#para 01

Kat was grateful to have the support of every member of her House. They may not all be blood related but were all family. “Everyone, thank you for coming to the Chateau this evening. It has been a bit delayed but here we are. You all know the arbiter has put forth a challenge. This is something I cannot do on my own. Though I do have an idea of what our House can do. As champions of knowledge, I propose we look towards the youth of Breton, specifically in the area of STEM education. Your thoughts?”

“A bit dull don’t you think?” Camille sighed.  “Are we planning to raise money so they can build bridges?  Surely there is something more exciting.  At least teach them the value of money and make my job easier in years to come.”

Juno pushed a hand through her hair before pushing up her black framed glasses to rest on her forehead, ones that she always wore to meetings. She knew she had a mountain of work waiting for her, but she was loyal enough to her house to help and attend the dinner. “Youth are the best bet of course” she mused “But maybe raising money for something that others won’t see coming from us, something to make us stand out a little more. I have always loved something with a more practical approach, perhaps skill sets for the real world of work experience. It could bring in the idea of teaching the value of money, as put by Camille” she said with a small gesture to the other. 

"'Practical' is so relative.  Our House is literally focused on technology; it would seem weird if our charity focus was outside of that."  Ami furrowed their brow, not quite sure what the goal was.  "But if we wanted something creative or out of the box, maybe we can look into tinkering with VR and creating a system that can help patients with therapy, physical and mental."  Running a hand through their hair, they also offered, "And of course if we need to raise funds or any sort of promotion, I'm happy to do a charity stream on my channel to boost the cause."

Morgan raised her hand, interjecting briefly.  “I work with a lot of youth and I think a STEM education program would be fantastic.  Inner cities lack a lot of funds and so a lot of children who wish to learn these things are unable to because of a severe lack of opportunity.  Perhaps it’s not a creative approach, but I do believe it would be a very meaningful and impactful one.”

“Practical can come with technology, they can be paired?” Juno offered “Perhaps skills and experience with technology, there could be something there.” she then gave a purse of her lips, she was no tech wizard herself, but there was an ever growing use for it and it was true that Nantes was indeed focused on it. “But I do enjoy the idea of the VR, if it’s workable” she added, taking a sip of her drink and looking away thoughtfully, her gaze only coming back when Morgan spoke up. 

“I think we need to narrow our focus a bit. There are many good ideas, the VR being one. That is something that we can do outside of this challenge. We have the resources for it.” Kat surveyed the room. “Let me be a bit clearer. We are going to focus on the youth of Breton for this challenge and I want it focused on STEM education. Now, what form that takes is what we are discussing. Though, Morgan, I do agree that we work with disadvantaged children. Providing opportunities is something that the entire family can do.”

Camille could see how this was going and it was clear most of it was going to be out with her skill set.  Managing the money was where she would shine but that didn’t stop her voicing her opinions.  “Giving disadvantaged children and their families an exciting opportunity is all well and good but it has to be something that actually achieves something.  No point letting them build a roller coaster and ride it then sending them home with nothing but memories.  At least building bridges would stop them getting their feet wet and teach them some life skills.”

Cristian jotted down each of the comments into the meeting's notes for the evening, knowing Her Grace would want to review everything after no doubt. He couldn't help his irritation though, even not as a blood member of the house. 'All of these ideas regarding youth are excellent, but Camille I think it goes without further stating if you're only going to bring negativity to the table, you're more than welcome to leave. Nobody is forcing you to be here and we need to be working together positively contributing ideas in order to further Her Grace’s as well as the house’s positive image in the community."

Sarai cleared her throat; she agreed with Cristian’s comment, but preferred discussions that were a little calmer. Or not to be involved in the discussion; she’d have been just as happy at home, but the support was necessary. “I believe the experience of a STEM project is, in itself, a valuable one for the children. Particularly those from a disadvantaged background. We want to see more young people involved in those areas, and they’ll need a place to get started. Perhaps the library could be utilised in the research aspect?”

Micaiai was considering all of the options, his brow pulling together, “We could always bring some resources from the family together and start something that would be reoccuring rather than a one off. Take it beyond the challenge and make it something of our own. That way it is not only an important task for the children but also something that could eventually help us train future workforces. That is vitally important.”

Armel had been quiet for most of the dinner; he wasn’t much for making plans and preferred to just open up his checkbook and make things happen. But after rolling his eyes for the hundredth time, he felt he couldn’t be silent any longer. “Must everything be all about the children?” he asked, surveying the room. “You,” he began, lazily gesturing to Sarai. “You’ve got a good point about the library - I feel like we should look into extending a wing or opening one of our own for the public, with resources for all ages. Perhaps we could offer certification courses for adults. We could make it a non-profit institution and even petition the other families to make donations in the future. When Katarin is elected Queen, they’ll be clamoring for her support anyway.”

Emery sat quietly, listening to everyone discuss their various opinions. Unable to voice anything solid as this seemed to be outside of her expertise. Working with children, that was something that she could support. She had dedicated her life to helping children, but she could only sit patiently and see if something would inevitably come up in which she could actually assist. It was difficult to voice an opinion surrounded by people she hardly knew, or didn’t really know at all, and wanted to make sure that when she gave her input, it was something of value.

"I'm worried that if we open an extended wing or something in a building and we plaster our name on it, it might gives us a bad look; it might come across as us trying to do good by simply throwing money around."  Morgan grew a little frustrated with the discussion and wanted to focus the conversation back into helping those at a disadvantage.  As someone who grew up with next to nothing, it was important to her to give back and help as much as she could.  "I do like the idea of possibly offering certification courses, but I'm more in line with supporting an outreach program that gives children a chance to gain a STEM education."

Until now Chloe had watched everything silently. She wasn’t the type to interject often, but for the sake of Kat she would speak up at least once or twice during the meeting. “I have to say, a STEM program in school would have meant the world to me when I was younger. I needed that place to express myself and didn’t really have it. I can’t even count the amount of times I shoved into lockers because I would rather be reading a book or working on my laptop. Shedding a positive light on that could really help teens and younger kids.”

Adelaide finally spoke up. All of the opinions had been moving so quickly before, but if she didn’t speak up at all, she knew she would regret it. “Would it be impossible to combine them? There are several branches to the Public Library throughout the city, including in the more disadvantaged areas. If we provide the funds for them to expand, we could include as a condition that one area of that expansion in each is a place for students to run STEM experiments and a staff member to provide support and education. That way we don’t have to start the outreach from scratch and it would have more longevity than a standalone program.”

Camille folded her arms at Cristian’s comments and muttered to herself under her breath.  Glaring at the man for a moment she turned her attention back to the discussion, cheering up considerably as others were going along the same line of thought.  “Exactly,” she said to Adelaide, shooting a smug expression across to Cristian.  “It needs to have a clear purpose and last, not just an overnight one off event.”

Ivy raised her hand timidly, rather overwhelmed at even being at such a big house event.  “If we can target young teens, say from around eleven to fourteen then that’s the point people are beginning to make their first decisions.  Show them the benefits of STEM education and as Chloe has already said, let them know that there are all these paths out there.  If they don’t get the chance to experience and find out about things when they are young they might miss out on the chances when they get older.”

“Sounds like putting these ideas together might be the best approach.  It lets us focus on the strengths of the ideas we want,” Ami commented as they ripped off a sheet of paper from a notepad.  “But seriously, if video games are involved, count me in.  Kids love video games and video games can totally be educational.”  They let someone else take over the conversation while they crumpled up the paper from earlier, and when the Duchess wasn’t looking, threw it at Camille.  Stifling a small chuckle, they mouthed, “Stop pouting,” before paying attention to whoever was speaking next.

Madeline had been slightly late to the dinner due to an emergency, but by listening to the others, she had a decent idea as to what was going on. She always could get behind an idea that focused on the children, but the bickering over how exactly to implement it was bothering her. “If I may, why are we the ones deciding what is best for the children? This is our event, but it is clear that we all wish for them to be the ones to benefit as well as the community at large. I think that we should allow them to tell us what they want within reason. Perhaps involve the librarians, teachers, and members of the community. We might be surprised as to what they come up with. Besides if we hold a symposium of sorts for the community that we wish to help, it will foster a sense of comradery and excitement about the prospects.” She cleared her throat, looking around at the others. “Or not. It’s just an idea.” 

Juno had taken to simply allowing the others to speak. The blonde was distracted and it was likely obvious she knew she'd likely be questioned on it at a later date, her gaze scanned the room as others began to speak "I'm always willing to go with a majority in regards to the STEM, I believe this whole task is to show our House's problem solving above everything. So we may have to agree to disagree in many respects. I'm just happy to help in whatever way I can really" She murmured, perking when she heard an idea. "An open forum" she nodded as Madeline spoke, agreeing with the idea, her finger drawing around the rim of her glass as she thought. 

Olivia didn’t usually feel comfortable speaking up at things like this since she didn’t grow up in Breton, but since children were involved, she felt rather inclined, “As someone who does have a child...I actually do agree with Madeline as well. I think it could be a good idea to involve the ones we’re aiming to help. Children like being involved, and in turn the parents of those children do want what’s best for them. Maybe we can narrow it down to a few final choices that we can all agree on and then let the community decide on the final decision. I think they would like that we took their opinions into consideration since, like Madeline said, just because we might think something is useful, doesn’t necessarily make it true.”

Kat listened to the back and forth calmly, pleased with the ideas but not entirely pleased with the behavior. They were supposed to be working together.  She cleared her throat and spoke again. “First, cousin,” she said, directing her gaze to Armel. “In this case, yes, this is all about the children. It may be cliche but they are the future of Breton and Nantes can make its greatest impact through them.” She paused, tapping her nails on the wooden table. “This is what I am hearing. There is a concern that this will be a one off event. This was never my intention. I want something lasting and sustainable. I agree with Morgan that we must consider those children that are at risk or at a disadvantage due to their station. As far as having community input, I agree. Though I would propose we start with the schools before going right to the population at large. They are the most informed on what our children need. So, how can we best support making sure STEM education is accessible to every child in Breton. I propose starting with the schools in Vannes. We ask our educators what they need. At the elementary level, maybe we start a mentorship/sponsorship program providing schools what they need. For older students, a scholarship program...as for the libraries, certainly they have the capability to be utilized in some form.  Beyond what program we establish, we need to also plan an event to kick it off. Something that will raise funds and get our community involved.  Ideas for that? And please remember we are working together, not against each other.”

Ami straightened up, having heard the tone carried out by the Duchess.  Clearly they needed to take this more seriously, and they did really want to help out.  "Again, not to be a broken record, but I really am happy to host a charity stream if we want to raise some funds.  A lot of people will do 24-hour streams and I can ask some of my friends to help out and any of you all are also welcome to hop on," they explained.  "I'm not too familiar with the school program here but I think a mentorship program is a super dope idea."

“One possibility for an event would be a charity auction? And the items could be lesson plans or supplies for different aspects of the STEM program. That way it would raise money, and it would be another way for the community to be involved in voting on what material they most want covered for the future of Vannes.” Adelaide proposed quietly. “But we can design the different items based on the feedback we get from schools, teachers, and parents so it would still put their voices first.” She had a few other ideas, but she rarely thought in terms of single events and it sounded like that was the option that needed to be nailed down first for the good of the family. 

Juno couldn’t help but feel slightly satisfied at the point Kat made, about everyone needing to work together. She felt it had added onto her point about how the task had clearly been to test their ability on working together as a house. The Lawyer couldn’t help but sit a little smugly until she cleared her throat and took a drink of her water. The lawyer looked back to Kat, silent as she allowed others to speak, but more concerned for what she imagined was a fraying string of patience in the others mind from the bickering around them. The blonde nodded slowly as Adelaide spoke, at least making it look like she was taking in the point- a good one at that. 

Simeon hadn’t meant to be late. He had gotten held up at work and then from there it had been awful getting there. Traffic and just general unluckiness. As he crept into the room, he gave an apologetic look to the blonde at the head of the table. “I’m sorry for being late, Kat--Uh… Katarin. Duchess.” Calling her anything but Kat was always weird to Simeon, but he didn’t want to disrespect her in front of the rest of the family. Moving to sit down beside Chloe, he swallowed hard before glancing at the younger woman. “Can you fill me in?” he asked quietly.

Armel rolled his eyes at the latecomer. “We’re doing a STEM program for the children.” He tried his best not to sound quite so dismissive of the idea, but well - he was skeptical. “It seems you all have this figured out without any additional input from me. Why don’t I leave everyone to it and Camille can inform me how many zeroes to put on the check. I’ve got a business to look after.”

Up until that point, Alexei had remained utterly quiet, sitting in the back corner and not sure that his input would have mattered all that much anyway. But when Armel spoke with such disinterest, he found himself letting out a sound of displeasure. “Sure, Armel-- Run off when it actually matters.” He found himself saying, though it was said lowly and could be easily missed.

Armel turned toward the direction of the voice, his brow raised. It was hard to hear what was said, but something said so soft could never be good. “Did you have something you care to say to me?” he asked the submissive, calmly folding his hands across his lap. “Please, do go on.”

Simeon swallowed hard, looking between Alexei and Armel. He didn’t… want people to fight. Not just because he didn’t do well in tense situations but also because they were literally supposed to be family. Maybe not by blood, but all united under one house. “Is there something wrong with helping children?” He piped up, feeling his heart thump a little like it did whenever he spoke in large groups. But he was hoping that Armel would just answer him and maybe not fight with Alexei.

Cristian gestured for Simeon to relax, turning to face Armel as he calmly spoke up. "The same offer goes for you, Sir. Everyone's contributing ideas right now and working together. If you insist on making everyone uncomfortable and not being willing to be an adult about this, you're welcome to see yourself out instead of wasting Her Grace's time.”

Alexei did his best to not make a scene, knowing full well the last thing he needed to happen was for a fight to break out. He was good at that-- but he was genuinely trying. He looked to Simeon and then to Cristian, glad that they seemed to be putting what he had been feeling in much more eloquent terms than he ever could. “I’m sure he’s got better things to do than be here.” Alexei said, knowing full well the dominant had heard what he’d said before. “We don’t want to bore the poor man with productive ideas.”

Cristian raised an eyebrow, turning to face Alexei, calmly adding, "I think enough has been said on this-- can we please refocus? Everyone?"

Kat, having watched the display, was far more angry than before. Standing, she looked towards the lot of them. “That is enough,” she declared, glaring at the room with an icy gaze. “This is meant to bring our house and Breton together. And while I am most appreciative of any support that gets me to the throne, I’m beyond disgusted that there seems to be no ability in this room to pull together.” Her gaze traveled over the assorted members of her family until it landed on her cousin. “Armel, if you do not wish to be here, leave. Your negativity regarding the direction I have determined that we will go is not appreciated nor needed. While your support is and will always be appreciated, it is clear you are far more interested in your business.” Having made that point, she looked around to the others. “If anyone else wishes to leave now, I suggest you do so before my patience wears thinner.”

The sudden voice of Kat ringing through the air had Alexei freezing slightly. He had planned to fall silent after what Cristian had said, but couldn’t help the glare he found himself shooting Armel. Alexei didn’t exactly have the patience for dominants like him, no matter how much he tried to hold his tongue. He looked to the duchess before his arms were crossing over his chest and he fell back into the silence he had been in. Back to the patient observer only.

Armel stood up from his chair, happy to be excused despite how furious his cousin was. She could be dealt with later - for now, he wanted out of this charade. “I’ll speak with you soon, cousin,” he said curtly. His eyes traveled across to Alexei and narrowed a bit; the submissive was on his radar now. He’d handle the disrespect later. “Do let me know how much will be  needed.” With a final glower across the room, the dominant exited, glad to be on his way to the real business.

Simeon did not like hearing Kat get angry. He winced a little before his eyes dropped to the floor and he reached idly for the fork on the table just for something to fidget with. He sorely wished that he could speak up again, not that she needed him to come to her defense or to run her meeting--and he wouldn’t be able to anyway. Instead, he just went quiet and did his best not to call attention to himself. Tension was, in a word, the worst. And tension in Kat was something Simeon didn’t want to see at all. A frown settled on his face and he just shook his head to himself.

As Armel stormed off, leaving the meeting, Morgan was pretty glad to see him leave.  While she didn't agree with everyone butting heads, especially when it resulted in the Duchess scolding everyone, it'll probably be easier to be productive now.  "Okay, so regrouping.  Our focus will be some sort of STEM-related educational outreach?  And we also need a way to raise some money, right?" she asked, trying to break the momentary tension and to bring everyone back on track.

Micaiai trusted his sister to take care of the situation and instead remained as quiet support for her as she put the rest of the family in their place. He placed a hand on his sister’s arm after a moment, and gave her a small smile of support. “We will need to raise some money. I’m sure we can come up with a great campaign.” Straight back to business. 

After filling Simeon in on what had happened thus far in the meeting, Chloe decided to sit back and simply observe. For a house that was supposed to be working together to get Kat chosen as queen, they were definitely struggling. “Armel could have been on to something. If we can get this program for the kids up and running, what do you think about having an offshoot in the future of teaching adults that have been disadvantaged skills like making a resume and working on a computer? That would be a good long term goal, and could go along with what he said about helping other ages too. Obviously it wouldn’t be a focus right now, but it would be something we can work towards.”

Camille was still annoyed after the way Cristian spoke to her and then, as far as she was concerned he was still trying to call the shots despite what the duchess had said to everyone.  Watching Armel leave she barely heard what was heard next, her annoyance reaching boiling point.  Pushing back her chair she stood up suddenly. Looking at Katarin Camille’s anger was evident in her voice,“This was supposed to be a meeting for Nantes to share ideas but since your new assistant seems to think he is the only voice that matters I will go and get on with far better things.  It is clear he thinks he has all the answers anyway.”  Looking right at the man she smirked, “Since my views and expertise are irrelevant in your eyes good luck with getting the charity status sorted on the accounts and the tax relief, I’m sure it will be easy peasy for someone of your calibre.”  With that she stormed out, slamming the door behind her.

Adelaide was shocked at all of the behavior she was seeing, although she couldn’t help being a little awed by Kat. The Romanos never would have allowed such disrespect or lack of cohesion towards their Head of Houses at any time, let alone when something was so important. But she gathered her courage again, trying to help refocus the discussion back to the point so she wouldn’t have to sit through too many of these contentious gatherings. “If the charity auction idea doesn’t work, perhaps we could do something like a fair? Bring in different professionals in the STEM field to give lectures and demonstrations over the course of a day or a weekend, and people could buy tickets for individual speakers or the whole event. In between we could also have a lot of fun hands on activities for kids to get them excited about the possibility of more classes like this. That way we can keep the event tied to the charity itself.”

Micaiai stepped in then, his eyes looking far more angry than he usually looked. He eyed down the rest of his family, “If anyone else has an issue I would politely ask that they leave now and discuss it privately and respectfully with your Duchess.” He swallowed, fingers tapping down on the table. “Is that clear?”

Cristian bit his tongue, both embarrassed and appalled by Camille's response and childish exit, not understanding how in the world his request for peace and cooperation somehow came off as his voice being the only one that mattered or that he even had all the answers. He'd made a point to not make any suggestions, despite several coming to mind, since it wasn't his family and felt out of line. He merely had wanted everyone to feel encouraged to contribute and to keep a positive atmosphere, but apparently even that had backfired. He made a note to apologize to the Duchess after, once the family had dispersed. Versus chiming in at all, he kept his mouth shut and eyes on his computer the remainder of the meeting, lips curled into an embarrassed frown as he waited for the meeting to conclude. 

Madeline rubbed the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache coming on. She was in awe of the Duchess for remaining so poised in the situation. She’d be having words with Alexei about what happened later, but that was hardly the issue at hand. “Just to clarify seeing as things got a bit… off topic. We are going to invest in an on-going STEM education project for the youth. It will start in Vannes and then move to the rest of Breton as a whole. In order to do this, we are going to enlist the help of the educators to find out what they need. The funds are going to be raised from an auction that Ami will stream in order to get to a wider audience.” She hoped that there would be peace for the rest of the meeting. “Does that sound about right to everyone?”