The room which Erik and Fleurette inhabited was silent. The city beyond the windows was ever noisy but the two people in the room sat silently. Fleurette crossed her arms whereas Erik gave a sigh. "I don't like it."
"You don't like it because you had no say in it." Fleurette stated the obvious with a small smile. Erik frowned and narrowed his eyes ever so slightly.
"As long as they serve a purpose, I guess they won't be an inconvenience." Fleurette rolled her eyes at his words. She could already tell the trio and Erik were going to clash.
Nudging her shoulder against his, she smiled when he moved his arm and put it around her. "You never know," she looked up at him. "As hesitant as you are towards them. You never know, you may end up becoming the best of friends." She giggled as Erik narrowed his eyes down at her.
"I do not foresee that happening."
"Tut, tut, Erik." Fleurette shook her head and stood up and away from the window seat they were sitting on. "You're so pessimistic." She smiled and started to try and make the chair look as comfortable as possible. She failed, there was nothing about the chair which was comfortable. It genuinely made an awful bed.
—
Sunlight slowly ebbed through the roughly made curtains, coating the room in a soft golden glow. Erik, strangely enough was the first to wake up. Keeping his eyes narrowly open, he watched as a face peeked around the door. When the door opened more and the face became recognisable as the male from last night, Erik sat up. He had fallen asleep on the window seat. He didn't remember going to sleep, but the seat did overlook the whole room.
Upon seeing him sit up the male flinched and disappeared. Fleurette stayed asleep, oblivious to the fact that she may have just acquired an admirer. As if things couldn't get worse, Erik wasn't completely against the odd trio. But he certainly was against one of them now. Fleurette fidgeted in the chair and actually ended up falling out of it. Erik blinked slowly and looked down at her, his attention was fixed on the door he hadn't realised she was stirring.
Slowly a rather confused face peeked out of the cover. Blowing some of her curls out of her face, she looked up. Erik had moved silently over to help her up. "Not the best way to wake up, hm?"
Fleurette ran a hand through her hair and nodded. "No...good morning though, Erik." She smiled regardless of her bewildered expression.
—
Being halfway through a lesson, both Erik and Fleurette looked up confused when Meg burst through the door. "Have you heard?!" She exclaimed while watching Fleurette sit down and shake her head, Erik remained indifferent. "We're finally moving!"
"What?" Fleurette said confused.
"The three people from last night, they have spoken about an abandoned building." At the mention of another abandoned building the two of them looked unamused. Meg shook her hands frantically. "No, no! Don't look like that! This place is different!"
"Pray tell, how?" Erik asked.
Meg smiled and straightened up. Admittedly she seemed in quite good spirits, she certainly didn't seem to show any effects of the alcohol from the previous evening. "It isn't the building mother was looking at, by the way."
"Well obviously because she said that place was expensive, so it obviously wouldn't be abandoned." Fleurette stated quietly, Erik smiled slowly when her words got heard by Meg and Meg in return narrowed her eyes playfully in her direction.
"How did these people know of it?" Erik asked.
Meg blinked and seemed confused as to who to answer first. Oddly enough she chose to answer Erik first; "They sort of squatted in it."
"Great, they go from trespassing there, to trespassing here."
"They're guests actually thank you very much!"
"Really? Last time I checked you invite guests around. Seemingly those three followed you and your mother, so therefore; they're not really guests."
Meg looked deadpanned, blinking slowly she looked at Fleurette, who perked up when Meg's gaze drifted to her. "How do you put up with that?"
"Well," Fleurette paused and looked quickly at Erik, who just stared at her blankly. "Erm," fidgeting she giggled nervously and shrugged. Clapping her hands together she smiled. "I don't much mind Erik stating the obvious at times. Makes a change when compared to most people who sugar coat everything."
—
Peeking out of an alleyway, Fleurette eyed up the street beyond her hiding place. The place which the trio had spoken of laid beyond the bay. More specifically it situated on an island. An island surrounded by murky dark, deep water which seemed to stretch out forever. There didn't seem to be an end to it, although the dark night sky surely didn't aid to the endless darkness of water.
Blinking, she watched as Meg, Giry and the trio trotted past them. "I believe that is our cue." Erik said simply while putting a hand on her shoulder and nudging her forwards. Fleurette let out an unamused hum and ran quickly after them. Frowning and raising an eyebrow, she watched as one of the males flipped over the side of a small boat and seemingly disappeared. The other two strangers followed suit. Fleurette looked up at Erik confused, he seemed equally bemused over the moment.
"Quickly, quickly before the owner notices!"
"What?!' Fleurette exclaimed while getting helped into the boat. "We're stealing some poor person's boat?!" She said in her broken English.
The man looked at blankly and ended up smiling at her. "Morals, huh?" He rushed over and commenced pulling at a cord. His two companions sat nearby smiling lightly. Suddenly the boat spurred into life with a violent splutter. "Sit down please, Miss, this could be a bumpy ride."
The building on the island stood empty and dark. The windows had long since been covered in dust and grime from the surrounding bay. Some windows were smashed in and fractured. The door, which was once a deep crimson, now stood chipped and a thick chain was wrapped around the door handles. A heavy padlock, rusted with age, was clipped in place. The grounds around the building didn't look much better. The grass which was very scarce peeked up from sandy coloured rocks and pebbles.
Leaning down, Fleurette picked up a pebble from the ground and turned it over in her hands. Gravel and soil fell through her fingers. Frowning, she flicked her eyes up then to the side. "This place is dead." In truth, the rest of the islands inhabitants didn't look as bad as this building. Bright lights from other buildings shone in the distance. The glow seemed to illuminate the building and make the shadows darker.
Erik mused over her words before shrugging. "It just needs inhabitants to bring it back to life."
Turning on her heels, Fleurette threw the pebble and watched as it disappeared into darkness. "I think it'll need a whole towns worth of people to bring it back to life." She looked over her shoulder when Meg was exclaiming in their direction. "I don't much like this." Her eyes skimmed over the building. "There is something...which doesn't feel right."
"I know."
"Erik!" Fleurette exclaimed and hit him lightly on the arm. "You feel the same as me yet you didn't voice anything?"
"I mainly didn't because quite frankly, anywhere is better than that building we were living in."
"But this place is creepy." Fleurette muttered, Erik smirked and looked down at her. "What?!"
"I honestly never thought I'd see the day where you admit to being frightened by somewhere."
"I said the place was creepy, I never said I was frightened." Fleurette said while walking over to the building. "Me scared? Ha!" She laughed and then screamed and ran back over to where Erik was standing when the door burst open and people piled out.
—
It seemed like the building wasn't as abandoned as what they were led to believe. Fleck sat holding one of Fleurette's hands whereas Erik stood near her frowning. "Right, so here's the deal-" Gangle explained while clapping his hands together.
"You approach some street performers and rope them in to...whatever this is." Erik said seriously Gangle visibly flinched at his tone whereas the other strange group of people just eyed the newcomers warily. "Then you all try and concoct a way to get people to come here, because you need the money."
"How'd you all get here?" Fleurette asked looking from the group to Fleck.
"Runaways, sort of." The small lady explained with a smile.
"You ran away from what?"
"The circus." Fleck sighed and patted her hand one more time.
"Why did you runaway?"
Fleck let out a laugh. "You ask a lot of questions."
At this, Erik turned and looked at the two females. "You better get used to that."
"We're staying?" Fleurette asked quietly.
"How can we leave, Fleur?!" Meg exclaimed and jumped up from her seat in the front row. The two looked at each other and then slowly grinned. "Exploring!" They both exclaimed in unison before running off up the stage steps and into the wings. The group stood silent before a yelp happened and Meg bolted back onto the stage waving her arms. "Spiderwebs!" She shouted sounding truly mortified. Fleurette peeked around the wings and watched, slowly she disappeared back around the corner.
—
"Think we'll settle?"
"You seem settled already."
"Can I send my letters now?"
"Yes, you can, after all we do have an address now."
"It's just taken how long?"
"Months."
"Eleanor must be worried."
"I do believe you're in for a lecture in letter form."
Fleurette sighed heavily and continued to watch the flickering of the flame. It seemed that the runaways had already settled, or they had been settled in this building for a long time. While Fleurette and Erik were talking earlier on they were ignorant to the fact that Gangle had opened the door. Meg and Giry had witnessed this, but not Fleurette who almost suffered a heart attack with thanks to the runaways.
Waving a finger through the flame she made a thoughtful popping noise. Sitting cross legged on the stage, the two had quietly admitted to each other that they felt out of place here. They had left an opera house behind, and an abandoned building, only to move into another abandoned building which happened to be a theatre. It was like both their former homes merged into one.
Looking over her shoulders, she looked back at the flame. "This place really does unnerve me."
Erik looked up and around. "It's fine."
"Well...I suppose this is the second time you've moved into a place such as this." Fleurette mused. "When I moved into the opera house, it was already inhabited by so many people." She narrowed her eyes in thought. "It was so light and welcoming. This place," she shook her head. "Not welcoming."
"You're just saying that because the inhabitants didn't say hello in a conventional way." Erik stood and ignored the glare which was shot at him. Holding his hands out, he helped Fleurette to stand. "Things will be better in the morning."
"You don't believe that."
"I am trying to make you feel better about this situation." Erik sighed and put an arm around her shoulders while leading her towards the wings of the stage. They had already been told that there was an underground to this building. Needless to say that Erik already said that that space would be his new and Fleurette's new home.
"Oh, wow." Fleurette looked around the space. It was different when compared to the only other underground home she'd been in. There was no dark lake, which she was deeply thankful of. The ceiling seemed quite high, so there wasn't much of a claustrophobic feeling anymore. Despite all of this, it was still incredibly dark and dingy. There were few candles lit, the two had found some spare candles and bought them down. Fleurette stood holding onto her candle and looked around at the space which was now semi illuminated. Blinking when Erik appeared from the shadows she smiled when he placed his hands over hers. "Erik?"
"Yes?"
Fleurette looked around and narrowed her eyes. "I hate to state the obvious but we do not have anywhere to sleep." Turning on his heels, Erik led her slowly down the stony pathway.
"They housed props down here." Erik explained as they passed a row of costumes.
Fleurette looked confused and then shocked. Rushing forward she walked quickly around the item of furniture in front of her. "What?!" Exclaiming she waved her hands. "How could they hide a bed down here and forget about it?"
Erik mused over her words but then ended up shrugging. "If the former inhabitants left in a hurry, they're not likely to take everything with them." Erik explained. Nodding slowly, he looked up at her. "At least you can sleep in comfort."
Fleurette rolled her eyes. "And you're planning on falling back into old ways?"
Erik smiled, "Perhaps."
Sighing and shaking her head, Fleurette let out a quiet laugh. "I shouldn't be surprised."
—
Hearing chatter, Fleurette walked silently to the wings. Smiling lightly, she watched as Squelch and Gangle did numerous acrobatic acts. Fleck stood nearby rocking on her heels. Stepping forward, she crossed her arms. "That's impressive." Fleurette's voice broke their concentration. Gangle and Squelch were oddly walking in their hands, when they heard her, they fell to the stage.
Untangling themselves the two males shot up. "Why thank you, Miss."
"What can you do?" Squelch questioned.
"We saw you in a park. You and Meg were very graceful." Fleck smiled.
"I only know how to dance. What you just did...that is something which alludes me." Fleurette admitted thoughtfully.
Squelch and Gangle exchanged a look then looked back at her. "Would you like to learn?"
Fleurette looked hesitant before smiling slowly. "Sure," she took a large step forward. "Why not? I'm always up for learning new skills." Other than singing, that was still a skill she didn't believe she needed really. Luckily she had decided on wearing loose trousers today, but the shirt she had tucked into them definitely got tugged a little free when she attempted to stand on her hands, her hair definitely collapsed about her in a mess of curls. "The world looks slightly odder from this point of view."
Fleck tilted her head sideward to see Fleurette's expression. "You are a fast learner."
"Be fair though," Gangle said while crouching down too to see her face. "She was already halfway there."
"Dancers agility and all that." Squelch shrugged and sat up from his laying position on the stage. He watched as Fleurette slowly shuffled past him on her hands.
She had been on the stage with the three of them for the last few hours. Letting out a startled sound when her balance went, she ended up wriggling her legs as they were falling. Walking in an arch, she sighed. "I could get used to this."
"Well before you do, perhaps you should stop." Squelch said awkwardly.
Fleurette shook her head. "No, this is weirdly fun." She continued on her odd journey but when a familiar person crouched down in front of her, she stopped and slowly lowered herself to the ground.
Rolling onto her stomach she pushed herself up. Wiping the dust from her clothes, she smiled up at Erik. "Hello."
"Do I even want to know?"
"I'm...er..."
"Learning new skills!" Fleck exclaimed with a smile before running a hand through her brunette curly hair.
"Right," Erik crossed his arms. "Another new skill? How did learning a certain other skill go for you? Oh, you've given up."
"It's become rather inferior now." Fleurette mused while flicking dust off of her arms. There was no answer which caused her to look up at him. "What? How many times have I told you? I am a dancer, I didn't ever want to learn to sing. There's no need for me to need to know. There's singers in your company right, Gangle?" Gangle flinched and stuttered for a few moments before nodding sharply. He didn't sign up for being bought into this conversation, especially with how Erik's eyes dangerously narrowed and flicked over to him.
—
(Edited: 11/Oct/2023)