It took Sebastian a little while to repair the damage done to the mansion after the attack by Mr. Tilman and Mr. Crawford. One of the walls had been damaged by Bard's dynamite and there were a few blood stains that took a great deal of scrubbing to remove. Aliya had managed to put a bullet hole in the ceiling when she shot herself in the head. Sebastian made the girl fix that damage as punishment. There were no complications with Scotland Yard, fortunately. The guests were grateful at being alive, which would probably be good for business in the future. Everything had ended very well. The only lingering problem proved to be that Aliya had discovered how fun it was to injure herself. She got into the habit of occasionally stealing a weapon from one of the servants or Ciel and shooting herself in the head with it. She was smart enough to do this outside but still got caught and subsequently punished by her father.
On a morning not long after the affair with Mr. Crawford and Mr. Tilman, Ciel examined a few letters while sitting in the parlor. Aliya sprawled on the carpeted floor near Ciel's feet with several pieces of paper and books scattered around her.
"Sebastian," Ciel called.
"Yes?" the demon appeared supernaturally fast.
"Excuse me. Can I ask a quick question about these notes?" Aliya interjected.
"Go ahead," Ciel said casually.
"What appears to be the problem?" the butler leaned closer to her.
"You copied these notes out of one of the demon books, right? So who is this?" Aliya passed him a hand written paper and pointed to a line.
"He's the angel slayer you read about yesterday," said Sebastian.
"Huh? But he has a different name!" the girl objected.
"Yes, demons change names regularly. After all, I was not Sebastian until recently," he explained.
"How am I supposed to know all this?" Aliya complained.
"You just have to memorize it." Sebastian handed her the paper then turned to Ciel. "What is it you required, Young Master?"
"The Phantomhive house has been invited to attend a party this weekend. The host owns some property I've been interested in so I intend on going," Ciel explained.
"Yes, social gatherings are of extreme importance to the English high class, I'm glad that your age allows you to take part in them," said Sebastian. Ciel glared at him for mentioning age.
"You don't have time to mock me, Sebastian. I need a new outfit and information on all the excepted guests and host," the boy instructed.
"Is that all?" the demon asked smugly.
"One more thing," Ciel smirked, "you will be attending this party but not as my butler. One of the other servants will perform your duties."
"What?" Sebastian was quite shocked by that statement.
"This invitation states my friends are also welcome. So you will take Aliya." Ciel held up the note between his fingers.
"Huh?" the girl looked up from her spot on the floor.
"I'm officially giving you time off from work, Sebastian," Ciel smiled.
"Time off?" Sebastian repeated as if he had never heard of the concept before.
"Yes, a vacation. I'm telling you to attend this party on your own. You won't be on duty as my butler and you will take Aliya," the boy said casually.
"You realize the contract is always in effect," Sebastian pointed out.
"Of course, but that's not the point. I want to see how you act when you aren't my butler. Take Aliya to the party and have some fun," said Ciel.
"I suppose an English ball would be a good learning experience," Sebastian considered.
"Do I have to order you to do everything?" Ciel groaned, "Make her a new dress, get yourself some different clothes, or wear that tutor outfit you seem so fond of. Have a father, daughter outing," he continued irritably.
"You sure?" Aliya asked.
"Positive, I can survive with a different butler for one evening. And if I get into danger, Sebastian will still be there," Ciel stated in his no argument tone.
"Is there an order in there somewhere?" Sebastian wondered.
"There will be," Ciel threatened.
"Ciel, you're going to this party?" Aliya piped up.
"I already said that. What?" the boy asked as Aliya's face started to contort with mirth. She clasped her hands over her mouth but couldn't stop smiling.
"Sorry, I shouldn't think this is funny," she managed to say. No sound came out of her mouth but her whole body shook as if from laughter.
"What?" Ciel demanded.
"I believe she finds it amusing how you attended your last party as a girl," Sebastian explained.
"You told her about that!" the boy shouted with disbelief and embarrassment.
"Showed me the pink dress too," Aliya added.
"You kept that thing?" Ciel gaped at the butler.
"It seemed like a waste to throw it out," Sebastian said with great satisfaction in his voice.
"Burn it!" Ciel snapped. Then something suddenly occurred to him. "Wait, you didn't tell her about Grell but you told her about me wearing the dress?" he growled.
"But, Young Master, your undercover work was of great importance to discovering Jack the Ripper," Sebastian insisted innocently.
"I'm sure you consider it to be so," the boy grumbled.
"I've cross-dressed before but not to that extent. When dressed as a boy I never flirted with a girl or agreed to go to bed with…" Aliya started to say.
"What did you tell her?" Ciel shouted, much to Sebastian's amusement.
Sebastian didn't argue any further. He agreed to attend the party as Sebastian Michaelis instead of the Phantomhive butler. There wasn't much time to prepare for the event so he began work immediately. Sebastian understood Ciel's determination to do something independently and prove he could work without help. It also made sense that the boy felt sympathy towards Aliya. Still, Ciel's constant attempts to improve his parenting were annoying.
The demon butler could easily juggle the extra workload involved with getting ready now that Aliya was well behaved. But at one point he had to make a trip to town and pick up supplies. When he was gone the servants were busy with their chores and Tanaka was in mini form, this left Aliya in charge of her father's duties. One of which was answering the front door. Consequently, while Sebastian was away Aliya came to speak with Ciel.
"Ciel," Aliya opened the door to the library.
"Knock," the boy corrected her. She sighed but obediently rapped her knuckles on the door frame. "Yes?" Ciel acknowledged her.
"There is a strange Chinese man and a random prostitute at the front door," Aliya said and pointed over her shoulder.
"What?" Ciel asked as he tried to register what she had said.
"A weird Chinese man and a prostitute, they said they knew you. I told them to go away," she repeated.
"That must be Lau," said the earl, "wait, you told him to go away?"
"Of course, he smelled like opium. I shut the door in his face but he wouldn't leave, so I came to get you," the girl explained.
"He's a business connection, let him in," Ciel instructed. He couldn't really blame Aliya for not trusting the drug dealer.
"I'll do as you say," Aliya said and turned to leave.
"Hold it," Ciel stopped her, "you don't who Lau is but you know about me wearing the dress?"
"Uh… I'll go open the door now," Aliya said with embarrassment and quickly walked away. Ciel took down a mental note to make Sebastian pay.
"Ha, ha I was about ready to give up," Lau laughed once he was finally allowed to meet with the earl. "I don't recognize you, little-girl-who-wouldn't-let-us-in, but your resemblance to Mr. Butler is uncanny," the man addressed Aliya.
"I know," she said back blandly. Since Sebastian wasn't around Aliya used her sixth sense to read Lau and Ran-Mau's souls. She did not particularly like what she saw. They reminded her of the scum that hung about her mother's church.
"Let me guess. Little sister? No, daughter," Lau continued to talk. He tried to pat the girl's head but she twisted away from him.
"Aliya, you don't officially work here, so go tell Tanaka that we need tea," Ciel instructed the girl. She nodded and left while keeping a weary eye on the visitors. "If you let me know you were coming by mail then this wouldn't be a problem," Ciel pointed out.
"It wouldn't be a problem if someone else answered the door," Lau said cheerfully.
"What are you here for?" the earl asked.
"Business, regrettably," Lau stated. Ciel nodded then he and Lau spoke privately over tea.
"Who's here?" Sebastian asked when he returned home. Lau was still visiting and Aliya was talking with her father.
"The strange Chinese guy who reeks of opium and his statue-like escort," Aliya explained.
"She wouldn't let them in at first," Bard chuckled.
"Yes, perhaps I should have warned you about Lau's visits," Sebastian said then turned to the servants. "If you have nothing to do, take all these packages inside." The butler handed them a stack of parcels. Finny didn't notice, but the others were startled by their weight.
"Why do they stink of opium?" Aliya continued with her discussion.
"How do you know what opium smells like?" Sebastian asked suspiciously. He went to take care of the carriage and horses.
"I lived on the London streets for a month. Plus, mother drugged me a few times. She wanted to check my immunity to toxins," Aliya answered then returned to her question, "Are they users or dealers?" Aliya followed him as he unhitched the animals.
"Dealers mainly, Lau is a powerful drug trafficker," Sebastian explained.
"Oh, so that's why he has business with the earl," Aliya finally understood.
"We don't talk about that," her father said.
"Is she a really a prostitute?" Aliya changed the topic.
"Ran-Mau? I do not know nor care," the butler answered.
"She has to be, why else would she dress like that?"
"This is not a subject for young ladies," Sebastian lectured her.
"How am I supposed to learn these things unless my father tells me about them? After all, I don't have a mother to talk with," Aliya pointed out.
"You are too young to be discussing people like Ran-Mau," Sebastian answered with a fatherly authority. Aliya had no argument for that so said nothing else.
Aliya returned to the house as Sebastian finished securing the horses. Once done with his task, the demon started towards the manor but noticed something. A lean black cat was sunning itself on the front steps of the house. Sebastian smiled when he saw the animal. He forgot what he was doing and knelt down to pet the cat. "Cats are such regal creatures," he mused as he stroked its belly. The demon sat down on the front stoop as he held the kitten. He lost track of time as he relaxed there.
"Father," Aliya appeared, "you've been gone for over ten minutes. Have you been here the whole time?" she asked. Sebastian looked up at her, had he really gotten that distracted?
"I'll go about my tasks in a moment," he answered as he played with the cat's paw.
"Huh? A cat? Where did it come from?" Aliya knelt next to him. She was suddenly fascinated.
"She was on the grounds."
"What a beautiful animal. It's an all black one too," the girl said dreamily and reached over and scratched the cat's ear.
"Want to hold her?" her father offered.
"Yes please." Aliya held out her hands and took the animal. "Stray cats used to keep me company when I lived on the streets. Their reflexes are amazing, so much better than humans. And their eyes are gorgeous," she said happily. The feline seemed to like her attention and continued to purr. Aliya cradled the small animal in her arms as she petted her head.
"Those split pupils often make humans think they are demonic creatures," Sebastian mentioned.
"My mother hates cats. Are they demonic?" Aliya wondered.
"Only slightly," the demon answered.
"Can we keep her?" the girl asked a typical childish question.
"The Young Master won't allow it. Besides, a young demon such as yourself shouldn't be distracted by something like a pet," he answered.
"Oh well, a stray like her wouldn't like it in the house anyway." The cat sat in Aliya's lap and the girl leaned against her father.
"When you're older I can teach you to take the form of this handsome creature." Sebastian smiled at his daughter.
"I could be cat?" Aliya asked with excitement.
"Yes, you should have inherited that ability." Sebastian reached over to stroke the cat's head as he talked.
"Can you show me?" she looked up at him.
"No, not now," the demon answered dismissively.
"Please show me soon, I want to learn everything," Aliya spoke with a smile. She affectionately snuggled against Sebastian. He let her sit there only a moment before moving away.
"You will eventually hear all I have to teach, child. But right now, we have wasted enough time," he told her. Aliya reluctantly stood up and released the cat. Father and daughter returned to the mansion.
Whatever Ciel and Lau discussed didn't end well. Lau kept his face even but left the house with obvious annoyance. Ciel didn't explain what happened and nobody asked. Sebastian wanted the Young Master's business agreements to go well but was still pleased to have Lau gone. The butler had noticed Aliya's glares at Lau and he didn't have time to worry about his daughter if he wanted to get all of his work done before the weekend. Sebastian provided Ciel with information on the host of the party and everyone on the guest list. Once that was done he turned his attention to Aliya. He was finding it quite difficult to tailor a fashionable dress for her without using any white or un-demon-like colors. But a completely black dress would look like she was in morning. Sebastian found the challenge enjoyable.
By the weekend everything was ready. On the day of the dance Sebastian helped Ciel dress in blue formal attire. Lady Elizabeth would have been pleased with the boy's appearance.
"You are now officially off duty," Ciel said to the demon, "go to the party whenever Aliya is ready." The boy left Sebastian behind and rode away with Tanaka acting as his butler for the night. Tanaka insisted that he would be able to stay in his normal form long enough to perform all his duties.
"Whoa, the Young Master is going without Sebastian," Finny marveled.
"It's nice for Tanaka to get out of the house. But I always thought you would keel over and die if not acting as a butler," Bard said jokingly to Sebastian.
"So, what are you going to do?" Maylene asked hopefully.
"I'm going to check on Aliya. Her dress has a lot of ribbons and she has probably made a mess of it. As for the rest of you, the Young Master gave you the night off too," Sebastian reminded the humans as he walked away.
"What would I do if I'm not working here?" Finny wondered.
"Hmm, maybe I'll go into town." Bard considered. Maylene didn't say anything; she was disappointed Sebastian hadn't asked her out somewhere.
"Aliya?" Sebastian knocked on her door.
"Come in, I need help with this." The girl's annoyed voice came though the wood. Aliya was wearing her new dress but the decorations were askew. She had become very frustrated by the complex finery.
"I assumed you would. You're still not used to high society clothing." Sebastian helped her tie the dress properly.
"I still think this is all a little silly. Why would anyone wear these things? It's completely impractical." Aliya opened and closed her hand awkwardly in the extremely tight glove she was wearing.
"Be thankful, child, I could have made you wear a corset," her father warned.
"Yes, thank you," Aliya quickly said.
"It is a slight breach of style but you are thin enough without one," Sebastian nodded approvingly as he examined her appearance. "I believe we are ready to depart."
Seasnake: Thank you for reading my fanfic all the way to chapter 25. I really appreciate it. Hopefully, I can continue to write a story you will enjoy when I introduce my new OC, Aliya's mother, in the next chapter. ;)