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BOUQUET ESTATE - EARLY EVENING
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Rondelethia was in the drawing room, finishing up the last few details of the day, with a rosehip tea beside her. The stressful parts were finished, and all was left was organizing her agenda for the next day. Which was, thankfully, much less hectic than it had been. It was a lot of working getting all the contracts in place for supplies to the estate, but the nice thing was that was once they were in place, the work to maintain them was much less time consuming.
Teis has had her own stress over the last few days herself, what with the whole death of an elemental. It's only recently that she's truly cleaned herself up in the aftermath of it all, thanks to the revelation that the Elemental in question was in fact, not dead. Teis at this moment is returning from her lab, heading through the hallways with the intent of returning to her room, passing Rondelethia on the way. She decides to stop, peeking her head inside to peer over Rondelethia quietly, waiting for Rondelethia to somewhat acknowledge her before saying, "G'nite, Sis."
Rondelethia did nod to her as she stepped inside "Teis, there's actually something business we need to sort out before you go to sleep, about the water machine you were working with, with Jennica"
Teis tilts her head curiously. "Hm? What of it?" She questions. "I mean, I could always try to find an alternative... " Teis pre-empts.
Rondelethia: "I've already spoken with her" She shook her head "If we looked for an alternative...well, it would still be based on her idea. It wouldn't be Proper" She shuffles through a small stack of papers, and pulls out the contract she had prepared "Now, the final details have to be worked out, but basically, rather than buying the rights outright, she's agreed to enter a partnership, which would involved both of you working on the design, and agreeing on it, before it pushed forward. It's going to be significantly less profitable, but at least I don't have to write back and tell Father that it fell through entirely"
Teis: "I mean, that works for me. Means I don't have to reverse engineer her prototype... Not that I haven't been trying. It's just, ah. I only find the magical part of her design intuitive."
Rondelethia nods "Good. You'll need to dedicate a bit more time towards it now, since Jennica won't really get any money from this until its on the market. You'll need to go easy on her too. She's not ..very confident in her own abilities, and if you push this too far, it could easily fall through entirely. I've -already- had to write to Father explaining that our projected profits on this are likely to be well down. I didn't say why she's insisted on a partnership, but I need to have a success story, or he'll start asking" She looks over to Teis seriously "I know you've had your own personal stuff going on, but I need this to be your priority for the next few weeks. At the end of the day..the lab is meant to be for business only. Personal use is fine, but for this..I have to insist. We -need- to get this out, and making money. I don't bother you with how we pay for all this" she motions at everything "But, developing product is how we do it. Tarbin is a sweet guy, but he isn't making money for us" Exactly how much Rondelethia knows about what she's been doing, she won't say, because strictly, it isn't really her business "Also, I've not told Father about Enver. I suggest against letting him find out on his own."
Teis: "I've... This... It's... Been my priority ever since we last spoke about this stuff and you told me to just focus." Teis frowns, crossing her arms. "Almost every day, Wake up at 7, go to the lab, spend four or so hours just... Working on this for the business. It's only after I've had lunch now that I've been spending any time on any personal projects or studying... " Teis sighs, pausing for a moment. "Besides, all that... Personal stuff is investment in my future self, and thus future potential for you. As for Enver... I'm glad you haven't told Pa. Quite frankly, it's none of his business. Besides, I'm not even... Sure about it all myself. He's just nice?"
Rondelethia nods to the first part, as for the second "Nobility, and you -are- nobility, tend not to have much say in their own matchmaking. Father will let us pick who we want, and he'll support you, but just be aware of what trouble it will cause. Nobility is cutthroat, and ..well, he's already lost a lot of ground" Adopting a 'lowborn' while being 'born poor' himself, well...it's made it much harder to make connections, and connections are how business deals get done "It -is- his business. As icky as it might be, there's certainly a good few families who will have made overtures. Our family is wealthy, but it doesn't have the business connections other families do. Father will have left a lot of money on the table turning them away" She rubs her cheek "I know that he's floated it to me, but for now, he's decided to leave it be. I will be married eventually though, one way or another"
Teis skews her lip, the topic doing little to change Teis' frown. "Look, I'm grateful to Pa. Really, I am. And I'll do what I can to make him and you both proud. But that said... I just... I'm not going to let all these rules and such guilt me into ending up like my Mother. And I don't want you to end up like her either, Sis. Stuck with a man who just... Sucked the potential right out of her... " Teis sighs. "Enver and I may not even be right for one another. I'm not even sure if I'm right for anyone."
Rondelethia sighs "Look, I know, I'm not saying you let it happen, I'm just saying be aware of the cost. People are willing to pay it for you, but ..just be aware. If you decide to go with Enver..and from what I can gather, you like him, he likes you..just.." She goes a bit less emotional, clamming up and not thinking about that, just about the 'facts' "It puts more pressure on me to pick a suitor. I'll do it. It's my duty, but there's always a price to pay. You just won't be the one paying it" She was coming to the rather grim realisation that, most likely, that was her future "But..that's my decision in the end. I've always known that's probably how it would turn out" She shuffles the papers "I..don't know where I'm going with this honestly, but..um..please don't give Jennica another mental breakdown?"
Teis: "Della... " Teis softens up, uncrossing her arms and finally entering the room properly, approaching Della. "We're barely even adults... Such long-term decisions made now are just... " Teis sighs, hugging Della. "You think too much with your head, you'll forget to listen to your heart... " She quietly speaks into Della's ears, not quite addressing the issue of Jennica just yet, instead opting to simply hold the hug.
Rondelethia gives her a squeeze back "Maybe...but the heart doesn't know how to manage a business, and all this will be mine to run some day..so the head has to make the decisions" She boops Teis's nose with a sad smile "You're the one that gets to think with the heart"
Teis: "There's nothing that says you can't have room for both." Teis replies, nuzzling herself up against Della's finger in response to the boop for a few moments before pulling back. "As for Jennica... How was I supposed to know she'd react that way?"
Rondelethia: "Well, how would you feel if someone took apart one of your little toys?"
Teis: "Not you too." Teis pouts. "She sold it to me. Besides, I'd be honoured if someone learned something from anything of mine."
Rondelethia: "But, did you really make it feel like you were learning anything? After all, your first instinct was to suggest that you replace her part of the invention with something else. I think..she feels you didn't respect her invention"
Teis: "You're the one that asked me to make it a commercial product. I'd have never taken it apart if not for that." Teis points out. "And my first instinct was to replace it because I assumed it was bad news. Is it so wrong to have a backup plan?"
Rondelethia: "I know, I know. This isn't a blame thing. This is a 'how do we stop this happening again' thing. Jennica is protective of her inventions, so you have to make sure that her own feelings and fingerprint are on it the whole way through"
Teis: "But I already straight-up asked her for her help and she didn't want to be involved. How am I supposed to handle that differently?" Teis questions.
Rondelethia: "Well, I've sorted that part out, and she's on board. Think of it as not 'asking for her help', but as 'working with her'. It might be a small difference..but I suspect it matters, to her"
Teis sighs. "I really don't get it." Teis pauses, sighing a second time, thinking. "Just... Tell me exactly what it is you want me to do and I'll do it."
Rondelethia: "I can't really say. I can only tell you that Jennica is nervous about working with someone else. Try your best, and..I'll sort out any problems"
Teis: "She wasn't nervous when I was setting the lab up for her... " Teis grumbles to herself, frowning. "I'll... Try, I guess." Teis replies, though in a manner that indicates that she's not even sure what it is she's agreeing to.
Rondelethia gives her a squeeze on the shoulder "That's just what I need"
Teis places her paw atop Della's hand, rubbing it a bit. "Is that everything, then?"
Rondelethia: "You..doing okay? Just..in general"
Teis: "Well... Not really. Still... Recovering from the emotional whiplash from thinking I'd killed an elemental."
Rondelethia: "You need to talk about it?"
Teis: "Sort of? I don't know. I spoke to Elizabeth and Enver about it before I knew that the elemental was actually still alive. Why? What's got you... Curious?" Teis tilts her head.
Rondelethia: "You're upset, and I care. Do I need another reason?"
Teis: "I... No. I guess not." Teis replies. "But just... Yeah. I thought I'd killed someone. I'm relieved I haven't, but it... It cut pretty deep, and there's still work to do to make everything right again. But it's... Certainly been the most... Violent emotional experience I've been through."
Rondelethia gives her a gentle hug "Well, you were doing what you thought was right, and you're trying to fix it. That's all I can really ask for. If you're able to make it right..then there should be reason to be feeling guilty afterwards, right?"
Teis: "It really shouldn't of happened to begin with, though. When it comes to magical matters, I'm supposed to be the expert... And I just... Watched." Teis deeply sighs, hugging back.
Rondelethia: "Well, there lots, and lots of magic in the world. You don't know it all, and shouldn't expect yourself to. If you were to do it all again, how would you do it so it didn't happen that way next time?"
Teis: "Of course, but... It's a bit different when a life is lost because of it, you know? It wasn't like this was a minor accident or something." Teis briefly pauses, "I don't even know. That's... Sort of what I need to start looking into. The Elemental's currently in Tarbin, and we need to figure out a way to safely transfer her from Tarbin to something else that can anchor her sufficiently... "
Rondelethia: "Well, that a life is lost just makes it more important that you know how to stop it happening again. It's like..all the lab safety rules. What rule would you make to stop this happening?"
Teis: "More research is needed to even answer that adequately." Teis replies, pulling away from Della. "But... Yeah. That's for me to worry about. Thanks for um, checking in, though."
Rondelethia pauses, before nodding "Of course! Now..I hate to sound like Mother, buuut, if you insist on waking up early.."
Teis: "Actually, I'm way ahead of you on that one. I did originally come in to say good night, after all." Teis smugly smiles. "Love you, Sis."
Rondelethia: "Love you too"
Narrator: With a warm smile, Teis slinks from the room, headed off to her bed for the night.