other hanging loosely at his side. Sunlight glinted off his white mask and his black coat, giving him a much different appearence than when Tori had seen him. The light suits him well, she mused as she threw up her hands in a helpless manner and smiled lightly.

Blue-green eyes lit up at the promise of hearing her voice, and the shade sat down gracefully at the piano bench. When his wife was in place beside him, he took off his black gloves, laid them near the piano, lifted his fingers, and began to play.

The tune was a calm, cheery one, and Tori felt the same elation she had always felt when singing. Her voice rose and dropped gracefully, and Erik's fingers seemed to not even touch the piano at all. His eyes were closed peacefully, but his lips were pursed in the concentration of remembering the notes. As they went on, the sun set quickly, and the chirping of crickets became audible from beyond the walls. The light in the room changed dramatically; Erik was the first to notice.

"We might as well eat now...something quick is alright." He snapped his fingers, and a girl no older than twelve with platinum blond hair and ocean blue eyes hurried into the room.

"Yes, master and mistress?" she chirped, clasping her hands together.

"Fetch us something to eat. Nothing too fancy, we're extremely tired and wish to sleep as soon as possible." With a quick nod and a swish of her skirt, the girl was gone.

Tori rubbed one emerald eye before wandering around the enourmous room aimlessly. "What are we to do tomorrow? No operas to train for, no ballet rats to run about with..."

She turned to see Erik examining her again, this time in deep thought. "Make music. Take walks, maybe. Explore."

Tori smiled a little: she expected the answer from him. When he wasn't composing, he was exploring his surroundings. Even though he knew the opera house back to front, he still enjoyed poking around and causing mayhem. And when he wasn't causing mayhem or poking around, he was just taking walks. He claimed that it stimulated the brain and the imagination, and Tori found him to be right after a few trial walks through the corridors underground.

Erik started to fiddle around with random tunes he was thinking of, and Tori took this as a signal that the conversation was over. She walked into one of the nearby chairs and sat, leaning her head against the leathery material. She started drifting off and was nearly asleep when a different servant walked in and mumbled, "Dinner is ready."

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After a very quiet dinner, Tori started to get out of her clothes in the room Erik and her shared, while her husband stayed downstairs and played the piano. The same bouncy servant who had prepared dinner was standing by the door, waiting for her to get down to her corset so that she could unlace it for her.

While the girl worked the strings, Tori stared in the mirror over the vanity blankly. What kind of future awaited the newlyweds? Would they be able to sustain children? What if one was stillborn? Or all? She shuddered at the thought; to distract herself, she asked the maid her name.

She grinned. "My name is Corrine."

"Corrine...pretty name. Mine is Tori."

"Equally as pretty. English origin, I'm guessing?"

"My mother was British. My father's French." The corset unhooked, and Tori rubbed her sore hips as she dismissed the maid. Taking the rest of her undergarments off, she took her favorite nightgown out of the suitcase and slipped it on, along with a clean pair of undergarments.

She didn't bother to turn off the lamp; she was already asleep on the bed.