[ There's a pause, then the device angles and puts her face properly in view. For a fraction of a second, she looks pleased with her success and fascinated by the workings of this marvelous thing--but worry and fear quickly clouds that bright glimmer, as she searches the screen and his face for any sign of illness or injury. ]
I am, but that makes me one of the few, it would seem. Are you all right? This sickness...I was not expecting...
[ She takes a slow, shaky breath to steady herself, clearly more rattled by this than she wants to let on. ] Are you well, Erik?
I am. [The answer comes immediately, nearly overlapping her question when he realizes what she might fear--his hand even drifts to his face, touching his mask only briefly before he continues.
He yearns to know if she is well, but that fear he sees in her...it wounds him too deeply to satisfy his own selfish needs before she is comforted.]
Injury did not create the visage I hide beneath this mask, my dear angel. I was born as I am--as yet, I am unmolested by this illness.
[The fear on her face wounds him, and too late he remembers how her father died--those things that she alluded to when she believed him to be a spirit sent by Gustave Daee, if not the man himself.]
Christine...would you allow me to call on you? You shouldn't have to endure this crisis alone.
[ The offer has barely passed his lips before she agrees. She'll make time later to feel guilty over it. She wants him with her too much right now to worry whether or not her actions are cruel. ]
video;
I am, but that makes me one of the few, it would seem. Are you all right? This sickness...I was not expecting...
[ She takes a slow, shaky breath to steady herself, clearly more rattled by this than she wants to let on. ] Are you well, Erik?
video;
He yearns to know if she is well, but that fear he sees in her...it wounds him too deeply to satisfy his own selfish needs before she is comforted.]
Injury did not create the visage I hide beneath this mask, my dear angel. I was born as I am--as yet, I am unmolested by this illness.
[...finally...]
What of you? Have you been afflicted?
video;
[ She's terrified and it's all over her face. She watched her father waste away from consumption. This is a nightmare. ]
video;
Christine...would you allow me to call on you? You shouldn't have to endure this crisis alone.
video;
[ The offer has barely passed his lips before she agrees. She'll make time later to feel guilty over it. She wants him with her too much right now to worry whether or not her actions are cruel. ]
Please.
video;
And yet, he cannot deny her.]
I will be with you soon, my angel.