You stare with caution, watching the man fidget as he traverses the library floor. He looks distressed, uncomfortable even, like he's lost or something. Earlier he came in with a dapper gentleman, so perhaps he was looking for him? You want to ask if he needs help, but you can't find the initiative within yourself to speak to him. It's not befitting for an employee being unable to approach someone in need, but you're a librarian. You took this job because it seemed relatively low-maintenance. And right now, this man looks like the most high-maintenance person who's ever existed in a library space. He offers you a few glances and heads into a row of books.

The whole situation is childish in your eyes- the man needs help yet neither of you want to recognize the other for help- and you ultimately begin to worry. Maybe he doesn't need help and is just looking to cause trouble? He looks like an honest man, but you just can't be sure. What if he steals a book or something? It's stupid, but he's in the encyclopedia section and most of the older volumes run for about a thousand dollars. It's a possibility.

You suck in a breath and prepare for a fight of some sort, but you still make no move. Crickets chirp in the library, as they should, but you feel uneasy about the silence. You preparation mentally isn't helping you, and your straying thoughts begin to scare you. Straining your neck, you attempt to check into the book rows from your seat. You see no one.

'Could I kick him out for loitering?' you think. He's not doing anything but he's certainly not…not doing anything!

You pop up from your seat and stride down the row of books. He's standing further down, looking into a book, one of the thousand dollar encyclopedias you worry about. As you approach him, your memory clicks and you vaguely recognize him. Blue eyes and silver framed glasses, set in to a childish face, and that weird hair strand sticking out of his part. You remember his name is Jones or something, because that was the name you wrote on the damaged property report. Perhaps he was here to pay the fine he owed for spilling a milkshake on the piece of ancient Mayan scripture the library housed.

"Excuse me sir," You say. "Sir, have you come to pay your fine or ruin another expensive book?"

He whips towards you and almost drops the encyclopedia. A breath catches in your throat as he lets out a booming laugh.

"No! Because…I don't have a fine?" He replies and winks. "But you…you are definitely fine."

A moment passes and your face becomes hot. You tug your collar on your t-shirt anxiously. You've never really been good with receiving compliments, perhaps because you never really received them, especially not from cute guys. You are a librarian, after all, it's just an uncommon occurrence for you.

He snorts another laugh. Your heart races, you did kinda walk into that one.

"W-well, do you at least have a library card, if we didn't revoke it?" You ask. If he has no card, he has no reason to be here, so you can ask him to leave.

"Yeah, I have it right here!" he says as he rummages through his pocket, pulling out a sad-looking scrap of plastic. "I can't check any books out with it, but you're not a book so..."

A frustrated scream that is meant to be silent escapes your lips. He grins a doofus smile the entire time, as if he isn't phased by the fact that his comments are going to get him kicked out much faster. Flustered, you motion to the book in his hands.

"Then why do you have this book? If your card is revoked then you shouldn't even be here-"

A shorter man dressed in green knocks past you, hap-hazardous in movement. You remember him as well, with his incredibly thick eyebrows and accent. He was the one who helped reprimand this Jones guy, even though his method of doing so involved shouting off half the patrons in the library. His name was like….Arthur or something…..Alfred…..Arthur and Alfred. These two owe the library money.

"America, you know what happened last time? The last time we split up in here?" Arthur grumbles. "You ruined a thousand dollar scripture and got us both kicked out. Now what do you do? You wander off and grab another ancient bloody book to muck up."

"Chill! I didn't ruin this one! At least, not yet...But I won't!"

They squabble and nit pick until you grow sick of it. You wander back to the front desk and wait, the Arthur guy has two books with him, so you'll need to check them out eventually. Perhaps at the same time you can settle the fine payment. 'But yeah, I guess I am really fine,' you think. That's a good self-esteem booster.

The squabbling makes its way to the front desk eventually, Arthur looking quite flustered. You scan his books and go to send him on his way when he leans down to you.

"I am truly sorry about all that, you were probably talking about his fine with him. Don't let him convince you he hasn't one. That's actually the only reason he came with today."

Your eyes widen a bit in relief, perhaps this won't need to be difficult after all. He waves and leaves, leaving you with Alfred, who has the same doofus smirk on his face (it's almost...too innocent). A small filing cabinet with his report pops open and you bite your pen in thought.

"Hm- Alfred F. Jones? Blond hair, blue eyes, a notable eh...protruding hair strand?" you ask.

"Yep, that's pretty much me,"he muses. "But you're also forgetting the 'awesome, heroic, and amazingly attractive'."

"And extremely humble as well. Either way, you destroyed an ancient Mayan scripture valued at… about five-thousand dollars."

You stone-face him, attempting to bring him into a serious mood. If Arthur is credible, he may try to negotiate his way out of this, which is unsurprising to say the least. And it continues to be unsurprising.

"So um, yeah, here's the thing, I'm not going to pay for it," he says. "That's fucking stupid and just no."

"Wow, what a hard bargain you drive. Completely convincing. Your alternatives to payment are community service or potential jail time."

He freezes up, a look of fear briefly crossing his face. You have him.

"So what should I write to the authorities then? Community service or jail t-"

"You don't have to tell them. At all. Because I literally can't pay this right now."

"That's not my problem."

He sighs and runs his fingers through his hair. He looks uncomfortable once again, but not quite as lost. One glance at his watch and he stumbles towards the door.

"I don't have time for this right now. Please just, like…..I'll be back tomorrow, maybe we can negotiate something? I have a meeting to get to..."

You watch him leave without another word, no smile or grin on his face. It almost breaks you to see him like that, but rules are rules. You suppose….you can wait patiently until tomorrow.

'I guess I am kinda fine,' you think to yourself.


author note: This is my first reader insert fanfiction, and I intend for it to be multiple chapters long. If you like it so far, let me know where you'd like to see me go with this and leave some suggestions or something!

Remember: feedback is great and lets me know if I should continue or not lmao. tell me where I messed up at yo (If I messed up at all ;) )

Also the reader's gender at this point is ambiguous, but if anyone wants me to make the reader gender-specific then I'll see what I can do!