The Otherworld

Cecilia slumped her way down the stairs until she was in the kitchen with her father and Ivan. She smiled at him sheepishly, silently thanking him for putting her back in her bed after she fell asleep on his last night. She would have felt embarrassed, but she could tell that this would become a common occurrence in the future.

“You look like you slept well,” her father sarcastically laughed.

Cecilia grinned, standing on her tip-toes to exaggerate her awareness. “Really?” she laughed. “Well at least we came up with a name for Earl!”

Aodren raised an eyebrow. “Really?” He looked over at Ivan who was scrambling eggs on the stove top. He smiled warily to Aodren. Aodren grinned maniacally. “So what did the two of you come up with.”

“No, no,” Cecilia shook her head. “We have to build up the suspense. First, I'll tell you what names we came up with before finding the most perfect and amazing name known to man and inferi.” Aodren and Ivan chuckled at the way she related her latest knowledge of a separate world into everyday speech.

Cecilia hopped onto the counter and crossed her legs, ready to start her rant, but she was quickly pushed away and placed into a chair. She looked up at the force that moved her and pouted under Ivan's reprimanding expression. “One does not sit on a counter, Milady. A lady such as yourself should eat on a counter and sit in a chair,” he placed a porcelain tea cup in front of her. “One also drinks tea from tea cups and eats ice cream in plates, not mugs.”

Cecilia continued pouting. “I think we're going to have a problem here, Sir Earl.”

“We wont if Milady choses not to have one,” Ivan cleverly countered.

“Just remember who your 'Milady' is,” Cecilia smirked.

Ivan allowed a portion of his emotion to escape his well-formed masque and smirked back at his Milady, his eyes shining with amusement.

“We're going to need bigger tea cups,” Cecilia said to herself before turning back to her father. “And a taller seat. I want to look down at y'all, not the other way around.”

Aodren laughed. “Do I sense a tinge of Napoleonism in your demands.”

Cecilia scoffed. “Of course not. Napoleon was taller than me.”

Aodren laughed and Ivan quietly chuckled while tending to the breakfast.

“Where's mum?” Cecilia finally asked after thanking Ivan as he placed her breakfast in front of her. She picked up her knife and fork, ready to eat.

“She went to the store early. I think we're getting a new shipment in today,” Aodren answered.

Cecilia nodded. “I see,” she said with food in her mouth, ignoring Ivan's glare. She swallowed. “Well, after breakfast, Ivan and I are going to the mall.”

Ivan felt his insides squirm. “Good,” Aodren laconically stated, cutting into his sausage.

“You promised, Daddy.” Cecilia pouted and worked her cherub features as her father pointedly ignored her.

“Promised what, Sweatheart?”

Cecilia gasped and frowned, giving up her childish approach. “Father! You said I could have a hundred dollars to shop with.”

Aodren shared a wicked grin with Ivan before continuing his teasing. “It's unbecoming of you to make the face, Darling.”

Cecilia smirked at Ivan and he mentally rolled his eyes. He was stuck in the middle of crossfire between a father and his daughter's game (THE GAME).

Cecilia's scowl softened gradually and tears seeped from her eyelids, her nose catching the sniffles. “Oh, Aodren, how c-could you?”

“All right! I give!” Aodren pulled out his wallet from his pocket and passed a couple bills to Cecilia, who immediately brightened. “I always fail when the tear works come into play.”

Cecilia giggled and winked at Ivan, whom she had to pull down beside her and force him to eat at the table. “I always win.”

“No,” Aodren denied.

Cecilia laughed. “You do, you're just to embarrassed to admit to it in front of Ivan.”

Aodren scoffed and denied it again but his blush said otherwise. It was obvious to all that Aodren was very fond of Ivan and viewed him as an older brother. This would undoubtedly change his actions so to impress his former caretaker and best friend.

“It's okay, Daddy. Ivan is well aware that you're not the most perfect being in all universes. Especially now that he's met me.” Cecilia flipped her hair over her shoulder and giggled. Aodren rolled his eyes and Ivan tried his best to hide his blush.

The rest of their breakfast went by fast and Cecilia amused herself embarrassing her father and frustrating Ivan with her unladylike table manners. After eating and blatantly ignoring Ivan when he tried to pick up her plate, she put it in the dishwasher herself and and bounded up the stairs, yelling at Ivan to get ready. She brushed her teeth quickly and ran a comb through her hair. Back in her room she pulled on a skirt and her Led Zeppelin t-shirt. She slipped into her Converses and ran out, ready to knock on Ivan's door. Before she could, the door opened and Ivan smiled nervously.

“Ready, Miss Cecilia?”

Cecilia grinned wildly. “Yeah, yeah. Lets go!” She grabbed the sleeve from his white button down and dragged him down the stairs. He scowled slightly at his now wrinkled shirt and sighed to himself. He had a lot ahead of him.

“We're leaving, Dad!”

“Have a great time. Don't be to hard on Ea-Ivan!” Aodren yelled back, grinning at the two.

Cecilia waved him off and Ivan politely bowed at his waist before he was forced out of the house yet again. He was let go of once the door was closed and Cecilia was making her way to the front seat of her car. Swiftly, he was at door and holding it open for her. She raised an eyebrow, but smiled to herself.

“Is it fitting for a princess to drive, Miss Cecilia? I can drive for you.”

Her smile faded and she glared up at him from her seat. “ Are you sexist or do you think of me as a five year old?”

Ivan's eye widened, his mouth slightly opened. “N-no, Milady. Royalty doesn't drive in the Otherworld.”

Cecilia's scowl softened and she frowned instead. “I'm not royalty here, Ivan, so get in the car.” She smiled lightly and he closed her door, walking around to take the passenger's.

“Besides,” she said once he put on his seat belt. “You don't have a driver's license.” She grinned his way before igniting the car and backing out of the driveway.

Ivan looked ahead and mentally started to prepare himself. He wasn't sure what to expect when shopping with the young mistress, but he had to ready himself for anything.