by Casey White
“Oh,” he said, coming to a stop as he looked up and found Owl and Olivia watching him. “Uh. Well. Good morning.” His eyes flicked to Olivia. “Hey. You mentioned it yesterday, but I was wondering if you could, uh. If you’d show me where you found the wing with all the-”
“The gallery?” Olivia said, perking up. “Oh, it’s crazy, Will. Come on. I’ll show you. It’s right-”
“Hold up,” Owl said, his hands folded demurely in his lap.
Olivia froze, one foot already raised. “Huh?”
“What?” Will said.
Owl waved towards the man, shaking his head. “Will, you’re good. Good luck with the day, and if you have any issues that Alexandria isn’t cooperating with you on, just come find me.” He chuckled. “She’ll show you that much, I’m pretty sure.”
“Oh,” Will said, and glanced to Olivia - then to the door leading deeper into the Library. “Uh...okay, I guess.”
“She’ll be along soon enough,” Owl said, and stood with a groan.
“Oh,” Olivia said, deflating.
“She’s got some chores to take of first,” Owl said, easing himself out of his chair at last. Damn it, he’d been comfortable - but they’d had a whole week to putz around. “Unless Indira was making empty promises to get you inside the walls?”
“N-No,” Olivia said, shaking her head so furiously he thought her neck might snap. “Of course not. If you need- Of course. I’m here to learn - about your Library as much as my studies.”
“Right,” Owl said. “I’m sure.” He swiveled toward the door, following in the footsteps of the rapidly-disappearing Will, and gestured for her to follow. “Come on, then. I’ll show you this once, and then you can handle it every day before you get started on your personal projects.”
“I’ll just finish my-”
“Bring it.”
“...Okay,” Olivia mumbled, clutching her mug more tightly.
Her muffled complaints followed him out of the sitting room as they trudged into Alexandria.
* * * * *
“Here you go,” Owl said, leaning against the cart.
Olivia came to a stop, freezing in place. “What?”
His lips curled back into a smile - and he patted the wooden slat. “Your job. This is a library, after all.”
Her eyes narrowed. “A magical library.”
Owl chuckled. For a moment, he could see a woman grinning crookedly, sprawled out behind her desk. “A magical library indeed. Sometimes, she just likes to make you coddle her.”
Begrudgingly, Olivia reached out, grasping the first book.
Owl folded his arms, cocking his head to one side. Olivia was still watching him. “Well?” he said. “Go on.”
She licked her lips, staring down at the book. “Uh...where should I-”
“It doesn’t matter,” Owl said, letting a bit of the smugness fade from his voice. “She’ll be happy wherever you find room.”
“...Okay, then.” Olivia twisted slowly, angling away from the cart - and eased the book onto the shelf alongside her.
“Was that so hard?” Owl said.
“I didn’t think it’d be like this,” Olivia mumbled.
“Like what?”
“Like...mundane stuff. Chores. Restocking books, and all that.”
He snorted. “That’s the job.”
Olivia wrinkled her nose, reaching for the next text.
She’d get the hang of it soon enough. Owl leaned back against a bookshelf, casting a sidelong glance further down the aisle.
There’d been no sign of Leon since the start of his shift in Alexandria. She always brought him around once - no more, and almost never any less. It made sense, if he thought of it in terms of the outside world. One night, one period of sleep, one visit.
Only, now, he had Olivia and her friend. Indira was the last possible person he wanted catching wind of Leon. He prayed that Alexandria would have enough sense to let Leon dream mundane, average dreams for a certain night.
He’d miss his friend for the months they’d spend apart, but it was for the best.
“You keep calling this place a she.”
Olivia’s words brought Owl back to reality in an instant. He glanced over to where she was even then shelving another book. “What?”
“The Library.” Olivia grabbed a stack off the top, forcing them into every open space available to her. “This place. When you...” She winced, getting a tighter hold on the books. “When you talk about it, you always refer to it more like a person. Not a building. A ‘she’.”
“Oh.” Owl’s hands tightened against his folded arms. “Well, like you said. The Library is magical.”
“So-”
“So, she...has a mind of her own, sometimes,” Owl said with a shrug. “You already know that she’s called Alexandria.”
“Yeah.” Olivia paused for a moment. Her chin lifted, and her eyes swept across the room. This wing Alexandria had made was smaller, somehow. Cozier. The stones making up the walls were ancient brick that looked right on the edge of crumbling entirely, with windows every so often framed in aged, weathered wood. “I did hear the name. I just...wondered.”
“She’s kind of a bitch, if we’re being honest.”
Olivia’s head snapped back around. Owl tried for a moment to keep a straight face - and then erupted in laughter at the affront in her eyes. The timber ceiling creaked under a non-existent weight. Sorry, Alex, couldn’t resist.
“You shouldn’t talk like that,” Olivia muttered, turning back to the cart with a swish of her hair. “You’re this place’s caretaker. Take it more seriously.”
More seriously, eh? Owl watched, still fighting to contain the last dregs of laughter, as Olivia scooped up book after book.
She was taking this whole ‘chore’ matter seriously, if he really looked at it. She’d griped at first, yes, but with every tome she grabbed, the irritation left her eyes. She wasn’t just throwing them onto the shelves, either. No, she lined the books up, tucking them in just far enough so that their spines made a neat, orderly row. Every time the books pushed against each other, bulging a binding or flexing a cover, she’d snatch the offending volume right back out again and settle it somewhere else.
Odd. He’d have thought she would’ve rushed through the task as quickly as possible and gotten back to her own work. Was she mindful of her guild’s reputation? Was it a sense of loyalty to Indira, and a need to not tarnish her own name? Or was she really that driven?
“This would go faster if you helped me,” he heard her whisper under her breath - and he chuckled again, shaking his head.
Well, it was a lot of books. He could only expect so much out of her.
“Just this once,” Owl said, stepping closer. “Since I’m already here.”
“...Thanks,” Olivia mumbled, casting a wide-eyed look his way. Maybe she hadn’t meant for him to overhear.
But he had. And now he couldn’t help but feel obligated to do his part. Oh well. Owl reached for a stack, sliding a whole section free with practiced ease.
But his eyes never left her back as they worked.
* * * * *
Olivia collapsed to the ground with a relieved sigh. “There. I-It’s done. Holy hell.”
“It’s just shelving books,” Owl said, his voice amused.
Olivia cracked an eye, peering up at him from behind sweat-soaked waves of hair. “Like, fifty thousand of the things.”
“You’ll get used to it.” Granted, it had been a big cartful. Alex had been feeling spiteful.
“I guess.” Olivia reached up, latching onto a shelf and levering herself back to her feet. “Jesus. My arms feel like noodles.”
“And I repeat. It’s just books. If you’d like to work out, there’s a practice field around the-”
“Oh, shut up,” Olivia moaned, turning away. “Okay, then, Master Librarian. What’s next?”
“Get on back to Will.”
Olivia spun, her eyes going wide. “What?”
But...he didn’t want to babysit Olivia for the entire visit, and he’d already kept her busy for a good hour. He had stuff of his own to get to. That’s why Indira had sent her, wasn’t it?
Supposedly, anyway.
“You’ll have plenty of time to help with this kind of stuff,” Owl said. “Look. Now that you can see exactly how uncomplicated this is, do a lap of the central study hall once a morning. Shelve anything you see. We’ll...We’ll work from there.”
“Oh.” Olivia nodded, chewing her lip. “Okay. Yeah. I guess.”
“Now...go,” Owl said, shooing her back toward the main hallway. “You’ve got your own research to do, right? And I’m sure Will’s in desperate need of some company.” He cocked an eyebrow, safely hidden behind his mask. “If you keep making excuses to stay out here, he’ll notice you’re missing all the time.”
“Will wouldn’t notice an earthquake if the ground split open beneath him,” she said, flashing a smile his way. “Don’t worry about that.”
“Just-”
“Got it. I’m going.” She skittered away, giggling to herself - but froze, poised in the doorway. Her fingers gripped the wooden frame. Her expression changed, going oddly serious as she looked back. “Owl?”
He sighed. “What?”
She stared back at him, her face limned by the glow of the chandeliers from outside. “Thanks for showing me around. For letting me help. And for helping me with that.”
As though he’d really had a choice in the matter. This visit was too useful for him to pass up, no matter how uncomfortable it made him. “No problem.”
“Um.”
He sighed. “What else?”
“If you don’t mind...If you have some time later on, will you help me with something else?” She shook her head a moment later. “N-Not tonight. Just...later.”
Help her with something else? Owl narrowed his eyes, peering down the aisle at her. “With something else? I mean, maybe, but what are you-”
Her face split into a beaming smile. “Thanks, Owl.”
Before he could say another word, she darted out into the hallway and was gone.
Owl stood, blinking dumbly, and gaped at the empty void where she’d stood. Her footsteps resounded down the hall as she danced back toward the Library’s heart and her friend.
“This is going to be a long three months, isn’t it?” he mumbled.
With Alexandria’s windchime laughter echoing in his ears, Owl hurried after Olivia.
- Chapter Thirty-Four -
His fingers flew across the keyboard. Owl narrowed his eyes at the lines of code as they appeared before him, springing onto the screen like endless ants.
This would be easier if he could have a bigger screen. Or a bigger keyboard. He sighed, ducking his head for a moment.
What he had was a laptop, and a seat on the balcony looking over the edge, and two scholars below who had both been all but silent for the last three hours. The most life he’d seen out of them, aside from their furiously scrawling pencils, was occasionally shoving giant-sized books of images back and forth.
He could just use his office. The thought wormed its way into his mind, far too appealing. He was already up here on the balcony. The office was closed off from the regular visitors. He could work in there as normal, and he’d have all his usual tools right at his fingertips.
Owl ground his teeth together, shooting an irritated look across the balcony to the shuttered walls of his domain. He just...couldn’t. He wasn’t comfortable with the notion of that, yet - leaving his papers out in the open where wandering eyes might find them. Or, well, prying eyes, since his studies would be locked away tightly.
Even still...he wanted to be able to move around, to keep an eye on the pair as they worked. And he wanted to be able to pick his projects up and ensure that neither Olivia nor her meek friend would ever get their hands on them.
With a start, he jolted back to reality - and realized that the pair weren’t there anymore. Or...He leaned forward peering over the railing. Will was still at his seat.
Olivia, though...
“Hey!” he heard someone cry. Rising, he stepped forward from his desk. Olivia came into view, right in front of the nook where the stairs to the balcony emerged.
Great. “What?” he called, resting his hands against the railing.
“Come down here,” was the response he got.
Owl glared at her from the heights. She was ordering him around. Her, a guest, and him the Librarian. If she thought she could have him at her beck and call...
There was no malice or superiority in her tone, though, and the gleam in her eyes seemed earnest enough. If anything, she looked...He sighed. Bored. Olivia was bored.
If the day to day interactions of the past month had shown him anything, well, an Olivia that was bored was an Olivia that was bound and determined to make his life hell.
“How about you just keep working on your-”
“Come on,” she said, leaning back. Her lips curled into a pout.
Owl groaned. “Jesus Christ,” he muttered. Then, more loudly. “Fine. Whatever. Hold on for one goddamn minute.” His fingers closed about the lid of his laptop, pulling it shut, and he tucked it into one of the impossibly-deep pockets of his coat, where the whole thing seemed to vanish entirely. Alexandria’s magic was the best, sometimes.
“So rude a mouth, for a Librarian. Does Indira know you-”
Owl spun on his heel, stalking toward the staircase. Her giggles followed him down each and every step.
Finally, he trudged off the landing, and glared at her on her own level. “What?” he said.
“If I stare at another record of this or that festival from a thousand years ago, I’m going to go insane,” she said, enunciating the word clearly. “I need to get out of this room.”
“Well, if you want to go out into the Library, I’m sure Alexandria can provide more-”
“I don’t need another stack of books to file away,” Olivia said, wrinkling her nose. “I want more, Owl.”
More? He folded his arms, suddenly thankful for the mask that concealed his expressions from the woman. “You know the deal,” he said, a chill entering his voice. “You help me with my chores, I let you into Alexandria. You’ve already learned plenty about how my home works. Don’t expect me to turn around and let you-”
“W-What?” Olivia spluttered, waving a hand furiously. “No, no, no. That’s not- I’m not...”
Halfway across the room and secure behind his desk, Will sighed, pressing a hand to his face.
“I’m sorry,” Olivia stammered, her face starting to go red. “I didn’t mean I wanted you to show me more of your Librarian business. B-But. I thought...maybe...”
“You thought what?” he said, furrowing his brow.
Olivia leaned back against a chair. “Well...I haven’t gotten to see much of Alexandria at all. Just my room, and this study, and the common area and...whatever rooms she decides to put in front of us while we’re searching. It’s just...” She wet her lips, suddenly looking guilty. “It’s a lot of books.”
“This is the Library.” Christ on a cracker, had she thought this place would be some kind of resort? “It’s only natural that-”
“I-I get that,” Olivia said, going right back to waving her hand as though she was a matador warding off an incoming bull. “B-But, this place is fantastic, right? There’s got to be some really juicy places.” She leaned in, grinning. “So how about it? You’re the Librarian. You know Alexandria better than anyone.”
“I guess, but what-”
“I need somewhere breathtaking,” she said, spreading her fingers wide before her. “Someplace unique.”
“I don’t know if that’s-”
“Oh! One minute,” Olivia said, thrusting a finger in his direction. She whirled, darting back
toward her room before he could reply.
Owl just stood there, one hand upraised and his mouth still hanging open. He shut it with an audible clack - and glanced back to where Will still worked. “I’m guessing she’s always like this?”
“Yep,” Will said wearily.
Owl sighed. “Great.” He supposed he hadn’t actually wanted to finish a sentence anytime in the next two months.
But, well...the ‘work day’ as Alexandria divided it was coming to an end, and with Olivia so antsy, he got the feeling he wouldn’t be getting much of anything done regardless. Fine. If she wanted to get out and stretch her legs, he’d do his best.
Olivia’s door screamed open a second later. She dashed back out from within, still grinning - only now, the straps to a wide, hard-sided backpack hung from her shoulders. “Okay,” she said breathlessly. “Lead on, Master Librarian.”
He lifted his chin, glaring at her. She only grinned back, the picture of innocence.
“You coming?” Owl said, turning his eyes to Will.
Will, however, froze, his shoulders hunching. “Uh,” he said. Good lord, the man was actually turning green. Was the thought of having to spend time alone with him that terrifying. “N-No,” Will said, shaking his head. “I should- I have a lot of work to get done. We’re already a third of the way through our stay. I’ll...I’ll let Olivia.”
“It’s okay,” Owl said, trying his best to sound reassuring. Those fabled upsides of wearing a mask were, unfortunately, also the downsides more often than not. “There’s no pressure. Whatever you want to do.”
Will’s head dropped lower still, a feat Owl hadn’t thought possible. “I’ll- I’ll be here, Librarian. Sorry. I’ll-”
“Oh, come on,” Olivia said, leaping forward with a crooked grin. “Let him be boring and stay behind. Later, Will!”
He raised his hand in a half-hearted wave. Olivia’s hands closed about Owl’s arm a moment later.
“Don’t just pull me,” he said, bemused, as she started towing him from the room. She chuckled, and released him as soon as they’d crossed the threshold into Alexandria at large.
Somewhere special, huh? Somewhere breathtaking. Owl trudged on, his lips pursed. What, was she expecting him to pull a mountain vista out from under his jacket?
