#the libraries

[tadpolesonalgae]

The Libraries

Helion x reader

a/n: I haven’t written for him in a long time so I hope he isn’t insanely ooc! 🧡💛

word count: 1,287

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“What may I find for you today, High Lord?” You ask, peering over the bright red rim of your pointed glasses. 

“So cold to me,” Helion drawls, bracing his forearms on the lip of your desk, the golden snake that bands around his bicep digging into the dark skin as the powerful muscles shift. “Didn’t you miss me while I was gone, peaches?” 

“It was certainly emptier,” you reply neutrally. “Now, what may I find for you?” 

“Can I not visit simply for the pleasure of your company?” The High Lord inquires, faux hurt showing in his sturdy features. “Pleasure certainly seems to be the main motive for your scholarly trips,” you reply, returning you gaze to the charts spread out on your desk, marking which books are due to be switched out and moved, and which sections are due to have new additions to their already full shelves. 

“Anything new?” The High Lord asks, and you can hear the wicked grin on his mouth without having to glance up. “A few things, since your last visit,” you reply, reaching over to the short list you’d scribbled down, now pulling it over and handing it to him to look through. Helion raises a brow as he scans through the short compilation. “Fully illustrated?” He repeats, clearly reading the note you’d added beside one of the titles. “Fully illustrated,” you repeat back in confirmation, ink pen scratching as you make an annotation for some sections to be swapped around. “And you verified that personally?” Helion asks, his deep voice taking on a low, suggestive drawl. 

“Personally,” you repeat back, again in conformation, still not paying him the attention he’s seeking. 

“Will you show me to it?” He asks, trying to pry you away from your desk. 

“You know the section,” you reply, a hint of amusement in your tone, but still annotating. 

“I don’t see anyone else requiring your attention,” Helion drawls, “and I didn’t come just for the book…” 

“To.” You correct, without looking up. 

“…to?” Helion repeats, blinking. 

“And I didn’t come just to the book, is what you meant to say,” you answer, a faint upward tilt at the corners of your normally straight-pressed lips. “Your humour is as sharp as your tongue, I see,” Helion says, huffing a low laugh that has the hairs on your forearms raising. 

At last you look up, and Helion resists the urge to stand upright, keeping his positioning casual as he looks into your eyes, partially warped by those red-pointed glasses. “Have you returned the last one you borrowed?” You inquire, reaching for a blank piece of parchment. Helion raises a brow, “you’ve let me borrow tens at a time, why does this book require an urgent return?” 

“It’s on the list to be shipped out to the continent. I take it you haven’t yet returned it?” You ask, and Helion shakes his head. You nod, scribbling something down before handing it to him. “A reminder,” you say when he takes it from your fingers, “to please return it at your earliest convenience. I understand you have a lot on your plate.” 

“Like a troublesome librarian who looks at me with a particularly…” —you shoot him a sharp glare over the red rims— “…bloodcurdling, expression,” he finishes. You hum, the doubt clear in the sound. You both know he wasn’t going to say bloodcurdling. 

“Now, will you do me the honour of showing me where this particular book is being kept?” He requests, a faint grin on his lips. 

“I suppose it is part of my job,” you reply, “even if you are taking advantage of that.” A distinctly satisfied expression appears on the High Lord of Day’s features as you stand from your desk, the knee-length robes that sit over your clothes swishing with the motion, and you set off down one of the long aisles, knowing Helion is keeping close behind. Able to feel the direction of his attention, too, despite the coverage of the robes. You shoot him a look over your shoulder, and he offers a questioning smile that has you rolling your eyes. 

It takes some minutes to reach the darkened corner of the library this particular book has been stored, and a while longer for you to climb the ladder that will carry you to the shelf it sits on, but at last you find it, handing it over to the High Lord who opens the first page with slight interest. 

“And to think you’ve looked through all of this already,” he remarks, eyes scanning across the few lines of writing beside the illustration. “I’m surprised you could tolerate such lewd imagery,” he muses, glancing at you with a faint grin, “did it bother you, much?” 

“Nothing I haven’t seen before,” you reply blandly, waving your hand dismissively. Helion hums, flipping the page over, eyes passing over the parchment with surprising restraint, then raises his brows. “You’ve seen things like this before?” He asks, half teasing, half serious. 

“Are you surprised?” You reply, brow slightly furrowed, “I’ve been working in these libraries for centuries now, I’ve seen all sorts of things. I doubt anything could shock me anymore.” 

“So if I got to put you in some of these positions…” 

“How very inappropriate of you, High Lord,” you reply, shooting him a look from over top your glasses, before making to move past him. 

You’re vaguely surprised when his large palm wraps carefully around your upper arm, prompting you to pause but not tight enough you couldn’t continue walking if you’d like to. 

You glance back up at him, listening. 

“Do my advances bother you?” He asks, sincerely. “I assume you don’t mind them from your occasional jokes, but I don’t wish to bring discomfort to where you’re required to work.” 

“I had no idea you were attempting advances, High Lord,” you reply, lightly shifting your arm, and he releases you without complaint. “I find that hard to believe,” the High Lord replies questioningly. “You’re flirtatious with most people you encounter, I wasn’t under the impression I was receiving any special treatment.” 

“Would you like special treatment?” He asks, his voice lowered a little, and you narrow your eyes on him. 

“I like genuine interest,” you reply, “I like commitment, and certainty—things I don’t believe you’re yet interested in.” Something shifts behind his eyes, but you wave your hand again, “which is fine. We seek different things.”

“You aren’t interested in finding out what might happen?” He asks, lips curved with a gleam in his eyes. “I would have thought that by nature you’d want to satisfy your curiosity.” 

“I have lived a long life, and I have seen a lot of things, as I’ve said. There are very few topics I’m still curious about, High Lord,” you reply. 

“Not even how it might feel to lay with me for one night?” He asks, that mischievous look on his features. 

But, “no. I’m afraid not.” 

Your lips twitch faintly at the slight surprise in his features before its swiftly concealed. “You’re free to continue as you like, though, so long as you don’t cause any trouble for my coworkers,” you say. “We had a new one in a few days ago and I don’t want you traumatising him with your literature tastes.” 

Helion grins, mischievous look returning, more promising than it was before. “Very well,” he replies, eyes glinting, “I’ll return the book as soon as I can. And I’ll remember to make my advances more clear, next time.”

You turn to head back to your desk, but not swiftly enough that Helion doesn’t catch the upward tug of your mouth. “I look forward to it, High Lord.”

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[impossibleobservationkryptonite]

How I learned to be a better librarian, or at least how to be a professional librarian

There's a lot of stuff that they don't teach you in library school, on how to be a librarian. It's stuff that you just have to learn on your own. And the professors tell you that to an extent. But I don't know if you're like me, I didn't really believe them until I started my job. They tell you really, that this is for the betterment of becoming a librarian, but working in a library is different than learning about it in a classroom.

One thing that I learned is that, hey I can have a very loud voice when necessary. I learned that as I was yelling over the roar of the children's department "NO RUNNING PLEASE." And the kids stopped running for the most part. (I'd still say it if they kept doing it.) I also realized that you're allowed to talk in normal tones at the library. You're allowed to use a regular "inside talking voice" rather than whispers. I'm a librarian; I'm not gonna rat you out to your parents if you ask me where Colleen Hoover is (I will however give you different suggestions based on wanting Colleen Hoover books.). Just please tell it to me in a normal voice. (I also found out I sound like my older sister when I speak loudly. Which is something I'm filing away for my future therapist at a later date.)

They don't tell you how to deal with any patrons in person. Patrons are fun to interact with normally. They give you different ideas of what they want, and what they're looking for. I once got to help a patron looking for a specific photograph of the Rockettes and pizza. (Ask me about him! He's awesome!) I had to deal with a patron who was scanning her books (trying to), and would look back at me each time one didn't scan, and tell me that they didn't scan. Not asking me what to do, not asking if there's another way to do this, just telling me that they wouldn't scan. I stood up and scanned one with the library's specific barcode (she was using the ISBN barcode one), and handed it to her as it came up on the screen. She huffed and re-scanned everything. Was that petty? a little. Not too worried about it though because this was the third time she and I talked about how to scan books at the self-check desk.

You learn everything you need to know on the job. It's interesting that getting a master's is required to become a professional librarian. And it's immediate. You get thrown right in with the patrons, your coworkers, how to create booklists, how to curate passive programs. It's just interesting that this is required. I'm happy I went to library school.

I've realized that, as a librarian, you kind of just are there. You're a person who fades into the background until a patron has a question for you. And obviously, the most asked question for us is "Will you watch my kids for me while I grab my books?" That answer will always be no. Why are you leaving your children with a stranger (me. Your kids don't know me, and I don't know them. There are 50 other kids in this room, how do I know which is which?)?

I cannot stress this enough. Invest in a journal. I just invested in another one. It keeps me rather sane in the times of bootyholes and punches. It also helped with school, and me writing down ideas of stuff that I want to do at my job. So that way I don't forget and can work on it when I'm at actual work.

I also learned that your boss isn't going to tell you what you can do. I mean they will, but you can also definitely just do some of the things they don't explicitly tell you that you can't do. I started a passive program where I put all of the Where's Waldo characters taped up throughout the department, and when the kids asked about them I told them they get to rehide waldo and his friends. The only rule was waldo et al. couldn't go into trash cans nor could they go into bags going home. They also did not have to tell us where they hid them. It's been about two years, so it's about that time that I reprint Waldo and Friends and do it all again.

Scavenger hunts are your best friends. They are deceptively easy. The kids get a sticker for completing it. And they also get to see different parts of the room that they're in regularly. It helps them learn about different parts of the library, and is fantastic.

[fagseal]

Not even two days in my hometown and I'm already bored as hell broooooo GET ME BACK TO THE CITY

[barid-bel-medar]

Fun fact about libraries and NYC; there's actually three different public library systems.

Best known one is the NYPL or New York Public Library. Aka they of the marble lions. They service Manhattan, Staten Island, and the Bronx. The best known part of it is the Main Branch Building (where the marble lions are), which is at present a research library.

Queens is then served by the Queens Public Library. It's existed in some form or other since about 1858. For all I live in Queens I think I've only been in a Queens public library location three times in eight years. Large swaths of the collections are in languages other than English; Queens is actually one of the most linguistically diverse places in the world.

Brooklyn is served by the Brooklyn Public Library. It's been around in some form or other since the 1850s. I have never actually been in a branch location since I've never had the need to use a library while in Brooklyn. The main branch of the BPL is the Central Library and has over a million items catalogued between various collections.

(You don't need to have a library card for each system; they're independent but if you have a card for one you can use it at the others)

[a-land-of-shadow-and-substance]

Alternate Tower Spotlight: The Paris Tower of Terror, Part 3--Lobby Waiting Areas, Libraries, and Pre-show

Beyond the cast member's podium was the crashed elevators and directory sign. Unfortunately I don't have a photo of the whole scene from Pa...

Here’s the third part of the Paris series!  Explore the second part of the lobby, admire the libraries, and listen to the pre-show in French!

[tadpolesonalgae]

I LOVED the Helion one shot. Idk if you want to write more for him, but if you do I can’t wait to read!! (No pressure though, write what you want to write!)

Well thank you so much! 🧡💛

I don’t currently have any ideas for him, but I quite liked that setting of The Libraries, particularly with reader leaning a little more toward Stern Older Lady than the kind of ‘reader’ I usually write?

I think it’s just enjoyable switching things up from time to time :)

[tadpolesonalgae]

the libraries was 🙂‍↕️🤌

Thank you 😳🧡💛

I think I liked writing Helion having a note of seriousness to him, even if he is still mostly playful and flirtatious