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There were some days when the Player and Dedan would separate nowadays. After what happened between them after all the mess the Batter had caused, there was a bond between them much stronger than all the metal beams holding up the plastic in the Great Library’s walls. There was much trust between them, and with a rather nasty threat out of the way, the Queen had deemed it safe enough for the Player to traverse through the Zones without having to stick with Dedan all the time.
Of course, they were all careful not to mention the Batter. A single mistake could cost them way too much if ever that fiasco ever happened again, especially Dedan.
So there they were, aimlessly wandering the mines, scouring for Spectres, when the Player received a question from an Elsen they passed by.
“Director Player, I… hhhh… have a question.”
“Yes, what is it?” they asked gently, and the Elsen looked off to the side.
“Y-you see, hhhh, I-I’ve been wondering if the Director liked reading…” the Elsen shuffled on his feet.
The Player smiled and patted the Elsen’s head. “Of course! I love reading. That’s how I was able to tell you guys stories, right?” they cocked their head, smiling kindly, and a grey flush crossed the Elsen’s face.
“Y-you see, hhhh, I like… writing,” he pulled out a book from behind him, it was bound with plastic, and its pages were of thin leather. “I… hhhh… wanted you to take a look at this…” the Player, chuckling, took the book from the Elsen, and he clasped his hands behind his back. “I… hhhh… wanted to put it in the Great Library… in, hhhh… Zone 2, but I don’t know if… hhhh… Director Japhet will like it.”
“I’ll take a look at it,” the Player smiled, nodding, “And I’ll bring it to Japhet’s library for you, okay?” they patted the Elsen’s head, earning them a shy smile from the little man. “Good job on completing this, though. I’m sure you worked hard on it.”
“Thank you… hhhh… Director Player…” the Elsen smiled weakly, before scurrying away from them. The Player looked on after them, a fond smile on their face, when suddenly a pair of large hands grabbed them by the waist. Their eyes widened in surprise but it quickly melted away into a bright laugh as they were turned around to come face-to-face with a scowling Dedan.
“Hi, darling.” The Player laughed, and the Guardian scowled.
“What did that little shit give you?” he asked, gesturing at the book, and the Player held it away from their lover.
“Just a book; he wanted me to read it.” the Player replied, “Are you being a jealous wreck again, Dedan?”
“Shut the fuck up,” the Guardian replied, smacking their side lightly, sending a jolt running down their spine. The Player winced and Dedan smirked. “Ha.” He scoffed, and the Player rolled their eyes, lifting their hand and waving it across their face, making Dedan smack himself in the face.
“Very funny, you big jerk.” The Player pouted, “Lemme go. I’m heading to the Library.”
Dedan eyed them curiously. “What’re you headed there for?”
The Player shot him a sceptical look, holding up the book. “See you later, darling.” They grinned, “I’ll be back in time for story-time, promise.”
Dedan seemed to hesitate, and the Player raised an eyebrow at him, but he relented, nodding, and turning away from them without another word.
“Dedan?”
“Just go do whatever shit you’re up to.” He told them over his shoulder. “Come back as soon as you can.”
The Player watched Dedan walk away from them, confused, but then they shook their head, assuming he was throwing some jealous tantrum, and made their way to the train to get back to Alma, where the red box to enter the Nothingness was.
“Japhet!” the Player smiled brightly upon seeing the Guardian flying overhead as they arrived in Zone 2. The firebird noticed the Player, and with a nod, he flew down and landed by their side. “Hello, my friend, how’re you?”
“I’m perfectly fine,” Japhet replied, hesitating for a moment, before shaking his head. “I’m sorry, but my feathers are still a little disorderly from a few scuffles I’ve had to deal with here, could you please, dear Player?” he asked, turning around to show the Player a few stray feathers poking out of his right wing.
“Oh, right, sure,” the Player nodded, smiling, helping him smoothen down the feathers. With a graceful nod to show the Player his thanks, Japhet turned around again.
“What brings you here today?” he asked, and the Player held up the book the Elsen gave them.
“I wanted to add this to your Library, if I could.” They replied, “It’s a rather pleasant book by one of the Elsen over at our Zone, and he wanted it to be part of the Library. I decided to drop it by.”
Japhet glanced at the book, head cocked, but he nodded. “Very well.” he walked forward, “I’ll accompany you today. It’s a rather peaceful day, so I think I’d rather walk. If you please, dear Player, do read it to me. I haven’t any hands, and it’s been a while since I’ve dug into anything new.”
The Player nodded, chuckling, and followed after the bird, their hand on his wing to help guide them as they opened the book with their other hand, reading it out loud to Japhet as they walked.
Many an Elsen watched them walk by, interested in the story the Player was reading out loud to their Guardian. It didn’t sound like any of the other books in the library—were they getting a new book? How exciting.
The Player noticed their interest and smiled at the Elsens they passed by, Japhet walking steadily onwards with grace, as they continued to read, their pace nice and slow and calm as the liquid plastic at the dock in the far west of the Zone.
They had reached the Library just in time for the climax of the story, and needless to say, Japhet was impressed.
“For a Zone 1 Elsen, that is quite an interesting story,” he commented, opening the door for the Player and nodding at them as they thanked him, stepping in before him. “A person with rape and stalking issues? An interesting premise.”
The Player nodded. “Non-con isn’t something that floats my boat, but this story this Elsen wrote is quite compelling. I hope you don’t mind spoilers?” they asked as they stepped through another set of doors to enter the reception area.
“You’re getting to there anyway,” Japhet chuckled, and the Player laughed.
“Yeah, I guess. I have to say that when the stalker murdered the rapist in cold blood,” here, Japhet’s eyes widened slightly, impressed, and the Player grinned at him, winking. “Yep, retribution! Whoo!” they cheered, earning them the startled glances from all the Elsen inside the library’s lobby, their small, beady eyes wide as they could go in shock at the sound of the Player’s voice reverberating through the hallway.
The Player froze, their eyes wide, and Japhet rolled his eyes.
“You’re in a library, Player, I suggest you act accordingly.” He told them, patting their shoulder with his wing before making his way over to the reception, where an Elsen opened up a logbook for him to log into. The Player followed after him and watched as he pitifully tried to pick up the pen, messily rejecting the Elsen’s offer to help him as he tried to sign his name down.
Shaking their head, the Player simply snatched the pen out of the crook of Japhet’s wing and wrote their names down in the logbook, smiling reassuringly at the Elsen staring at them.
“Thank you, dear.” They nodded at the Elsen, before turning to look at Japhet, arms akimbo. “And you, Japhet, you should learn to take help when you need it.”
The bird scoffed, his feathers puffing up, before waddling away. The Player watched him leave, a fond smile on their face, before shaking their head and following after him.
“If you please, dear Player?” Japhet spoke up when the Player caught up to him. The Player raised an eyebrow at him, and he gestured at the book.
“Oh, right. Ok…”
They continued to read as they walked up the stairs, entering the first floor of the library, which was still under-renovation from what seemed like a rather nasty scuffle. The bookshelves were still standing at the sides, pressed up against the walls, and the ground looked rather worse for wear. There were books piled up on the ground, sorted into piles, and there were a few Elsen loitering about, staring confusedly at the piles of books as they shuffled their way up to the next floor.
The Player halted in their reading to look at the rather unkempt state of the first floor.
“Ew, what happened here?” they asked, lowering the book and leaving Japhet’s side to inspect a suspicious-looking stain in a crater in the middle of the floor. “Japhet?”
“Here’s where we caught the spectre.” The bird replied, “The one that tried taking you away? We defeated it here.” He told them, before looking around at the books at the side of the room. “I haven’t really the time to fix everything, what with all the Zone maintenance and tea parties, and…” he fell silent, looking down at his wings, and the Player’s eyes widened in understanding.
“Tell you what,” the Player grinned, “I’ll help around in your Library.” Japhet’s head turned so fast the Player thought his long neck would snap, and they gave him a kind smile. “Dedan and I haven’t been running into kinks in running the Zones—”
“In bed, however, is a completely different story,” Japhet cut in, and the Player’s cheeks flared red.
“Japhet.” They scolded him, and he gave them a light-hearted chuckle. The Player sighed, shaking their head. “Anyway, like I said, we haven’t been getting too much problems, so I don’t think he’ll mind me helping you out for a while.”
“Oh, no, that’s asking too much of you,” Japhet replied, taking the book from the Player’s hands gently, “I’ll be alright here.”
“Really.”
“Yes, really.”
“Let’s see you open up that book and read to me, then.”
Japhet frowned slightly, but tried his best. Putting the book down on the ground, he folded up his wings and used the joints to attempt to pry it open, and when he somehow managed to do so, he shot the Player a smug expression.
“Okay,” the Player chuckled, “Now turn the page.”
Here, Japhet completely froze, and the Player laughed brightly.
“See? This is what I meant.” They told him, “I’ll come over again tomorrow, okay?” they asked, picking up the book off the ground, waving it slightly to emphasize their point. “Today, I’ll hang around to read this with you, and you tell me if this should be added to the shelves. I’ll come back tomorrow, okay?”
“Player, you really don’t have to—”
“Oh, but I insist.” They smiled at him, “You’re not the only bookworm around here.” They winked at him, and he smiled, shaking his head fondly.
“Oh, alright.” Japhet sighed, “Come along then, there are comfortable chairs in the higher floors, but dear Player, do remember that I am not the one responsible for whatever trouble you’ll get into with your… keeper.” He chuckled, and the Player giggled brightly.
“I’m sure Dedan won’t mind. Now, let’s get upstairs and finish this! I stopped at a cliffhanger right before a plot twist you’ll seriously love!”
The book made it to the shelves later that evening, as the first archived work in the Library.
As promised, the Player returned to Zone 2’s library the next day with a plastic dustpan and broom, a leather mop and a metal bucket with some liquid plastic in it. Japhet rushed to help them carry their things up to the first floor, balancing the long instruments between his wings while the Player carried the bucket up the stairs.
He noted a slight waddle in their steps, and he smirked.
“Trouble with someone, my friend?”
The Player glanced at him, and an embarrassed blush crossed their cheeks.
“Someone needed convincing,” they replied quickly, before turning away. Japhet chuckled and lifted a long feather like a finger to ruffle their hair, earning him bright laughter from the Player.
They arrived at the first floor with many a curious Elsen watching them, wondering what their Zone’s Director was doing with Zone 1’s Player. They gathered at the stairwells to look on as the Player set down the bucket at a relatively clean corner of the room, as Japhet did the same with the dustpan, mop and broom. The Player grinned at him, picking up the broom.
“Let’s get to work, shall we?”
Japhet eyed them, unsure.
“Really?” he asked, “Me, clean up?”
“Well, I did hear from Enoch that you were the one who moved the bookshelves so the Spectre fight wouldn’t damage them, so.” The Player shrugged. “Yep, you’re cleaning up too. Heavyweight lifting!” they grinned, flexing their arm as best as they could, poking the rather soft appendage.
Japhet rolled his eyes fondly, but puffed up his feathers.
“Let’s get to work, then.”
Lunchtime had rolled around and they had done quick work in the first floor. The crater had been fixed and cleaned up, the carpet rolled over it, the shelves were back in their places, and the walls were clean of dust and dirt. The Player finished off sweeping the floor with a little wink at the Elsens still watching them the entire time they were cleaning the floor, earning them scattered applause from the little men.
Japhet rolled his eyes, tapping the Player’s shoulder to catch their attention.
“Don’t let it get to your head,” he scolded, and the Player chuckled, shrugging apologetically. “The Queen has called for a tea party. We’ll spend our lunch there.”
“Oh, right. Thanks,” the Player nodded at him, setting down the broom and dustpan at the corner they left in that morning, before following Japhet upstairs to find the red box that would take them to the Room.
“Ah, Japhet, Player, how lovely of you two to join us,” the Queen smiled at them as they walked into the Room, taking their usual seats by either side of the Queen, within reach of Hugo, who was already happily eyeing Japhet’s tail feathers. Only Enoch was around, already digging into a new cake. When the Player sat down, he immediately set down a slice for them, and chuckling, they thanked him, as Japhet rolled his eyes in exasperation at Enoch’s actions.
“Good day, Your Majesty,” he replied, watching her pour him a cup of tea, and with a thankful nod, he bent down to drink from it.
“I see you and the Player are together today.” She told him, giving Hugo to the Player to chat with, the little boy’s delighted voice and the Player’s more subdued one becoming the background music of their light afternoon conversation.
“Yes,” Japhet replied, “We’re cleaning up the Library, after what we had to do to Zacharie…”
“Ah, yes,” the Queen nodded gravely, “But you? Cleaning up? How peculiar.”
“Indeed,” the Guardian replied, eyeing the Player fondly. “I’d like to venture that it’s probably because I’ve finally found someone of the same feather.”
“Have you flocked together?” she asked, and he chuckled.
“Perhaps.” He replied, “The Player has managed to get me to clean up, after all.”
The Queen chuckled, just as Dedan arrived.
“Dedan,” she greeted, and he nodded at her before heavily sitting down next to his Player. “Now that everyone is here, let’s begin the tea party.”
Upon the Player’s suggestion, Japhet pulled out some more logbooks in order to archive each one in the first floor, sorting them as either “fake”, “real”, and “incomplete”, one by one. He and the Player sat together in the middle of the first floor, surrounded by books as he picked them up one by one, the Player taking note of them and fixing some problems (damaged plastic covers, missing leather pages, the like) and then Japhet shelving them according to type.
They worked in comfortable silence for a while, until the Player spoke up.
“Y’know, I’ve always wanted to do this.”
“Do what, dear Player?”
The Player shrugged, “Be surrounded by books. It’s weird, really, like I have this unexplainable love for them even though I don’t remember actually reading anything before I met Dedan…”
Japhet nodded. “How peculiar,” he replied.
“Yeah, I guess, but I remember stories. Tales from books long forgotten. Books from a world different than this, which exists only in my dreams.” The Player paused, and laughed sheepishly. “Oh, sorry. I’m spewing nonsense.”
“No, not at all.” Japhet replied, “It’s quite poetic,” he told them, “You’d make a good writer,” he told them, and they laughed bashfully.
“Oh, I prefer reading.” They denied, “And storytelling. I’m not very creative.”
“Nonsense,” Japhet scoffed, “No child is uncreative.” His tone softened and he poked a feather in the Player’s sternum. “You’re creative, too, dear Player—and that is what matters. You must not let go of that child in you, do you understand?”
The Player smiled softly, and nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.” They said, “Thanks, Japhet.”
“You’re most certainly welcome.” The bird replied, “Now, come on! We have much to sort and time-out draws near. You can’t miss Elsen story-time, right?”
“Oh, right!” the Player nodded, “I’m just about finished with the Masked Slayer of Kings.”
“The what?”
“It’s this book I read in the Library one time, up in the higher floors, I think? It seemed interesting, so I decided to adapt it into a full-length story. The Elsen love it.” they chuckled.
Japhet nodded, uneasily. “Yes, I’d assume so…”
After all, out of all the Guardians of their world, Zacharie’s story had been the most interesting.
The thought wouldn’t leave his mind, after that. What was interesting about him? There wasn’t much—he was a bird, a singing firebird that oversaw a residential Zone where nothing much happened save for that “wild” roller coaster at the park Zacharie owned.
Dedan had an interesting side to him—he was brash, forward, strong-willed and he used a lot of expletives, not to mention he oversaw the most important Zone from all of them—the industrial Zone, where all the important elements of their worlds came from.
Enoch was interesting, too. He discovered a fifth secret element and he created a way to harvest it. Not to mention he was a great cook.
Don’t even let him get started on Zacharie. That man was of legend.
Sighing, he slid the last book into the bookshelf, more tired than he realised.
There wasn’t really much to him, in hindsight. He was just a bird who loved books but couldn’t even read them properly.
“Japhet? Is something wrong?” the Player asked and he whirled around too fast to be able to dismiss it as anything but a problem.
“Nothing is, dear Player. Thank you for your help today.”
The Player frowned at him, and crossed their arms.
“There’s something wrong,” they drawled, shaking their head. “Japhet, what’s the matter?”
The Guardian paused to consider his options. Did he really have to tell the Player? They weren’t his, after all, it wasn’t their problem.
“I thought we were birds of a feather,” the Player spoke up after a long moment of tense silence, and the Guardian’s eyes lit up in surprise. “Both bookworms—um, bookbirds,” they chuckled, shaking their head. “So you gotta tell me what the matter is. We’ve flocked together, right?”
Japhet sighed fondly, shaking his head.
“So you heard what I told the Queen,” he said instead, and the Player laughed lightly.
“Maybe.” They replied, “Or Hugo just had a really good sense of hearing.”
“Oh, little Hugo. I should have known.” The bird chuckled, before patting the Player’s head with his wing. “If you insist. I’ve encountered a strange epiphany—I’ve realised that there isn’t anything of interest about me.”
The Player shot him an incredulous look.
“I’m being completely honest here, I am but a bird; Dedan is a great man of steel, Enoch a great cook, and Zacharie…” he fell silent.
“The slayer of kings.” The Player finished for him, and he silently nodded. “Yep, I figured,” they sighed, shrugging, but they patted Japhet’s head, stroking soft feathers down his nape. “But you’re amazing too—you may have not killed a king, or invented sugar, or even oversee the bare necessities of the Zones, but you’re something, too.” they gestured all around them. “You created the Great Library, the residential area, allowed Zacharie to run the Park you had made for the Elsen’s benefit—you’re a benevolent leader, and your Elsen are so very happy for it.”
They scratched beneath Japhet’s beak, and the bird leant into their touch, smiling contentedly.
“Because your Zone is an outlet of creativity, a place to recreate, a haven for those who need a little peace or colour in their lives.” The Player continued, “The Great Library is a testament to that.”
They winked at him.
“And I’m a bookworm, and you won’t believe how relieved I am to find someone who enjoys reading as much as I do.” They chuckled, “Dedan absolutely detests paperwork, and he yells at me to quit reading in bed when we’re about to sleep.”
At this, Japhet laughed. “I do the same thing too, every night.” He replied, and the Player nodded.
“Exactly! Dedan doesn’t understand how relaxing reading is,” they laughed, “See? There’s always something there that’s innate to only you. It may not be huge, but it’s there.”
Japhet sighed, and nuzzled the top of his head against the Player’s hand, before wrapping his wing around their shoulder in a half-hug.
“And you, dear Player, have a rather canny knack of bringing out the best in others.” He chuckled, and the Player blushed lightly in embarrassed humility. “First in Dedan, and now in me… you’re simply amazing yourself, Player.”
“Don’t push it,” the Player laughed lightly, before looking up to see the wall clock. “Oh, I have to go; time-out is in half an hour and I have a story to tell.” They smiled.
“Of course, of course,” Japhet nodded, letting go of the Player.
“I’ll be back tomorrow.” They smiled, “We’ve got the other floors to catalogue.”
At this, Japhet nodded, smiling back. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning then, dear Player.”
They grinned at him, flashing him a thumbs-up, before turning to pick up the things they brought with them.
“Wait, Player?”
“Yeah?”
“Let me help you with that.” Japhet waddled over to them, picking up the bucket’s handle in his beak, as well as the mop’s handle. The Player chuckled and stroked his feathers thankfully as they picked up the broom and dustpan, and together they walked upstairs to make their way to the red box to take the Player back to Zone 1.
They’ll be back tomorrow, Japhet thought to himself as he bade the Player good-night, watching them disappear into the Nothingness, and tomorrow, they’d read and catalogue books again and everything would be as beautiful as it had been.
As he walked back into the library, smiling, he thought to himself that yes, birds of a feather most certainly do flock together.
Tomorrow, he was completely right.
“What story do we read today?”