Professor Nix isn’t universally liked, but she quickly became Eloise’s favorite teacher; Eloise has a habit of running head first into people who are most likely to hate her, kill them with kindness and hope she gets her way, but Aurorette eventually came to represent something much more to her than another personal validation. Eloise has never had much of a parental figure–at least not one who didn’t wish her dead or wish to weaponize her–and while Professor Nix does not scream warm and loving, her special brand of tough love gives Eloise just enough. Of all of Polaris, Professor Nix is her safe space, whether she likes it or not.
But tonight, Eloise knows she can’t handle any kind of tough it up truth. And, more than anything, she feels fragile and embarrassed, terrified that if the professor sees her–really sees her–then she’ll come to find that Eloise is no longer worth her time. Deserved, but a painful thought nevertheless.
Quickly, she swipes a thumb across both cheek bones as the light gives her no place to hide. Eloise stands, hands wringing anxiously in front of her uncharacteristically, betraying. “It’s harder to see the stars with the lights on,” she shrugs, avoiding the root of the question.
She’s fighting her natural inclination to spill (too much, she’s too much)–and instead turns to lean back against a wall, pinning her hands behind her, as though that would help her keep her mouth shut. Eloise wets her lips and resolutely does not look at Professor Nix, which continues to not help her case.
“Who were you hoping to find?” It occurs to her that Professor Nix might be up here for a similar reason, but Eloise knows better than to assume. Wary, she adds: “Do I need to leave?”
It’s harder to see the stars with the lights on.
Aura looks straight at Eloise, even as the young woman does her best not to look at her. They exist boldly on two sides of the same spectrum: fire and darkness; the overabundance of light and the horrifying absence thereof. Aura has lived her entire life in this unforgiving darkness, because there is something easy about it. Easy to let the shadows swallow her whole and let the world pass by in its exhausting happiness.
Eloise has always been one of those people: the exhaustingly happy. If not happy, then bright. She’s always been the antithesis of what Aura is. Accidentally destructive, eager to please, incredibly friendly, and so damn transparent. She’s never been like this. Clouded and quiet, nervous but contained. She lurks in the same darkness that Aura personifies. Aura would worry, she would, except—-
It’s harder to see the stars with the lights on.
She knows that better than anyone.
“So it is.” With a quiet hum, her minions turn the lights back out. “I was searching for you.” She may not be the best at socialization — though that is no mistake — but she knows well enough when comfort is needed more than brutality. ( Some might argue that comfort is always preferred over brutality. ) She walks past Eloise to find a seat, lowering herself into a chair and relaxing into it. She turns her eyes up to the ceiling, gaze latching onto the countless stars littering the sky above her. It feels so far away, as if she’s staring at the night sky and not a flimsy imitation. If she were more sentimental, she’d say that she feels close to the stars.
But she’s never been the sentimental type. Stars may be powerful, but what lies above her is nothing more than an empty stand-in.
Cynicism burning away any trace of magic and wonder, she turns her gaze back to Eloise. “You are free to sit back down. If you felt comfortable going anywhere else, I don’t imagine you would be here.”
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