Porcelain

16

He watched as she turned and ran quietly up a set of stairs which lead to the dancer's quarters. It was a few minutes later until she reappeared. She stopped at the end of the stairs and tied the string up of her cloak. Walking forward she stopped and looked around, Erik hadn't moved from his standing position yet with the darkness around them she couldn't see him.

Fleurette crossed her arms and walked forward to where she had last seen him. "Are you still here?"

"Yes." Erik answered and smiled lightly when she jumped. He was standing right beside her, he felt only a little guilt from enjoying frightening for a moment.

"Good, come on." Fleurette nodded happily and walked quickly off towards another set of stairs which led up into another part of the opera house. Erik followed after her and dearly wished to question why she was going up to the roof. He doubted though that Fleurette would give him an honest answer. But then he could clearly tell when she was lying. Erik was rather sure that he was one of very few who could tell when she was lying.

Looking out at the roof, Erik looked quickly at Fleurette. She stood at the top of the stairs and looked up at the sky. Walking up the stairs and stopping on the top stair alongside her he looked up too. He was trying to see what had caught her attention. All he could see was a surprisingly clear night sky and a load of brightly shining twinkling stars. Erik frowned and looked down at Fleurette, a small pang of annoyance ran through him. Did she honestly bring him up to the roof just to star gaze? Fleurette titled her head to the side and looked at him, clearly feeling his eyes on her. Erik looked away before she gazed up at him. Putting a hand on her shoulder he nudged her onto the roof.

"Pray tell why are we here?"

"You'll see." Fleurette said in a secretive tone while clasping her hands behind her back and rocking on her heels.

"I am not one for secrets."

"So," Fleurette said in a playful tone and leaned forward a little. "You want me to just confess to why I've bought you up here?"

"Yes." Erik answered bluntly, he frowned at a low whistling sound. The whistling wasn't coming from either of them.

Fleurette smiled at the sound, twirling she pointed up at the sky. "That's why." She smiled and looked over her shoulder at him when there was a burst of colour in the sky. Although she had a happy disposition she jumped and flinched at the loud exploding sound which accompanied fireworks.

Slowly, Erik walked up onto the roof and stood beside her and looked up at the sky. "Whose are they?"

"I'm not sure," Fleurette answered while keeping her hands tightly over her ears. "Some rich family no doubt. I remember when Eleanor and I were younger and living more in the country. There was a rather wealthy family near us, they'd set fireworks off for any occasion." Fleurette explained while flinching at the exploding sound again.

"How did you know about this?"

"There were leaflets strewn about, I saw one of those leaflets when I left the hospital."

"It seems a little bizarre then for a wealthy family to publicise a firework display."

"Erik!" Fleurette exclaimed while looking quickly from the sky to him. "Don't pick my rushed explanation apart! Just enjoy the show." She grinned and jumped again, he chuckled a little when he heard her mutter; "I love fireworks, but these explosions make me jump too much. Why can't fireworks be silent yet still be pretty?"

Whoever was the owner of the fireworks must have been extremely wealthy. Or have quite a substantial amount of money. Just as the two of them thought the display had ended, it would pick back up again. All the while Fleurette jumped and flinched at the exploding sounds. He had asked her why she still continued to watch if she hated the exploding banging sounds so much.