little lessons
Who: Olesya and Tatiana
Where: The Penthouse
When: early evening
Tatiana was not entirely pleased. “I don’t understand why we couldn’t have stayed home,” she complained, brushing a light covering of blush on her face. Her lovely features were pulled into a displeased scowl and when she finished, she tossed the compact on the pearl topped table and looked for the appropriate shade of lipstick. “I’m going to be the weird one who lives at a place of work. As if we were poor.” It was by now a familiar complaint between Tatia’s fits of mourning. She did not grieve quietly and the massive amount of change going on in the wake of her father’s murder were not always taken with grace. Like now.
Olesya had heard this a number of times. And it wasn't getting any easier to hear. Most of the time, she met it with a grain of salt. Today, however, she sighed heavily. "Tatiana," she started, voice stern. "You have no idea what it's like to be poor. So don't go comparing our lifestyle here or otherwise to something you have no true concept of. And, if you'll pause for a moment of reflection, please, enlighten me where royalty lives?" she posed, twisting her hair up into it's usual style, leaving no hair out of place.
She watched her mother wind her hair up, the scowl still on her features but much less severe now as it turned more towards a pout. Her worldly experiences did not quite lend itself to showing her exactly how lucky she was, how fortunate she was to have a home to begin with, let alone a place as stylish as they were living in. “Beautiful castles with turrets and views as far as the eye can see,” she said a little wistfully. She supposed she had a similar viewpoint from her own bedroom window that wasn’t that much different from their old house. A little higher maybe but it was still not the same.
"In fairytales, they do, child." Olesya. "In reality, few are so ornate. But they live in castles, correct. Where is it they do their ruling from? Do you think they pack up and go do it from someplace else? Or is it done at the castle, where they live?" she continued pointedly.
Tatiana could see where this was going and she let out a little huff and tugged on one of her garnet curls as she decided what to do with it. “Done at the castle?” she ventured, only a slight note of uncertainty there.
"So. Tell me again how living at a business is like we're poor?" Olesya said, crossing her arms as she eyed her daughter with an arched brow.
The pout itself now was wavering under the look and she averted her eyes from her mother to the collection of combs and hair pins. “It’s just different. It feels different and I’m still not used to it.” She was used to houses with security which the casino had. The casino had a massive amount of security, but it was still different. Tatiana looked back at her mother apologetically. “I’ll think more about what I say next time.”
Olesya smiled at her, and stepped up. She adjusted her daughter's clothing very slightly, and touched her cheek affectionately. "Tatiana, you are a beautiful girl. The only thing that is going to mar that, make it less important than it is, is to appear stupid to the people around you. You've had a good education. You must never speak of things you know nothing about. It will give off the impression that you're uneducated, that you're less intelligent than you are. It'll drop your value to others. Never let them see you as stupid. Always mind what you say, even if it's just a complaint." she told her, truly trying to impart wisdom. She always did for Tatiana. She was her pride and joy, and she wanted the very best for her. Sometimes that meant teaching small lessons. "I'm aware it's different. But that's no reason to find the bad in it. You need to start adjusting, my sweet. I want you to think about something good here. What's one thing you can name that's a positive about this place?"
Everything was a lesson and always was when it came to things like this. Tatia couldn’t quite remember the last time she was simply scolded. It was always turned around and words of wisdom were imparted and it probably made her feel worse about whatever she’d done instead of how she’d feel if she was simply scolded. She was far from stupid, but her childish behavior, as it would be said, did get the best of her from time to time. “I have you,” she said with a smile. Was it manipulative? Not really. Even if her mother drove her round and round from time to time, she loved her dearly. “And there’s still my old things. The statues. The security from home.”
The first statement got a smile out of Olesya, and she gave Tatiana a near-kiss on the cheek. It wouldn't do to smear either of their make up jobs, so it didn't connect, but it was a familiar gesture. "There now. That's a few things. Don't worry, Tatiana. Soon, this place will have it's doors open, and it'll be more glamorous than you think. It’ll be a selling point for you, that you live in the penthouse of the premiere casino in Eidolon City."
Her mother had a point. For now it was just empty space. Sure it was cleaned up and gleaming in a kind of rustic new-ness, but it wasn’t the same as it would be once the place was running. “You’ve done a wonderful with it all, mama. It’ll be amazing.”
Smiling, Olesya stepped back. "Thank you. And you'll do well in anything you set out to do as well. Like this gala tonight. I'm certain you'll be the belle of the ball." she said, perfectly confident in her daughter's ability to garner attention.
Tatiana gave her mother a little look, smirking lightly. “Of course I will. I always am.” She knew she’d of course look stunning in her rather conservative black dress but the whole backless thing was what she was going for. “And I have a lovely dress picked out for the opening as well. I won’t let you down mother.”
"You never do." Olesya told her warmly. "Now, let's finish up, and get going. It'll do us both good to be out and about." They had both spent a lot of time isolated after the death of Yuri. So to have a ready, socially acceptable reason for going out was a positive thing. She was looking forward to it.