AUGUST PROMPTS - LOVE EACH OTHER <3

FRIENDSHIP DAY

It had gotten quite lonely when Christine had disappeared. He took most of his time to either stay in his domain or go to the Opera House and plan out in his head what could be done some time later could share it with Lenoir. And the one friend who he got to see everyday and was a great company was his new pet, Faust. Faust had been there and had found him and Christine, the day Christine disappeared.

When Christine had left Erik all alone with the cat, he had no idea what to do with Faust. He had never had pets before, much less as taken care of one. But luckily, Faust seemed to have already thought things through. When Erik was in his domain and Faust was hungry, he would start meowing like mad at Erik until Erik took him in the elevator and let him go outside, coming back for him a few hours later and seeing Faust with a feast of dead birds and bugs and other such items that Faust enjoyed crunching on in Erik's domain.

There was one night that Erik had woken up from a nightmare in the middle of the night, he had been crying in his sleep. His nightmare was of Christine getting killed. For some odd reason, he couldn't get rid of the dreadful feeling and couldn't fall back asleep. On this night he needed his unexpected companion the most. Almost as if automatically sensing Erik's distress, Faust came running to his room and jumped up onto the bed. He meowed a few times, his green eyes staring at Erik, then began to nuzzle into his arms for affection. This caused Erik to begin to calm down and take Faust in his arms and lay back down. And with the purr of Erik's furry companion and friend, he was able to fall back asleep.


BOOK LOVER'S DAY

Erik was in the library and luckily this time, he was quite alone for the whole day. Plus, it was raining outside and just only the morning. He felt it could have been quite the perfect day to catch up on his reading, something he did extremely often as a child. As a child, he had to read books to be educated. His books were his tutors, his teachers, the only way he could use up time and keep his mind strong. So there was no need to stop now, even as an adult. And with what seemed to be a new time and world... why not try to read up on some of it.

With much curiosity and hardly hesitation, Erik walked through the shelves of books and picked out four to five, medium sized books that were supposedly made around these 'modern' times. He sat down at a small wooden table with a brown plushy chair and took a sip of tea that he had made and brought from the kitchen, luckily he had caught it just before it was getting a bit too cool. Now completely relaxed with the sound of rain outside and the taste of delicious tea, he picked up the first book from his little pile and began to read the first page. Perhaps it would just take him to around dinner time, perhaps he wouldn't even stop to eat, lets see how good the book is first.


GLOBAL FORGIVENESS DAY

In one of the books that Erik had just recently read, it was filled with dates and holidays that did not exist in his time, or at least that he knew. One of these holidays that he saw was quite close, according to a updated calender on one of the doors of the dorms. And his charming little holiday was called 'Global Forgiveness Day'. He thought his a bit of a clever idea though not much usefulness.

He was sitting at his desk, with the large variety of masks and a large lit up mirror, looking a bit away from the mirror. This day of forgiveness... he did not think of it so much as him forgiving someone else but really...asking for someone elses forgiveness. Erik bowed his head down slightly then looked up at the ceiling. "Oh mother.... I have done quite a few things I know you wouldn't approve of... and will probably do more..." He paused. "I hope you can forgive me, for now, and in the past, and the future mistakes to come."

Erik walked into the library, looking for someting to read. Someone had posted on the bulletin board that there were days to celebrate in August. The were listed as Friendship Day, Book Lover's Day and Global Forgiveness Day. "What the hell?" he whispered just under his breath. "They have days for those things? It must be the strange time anomaly we have here in the mansion. He wondered whose idea it was to post such things. "Why must one have a special day dedicated to friendship, book loving and global forgiveness?" That last was a bit of a conundrum. What the hell did they mean by that? He was supposed to forgive everyone everywhere? For what? For hating him and making his life hell?


Erik pulled a book off of a shelf and opened it idly, sitting down. But he couldn't concentrate. He thought about that sign. Friends. He had no friends really before he came here. Giry, maybe. She had been a good friend in helping him escape from the freak show and she had done his bidding well at the opera house. She had been a good friend to him, but he had really not returned the friendship. He had been demanding and curt with her.He closed his eyes and put his left hand to his forehead. How could he not have seen that before?

Then he started thinking about the people he had met at the mansion. He had actually made many acquaintances. Some of them were enemies, but a few were real friends. He thought about who they were:

Teressa Lavalais was at the top of the list. A lovely girl with some sort of deformation on her face, but of course he didn't care about that. She was a tall girl, a dancer and had the most wonderful personality. He thought he was in love with her...

Then there was Erik Carrière, his best male friend. A congenial fellow, they got along wonderfully and had the same basic ideas on most things.

Roselin Soulle, a sweet, but talkative little girl from the village whom Erik had pseudo adopted. For some reason she had her own suite at the mansion, which meant the ghosts wanted her to stay. He felt fatherly toward her and wanted to protect her.

The Vicomtess. Emilie was a lovely lady whom he felt in love with when he was with her. Of course she was married which was a problem.

Adina Gillespie, the maid...Erik felt protective of her also, and she did start his heart beating a bit faster when he was near her. He liked her very much.

Two of the ghosts in particular he liked, Madam Leona, a strange but congenial ghost who wanted only good things for the manor residents. And Christine Olivia, a girl with a sad past, but one who had a lovely voice. How he wished she were not a ghost...

The little blonde Christine Daaé was a good friend. Erik had saved her life and that of her fiancé, several times. Oddly enough, this Raoul was rather a nice fellow and considered Lenoir one of his friends. Having a de Chagny for a friend was difficult for Erik and he wasn't overly fond of the man, but de Chagny seemed to like him very much and Erik didn't say anything, even though sometimes the fellow could be slightly annoying. Of course Erik was easily annoyed.

Maria Gianelli was lovely. He had gone to the village with her and spent some time talking. She was friendly and he liked her.

There were others that were very nice acquaintances and some he knew only in passing.

Erik had never thought of himself as fortunate before, but perhaps he was. He had actually made some friends.

There was a time in Billie's life that all seemed normal even if it was brief. When he met his Wife, fell in love, married. Then came the Divorce just months later. All that time felt like Hell to him. The wonderful woman he adored turned out she was never happy no matter what. Perhaps she set about to change his cowboy ways or something else. But there never seemed to be a moment of joy between them like their use to be. She was the one who got the Divorce. Broke his poor heart that she though him hopeless. She truly wanted to change him, didn't she? The more he thought about it, the more it pissed him off. He harbored and cultivated that for the longest time. No matter what he did it would NEVER be good enough for her.

Even during and after the Divorce there were many embittered battles. It felt like she was picking him for what he was worth. Maybe she was nothing but a gold digger all along. He was never wealthy though so what made her think she was going to get all the riches she desired?

It was that moment out of the blue, both of them exhausted beyond means and years later that they seemed to reconcile. She sat down with him over coffee to talk and for once in a civilized manner and he listened. She then asked that damned question that he dreaded, "What happened between us, Billie?" And he could never answer that. Only gaze at his coffee before drinking it.
"If it's any consolation to you, Billie... I never stopped loving you." She said and that brought out a look from Billie of restrained turmoil.
"And yet there are too many difference between us," Billie replied to her then took a drink of coffee.
She looked like she was going to go off on her little tempers again. But this time she only closed her eyes, turned her head to the side and looked like she was thinking. "No. You are right, Billie. There are too many differences between us. I admit, some were my fault. But damnit, you irritated the hell out of me, Billie! You are so dead set in your ways you will never change."
"Nope. I won't."
She sighed. A lengthy silence between them as they drank their coffee. "Despite it all, Billie. I love you and I forgive you."

Since that day, Billie was baffled. Racking his brain and his own soul about what had happened. Finally he came to terms as he walked through the cemetery to the fresh grave and newly engraved headstone. Gazing down upon the marbled granite for what seemed like a frozen eternity then laid flowers down next to it. "I know you like the mums," Billie said as he squatted there. Touched the headstone that marked the grave of his now dead Ex-Wife. "I Forgive you, too."