She came across him locking up the library, his face scrunched in that little bout of concentration that never failed to make her smile. With a shake of her head, she walks up to him and bumps his shoulder, causing him to squawk in surprise.

"What the–?" He begins, before spotting her a second later and letting out a sigh of relief. "Oh, it's you. Uh, can I suggest that you come in tomorrow or something? I've got something that I need to do."

"Can I ask?" She replies, eyes locking onto the heavy-looking bag he had slung around his back. "I've still got some time to kill before I need to get back home."

"Shouldn't it be like... I don't know, a busy day of classes at your uni or something?" He mumbles back, letting out a grunt before something metallic snaps into place, and he takes a few steps back to look at the library's front door. A little smile forms on his face, quickly coupled by a smooth little hum. "Have a feeling that you're going to need the extra hours instead of using that time to doze off."

"Well, I was supposed to check out some of the reference books in the library, but..." She motions towards the doors, which were now locked with a thick sturdy chain. He yanks on it twice, before nodding at his handiwork and adjusting the straps on his bag. "... Well, someone saw it fit to close the library up, so I'm asking why."

"Fair enough." He replies with a shrug, pulling his phone out of his pockets and glancing at it for a second. "I need to deliver something to the central library. Important files that we can't just send over the mail or through other channels since the handlers might screw it up."

She stares, keeping pace with him as he begins walking towards the bus stop. "You think that mailmen and delivery drivers would bother looking at a library's confidential paperwork."

"Hey, regulations are put there for a reason." He defends, though the frown on his face certainly told her everything that she needed to know. "But yeah, it's not like I can do anything about it."

"Sucks to be you, then."

He could only reply with a shrug as the pair arrive at the bus stop, finding it relatively deserted for this time of the afternoon. With a light hum on his lips, he shuffles over towards the vending machine, quickly tapping on the buttons and producing two cans of coffee. He tosses one towards her, and she quickly the can with a surprised blink.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"... Thanks." She mumbles, popping open the tab and beginning to sip at the coffee. It was sweeter than what she'd really have, but then again, she had it for free. Who was she to complain?

"No problem." He replies back, still humming along to that little tune of his while drinking his can.

A comfortable silence ensues between the two of them, as the pair continued sipping at their canned coffee. The hustle and bustle of the city continued around them, of people walking past the sidewalks, of conversations happening all around them, and the thrumming of engines as traffic ebbed and flowed through the street in front of them.

The bout of silence ends a few minutes later, as a bus bound for a downtown loop came around the corner. He pulls out his phone to check the time, quickly stuffing it in his pocket a second later as the bus slowly came to a stop. "Well, I'm off. See you tomorrow?"

"Sure."

The bus doors open with a hiss of air, and a veritable throng of people flood out from the inside of the bus. A second or two passes before the outgoing flow of people dies down, and he quickly scrams up the bus doors, taking a quick flight up the stairs and getting himself a window seat.

Not even a second passes before someone else takes the seat beside him, and he glances to his right to find... her, giving him a sheepish smile.

"Hey", she flippantly pipes up, "Nice seeing you here."

His brows furrow. "You take the downtown bus?"

"Yeah." She dryly replies, "It's like I live in the same city as you or something..."

"Alright, so that's a bit stupid of me." He sighs, "Where's your stop?"

"Quite a bit far from here, actually." She hums in reply, "Shitty apartment complex in Elwood Drive. What about you?"

"Upstairs from the library." He replies with a wistful smile, "There's a flight of stairs in my office that goes up to a few small rooms. Little bedroom, little kitchen, little bathroom... that's basically it. Though I think I've got a small collection of books that I've stored in another room. Like a mini-library inside a library."

"Huh." She muses, a little grin on her lips. "That must be nice, being so close to your workplace. You think I can go and read some of the books at your place?"

He blinks. His shoulders straighten, and he lets out a strangled laugh, even as he tries to smush himself against the bus window.

"... Sure." He replies, letting out another nervous laugh with eyes glancing all over the place. "But maybe another time."