Tses tried hard to keep the chuckle from slipping free of her mouth, but the small rumble of laughter drifted past her lips before she could properly contain it. With a light smirk she cut of the tail end of the sound, then tried to keep her face blank.

She found it silly for people to get so bent out of shape at the drop of a hat, which was ironic, because she tended to be guilty of doing that rather often. If was that age old catch 22 where you tended to see the flaws in others you yourself had. She disliked people being judgmental, quick tempered and rude, but these were some of the bullet points on her own resume. Smart ass young adult with the attitude of a teenager; lack of respect for authority, rebellious nature, adrenaline junkie and completely lack of responsibility. That about defined her, as far as she could see. Tses didn't paint herself in a glamorous nature, which was a very different viewpoint from Sophia. While the other woman carried a sense of confidence and seemed absorbed in her self, Tses lacked that. Her self-confidence as far as her appearance and personality went was minimal at best, and the only thing she was brave about was her powers and her fighting abilities. Those were what mattered to her. Her social skills, so what if they suffered? She saw no benefit to them in the end.

But there was still a small little twinge in her mind as she followed the woman. She wondered what she would have been like had she been raised differently. If she had been in a classier society, and gifted with schooling and education, would she have turned out more like this 'professor', or would she still be the snotty brat she was? It was a curious thing to ponder, and she let her thoughts linger on it as they finally reached the entrance.

The professor was....lost again. Tses crossed her arms behind her back and waited for a moment as she muttered to herself and tried to figure out where they were going, but after a moment, she whistled and started wandering, looking down some of the hallways a short while away hoping to see something that would point them in the fight direction. She also was testing how far she could get away from her chaperone, and waited for some warning not to go any further.

Was it up or down, maybe left or right, or maybe she had to just turn around and the correct way was directly behind her. Though Sophia prided herself on wealth of scientific knowledge and her extraordinary beauty, but her sense of direction was horrible without a map. Sophia could recall the time she lost herself in a museum before, probably the most fun she had was getting lost and seeing the different exhibits, but the teacher she was with thought different and was frantically upset with her. Granted now Sophia was an adult, but her sense of direction was still just as bad.

And if loosing herself wasn't bad enough, it seemed Tses was trying to find the right way herself. The mansion had long halls, but one turn here or there meant getting lost and when you got lost, then it wasn't necessarily a great deal. Sophia wasn't interested in letting someone have full reign to peek around on their own, she was careful to keep an eye on Tses, but as she started peering around a corner, Sophia focused her attention a glass picture frame on the wall, cracking it ever sharply that anyone hearing it would have noticed it right away. Though Sophia was cheeky about it as well, making the cracks form a sort of arrow pointing back toward her which was very easy to notice, “I wouldn't be going too far if I were you. ”

“We're going this way, ” pointing in the clearly opposite direction. If Tses wanted to go that way, Sophia was resigned to traveling her way instead, ensuring that Tses didn't get them further lost. It was obvious which way to go for Sophia, leaving the hallway that had a similar corner around it and clearly seemed like the proper way to go. Only to go around the corner and get to a hallway that seemed blocked by rather grand doorways. Sophia hadn't recalled going through any doors before now, but that didn't mean that this wasn't the way back to the front. And anything this big meant that it had to lead somewhere important. And ofcourse it did, to a rather large ball room that was fairly bare except for some furniture along the walls covered in white sheets. Obviously this was the right way for Sophia, since they had walked in to something magnificent, it only meant she was on the right track, “Well isn't this magnificent!"

Tses felt her mouth twitch slightly with annoyance, the corner of her lip curling downward and her teeth catching the edge of her lip and nipping at it to keep from snapping at the woman behind her. The cracking glass combined with the slightly childish little arrow was enough to put her into a bad mood, and she frantically counted in her head, shoulders tensed for a few moments. Letting her face calm, she turned and---grumbling ever so slightly under her breathe---followed Sophia in her oh so certain navigation. By this point, she was half expecting them to get even more lost, and she made a promise to herself that one more wrong turn and she would march back towards the entrance and seek out a new tour guide. But then they seemed to come to a room with what only could be described as rather impressive doors.

Somehow, Tses doubted they would lead to an office, but who was she to argue?

Inside the doors, the ballroom was a surprise, especially for someone like Tses. She wandered in behind Sophia, slowly turning in place and looking up at the rather high ceiling. It was one of the largest rooms she'd ever been in, and a slow whistle escaped her mouth. "What is this room? It's huge." She murmured. For someone who lived in a small New York apartment, the ballroom seemed like it could engulf her entire floor. She wandered over to one of the sheets and lifted the edge, peaking under it curiously at the furniture.

“By the size of the room, I would wager this was the banquet hall, or a ball room in laymen's terms," figuring this girl probably never even walked in to before, but to Sophia, while huge, it was smaller than some she'd been in before. But much like those ball rooms, she was hardly the center of attention, even now, being one of the few people in there, the attention was hardly upon herself. Instead, it was pair of ladies focus, looking at the walls and various cloth covered furniture, as though highly impressed.

“I imagine this is room isn't used very often, only during certain events or ceremonies. Probably fit about two hundred people in here fairly easily, including tables. They might hold a birthday party or even a formal dance here perhaps, judging from the large paintings, this must have been the house's original owners," considering they all looked rather old, tall painting depicting some of the mansion more notable owners and inhabitants over the years. They were well done, for someone like Sophia who wasn't a art buff, this was all very impressive and in very good taste. Sophia couldn't help but look out across the room, it was very nice: marble floor, well done wood archways and velvet red walls gave this room quite the class and charm that you might have found in an older estate like this. But there were obvious elements of modernization, including the apparent notice of the disco ball hanging from the middle of the ceiling.

“Hmm… they even have a piano…" noticing in the far corner, the grand piano seemed like it was a relic of the room, relegated to the few bands that might have played in this room, or complements of a ready-made table for resting drinks upon. Still in any case, the black beauty sat in the corner and did nothing but attract Sophia's attention.

Tses blinked a couple times, rather slowly, and her mouth tightened into a frowning line. She wasn't sure what Sophia was saying, but she was pretty sure it meant that this place was used for fancy gatherings, and balls. What type of balls, she wasn't sure. Certainly not soccer balls, or baseballs, or tennis balls; that didn't seem to be the right type of ball. Ball must refer to something much grander and less athletic, because the tables and paintings didn't seem to match the sports she had in mind. Mentally, her brain brought up the image of the formal gown Chrys had bought her, and she wondered if such a dress would fit in here in a room like this. It seemed likely, so she figured maybe people could wear fancy outfits and someone 'ball'.

As Sophia continued speaking, she shaped the ideas she had with the conversation. She saw streamers and balloons that she knew they had at children's parties, but that, again, didn't fit the decor. Two hundred people seemed like a giant gathering to her, but a formal dance... she wasn't sure what that would look like. The only dancing she saw people do was hip hop, jazz and some other rhythmic party movement. There was no way she could dance that way in a formal dress, and she slowly felt herself sinking into confusion.

"That... doesn't look like the piano's I'm familiar with." Tses felt herself slowly saying, and she moved towards the object, frowning slightly. "The piano's I've seen in stores are way flat, and the keys are plastic... those don't look plastic, not really." Tses said, wandering closer. Without waiting for Sophia to comment, she wandered over to it and poked a key with her finger. It felt cold and different from the other piano keys she'd felt, and the sound it made rumbled through the machine, causing her to jump back slightly in surprise. It almost felt like a cat's purr, the vibrations somewhere deep in the object. "Yeahhhh that is different." She was opening the door for all kinds of snide remarks from the classy woman with her, but Tses was too curious to contain herself.

Turning suddenly, she pushed her hair out of her face, and pointed towards it. "Hey, do you know how to play this thing?" She asked suddenly. Her face showed an almost childlike interest in it, a fascinated glitter in her eyes.

If it wasn't self evident already that this girl wasn't cultured in the slightest, unable to even decipher a standard piano from a keyboard piano was horrible enough, but her child like nativity only hurt her further in Sophia's eyes. How had she not seen one before, these were rather common in restaurants, various homes, and parlors even. Hell, her elementary school had dozens of them, didn't Tses's? But it wouldn't have been a surprise to Sophia if she hadn't gone to school before, maybe Sophia to have tested her by reading something, only to watch her stumble hard and fast to the ground.

“Those would be keyboards…"a bit of 'DUH' mixed in with her reply, those weren't pianos, they were imitations produced for the common man. But this was basic for Sophia, “Back in the days before modern electronics, if you had a piano, you had something like this, and they were expensive to own and keep. They cost a couple thousand dollars today brand new, but the older ones are even more expensive, just because of the craftsmanship and materials. Keyboards are more modern Pianos that don't take up a great deal of space and just about anyone can own one."

“But nothing beats playing an actual piano, keyboards don't have quite the same sound or resonance that pianos like this do," leaning in closer toward the piano, granted Tses had taken to trying to touch it and attempting to hit the keys, much like an idle cat might walk across them to get from one place to another. Looking more at the piano, it was instantly her favorite part of the mansion now. This piano was a classic, old, and if it was properly tuned, it was a new place to relax and think, "Ohhh… A Steinway and Sons, very nice brand… ivory keys, you don't see that very often… the mansion clearly love to take care of their piano, I bet it's even tuned properly."

And it was, as Sophia's finger hit a few different keys, she was almost instantly transported back to her youth, remembering that she was once forced to labor on these infernal machines as a child, instead of getting to play dress up or play with her toys. When her mother and her moved out of the mansion, the lack of a piano was different, and without it, it felt quieter and her idle finger needed something else to do. Granted someone filled that void with the piano, but Sophia figured she might still have something inside her, “Yeah, move over a bit."

Pulling the piano bench out from under this grand piano, Sophia scooped her palms under her skirt as she rested on the rock hard piano bench and set about preparing to press the keys. While Sophia hadn't played in a while, much like anything, it usually came back to you right away once you tried it again. But rather than start on something face paced that would have shown Sophia's rustiness, she opted instead for something a bit slower and more methodical, something that showed a great deal of skill, but patience as well. Sophia grasped the keys and decided Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata would work well. And surely Tses would be impressed with that, as she began playing the slow and methodical piece that was usually a quiet and soft piece. Sophia's big concern was that she just remembered all the notes and hoped her fingers would naturally remember all the proper movement and placements for her to play the entire song correctly.

Tses would have been insulted by Sophia's initial remark, if she hadn't been so fascinated by the musical instrument. That kept her entertained through Sophia's history lesson, and kept her silent. While most of the history parts bored her, she enjoyed hearing about the craftsmanship and the cost. Tses enjoyed seeing how things worked. All she could do was destroy stuff, but to see something that was created. It was intriguing to her. If her powers could create, she would be more useful to society. Creation always seemed to be looked upon with more fondness than destruction.

As Sophia examined the instrument, then asked her to move, Tses didn't object this time. She watched from behind Sophia curiously, and watched as she settled in front of the piano. The woman's hand's moves across the keys, and each strike of finger to key gave a melodic ring. It was beautiful. Tses may not be culture to dance, or even the mechanics of instruments, but she could recognize beauty in music. Music was one of the few things she really enjoyed, and she listened, face falling into an enchanted expression. She had a child-like curiosity as she listened and watched, much like Guglin had when she showed him her powers. Suddenly, she knew what it had felt like for him back then. This feeling of... wonder. It was something she rarely experienced.

"The sound... it's so much richer in person. You don't just hear it, you feel it..." She whispered slightly. She closed her eyes, and smiled as she listened to the melody. Then she opened them again, and put her hands in her pockets. "How long have you know how to play?" She asked after a short while of listening.

It was nice to suddenly feel appreciated instead of being annoyed by a person she'd been chaperoning. Granted, this was a slower song, but the finger work was delicate and complex, and for a person who hadn't played in probably a year or two, it was tricky just to remember the right keys, muchless press them in the right fashion that produced the sweet melodies and chimes from the piano. So tricky that even as Sophia could clearly hear Tses talking and impressed by her skills, it wasn't like she could reply. This wasn't easy, it was still hard, despite Sophia making it look easy, and Sophia wasn't so skilled that she could have easily replied to it while in the middle of the song, without messing it up. It would have to wait until she was finished, and once she finished her song, her foot lifting off the pedals as the song's final notes faded away and her fingers gentle pulling back some, did she turn to address Tses.

“It's never a good idea to talk to someone when they're playing music. Depending on the song, it's a lot of work just to remember what to press and when to press it. But I'm glad you enjoyed it," trying to teach Tses once again, it seemed necessary to do so constantly, which was unfortunate, but happening with frequent continuation that Sophia just gave up worrying about it. Still, she was happy to see her enjoying something that Sophia was doing, “I learned to play when I was four. I was attached to a piano probably four or five times a week for an hour, learning how to play, I only quit when I was in a teenage because I had to move out of the mansion I lived in before. After that, I played occasionally, but I didn't practice regularly or put a great deal of effort in to it."

“But pianos like this have rich sound because they were built to carry over rooms this large with hundreds of people talking over it. If you want to reach people, you better make it loud enough so that even the person in the back can hear it just as well as the people in front. People back in the days used to build stuff to last, you'd probably spend a lot of money and pass it down through the generation. I imagine this piano is no different, probably half a dozen different owner over the last few centuries. Still, it's in amazing condition," considering she was a not a musician, she knew how to play. But what she more concerned with was the quality of the instrument. Such quality was hard to mimic, and even harder to recreate. So the fact that Sophia understood this and respected it only leant more credence to her refinement and considerable heritage. It wasn't like Tses would know or understand, frankly, Sophia didn't expect much from a girl who though rules were not meant to be followed or were non-existent.

As the last notes of the music faded, Tses felt her enchantment slipping away. Her mind stopped drifting along the melody, her senses reawakened and she was back at the mansion, standing and watching Sophia move away from the instrument. It was sad for her, in a way. She had enjoyed just sitting and letting the melody sink into her. When she listened to music it was like finding a little place inside herself where reality stopped screaming so loudly while the tranquility melted her worries. Once the music faded, her emotions returned to the surface, and she realized how alone she still felt. Her face stayed mostly composed, but inwardly, it felt like everything was coming apart again. She frowned deeply at Sophia's sharp comment.

"It's never a good idea to talk to someone when they're playing music."

Well, that was a quick way to put her back in a bad mood. She started to feel irritated, but then Sophia didn't seem to mean anything bad by it. She just seemed to naturally hold a instructive personality. Perhaps she was a teacher after all. It was hard for Tses to tolerate it though. She listened as Sophia continued to speak, and she felt more and more like a pauper in this far too fancy establishment. There was no way she'd ever be refined enough to have a piano like this, or even know how to play it. It was beautiful, but like many things, far beyond her lifestyle. "Would have been nice to learn to play, but I definitely didn't come from the type of society that would have something this fancy." She was downplaying her lifestyle. She didn't have anything she didn't steal, and you didn't just pick up a musical instrument in your grocery store. Inwardly, she sighed. She rarely felt bitter about her upbringing, but right now she couldn't help but be a bit envious. Turning from Sophia, she moved back towards the middle of the room, crossing her arms and gazing around the room. She felt small and insignificant here, and she didn't like it. She wanted to find Serena now and just get out of this awful place.

"Well that awfully short sighted of you," not necessarily a surprise, but Sophia had hoped she had been paying attention earlier. It wasn't as though Sophia spoke just because she needed to, granted she loved the sound of her voice and could talk endlessly if given the chance, but Sophia rarely spoke without purpose or meaning, and unusually choose her words properly when speaking to someone. Even someone she was not to fond of had purpose in her eyes and eventuality in their desires, and if you thought yourself poor, you were destined to be such for all your life.

"Weren't you paying attention earlier? Those things you saw in the store were piano keyboards, they fairly inexpensive compared to something like this. It's technology catching up with society, you can get what was once bulky and expensive for relatively pennies on the dollar. And frankly, people buy and sell them all the time, you can probably find one fairly easily in a garage sale or maybe online for cheap. Probably get one for under a hundred dollars," with distinction and conviction in her voice, as though telling Tses it was certainly possible. Parents bought musical instruments all the time for children that only dismissed the skill and instrument a few months or years later. What's one day musician is next month's tennis star, so they were always getting sold to just recover some of the cost. Granted it wasn't like you could go anywhere to get one, you wanted a decent one, even used it was a hundred dollars, but it was reasonably possible.

"And if you want to learn, there no shortage of piano books out there to teach you. Hell, you probably just spend some time in a music store and get to play with a keyboard all you'd like, since they're usually selling about a dozen of them at a time," though informative, it was Sophia attempt to give Tses a quick kick to the rear for even considering that something was impossible. For someone that didn't believe in rules, then it should have been easy get what she wanted. A carefree attitude which believed she had a magnificent view of the world was maybe understanding that her view was only that of a spec, she was finally getting that she wasn't as worldly as she thought she might be. Bit Sophia was, and a little culture rubbing off on her might do her some good.

Fascination was gone. Irritation had returned.

This woman was so high and mighty, it was like the thought of someone being so uncultured was the greatest crime to humanity. So what if Tses had never played a piano. Why was that so appalling? Short sighted? She acted like the lack of musical inclination and talent was her own personal fault. "I'm sorry, but I wasn't exactly going to buy a piano when I didn't even have a house to put it in. You know, not everyone can just swing by a 'garage sale' and pick one up." Whatever the heck a garage sale was. Tses irritation drifted into her words, and it let her snarky comment give away a bit more about herself than she would have liked.

She rarely talked about her past on the streets, at least in detail, and admitting she hadn't had a place to live was like admitting she couldn't read. She kept it to herself, because even though she acted tough, she was a little embarrassed by it. Most people thought being homeless made her a nasty varmint they didn't want around. Maybe she was a little uncultured, but she had enough class to be hygienic and all that stuff people assumed didn't happen when people lacked a house.

"Piano stores and books haven't been a priority to me. Food, shelter; there are things more important in life than classy music and formal dress. I know, it's probably hard to believe when you live in a mansion. Some people don't have everything on a silver platter." Her voice was snippy now, and her tone defensive. She had lost all the magical wonder for the instrument she'd had moments before. Now it was just a dumb piece of keys that represented this 'higher than thou' society. Her tainted her perception of the room she was standing in.

"Just food and shelter? If that's all your life is made of then yeah, I pity you," always honest Sophia. Hell, how could you not want something more? A person who didn't believe in any rules sounded like the kind of person who believed they could do anything, someone who didn't believe the social rules applied to them, and they could do just about anything they wanted. No, this a person who believed rules didn't exist, but she still held back by them.

"There has to be more to life, it doesn't have to be the piano, it was an example. Hell, if you want one, I'll buy you one, I got dozen of silver platters," well could atleast afford the sterling silver platters, maybe not the very best ones that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, but she could afford them. But it also wasn't a swipe against Tses either. Tses knocked everything, she found the faults in things so easily, and even when entranced music for a little bit, she snapped back in to believing everything was so flawed that it couldn't be for her.

"I bet you clean up nicely in a pretty gown. But I'll never know, and you probably won't either. I think I get you now. You don't believe in rules because you never want to believe any of them can work for you. So you put all your hope in to one of them, and you hope and pray it goes horribly wrong, that way you can continue to believe that nothing will ever get better. Why believe in rules then if none of them have worked in your favor," Sophia bet she was right on the money. There was more to life, there had to be, even if just a thought, a belief, an idea, there was something that had to motivate people to be better. Believing in rules was just a cop out, a false belief to make it so that she could continue to live a life that never went anywhere, "So the question really becomes, you do you want to live a life, or just experience it?"

Pity. The word always left a bitter taste in Tses' mouth. She didn't want anyone's pity, she didn't want anyone's help. She felt like she was doing pretty well on her own, but maybe that was because she'd rarely encountered the 'other' side of life. Chrys had a fancy apartment, and she had felt a little 'poor' around the manipulative female. But Chrys didn't try to belittle her. For some reason, Tses took many of Sophia's actions as being belittling. She disliked rich people because they always seemed to have trouble understanding people of lesser means. Then again, Tses had trouble understanding them. Perhaps it was just a constant misunderstanding they faced, and only time would really create understanding.

"I got a dozen of silver platters."

Well now she was just bragging.

The angry color on her face didn't fade, although her frown appeared and then melted as Sophia talked. It was like her comments were backhanded in a way. She complimented Tses, then followed it up with this remarks about how Tses was someone who didn't believe in rules because she didn't think any of them could work for her. That wasn't true! Was it? She just hated rules because they always seemed destined to get her killed. Don't steal. Well, that's great, until you're starving. She wasn't going to starve, so she was going to steal. Don't cheat. Well, that was great until you were facing someone larger than you, getting your ass kicked. She wasn't afraid to cheat if it saved her life. Gradually, Tses stopped caring about rules altogether, and now she was being confronted about whys.

Did she put everything into one rule? It seemed like it could have happened that way... She tried not to steal, but when she couldn't handle the hunger anymore, she robbed and suddenly, things were better. Then all the rules she tried to keep seemed unnecessary. This philosophical woman was irritating, frustrating, but Tses couldn't argue away all her points. It was like trying to sneak through a room, but lights kept getting switched on around her. Eventually, she would just be standing in the illumination, and have to decide whether to accept she was caught, or run. Running always seemed like the best answer, but she had to wonder what would happen if she actually admitted to her faults.

"I don't see how there is a difference. I think I'm already experiencing it." Tses said. So she was still running. But that's what kept people from really getting to know Tses and kept her from growing as a person. She didn't admit her mistakes, and didn't learn from them. She just jammed her fingers in her ears and screamed at the top of her lungs, hoping none of the remarks actually hit her heart. But she was not as invincible as she'd love to believe. People, conversations, they all chipped away at her, planting seeds. Someday, they would take root.

But today was not that day.

"Very well," a look of disappointment in her eyes, and sounds of sighs from her lips, and even still, it was a moment Sophia didn't desire at all. She spun around and closed the piano's case, and got up from the piano stool. She didn't even look toward Tses, and started toward the room's opposite exit, "Alright, let's get you back to the front door."

Face with a simple question, if someone wanted to live or experience living it, it seemed like the poorest of choices to just experience it. There was an inherent difference between living and experiencing life, namely that experience it was not really living, it was just watching things pass you by and hoping it exists in such a way that it doesn't change. Face with the possibility of extending one's own arms and doing something different day in and day out, finding a new way to get through things, new ways of getting food or shelter, maybe learning to enjoy music, or just getting better clothes, this girl didn't want to. Sophia was a girl of science, but occasionally her otherwise brilliant, shopaholic mind could be insightful, Sophia had the feeling she read Tses like a book, and adding all the pieces together only made her more mournful. Deep down, Sophia had a feeling Tses wanted to live, wanted to hopefully achieve something greater than just surviving, but if she wouldn't admit it to herself, then Sophia felt it no need to do it for it. It was a shame, Sophia would have gotten back to her room, eventually, gotten in to her car and bought a keyboard piano for Tses, but now, the front door was all she was going to get.

Figuring that the entrance she came from a secondary access from the rooms, the opposite side had to be one of two things, either an exit to a kitchen area, or more likely, the entrance of the mansion. Thankfully the later was right, as she passed through the door, it was more or less the front foyer of the mansion, granted they were in the back of it, but still back at the beginning after a long journey to it. Considering the front door was in sight, Sophia smiled back at Tses, pointing back toward it, "There you go, feel free to wait outside."

Tses had done something wrong. Sadly, she was getting use to that though. She always messed things up, made people upset, insulted people. It was all she was gifted with really: getting in the way. Maybe someday she would get it together and other people's kindness would really mean something to her. She couldn't appreciate it yet though. She still felt she was better off looking out for herself.

As they started moving back towards the front door, she watched Sophia while walking behind her. She seemed sad, in a way, and Tses wasn't sure why. What had she done that upset Sophia? Surely her statement hadn't been that depressing, had it? Tses just wanted to do her own thing, find her own way in life. But when she did that, she seemed to mow down everyone around her. There little adventure hadn't taught her much. She'd wandered the mansion, argued a bit, had glass try to threaten her a little, and then listened to some piano music. She could have enjoyed it. She could have enjoyed the moment and maybe even made a friend. But... She didn't. Because she was stuck in a rut in life, and refusing to let anyone lift her free.

And that was it. She reached the door, and gave a little smile at Sophia, not mocking, mostly genuine this time. "I'm sure I'll find her soon. thanks for trying to help. You should go back and play the piano sometime. It sounds to nice to just be covered up by a cloth." She remarked, and then opened the door and walked out. Back to the lawn, she took a seat, and went back to waiting. But in a way, she could related to that piano. She had more potential than she accepted. It would just take more chipping for her to find that new side of herself hidden under the brittle surface.