"Irene?" Victoria shoved her familiar's bedroom door open with her head. "Irene, there's a matter we need to discuss."
Irene looked up from where she was writing notes about a spell she was trying to construct. The cat was very precise in her use of language- no "we need to talk". No, Victoria used phrases like "there's a matter we need to discuss" to mean "we have an outside problem", and "you need to handle this situation" to mean "you screwed up". There was never any question with Victoria.
Which meant, given Victoria's tone, there was a serious outside problem.
Irene set her notebook aside and spun her chair around. "Here we go again... hit me."
Victoria leaped onto Irene's desk and settled her tail neatly around her paws. "My brother has informed me that there's some manner of threat rising in Arcadia." She gave an irritated little cat look. "Again," she added wryly, agreeing with Irene's response.
"Any details?" Irene prompted, resting her arm on the desk and tapping her fingertips on the surface.
"Humanoid," Victoria said. "But no discernable features, not even any exposed skin. Archie's eyes are better in the dark than his familiar's- with the glasses, anyway. He says he saw some sort of oddly worked black leather armor on this person. And their face was covered in pure shadow, with glowing red eyes."
Irene sat up, face pulling together into a frown. "... yeah, okay, I don't like that."
"It gave off some sort of dark magic aura," Victoria added.
Irene sighed, looking at her desk. "Has anything happened? Is anyone hurt?"
"Not yet," Victoria said, "as far as we're aware. But Archie said it seemed to sense their presence. It seems to only be a matter of time."
"They come out at night, I'm guessing?" Irene looked at herself in the mirror before heading to her closet.
"We haven't had any sightings to the contrary," Victoria confirmed. "Yet."
"Good." She dug her way through the hung up yards of sheer fabric for the ballerinas, and emerged with a cherry red puffer jacket and matching sunglasses. "Let's go for a walk?"
Victoria hopped off the desk, shifting into a raven as she did and flapping her wings to stay aloft. "Let's." She paused. "Are you really wearing that jacket?"
Irene shot Victoria a withering look, to which Victoria just raised one eyebrow.
"What? It's distasteful."
"Distasteful???"
"Are you hearing-impaired as well as visually defunct?"
"My hearing and vision are perfectly fine– this–" she started putting the jacket on, "-might attract attention from creeps, must we go looking for them."
"Isn't attracting attention from the 'creeps' the last thing you want?" Victoria asked flatly. "I recommend a nice, unobtrusive black. You don't want this thing catching wind of you, if Archie's description is accurate."
"It can't be that bad? I've definitely dealt with worse," Irene muttered weakly, already looking for another jacket. "I'll go with brown, but that's it. Black's your color."
Victoria smirked wryly to herself. "For now," she murmured, before flying out the window.
"And if my parents ask why I look like the main character of a post-apocalypse show, it's on you!" Irene called after Victoria, who did not bother to reply.
***
Two days after their first rehearsal, Cara summoned the boys for a main trio practice session, as promised. Krel and Gage happened to arrive at the Arcadia rec center's practice rooms at the same time and, thus, got stuck walking the rest of the way through the narrow halls together.
Gage immediately got a sour look when he spotted Krel, and returned Krel's polite "hello" with a grunt.
After a minute of awkward silence and searching for the room where Cara was, Krel asked, "Have I done something to offend you?"
"Your presence offends me," Gage sniped. "Your little friends might have been cheering you on when you revealed what you are to Arcadia, but not everyone is happy about you taking up residence here. We have enough problems without you dragging yours here and wasting our air."
Krel blinked, falling silent again. It had been a while since he'd faced such blatant hatred for what he was. It caught him off-guard- he barely knew Gage, he shouldn't be upset by his hostility, but the shock cut into him, and he swallowed.
"Well then," Krel pulled himself together enough to reply, "I suggest you channel your displeasure into playing the Phantom. I'm sure you'll be praised to no end for your dedication to the part." Sarcasm leaked more and more into the sentence, and Krel was pleased at how quickly his defenses returned.
"I'm sure I will, since I was raised on Earth and actually knew what Phantom of the Opera was more than a week and a half ago," Gage fired back.
"Perhaps, but given your apparent intelligence I imagine I'm the quicker study," Krel noted coldly, "so I'm not sure how much your little head start will help you."
Gage scoffed, only to get distracted by the same thing as Krel- a heavy musical beat somewhere ahead.
They each looked at each other out of the corner of their eyes, glances narrow and bitter, before heading towards it.
They found Cara dancing to electronic music- "Play" by Alan Walker, Krel recognized it as. Her movements were dorky, but on-beat at least, and he found himself wanting to join her.
"Cara!" Gage called over the music. Cara waved to the boys.
"Hi!" She said, doing something funky with her feet that looked quite fun. "Just warming up the cardiovasculars, don't mind me."
"Does it work that way?" Krel chuckled.
"I'm pretty sure no," Cara laughed as well, jumping and kicking one leg with the drop of the chorus, and Krel laughed outright before walking in to join her, spinning her and doing a funny little shimmy to play off of her.
Gage watched the two with folded arms as the bridge and last chorus played, whereupon Cara turned the music off.
"Okay," she said, picking up her water bottle. "Phantom. Focusey focus. Yes."
Krel laughed shortly, a bit breathless (though, not nearly so much as Cara- who knew how long she'd been going?) as he sat down as far from Gage as he could in the relatively small space.
"Okay, so- I believe the first major interaction is the Little Lotte and Angel of Music mirror reprise scenes," Cara said as they all produced their scripts. "Krel, how far have you gotten in your reading?"
"Far enough for this," Krel assured her. "I reviewed performances of the first few songs on loop until I was comfortable I knew the main melodies."
Gage scoffed quietly, and Krel glared at him, while Cara gave the two a confused eyebrow raise.
Cara shook her head. "Good work doing your homework, Krel. We'll make a musical actor out of you yet. Alright. Let's start with your part, then, from 'Christine Daae, where is your scarf?'."
"Are you sure the recordings covered that part?" Gage cut in. "He probably doesn't know it yet."
Cara frowned, but Krel's response was to begin his part with a flawless teasing tone and attitude towards Cara.
"Christine Daae, where is your scarf?"
Immediately, Cara slipped into character, if somewhat clumsily at first as she warmed up. "Monsieur?"
Krel leaned his shoulders in a bit and tilted his head into the sass now, letting himself enjoy more playful body language and tone, playing off of the innocence Cara portrayed. "You can't have lost it. After all the trouble I took. I was just fourteen and soaked to the skin..."
Cara let her demeanor brighten even as it relaxed, as though in recognition and relief. "Because you had run into the sea to fetch my scarf. Oh, Raoul. So it is you!"
"Christine," Krel smiled warmly, ignoring Gage's annoyed expression completely and moving closer to Cara, holding his hands out in a way that could easily transition to either a hand-hold or a hug. He let her make the majority of the move to embrace him, unsure where her boundaries or comfort level would be.
She was quite comfortable with the embrace as mandated by the script, and hummed a happy laugh to go with it, gentle even as she squeezed him. She was warm and seemed to fit in Krel's arms like she already knew how to hug him; the movements were hauntingly familiar somehow. Nevertheless, she pulled back a moment later, leaving him no time to analyze it more specifically.
Krel jumped into the Little Lotte tune with Cara, and afterwards Gage butted in again.
"Don't you think you're being a bit familiar, Cara?" Gage asked pointedly.
Rage sparked in Krel's core. It wasn't enough for Gage to hate him; now he had to try to make his new friend doubt whether or not she wanted him around, too? Krel opened his mouth, but Cara got there first.
"What's your problem?" She asked Gage sharply, genuine anger simmering in her throat and burning behind her eyes.
He huffed, offronted. "What's yours? He's an alien, Cara. He didn't grow up knowing what Broadway or musical theater are. He doesn't understand us well enough to portray one of us correctly, let alone in a production this culturally significant."
"It doesn't matter to me whether or not you think he has a place here," Cara told Gage bluntly. "He has a place with me. If you have a problem with it, Krel and I will practice without you and see you at rehearsal."
Gage bristled. "You aren't seriously taking his side??? Cara, you're human. He's forced his way onto your world as much as mine."
"Get out," Cara retorted sharply.
"You are on his side???" Gage asked in utter disbelief.
Cara raised her chin slightly. "Yes. Get out."
Gage huffed air through his nose and left.
Cara gave a shaky sigh, deflating as he left. She then turned to Krel and gently grasped his upper arms, letting her hands run down to his elbows as she asked, "Are you alright?"
Krel blinked, the fierce protectiveness in her eyes and her display stirring old memories- painful memories, now. "I- I think so." A pair of ice-blue Akiridion eyes burned in his memory, as tender and concerned as Cara's- belonging to a girl who had shared her name, who had been taken from him so many keltons ago.
He shook his head. "Is it alright if I go home? I am- somewhat unfocused, all of a sudden."
Cara lightly squeezed his elbows before letting go. "Of course," she assured him, tone soft. "We'll pick up another time. Do you want me to walk out with you in case Gage is waiting for you? I can give you a ride, too."
At this, Krel managed to crack a smile. "A teenager in Arcadia who actually managed to get their license? Astounding."
Cara chortled. "At least he hasn't taken your good humor."
Krel smiled a little more, put at ease by her immediate, unconditional support. "A ride would be nice. Thank you. And I'll study as much of the script as I can when I get home. I really do want to get all of this right. I love Earth's music, truly."
Cara smiled and hugged him again- a real hug this time, arms far around him. "You're doing wonderfully. And you really do have this sweet charm to your voice, you know? I think you're perfect for this role."
Krel hummed in grateful acknowledgement. "Shall we go?"
Cara nodded and led the way out and towards the parking garage.
***
As promised, Krel spent hours poring over the POTO script when he got home.
This lead him to a rather unpleasantly shocking realization: Phantom of the Opera was a romance. A double romance, with a stage kiss between Raoul and Christine.
He groaned and flopped on his side on the couch when he reached the scene in the script, whereupon Jim looked over.
"Something wrong?" He guessed.
"Why didn't anyone warn me this is a romance?" Krel demanded. "I have no experience with these."
"... I'm not sure anyone knew how to broach the subject," Jim admitted, sitting down next to Krel. "The good news is, the scene where you kiss Cara is set up so you can fake a kiss without too much difficulty and not have to do the real thing. Assuming you don't want to kiss her."
"Of course not," Krel asserted. "... how am I supposed to even treat her? I mean- onstage, how am I supposed to behave to pull this off?"
"How do people act when they're in love?" Jim summarized.
"Other than mushy and gross, yes. You and Claire have always seemed quite functional," Krel noted. "Other than your bad flirting."
Jim ignored the last statement. "Everything looks mushy and gross when it's your sibling dating," he noted. "And even more gross when your sibling is dating Steve Palchuk."
Krel laughed. "Admittedly, yes, most of the rest of the time I don't care, or simply haven't paid attention. Staja could put a bad taste in anyone's mouth about romance. But that's not the point."
Jim chuckled. "Right, right, sorry." He sat back on the couch, thinking. "Well... Claire and I started out as friends, and so do Raoul and Christine. Most of the time a healthy romantic relationship is just a strong friendship with kissing rights- I take it if you ever dated that's the kind of dynamic you'd prefer. Down-to-earth, pragmatic, you and your partner against the universe through any odds- exploring the world and everything you want to do in life together."
"I've never considered it," Krel admitted. "There's never been anyone around who made me interested in the concept. But when you explain it like that, it almost sounds pleasant."
"I've found it enjoyable," Jim said, unable to resist a slight tone of teasing. Krel rolled his eyes.
"Alright. So, focus on treating Christine as a friend," he said.
"Exactly- except, a little more than that," Jim said. "If you'd usually tease or joke with your friends, be gentler and warmer with her. Take her problems a little more seriously. Raoul and Christine are engaged in the second act- they've chosen to devote their lives to each other. Find a way to express that kind of devotion that works for you."
Krel looked at Jim. "Since when are you this clever?"
Jim laughed. "Been dating four years running. I've had time to think about it. And Douxie's been through a few relationships too, so we talk about it sometimes while you're in the lab. He's startlingly good with words- it's helped me figure out how to phrase some of this stuff."
"Ah, yes," Krel acknowledged, considering Jim's advice. It really did seem almost nice now, the whole dating mess.
"Oh, one more thing," Jim said. "Happiness. A healthy new relationship, especially like Raoul and Christine where they probably haven't been with anyone before, involves a lot of joy that's hard to suppress. Nothing too big, that would be out of character for both you and Raoul, just- look to her more often while you're in group scenes, like you can't believe you get to look at her. Smile just a little when you first see her in a room or set, like you can't help yourself, like she's the most wonderful surprise."
Krel blinked- he'd seen this in action, but he'd always thought it was just people in love being gross. The idea that such sweet, powerful emotion was behind it was sort of peculiar. It did make it more tolerable, though.
"Thanks, Jim," Krel said. "For explaining this all so- rationally. My sister would have offered no such calm."
Jim laughed. "No, I imagine not. She wouldn't even stop to wonder why you're asking, just immediately ask who your betrothed is-"
Krel laughed, leaning back into the couch cushions. "Great Gaylen, it would take me a horvath just to get her to calm down enough to tell her it's for a play."
"She would be secretly convinced it's not just the play," Jim added.
Krel groaned. "Absolutely. She's such a-"
"-Disney princess?" Jim finished, and Krel cackled.
"Who's a Disney princess?" Douxie peeked out of the bedrooms.
"Aja," Jim supplied, Krel still snickering.
"Because of her insistence she's tough or because she's a hopeless romantic?" Douxie joked, and Krel wheezed.
"I love her, but the 'warrior queen' thing gets old very quickly," Krel noted.
"You're not going to win your enemies' respect and fear by insisting you're a warrior," Jim pointed out. "You do it by stabbing them."
"Exactly," Douxie nodded. He sat down with his roommates. "Need any help practicing, Krel? I've seen Phantom of the Opera live my fair share of times."
"How???" Jim asked.
Douxie shrugged. "A wizard has his ways."
"YouTube bootlegs?"
"Well, yes, but-"
Krel chuckled. "I would be happy for your assistance, Douxie. My Phantom counterpart doesn't like me much, so I could use a replacement to practice with."
"Did he say why he doesn't like you?" Jim asked, concerned.
"He isn't a fan of non-human lifeforms," Krel explained simply, and Jim's and Douxie's expressions darkened.
"We'll keep an eye on him at rehearsals," Douxie promised, looking at Jim.
"He didn't do anything while we were alone earlier. I don't think he has intentions of doing anything to me," Krel assured them quickly.
"That might change," Jim pointed out reasonably. "We won't be obvious about it. We'll just be sure he doesn't try to get you alone."
"Cara was quite defensive of me as well," Krel noted. "I think he wouldn't try anything with so many people around. But- thank you, both of you."
"I'm not surprised," Douxie nodded. "Irene Hall, Cara's older sister? She's half sorceress, half siren. Cara was raised by a family who either aren't human or aren't normal humans."
"So she's not human?" Krel checked. "That explains how she beat you at arm wrestling."
Douxie shook his head. "She's adopted," he corrected. "I think she's normal. She doesn't give off magic like her family- there's traces on her that must have rubbed off, but it's not her own magic. And she doesn't give off energy the way you do, either, Krel."
"How do you get adopted by a siren and a sorcerer?" Jim wondered aloud.
"I'm not sure," Douxie admitted. "I'll have Archie ask his sister next time they have tea. She's Irene's familiar."
"Huh. Small world," Jim noted.
Krel was looking through his script again, and so Douxie stood, and they began to rehearse as best they could without Cara.