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Post by Erik on Sept 11, 2008 9:51:55 GMT -5
"You were the one who left!" Erik snarled. "The Opera no longer a home for you, once Erik was no longer handsome enough! Don't deny it, Christian, it was always thus. You waited as long as you could to see Erik when he was ill, didn't you?"
He moved forward, faster than the eye could track, and grabbed hold of Christian's wrist in a grip that was not yet painful, but certainly held the threat.
"I was looking for that which you are incapable of giving me. Your unflinching regard, the harmony of souls in perfect accord. Look at this! Could you ever ally yourself so strongly with such a monster? If you loved Erik... you would have known Erik better."
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Post by Christian Daaé on Sept 11, 2008 14:39:38 GMT -5
"What? You said you were coming with me, and you never came! And it was never about how you look..."
*He jerked back, trying to wrench his arm free*
"I suppose you think everything I ever said was a lie, then? Did you ever believe me when I said how you looked didn't matter? Or...were you only humoring me?"
*He suddenly stilled, staring at Erik's hand around his wrist*
"How many others? Besides Julian?" His voice was almost inaudible.
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Post by Erik on Sept 12, 2008 10:06:26 GMT -5
It had not been Erik's fault that he had no followed, but it mattered little now, didn't it? But he couldn't believe Christian; Christian was Christine, and she had left. They had all left.
"How could Erik believe you?" he demanded. "How could he? When others have said it before you and still left. You cannot help it. It was brave of you to try. But Erik always knew you could not do other but be good and polite and try."
To love a monster, one had to be one. And Julian, while not a monster in Erik's eyes, was everything Erik was and more. But with Julian, there was no pedestal to disturb with thoughts that his perfect angel could lower him or herself to Erik's level.
Erik dropped Christian's wrist, his tone softening.
"Does it bother you so much?" he asked. "If Erik promised never to touch another soul, would you stay?"
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Post by Julian on Sept 12, 2008 11:10:03 GMT -5
*Julian's eyes darkened, trying to focus on the hypothetical of the conversation and not the part where Erik was suggesting that he would choose Christian over him, especially right after sharing such a moving experience. It was the point to be made and Julian tried his best to let Erik make it.*
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Post by Christian Daaé on Sept 12, 2008 12:42:35 GMT -5
*For a moment, he wavered. There was a part of him, he knew, that would always love this man, and Erik's words appealed to that part. But it wasn't the rational side--the one that doubted what it was hearing*
"I could almost believe you, when you say it like that. Almost..." he heaved a sigh.
"Even now, I'm torn. Even after...what I've witnessed.
I can't. I'm sorry, but as much as I want to believe you, I know you'd go right back to it. Be it Julian or someone else, you would. You'd say you wouldn't, but I can't keep pretending that there's nothing going on."
*He slowly took a few steps back. There were tears in his eyes, but they were not falling. Not yet*
"I hope...that this here is what you were searching for, that here in this house you have what you want.
Goodbye, Erik."
*And he slowly headed for the door*
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Post by Erik on Sept 12, 2008 12:54:22 GMT -5
Erik felt the familiar wrath of the Opera Ghost settle about him like an old cloak.
"Very well," he said, his voice like a knife on a whetstone. "Leave Erik! Leave, like all the rest, and let him squat here out of sight of Man's contempt. It is what you wished, for we never went walking on Sundays! But do not think there is a place for you in this Opera, dear boy. Erik could have made you great! But you would have your aristocracy and your little friends--GO!"
He made a motion towards Christian, virtually chasing him out with a lunge, anger and abandonment and hatred mingled with, in the background, the certainty he had found his muse at last and, while he would not admit it... It was no longer Daae.
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Post by Christian Daaé on Sept 12, 2008 15:34:52 GMT -5
*He retreated quickly, Erik's final words to him ringing in the air. He didn't look back. He couldn't. He knew that, wherever he might go, the opera would nevermore be a destination. And so it was that the Daae left the Phantom *
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Post by Erik on Sept 13, 2008 1:47:05 GMT -5
Erik did not run after him. He thought perhaps he should--but something stayed his feet, and after a moment's staring after Christian, he took a stumbling step that brought him to his knees.
"Erik should have begged," he said hollowly. "He should have found the boy the moment he came back."
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Post by Julian on Sept 13, 2008 6:41:04 GMT -5
*Julian's body tightened, knowing similar inner conflict. Oh the things he wanted to say to Erik now, about how the boy never loved him and he knew it, about...a hundred things. But he could feel his mother's pain coursing through him and knew such words would fall on deaf ears. Erik was wounded and there was no simple solution. So for now, he dropped down behind Erik, long arms wrapping around his chest, pulling him back against his own chest and rocking ever so slightly in silent promise. Promise that he would always be there, always be what Erik needed. Whenever Erik could remember that.*
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Post by Erik on Sept 13, 2008 14:23:03 GMT -5
Erik backed instinctively into Julian's embrace, as if it was his due. Julian both caught the resonance of Erik's own emotion and siphoned it, in a loop that could result, at times, in an escalation of the original. But now, it probably saved the knickknacks and most of the furniture, and his pain found voice in a low, keening cry.
"Erik has saved up a lifetime of love," he said softly, his voice a broken whisper. "Why must he be denied the chance to love where he can?"
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Post by Julian on Sept 14, 2008 6:31:40 GMT -5
*Julian's heart ached, but he understood. He also knew there was no easy answer. Pulling Erik closer, he kissed his neck tenderly, his words low and shaky with emotion.*
"They cannot accept the magnitude of your greatness. Your love is like the flame, drawing them closer, but in the end, they fear the intensity. They are weak..."
Unworthy. *Julian willed his mind quiet before he thought something he might regret.*
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Post by Erik on Sept 14, 2008 9:55:34 GMT -5
"Yes," Erik hissed, though whether it was aloud or in his mind or both he could not have said. No one had ever truly understood him, or they would have stayed. The magnitude of his devotion would have rooted them to the spot, his love and his genius all they would ever need. "But we are not. Are we, my boy?"
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Post by Julian on Sept 15, 2008 5:53:30 GMT -5
*The faintest smile crept over Julian's lips and he pressed it briefly against Erik as he tightened his embrace supportively.*
"No. We are not." *His words were eerie and certain.* "Together, we will show them the true depth of your genius."
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Post by Erik on Sept 15, 2008 10:11:07 GMT -5
Everything was different this time. There was this core of emptiness, a Nothing made of broken promises and hopes that settled into a familiar spot roughly where his heart was. But when Christine had left, and he'd thought himself dead already, there had not been a Julian. He had not just moments before shared the most moving musical experience of his life with another being who might just as well have been created as his perfect companion. So while the pain and bitterness were present, Erik did not feel like dying.
He felt like taking over the world. Or at least part of it.
"Where is Pina?" he said suddenly.
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Post by Julian on Sept 15, 2008 11:16:15 GMT -5
*Julian glanced up, distracted by the question.*
"She...left. I believe she returned to her room."
Possibly.
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