Late Night Library AU

[Nienke]

His latest book had unexpectedly been an absolute hit. Sold out in several local bookshops, it was in talks to be translated into a few different languages and someone had told him of a website that had something called fan fiction? He figured that meant he had fans. Well, it meant that Haidar Laith had fans. He wasn't sure if it had been the expectation of failure or the need for privacy that had him choose a pseudonym years back. He enjoyed the anonymity that came with it. It's exactly the thing that allowed him to move back to his home town.

After settling into his new apartment, he couldn't wait to get to his old library. He spent most of his youth there and expected it to be like coming home. Something that his old town hadn't done so far.

He had already signed a deal for a new novel, but inspiration had been lacking. He hoped some new-old surroundings and the comfort of his old stomping grounds would give him the peace and quiet he needed to start on his new work. He had found an apartment in the same square as the library and practically only had to roll out of bed to reach it. He still had his old library pass and looked it over a few times as he walked in and started browsing the shelfs for some inspiration.

[Nienke]

BANDERSNATCH

"Elijah what is wrong with you??" An exasperated voice called out from three bookshelves over.
"Oh, hey Marge! You're gonna have to be more specific than that!" Elijah shouted back at her, words slightly muffled from the big bite of taco currently making him look like a chipmunk, while speeding through the aisle on a cart filled with books - half of which were precariously close to falling off due to him using it like a gokart.
"This." The clipped voice replied.
The young librarian zoomed around the corner, very narrowly avoiding crashing into the administrator, Margot. She was pointing at the little mexican food buffet he had nicely set out for himself across her desk, a couple books used to raise dishes he had deemed more important than others.
"Oh, yeah, you can grab whatever you like, I brought enough!" He smiled at her cheerfully, grabbing some nachos before speeding off again on his cart.
"No, that's not what I- Goddamn it Elijah, we should fire your 4ss, the whole library smells like beans and you keep..." the angry voice got more and more muffled as he zoomed through the library, dropping off books here and there.
He stopped in his tracks, though, when he spotted someone he hadn't seen before. He was in one of the reading nooks, his tall - and god, wide - figure positively dwarving the chair he was sitting in. And his hair. He wanted to run his hands through it.
Not wanting to seem like a creep, he controlled himself though, and settled for putting away the rest of the books.
To his luck not much later he stumbled into the guy again, standing in front of his favorite bookshelf.
"If you like Laith you should definitely check out this one by R.T Rosethorn!" He fished out the sci-fi thriller. "That is of course assuming you have read all of Laith's books, which, if you haven't you should do that first." Elijah started rambling on while he held out the book towards the guy. When the guy turned around, Eli fell silent though.
"Oh." He softly muttered, starstruck by the guy's striking features.

[Nienke]

Aslan had started combing through some initial research, but soon realized he needed some fresh insights. Writers needed to read, but there was always this part of him that was scared to subconsciously think of ideas on his own. At some point stories started to melt together and everything original had already been written he feared. He made his way to science fiction isle. He started browsing around, expertly avoiding the letter L and everything surrounding it. Lovecraft would have to stay on the shelf today.

It wasn’t long before a buzzing vision turned up in the corner of his vision. As he finished reading the back of a dusty book a chipper voice piped up next to him. He made it a full two hours before hearing the name Laith. He internally groaned, before politely turning around.

“Oh?” He mimicked Elijah as he took a second to look him over. The guy was dressed eccentrically, to say in the least… He had never seen a male librarian bear that much chest.

“Hold still.” Aslan leaned in a little and picked up a glitter from Eli’s right cheek. “There.” He said as he blew it away, as if he was wishing upon a lost eyelash.

“Laith? Not my cup of tea. I find him a bit derivative of Glyn and A.E. Goldsmith. He could also stand do some work on his narrative.” Aslan shrugged as he put his book back.

“I’ll take your recommendation, though. Thank you, …” He could see Eli was wearing a name tag, but instead of his name it just had a sticker of a duck holding a knife that said ‘Be gay, do crime’.

[Nienke]

BANDERSNATCH

Elijah's inner sex-obsessed goblin was urging him to make some dumb flirty remarks, but all thoughts flew right out the window when the guy suddenly touched his cheek.
His breath hitched and he stammered some unintelligible sounds, trying to get his brain to work again, but oddly his flustered state got reversed as soon as he started talking shit about his favorite writer. Maybe he wasn't so perfect after all.

"What?! Glyn and Goldsmith have absolutely nothing on Laith - no offense to those guys, I do like their books but still! You must not have read any of his Bionic Hearts books because that trilogy is an absolute masterclass in writing and storytelling. You should really read The Fox's Bane, I'm sure you'd change your mind." He started rambling, the touch quickly forgotten.

"Oh!" He exclaimed happily as the guy took the book he'd offered him.
"You're gonna love it, I promise! Let me know what you think, it's a really quick read and-"
"Hey dipshit, this isn't a restaurant." His coworker Milo's voice rang through the library.
"That's me! Gotta dash, anyway enjoy the book!" Eli smiled at the guy, eyes becoming slits as he did so, while grabbing a fistful of nachos from the pocket of his loose, patterned blouse - as per usual only about two or three buttons at the bottom keeping it fastened - and dropping them into the guy's remaining free hand and disappearing.

[Nienke]

Aslan had always known he intimidated people who didn’t know him. And sometimes the ones he did know. He rarely did it on purpose, mostly just be accident. However, this time it did bring him a bit of joy as the guy in front of him stumbled over his words a little. He had to admit the guy was kind of cute. Weird, definitely, but he had a charm about him. That was at least until he started praising Laith’s work, well his work to himself.

It used to fluster Aslan a few years back, but as time went on, he had managed to distance himself a little from the name. Of course, it was his full-time job, but he had never been one to deal well with praise. This way there was a safe space between him and his work. It worked the same way for critiques.

Aslan did mean what he said. He feared that some of his stories were too close to some of his inspiration sources and that he had some areas he needed to improve in. He furrowed his brow as this adorable librarian in front of him rambled on, nay, defended his books. Once again enjoying the fact that no one in this entire town knew who he was.

He couldn’t get in a word edge wise. He had politely taken the book and apparently a handful of nachos and walked back to his spot. Aslan settled in for the evening. Somewhat dimming the light, getting out the thermos of tea he had brought and warmed up under the blanket that had been hanging over the gorgeous armchair that had been there since he was a kid.

Every now and then, he could hear the bustle of the library and hear the rain whenever someone left for the night. He got absolutely absorbed in the book and lost track of time. It wasn’t until a few hours later that someone appeared into the doorway.

His eyes needed a second to adjust, but he recognized the head of wild curls and the glisten of the nametag, as the guy he had met earlier that evening.

“So sorry, I didn’t mean to overstay.” He said as he started packing his bag.
“Could I maybe check this out for the evening?” Aslan held up the book that had been recommended to him earlier that day.

[Nienke]

BANDERSNATCH

Despite all their grumbling and protesting, Marge and Milo did eventually succumb to the mexican food and had ended up eating burritos and several tacos while the night progressed.
To Elijah's utter delight, it started raining, the little ticking on the windowpanes soothing everyone in the library and driving even more people inside.

Slowly the library got quieter and quieter as more people went home.
"You sure honey?" Marge stood with her bags in the doorway.
"Yes!! Go home to your lovely wife, I'm still young and spry, unlike you, I'll lock up." Eli answered, arms full of books he'd decided to take with him tonight.
"One of these days I'm gonna kick your 4ss." She muttered, shaking her head, though a fond little smile threatened to creep up her face.
"And I'm sure you absolutely will. Now go, before your hip gives out, and go have sex with Lorraine or something!" He shoo'ed her away while being bombarded with insults before setting about closing the windows and deciding the place could use a bit of sweeping.
He was about to go home himself when he came to the conclusion that five books wasn't gonna get him through the night and returning to the fantasy section for one of his favorite books about trained dragonfly assassins and runaway queens and spellcasting cats.
"Oh! Hello!" He exclaimed in surprise as he noticed they'd missed a patron. The handsome one.
"Oh, don't worry beautiful, I always lose track of time too. Honestly, it wouldn't be the first time I just stay here, I can turn a blind eye if you wanna just stay the night? There's an awesome hidey hole next to the last bookshelf in the science section next...-"
"Next to the big fern, I know." The stranger finished his sentence.
"Yeah, exactly!! You have insider knowledge about this place, that's awesome!" Eli grew excited, the thought of someone else loving the library enough to know one of his favorite hiding spots making him feel a warmth towards the stranger.
"Anyway, that's okay. Gotta get back to my birds. Could I maybe check this out for the evening?¨ Hearing the huge guy talking in his ridiculously deep voice about getting home to his birds made Eli feel some type of way, and his brain momentarily short-circuited.
He quickly recovered though as he finally looked down at the book being held out towards him.
¨Uhm yes, of course!¨ He took the book, smiling when he saw it was the one he'd recommended to him.
¨So, you're liking it then?¨ He grinned as he passed his library card through the scanner, typing in the name of the book without even looking at the screen.

[Nienke]

It wouldn’t be the first time Aslan got locked in here. It had happened a few times when he was a kid. Most of them by choice. He felt he might have found a kindred spirit on that front. There was nothing more magical than falling asleep between stacks of books. However, he was excited to get home to his birds, one of the few things he’d brought from his old place. That and some woodworking stuff.

He handed over the book to the librarian and took some time to look him over once again, now that he was busy. He dressed like he was a very laidback person, but his character seemed to contradict that. As he had not seen the guy sit still for more than five seconds.

“It’s good. The way he describes the surroundings is mesmerizing. Haven’t really seen anyone do it quite like that.” Aslan figured he might as well be honest with him. It never hurt to have the librarian on your side. And the guy looked quite pleased with himself.

“Maybe you could have another few ready for me tomorrow?” Aslan asked while making his way to the door.

“No, Laithe, please.” He nodded and walked out the door.

His apartment was just a set of stairs to the left of the library. As he entered his new place, his birds wildly chirped in their cage and greeted him happily as he opened the little door. His apartment had a beautiful open plan, with a big kitchen, reading nook and a study. It had the same charm as the library did. And as a bonus it was always quiet below him.

[Nienke]

BANDERSNATCH

Elijah felt quite chuffed at having once again picked a good book for a patron, and if he was honest he had been extra giddy to try and please this guy. Nothing to do with his ruggedly handsome face and his insanely broad shoulders and his beautiful long hair, and his eyes, god. Completely unrelated, he decided, although he would absolutely let the guy pin him against the wall in that cute and hidden little corner behind the mystery section.

"I know!" He exclaimed back in excitement, his fingers drumming on the book in happiness at being able to fanboy with someone about one of his favorites. "I used to take this book to the woods and pretend I was inside the world, I mean, the way she just completely transports you to the world is insane!" He beamed.
"Of course! I already have one in mind that I think you're gonna love! And fine, fine, but I do think you should give Laithe another chance." He tutted while sliding the book and the guy's library card across the counter towards him.
"Good night, handsome stranger!" He shouted after the guy. He received no answer except for the sound of the door closing. Shrugging, he gathered his own selection of books and shut off the computer before turning off the lights and fumbling for his keys.
"Fuck! I didn't ask for his name. Or even look at the name on his library card, Eli you dumb little himbo..." He muttered to himself as he stood in front of the door. Pouting, he locked up before disappearing into the night.

It wasn't long, however, before Eli found himself in the library again, Having gone to a club, he'd quickly picked up a handsome enough guy who was just as drunk as he was. He'd fumbled for the keys to his apartment, which was directly opposite the library, but when he couldn't find the right one he'd simply shrugged, crossed the street and opted for the library instead.
They had both decided today was more of a dance party day though, so instead of the usual hookup Eli had busted out the speaker he kept in one of his secret stashes - together with a bottle of vodka - and spent the rest of the night in a competitive dance battle.
Aslan, who had just been relishing in the nice silence, was less than pleased. With a growl he pressed a pillow over his ears.

[Nienke]

After having cooked himself a late dinner, he was quite the chef if had to say so himself, he had said good night to his bird and taken his book to bed. Tucked in, he finished the last few chapters of the book and fell into a pleasant sleep. At least until he could feel his bed ever so slightly vibrate from the horrible music coming from down below. It was like he lived above a club, instead of a library. Huffing and puffing he walked around the apartment. It wasn’t until he walked by the backwall of his kitchen that the volumed increased. Now that he was standing there barefoot, he even felt a bit of a breeze on his toes. He easily moved his tall kitchen cabinet aside to find the thinnest line vertically on his wall. He knocked once, just to be greeted with a hollow sound. As he pressed the wall a bit harder, he heard a faint click and the wall gave way. Before him were a few steps leading into the dark. It was pitch black, for a bit of light at the end, what seemed around a corner.

He found a working flashlight in one of the kitchen cabinets and followed the stairs down. The hallway stretched for quite a bit around the corner, all the while the volume of the music increasing. Behind the second door he saw some flashing lights. He tried the handle, but it wouldn’t give. Eventually, he got down on one knee to peak through the keyhole. It was like looking in a disco diorama. Colourful flashing lights, loud music and two figures dancing, drinking and kissing. Instinctively, he looked away, as if he had witnessed something private. Admittedly, it was, but still, it was a public fucking library, he thought to himself. And that between his beloved books.

The next morning he was at the library roughly two minutes after it opened. Ready to figure out what the hell had been going on there. His investigation first led him to the other side of that secret door. A shelf of books was covering most of it, but even here it looked like a secret passage way. The only thing revealing itself as a door, was the keyhole hidden behind a stack of books. He thoroughly examined the library, but found no trace of a party having taken place. A bit frustrated he sat down again. Trying to write, read and eventually just pacing the isles for books.

[Nienke]

BANDERSNATCH

It wasn't until 6:30 in the morning that he awoke with a start, realising he was still in the library with the guy from the club draped over him - both miraculously still mostly clothed as they had spent most of the night simply dancing with the occasional shared kiss here and there.
"Hey buddy, it's bedtime. In your own bed that is. I gotta open the library soon, so kindly vacate the premises so I can fix all this shit and pretend I was at home like a good boy." He gave the guy a little shove.
"Oh yeah, forgot we were in a library. I had fun, see ya around!" The guy - Liam or Leighton or maybe it was Adam - mumbled sleepily, grabbing his jacket and shooting finger guns towards Eli before leaving on his merry way.
Eli rubbed the sleep from his eyes and with suspicious efficiency cleaned up all the alcohol, the confetti, snack wrappers and speakers in record time before dashing over to his apartment, getting a quick shower and brushing his teeth and popping back over to the library just in time for Marge to arrive only a couple seconds after him.
¨Good morning, my darling Margot, how was the wife?" Elijah greeted her while he opened the door to the library.
She muttered something that vaguely resembled a "Way too early for this shit..." before replying.
"Lori's fine. Get a good night's sleep, boy?" She grumbled.
"Superb, yes, thank you." He replied in a chipper voice. He was lucky he was still drunk. It was the only thing keeping him going, although it did seem like the young librarian had a neverending reservoir of energy on any day of the week.

"Sir, your book." Elijah was pleased to find the good looking guy from yesterday already roaming the aisles only minutes after having opened the place. He held out his new recommendation.
"Imagine 1920's New Orleans but it's a futuristic sci-fi murder mystery with aliens and weapons that use poisonous plants like projectiles. It's amazing, I think you're gonna love it." Elijah started talking excitedly.
Aslan, who was still half asleep turned to the annoyingly cheery sounding voice, though his gaze lingered on the librarian's combat boots, decorated with little raccoons. There was a piece of confetti sticking out from the sole.
"So, you finish the one I gave you yesterday yet?" He asked, and Aslan finally took in his face, only now noticing the dark circles under the guy's eyes.