Late Night Library AU

[Nienke]

BANDERSNATCH

Eli's breath hitched as Aslan was suddenly right in front of him. The slight hand touch sent shivers down his spine, and having his beautiful eyes this close made his stomach flutter.
His brain had almost convinced him that he had been about to kiss him, until he glanced up to find the stranger holding back a book, saving him from what would have probably been a gnarly bruise on his head. Of course not, he chastised himself, he had a boyfriend.
"Oh.." He muttered, slightly disappointed. "Thank you!" He recovered quickly, one corner of his mouth pulling up into a sheepish smile.
"Almost messed up my money maker there." He grinned, trying to snap out of his flustered shy teenager state, though he still couldn't quite meet the guy's eyes, especially not when they were this close, his cheeks still tinged pink.
Aslan, realising his position, quickly moved back.

"Hey, so what's your name?"
"I never got your name..."
They both started at the same time. Eli's eyes widened before laughing.
"Aslan. My name is Aslan." The guy answered first, a small smile on his face.
"Aslan..." Eli tried it out, savoring it. "I like it. It's a beautiful name. It suits you." He nodded, smile widening. He kept repeating the name in his head like a mantra. He chose to ignore the fact that he had just indirectly called him beautiful. Normally he wouldn't shy away from giving people compliments to their face, but he wasn't a big fan of trying to get with people who were taken.
"So what about you? Your little..." Aslan waved towards the name sticker with the duck. "Doesn't give much away..." He cocked his eyebrow, amused.
"Oh, his name is Duckiam Darcy. He's a very good boy." He grinned, eyes becoming slits as he proudly patted the paper duck's head.
"Oh and my name is Elijah. Or Eli for people I like. You've read all my book recommendations so far so you fall under that umbrella."

[Nienke]

"I never got your name..." Aslan said at the same time as the librarian enquired. They had been seeing each other every day for the past three months and somehow he'd never heard his name drop. He had been perfectly content referring to him as 'The Librarian' in his head. It had even helped him create a character inspired by the librarian. Usually, writing a new character and fleshing them out happened before ever coming up with a name. It wasn't until they were finished that somehow a name clicked into place, as if they had been called that all along. Hearing the librarian's name was Elijah, kind of felt like that. Eli, even more so. He was glad to be on the side of people that Eli liked. It made him feel weirdly satisfied.

Aslan got up with the book under his arm and extended a hand to Eli. He seemed to hesitate for a bit, before accepting the invitation. Eli turned out to be a bit lighter than Aslan had expected. As he pulled the librarian up, he was, again, a lot closer than he intended. He couldn't help, but smile about how this would exactly happen in one of his books if he wanted to create some sexual tension or make one of his characters feel uncomfortable. He thought it would create the tension, but somehow Eli's red cheeks and behaviour made him think he might be making the guy uncomfortable. He took a step back to give him some space, but held his hand for a second longer.
"It's good to officially meet you, Eli, and thank you for the new book recommendation." He let go of the surprisingly soft hand, "it's about time I get back to work and let you get back to your existential crisis." He tried to look serious, but couldn't help but give him wink before leaving.

As Aslan got back he couldn't help but be a little baffled by the situation. Where it was continuously the librarian approaching him these last few months, without ever making a move on him, but there being a clear sense of interest. And now, somehow at the exact moment that Aslan started to let him in a little more, Eli seemed to be pulling back. He decided to give the librarian some much needed space from him. Aslan rented out some 10 odd books with one of the other librarians and left for home that night. He'd promised to join his mom on her knitting retreat in the forest, as she didn't fancy going alone. Really, they both knew she needed a caretaker with her for safety, which he was happy to do. Both of them agreed though, that it was more fun to go together than alone.

Before he left, he got one last glance at Eli, who was looking very busy pretending to put away books. Although, it was really just him taking out one book and putting it back again. Completely lost in thought.

[Nienke]

Aslan had his phone turned off for the retreat. He too, had decided to take some much needed time away from cafe's, cars and people. During his time in the forest he read books, cooked for the ladies and held yarn whenever someone needed a hand. All of the other ladies wanted to set him up with their daughters and granddaughters, and he let them gush about how great they were.


In the mean time, a more-than-smitten James had texted Aslan twice over the last two days to ask if he wanted to meet up for a drink. When he saw that his messages hadn't been received by Aslan, he decided to go around to his place and see if he was okay. Just as he rounded the corner to get to the stairs, he ran into Eli, who stood there moping and smoking a cigarette.
"Oh, Eli, good to see you," he took a step back to take the guy in before running up the stairs.
"Jimmy?" A confused Eli had to admit that he'd never seen Jimmy outside of the confines of his favourite watering grounds. It felt a little bit like seeing your teacher outside of school. "What are you doing here?"
"Uh... Just visiting a friend..." He gave him a little wave before running up the remaining part of the stairs.
As soon as he was out of sight the little puzzle pieces inside Eli's brain started connecting. There was only one apartment up there... And the jacket Jimmy was wearing was awfully similar to the one he'd seen Aslan grab onto as he was kissing the mysterious stranger. He felt his face get a little hot and realized he was standing in the exact same spot he'd seen them that night. His first instinct was to quickly get out of there, before either of them came downstairs.


After driving everyone at the library crazy for the remainder of the day, mostly Milo, he decided he'd get some answers straight from the source. As Aslan hadn't been in the library for a few days, he went straight to the bar after work. Not so different from his usual plans, really. He had rehearsed in his head what he was going to say, staying calm and collected, but as soon as he saw Jimmy behind the bar his plans took a 180.
"You told me you aren't gay!" He said slamming his hands on the bar.
"Hello to you to Eli," the bartender said, raising an eyebrow and pouring the guy a beer.
"I've asked you out so many times and we're always flirting and..." Eli took a few big gulps and was left with a pout on his face.
"I said I didn't want to date you, Eli. I do like guys though. And girls."
"So you're dating Aslan then?" he said after a while of hard contemplation.
Jimmy wasn't quite sure how to answer that and really felt like it was none of his customer's business whatsoever. Particularly not this nosy one. He was quickly saved by a bustling gaggle of old ladies who entered the bar, talking and laughing and surrounding a very tall guy in a brightly coloured sweater. They took their seat, looked through the menu and sent Aslan on his merry way to the bar. Jimmy's mouth was hanging open a little and Eli had a big grin on his face. As a thank you for doing all the cooking, caring on driving on their trip, the ladies had banded together to make him a sweater. Every woman had made one part. A sleeve, a back panel, the collar, the front all of it had been done by someone else, creating the most hideous and beautiful sweater. He wore it like a treasured prize.
"Jimmy," he nodded, "Elijah," he smiled a little, "can I please have eight of your finest Cosmopolitans?"

[Bandersnatch]

"Aslan!" Elijah exclaimed happily, equal parts surprised to see him here and giddy to finally be able to try out the guy's pretty name some more. Hearing his own name on the guy's lips had made his stomach flutter.
"You look adorable," He blurted out, taking in the slightly itchy but lovingly crafted looking sweater on the greek god-like body of his favourite library patron, a crossover that he found hysterical but endearing.
"It's certainly an... interesting outfit." Jim remarked, an eyebrow raised.
"I think it's lovely." Aslan coldly spoke to James, defensive over his new garment.
"Don't mind ole Jimmy, I've never seen him wear anything that wasn't white or gray, office-core if you will." Eli childishly bit at the bartender, earning him a glaring contest with Jim and a curious, calculating look from Aslan as he observed the hostile air between the two.
A call from another customer finally ripped Jim away, Elijah smirking at him triumphantly.
"He didn't even make my Cosmopolitans..." Aslan muttered as he looked helplessly as the bartender walked away.
In response, Elijah unceremoniously bent himself over the bar to reach for the necessary bottles, leg sticking out and his blouse riding up while he loudly gathered the ingredients and glasses, toppling over some bottles here and there.
"I've missed you in the library." He said sincerely as he started making the drinks with laser focus.
"Did you now?" A small smile grew on Aslan's face. "Yeah, I was on a retreat." He nodded his head back at the group of ladies behind them.
"Oh, fun! I see you have a keepsake." Elijah nodded at his sweater, connecting the dots as he spotted several of the ladies rapidly knitting seemingly subconsciously while they chatted with each other. The knowledge that his sweater has most likely been crafted by the gaggle of older ladies on a knitting retreat made him smile fondly.
"Actually, I thought you were, like, on a weekend away with your boyfriend." He gestured towards Jimmy, trying to be subtle in his digging for information while he squeezed some limes into the cocktail shaker, but failing spectacularly as he kept anxiously glancing at Aslan.

[Nienke]

He had a hard time containing a smile when his name came out of Eli’s mouth. Even James must have noticed at that point. Who, as it turned out, was a bit of a snob when it came to fashion. Whatever they had had that night was fun, but it was also not anything serious. He thought the nature of it had been clear to James, but the tension that he could feel between the two of them made him rethink it. As soon as, James just left without making his drinks he quickly decided that the guy couldn’t handle another casual hook-up. Chapter closed. Good.

“Thank you, it will be the pride of my closet.” He mused and rubbed the soft thread of the fabric. His eyes soon gleamed over from his sweater to Eli’s exposed chest, as he started making the drinks. He also couldn’t help noticing the skin at his lower back and how badly he wanted to put his hand there. Not even to mention, the way those pants hugged his cute ass as he stuck his leg out. He really thought a weekend of distance would do him good. It didn’t. Not at all. He quickly focused his gaze again on the mess Elijah was making of the drinks.

“Ah, you mean James?” He realized Eli had made the connection between the stranger he’d been kissing in the dark, when he made inappropriate (but-oh-so-fun) eye-contact. “Not my type.” He smiled a bit mischievously, before he remembered he definitely shouldn’t be flirting with the main inspiration for his book, because that would be way out of line.

He heard his name being called in the background and waved to the ladies.

“I’ve been summoned.” Aslan motioned for the tray of drinks, brushing past Eli’s hand. At this point, he wasn’t even sure himself anymore if it was by accident or he just couldn’t help himself. It definitely made him feel more than he wanted to admit.

“Thanks for the drinks. See you tomorrow?”

[Bandersnatch]

Elijah dropped the half squeezed lime into the half finished cocktail and whipped around, a cheshire grin on his face.
"Not your type, huh? And what, pray tell, is your type?" He leaned over the bar to rest his chin on his hand, grinning up at Aslan through his lashes.

Elijah didn't even try hiding his disappointment as someone called for Aslan. He took a swig of the leftovers of the drink in the cocktail shaker and nodded approvingly.
"Tastes like a Cosmopolitan." He haphazardly shoved all the drinks onto a too small tray and presented it to Aslan. "Sir, your eight uhm..." he looked down at the sloppy things. "-extra dirty Cosmos?" He squinted at them.
"Tomorrow? Yes! Tomorrow!" He beamed at Aslan. "Have fun with your ladies, see you tomorrow, love you!" Elijah brusquely turned around, muttering a soft "fuck me, what the fuck," under his breath as he beelined his way out of the bar, stealing a glass from man about to sip from it, downing it in one go and gunning it for the door.
Despite spending the next half hour kicking himself for being an ambarrassment to himself and others, he couldn't help but go to bed with a grin on his face. Aslan was seemingly single.

Naturally, the next morning Elijah put on his sluttiest outfit yet, with his tightest leather pants and his patterned blouse somehow hanging open and showing even more chest than usual. Through his earring he hung a dangly little cat charm. For good luck.
Whistling he went about his opening shift, much to the chagrin of a very moody Marge.
He spent way too long hovering in his favorite section to pick out a new book for Aslan, which made for a big pileup of unsorted books on the counter, but even Marge cussing him out for a solid five minutes didn't dampen his spirits.

"Hey stranger! Didn't see you come in!" Eli grinned as he finally spotted his favorite customer.

[Nienke]

“My type you ask?” He nodded his head to the gaggle of old ladies he was headed for. “What can I say? I’m a ladies’ man.” He nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders as he walked over and sat down, with four of them on each side. They unanimously cheered as he put down the drinks, all of them giddy with giggles. His mum petting his shoulder lovingly.

Luckily, for Elijah his declaration of love had gotten lost in the bar’s noise. Aslan looked up after half an hour, just to notice that his librarian had made a swift exit. It was a little weird to see him out of the confines of the library wall, but it was just the ending he needed to a fun trip. Something, or well someone, to look forward to seeing tomorrow.

A newly inspired Aslan woke up at an ungodly hour and could not fall back asleep. Excited to get some writing done he sat at his kitchen table, trying to get some work done and waiting for the library to open. For work stuff, of course, not other things. It was about half an hour of staring off into the distance before he realized he could literally just walk into the library through his private entrance. It was probably wrong… But also the thought of a library to himself seemed to justify the forbiddenness of it all.

He found a secluded little corner in the library, that would most likely not be checked until later in the day. He brought out his little thermos and got to writing. After the library had opened he would roam the aisles a little bit, definitely looking for books and not hoping to accidentally bump into his favourite librarian.

He turned the corner on his favourite science fiction aisle and his breath hitched a little, immediately wiping the involuntary smile off his face and pretending to be very busy browsing the H section. In between a few stolen glances that was. He could hardly not look at those immensely tight pants and had a little difficulty peeling his eyes off the librarian’s chest when he turned around.
“Good morning, Elijah,” he contained a smile. He was pretty sure once he gave himself into this crush that everything would go tits up. “You look… interesting today.” Just as Eli moved he could see a glint of metal peeking from behind his blouse and the knowledge that the librarian had a nipple piercing, possible two, made it very hard to focus on whatever came out of his mouth next.

[Bandersnatch]

Elijah couldn't help but beam at the ridiculously tall man.
"You're here early." He grinned. "Well thank you! I think..." He smirked, his head cocked to the side as he pondered on whether your outfit being called interesting was to be interpreted as a compliment or not, although smug satisfaction twinkled in his eyes as he noticed Aslan's gaze lingering in certain places.
"Oh!" He pursed his lips, reaching into his blouse - parting it even more, making Aslan look even more alarmed at the amount of skin being flashed, though Eli was much too busy to notice - and magically summoning a book.
"I think you'll like this one." Eli smiled like a giddy child, holding out one of his favorite cyberpunk themed books towards him.

[Nienke]

“I couldn’t sleep,” he confessed. His eyes darted up to the ceiling, the science fiction section was really not far from his bed.

“Had a lot of time to read books and think this weekend, so I’m excited to get to writing…” The end of his sentence trailed off a little bit as Eli reached inside his blouse for a book. This time fully flashing his nipple piercing and poor Aslan losing his ability to form coherent speech.

“Yes, book. Thank you, Elijah.” He tried very hard to make eye contact and not look anywhere else particular.

“I should…” He pointed to the place he’d set up, look confused, turned around and left. He wasn’t quite sure what just happened to him. He was normally much, much more composed. The rate at which he was getting infatuated with the librarian was quite alarming.

[Bandersnatch]

"Yeah, me either." Eli grimaced. He'd given up halfway through the night and instead opted to bake his feelings away with pastries and cookies, which reminded him he still had those in his apartment.

"Oh, you write? That's awesome, what do you write?" He perked up, although he somewhat figured he might have been a writer, the way he practically lived in the library and was often working on a laptop or jotting stuff down in a notebook. Still, though, lots of people came to the library just for the quiet to work on boring office stuff.

Eli cocked his head to the side, nose crinkled as he watched the guy try to form a whole sentence. He couldn't read this guy at all though, was he just distracted or was he getting cold with him again? He had no idea. Confused, he watched the guy leave, before storming off again to rant about it to Milo. Any boy troubles the two had they immediately shared with the other, and this boy trouble conveniently took place in the library.
"Like, what does any of it mean?? And why is his hair so pretty." Elijah slammed the desk in annoyance, Milo looking at him, unimpressed.
"Dude, you're really into this guy, where's your usual mojo? Just have sex with him or something." Milo rolled his eyes.
"Wha- Well... I..." Eli floundered. "I have cookies that need frosting." He sniffed, leaving to walk across the street towards his apartment in a hurry. It wasn't unusual, to be fair, for the librarian to just abandon his post mid-shift to go on a random personal sidequest, but jesus, Milo thought as he watched him go. He was even more or a huricane than usual. He wasn't complaining though, he whistled as he watched Elijah's ass strut through the door.

A while later Elijah was handing out the pastries and animal shaped frosted cookies to anyone he bumped into.
"Eli, you gotta put these awa-" Milo was cut off as a pink giraffe cookie was shoved into his mouth, but Elijah took the cart of books nonetheless.
As soon as he spotted the long hair he stupidly felt butterflies in his stomach, but soldiered on bravely regardless.
"Quiet down you fiends." He muttered to his stomach, picking out the nicest frosted fox plus some almond filled pastries that he'd warmed up a little, plating them and bending over Aslan's shoulders to put it on his lap.