𝕻𝖊𝖓𝖉𝖚𝖑𝖚𝖒 - [𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲]

𝐢𝐯. 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯

 Now Wong was... a character, to say the very least. The man was unflinching when it came to performing his duties within their home; he took each of his designated jobs as seriously as he possibly could; and considering what had happened to the previous librarian, his caution and utmost attention towards his job as a bookkeeper was most certainly needed.

 Despite the stoic look that often graced his rounded face and nonchalant features, Wong was a kind and incredibly loyal man; he took it upon himself to teach Emilia as much as he could upon her arrival, finding a rather large soft spot within himself for the broken woman who longed for a place in the world.

 He had truly never met a kinder woman, a better person who strived to do nothing but give out utter kindness... And he had never met a person who had been so beaten and battered by the world to which she contributed such kindness towards.

 Wong, despite the fact he tried to hide it, was far more open and far less stern than he let on; such a personality was primarily reserved for the days when salted water trailed over Emilia's cheekbones. He hid away his love for pop culture, he hid away his incessant need to utter cheesy jokes and let out the most boisterous of laughs, all in favour of protecting the ancient words that graced the leather-bound books within his library.

 "Emilia..." Wong greeted, a slight upturn of his lips clearly visible, an upturn that immediately fell upon finally noticing the tall newcomer trailing behind her. His eyes lost the small glitter of light that often sparked upon seeing his favourite student, and his voice fell flat, yet still remained as courteous as expected, "Mr Strange."

 "Uh... Stephen, please..." Stephen murmured quietly as his eyes scanned the darkened library with eyes alight. He turned to Emilia for a mere moment before looking to Wong, "Wong, right? Emilia told me about you."

 Wong raised a brow, "Good things?"

 "Obviously, how could I possibly have anything bad to say about my favourite librarian?" Emilia smiled, her teeth on display as she dropped the books both she and Stephen had managed to complete at least twice throughout the mere week the former surgeon had been living with them.

 "I'm the only librarian."

 "Precisely." The woman hummed, mischief lacing the word as a lopsided smile fell upon her rose coloured lips; something Stephen could quite help but lightly chuckle at, gaining a rather unwanted look from Wong himself.

 As ever a man to complete business in the face of strangers, students and masters, Wong scanned the array of books that lined the oak table to which they had been tossed upon, "The Book of the Invisible Sun, Astronomia Nova, Codex Imperium, Key of Solomon. You finished all of these?"

 Stephen nodded as he rocked back onto his heels, shaking hands clasped together behind his back, "Emilia's a relatively good teacher."

 "Relatively? Stephen, you'd have been lost without me." Emilia scoffed, though it was quite obvious to all three of the library's occupants that her words were nothing more than a lighthearted jest, one that managed to bring a fleeting smile to the newest sorcerer's face.

 "Well," Wong spoke, gaining the attention of the two who stood before him, "If you've finished these... You should come with me."

 Stephen wasted no time in picking up his feet to follow behind the bookkeeper, leaving Emilia behind whilst she took a few of the discarded, fully digested books that they had left on the table-top into her arms to return to their designated spot. She was more than certain that Wong — despite outwardly displaying his usual stern facade — was more than impressed with Stephens' newly garnered knowledge and was more than happy to quench such a thirst further.