Porcelain

27

The funeral itself was brief, which Fleurette was rather grateful of. She didn't really have a fondness for churches so being in one for a long period of time would have seriously put her more on edge. Beside her all the while griping onto her hand was Eleanor, beside her stood Felix. He would every so often hold onto her hand or wrap an arm around her shoulder. Fleurette would be lying if she said she wasn't a little jealous of her sister being able to get comfort from someone else who wasn't her. Once the funeral was over with and everyone piled out of the church the sisters were soon swamped in embraces and teary eyed looks. Once friends of their fathers had said their piece and moved away, soon it was just the two of them and Felix which remained. There were no family members left on either side of their family so the funeral itself was small.

Exchanging a look the sisters both sighed and walked away from the tall steepled building behind them. "I'm going to go for a walk." Fleurette announced simply, even before either of them could reply she turned and walked off quickly.

Picking up the black skirt of her dress Fleurette picked up her pace and walked along the dingy streets. She passed market stalls, the owners eyed her up carefully before taking to shouting again.

Turning down the alleyway, she walked towards the door and opened it. Walking in and shutting it quietly behind herself she put a hand unsteadily on the wall and glided it along. She hadn't got anything with her which could give off light so she was walking blindly and carefully down the corridor before her.

Walking briskly with a lantern held at arm's length Erik couldn't help but falter when his path intercepted with another. Fleurette removed her hand from the damp wall and unwillingly wiped it on her skirt. After she had, she entwined her black lace gloved hands in front of herself. The two stood in silence. Erik didn't know what to say to her and she looked about the same. He simply watched as she approached him and stopped a few paces in front of him.

"Are you going out?" Fleurette questioned, her eyes took on an odd light in the dingy space around them. The lantern light flicked behind its pane of glass, and she briefly looked at it and then up at him again. "Where to?"

"You shouldn't be here." He said while changing to holding the lantern in his other hand.

Fleurette blinked confused and frowned lightly. She took a slow step back and nodded slowly, she seemed to agree with him. "I couldn't go back there." Fleurette shook her head and tucked a stray curl over her ear.

"So you thought you would come here?"

"You do not think I should be here, do you?"

"No, and you know I don't." Erik said while Fleurette side stepped and stood by his side. "Regardless of the excuses you throw out. Do not look at me like that, Fleurette. Your sister will still want you nearby even if Felix is there." Fleurette huffed and crossed her arms. "But to answer your earlier question," Erik said fixing is tone from stern to calm in a matter of seconds. "There's a music shop nearby."

"What are you shopping for?"

"Nothing in particular." He answered honestly and looked at her. "Did you want to come too?"

"I would love to." Fleurette smiled, Erik held out his arm and she linked hers with his. She was glad that, despite Erik not wholly agreeing to her being here with him, he wasn't about to keep lecturing her to go home.

Soon enough, Fleurette's eyes scanned over each and every instrument which was in the small quaint shop she was currently standing in. "Can I help you, Mademoiselle?" A kind voice interrupted her thoughts. Twirling around she smiled at a short grey haired man who was standing in front of her.

"I'm just looking."

"For anything in particular?"

"Well...not really..." Fleurette said slowly. As soon as Erik and herself had managed to secretly get to their destination he had told her to await outside. Some outing this was, so instead of listening to him Fleurette completely went against what he said and ventured inside. As soon as she had she was confronted with a magnitude of different instruments, all different sizes and colours. Half of them she didn't know the names of, then some of them looked like they had come from a foreign land.

The old man regarded her kindly and smiled, "If you need me, I'll be out the back."

"Do you make instruments here?" Fleurette's eyes gleamed with excitement.

"Yes, come with me." He nodded and pushed open a curtain which was near the back of the room.

Fleurette looked over her shoulder when the door to the shop opened and closed and a shadow flitted in. "Oh!" She exclaimed and clapped her hands together. "A cello? It's amazing! You really made this, Monsieur?" The old man nodded slowly, "I wish I could play." Fleurette's fingers glided over the cool smooth wood.

"Can you play an instrument?"

"Piano," Fleurette answered and heard the door open and shut again. "Monsieur, I believe you have an awaiting customer out in your shop. Thank you very much for showing me these though." She smiled warmly and walked alongside him and out from the back room. The two of them stood near the counter looking around a seemingly empty shop. The old man let out a thoughtful noise when his eyes landed on a note and money on the counter. Fleurette quickly scanned over the words and also made a thoughtful noise. "Goodbye, Monsieur." She waved and exited the shop as soon as she opened the door the cold night air greeted her and made her shudder. Wrapping her arms around herself she looked around. It was dark now, the street lights made the surroundings get lit in an eerie ghostly glow. Looking up at a nearby one, Fleurette let out a scream when an arm gripped onto her arm and tugged her backwards.

"Fleurette, it's only me." Erik said while turning her by her shoulders to look at him. Fleurette put a hand over her heart and then let out a shaky breath. "I am sorry for scaring you."

"Well...I should have been expecting something like that I guess." Fleurette reasoned, it was obvious that Erik wouldn't just appear on the street beside her. "What did you buy?" As an answer Erik lifted up a black leather bound book. "That's it?"

"What else were you expecting?" Erik smiled and shook his head, he found it a little funny how Fleurette clearly thought he was shopping for something much more interesting than a writing book.

——

"I used to come here a lot when I was younger. The last time I was here was the other day." Fleurette said while turning her back to the pond in the park.

"Why did you avoid coming here?" Erik asked from a bench nearby. With the safety of darkness there was no reason whatsoever as to why he would need to hide somewhere within the park. Or ultimately retreat back to the inner workings of the opera house. Actually in fact, it was Fleurette's idea to come here. She had shortly said that she needed to return home once they were walking through the alleyways around the small music shop.

"My mother was always with me, I mean us." Fleurette rolled her eyes and took to playing with the sleeves of her dress top. "I always associated this park with happy memories." She looked around, the street lights dimly lit the park and made it look a lot more eerie than it actually was. Looking towards the bench, Erik was only just visible from his sitting position.

Skipping forward a few steps she sat down and looked at him with a light smile. "Yes?" Erik questioned a little confused. After all just seconds ago Fleurette was looking and sounding very melancholic, now she seemed rather content.

"This is like...the first time we've been out together properly..." her voice trailed off as she raised an eyebrow up at him. "Sort of like a date." She laughed quietly and then laughed again when Erik double took her words and looked at her.

"Well," he said sounding a little flustered and confused. He didn't actually say anything else but flitted his eyes from the darkened pond in front of them to the lightly laughing woman beside him.

——

Reedited: 14/Jan/2022