Fate - First Reply Sucker Punch [Elbion College]

[Svenia Albrecht]

She did not go anywhere other than the library and she took her time going. It was delightful to be outside in fresh air. She did not often go unless work called her to it. It still felt like a small betrayal, though; enjoying anything when she was the only one left outside of her elder brother.

At least the ache was manageable today. She had to carefully navigate the steps leading up to the main doors on the ground level of the library - an awkward affair at the best of times.

She found that she had made it there in advance of Suleiman. Rather than sit, she simple waited near the door, leaning against an ornate pillar of stone. So close to so many magic tomes, she could feel the greasy feel of magic en potentia riding the air.

She was lost in thoughts of magic - what they had been taught so far, most of it unimportant to her own long-term goals - when Suleiman broke her from her reverie with a start.

Her eyes ran up and down him, a wry smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "Cleaned up? Well, then, let us get dusty. I am looking in to some of the ingredients - their qualities and such." She listed off a handful of them to the Maraan youth. She still did not quite look him in the eye - or at least not from the side of her that was ruined.

"Do you know where to find such information?" It was a long shot - Suleiman was not, as a general rule, useful when it came to a lot of academic pursuits. He was, however, a good person on the whole. And he might just know where the articles may be. She did not come to the library often at all.

 

[Suleiman Askari]

The list of ingredients, expertly recited by Svenia, went mostly over Suleiman's head (confirming, as it so happened, the former's general rule of the latter). She wasn't looking at him, not directly, but still Suleiman—in all the manner of a man desperately feigning knowledge of a subject—had his chin cupped in a hand and kept a steady, receptive gaze on Svenia. Some of those names he vaguely remembered. And by "some" it truly was only a couple: Astra's Tears and Waterfoil. Both of these, really, because he had had some silly thoughts about each in the Potions Class when the Professor first mentioned them.

Do you know where to find such information?

"I do not." But with the hand that cupped his chin he shot a finger up into the air. "But! I know who will!"

Already he started walking—at a pace amenable to Svenia's gait.

"Believe it or not, I've been in here a few times before. Probably...uh, probably not doing what I ought to have been doing—you know, studying. Anyway, that's not the point. Point is, I've struck up conversation with Keeper Yulia at least three times by now. I don't know how many Keepers the Grand Library has all in all, but Keeper Yulia seems like the best. She talked my ear off about all kinds of things, and one of said things was how she 'brewed a wondrous potion or two back in her day'. If anybody knows, she's got to know."

Svenia Albrecht

 

[Svenia Albrecht]

She moved along with him, staff clicking on the stone floor as she went. "Wonderful," she said brightly and a little out of breath. She didn't make a comment on whether she believed him or not. She very definitely did not speak of her own journeys into the stacks seeking things that had little to do with her studies. The library held many, many books and not all of them were on the business of magic and its application.

She had her own guilty pleasures, and they stocked those books too. If you knew where to look.

"That sounds promising. I doubt she would tell us anything about the assigned potion, but the ingredients and where to find information on them seeing as we've already determined that? Excellent work," she huffed.

Her eye wandered as it always did here. The smell of parchment and vellum was only rivalled by the pervasive, sharp scent of dust. The place was kept clean, of course, but it seemed like manuscripts and scrolls attracted dust faster than it could be swept away. "Hopefully... its not upstairs," she puffed.

 

[Suleiman Askari]

"It is. Twelve flights."

Suleiman clucked his tongue, and though his lips puckered he held back a grin.

"I'm kidding. Keeper Yulia is usually at the Central Round Desk."

And indeed she was. The Grand Library opened up before them as they approached the Round Desk; the ceiling leapt up, up, and away and far overhead it went, and balconies supported by mighty pillars overlooked them for many a dizzying level; it was as though they had walked into the yawning mouth of a circular chasm, save only that the sky above was a dome. One could be made to feel quite small here!

But this was about Keeper Yulia. She was a small woman, with a short and prim style of hair; her eyes were dark, her lips thin, and the many wrinkles of her face spoke to a lifetime of stories. She lowered her spectacles as she spotted Suleiman and Svenia approaching, electing still to sit, but smiling nonetheless; though Suleiman could not know it, behind the charm of that smile lay a bit of cunning, like a huntress watching game wander into a trap she had set.

"Keeper Yulia!" said Suleiman, all smiles and geniality. "I was wondering if you could help us?"

First he introduced Svenia, and then he told her of his and Svenia's present interest in certain ingredients. Keeper Yulia's eyes flashed with a certain delight.

"Ahhh...Suleiman Askari...my favorite miscreant. What a charming coincidence. As a matter of fact, you'll find plenty of material on the subject in Backroom One." And here her tone changed from sweet to sour. "Which you and your friend Svenia here shall be cleaning. I command it."

"Whaaaat? What did I do?"

"Have you forgotten, young man? The red nectar juice you spilled on one of my prized tomes? The detailed Speculation on the Forbidden City? Hmmmm?"

"It...uh, was just a little bit, Keeper Yulia, you said so yourself. And Svenia didn't even do anything!"

"Guilty by association," she retorted crisply. "And beside, you could use another hand. Or rather, spell. I trust Svenia is more adept than you?"

Keeper Yulia didn't wait for any answer or any more gainsaying of her will. She put her spectacles back on and gave a dismissive wave of her hand in the direction of the Backroom and she said without looking at either of them, considering the matter already settled, "Go on then. You won't be the only hooligan I have tidying up my Backroom, so worry not about being too lonely."

Suleiman could only glance at Svenia with a tight, apologetic expression.

Svenia Albrecht

 

[Svenia Albrecht]

She paled a moment at the thought and almost turned around and left. She was definitely not up to climbing so many stairs - a painful and grueling experience at the best of times, which these were not.

So when he admitted to it being a joke, her lips compressed in a line and her eyes flashed dangerously for a moment. "Cute," she said frostily. With that she hobbled along on her staff, each click a sharp reproach to humor she didn't find funny in the least.

She did not gawp at the Library, of course. She had been here many times in the few weeks of actual enrollment for various tasks - not least of which included extracurricular reading. And at least one afternoon spent with Atticus in quiet companionship and not a few social blunders.

At her greeting, Svenia paused. Perhaps Suleiman might not pick up on the disapproving undercurrent of the Keeper's words, but she could. She grit her teeth at the command to clean, partly out of unspoken outrage that she should stoop to such a menial task and partly out of outrage at being attributed with whatever hooligans might be wrapped up in all of this. She was, by and large, a stickler for following the rules.

"So long as you are not expecting me to get on my hands and knees," she replied to the Keeper crisply. "I am dubious at best about anyone helping me back to my feet afterwards." That was all she would get by way of complaint. Undignified though it might be, it was not uncommon for first years to be assigned drudgery as a form of 'spiritual enrichment'. She saw it as them saving some of the considerable coin it took to enroll by employing unpaid labor in pursuit of some metaphysical nonsense.

"Lets be about it then," she said - only a bit snappish - and resumed limping along in the direction indicated by the Keeper Yulia, muttering under her breath about men and the trouble they got up to.

 

[Suleiman Askari]

Suleiman sucked his teeth as they walked, and he grimaced as though struck, trying and mostly failing to hold his embarrassment at bay. Now, if it had been just him getting wrangled into this, no problem. No problem. He made a mess, and he would pay for that mess. But for Svenia to get caught in Keeper Yulia's snare too? That hurt the most. And did Keeper Yulia really have to say, "On your hands and knees, my dear? You won't need to. That's for him," as they were turning to leave? Ouch. Sure, yes, he'd gotten a little better at blowing out candles but not so adept at his magic to make conquering pesky bookshelf dust a breeze...but did Keeper Yulia have to rub it in?

"Look, Svenia...I'm sorry. This is my fault. If I'd at least remembered about that juice incident, you wouldn't be stuck on this task with me."



Svenia Albrecht

 

[Svenia Albrecht]

"It's fine," she said in a neutral tone. Mostly neutral, anyway. She might have applied more than her weight behind each tick of her staff on the stone floor than was strictly speaking necessary.

No use getting upset, she chided herself. This kind of thing wasn't exactly unheard of for first years. Likely, she would have been set to dusting and straightening shelves even had Suleiman not done anything to mark him out of the crowd. "They set us all manner of menial tasks, anyway. We're first year students."

It still rankled though. She didn't like having to do such chores. That was what the help was for. Her chores were figures and contracts and transcription and all manner of things in that vein. She didn't see herself as pampered or spoiled.

Of course, no one ever did.

They made it to the room in question. It was clear that the room had seen much use, and by people with little care for order or neatness. Visible from the door were a pair of tables stacked with books in a haphazard manner, crumpled paper toss on the table and floor. There were a few other students as well, some she recognized only in passing and others she hadn't seen before. None of them were people she'd given a second thought for.

"Well, I suppose we best get on with it," she said.

 

[Suleiman Askari]

She wasn't mad about it, so that was a relief. Talk about starting off on the wrong foot if that had been the case, huh? A nice chat instantly ruined because a little spilled juice a few days ago. He'd, uh...just have to keep in mind that while Keeper Yulia, when unrankled, was pleasant to talk to, she was still not someone to be trifled with.

* * * * *

GRAND LIBRARY BACKROOM ONE​

A bit dimmer in here, Suleiman noticed, and a light smell of dustiness unconquered pervaded in the air. Svenia had to be onto something: surely a full mage, let alone a Maester, could set the Backroom in order no problem, but the College likely allowed for it to be this way specifically to have some menial tasks for first years.

Well, I suppose we best get on with it.

"Yeah. If it looks like we put in an effort, at least, Keeper Yulia ought to have mercy on us."

They weren't alone in the Backroom—Keeper Yulia had snared three others. Like Svenia, Suleiman was unfamiliar with them, but this is who they were: first was Barach, sharp-featured and eagle-eyed, tallest of the three but lanky, he'd an air of quiet cunning and cold pragmatism about him; second was Gorm, stocky and square-jawed, a touch overweight, as he enjoyed eating heartily, and beneath his short hair lay a wispy beard on his face; lastly, Marcurio Tosk, handsome and well-groomed, fitted with fine clothes, his eyes gleamed with keen intelligence, but his smile, whenever he did so, suggested that he often bent this intelligence toward mean-spirited ends.

Suleiman got to work, sorting some of the books left on one of the tables.

And before long, Marcurio, having of course noticed the two, exchanged small glances with Barach and Gorm, and then called out to Suleiman and Svenia together, saying in genial manner, "So...how'd you two end up in here?"

Svenia Albrecht

 

[Svenia Albrecht]

With a grimace, Svenia did the same. She rested her staff against a bookshelf to give herself two free hands and went to it. Without the extra support she moved awkwardly, left leg stiff and giving her a painful shuffle. She set to work clearing another table, picking up a few books and scanning their titles before returning them to where she thought they belonged.

She cast a sidelong look at Marcurio when he asked, eyes cutting to Suleiman briefly. "Caught in someone else' trouble," she huffed. "Research plans sidetracked by this," she added. There was an edge of annoyance buried in her voice.

She put the current load of books away. "Were you also caught up in someone's mischief?"

 

[Suleiman Askari]

Suleiman, before Marcurio gave his response, had a small aside to himself: research? Oh wow, Svenia was already doing research?

Marcurio then gave a huff of a laugh and said, "Mischief? Hardly. I'm afraid the truth is rather more simple than that." He smirked and shrugged. "Why, it's only that Keeper Yulia, in her elderly and woebegone years, is taken by my youthful vigor and handsome mien. And women have this endearing tendency to be quite nasty to those of whom they are fond—much like a common housecat, biting the hand that pets it." He glanced then to his companions and concluded facetiously, "Apologies, gentlemen."

"No worries," said Gorm.

"I never liked cats to begin with," said Barach.

Marcurio's assessment, and not less so his demeanor, left Suleiman a touch baffled. "I, uh...don't think that's very accurate."

Svenia Albrecht

 

[Svenia Albrecht]

Svenia gave a sniff of disdain at the young mans' assessment. "I would suggest you do not have much experience of women, then," she said. The words practically tinkled with ice. She hadn't been smiling before, but her lips were a thin line now.

She limped stiffly to a writing desk, and gathered a handful of tomes. "Though that attitude does suggest one reason why you are back here doing menial labor with the rest of us." She made her way back towards the shelves, searching for where the current set belonged.

The temperature in the room seemed to have notably dropped.