Who: Olenna Tyrell and Cersei Lannister What: Meeting and Lunch When: Backdated: Friday, June 21st. Afternoon Where: An restaurant. Rating: Family Friendly Status: Complete
Cersei adjusted her dress as she walked into the cafe. It was good optics to meet family friends for lunch, as tenuous as any friendship might be. She would generally rather be anywhere else, but she could pretend.
Olenna had never met Tywin’s children, only having met his wife once, the only time they had seen one another after they’d both gotten married, years ago. Having dated Tywin in her late teens and seeing him now and seeing that he hadn’t changed all that much, Olenna was rather curious now as to whether or not his children were anything like him. It was this reason that she’d reached out to Cersei Baratheon as well as the fact that she was apparently the sister-in-law of Loras’ boyfriend. What a small world this was.
Olenna had arrived at the decided upon resturant just before Cersei and spotted the woman as she walked in; after all, she resembled both of her parents quite a bit.
The younger woman looked around, spotted Olenna, and then walked towards her. Her smile was easy, and just relaxed enough to not quite appear to be faked. She held out her hands in greeting. “A pleasure to finally meet you.”
"It's a pleasure to meet you as well," Or was it? Olenna hadn't decided yet. "I knew your father a long time ago." She doubted that Tywin had ever mentioned her; after all, not many men talked about ex girlfriends from their teenage years with their children, "I'll admit, he hasn't changed much." He was older, that was for sure, but he was still just as serious. Olenna couldn't help but wonder when the last time Tywin had genuinely smiled was.
“A lot of people have known my father,” Cersei replied, smiling politely. There was an unsaid ‘and sometimes I pity them for it’ that was on the tip of her tongue.
Olenna nodded, “Yes, I suppose he has known quite a number of people over the years.” She was watching Cersei closely when a waitress came over to take their drink order, “Would you like wine?” Something told her that Cersei was a wine drinker.
“Mm, just a little,” Cersei replied thoughtfully. She didn’t want to drink too much, not in such company, but it was impossible to resist the allure of some wine. It was an addiction, even if she’d never admit it.
Olenna didn’t drink often, but she made an exception in certain situations and this was one of them. She ordered the wine and waited until the waitress before speaking again, “Tywin tells me you’re married to one of the Baratheons.” Olenna had never actually met the Baratheons, other than Renly who Loras had only just introduced her to, but seeing as how their family business was a rather well known one in England, she’d heard the name often.
“Robert,” Cersei said, and to her credit she kept most of the disdain out of her voice. “Things are, shall we say, a little rocky at the moment, but we will certainly try to work through it.”
She eagerly picked up her wine glass when it was filled and sniffed it. “This is good.” She tasted it and nodded in approval. “Very good.”
“As you should. Especially if there are children involved. Lord knows, my Luthor and I had our fair share of disagreements over the years, but we always made it work. Not only for the children, but for each other.” It hadn’t been easy at first, considering Olenna had met Luthor not too long after the breakup with Tywin and her relationship with her late husband, after they’d met had been a whirlwind romance, which had lasted for only a month before they were engaged and they had been married not too long after, culminating with her move from England to Sweden. Things had been difficult at times, but they had always made it work.
She nodded in response to Cersei’s praise of the wine and took a sip of her own, “If there is one thing California lives up to, it’s the nickname, Wine Country.”
"Yes, everything I do, I do for my children," Cersei assured her. And there was little she wouldn't do for them. Even tolerate Robert. What little fondness there'd been between each other had soured in those first few years.
“That’s good to hear.” Despite the fact that Mace drove her mad sometimes, if it came to it, she would do whatever she could for her son and her daughters, still and always had, “Your father tells me that they’re still quite young. The move out here must be quite the culture shock for them.”
“Incredibly so, but they’re adapting well, especially Myrcella.” Tommen was always her little baby no matter how old he was, or so she thought, and Joffrey was...Joffrey.
“Girls do tend to adjust better to change than boys, or at least that has been my own experience with my daughters and granddaughters. My son opposes change as often as he can.” Mace had opposed Olenna’s decision to move to America, but in the end, he’d had no say in the matter, “How old are your children?” She assumed they were all somewhere in their mid teens.
"Nineteen, sixteen and fourteen," Cersei replied, taking a long sip of her wine. She'd been so young when she'd had Joffrey, but she'd felt like it had been expected of her. "I think it might have been easiest on Joffrey, since he cn just start University here."
Olenna nodded, “My grandson, Loras is also nineteen.” She took another sip of his wine, “Has he chosen a University yet?” She was always interested in seeing what other people’s children or grandchildren were interested, compared to her own. It wasn’t that she wanted to be able to think that her grandchildren were better off, but she wouldn’t deny that she got a bit of a thrill when it was confirmed that they were further along than others their age.
Cersei nodded her head. “He has, though he hasn’t chosen a major yet. His father wants him to go into business studies, so I helped him select courses that will assist with that when I choose he chooses a major.”
“And does his father want him to work with him?” Olenna had never believed it trying to force her children or grandchildren into a specific career path and was quite proud of all of them for the path they had chosen for themselves, especially Loras and Margaery. She was especially proud of Loras who, at such a young age, had been the first to move all the way to America all on his own.
“Of course he does,” Cersei replied, sipping her wine casually and not seeming to feel like it mattered all that much. Of course to her ‘father’ could also mean Jaime, but she still had to call Robert his father in public.
“I’m sure that will be good for them both.” Olenna said as the waitress brought out their food. Olenna had heard how the Baratheon’s business was doing and from the sounds of it, it wasn’t doing too well, “What are your other two children interested in?”
Cersei smiled, and answered appropriately. Myrcella’s interests generally extended to books, and some other things that happened to coincide with Cersei’s interests, which had been a relief, and Tommen was a very active boy with a lot of energy.
“It sounds like you’re in just the right place as far as your daughter goes.” After all, wasn’t California the perfect place when it came to fashion and beauty? “It sounds like your children was quite well adjusted. Not everyone gets quite so lucky.” While Mace might have been a pain in her neck quite often now, he and her daughters as well as her grandchildren had always been well adjusted and well behaved as children and teenagers. Her and Luthor had been quite lucky.
While she wouldn’t have traded her life with Luthor for anything in the world, sitting across from Cersei now, she couldn’t help but wonder just how different things would have been had her and Tywin gotten married instead of breaking up when they had.
“She’s adjusted quickly. It’s pleasing.” She didn’t approve of her friendship with her uncle, but she generally hated the whole Baratheon family, so it didn’t help.
Olenna nodded, “I remember my own move from England to Sweden after I got married. It wasn’t easy, but I had my husband’s help when it came to adjusting and it sounds like your children have your help with adjusting to this move.”
“I’d do anything for them,” she promised. Even keep them away from their oaf of a father. For their own good.
Really, the relationship between her and her husband only existed as well as it did because there was no other choice on either of their parts. She knew he slept around like a sailor, and he knew she wasn’t exactly faithful either. Just not how badly.
Honestly, Olenna didn’t know what to make of Cersei. She obviously lived for her children, but Olenna could always tell when there was more to someone than there appeared to be and Cersei Baratheon definitely fell within that category. Olenna simply couldn’t figure out what it was at that moment. “That’s something they will always remember.”
"And something they'd take advantage of every chance they get," Cersei replied, her tone light and joking. As always, there was more in her eyes and in her smile than was said in just words.
“Yes, I suppose there is that possibility,” Her daughters had never really tried to take advantage of the fact that Olenna would do practically anything for them, but every now and then Mace had tried to. “I always found that while we were close, I always made sure they knew I was, first and foremost, their mother and not their friend.” It was different with her grandchildren of course.
“A very wise thing to do,” Cersei agreed, nodding her head. It was wise to never be friends with anyone.