When Gustave Daae decided to settle down and give his daughter Christine a semi-normal life, he needed a little help paying for their home. He was directed to the infamous Erik Arquette after failing to get the loans he applied for. The gang leader...
Getting his shirt off so Christine could actually help was the worst part. The material of his shirt had been stuck to the wound and the peeling sensation burned.
This was beyond even his pain tolerance for obvious reasons. Yet there were upsides, oddly enough. There was just something about seeing her eyes widen even further that warmed his heart.
Perhaps it was because the little mouse seemed like she actually cared. But he knew that didn't. Why would she? It wasn't like anyone else cared about him.
Not even his own damn mother could muster up anything pleasant. Maybe that should've been his first hint that he was perpetually unlovable.
The feeling of a wet cloth being pressed to his stomach broke him out of his thoughts. A broken hiss left his lips when she started patting at it.
Christine jerked back like she was expecting a retaliation for hurting him and a vague sense of guilt filled him again.
He didn't know how to make her understand that he didn't want to hurt her. Even if he did, he couldn't do shit right now. It was a miracle that he was even holding himself up. But that was besides the point.
"I-I'm sorry.. I didn't mean to hurt you. I just have to get this clean before I do anything else." Christine rushed to explain, misinterpreting his silence.
"I know little mouse. Please continue. I'm not mad." Erik assured softly, finally finding his voice.
He reached out a shaky hand and wrapped it around her wrist, gently guiding her hand back to the wound.
A pretty flush formed on her cheeks, one that he'd admire if things weren't so dire. But she didn't comment. She simply returned to dabbing gently.
After that moment, there was no more hesitation out of Christine. She needed him to walk her through the process, but she did what she had to do. No matter how much he gasped or hissed.
He was relieved because they couldn't waste any more time with such things. Not if they wanted to prevent him from losing consciousness.
He wasn't sure he could prevent her from taking him to the hospital if that happened. If he was taken to a hospital, he'd be screwed. He'd lose everything, including Christine.
Her touch remained gentle, though and the concern never faded from her eyes. Despite knowing better, the little looks and the slightly lingering touches made it easy to pretend that she loved him.
Easy to pretend that she actually gave a damn about what happened to him. It was a dangerous game. Not just for himself, but for her too.
But he couldn't help but give in to it. It was selfish but had he ever been anything but selfish? Not that he could remember.
He'd always wanted too much and that was why he was always disappointed when people failed to deliver. But it would be different in this case because he knew better now.
Christine cut off the thread and disposed of what was left over. She continued to clean up, still shooting him little glances. He basked in that concern.
Erik forced himself to look down at her handiwork, lips pursed. It wasn't as good as Nadir's - but it would do. In fact, he much preferred to have her working on him than his old friend. Because his old friend was too rough with it.
"You did really good, Christine. Real good." Erik informed, shifting slightly and slowly climbing to his feet.
He found himself bracing against the table because the weakness had yet to fade. It probably wouldn't for awhile. But that was just fine with him. It meant more 'care' from Christine.
Christine seemed surprised, but pleasantly so if that tiny smile on her lips was anything to go by.
"Thank you.. do you need help getting up to the bedroom?" She questioned hesitantly.
"Mm? Please, darling..." He implored.
Perhaps it was the blood loss but he didn't have any issues being vulnerable in that exact moment.
Especially not when she seemed more than willing to rush over to him and attempt to support his weight. Which he let her, but not as much as he probably should've.
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As soon as he was healed up enough to return to work, Chrisitne immediately withdrew from him. It was something that he should've expected.
He had expected it, deep down when he really thought about it. But he'd ignored it. He had hoped that maybe she'd feel more comfortable around him afterwards. But she hadn't.
Erik missed the affection. He missed the concern. He missed her little smiles. He missed everything that he'd received from Christine.
It almost hurt to be without it. Though a lot of it was probably a product of his pretending- he didn't care. He wanted it back.
He didn't know how to get it in general. Being vulnerable was something that terrified him usually and that resulted in him being an ass.
Him being an ass was the exact thing that had undone the tiny bit of progress they'd made before. But he couldn't help it. Her friend had been pushing his luck, pushing his buttons.
If anything, it wasn't his fault that he'd frightened Christine. It was all on de Chagny.
But it wasn't as if he could make her believe that without her learning things he didn't want her to know.
It seemed the only way they could ever make any progress was if he was hurt. So... there was only thing that he could do about that.
Erik would have to get himself injured. Perhaps not as bad as he had been recently, but had enough to require her care.
He could already see Nadir's judgemental look in the back of his mind. He ignored it. The older man would try and talk him out of it. Either that or he'd warn Christine.
