The Library (The Librarian of Alexandria Book 1) by Casey White (surface ebook reader .TXT) 📕

minutes slipped past, with the herbal scent of the paste steadily filling Owl's nostrils.

Finally, when Owl had turned to wrapping Alan's fingers with tiny strips of white fabric, he heard the too-sharp man clear his throat.  Again, he looked up.

"So..." Alan began, then swallowed hard.  His Adam's apple bobbed.  "What now, Librarian?"

Alongside him, Dylan drooped.

Owl took his time, continuing to wrap the bandage he held.  His gloved fingers looped the fabric around itself, then pushed the end through the tiny hole he'd made.  A gentle pull, and the whole thing wrapped snug.

Only then did he sit back on his heels, resting his hands in his lap.

"I know that neither of you meant harm," Owl said quietly.  "But Alexandria has been hurt, today.  The Library was damaged.  My duties are to it as much as you, and I can't ignore that this has taken place."

Alan nodded, once, then dropped his chin to his chest.

"...Shit," Dylan mumbled.

"I-I still have work that needs doing," Alan said.  The man's skin was starting to flush, a glow completely aside from his injuries.  "I'm not finished.  I still have to-"

"Tomorrow morning, you may collect your research and put yourself in order," Owl said.  He wanted to throw them out right then and there, but as angry as he was, the two were just too damn pathetic.  "That will be your opportunity to organize whatever notes will translate to the outside with you.  But then, tomorrow evening?"  He looked from Alan to Dylan, trusting in the tone of his voice to convey the seriousness that his eyes couldn't.  "You will depart the Library, so that I can begin to repair the damage."

And they'd stay well away from magic.  One night unsupervised was still a risk - but better than weeks more left running amok in Alexandria.  For a moment, a flicker of begrudging appreciation for Alex's antics shot through him.

He didn't think it was possible, but Alan and Dylan somehow managed to droop even lower.  "Ah," Alan said.

"Shit," Dylan repeated, shaking his head.  He buried his face in his hands, and went quiet.

Owl waited another moment, watching the two of them, but neither voiced another complaint.  More than likely, both knew they were in no position to.  Not when they'd wreaked the sort of destruction they had - with or without Alexandria's help.

"Do you hurt anywhere else?" Owl said at last, turning his eyes back to Alan.

The scholar shook his head, still fixated on the carpet.  "No...no.  I'm...I feel fine," he mumbled.  "Thank you, Librarian.  I'm sorry.  Again.  For everything.  I-"

"You should get some rest," Owl said, gently but firmly.  He nodded toward the two doors farther down the hall, alongside his own quarters.  "Rest up.  Your hurts will feel better in the morning, and your heads will be clearer as you collect yourselves."

Alan's lips tightened.  "B-But I only have tomorrow.  I should at least take the time remaining to-"

Owl folded his arms.  It shouldn't have worked.  He was still on his knees alongside the two, nowhere near as intimidating as he would have been ordinarily.  But it did work, either through the sheer disapproval radiating off his skin or the ironclad set of his shoulders.  Alan stopped, closing his mouth hurriedly.

"Y-Yeah," Dylan said.  "I'm pretty tired, I guess.  That...yeah, that sounds like...a good plan.  Yeah."

"Stop babbling," Alan mumbled.  But when Dylan grabbed his arms gently, he didn't fight.  Wincing with every step, he crept toward his room.

Owl waited, watching them go.  Only when their doors shut behind them did he let out the sigh he'd been holding.  The tension bled from his limbs like air leaving a balloon.

He twisted one finger, yanking it to the side.  The latches fixed to both doors slammed home.  This was Alexandria.  There'd be no fire, no emergency facing either of them.  He very, very much wanted to be sure Alan wouldn't go running back out into the Library to finish a few more scraps of his research.

And then, with fresh silence hanging over the sitting room, he turned.

"You're still there, aren't you?"

At first, nothing happened - and he started to worry that he was mistaken, that he'd misheard.  Then, the slow thud of footsteps rose.

Leon appeared around the edge of the doorframe, glancing back and forth nervously.  His cloak swirled about his legs, the hood pulled high enough that only a scrap of his golden-brown hair shone around the edges.  "Uh."

"They're gone," Owl said, kicking the first aid kit aside and dropping into one of the sitting room chairs.  "For now.  They're in their rooms, anyway, so it's safe."

"Oh.  Sweet."  Leon looked to their doors again, though, before nervously creeping into the room.  "I just- I didn't want them to-"

"They're not going to see you."

"...Sweet."  Leon lowered himself into the chair beside Owl, leaning forward to warm his still-shaking hands. Dried blood coated the side of his face.  "T-This is pretty slick.  You've got chairs, you've got fire.  That's, uh-"

"Are you okay?" Owl said quietly.

Leon stopped.  His hands twisted in, turning back and forth as he inspected them.  "I...yeah."

"You're sure?"

Leon chuckled, reaching up to pat at the wound hidden beneath his hair.  "Well, the bleeding seems to have stopped.  I didn't get crushed by one of those bookshelves.  And I'm not burned.  So, yeah."  He snapped his fingers, grinning at the tiny ball of embers that sprang to life in his palm.  "I think I'm good."

Owl leaned his head back against the chair, sagging.  The two scholars were set to leave.  He'd healed them as best he could.  All of his problems were starting to flit away, and with their absence, the exhaustion pressed in harder than ever.  "Cool," he mumbled.  "Sorry.  About all of that.  I didn't..."  His shoulders sank lower.  "I didn't want you to get mixed up in anything like that."

Again, Leon chuckled.  The sound had changed, growing more wistful and less nervous.  "James is never gonna believe this, you know."

"Oh, I know it," Owl said.  "Shit. Bring him around next time and I'll show him."