《That Small Library by Dover Street》2. Inventory

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He hums a little tune to himself, pushing along the cart along the library's halls. His fingers drum on the handles, a thin smile on his face while nodding along to the melody, before stopping at a particular aisle.

Reaching into the cart, he pulls out a clipboard, quickly taking a pen from his pocket and beginning his work. It was slow, especially when he had to check the rough condition of the books, but he kept himself a little bit entertained by continuing his humming.

"Sins of the Fathers, Etoille, Verdant Skies..." He muttered along, eyes flicking through the spines of the books in the aisle right before he stops and tilts his head to the side. "... Weird. This hadn't been returned yet. Wonder why?"

He pulls out his phone, quickly flicking through the library's database and searching up the book that he was searching for. Sure enough, it had been lent out to someone for the past week, which meant that someone owed the library some overdue fees.

As his eyes scrolled down to who exactly he had lent the book to, he could only let out a growl.

Because of course it had to be her.

...

"Oi", he calls out a few minutes later, dragging his cart behind him to further catch her attention. Sure enough, she was brought out of her book, turning towards him while all but promising death with her eyes.

"What is it?"

"You still have that book you borrowed last week." He replies back, more or less focusing on the book in her hand rather than face death. "You thinking on giving that back soon?"

"Uh..." He glanced towards her, finding her brows furrowed in confusion. That... was good enough of a reaction. Mostly. "I borrow a lot of books here, so you might want to specify..."

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"You've got a library card with you."

"And you're the one that interrupted me while I was minding my own business." She huffs, glaring at him with half-lidded eyes, "The least you could do is get it over with and make it easier for the both of us."

Well, she got him there. He sighs and brings up the clipboard – more or less to look professional, but also to quickly look for the mark that he put on the aisle that he just passed through.

"It's 'Rest Stop'." He replies a second later, "The one by Alex Omerda. You should've returned it around... what, three, four days ago?"

Her brows furrow once more, before she quickly pulls out her phone and goes through the calendar. She pauses a second later, right as she turns towards him with a smile and a wince.

"Ah", she speaks, trailing off for a few seconds while glancing back towards her book. "I... sorta left it at home. I'm gonna bring it here tomorrow, is that fine?"

"You know there's a fine for these sorts of things, right?" He asked in a dry tone, causing her to glance back at him with a sigh.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." She grumbles, "Sorry, it's just – ugh. Alright, how much should I pay you tomorrow?"

"Around..." His eyes cross together. "... Bout seven quid or so? I'll just give you some change once you bring it in."

She frowns, quickly counting out some numbers on her hand before cursing under her breath. "Shit," she mutters, before quickly turning her gaze towards him and letting out an awkward bark of laughter, "Uh, it's not you or anything. Just figuring out if I should just munch on some snacks for a while. Breakfast gets a bit expensive."

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He raises a brow, leaning against the cart while crossing his hands over his chest. "Lady, I'm sure a seven-dollar fine isn't large enough to put you in a diet for weeks."

"Not asking for your opinion here, mister." She snaps, shooing him off with a hand. "Now go. Pretty sure there's better things that you need to do aside from bugging me about overdue fines."

He shrugs, giving her a lazy salute and getting back to pushing the cart along, tossing the clipboard and pen inside while humming a little tune under his breath.

"Oh." She calls out, making him stop and glance back towards her. "Do keep quiet, will you? I don't think others would be willing to tolerate your humming."

He doesn't reply, merely chuckling and shaking his head before turning back and continuing to push the cart. In the meantime, he raises his hand in her direction, giving her the middle finger as he turns the corner and goes back to work.

And there was nothing that would stop him from humming along all the while.

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