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Fixing her purple floral-pattered skirt, Eloise decided to wander around the extremely large library whilst she waited for Ben's appearance. Her eyes scanned the bookcases that were filled to the roof, her eyes brightened as she imagined the possibilities of reading every single one of them. "Wow. . ." She couldn't keep the word in when walking around.
Books were her way of escaping. Leaving the Isle and going to a place of magic — when she put her mind out of the bad things that were highlighted or destroyed in the books from the Isle. Biting her bottom lip, Eloise reached up to grab a book 'Beauty and the Beast.' She smiled at the cover on it, admiring the large roses before scrolling through it slightly and placing it on the desk she was sitting at before.
"Beauty and the Beast, huh? You know, that's my parents' book," Ben announced, Eloise jumped slightly before sighing once realising who it was that sparked her fear. "I know," Eloise smiled at him before placing the book into her bag. "Woah, hey, you know you're supposed to log them out. . . Otherwise, they'd be classed as stolen," Ben told her before Eloise furrowed her brows.
Log them out? She had never done such a thing. "No, it's okay, I'll come and do it after the art thing, it's okay," He told her once realising the confused look across her structure. Eloise finally put the book in her bag and walked toward Ben.
"New skirt?" Ben asked.
Eloise looked down at the skirt, running her fingers across the edge of it before nodding her head. "Um, yeah, E made it for me," Eloise replied, remembering how Evie was excited to give her the skirt she had made from the fabric that was given to her — whom from? Evie wouldn't tell.
"You ready to go?" Ben asked, holding his hand out to her. Eloise looked down at it before taking his, feeling the softness of his fingers clamp around her hand. She cleared her throat, looking down at their conjoined hands before nodding her head in response. "I'm a little nervous," Eloise spoke into the silence as they walked along the hallways.
"You don't need to be, trust me. Also, you didn't tell me Carlos was absolutely terrified of dogs. . ." Ben said before Eloise chuckled slightly. The son of the Cruella de Vill was scared of dogs. "He doesn't really like to talk about it much, guess I just forgot," She hadn't forgotten. But her mind told her weaknesses in the Villains were a spot for strength for the preppy princess and princes.
When they entered the room, Rapunzel turned around quickly at the sound of the door opening. Her hand was holding a paintbrush and her apron was covered in all varieties of paint colours. "Ben, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Rapunzel asked, bringing two seats before petting the reptilian on her shoulder.
"My f—friend here as an eye for painting, and I had offered to take her to one of your classes," Ben smiled at Rapunzel, watching with admiration as she stroked the chameleon resting on her shoulder and turning the exact shade of purple that was on her dress, and weirdly the same shade as Eloise's skirt.
"Great! I love newcomers. They learn so much, and I love teaching them," Rapunzel announced as she placed Ben and Eloise in more of a private spot — and by that, outside in the warm wind and gentle breeze over the views of Auradon. "Wow. . ." Eloise breathed out as she looked over at the atmosphere surrounding them.
Ben watched from beside her, closely adoring how she admired the view. He didn't want to look away, not even to look at the Kingdom himself, because she was more of beauty to him than the Kingdom. "I know that look, Ben, the look of true—" Ben laughed to cut off Rapunzel's words, she only chuckled in response as she settled down paint and brushes onto the bench in front of them.
"Thank you so much," Eloise thanked, her eyes meeting Rapunzel's before she heard the gasp escape her throat. Eloise furrowed her brows, Ben also dazing his face with a confused expression to the sudden exposure of breath from Rapunzel. "What is it? Is there something on my face?" Eloise asked — running her hands across her skin to wipe anything that could be contaminating it.
"No—no. It wasn't that, it was your eyes. They're very familiar, extremely familiar," Rapunzel announced.
"They're brown. A common colour, correct? The most common colour," Eloise smiled as she used her facts against Rapunzel.
"Yes. I suppose," Rapunzel replied before breaking eye contact with Eloise, quickly exiting the balcony and back into the room full of other students ready to learn. "That was. . . strange," Eloise muttered as she sat down on the little stool in front of the easel. Ben sat on the one next to her, shaking his head at the whole conversation from before, it was something he couldn't wrap around his head.
A few minutes of silence was enough for Ben to break it, "Do you know who you remind me of?" He asked into the silence.
"Uh, my mother, I guess. . ." Eloise responded. She didn't quite understand where she was getting at, but the only person that could be associated with her was her Mother. She couldn't be compared to someone as sweet as Rapunzel — she was from the Isle.
"No, Rapunzel! I think it's the blonde hair, and the freckles, also the dimples and the way you smile, also Rapunzel had quite the attitude when she met Eugene — her husband — I don't know, I guess you also have that 'attitude'," Ben explained, Eloise smiled slightly at the structure of his sentence — it was as if he was trying to remember how she acted from the books he had read within the library. Though the sentence did make her chuckle, it didn't make much sense.
"So, are you saying you have a crush on me or a Rapunzel?" Joked Eloise. She didn't want to say the situation made her uncomfortable, because it wasn't that far into the conversation, but being compared to a perfect queen when you are the exact opposite was. . . unflattering.
"N—no! God, I'm just saying. . . Hey, have you noticed you have Eugene's exact eye colour?" Ben told her. Now, this all made sense.
"Are you only saying that because of Rapunzel's reaction to my eyes? They're brown, E's eyes are brown, your eyes are brown! Well, more hazel, but besides the point, brown is a common shade," Eloise tried to explain, but she wasn't getting at what Ben was hinting at.
"No, El, your eyes are the exact same as King Eugene's," Ben told her.
