"What do you want kid?" I jumped at how she immediately know it was me. Stars do you give me the creeps.
"I, uh, I, um... Well, I was hoping you'd, y-you know, be able to help me... Learn some languages and may-maybe, uh, and maybe about m-my dragon...?" I facepalmed at my inability to talk normally.
"You mean Occeanebic? I mean, I was pretty surprised when you didn't know what it was but I have a hard time remembering which languages are dead so that's on me, not shocking no one else knew it either," She hummed, far more calm than our last encounter.
"I don't really have the time to teach brats to read you know? I've got my hands full-" A growl cut her off, yipping and whining following soon after, "Goddammit- KNOCK IT OFF YOU DUMB F-" She growled cutting herself off and leaving me to pale. Bad time. I picked a bad time.
"S-sorry... I didn't know you were busy,"
"Just... Look, kid, I'd probably do it if I wasn't busy, purely to screw with those uppity council blue-blooded bastards, but I really do have my hands full, so, just, like, have these and return this cc to wherever you stole it." A mountain of books dropped into my room without any other explanation, the sheer number having me pale exponentially. "Now, I've got to go-"
"Ah! No! Wait, I- uh- sorry, it's just... I was wondering if you could like... Help me with more than just one..." I trailed looking at the book in hand, capturing it I sent it hoping she knew what it was.
"Laiyati? Damn kid, what's with you and dead languages? I mean, come on, why bother learning half-baked potions anyway?" Opening my mouth to tell her where I had borrowed this from I was cut off via a new mountain of books. One bigger than the last. "There, now you've got everything you could ever need to learn both and even properly research topics I doubt you have permission to. I also put in a little extra in case you thought to call me again,"
She hung up. The glowing black crystal dulled while I silently stared at the books covering my room. I couldn't even see my floor. Oh, this is how I die. Groaning I took a deep breath and looked back to the crystal in hand.
Well... She didn't have to help me. Even if she just wanted to get rid of me. My smile faltered as I looked back to the wall-to-wall books that had completely boxed in my bed. A narrow line leading to my door but nothing else. Looking at the dragon on my bed I found it sniffing the books before looking at me with a tilted head.
Laughing nervously I looked back at the ones I had put on my bed. I should... Put back the stolen goods! Yep yep yep. The only thing you can do. Unhooking the many crystals hanging from my bedpost I started capturing the images so I could return the books as well. And maybe put off dealing with the mess.
With a deep sigh, I looked over my shoulder at the dragon I could hardly see and began my way back to his office. Far more careful this time too. Thankfully, I didn't have to pick the lock as it was open and put everything back to the way I remembered it.
Slipping out I paused, my shoulders sagging and my mind catching up. I should have gone slower. Avoided reality. I mean, sure, tomorrow was my day off, but like, tomorrow was my day off. I only got one of those a week. One. And I only had half the day this week.
And I had planned to sleep through it and maybe go to town for some actually edible food. But no. Now I had to deal with books. So many books. Why did I have to ask for help?
"Lilith? Dear?" Miss H's voice rang through my room with a soft knock. Squinting at the door I rubbed my eyes, sleep deprivation definitely getting to me. "Oh my... You've had your hands full..." She made an attempt to smile but the more she looked around the more she paled.
Clearing her throat she picked up one of the books, obviously about to try and connect with me or something, only to pause. My attention returning to the book in my hands, not bothering to worry over what she way read. It was in Laiyati. There was nothing to worry about. With a flash of mild confusion, her brows furrowed and a frown pulled at her lips. Understanding it about as well as I did. "This is..."
"Laiyati," I deadpanned turning the page of my current book. My ability just above greetings. And telling them apart. Putting my bookmark in I snapped it shut and dropped it on the stack I was working through with a stretch.
"We haven't got many of these on the shelves, have you cleared out the library?" She laughed lightly, my attention on the bitter tar classified as liquid. Tossing it back I missed the sweetness of coffee and ruffled my wildly curled mane before getting to my feet.
"No, I had a friend send them," I yawned, not insane enough to collect more books, no matter how useful they were black slush didn't completely fix one's fatigue.
"Well, consider me impressed, I didn't know you were aware of the name let alone someone with such a collection of books in the language." Yeah. The walking weapon Vixen was pretty chill and gave me millions of books because I happened to have gotten overly curious. I swear, I'll be learning how to bite my tongue from now on.