Evangeline Sablier believes in unicorns. (dreamsmadeflesh) wrote in musingslogs, @ 2011-03-24 17:37:00 |
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Entry tags: | jaenelle angelline, saetan sadiablo |
WHO: Evie and Benedict
WHAT: Evie wants to be queen
WHERE: Their dining room
WHEN: After Evie returns from her trip
WARNINGS: Papa chokes. A lot.
NOTES: Eggs hopes that by forming her official court he doesn’t have to drink her blood.
Benedict hummed a tuneless song as he moved about the kitchen. He knew most viewed him as an old fashioned man, eccentric even sometimes. Many of his tastes drew curious eyebrows and his past times tight smiles. One, however, seemed to garner praise across the board. And that was his cooking.
It wasn’t just sheer pleasure of cooking that had him in the kitchen every morning, though he would freely admit that he enjoyed it. It was also self preservation, as his darling daughter had not picked up his culinary skills despite his best efforts. And it was that daughter of his that he could hear padding down the hallway, following the scent of breakfast early that morning. He already had a place set for her, a tall stack of french toast waiting, something to tide her over as he cooked omelets. “Good morning,” he replied, habit dictating that he lean to his side for her to kiss his cheek.
Evie was not a morning person, and no one would ever accuse her of being such. She was practically a zombie as she walked from her bathroom to the smell of food. It was the smell of food that woke her up in the first place, she couldn’t say no to food. Ever. She was pretty sure it was just her nose that was leading her anywhere at all, God knows it wasn’t her eyes that were still half closed.
She was pulling her hair into a messy ponytail as she made her way into the kitchen and to where her Papa was cooking and she kissed him on the cheek, “Good morning, Papa,” she said sleepily. She grabbed her coffee mug, it was definitely hers it was the biggest coffee cup in the house, and stared at the coffee pot that was still brewing. She was staring daggers at it, willing it to go faster. It wasn’t working. She looked from Papa to the coffee pot and back to Papa...She was looking at the back of his head but she knew he had the “don’t even think about it” look on his face. It was too late. Evie had not only thought about it but she’d grabbed another mug and with very little precision this early in the morning she took the carafe out and put the mug under the stream of coffee that was coming out. She wasn’t quick enough and there was the telltale sizzle of the coffee on the hot plate. Busted.
She went about her business, humming rather innocently and poured herself a cup and once again did the dance to put the pot back under the stream of coffee. She’d only made a tiny mess. These were issues that would be solved by getting a new coffee pot but Evie loved her coffee pot. Even if it was likely a fire hazard. And didn’t automatically stop when coffee was urgent. She turned around and took a drink of her black coffee and sighed happily. “I have been living off the instant stuff for a week, this is amazing,” she said holding the cup up and taking a big whiff of it.
Benedict made a disapproving sound as heard the coffee hit the hot plate, but he made no move, not even when he heard it again. He did sigh a little as she proclaimed that she had been living on it. Leave it to his daughter to think coffee was the end all, be all as far as basic nutrition was concerned. “Surely you had something else to eat and drink while you were away?” Surely she wasn’t trying to give him a heart attack or tug on all the overprotective instincts he had simmering below the surface. He turned as the omelet was done and slid it from the pan onto Evie’s empty second plate.
Evie crossed the room and sat down at the table, her legs tucked under comfortably and immediately attacked the french toast, she even took the time to stalk her prey before pouring honey on it. One would think with an appetite like that she hadn’t eaten at all. She smiled and shrugged, “Of course I did,” she smirked, “And don’t call me Shirley.” Oh she was hilarious. “And! I had a lot of pop tarts. And cereal. And I went to the restaurant up the road a couple of times, I promise I didn’t live off of ONLY gross instant coffee the whole time.”
She took a bite of the omelet he had set down and she was pretty much in hog heaven. Literally. “I always like going there, I think I’ll take Sol after we mend this little hurt. It would do him some good too. It’s very relaxing there, I cleared a lot of the cobwebs out while I was gone.”
Benedict was far too used to his daughter’s appetite and hardly made a face when she began to attack it with such gusto. He did, however, chuckle softly at her little joke. He found her just as hilarious as she found herself. The good humor even carried him through her insistence that she had properly fed herself. Pop tarts and cereal and diner food. If he wasn’t already aware of her ability, he would’ve sworn she had an iron stomach.
He did frown as she mentioned bringing Sol to her hideaway. He and the other man had a growing understanding, yes, but that wasn’t exactly what he wanted to hear. “Is it not too soon for that sort of arrangement?” Dating Evie was one thing. Going away for days on end with no one but each other and diner food to eat was another. He finished his own omelet and set his plate down beside her. “You two can clear your cobwebs here just fine.”
She paused briefly in her eating to consider his question and then looked up at him confidently and shook her head, “No, it’s not too soon for that sort of arrangement. I think it would be good for us, him most especially. We can look after each other, without all the problems of ‘here.’ “ she was speaking calmly and clearly, and it certainly wasn’t her arguing tone. It was a whole new tone altogether.
But she wasn’t completely blind to the fact that her papa was a worrier, she knew that better than anyone. She reached over and squeezed his hand, like he often did to her, and smiled at him. “It’s going to be a good year, papa.”
He noted the change in tone and he barely managed to suppress the furrow of his brown. It wasn’t an unwelcome tone, more like he was unused to it coming from his daughter. It had an air of confidence, or was it authority? Finality, that was what it was. She wasn’t trying to prove she had made point. She made a decision. End of story.
And since it lacked the sting that it was capable of, he found that he wasn’t bristling too hard against it. Particularly not when she smiled at him. He squeezed her hand back and let the other pick up his fork. “Is it now?” It was an interesting thing to remark, seeing as it was now March. “And what has changed, darling? What will make this a good year?”
The last thing Evie wanted in the world was to have some kind of authority over anyone, but she had decided that she was going to have authority over herself. It didn’t change anything, not the way she loved or cared and she did both of those things right down to her core. She did them both as ferociously as she hated things. It was a scary combination, but she was walking the line better now than she ever had.
“I’ve changed a little, Papa,” she said taking a bite of her omelet. It was amazing. As per usual. “Maybe more than a little, I cleared some cobwebs out. Everything kind of exploded at once. The misunderstanding with Hayley, my birthday, being cut off for a bunch of days, I have a long way to go, but I know what direction I’m going in now,” she gave him a playful smile, “Mostly. But that’s why I have you,” Just in case he was worried that she wasn’t going to need her Papa anymore, that wasn’t going to be an issue at all. Ever. She ate thoughtfully for another moment or two and looked back over at him. “Do you think you could give me a job?”
Benedict nearly choked on his omelet, and he reached for his coffee to help him. He had been listening intently to her explanation, feeling proud of her decision and no small amount of relief. He had always worried about the state of his company and his daughter and always wanted her to take over for him. But he was never in a position to persuade her properly and here she was offering freely. It was surprising, to say the least.
“What sort of job?” he finally asked once the burn subsided from his throat.
She sat up a bit straighter, her eyes wide while he gathered himself. She always liked it when she was the cause of Papa’s “hiccups.” She shrugged and took another bite. “I don’t know, Vice President of something,” she was only half serious. It was the half serious part that was scary even as she smiled wryly. “What sort of job do you want to give me?”
Another half choked and undignified noise. He was sure she was doing that on purpose. “A vice president position is not on easily given.” Benedict was certainly in a position to give jobs to anyone he felt like but the fact remained that his daughter, as highly as he thought of her, didn’t have any the experience she would need to head up any of their sectors. “What sort of work would you like to do?” The Askavi Group did many things, manufactured all sorts of products, and offered a variety of services. She could go anywhere and do whatever she wanted. Just not be vice president. Not right away, at least.
Evie was more than amused now. She regarded his next question carefully. She was fairly certain she could try anything she wanted to try, there was no real reason why she couldn't. If she didn't like it, she could find something else.
"Maybe something part time to start, so I can still do my other volunteer jobs. Why don't you show me around next week. Show me a few places that are a good place to start and we can go front there?"
This time there was no tiny scenes, just a thoughtful hum as he cut into his omelet. “That sounds like a splendid idea. I am quite sure everyone will be happy to see you again.” Taking tours with Evie wasn’t anything new, and she was well liked in the company. Doing it as a potential co-worker would be something different and would give them a chance to see who really wanted to work with her, and she responded well with, and who were just brown nosing for additional funds. Another thought struck him and he paused a little longer before asking.
“Will you be attending university this year?” It was a tired discussion between them but considering the steps she was taking, it was worth asking.
“Good! Then that’s settled.” She was about to go about her breakfast before Papa decided to ask his second favorite question right behind ‘what time will you be home?’
She exhaled loudly, her lips making a sound a horse bristling a bit. “I don’t know. I was thinking about it, but I think I should take online classes for a while. I don’t want to get overwhelmed and do too much too soon.”
He nodded and took another bite of his omelet. While he would rather her attend in person - he was still of the mind that learning should be with people, not with programs - it was a better answer than he was expecting and it boded well for these changes she was making. “It will certainly help with this vice president notion that you have.” There was just a hint of a smirk at the corner of his mouth. “You should enroll as soon as possible. We should be able to work around any scheduling issues that might arise and it will aid in you in whatever it is you end up doing with the company.”
Evie shifted uncomfortably trying to find her words again, she nodded once and took a drink of her coffee. “I’ll think about it. I promise I’ll think about it,” she said sincerely.
She ate in silence for a moment until she noticed that her Papa was taking a drink of his coffee...Perfect timing. “Now. What did you do while I was gone? Have I got a baby brother on the way yet?”
It was by sheer miracle his coffee didn’t end up everywhere at that remark. “Eat your breakfast, Evie.” And that was the end of that discussion.