Sleepless Nights [Flat, then streets] Open

[Erik Deveroux]

Erik paced the floor in the living room of his flat. He was tired, he was impatient, and he was lonely. And above and beyond that, he was bored. He knew his health had been suffering of late, due to the fact that he hadn't been eating or sleeping much at all. And he knew that Nadir had meant well - as had Mme. Giry - when they'd 'requested' that he stay in his flat. But that didn't stop the feelings of frustration, or of being trapped.

He growled, a low rumbling sound that would have sent chills down the spine if anyone had heard him, and then continued the pacing. Though it was more a stalk than an actual pace at this point. Angry eyes lashed out at his surroundings as he attempted to find something to vent on. He could feel his temper spiraling out of control, and weighed his options. Stay here, and possibly wreck his flat, Nadir's as well, and risk harming his friend. Or head into the streets, where he risked being caught, and hurting someone, but keeping the temper away from those he cared about.

The decision was actually harder for him to make than most would realize. He'd promised Nadir that there would be no more senseless killing, and he was still wary of the man. Friends they might be, but they were still on thin ice as far as his behavior went, and he wasn't sure that Nadir wouldn't turn him in if he killed someone.

During this internal struggle, Erik found himself standing in front of the fireplace, arms locked in place as his hands gripped the mantle. In a fit of anger, he swept all the items displayed there to the floor. The shattering of a vase brought him to his senses and he shook his head, the decision made. Another low growl, and he stalked outside, determining that the streets were a far safer place for him to be.

It didn't take him long to wander into some of the slums, his black mood determining exactly what sort of trouble he went looking for. Anyone who attempted to harm him in any way, or who possibly even crossed his path, was likely to get an unpleasant surprise.

[Aurora Fournier]

[ooc: there probably is nothing really to reply to, and I apologize for that, but I didn't know if you wanted him to be the first thing she encountered or if she should've found some sort of trouble or something-or-other before on her own...]
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It was a lovely night, she had deduced from sitting at the window of her flat. It didn't look as if it were too chilly, instead it seemed that the weather had decided to be pleasant. She had sat faithfully at the window for at least an hour or so with a book, attempting to focus her attention on the words, but finding that with each turn of the page she retained no information from the previous.

She knew that she didn't want to be sitting inside just doing nothing, or, God forbid, sleeping. Tonight she felt restless and somewhat miserable having been shut in all day, and she saw sleep as being closer to the bottom on her list of priorities. Her gaze lingered on the streets below once more as she fingered the corner of a page, debating on what she was going to do. She knew what she wanted to do, but that seemed extraordinarily absurd unless she wished to bring harm upon herself in some way, shape, or form.

But was that going to stop her? Not in the slightest. Aurora stood, not bothering to debate whether or not she had made the right decision, and placed the book back in its rightful place on the shelf before walking to her bedroom and retrieving her little boots, sitting at the edge of her bed to put them on and lace them up. She stopped at her mirror for a moment, smoothing the charcoal colored skirts and brushing any dust - or imaginary dust, rather - off of them before walking back into the main room. She looked around absently, as if trying to remember whether or not she needed to bring anything with her besides the key to unlock her door upon her return. Deciding that she hadn't forgotten anything, and not knowing what it was if she had, she turned and left, making her way out onto the quiet streets.

Instantly she felt a sense of serenity, the light breeze toying with her hair and caressing her face. Her arms were crossed lightly over her chest, and she took care to take her precious time, savoring every moment she spent in the cool air. So consumed was she in the relaxing effect this seemed to have on her body, Aurora paid no attention to where she was going or what street she was taking where. She began to hum a soft melody to herself, that of an aria that she had probably heard in one way or another in the midst of her time at the Opera. Eventually, as she walked with one hand clutching the material of her skirts and swinging them gently with each step, this hum grew into a gentle 'ah', for she didn't know the words, but that didn't bother her and she didn't try to remember them.

Had she been paying attention she would have realized that she'd brought herself into the slums of the city, a district that no lady should even conceive the notion to enter at night - or during the day, for that matter - let alone enter it unaccompanied. The potential horrors that could await her there were far out of her mind, however, for her head was void of thought and of the necessary inkling that trouble could be lurking just around the corner, waiting to lash out with its frightful claws and pull her in. It didn't occur to her that any other being would be out that night, but perhaps - just perhaps - it should have.

[Erik Deveroux]

[OOC: Actually that gives me an idea for where to take this thread. PMing you while I update what Erik's up to. I figure the running in the later portion of the post could bring him to where she is, at which point you can have her run across him, or run into any sort of trouble that might catch his attention and have him investigate. Though after the incident he's running from, he'll be cautious, I warn you. ^^;]

Erik continued to stalk through the streets, his eyes blind to what was really around him. Seeing red was almost a literal description of how he got when he was in one of his moods. He wasn't in a blind rage - not yet, anyway. But he was in a black mood that was worsening by the moment. It wasn't just anger. It was depression. And it was looking to be a bad fit of it at that. Erik didn't have full on breaks often, but when he did it could be dangerous. Sometimes it was merely dangerous to him because he didn't eat, sleep, or take care of himself - as had been the case for the past while. Other times, however, it became lethal to those around him. Depressions were never alone. They were always accompanied by an anger that could sometimes devolve into a blind rage. Erik was teetering on the edge of one of those as he prowled the streets, more like a predator of the jungle than the human that others might see.

A cut off protest down a side alley brought Erik's attention in that direction, and also roused his temper further still. What he'd heard was a child - begging her 'papa' to stop yelling. The response had been audible - a resounding crack, and a cut off yelp, followed by soft sobbing. Erik's eyes narrowed as he angled in that direction, intending to find out just what had happened, and to teach that 'papa' a lesson in how to treat a child. Erik was many things, but he was not tolerant of an adult who struck a child, especially that hard, and especially when that adult was a parent of the child. He had no love of people, but there was just something about a parent striking a child that rubbed him the wrong way. Perhaps it was his own experiences as a child.

Regardless of that, he made quick time in getting over to the source of the noise, only to find a greasy and disgusting looking man beating on a small girl who's dress looked more like rags than anything acceptable to wear. The temper that had been roiling just under the surface broke free. With a loud roar he charged at the man, throwing him away from the wisp of a child, who was still cowering and crying softly. Wide brown eyes looked up to meet his own mismatched ones as he drove the man further away from the child. The fury was such that understandable speech was beyond him just then, and the only sounds he made were guttural snarls and feral sounding growls.

He lashed out at the man, who had been taken completely by surprise, blow after blow landing on their mark, while the man cowered and tried to run. This didn't phase Erik any, and he easily outmaneuvered the man at every turn. What finally stopped him was the pleading and sobbing of the small child just to his side. When she reached up and grabbed his arm he rounded on her, the almost blind rage and instinctive need to protect himself from everyone almost causing him to strike her. When she flinched, but held on and continued to plead with him to stop hurting her papa, he shook himself and looked between the man who he'd attacked and the child. The man was now crumpled on the pavement, and though he was alive and would definitely survive, he would definitely suffer for a while. Looking back to the child, her words started to make sense, though he couldn't truly understand why she was pleading for the man's life.

"Please monsieur, don't kill papa! Please don't hurt him!"

When he fully faced her, she flinched away, and the begging changed slightly, and what she said only made him feel worse. The rage, the fury, and the darkness roiling in his soul were gone - for now. Now he felt only shame. Shame, and the need to flee from the accusing and fearful eyes staring up at him from that tiny face. The girl flung herself on top of her father, who still had [barely] enough of his senses to hold her and stare up at the man who'd attacked him. With both sets of eyes staring at him, with the fearful and accusing stares boring into him, Erik did the only thing that he could.

He fled.

He hated running, hated feeling like a small child trapped behind those bars again, but that's what those stares had reminded him of. That and... the child had actually been afraid of him. Afraid of him for trying to protect her. He hated the state that most things were in nowadays that he would be seen as the monster, not the father who had beaten on his child. Not that the beating he'd given the man was the only reason he'd be seen as a monster. The thought was a bitter one, and cold tears threatened to spill as the whole sorry state of his life boiled up in his mind again.

Mindlessly running, he only slowed down when he was sure he was far from those eyes. Even the slightest thought of them triggered shudders in the tall figure, who was struggling to regain his composure and not draw even more unwanted attention to himself. At least it was late, dark already, and covering the worst of the things that set him apart from everyone else. Finally stopping, he chose what looked like a deserted side street and leaned his lanky form back against the brick wall, fighting to catch his breath - which he'd lost not from the running, but the near panic attack that had started, and to steady himself enough that he could make his way back home.

The events of the night were a bitter reminder of why he hated going outside and why he refused to, even when the moods he found himself in were dangerous. Lost to his thoughts, he was unaware of his surroundings, though that could change at a moment's notice, or the slightest sign of a threat.

[Aurora Fournier]

[ooc: it's a bit of cliche trouble, but it brought her to where he is which was what I was going for mostly, not what 'could've happened to her.' I suppose you could say I did a little of both, I suppose, more her running to where he is and not realizing he's there yet...? It'd still be her running across him. But I don't know if that'll still give him reason to investigate her sitting there being all frightened and teary - with him being cautious about it? Regardless, after each of their own traumatizing experiences they're now in a closer proximity.]
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Aurora continued on her mindless journey, not really taking note of her path. In fact, had she been paying attention she would have realized where she was and just how far she had managed to wander from home already, and it would have frightened her to a rather ungodly degree. Aurora was not one who typically loitered in dangerous districts of town. She turned a corner and began walking down another street, not having bothered to glance at which street she had come to. She was confident that she'd find her way back. Perhaps a bit too confident - while Aurora had grown up in Paris, she didn't know the city as well as she liked to think, and had not been exposed to every inch of it. Most of what she knew had been routes to the Opera, and each time they weren't very far from said Opera. All in all, one could deduce that Aurora should not have been so calm about the situation.

She continued to sing to herself, the melody a bit louder than it had been before, as she wandered down the vacant streets. At this rate, she would be up all night - whether it be sitting at home for the rest of the night or actually trying to find her way back home - and would have to go to rehearsals the next morning feeling groggier than ever. She'd probably fall asleep only to be woken up by Mme. Giry scolding the ballerinas for missing a step, or something of the sort.

At this point, she decided that turning corners wasn't all that interesting anymore, and opted to cross the street this time and continue in that direction. From there she walked down yet another street, and picked up on her corner turning habit from there. However, what was waiting for her was not what she had hoped to run into, to say the least. A short ways down the walk there was a man, and he was a rather scurvy-looking man who didn't look like the kind she would want to be socializing with. However, he had already noticed her, and Aurora felt that while walking past him wouldn't be a smart move, walking to the other side of the street would only give him reason to taunt her and potentially keep up the act and pursue her. If she just showed him that she wasn't afraid or affected by his presence, then maybe he wouldn't acknowledge her?

This was probably not the best sense of reasoning for a lady who was gradually making her way deeper and deeper into the slums of the city, but Aurora had not yet taken into account just where in the slums she had landed herself. With an attempt at showing a countenance of confidence, she continued on her way towards the man and refrained from making eye-contact with him. This did not prove successful, for when Aurora was within earshot he stood up a bit straighter, which she acknowledged briefly, and emitted a low whistle, muttering some sort of vulgar greeting that she didn't bother to listen to. However, when he seemed to pick up on this, he tried again and followed her a bit, to which Rory quickened her pace. This also didn't seem to phase him as he picked up his own pace, and as she heard him said something along the lines of "c'mon, sweetheart" she felt a grimy hand on her shoulder, to which she immediately shrunk away from him with a shriek of protest, one that she was confident could be heard clearly for at least a block or two. It was with this that she broke into a dead run, clutching her skirts in one hand and making a bee-line for the nearest dark area she could find. Perhaps if she could get ahead of him, around a dark corner and duck into an alley, he wouldn't find where she had gone.

She began to search for the opportunity - she wasn't even sure if he was following her any more, but at this point she didn't care. She wanted to get away, far away, where she knew that he had no chance of finding her again, or where any other random street-stalking man would find her. She had not gone too far when she felt as if she was going to faint from exhaustion and turned onto an obscure side-street, stopping and listening for a moment to see if he was still after her.

It had not occurred to her when she may have begun to cry, but she knew now that she was, for she felt the hot tears rolling down her cheeks. Angrily, and somewhat humiliated for her lack of common sense it seemed, she wiped them away and attempted to unsuccessfully cease the trembling that had picked up with the frightful adrenaline coursing through her veins.

It now occurred to her that she wanted to go home, and it now occurred to her that she didn't know where home was, or how to get there.

[Erik Deveroux]

[[OOC: It's cool. Any trouble to get them to the same area is good trouble in my mind. And her being distraught will pull at him. He'll want to see if she's all right, being a gentleman, but at the same time he'll be cautious because well... he's not exactly what most people would want to see coming at them after a traumatic experience.]]

Erik continued to shudder, his breaths coming in deep shuddering gasps. He knew it would be a few minutes before he was calm and rational enough to venture back into the night toward home. He wanted to be in that familiar and safe space, where the only bad things that happened were burnt meals or Nadir, Darius, or Mme Giry getting too pushy about his eating - or rather, not eating - anything.

It was with a start that he suddenly realized he was no longer alone on the side street turned alleyway. There was definitely someone else in the area with him. He narrowed mismatched eyes and peered through the dark, trying to pick up the darker shape of another body. Thankfully his night vision was much better than the average human's - not that he'd ever considered himself one, with their cruel nature and ways. After a few moments his ears picked up on the faint sound of crying. It cut off as quickly as it had began.

Erik knew he shouldn't investigate, that he'd already put his foot in it one time already and that it would be a bad thing to expose himself to possible danger or further rejection again so soon after... but he couldn't help himself. If there was one thing he hated more than hearing a woman or child hurt, it was hearing one cry. I'll go and check on her. Make sure she's safe from a distance, then I'll go. If she needs help, I can - He cut the thought off before it got any further. What could he do, really? He was a freak of nature. Overly tall, thin, and with a face straight from hell. He was, undoubtedly the worst nightmare of any victim out here at night. He scoffed at himself. But he'd still go and check, just to be sure the woman was all right.

He approached carefully, stepping into a patch of light just so, making sure to keep his mask hidden. He cleared his throat and tilted his head, regarding the other inhabitant of the side street, and trying to not appear menacing. He was still trembling slightly from his own traumatic experience, but he'd pushed it to the side for the moment, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Curiosity killed the -

Shut up.

[Aurora Fournier]

[ooc: Haha, you have a point there, C: most would probably think of him as the last thing they'd want to see after a traumatic experience, probably... ;P I'd probably see him and be like "...Haaaaay!!! Can I getcho autograph?"]

At some point, she had closed her eyes - and she had closed them so tightly that upon opening them she felt a dull ache in the muscles in the surrounding area of her face. She could still feel her heartbeat throbbing in her temples, though the drum-like thudding of it in her ears had decreased in intensity. She was trying to calm herself, for there was simply no way that she would be able to sort out the logistics of the situation she found herself in if she was still shaking with terror. Taking a few breaths to try and relax her frayed nerves, she brushed a few strands of hair, slightly damp with nervous sweat, off of her equally damp forehead, and was contemplating standing when she thought she heard a noise, a noise that would indicate the presence of something other than herself, and felt her muscles tense.

At this point, her attempt to calm herself seemed completely futile, for her heart began to race again, her hands trembled, her eyes were clenched shut, and her thoughts were flying through her head at a hundred miles a minute. She prayed it was nothing that she should worry about, that it was perhaps an animal. An innocent, non-threatening animal - a stray cat, perhaps, out on some sort of adventure or looking for something to eat. She didn't want to find out, but knew that she had to, for what if it was some new danger that she would need to flee from? She wasn't sure she could flee any more - for the exhaustion of her last flight from harm was beginning to set in, and she knew that another attempt would probably prove useless. This time she would be caught and from there only God and her attacker knew what the outcome would be.

She turned slowly, the moonlight exposing her face and the rest of her front inch by inch, still fervently praying that it was just a silly cat, but what her eyes took in was not a cat, and was the farthest thing from a cat. She wasn't sure if this was more frightening than her previous run-in. A man, who seemed to possess a somewhat ungodly height, with an equally ungodly thin frame, and a face that she couldn't see. That made her stomach churn with discomfort.

The only way she was going to find out what his intentions were was by asking him, Aurora knew that. So, attempting to dig up enough gumption to do so, she opened her mouth to speak, but upon doing so no words came out. So instead of standing there with her mouth agape, she clamped it shut nervously. She made at least one or two more attempts to speak again, but found that this man's presence seemed to render her completely void of the ability to speak. She'd just wait for him to say something, then, considering she was evidently completely incapable.

She felt another set of hot tears well up in her eyes, though whether it was with fright or from being frustrated with herself, just threatening to pool over and trickle their way down her cheeks. But she wouldn't let herself show any sign of weakness, she couldn't do that... Granted that evidently hadn't worked for her the first time... but she could still try, couldn't she?

[Erik Deveroux]

[ooc: Haha, yeah I would probably do the same thing. xD He's really not sure what to do here, poor dear. With the lack of social skills and the internal voice that always mocks him, he's REALLY not sure how to handle this, and I will confess it's amusing to watch him. Writing this kind of scene is one I've always wanted to do with him, but I've never had the pleasure til now.]

Erik could immediately tell that the other figure was distressed, and that his presence had only increased the distress. Lovely. I should have just left well enough alone. Too late now. You really put your foot in it this time. As she turned to face him, he couldn't help but study her further. Clearly she was distressed, and if posture and breathing were taken into account, she wasn't exactly thrilled to see him. As he'd expected.

He was about to speak to her when she opened her mouth and he clamped his own shut, hoping that she'd get them both out of this awkward situation. But it soon became apparent, after several attempts at speaking on her part, that it was not going to be that easy. Well, this is just wonderful. Erik, my man, you are an idiot. He gave a heavy sigh and forced himself to be the first to speak. This was going to go so well. Because, you know, he was just the biggest expert at dealing with people... especially women. Particularly a woman who was frightened.

He noted the tears, though they'd not left her eyes. The watery appearance was a dead giveaway. Why did he always manage to make women cry? It wasn't like he was trying to. It just always seemed to turn out that way. He really was a monster. After a wave of self loathing almost bowled him over, he fought to focus on the situation at hand.

"Are you in distress, Mademoiselle?"

Brilliant question. Of course she's distressed, you daft ba-

Didn't I tell you to shut up already?

He shifted from foot to foot and clamped his mouth shut again, deciding to stay silent and see what she said - perhaps it would save both of them more stress and embarrassment.

[Aurora Fournier]

[ooc: -pats Erik- I think he's doing just fine considering his circumstances, haha :) And I'm glad that I get to write it with you! I love writing out scenes that you've always wanted to, because I love seeing what the other person has to contribute... :P Rory's going to be shaken up for a while - even though it's not his fault, and she'll be wary.]

She listened as he spoke, and for a moment her mind was wiped clean of any form of coherent thought at the sound of his voice. It was... unusual - but not in a bad way, not at all. It was unusually... lovely. She wasn't sure she'd ever heard anything quite like it. However, now was not the time to focus on the sound of this man's voice. He expressed concern for her well-being, though where he genuinely felt concern or not was beyond her. Perhaps this was a ploy to make her trust him, and she had merely landed herself in another dangerous situation. However, she had no intention of letting her guard down too quickly, and wouldn't do so until she discovered and appropriate time to do so, if at all.

Or perhaps he was someone that she could ask to help her find her way home. Considering how it had just now dawned on her how far she had wandered from her home, she'd been silently berating herself for her foolishness. Regardless, she felt as though she would have to ask him, whether it would land her in more danger, or safely within the walls of her flat. Aurora swallowed the knot in her throat and forced the courage into her voice to speak.

"I... well, I... Yes. I suppose you could say that." she replied softly, wiping the tears from her face with humiliation, a small, embarrassed blush creeping onto her cheeks, and she hoped that it would be hardly noticeable in the moonlight. However, the feeling of being stabbed in the back by her own emotions was just as vivid as the familiar heat in her cheeks. It seemed that it was going to be difficult to keep up her defenses at this rate. She felt compelled to apologize for looking like such a bundle of nerves in front of him, and chose to act upon that impulse. Impulsiveness seemed to be a habit that came with Aurora's nervousness. "I... I apologize for appearing in such a state, I just..." She shook her head with a slight huff of a sigh, realizing how even more ridiculous it must seem to be apologizing for something that she felt she had no control over at the moment, let alone to be saying it to someone who might be a threat to her. But it was just in Aurora's nature to do so, and because of that she felt that it could not be helped.

Aurora glanced around the small street, trying to formulate a question in her mind to ask him. Perhaps if she kept talking it would keep him from having any sort of opportunity to act upon the threat that he was imposing upon her, whether that be his intention or not. But, in her mind, if she could keep him from acting upon it for another five minutes, even, that would be enough.

"I don't suppose that you would know how to get to Boudreau from here?"

Brilliant. Try to avoid a dangerous situation by giving the man the name of the street you live on, then essentially asking if he could help you get there, thus letting him know where you live. Clever, very clever. But she found that being distraught took too much energy out of her to realize and care about her potential mistake, and found herself only caring about whether or not he knew where her street was.