Inquiry, a library located in the city of Elderspire, is easily considered the rgest library in the Kingdom of Krador, if not in the whole continent of Adall.
Extending five floors above ground, and eight under, Inquiry’s corridors, filled with bookshelves taller than two men on top of one another, seem as endless as the amount of knowledge they hold...
Inquiry is also the reason Sincir rushed the girls to travel here, now two years past… Although he wasn’t pnning to actually work in the library until he arrived and heard that many of the sections within are only accessible to employees, and some, not even to them.
Getting in as a librarian novice wasn’t easy, but he managed to after six months of staying in Elderspire, which makes for a year and a half since he began working here.
In truth, the pay is shit, the amount of work is endless, and he has much less time to read as he’d have liked; But he does enjoy the privilege of visiting some of the restricted areas of the library, as well as borrowing the occasional book free of charge.
All in all, Sincir does consider the whole venture a success, seeing as he was finally able to learn useful information about Itera and Adall, including its geography, political climate, local customs and religions, ws, current kings and emperors, etc…
Of course, Adall is not the only continent in Itera, but considering the difficulty, and dangers, of long overseas travels, there’s little interaction between the masses of nd, making for scarce information to be found about the other continents.
Well, Sincir is gd to have found at least this much. Not every civilization, human or otherwise, takes the effort to write their history as neatly as this…
Realizing his eyes, and his thoughts, have begun to wander away from the page in front of him, Sincir sighs, before closing the political book he had been flipping through and putting it back on its shelf.
Unfortunately, the book offered almost no new information aside from a few scandals from some of the local nobles, making for a slightly interesting read, but rather irrelevant to his objectives…
Sincir is ready to pick another book, when he notices the unfortunate sight of a visitor about to pce a book in the wrong section.
His eyelid twitches, and it takes a considerable amount of his self-control not to cast a spell right there and then; Instead, Sincir walks toward the miscreant with a smile on his face, waiting nearby until she has finally managed to pce the book on one of the higher shelves by tiptoeing, then clearing his throat pointedly.
The girl jumps, turning to him and widening her eyes while pcing her hand over her chest.
“H-hello?”
With a once over, Sincir can tell her species; Expensive dress, light makeup, nice shoes, made hair, and jewelry… In other words, a female human noble. It is unfortunate that at thirteen, he is still a bit far from being able to stare down anyone who is not a child, let alone the seventeen or so woman standing before him.
Still, Sincir tries… And considering her grimace, he would say his look of contempt is at least partially successful.
“Excuse me? Is there a problem?” the woman says, seemingly having finally recovered from the scare he gave her.
“The Wonders of The Enchanted Forest of Drywood,” Sincir cites, drily and slowly, “Does that sound like a political book to you?”
The girl blinks. “No? What does that have-”
“This,” Sincir says, pointing toward the shelf next to them, “Is the political shelf... In fact, this whole section pertains to political topics, in one way or another.”
She frowns. “Well, how was I supposed to know that? I don’t see it written anywhere.”
…Lords save him, he needs a new job.
“I know that the person who let you win,” Sincir says through his clenched teeth, forcing himself to remain patient, “Has instructed you to pce every book you y on your hands on exactly where you’ve initially found them… And I also know, for a fact, that you’ve not found The Wonders of The Enchanted Forest of Drywood on this shelf, because I’ve spent most of my day organizing it.”
The girl opens her mouth, but closes it again without saying anything… Then, she shakes her head, turns around, and leaves.
Looking at her straight back, Sincir smiles coldly, feeling as though he is about to pop a vein. Violent images fsh through his mind, one after another, but he manages to stop short of actually doing anything; Extremely rude as though she might have been, the girl doesn’t deserve more than being barred from visiting the library in the future, which he’ll make sure happens.
Meanwhile, however…
With a sigh, Sincir casts a wind spell which has the book falling from the shelf and onto his hand.
On the positive side, this gives him an excuse to leave his section and head out for a while; It is also fortunate the mispced book belongs to the fantastical section, as he wanted to talk with the librarian from there but hadn’t yet found the time today.
Heading out, Sincir greets other librarians he walks by with a nod, many of whom throw him a look of sympathy once they notice the book in his grip, having guessed the reason for his gloomy mood.
He doesn’t have to walk very far, however. In Inquiry, each librarian is assigned to a section, and the fantastical section happens to be right by the political one… Though for what reason the library was organized in such a manner, he has yet to uncover.
Once having arrived, he searches through the corridors until spotting Esme, the librarian he had been looking for.
Of brown eyes, shoulder-length brown hair, and fair skin which seems to have never touched the sun, Esme is the closest Sincir would call from a friend among the dozens of librarians working at Inquiry. Looking no older than seventeen, though Sincir knows she’s already a bit past her twenties, Esme is the clumsiest person he has ever met when it comes to anything other than her work, which she takes very seriously.
“Looking for something?” he asks.
Having been searching intently through the bookshelf in front of her, Esme jumps at the sound of his voice, before turning to him with an exasperated look on her freckled face, while shaking her head.
“Do you always have to do this, Sincir?” she whispers.
Sincir shrugs. “It’s my only source of fun in this pce… Was this what you were searching for?”
Seeing the book he extends in her direction, Esme’s eyes light, and she all but jumps at it, only to have her hands grasp empty air once he pulls it away from her, keeping it out of her reach and causing her to crash against his chest awkwardly.
Looking up, Esme meets his eyes with a small, wry smile on her face. “…It ended up in your section again, didn’t it?” she whispers.
Sincir narrows his eyes at her. “I know it’s your favorite book, but must you recommend it to every noble girl to stride in here, thinking they own the pce? One of the perks of my section is supposed to be that I don’t have to interact with them.”
Esme smiles again, apologetically this time. “I meant to keep track of her, but then I turned around, and she was suddenly gone…”
Still holding the book outside of her reach, which is made possible by the fact Esme is rather short for an adult woman (though she’s still a bit taller than him), Sincir shakes his head.
“I’m not sure I can forgive you so easily this time, Esme. How can I trust you when you keep letting me down, at every opportunity?”
Esme bites her lower lip, face growing red. “Are we really doing that right now…?”
“How will you learn your lesson, if we don’t?”
She sighs, pulling away from him while averting her gaze; Her face grows redder still. “I-I can’t do the u-usual,” she says.
Pretending confusion, Sincir raises an eyebrow. “And why not?”
Gring at him, Esme clenches her small fists as she shakes her head. “You know why!” she hisses, “I-I’m still… It hasn’t been a w-week since…”
Sincir sighs, putting as much disappointment into his voice as he manages, then extends her the book once more. “Fine, if you don’t want to, I won’t force you.”
Esme stares at the book, but doesn’t immediately reach to grab it. After a moment of hesitation, she bites her lower lip again and shakes her head. “This is manipution. You know I won’t be able to sleep if I think you’re still mad at me.”
Maintaining his cold expression, Sincir holds in a chuckle... How is he supposed not to bully her, when she is like this?
“Like I said, I’m not forcing you to do anything. I thought you enjoyed our little games… But I guess I was wrong. Take the book, Esme. My arm is growing tired.”
Esme grimaces. “You’re the most infuriating person to talk to I’ve ever met…”
He just stares at her.
“…Fine! Tell me to do it already, you pervert!” Esme whispers at st.
Knowing he has won, Sincir smiles. “Show me,” he tells her.
“I guess I’m just a fifteen-year-old pything…” Esme murmurs bitterly, shaking her head as her face grows yet another shade of red.
Then, slowly, she reaches for the hem of her librarian dress, pulling it up until it reveals her panties… Except, today, she’s not wearing any, having still been under his st punishment of not wearing them for work for a week.
After a moment of looking at her slightly red, obviously wet sex, Sincir shifts his gaze to rest against hers.
“I can’t believe you actually did it…” he tells her, “Pervert.”
Hands shaking slightly as she finally allows her dress to return to its original position, Esme gres at him, snatches the book from his hand, and turns around as she rises on tiptoes to pce it on its original shelf.
Sincir chuckles. “And this is why you’ll never have a boyfriend, Esme. You should’ve made me promise something in return for that… I’ll have given up a lot for that view.”
Esme humphs. “I should’ve never told you anything. I feel every word that leaves my mouth in your presence eventually comes back to haunt me.”
Slowly stepping next to her as she still has her back to him, Sincir presses his erection against her tight, causing Esme to freeze, as he whispers into her ear, “Now, don’t be like that… I’ll show you mine in return, so don’t be mad, okay?”
Standing, very, very still, Esme shudders. Then, meeting his gaze on a sidelong gnce, she gulps. “Will you really…?”
Sincir steps back. “Of course… But I’ll want something in return.”
Esme curses under her breath. “I should’ve known.”
Grinning shamelessly, Sincir raises an eyebrow at her. “You don’t want it?”
“Of course I-” Esme starts, then, seeming to realize what she was about to say, blushes furiously, “…Not now, okay? Let’s meet after work. You’ve been away from your section for a while.”
Sincir wants to protest, but sighs, instead. “Fine… Then I’ll see you in a couple of hours, I guess. Try not to wet the floor too much meanwhile, lest you slip and hit your head.”
Ignoring Esme’s gre, Sincir whistles softly on his way back, having had his mood in much improved in spite of his now raging erection.
Looking at her now, one might not think so, but Esme was initially much shyer around him, thus being the reason he didn’t rush things with her so far… You could say the no panties fshing was a test, to see if she was ready for more.
Had she refused him strongly, he would not have insisted.
Reminded of their first encounter, when he caught her pying with herself desperately behind one of the bookshelves, Sincir shakes his head exasperatedly.
She’s horny enough for that, but also so inside her own head, it took him almost a year of smoothing her over to convince her that he is not trying to take advantage of her or something of the sort… If anything, he’s trying to help. Had she continued like she was, she might truly have died single.
Sincir clicks his tongue.
Although the rest of his shift is boring and frustrating, having now something to look forward to, he doesn’t mind it too much.
The pce he usually finds Esme after working hours, and where he assumes she meant for them to meet, is one of the underground reading spaces reserved for the librarians… Her personal space, and where he suspects she spends all of her free time.
Technically, Sincir also has a room, though he rarely has the time to spend there.
Once he arrives, he finds Esme already stuck to a book, having restrained her hair to a loose ponytail as she sits behind her small desk, whose corners are filled to the brim with tomes of different sizes and ages.
As usual, when it comes to her real work, the restoration of old, damaged books from the library, she’s a serious girl, and as he walks in, closing the door at his back, she points him toward the reading sofa in the room without as much as a gnce in his direction.
Sincir knows better than to interrupt her when she’s like this, so he obediently grabs a book from the table (one of the ones in a good state, of course), before sitting with it, taking off his shoes, and lying down to read.
He all but loses track of time while waiting, and since he is tired, Sincir eventually finds his eyelids closing out on him…
“Ah! Sincir! I’m so sorry!”
Sincir blinks, gncing at the book fallen against his chest, then toward Esme, as she hurries to rise from her chair and arrange her books in some particur way only she understands the purpose of.
Oh… He must’ve actually fallen asleep, though it wasn’t his intention to.
Esme smiles at him nervously while walking in his direction. “I’m so sorry,” she repeats, “I didn’t mean to have you waiting for more than a couple of minutes…”
“It’s okay,” Sincir assures her, “I’m just tired… Why are you looking at me like this?”
Esme bites her lower lip. “You looked so cute sleeping… C-can I… Please don’t think this is weird… But can I h-have you sleep here every now and then?”
Sincir blinks. “I suppose… I don’t see the harm? I’ll make sure you’re the first to know, if I ever need a pce for a nap.”
Esme smiles while Sincir stretches himself, her eyes running over his body until they stop near his crotch.
“Will you… Will you really show me?”
“Have you ever seen one before?” Sincir asks, pcing his hands behind his head as he smiles at her shamelessly, doing nothing to stop his rapidly growing erection from bulging against his pants.
“…Only in drawing,” Esme murmurs, gulping as she maintains her gaze fixated on his covered member for a whole three seconds before finally shifting her eyes to rest against his.
“You’ve read too many erotic novels,” Sincir says, chuckling.
Esme takes a deep breath. “Sincir… I… I like you, and I admit that I enjoy showing you my body… But we can’t have a real retionship together.”
“…Huh?”
“I m-mean you’re so much younger than me, and we’re coworkers, on top of that! How could I ever… You’re so cute, and sometimes you’re cold enough to have my head spinning, but then suddenly you’re so warm my legs begin to melt… B-but-”
“Esme,” Sincir interrupts, “What in darnation are you on about?”
Esme pauses. “…In darnation?”
Sincir grimaces. “People still use that, right?”
“…No?”
Fuck.
“Anyway, where did this whole talk about a retionship come from? Because if that was a proposal, it’s the weirdest one I’ve ever heard.”
Esme blushes. “That was… The opposite of a proposal?”
Sincir sighs, shaking his head in incredulity. “Please don’t tell me this is the reason you’ve been so reticent about pying with me.”
“…No?”
Looking at her expression, Sincir knows he is correct, which has him groaning out loud.
“Esme, have you ever heard of casual sex? Friends with benefits? Fuckbuddies?”
Each word spoken by him causes her face to grow redder, until she is all but overheating.
“Look, I like you, but I already told you I’m not going to settle down in Elderspire for long… I’m not really looking for a retionship. I’ve never been. Actually, which part of our interactions led you to believe I wanted to be your boyfriend, exactly? Didn’t we talk about having you confess to that guy you like, a month ago?”
Esme shudders. “It… It was all in my head, wasn’t it?”
Sincir sighs. “Come here,” he says, patting the couch next to him as he pces aside the book he never read more than a single page from, then sits cross-legged, giving space for Esme to do the same in front of him.
Looking as though she might start crying at any moment, she hesitates for a moment, but does approach.
“Shoes off,” Sincir tells her.
Esme sniffs, chuckling as she takes off her shoes off and shakes her head. “I’m not a complete idiot, you know?”
“Yeah, I used to think that too, until five minutes ago.”
Esme drops over the couch, sitting on top of her left foot as she wipes a couple of tears and sniffs again. “I guess I deserve that… I’m so stupid. I never get what people want, and I always mess everything up…”
Sincir leans forward as he slowly drags two fingers against her cheek, catching a tear and smiling at her as she shifts her eyes to meet his.
“You’re not stupid,” he tells her, “But you sweat the small stuff too much, and that makes you overthink things.”
Esme bites her lower lip. “Sorry.”
“What are you apologizing for? I like you. The only one who you’re hurting is yourself… And the sooner you accept you’re Esme, and not somebody else, the less painful it’ll become.”
Esme’s eyes gleam with unfallen tears as she sustains his gaze, hands shaking visibly. “Do you mean it? That you like me how I am?”
Sincir snorts. “Of course. I love pervert girls, especially when they’re so easy to bully.”
Giving him an exasperated look, she chuckles. “Sincir, I’m serious.”
“So am I. Now, take a deep breath,” he tells her, “And try to rex.”
After a moment of hesitation, Esme does so, closing her briefly as she follows his instructions.
Meanwhile, Sincir slides his hands against hers, realizing they’re cold and slightly sweaty, but grabbing them nonetheless.
Esme shudders.
“Breath,” he repeats, “I’m not here to judge you, so rex a little.”
After another deep breath, Esme finally opens her eyes again. “…My heart is beating so fast. I… I can’t…”
She tries to pull her hands away, but Sincir holds them firmly. “Esme, look at me.”
She does so, eyes like those of a dear facing the hunter.
“Do you believe I like you? Just the way you are?” he asks her.
After a moment, she shakes her head. “I’m sorry…”
Sincir sighs. “Do you believe I find you attractive, at least?”
She nods.
“Then, what are you so afraid of?”
“That I m-might s-say the wrong thing, or do s-something shameful that will make you h-hate me forever…”
Sincir raises an eyebrow. “Like what?”
“Like… I could have bad breath… Or an upset stomach…”
“Well… Do you?”
“…No?”
“Then rex already! I told you, stop sweating the small stuff so much, or you’ll never enjoy anything!”
Esme shakes her head, looking as though she might start crying again. “I don’t think I can! My entire life, I… I’ve always been this way…”
Okay, this isn’t working. Maybe trying to get her to rex isn’t the way to go about this…
“Esme, listen. The only people here are the both of us, and you’ve known me for more than a year now. Do you believe I’m the type to keep a secret?”
Esme blinks, then nods. “I trust you, Sincir…”
“Then, how about this? Think of this pce as our space; Whatever happens here, I’ll never tell another Soul. We’re friends, and we’re horny, and you could use some confidence going forward… But if you really want to keep the horny stuff out of our retionship, then I’ll never bring it up again. How does that sound?”
Esme’s eyes widen slightly. “You mean we could be fuckbuddies?”
“Yes, I mean we could be fuckbuddies, if that’s what you want.”
Esme bites her lower lip. “And you really won’t tell anybody, ever?”
“I’ll take our perverted misadventures to my grave,” Sincir promises, expression serious.
Esme takes a deep breath, then nods, almost as if to herself. “Then… You said you’d show me… But there was a price. What was it?”
He smiles at her.
JBDantas
Additional Info: Sincir is thirteen still (well, his human body is, anyway) but he tends to lie about his age for obvious reasons... In specific, the library wouldn't hire anyone under fourteen, so he pretended to be two years older in order to get in.
That's why Esme thinks he is fifteen now.
Also, he had to received an ID from the local government in order to be accepted into Inquiry, which shows him as being two years older than his real age, which you'll see more about in the next chapters.
[colpse]
