A Home for Neglected Books
When studying, oftentimes the best place to do so is a nice, quiet space with no disturbances, which is why it can be extremely difficult to concentrate when that silence is suddenly broken by loud voices and clanging noises, like the ones that interrupted what was supposed to be a nice, peaceful afternoon for the Crystal Exarch. One moment he's just minding his own business, reading ancient Allagan texts in hopes of uncovering some long lost science that could help them, and the next he's being bombarded by the sound of heavy labor coming from the next room over.
He looked around, confusion and mild anxiety on his face, before he got up to take a peek through the door that led from his study to the Occular. While he wasn't surprised to see Zel, all smiles in her sky blue maid style dress and bubblegum pink hair, he was rather shocked to see several other people with her, mostly a mixture of Ronso and Galdjent, with a couple of particularly brawny Humes assisting her, all of whom were just normal citizens of the Crystarium eager to lend a hand to the Warrior of Darkness. The Occular was practically dwarfed by the presence of so many large people depositing planks of white ash wood and other building supplies on the bright blue crystal floor. How in the world had they managed to haul all of that this far up the tower?
Being extra careful to make no noise and draw no attention to himself, he watched, curiosity showing in his swishing tail and perked ears as Zel directed the workers on where to set the materials, and while kind and respectful she worked with the efficiency of a seasoned construction foreman, even helping to move some of the less bulky parcels.
It didn't take long for them to finish, and soon, the band of helpers bid the white mage farewell, one of them even stopping to sweep the Miqo'te woman into a big bear hug, which she accepted and returned with glee and a laugh. When they had left, it was just Zel, standing in the middle of her cache of building materials, energetic and ready to take on whatever task she had set for herself. She turned towards the door to the study and smirked at G'raha, who despite not being particularly stealthy, jumped a bit, as though he hadn't expected her to see him.
"Er...what is all of this?" He asked, an eyebrow raised and his ears flattened against his head.
"Oh, you'll see." Zel said before hoisting a few planks and a small parcel and heading towards the study.
G'raha opened the door and stepped aside to allow her through, tilting his head in confusion as she set down the lumber and started moving books around.
"Zel?"
"Your treatment of these poor books is horrific, they need a proper place to live." The white mage said, carefully undoing the parcel she brought in. "It'll probably be a little noisy so I'd suggest going to the Cabinet if you want some quiet."
"Horrific?" Was all G'raha could manage to squeak out as he watched Zel produce a packet of nails from the parcel.
"You have books face down, open on the floor, you're using books as bookmarks for other books, and, twelve help me G'raha, what in the seven hells is this?"
She was gesturing to a stack of books haphazardly piled together, with some pressed open with several other books on top of them. It was a wonder that some of these poor books weren't completely destroyed.
"'Tis...not that bad..." He grumbled under his breath. But it was that bad. He had never been particularly neat or careful with his hoard of books, despite being a historian. As embarrassing as it was, it was always something that slipped his mind as he jumped from one book to the next, his search for knowledge taking him on tangents that caused tomes to lie forgotten for weeks at a time.
"Right. Anyway these books have suffered enough and I'm going to build some nice shelves for them to stay on so they can be organized and not stuck in book hell like they are now. And no, you won't change my mind, I already brought up all my supplies."
There were a million questions the Exarch had and wanted to ask, but none of them seemed to want to make the move from thought to voice, and instead he merely observed as the young woman worked on her task. This was clearly not her first time working with wood or building furniture. Just how many skills did this woman have? She was an accomplished healer and more impressively a forest-chosen white mage, and somehow she was a skilled carpenter as well? He had heard tell that she had been assisting the artisans of the Crystalline Mean, but he had no idea she was this hands-on.
"You're better off not questioning it." he heard X'raehl say from across the room. The Exarch hadn't even noticed him amongst all of the other helpers.
"Does she do this a lot?"
"Yeah. We should probably stay out of her way for a bit, she tends to get pretty focused when she's building things."
The summoner returned to organizing the various sundry materials, and G'raha merely stood there in mild shock, not quite sure how to react to...all of this. All he could do was sigh and smile at the ever busy Warrior.
"I suppose I'll make some tea then, for when she takes a break."
Written 2020/02/17
Posted 2024/03/07