(OOC For the love of god I hope I am doing this correctly. Anyway. Here's a little character exploration. I will not lie, the way it shaped up really surprised me in a few ways.)

Aerin sat in her car after work, leaned her head against the steering wheel, and tried to remember why she’s done this- why she’d set up her life like this. It was- awful. She didn't get enough sleep- she knew that, she'd read enough scientific papers to be sure of that, and she knew she was on the edge of what she could handle.

Her parents didn't approve either. Certainly, they meant well and just wanted her to have a good life and not struggle for money, but. It wasn't what she wanted to do.

The plan: Work, school. Take your classes, get good at science- learn to connect with people. That’s how you make a difference. You have to do this. You want to do this. It’s worth it.

And it was worth it. To go into science communication, sharing important, needed knowledge with people- It was the right thing to do, and that was always worth doing. And it was beautiful, too. There was nothing in the world like the opportunity to learn something new.

The soft wonder of staring through the fancy telescope at her school on one of the Astronomy Club's star parties and getting to see the cloud layers on Jupiter, the wild varied nature of all the things that have walked the earth, the history of how humans evolved and the kindness they'd always shown each other, down to the very beginning.

To have learned about these things, and to be able to share them- what a gift. What an opportunity. Who was she to refuse?

In her own way, Aerin had always dreamt of simple, uncomplicated heroism. Myths and monsters and magic might not have been real, but- a person could still help people, if they wanted. It wasn't fancy, and it's not simple, either- Aerin wasn't special, wasn't unique- what she was going into was something anybody else could do, but it was a calling nonetheless.

That was it. That was why she was doing this. That was why this was all worth it. Piranha solution and aerogel and ancient ruins and the beauty of all of it.

Ah. There was that bright, kindling light of determination in her chest; It was warm, soft, but- it refused to go out. She would not let it.

It would just be one more year. One more year, and then she could graduate and move away, transfer her credits and go to a college in another city. That would be- hard, but at least then all her classes will be in the same place, and she'll be away from her parents.

They were… nice, and they cared. But every day she got home late from work and school and felt their burning stares and backhanded inquires that said do something, anything else, and we're just worried about you, kiddo, and it would be incredible to get away from that and walk away her workload at the museum.

Sometimes, Aerin sat there and daydreamed that she could just get away, do something, anything else. But she knew if it was offered, she wouldn't actually want it, even if everything was so hard she felt like she could buckle at any time.

Anyway- the museum. The museum. It was nice there, and Aerin didn't regret signing up to volunteer- they needed to help, and it was both fun and good practice, but it was a lot. Overworked and underpaid staff, not enough funding- typical problems for a museum to have.

She took a deep breath.

Right. One more year. You can do this, Aerin. You've made it this far.

She just had to hold out a little longer. The human spirit and determination could do anything, right?

Aerin took a deep breath, started the car, and flipped on NPR for some easy listening- She had to get home and help her parents with, after all. It was taco night. No more time for existential soul-searching in a museum parking lot.