The library doors swing open without a hitch, the tinkling of the bell announcing to anyone inside that a person had entered the premises. She stares at the front desk with a little bit of confusion, scratching her cheek as she strides up towards the wooden counter and places her bag on the countertop.

Her eyes flit about the aisles, and she quickly finds something that grabs her attention, her flats' heels clicking against creaking wooden floorboards as she makes her way towards her destination. She takes a whiff of the musty air, idly playing with a lock of her air as she plucks a book off the shelf, all the while a question played through her mind.

Just why the book was so familiar came to her a second later, as she spies a bookmark hidden within the pages of the tome. It was a thin, laminated card that showed the rough sketch of a rose, with a hole punched through the top that allowed a corded, golden thread to loop around the bookmark.

She turns the book over, looking at the cover with a pensive expression on her face. 'Kasio's Rest' were the words inscribed in gold against a green backdrop, and she glances around the aisle for a few moments before opening the book and quickly flitting through its pages.

It was a compilation of a few little stories, mostly dithering about a few topics and the like. It was... well, she'd reckon it was probably a good read considering who was reading it, but she placed the book back on the shelf and grabbed another book from the aisle. Taking a book that someone was currently reading was bad manners, and as much as he was... infuriating, at least he hadn't done that to any of the books that she was reading, so she'd give him the same courtesy.

Going through the synopsis of 'The Priori' instead, she hums and nods at what she saw, taking it under her arm and making her way back towards the front desk.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

This time, she could now see him lounging against a stool, mumbling to himself while filching a box cutter from the other side of the counter. With a hum and a rip of packing tape, he pulls open the box, where books peek out from the lip.

"New shipment?" She guessed, catching his attention as he immediately whirls around his stool, placing the box cutter on the counter while meeting her gaze.

"Pretty much," he replies back, giving her a nod before turning back around towards the box, "Central library asked me yesterday if I wanted some of the volumes that they were throwing out, so I just sent them a list. Checking it right now to see if they got the delivery right, and put them on the shelves once I'm done sorting and cataloging them into the database."

"Sounds like hard work."

"Time-consuming work. Boring work. Still needs to be done, though." He sighs, turning towards her with something resembling desperation in his eyes. "Can you help me out? There's some coffee brewing in the back if you're in."

"You know, today's a day off from work." She titters, "I'm not gonna spend it hauling books and getting all sweaty when I could just watch you suffer by your lonesome. Good entertainment too."

"Fat good you are." He grumbles in response, shaking his head before returning back to his work, pulling out more books from the box. She lets out a smile at his misery, shaking her head before taking up the stool next to him and opening her book.

A few moments of silence pass, broken by scratches of a pen upon a clipboard or the flipping of a page. It doesn't take long for him to stop scribbling and turn towards her, a watery smile once again on his lips.

"Help me please?"

She chuckles.

"No."