Aislyn fought wars with herself, and Eleanor was there to witness them. Instead, she found herself lost in the stars falling like snow, and let the nervous answers and habits of the marked woman fall away too. Perhaps she noticed. Perhaps she even understood that the twitches hid so much of this woman's identity. But she kept her eyes trained away, unable to stop seeing what she had missed before, and knew it wasn't her place to ask.
Some people needed another to talk to. But Aislyn wasn't contemplating throwing herself of a balcony, was she?
Or at least, Eleanor had thought that. The next words caused a change of expression from the awe of seeing the illusions for the first time again. Her eyes, filled with exuberance, darkened, a look of worry shifting quickly over. At first, she wanted to refute the claims - Maya couldn't have seen herself, because in those moments, she had been the opposite. Marked by a god who loved her. Not hated by the one that controlled her life.
But even as she considered it, she knew those were the wrong words to say. Maya hadn't even known that, back then. She had just seen a woman who was going to make a big mistake.
Eleanor's mouth opened, before she pressed it shut again, dry lips smacking lightly against each other. She needed to say something, but not what she wanted to say.
"Ionu brought you to me," she finally spoke, slightly wistfully, as if she was considering the applications, "But..." Her voice grew lighter, soft as candyfloss, and she glanced around the half-balcony, as if searching for something. The majority of the plants had fallen too, their pots shattered, and for the final time, she was glad they were dead. There was still the bowl, thought, resting in its deep red against the drawing Aislyn had made.
Picking it out of the dust, she brushed it off again, before passing it back towards the artist, her sketchbook outstretched in the other hand towards her too. "It's still one of my favourites. I know the circumstances have changed. But I still think it's better off with you than with me. I'll just fill it with dead plants again." The woman smiled softly, waiting for Aislyn to take it before continuing.
"I need to show Ionu. That I can. Without ripping someone else off. Or maybe I just need to show myself that I can do it. Do you think there's a place for me? A fashion designer, once disgraced by the god. Do you think I can do it?" Her voice rose with determination, with a glint in her eyes that had been lost until this point. She almost rose up from where she sat, desperate to get something done, but a hand wrapped tightly against the shards of balcony that still remained kept her grounded.
The woman looked back at Aislyn, searching for answers, and realised she had never truly responded to her words before. That Maya had never truly answered Eleanor's question either. That thought remained lingering, of who Maya was and why she had acted. Her words, that had almost felt like a cry for help. Finally, she continued that thought. "Did Ionu bring you to me for my sake, or for yours?"
Pausing for a reaction, she reached out, trying to place her hand on the woman's shoulder. The movement was gentle, revealing a hand also torn at the fingernails and ripped at the skin around them. "I'm in no position to offer you anything. But I can try to." A small sweet smile followed. "If you need help with anything... I'm here."
creditThanks Kaleidoscope for letting me continue with this pretty boxcode!
