"Stay here," Erik commanded. When Nadir started to protest, he held up his hand to silence him. "I'm going to go talk to her and see if she's willing to tell me anything. If she won't talk to me, then we'll see if she will speak to you."
"Do you speak German?" Nadir asked.
"Enough," Erik lied smoothly. "Do you think you know more?"
"I don't know much of the language, I'm afraid," the Persian admitted. "But German doesn't seem to be a language that would strike your fancy. But you are full of surprises. I've learned never to doubt you. "
Erik glanced towards her door. "I'm going to go talk to her." As he made his way to her room, Erik thought about his dilemma. He really didn't know all that much German, just a little bit he had picked up from foreigners that visited the Opera Populaire. What he knew was mostly small talk, and even that was fairly limited. Hopefully it was enough.
Nadir was right, the rough language had never appealed to him. He preferred the elegance of French, the musicality of Italian, and the convenience of English. It had been years since he had heard any German seeing as the opera house was now abandoned, but it was going to have to do.
He knocked softly on her door before he walked in like always. Her eyes were full of fear, like a deer that was face to face with a wolf. Erik held his hands out to show he wasn't going to hurt her. Slowly so he didn't startle her more, he approached her and sat next to her on the bed. "Wie heissen Sie?" he asked softly, hoping that his limited knowledge was correct and that she could actually understand him.
"Katja," she whispered, slowly meeting his eyes. "Und Sie?"
"Ich heisse Erik," he replied.
"Sprechen Sie Deutsch?" she asked in surprise.
"Sehr, sehr klein," he admitted. Erik realized that she had seemed to understand him when he spoke to her in French. Maybe she could speak it. "Sprechen Sie…" He mentally swore as he struggled to remember the right word. "Français?" he finished weakly in his native language, hoping his meaning was able to get across.
"Französisch, "she helpfully supplied. "Ja." She shook her head before thankfully switching languages. "Oui, I speak French." Her language and grammar were perfect, even though she had just a hint of German accent.
Erik let out a massive sigh of relief. "Good. As you can probably tell, my German is not up to par. Just that was pushing my limits. When you spoke, I was afraid that all this time you hadn't understood me."
"I understood," she replied softly.
There were so many questions Erik had for her that he didn't where to start. Her eyes grew wide at something over his shoulder. He glanced back and saw Nadir in the door way. "Guten Tag Fräuline," the Persian said pleasantly.
Her eyes watched him suspiciously as he let himself into the room. Sensing her discomfort, Erik quickly introduced him. "This is my friend, Nadir Kahn." Erik shot him a dirty look and continued with, "He's harmless even if he does have a nasty habit of showing up uninvited."
"Bonjour," she whispered.
"Oh good, you do speak French. That saves us all the trouble of struggling to understand each other. As Erik said, my name is Nadir Kahn." He gave a short bow. "And what might your name be Fräuline?"
She looked him over, as if trying to determine how big of a threat he was to her. "Katja."
"That's a lovely name," he said, his voice staying light. "And where exactly are you from?"
She glanced at Erik for a moment and he could see confusion, uncertainty, and mistrust in her eyes. "Nadir, perhaps you should go," Erik said. "It's been a long day. I'm sure Katja is exhausted."
The Persian glanced at the girl. She yawned, simply proving Erik's point. "Perhaps you're right."
"Of course I'm right," Erik replied. He stood and motioned for Nadir to follow him. "And you're leaving now. Come Daroga, I will show you to the door."
"Demanding as ever aren't you Erik?" he said with a smile. "It's a wonder you don't have any other friends."
Erik glared at him. "You just need to learn to come here only when you're invited and not just show up because you feel like it."
"Then I'd never be allowed back," he responded smoothly. "I know how that mind of yours works. You'd hole up in here and no one would ever hear from you again."
"Because that's how I like it!" Erik snapped. "I don't need people interfering with my life!"
Nadir's gaze flicked to the girl, clearly warning Erik to control his temper in front of her. "If you're going to show me to the door, we might want to get going." The two left the girl in her room. "I'll be back in a few days to make sure things are still going well. Leaving you unsupervised could be very bad."
"I don't need you Nadir."
"Yes you do. Sooner or later you'll lose your temper, throw a fit, and scare her half to death. It would be better if someone else were here when that happens or at least came by to clean up the mess."
The Phantom growled in frustration. "Notice how the only time I've come close to losing my temper is when you're here. How can one man be so infuriating?"
"I don't know Erik. How can you be?" Erik glared at him, causing Nadir to raise his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Alright, I'm leaving. I'll be back in three days or so."
He gave a sigh of defeat. "Fine."
Nadir wasn't done yet. "Be careful with her. I don't want either one of you getting hurt in this."
"What do you mean?" Erik demanded.
"I mean that when you get attached to something, you're rather reluctant to let it go."
"I'm not attached!" he protested.
"I'm just saying…"
Erik cut him off. "Goodbye Daroga," he said before spinning on his heel and leaving the Persian standing in the doorway.
She was watching him from the music room, but when he walked into the room, she started to disappear again. "Katja," he called softly. She froze at the sound of her name and slowly turned back around to face him.
"I thought you said he was your friend." Erik could almost hear the accusation in her tone.
"He is. Just not in the conventional form of the word," he explained. "I guess even if he's not, he's the closest thing I have to a friend."
"Then why do you mistrust each other so much?"
"Because he believes that it is his personal duty to make sure the rest of the world doesn't suffer because of me," Erik replied honestly.
She seemed taken aback by his response. Whatever she wasn't expecting, it wasn't that. "Have you ever done anything bad enough to justify such fears?"
Erik exhaled slowly. "Yes."
Her eyes widened in fear. "Like what?" she asked quietly.
"Well, most recently I killed Javert."
To his surprise, Katja seemed to almost relax at his confession. "I asked if you did anything bad."
Erik's lips curved upwards into a hint of a smile but he just shook his head. "Now isn't the time for stories like that."
German Translations
Wie heissen Sie?= What is your name?
Und Sie?= And you?
Ich heisse Erik= My name is Erik.
Sprechen Sie Deutsch?= You speak German?
Sehr, sehr klein= Very, very little
Französisch,= French
Ja= Yes