Music of the Night: The Phantom of the Opera Returns (Guile & Melody)

[Saiyan Princess]

"You are so very cruel to me." Christine held onto the bed, but his cursed voice was becoming poison to her. "Please stop singing." She begged, though deep down she knew that it was useless. It was like talking to a brick wall. "I know exactly what will silence you." She was now behind him, rubbing his shoulders, digging her nails into the blades. "Give up yet?" She teased him in return. "I could do this all night if I truly felt the need."

 

[Saiyan Princess]

((Lala, just posting to keep this active))

 

[Guile]

((Thank you! I'm sorry I was away so long, but band camp is over now. Thank God!))


Erik's singing was soft, but as powerful as ever. Oh, no. He would not give up so easily. In fact, he would not give up at all. His beloved Christine was weakening and he knew it. He had almost won this battle. Unfortunately, she was awfully smart. It seemed quite clear to Erik that Christine had learned a few cunning tricks from him. Or, perhaps she was just naturally cunning as well. For she seemed to know just want to do to him, in order to get her way. And oh, her fingers felt so nice digging into his tense shoulders. "I-I'm not...I won't..." Erik struggled to keep his composure, but damn it all! Christine was far too tempting to keep up this pesky tease. "Curse you and your heavenly touch, you pesky woman." He laughed softly then, and met her hands with his. Pulling one ever so gently over his shoulder and to his lips, Erik placed a kiss to her delicate skin - a sign that he had, indeed, given up. She had won this battle. "How completely unfair of you, Christine. You know I have been starved of another's touch for over three-quarters of my life, and that is how you choose to taunt me - with your touch."

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"You act as if what I'm doing as your wife is a bad thing." The woman retorted. "I hardly see how that's the least bit fair." Her form moved around, so that she was now in front of him, smiling at his own touch. "And, you deserve what you're getting right now, staying out of our bed after trying to put me to sleep." She moved closer, beaming with pride. "But, your little game of cat and mouse didn't work." Her words were soft. "Now, how do you expect me to get to bed now that I know your trick?"

 

[Guile]

Erik smirked up at her, despite feeling rather defeated. He decided, upon being met with those lovely, shimmering eyes of hers, that he didn't mind loosing to her so much. If winning caused her to practically glow as she did now, then Erik would happily loose many more times just to see this look of pride in her. It was rather becoming. "I suppose simply asking you to sleep won't work, will it?" He asked, flashing her an almost teasingly pleading look with his eyes, as he placed a kiss to the palm of her hand. "Even if I were to join you?" Erik, to his own distain, sounded as if he were trying to bribe her into sleeping.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"Well, as long as my husband joins me, I'll be fine." Christine kissed the crook of his neck. "But, should you decide to leave, then we may have to chat about that later." She warned while walking him toward their bed. "Just stay with me and I'll be perfectly fine." Her dress cascaded over her body as she lay in bed, sighing. "My feet really hurt. That was a long walk, my darling."

 

[Guile]

Smiling to himself, Erik couldn't help but feel a small sense of accomplishment, even in his defeat. After all, he had gotten Christine to agree to sleeping, and now he would be able to do so beside her, instead of on this chair. Perhaps one must learn to lose, in order to win after all. "I would not dream of leaving, my darling." He chuckled softly as he made to climb in bed beside her, listening to her complain about this 'long walk'. "Oh, a long walk, you say?" Erik raised his brow at her, but grinned just the same. Don't think for one minute that I don't know what you're up to, Christine. "Well, since you were so kind as to allow me to join you in bed tonight, I suppose I shall have to do something about this ache you have. After all, I wouldn't want my darling wife to be in pain." You defeat me and then you make me cater to your wishes. How cruel of you. He seemed to give her a look that said just what he was thinking, even as he took her feet in his hands and began to massage her gently, yet firmly enough to work out any ache she may or may not actually have.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

The brunette bit her lower lip, as if thinking. "Hm, that feels nice. Thank you so much for your care and patience." She managed to tell him, through a sigh. "Why not join me up here, then?" She bent low, now to where they were face to face. "But, first, give me my baby, will you?" Christine heard the child giggling madly from his crib as he watched his parents. "You are not the only one that requires my attention at the current time."

 

[Guile]

Erik grinned at her as she came face to face with him. He would be more than happy to oblige. "Of course, love." That's when he, too, heard Jonathan's giggling and sighed. Still, it was a loving sigh, not an impatient one. He would be delighted to share Christine...so long as Christine would share the child. Placing a quick kiss to her lips, Erik moved himself over to the crib and smiled down at Johnny. "Hello, son." He whispered, bending over slightly to pick him up in his arms. "Would you like to spend time with Mommy and Daddy?" Grinning at the sight of their baby's bright, shimmering eyes, Erik reluctantly handed Jonathan over to Christine before lying beside his wife.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine held the boy for a few moments, before she laid him in between his parents, watching him grasp at the air for no apparent reason, still giggling and kicking playfully. His attention turned to the man on the other side. The laughing stopped as his fists pounded against the mattress. "Well, you wanted me to share the child. Here he is." She teased, watching him roll over and grasping his father's pant leg. "I'm so glad he gets to know you before he starts walking and talking." Christine admitted with a guilty smile. "He gets a privilege that his siblings didn't." Her hand hovered over the infant so that he wouldn't fall off.

 

[Guile]

Erik found himself laughing softly as he watched the little child make such strange movement. He had slowly grown accustomed to seeing this, and assumed all infants must do the same - seeing as William did so as well. However, it had been odd to Erik at first. He had never been around an infant until William, and Jonathan was only the second one he knew. It somewhat embarrassed Erik that he knew so little about something so natural, that he hardly ever spoke of it. He simply observed his child in silence, and marveled at the way Jonathan seemed to teach himself things. Lost in such thoughts, Erik had almost missed Christine's words. Luckily, he had caught them at the last second. "Yes...I, too, am very thankful for him. He is my chance to be a real father. It hurts to know another man raised our children for so many years, but not Jonathan. I can be his one and only father. And I can still be a good father to Lilly, Ali, and Catherine. It's just, with them, I didn't get to do so from the very beginning." Erik hadn't taken his eyes off of Jonathan the entire time he was speaking. However, he had also moved on of his hands down to protect the child from falling. His, however, rested on the boy's shoulder.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"Of course you can be a good father to all four of them." She pushed against the infant's back, so that he was now on his belly, snuggled against the bed. "You're their father, and you always will be." Christine kissed him once. "Just wait until we have two teenagers here. You'll get a real treat when trying to handle the teen years. Lilly will bring a boy home, he'll break her heart. Ali will try to take charge, simply because he's the older boy in this family. It'll be great." Christine sighed. "My teen years were strange, I remember."

 

[Guile]

Erik smiled into his beloved's kiss, but that same smile slowly faded into something resembling apprehension just at the thought of the children becoming teenagers. His little Lilly...bringing a boy home? Oh, he didn't even want to think of anyone breaking her beautiful heart. Ridiculously enough, Erik found anger boiling inside of him at any future boy that might dare hurt his darling Lilly. "I pity any young man that dares hurt my little girl." He mumbled under his breath, silently cursing this unknown boy. A thought hit Erik just then. Had Gustav been alive...would he have hated me so, for treating Christine as I did? Guilt hit him once again, causing the anger in his heart to subside. He sighed once again at the thought of the children growing up. "It goes by far too quickly." Glancing over at Christine, Erik's eyes filled with a new light of understanding. "Is this what it I like to be a parent? Does it truly come with such difficult emotions?" He looked down at Jonathan again and smiled weakly. "They seem so easy to handle when they're small. How does something so innocent create so much drama in life just years later?"

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"Well, it's all human nature, my dearest." Christine explained with a sigh. "And, when Lilly does, you must control your temper. You don't want to drive away every boy that might come in and out of her life. It won't be your face that frightens them. If they truly love her, it will be her father's heart that will frighten them if they feel the need." Christine explained with an air of sadness. She heard what he said about infancy being the easiest and she responded with laughter. "Says the man in the relationship."

 

[Guile]

Erik was downtrodden by this talk of heartbreak, in relevance to their daughter. Oh, how dreadful it was to speak of such sad things that were more than possible in the not-so-distant future. Still, being pulled out of this sadness by Christine's laughter was both a relief and an insult to Erik. He looked over at her sharply, brow raised, but with a small smirk on his face. "And what do you mean by that, my dear? It is the truth is it not? Perhaps you have it hard in their early years, what with tending to their material needs. However, as they get older, all the problems land on the father. Everything becomes one, large dramatic scene and 'Daddy' is expected to handle it all - whether it be pesky boys breaking my little girl's heart, or the many fights my son will inevitably get in to." Erik didn't believe this entirely though, for the sake of his pride, he spoke his words as though they were nothing but the obvious truth.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine felt that she was being chastised. "Forgive me. I meant no disrespect." She murmured under her breath. "And, yes, I fulfill everything that they require as they grow, and you can pick up the pieces in their later years, dear." She still felt bad. "We cannot shield them from everything. They have to explore pain and loss as well as joy and love." Her attention turned to the baby. "It's what helps them grow to be well rounded adults. I already succeeded with one, you can help with the final three."

 

[Guile]

Guilt washed over Erik in waves of pure shame. To act as though Christine would mean almost nothing to the children later in life! How awful of him! And how so utterly untrue! He immediately took to apologizing wholeheartedly. "Please, Christine, do not apologize to me. I am wretched. How could I speak in such a way? As if our children will need only I after they have grown!" Erik scoffed at the very idea. "Quite ridiculous. If they need anyone it is their beautiful, loving mother. That much is quite clear: they do not need me. After all, Catherine grew up to be quite the young lady without me." His gaze drifted down to little Jonathan again and he smiled despite the tiniest hint of sadness in his eyes. "I will do all I can to help you, but in all honesty the children need you - will always need you - far more than I. Perhaps they'll even...prefer you over me." Erik barely whispered the last part and hoped she didn't hear, but it was possible wasn't it? In fact, it was almost probable. Who wouldn't love Christine more? She was an angel! And Erik...well, he was nothing more than a tormented soul. A demon. And these poor children had to call him papa! Oh, how it made Erik sick to the stomach sometimes, knowing that they were saddled with a monster for a father.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine had set her baby at the head of the bed in order to keep him safe while she helped Erik to understand what she meant. "No. No. No. No." She cupped his head between her delicate fingers. "No, darling. You misunderstand me." She promised him. "That's not what I meant at all! I meant that you can establish a bond with them now. I swear that I will always be with all of you. I meant that I was selfish. I wanted them to think that they had been fathered by someone that was well respected and well off. I should have told them that their true father was a good man. Strong, brave, talented and more handsome than any man that I could have ever been with." At this point, she missed her children already, though they were only away from home and playing out in the main building, backstage. Lilly had convinced Ali to play dress up with her. Needless to say, he wasn't enjoying himself. "Erik, you have a chance now." Christine cooed softly. "Please, don't blame yourself. I was selfish."

 

[Saiyan Princess]

GUILE!!!!