One night would not be enough, he discerned. Trying to sift through the wisdom contained in the pages of each book; getting lost in reverie and the smell of dust, David realized rather quickly, it would take someone exceptionally clever to organize them all. That person was not him. He strayed feverously, from his self-appointed task, and reality diligently evaded him. Lost; trapped, perhaps, in thought, David pensively meandered from one book to another. Taking his time, to carefully inspect each of the book's spines for fault or damages, tears in the pages or bent corners were abhorrent, but he put them on their respective shelves all the same. It was brain-numbing work, delegated to inferior beings, who had nothing better to do. There were others. Sadly, some were still diligently striving to complete the work the last archivist had left them. David had gone through cataloguing the royal collection a couple of years in a row, for spare Yul and to fill his time mostly. Unfortunately, their were renegade old root fanatics; that believed the old archivist's methods were superior to the current archivist's. Their had been a few skirmishes; over the burning of some revered texts by the zealots. Many books that cannot be found anywhere else were lost. After these incident, candles were forbidden from the library. David considered the destruction of any volumes of knowledge to be blasphemous.

David ran his thumb along the spine of his grimoire, like he was testing the edge of a blade for burrs. The intricacies of the secrets found within it, were mostly undecipherable to him. He hefted it in one hand, testing it's weight, before returning to his work. David was wearing a hooded black cloak, though, he did not cover his ashen-white hair. Hoping to facilitate glimmers of reconciliation between the new workers and the older ones, David had come into the royal capital today primarily to work. However, he soon found it to be a meticulous task. One that was tedious, in the worst way. This was a place he genuinely enjoyed visiting, the people weren't oppressive. David enjoyed that. David also enjoyed perusing the available texts here when he was younger, and had spent countless hours, searching for something else to read after sitting for a few hours in his youth. Now, he was looking for a particular spot for a rather large encyclopedia and was being berated for it's placement. David listened to the man's rebuke, with a sullen; almost hurt, look of contempt plain on his face. David was sure this book was placed, on the shelf, exactly where it should be, "Right here." He explained this like he was Platonizing a caveman. The man shook his head; half in tactful appraisal, half in shock from being spoken to so tersely. David placed his grimoire quickly on the encyclopedia; slamming it down rather, when the man went to move it. Displaying all four clovers as adamantly as he could propense. Displaying it often gave him the breathing room to digress; into subject matter, propose a recourse of some distinct manner. But this guy was not having any lick of it; the resounding thump had startled him, the four leaf grimoire had unnerved him. David did his best to stay civil, though his patience was not infinite. Between bickering and the discourse of rhetoric, the conversation would soon be less about the placement of the book, and more about how ugly the other was going to end up being. The current librarian swept past, reminding them both informatively, that their was a decibel limit being enforced. David smiled, having gotten the gristle out of his teeth over the matter, without being thrown out.

Word Count: 618

It had taken very nearly the entire semblance of the afternoon to put them where they were, David however didn't mind the fiery-haired woman moving them into small piles of her own. Although it was certainly an inconvenience, it was in no way perceived as such. The man who David argued with, being just as transfixed, mumbled something before departing in cowardice. Being the braver of the two, meant David had more than most likely volunteered to assist her. His attention lingered for a moment, before he adjusted to the preferential sorting by subject. "Rather than by author," he hesitantly remarked to her; it was a bourgeois choice to categorize them in such a manner, as the current system did endorse this ideology, but also had sections that were alphabetically assorted by name of author. David was by no means propitious when he continued, but tried his best to appear amiable, "Good Choice." His voice showed no sign of wavering as he prepared to re-sort this section, and potentially the entire library, to suit this particular woman. He had defended to the death, every books' concise placement for some reason or another, but was found a hypocrite when allowing the movement of every book this woman had a whim to displace. It was not long before David believed that it would look nicer in this composition, but the work would only be half done, if completed in this manner. Providing the acolytes more than enough ammunition for lectures and debate later, David was sure of that much when he passed them in the rows. They were probably jealous, being an offsider meant he had more free time to do as he pleased. 

"My name is David." He had practiced this a thousand times or more, even among dignitaries, an impromptu and spontaneous introduction was generally well-accepted in such a casual circumstance. Exhausting all the possibilities of anything going badly in his mind after some consternation, he simply expected acknowledgement, at the very least. David; having spoken to the red-haired woman, for a second time, pushed his luck, much to the chagrin of his envious co-workers. He asked a question of her; as politely as he could, proposing an opportunity for conversation, "May I ask for your name?" His voice distinctly reflected the emotions of a person that would have rather been elsewhere. The ambient silence of the room offered generally good acoustics for eavesdroppers to listen, but all David could hear was his heart beating in his chest, and the idle turning of pages.

Word Count: 424
Total Word Count: 1042

"Woah." Elaborated David, completely chuffed by happening upon this woman. Her poise was precise and impactful, in the way she had already discerned they were ordered, remarkable. David marveled at her graceful sense of order; Leonora, what a beautiful person. Being impressionable, he listened to her every word. Finding no critique to be given, he affirmed his lack of doubts with an appreciable nod. It was evening when he paused to reconcile, it was probably time for him to leave. He let Leonora know just how much he had enjoyed her company, before departing he spoke as loquaciously as one may expect when a commoner addresses a noble. "It was nice meeting you; Leonora. Thank you for devoting your time; to re-organizing this mess, I mean." Uncertain as to where he stood in association, by standard of the state of acquaintanceship, David simply waved rather than linger. David sincerely appreciated her effort and efficiency; had let her know, and then proceeded to provide a reason for leaving as he left, "I got to get home before dinner starts." On the way out David noticed the morbid expressions  on the acolyte's faces, he couldn't help but smile in response.

{Leave}

WC: 198
TWC: 1240