The book slipped through her hands and struck the dust covered table with a light thud. Levy glanced at the red on her fingers and grimaced. Blood welling up under her thumb where she'd caught it on a frayed fragment of the old library code quill. The frown on her face very evident as Lily plucked up the book 'Tales of the Vampire' and scoffed at the cheesier than a cheese makers' cheese shelf illustration adorning the cover. A man with a very noticeable cape towering over a kneeling woman, eyes bulging a little too much, dress torn and hands clutched together praying for mercy. Lily counted six fingers on one of her hands. He laughed internally. Vaguely recalling this one. There was now a bright red bloody thumb print on the first page where Levy had been in the process of scrawling a magically infused library code.
"Well, let's hope no one notices," She laughed absently, sucking her thumb in an effort to quell the blood flow.
Lily chuckled, "I wouldn't worry about it. It's a terrible book, and a clear plagiarized copy of a far better novel." He remarked absently.
Levy grinned in an all too Gajeel way for Lily's liking. "So, you read Vampire novels, Lily?" Her smile spread. "I didn't peg you for a cheesy horror kind of guy," She quirked an eyebrow at him.
He'd more than gotten used to it by now, though.
"I'm also partial to werewolves and ghost stories," He deadpanned, although there was an amused light in his eyes. He knew better than to rise to the bait.
Levy sneezed and Lily sighed. The private library they'd been sent too had belonged once to a powerful mage known more for his reclusive and eclectic book collection than his powerful feats. He'd made his fortune catering parties for the rich and retired young to pursue his one true love; crappy fiction. He'd died of old age a number of weeks back and with no relatives to pass it over to, the man had left all his possessions to the Council. Levy had been charged with the task of cataloguing his library for anything interesting and Lily had needed some time to recover after a particularly nasty job with Gajeel. They'd arrived to find an expanse filled with more books than an individual could ever read in a lifetime, mostly trash, and entirely without any cataloguing system at all, which infuriated Levy. Write a number on the book with the code quill and you'd update the attached ledger with the name, author, code and a summary of the book. There was absolutely no excuse not to. This library wasn't a gift, it was a last defiant act of posthumous revenge. It was going to take Levy a week to sort this out and at present it didn't look like there would be much of anything in return for the effort.
"I've had enough of this," The woman threw her hands up in the air and stood up abruptly. "I'm going home. They can have some people pack this all up and move it to the office. If there's anything worth finding it can be found there. We can donate the rest. I highly doubt the council wants…"She picked up another random book, examining the cover and wincing. "…Forest of Forbidden Passion," She wrinkled a dust filled nose at the title and the somewhat raunchy cover.
Lily nodded picking up the two meager books of interested they'd found out of the four hundred they'd already catalogued, stashing them in Levy's satchel with the quill and, with a sly grin, the trashy vampire novel as well.
"Here," He passed the bag to the script mage. "I'll lock up and pick up some food on the way home if you'd like to rest a little? You don't mind me saying but you're a little pale," He offered. Levy looked exhausted. And this coming from the cat that had seen his innards very much outside his body the week previous. This was meant to be an easy job but like most jobs these days they seemed to have a way of turning out for the worst. While she wasn't needed nearly as often in the field as himself or the dragon slayer, that didn't change the fact that woman was working herself ragged for the Council. "Gajeel is due back in the morning so if we still want to have any knives and forks left we should probably get him more than fruit for breakfast. I'm sure you'll appreciate the peace and quiet before we have to face the latest ballad," He joked.
Levy stifled a laugh. "He'd punch you if he heard you referring to them as 'ballads', but yeah…" Her face seemed to grow even paler if at all possible and the easy going smile faltered. "…I am pretty tired," She forced a grin that fooled no one. "I'll go home and curl up with a book, maybe even risk a nap if you can do me a favor and pick up some of that spiced bread I like?" There was a mischievous glint in her eyes now, despite the weary lines creasing her smile. "Considering it's my last night of freedom and all before the odor police gets back?"
Lily made a gagging noise. Gajeel had banned the bread from the house on account of an unfortunate, maybe even isolated case of flatulence that he blamed entirely on the stuff. He'd slept on the couch the last night she'd eaten it, cursing his 'useless fucking dragon slayer nose' or something along those lines. Lily reckoned that the small delicate looking woman had a stomach that made Gajeel's iron one resemble wet paper. She was a lightweight when it came to the alcohol, but by the Gods could she eat some hellish things.
"Mi'lady has chosen." He bowed to hide his grimace but was grateful she was going to get some rest as least.
She kicked off her boots at the door and shrugged off her jacket with them, flexing her toes in bliss and rolling her shoulders. She'd have probably worked herself to death if Gajeel and Lily didn't pester her into getting some rest every now and then. She deposited the satchel on the kitchen counter and rummaged around in the cupboard for a snack but when nothing appealed she settled on some tea instead. In all the movement a corner of 'Tales of the Vampire' had slipped out onto the countertop, the bright reds and blues on the terrible illustration catching her eye.
"That sneaky little cat," Levy laughed, pulling out the book and flicking through the pages. "Tea, blanket, trashy vampire novel…" She grinned widely. "Well, there's my evening sorted,"
The council gear was hung up in her wardrobe amidst the carnage that was Gajeel's version of organization and Lily's desperate attempt to organize Gajeel's version. Boots, pants and rumpled shirts all tumbled out and much too used to it, Levy just scooted them back in with her foot before forcing the door closed with a sigh. She was now having to throw almost her full weight behind that door again to get it shut. Not that she could complain about it. At least it was just laundry for him. He didn't clutter the rest of the house like she did. Now clad in nothing but her underwear she half danced to her dresser and pulled out one of Gajeel's oversized t-shirts and the fluffiest socks she could find before pulling the comforter off the bed and dragging it to the couch, collecting her mug of tea on the way and curling up into a snug lump amidst the jumbo sized cushions; a trail of pillows and books that had been tangled on the bed left haphazardly in her wake.
Book in hand she started to read. It wasn't necessarily badly written but to her trained eyes it just read wrong. As though it was more a draft than the final thing. The book seemed to be centered round a somewhat emotionally frail aristocratic woman and her arranged marriage to a wealthy nobleman who, ding ding ding, turns out to be the Vampire of the story. Levy scoffed; the main characters seemed a little too vacuous for her liking. No character development. No personality. Boring dialogue. That, and Levy took particular exception to this, the female protagonist fainted at the slightest breeze and in three chapters had been saved twice by her childhood friend already, who of course just instantly hated the Vampire for no apparent reason. It was clear the book wasn't so much about the woman's stand against evil, more so her friend fighting the vampire over her. Maybe it wasn't quite so bad, but the idea of an emotionally and physically weak woman standing around while two guys fought over her affections just struck a little too close a nerve for her. Been there, done that. Levy put the book down; choking on a mouthful of cooling tea as she tried to control the laughter.
"Oh no, no my friend, you are going into the pile in the office," She rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Even I have a standard," She flipped through the pages of the book again, disbelief etched on her face. "I can't believe that Exceed made it all the way to the end of this?" She laughed.
Setting the book on the coffee table with her mug she pulled the blanket up around her shoulders. The first chill of Autumn was on the wind and the days were starting to grow shorter; she could feel the cold creeping at the edge of the blanket.
Curled up she allowed herself to drift off to sleep, where dark dreams awaited.