Private The Precipice of Change

[Octavia Bardot]

TAG: Othello Bardot
Wearing: [xXx]

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So many things had changed in so little time. In the blink of an eye, Octavia Bardot had gone from well to do, easy going, tender friend to many, to a mere shell of that person. The entirety of her world had been turned upside down, stability had been ripped right out from beneath her feet, and she was left facing an unknown factor in her future. A future that she had not by any means ever considered. Tavi was part of a well known enough circle that she had, had plenty of eyes on her. Flirtationship in one certain case, though nothing serious had ever come from it. But that too was stripped from her, all due to two very simple, but harshly impacting words: Arranged Marriage.

And yet even that had been nothing in comparison to what she had come face to face with when it was time to meet her betrothed. Now, by no means was Daeryn Neoma unattractive, in fact he was quite the opposite with his rock star, bad boy vibe. Not the sort Tavi had ever really found herself drawn to until she had laid eyes upon Daeryn. Unfortunately, his looks were where it ended. Neither of them had desired this arrangement, and from what the young Bardot woman could surmise they had both had the news sprung onto them out of nowhere. So at first it Daer's resistance was understandable. Octavia had her reservations as well after all, she did not know him, and they had both just had their whole worlds changed forever due to the other. The difference between them? Tavi was not cold about it.

Even now, with time for the news to settle between them, there was still a coldness between Octavia and her husband-to-be. Add that to the not-so-random appearances of one Rowena Seoras, and it was just a brewing pot waiting to boil over. Daeryn had yet to express the desire to spend any time with Tavi of his own free will, and Tavi herself refused to force him to do so - or try to force him, as it were. There would be enough issues with that once the pair of them were drug to the alter.

So for now, all Tavi could do was keep herself available. Thankfully, the gardens of the Bardot home were in full bloom, and it was most certainly one of Octavia's favorite places of all time to be. She could come here, think, or read, or even take the time to sit and draw - which she was doing now. It wasn't the most common of activities, but she rather liked the lack of technology required to draw or paint. Right now she was off one of the deeper garden paths, easel upright with a large drawing pad on it. There was no spectacular master piece being drawn by the young woman, but dark charcoal marks were finely filled in to depict the flower scape around her.

And for the moment, she wore a smile, though that wasn't exactly due to the drawing she was working on. "How long are you going to stand there in silence, Othello?" she finally spoke out to her brother without looking at him. Twin-tuition always let her know when he was near. "It has to be killing you to have kept quiet this long..."

 

[Othello Bardot]

O T H E L L O​

TAG: Octavia Bardot



If home was where the heart is, then Othello might very well be homeless.



The Bardot Estate. To date the nicest lodgings Othello had ever lived in, ye nice was in appearances only. The Bardot birthed children to mold them into whatever was required. They weren’t parents. They were creators, and nothing else.



Which made it even funnier to Othello that it would seem they had failed almost universally in creating the perfect Bardot child. The closest they seem to have gotten was Octavia, Othello’s sister. She at least was subjected to this arranged marriage. Othello was written off as a lost cause.



Still, being unwelcome at the Estate never stopped Othello from coming back. His room was still the same as he left it. His clothes were still there, his belongings, even his stashes remained expertly hidden. Good thing, too. He had no more money to acquire new product and now was tapping in to his ‘rainy day fund’ of narcotics.



Even though the path to his room didn’t require going through the garden, in fact going through the garden was completely out of the way, Othello made it a point to travel through every time he came back home. If there was a bright spot in this house, it was here.



And as he entered the immaculate garden there she was. His sister. Octavia Bardot. Working on a drawing absently as she pondered no doubt. He stood there, silently, watching her draw for a few seconds. No matter how soon it had been since last they spoke, it was like it had been years every time they reunited. The person he was closest with, his confidant, best friend, and closest supporter.



He smiled as she called out to him. And just like that, he slipped back into that care free personality that had come to define him.



“Whoa lookie you. My sister. Better keep that sense of precognition under wraps or father might send you to the Knights for some training.” He walked over to her and sat down on the bench next to his sister.



“Sometimes I find it best to be quiet in this house.” He dropped his voice to a whisper for dramatic effect,



“Lest almighty pa-pa be summoned down upon me.” He smiled. “Not while I’m sober, anyway. Whatcha workin’ on?” He perked over nosily, “Why are you here instead of elsewhere?” He asked, gesturing to the house of Bardot.



​

 

[Octavia Bardot]

TAG: Othello Bardot

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There was a soft smile from Octavia, and she finally glanced away from her working piece so that she could look at her brother fully. "Not the only one who feels it necessary to be quiet around here." she informed her twin, glancing towards the main house before her gaze went back to the drawing. "I don't think it would be such a terrible event for our parents to find you here, however." she went on with a sigh. "After all, they're still very pleased with themselves about this arrangement with the Neomas..."

And why wouldn't they be? They had more or less sold one of their two daughters to the now royal family. Who in their right mind wouldn't be pleased about that?

Aside from the betrothed pair, of course.

The topic of what she was working on earned a shake of the head from Tavi, and then her head tipped to the side. "Just something simple, landscape of the garden. The lines come easy with familiarity and it makes it so I don't have to think." Which was exactly what she needed, really. Time and space where she just didn't have to think about anything that was pressing down on her, that was lurking in her future.

Quiet took hold of the sister twin for a moment however, and she sat this way for a prolonged time before her gaze turned to her brother once more. "Theo, what's wrong with me?" she asked him, brow creased and clearly very much so upset about this. "I naturally and obviously understand everything distasteful that an arranged marriage brings, but am I really that repulsive?"

 

[Othello Bardot]

O T H E L L O​

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TAG: Octavia Bardot​

Othello grimaced at the implications of his sister’s statement about their parents' delight in finding him there. A marriage to Othello was a hell no one should ever have to endure, and a marriage to anyone was something Othello would never subject himself to, he thought.​

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“Oh. None for me, thanks.” he held his hands up and made a face, as if repulsed by the idea, then smiled at his sister. “If only this was a good old fashioned monarchy where the ruling family was always the ruling family forever, instead of having an election every few years or so. Then, as horrible as it sounds, at least the idea of arranged marriages makes sense. Now? It just seems like mother and father are trying to be the cool kids at school, and are willing to sacrifice their children to do it. Which doesn’t surprise me in the slightest.” he raised his eyebrows and blew raspberries before leaning over and observing his sister's work.​

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“Happy places make for happy memories make for happy painting I suppose. It's coming along nicely.” he said, looking at the progress and comparing it to the garden around them. He was taken kind of aback and looked at his sister with concern. He reached a hand out and touched her shoulder, giving it a slight squeeze.​

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“Nothing could ever be wrong with you Octavia. Ever. Mother and Father are… Well, evil. The Neomas… well if they’re okay with this as well they aren’t much better. High society… blech. You’re not repulsive. Not even close. I… I wish I knew what to say to make it better. I wish I could make the hurt go away. But I can’t.”​

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He stepped closer and wrapped an arm around his beloved sister and held her. “But I can be here. And I can try to help however I can.”​

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[/div]

 

[Octavia Bardot]

TAG: Othello Bardot

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There was a slow, but long sigh from Octavia, and once again she sat quiet as she pondered over what had just been said to her. And then her eyes rolled closed and she huffed out another, sharper breath. "This is ridiculous," she let out, and she set her pencils down. "Look at what this arrangement has done to me, Theo." she stood and gestured to herself. "I am not this girl."

Yes, she was the complacent, docile child of the Bardot line - because someone had to be. But fact of the matter was? Tavi was a Bardot. She had fire in her belly, but had the grace and poise not to flaunt such things the way her troublemaking siblings did. Caius had seemed to mature in his time away, but he was no less trouble on legs than Othello or Rosalind were.

"So, he does not like me," she commented, frowning at the thought but it was true none the less. "Well, I don't like him very much either, even if he is attractive. But this is a marriage based on business, right? Connections and nothing more." she was not marrying Daeryn out of pleasure, after all. Yes, they had, had a couple of good moments between the two of them. But he was clearly in pursuit of someone else, and Octavia was damaging whatever sort of relationship that was for him. "Then that's what it will be; business."

If that meant she had to find someone to enjoy for herself as well? Then so be it. Where she would start with that, she of course had no idea. But it was the thought that counted.

"I refuse to be this Debbie Downer for the rest of my life," she told her brother, and then set about picking up and putting her supplies back into their case.

 

[Othello Bardot]

Tag: Octavia Bardot

“You could always just….burn it all down.” He shrugged and put his hands in his jacket pockets, “No one can tell you who you are, not even mommy and daddy.”

Each Bardot had their particular problem, he was hardly special in his dysfunction. But Tavi had learned to subdue hers, become some ‘ideal’ version of herself in their parents eyes. Othello had always hated that, always felt like she was forced to fit into a role that wasn’t natural. As if she were simply metal, able to be heated up, melted and poured into a mold. They were never ‘children’ to their parents. They were weapons, not of war but politics.

That’s why he rebelled as hard as he did, why Caius and Rosalind did too. They were people with their own hopes and dreams. And Othello would rather ruin his life himself then let his parents control it, and force him to be something he wasn’t. Even if that would help him.

He approached his sister and squeezed her arm gently, then started helping her pick up her belongings.

“I wish I knew what to say to make it better. Shy of telling you to dye your hair black, cover yourself in metal piercings and run off to be free.” He giggled. “Nothing says you can’t have fun on the side, though. If you were determined to stay in this marriage. As if he would remain faithful.”

 

[Octavia Bardot]

TAG: Othello Bardot

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There was at least the small inkling of a smile from the sister twin at those suggestion. "I would be a very unattractive ravenette." she pointed out to her brother with a shake of her head. She reached a hand up to touch her red locks and she sighed softly. "Besides, if there is anything to be prideful about in terms of being a female of the Bardot line? Its these red locks."

Granted, Octavia's red trusses were less fire in color, more red on the auburn scale. Where little sister Rosalind had a mane of hair that was kissed by fire. It was suiting, considering it matched her personality. Rosie was a whole brand of her own trouble, hell the all were. All of them but Tavi, and that was only because one of them needed to be responsible.

But she sighed when her things were all picked up and stored away and she gave her brother a very long long. She studied him, and then reached a hand out to touch his face with sisterly affection for just a moment before she let it fall away. "Something must give, right?" she questioned him. "This cannot be the only path for me. There has to be something more than this that I'm meant to find."

Tavi didn't even know what was going to happen with Daeryn now. They had, had so very little interaction up to this point, and the idea of putting her whole life on pause for this man who did not do the same no longer sat well with her. Not that it had in the first place. Octavia had given up a lot for this arrangement - and she was aware Daeryn had as well on his end - including a previously budding relationship for herself that was ruined now. And those were the thoughts that made her narrow her eyes just a bit and set her chin.

"We should find something we're meant to do, Theo." she told her brother. "The pair of us, that has nothing to do with this obnoxious path I've been set on. Surely there is something you and I would be unstoppable at."