#atwb

phantom of the opera remus who is in love with opera singer roman but only ever visits him in a mask

roman who worked so hard to get where he is and become famous and claw his way up from being worried about his next meal and is now world famous

remus writing him music and complimenting his arias and playing piano accompanyment in the quiet of the otherwise empty opera house at night

and roman says "please i love you, may i see your face"

and remus says "if you love me, never that"

and theyre happy and they kiss and fall deeper in love, fall into each other's lives and orbits and minds like its inevitable

remus has been following his career since practically his first tryouts and practice, even if he only approached roman later. he's seen sketches of himself tucked among remus' sheet music that show him young and gangly and nervous. roman wonders what he did to deserve to catch remus' attention.

but eventually the curiosity burns at him enough that while remus sleeps he lifts the mask and-

its a copy of his own face, slack in dreaming but so undeniable in its evidence