4. The heart of London
The sky was still a bit dark. The sun had not yet fully exposed itself to England. Mey-rin placed her luggage against the wall at looked at her reflection through the small mirror that hung on the wall. The reflection showed a averaged heighted young woman with messy red hair, thick framed glasses and a plain brown dress. Today's the big day. She adjusted her glasses before leaving her room. Outside Ciel and Sebastian was getting the carriage ready, Mey-rin hurried outside. Sebastian smiled, "good morning Mey-rin." Before she could reply he leaned against her ears and whispered, "please, try to be on your best behavior. London is a busy place and it is very rare for a master to take a servant out to town. Your actions are the young master's reputation." He pulled away and she firmly nodded her head. Two footsteps came running out the door, Finny and Bard appeared, out of breath. Bard smiled "we can't just sleep in when our master is goi'n to town! Oh and of course Meyrin too! Ciel sighed,"Baldroy and Finnian, I trust you two to behave." Bard and Finny both replied at the same time "yes, my lord!" Sebastian smiled, the passive aggressive smile, "Barldroy, that means no flamethrower." Bard scratched the back of his head and nervously chuckled, "yeah, I know, I know." The carriage door opened, Ciel climbed in while Sebastian held his luggage, next it was Meyrin's turn, Sebastian held out his hand "allow me." Meyrin accepted his offer and held his gloved hands. He lifted up her hands allowing her to easily enter the carriage. All bags were loaded and Sebastian stepped into the carriage. Never in her life has she been inside a luxury carriage. The seats were padded with thick layers of cotton, while the walls were decorated with dark purple leather. Meyrin sat opposite towards Ciel and Sebastian. Ciel tapped the roof of the carriage signaling the driver to go. The carriage began to move, Meyrin waved to Bard and Finny and soon the Phantomhive manor was nothing but a blur.
Around thirty minutes has past, the carriage stopped at the train station. Sebastian opened the carriage door, stepping out first. He grabbed Ciel's hand assisting him to get down, the he assisted Meyrin out of the carriage. Everything was loaded off the carriage, Ciel waved his hands and the carriage left. Sebastian pulled out his silver pocket watch, "we have around ten minutes till the train leaves. We best head to platform six, my lord." Ciel nodded, "come now Meyrin, you mustn't get separated from us." The station was buzzing with people, men in suits walked around holding up the morning paper while ladies in puffy dresses chatted amongst themselves, a mix of perfume and smoke filled the atmosphere of the station. Meyrin followed Sebastian and Ciel through a tunnel like entrance to platform six.
The baggage was all loaded. Meyrin followed Ciel and Sebastian down the long corridor of the train. Each seats were filled with people mostly wearing a plain attire, with mothers holding crying children in their arms and men reading the daily newspaper. They continued to walk further down until they reached a door that lead to another carriage. Sebastian opened the door revealing a whole new part of the train. This time people wore much extravagant clothing and the seats were in much better quality. Meyrin never in her life seen this part of the train. It was specially catered for the upper class, the small minority in England who would pretty much could afford anything. Meyrin looked down at her plain brown dress, Meyrin never had any opinion on her dress but today it just seemed so ugly. Her trail of thoughts was interrupted as Sebastian cleared his throat, "Meyrin are you going to go in?" Sebastian stood there with the door opened, all this time she was trapped in her thoughts trying to make sense of this new experience. Meyrin scratched the back for her head, "Oh, sorry about that." She quickly stepped in and followed Ciel to their seat. Every seats were arranged so that two seats were facing each other. Ciel, of course sat on the seat that was facing towards the direction that the train was travelling, Sebastian gestured Meyrin to go in first to the seat opposite the one Ciel was sitting in. Meyrin sat down, she was kind of glad that she got to have the window seat, looking at the beautiful country landscape would be a great treat for her. She could smell a tinge of lavender as Sebastian took a seat next to her, she had to admit travelling a long distance next to Sebastian was a little uncomfortable but on the brightside she had she had two great views from either side. The train released a puff of black smoke as it slowly began to move. Through the window a bright burst of sunlight came through as the train escaped the tunnel, revealing lush green grass with a clear blue sky that stretched over the hills. Meyrin turned back to face the front, Ciel rested his head in his hands disinterested at the outside world it was completely understandable as he probably rode the train many times, Sebastian too seemed rather bored, like Ciel this was probably just like any other train ride his been on.
A bit less than an hour has passed, Ciel's head bobbed up and down drowning in his sleep. A small grin spread across Meyrin's lips, the master always acted mature for his age, always busy managing the Phantomhive household and company at the age for thirteen, the poor boy was probably deeply traumatized too losing his parents to a deadly fire that burned them alive. But still he was a child. No matter how adult like he acted, he would always be a child and like any other child waking up early can be physically restraining. "I have to admit, the master can be quite adorable when he sleeps." Meyrin flinched in surprise, she didn't know Sebastian was observing the young master too. The butler stood up from his seat and walked over to the young master, he carefully placed his hands on Ciel's back and slowly lowered him on the seat. Ciel's chest moved up and down in a steady pace, Meyrin had never seen the young master so venerable, she smiled, what a treat...
Where am I? A ray of sunshine pierced through Meyrin's eyes as she regained her conscience. Crap, must have fell asleep... wait, hold on a second... Meyrin's head rested on the butler's shoulders, She immediately jerked her head away from Sebastian. Sebastian did not move a muscle at her sudden movement he continued on reading the daily morning paper, "had a nice nap?" Meyrin brushed her messy her with her finger and replied, "um, yeah I did. Sorry for bothering you, you could have just woken me up." Sebastian folded his paper to the side, "that's quite alright, I'm assuming you've never got to sleep in while working in the manor?" Meyrin adjusted her glasses, "yes it has been a while since I slept in, I don't know what happened I'd just dozed away without realising it." Sebastian smiled, "well, you've woken up at a good time. We should be arriving in around five minutes." It was his signature 'innocent' smile. Meyrin always felt like something was behind that handsome face and that smile of his, seemed so real but fake at the same time. The train soon came to a stop. Sebastian leaned over to the sleeping master and gently shook him on the shoulder, "young master, we have arrived." Ciel shifted as he slowly began to open his eyes, "Sebastian, how long was I sleeping for?" The butler pulled down each baggage to the ground, "I would say almost the whole trip master." A hint of red began to appear in Ciel's cheek he cleared his throat, "you should have woken me up Sebastian." Sebastian sneered, he found it amusing how the young master got flustered for sleeping in front of his own servants. He replied in a teasing tone, "how was I suppose to wake you up? You were sound asleep, surely waking up the master would be rude." Ciel rolled his eyes at the usual sight of the demon butler having a go at him, "hmpf, whatever. Let's get off the train."
The station was crowded than before, after all it was the city side in the heart of London. Meyrin scrambled through the crowd of people trailing behind Ciel and Sebastian, who somehow managed to moved very quickly through the great crowd. Outside the station a carriage waited for them, sent from Ciel's town house. Sebastian helped load the baggage and waited for Ciel and Meyrin to step inside before going in the carriage himself. The carriage door was shut, Ciel tapped the roof of the carriage with the tip of his cane and the carriage started to move. Ciel placed his top hat to the side, "Meyrin, I have already sent a letter yesterday to Mr. Olivander he is the best known optometrist in town. I've requested some samples for you to try in store. Infact your current glasses are from there so he should know the prescriptions." Meyrin clasped her hands together, "thank you master, I very much appreciate your gratitude."
Sebastian opened the carriage door, as it stopped in front of a small store. Ciel adjusted his hat and coat before he pushed the shop door open. A tiny bell ringed as the door was being opened, an elderly man appeared from the back of the store to the counter, "ah, Lord Phantomhive! A pleasure to see you again." Ciel nodded, "the pleasure is mine Mr. Olivander." The old man placed three boxes down with each containing a pair of spectacles, "I'm assuming this is for the beautiful young lady over there? Come over hear miss, try it on." Meyrin blushed at such compliment, although she knew he was just being polite. The first box contained a rectangular shaped glasses with a thin frame, before she could reach for the glasses Ciel interrupted, "Sebastian assist her while I go to the bathroom." Mr. Olivander lead Ciel to the back of the store leaving the two alone. Sebastian sighed, "I knew young master was drinking too much water in the carriage. Anyways, Meyrin take off your glasses." Meyrin never took her glasses off in front of anyone unless it was an emergency where she would have to use a gun, she reached for her glasses and took it off. She could hardly see anything around her, Sebastian's face was nothing but a blur, from being far sighted she could only see things that were outside of the store. A slight smile crept up on Sebastian's face, even though he was a demon he did appreciate the beautiful things of the mortal world such as felines. Sebastian carefully placed the glasses on her eyes. Slowly the blurriness began to jumble itself bring back her vision. The first thing she noticed was that Sebastian's face was awfully close to her's, her eyes met his reddish brown eyes she quickly took a step back at the sudden surprise. Sebastian's eyebrows twitched, that certain design of the glasses reminded him of that wretched spider demon, "I don't think the rectangular shape suits you Meyrin." Meyrin looked at the mirror for the first time she could see her eyes through the lense, but Sebastian was right. The second pair of glasses was also a rectangular shaped with thick black frames, Sebastian frowned only because this time it reminded him of the hostile grim reaper he met a while ago in the circus. And finally the last pair of glasses was put on, this design was almost identical to the one she'd currently owned only except the lenses were much thinner. Sebastian nodded in satisfaction, "that looks much better than the other ones." Meyrin stared at her reflection in the mirror, "you think so?" Sebastian walked over to the mirror, "yes, it really brings out that eyes of yours." Meyrin flushed at the sudden compliment. According to Bardroy he overheard the master confront Sebastian for some act he committed while trying to get information for one of the queen's cases, she couldn't believe it but apparently he had a sexual intercourse with a nun, but at the same time she was not too surprised, she knew he was a big flirt anyway.
Ciel and Mr. Olivander walked in breaking Meyrin's trail of thought. Mr. Olivander lifted his arms in excitement, "ah, I see you've went for the rounder design! I had a feeling you might have chosen that one." Meyrin smiled, "thank you sir, their perfect." Sebastian handed Ciel a bag of coins he placed them on the counter, "I appreciate your effort Mr. Olivander, here is the payment." The old man grinned, "come back anytime Earl Phantomhive." Ciel tipped his hat and walked out of the store. "Do you like your new glasses Meyrin?" Meyrin nodded, "yes master It's great! Thank you." Ciel nodded back firmly, "I'm glad. Say, Sebastian what other business do we need to take care of while we're out in town?" The butler replied, "well you do have the Trancy masquerade ball coming up next week, perhaps we should purchase new outfits and a mask." Ciel clenched his fists and sighed in disgust, "the Trancy masquerade ball. What a waste of time, It's a shame I have no choice but to go." Sebastian gave his 'innocent' smile, "now master, as the Queen's Guard Dog you must go, Lady Elizabeth is also invited she would be severely upset if you didn't turn up." Ciel sighed, "yeah, yeah I get it Sebastian. Oh and enough with the happy act I know you don't want to go more than I do." Sebastian's smile immediately disappeared from his face, "yes master you're quite right." Ciel rubbed his face, "you know what, just thinking about the ball drains me. We will proceed on with our business in town tomorrow. Let us go back to the townhouse I need some rest."
"Very well, my lord."