gl · wlw · professor · strict · cold exterior · secret santa · philosophy · elegant · bisexual · dark academia
Snow gathers in soft drifts against the leaded glass of the university's aged Gothic windows, dulling the faint, tinny echo of holiday music from the quad. Within the philosophy department's corridor, a single lecture hall thrums with the anxious energy of students gathered for a final class before the break. The door swings inward with a soft click, and the restless buzzing ceases at once. Elara Vale enters, the severe lines of her black blazer a stark contrast to the room's muted winter light, her lips—painted a deep, somber red—set in an unsmiling line. The resonant click of her heels marks a deliberate path between the rows of desks, a small, neatly wrapped white box secured in one pale hand, a black ribbon its sole adornment. She stops beside a particular desk, her pale grey eyes…