You don't got this, you realize, as the large stack of books you'd been carrying crash to the floor.
Oops.
You look around embarrassedly as the people surrounding you go quiet for a moment, before returning to their own activities. You kneel to pick up the books just as someone walks over to you, and look up to see a student with an I.D. badge reading "Campus Library Assassin" gazing down at you. Wait, that's not right. It says "Campus Library Assistant".
You may need to update you lenses again.
"Need some help there?" They ask with a raised eyebrow, kneeling down to help you gather the books.
"Thanks!" You smile at them, trying to reel in the awkward. "Sorry," you apologize, "I'm kind of a master klutz sometimes..."
"Don't worry about it," they grin as you both stand. Looking at them, you can't quite tell their gender, and it occurs to you a moment later that they might not be male or female. Their skin is rich brown in color, and their hair is short and slightly spiked, making it look almost like they have a mini Mohawk that started to lean forward. Their eyes are dark brown, but gleam with a look you know all too well. Jollity.
You've found a fellow prankster.
"I'm John," you say quietly, none too eager to risk invoking the wrath of a wandering librarian. "John Egbert."
They shake your hand and match your quiet tone, saying, "Nice to meet you John. I'm WV, but you can call me V for short if you want."
"What's that stand for?" You ask, curious.
"Guess," they say, winking.
You smile. Unlike Rose, you like guessing games. "Mmm...William Victoro? You try. "Whilemina Vanders? Will Vex? Whitford Vicious? Wayward Vagabond?"
"All good guesses, particularly that last one," they nod, "but alas, all wrong."
"Okay," you chuckle, "Then what does it stand for?"
"Whatever I want it to," they reply casually, flipping through one of the books you'd dropped. "Oh my gosh. You don't actually read these do you?!" They exclaim, holding up the book in disbelief. Its cover features a rough-and-tugged guy, scarred from years of battle and heroism; who, with a look of cold steel in his eyes, is shooting fearlessly at the enemies just out of view.
Your taste in books is just like your taste in movies. Epic. Sadly though, judging by the look on their face, WV doesn't seem to agree.
"Boy," they announce as loudly as they can without disturbing the library patrons around you. "You are a fool. Everyone on this earth with a grain of sense knows that this is the third installment in the "Grit and Rage" series!"
You're shocked silent for a moment before breaking into a wide grin. "Do you like Nic Cage?" You ask eagerly. If he's read ""Blood and Grit" then there's a good chance he's read the novel adaption of that one movie-
"Do you really have to ask?" WV interrupts. You laugh in response; just wait until you tell the others about this!
They can never understand why you like these books, and while Jade and Dave just kind of accept it (with minimal teasing, of course) Rose has a tendency to launch into long discussions about their "obvious over-compensation". Demonstrated by the, as she calls them, "humanized symbols of male power-fantasies embodied with photo shopped abs and egos big enough to block out the sun". You adore Rose, but you would stab yourself in the eyes with her knitting needles before you recommended another book to her. The last one you loaned out came back chock-full of sticky-notes vividly detailing the "thinly veiled symbolism" in each chapter. You will never look at that novel the same way again. Especially not the fight scene between the two enemy rockets firing missiles at one another. Darn you, Rose.
Darn you.
"Boy!" WV says, loud enough this time that a few people nearby turn to look at him. They ignore them, and raise an eyebrow at you. "Did you hear a single thing I just said?"
Nooooo... "Ummm...yes?" You reply. Dang it, you spaced out again! You've got to watch that...
"So you heard the question I just asked?" They inquire.
Uhhh..."Yes?"
"And?" WV asks, waiting for an answer.
"Maybe?" You answer, mentally kicking yourself. You are not smart sometimes.
They furrow their brow and squint suspiciously at you. "You mean you don't know what your natural eye color is?"
You...You have no idea what they're talking about.
"On second thought, I might not have been 100% listening," you admit sheepishly. No gold stars for you.
"That's what I thought," they say, looking unimpressed with their arms crossed. "Am I really that boring?"
"What? No, no! Not at all!" You exclaim. Fuck, you're fucking up! You're not making a good first impression...maybe this is why you met all of our best friends online, where you could just go back and see what someone else had typed if you spaced out. You're "endlessly upbeat attitude" as the others put it can only get you so far, and-
"You're panicking, aren't you?" WV asks with a raised eyebrow.
"I prefer to think of it as extreme back-pedaling," you say, avoiding eye contact. Extreme back-pedaling out of a chasm.
"It's alright," they say, shrugging and seeming flippant on the matter. "I was simply asking you if you're wearing colored contacts, or if your eyes are just naturally that ridiculously blue."
"Oh, no that's just how they are," you answer, slightly confused. You're not sure if you should be insulted or say thank you.
"Interesting," they nod. "So about this book," WV says, waving the worn paperback, "would you like me to show you where the first book is?"
"Hell yeah!" You answer, happy to move back to a more understandable topic. "Lead the way!"
You follow WV through the maze of shelves, wondering how they could already know the floor plan of the building so well. It's only the second day of the term! A couple of minutes later they come to a sudden stop before one shelf, and quickly run a finger across the spines of one row of novels before halting.
"Hmmmm...here we are!" WV announces, plucking a paperback from the shelf bearing a familiar name. "Blood and Grit, book one!" They smile, handing the book to you.
"Are you some kind of Wizard?" You ask, impressed. "How did you know exactly where this would be?"
"Maybe because it's his job," a voice behind you says. You turn, and see a guy slightly shorter than you glaring at WV. He...well he actually looks a bit like WV the more you look at him! His features are sharper than WV's, and his hair is shaved close to his head, but around his eyes and in his stance you can see some similarities. He doesn't have a pierced ear though, and unlike WV's pale grey top and black jeans, this guy is wearing what looks like- Wait, is that vest made of crime scene tape or something?
Whatever it is, you think it practically begs for a cliché "crime against fashion" pun. Thankfully, even as a master prankster you're not awful enough to inflict the kind of pain that would come from making said pun. You're a professional after all; you've got to set some kind of standard to uphold.
"Hello, Ari," WV sighs from behind you. "Wreaking havoc and destruction on the general public already?"
"Destruction?! No!" Ari snaps, appalled. "I'm campus security. I don't cause destruction or havoc, I destroy it. See? I have the vest and everything," he scowls, gesturing to his outfit.
They bicker back and forth for a few minutes before falling into annoyed silence. Judging by the intensity of their current stare-off, you get the sense that both Ari and WV may have forgotten that you're here. "Isn't "destroying destruction" kind of an oxymoron?" You interject, trying to break the tension.
"Did you just call me a moron?" Ari snaps, turning his glare on you.
John used "awkward icebreaker". It was not remotely effective!
"What? No, man I-" you hastily try to explain before WV comes to your rescue.
"Ari," WV interjects, rolling his eyes. "Calm down. John here did not call you a moron. Though if he had, I can't say I'd disagree with him. We've been here only a week, and already you're taking this too seriously. You and I both know you made that vest yourself, and you're not campus security. You're a volunteer."
"I'm a volunteer whose job it is to uphold justice," he insists. "As the age-old mantra goes, "Law is Beauty. Order is Peace."
"And the library is in order!" WV exclaims. "Look, everything is in order and I am showing a library patron a requested material. The only thing disrupting the peace is you."
"Hmmph. Be that as it may, I cannot allow such a flagrant disrespect for the law go unnoticed," Ari scowls, looking a bit dejected that his speech had no effect on WV. Suddenly, he turns his attention back on you. "I've got my eye on you," he says, his seriousness almost comical.
"Oookay?" You say.
"And for the record, don't listen to anything he says about me," Ari says, gesturing to WV as he turns away. "He's just jealous."
"They and them pronouns!" WV calls after him as he walks away, but Ari doesn't give any indication that he's listening. He stops briefly to snap at someone tapping their pencil on a table for "disrupting the peace", and then he's gone.
"Well," WV says from behind you, "That went well."
"Wait, what?" You ask, trying to detect any trace of sarcasm in their voice as you turn to face them. "Are you serious?"
"Unfortunately, yes," they answer, sighing. "Ari's a handful, but you handled that well. No ridiculous fines were given to you, and you only babbled a little when he snapped at you, so I'd say all-in-all that went just fine."
"Oh. Well, okay, if you say so," You reply, still a bit baffled.
"I do say so," WV nods. "He's my cousin by the way, if you were wondering. Both of us have family working at Skaia University, and it's become something of a family tradition to attend school here and get an on-campus job. Plus we've been visiting here since we were rugrats, so this place is kind of like a second home to us. Ari tends to get a little carried away with the whole thing though..."
"That makes sense," you say. "It's pretty cool that there's a whole family community within the university!" Internally, you latch on to what they said about having a tradition of on-camous jobs. Maybe since WV is so invested in Skaia they could help you find a job!
"There are several families here like that," they continue, "So don't be too surprised if you hear a few other people arguing like kin. Especially if you're planning to officially join the Prospit or Derse group."
"Oh yeah! I'd almost forgotten about that," you say, remembering the yellow pin that had arrived in the mail shortly after you received your acceptance letter to Skaia. A note had been included in the envelope, something about the history of the university and how originally two colleges merged to form Skaia or something? You have a feeling you're mangling the story a little... Whatever it was, it had talked about the different values held by the different founders, and how now there were two groups a student could be selected for. Although...the letter hadn't seemed to say how exactly students were selected. Maybe it had something to do with your interview or your essay?
"You're back in the clouds, aren't you?" WV asks. You realize belatedly that it's been minute since either of you said anything.
"Oh hell, sorry about that!" You apologize again. "I was just wondering, how do people get selected for Prospit or Derse?"
He smiles mischievously. "I can't tell you, boy. University secret."
"Oh come on!" You wheedle, " You're like the wizard of Skaia University! You know all the secrets!"
"Mm, well as much as I would like that to be true, I am but a simple Vassal of Skaia," they smile. "Though I do know quite a few interesting things."
"Well then you're the Wizardly Vassal!" You reply, grinning a bit.
WV pauses.
"...I actually like that one," they say, nodding slowly. WV looks up at you for a moment, their expression calculating. "Hmm, I suppose there is one way you could learn a few trade secrets."
"How?" You ask, caught between laughing at WV's tone and being conerned. Are they going to challenge you to do something? Are there trials to accessing the secrets of Skaia? Is there going to be a to-the-death battle? From the gravity in their voice it almost sounds like they're going to send you out on a-
"Are you looking for a job right now?" WV asks, interrupting your train of thought.
"..."
"John?" They ask? "Did you not hear what I just said, boy?"
" What? No! I mean, yes! Yes I heard what you said," you stammer. "You just, caught me off guard. But yes! Yes I am looking for a job!" You grin. Who knew this would turn out so well? It's almost like this was predestined to happen! Like it was planned out by someone with a comprehensive idea of where events would take you and why your presence at certain locations would be necessary. In other words, it's a miracle.
Haha, yeah right! You think. Seriously, who believes in those?
"Great," they smile. "Any chance you can start tomorrow?"
"Oh, uh sure!" You say. "Do you want my schedule so we can work out hours...or?"
"Here, let me see your phone," they reply, putting out a hand.
"Okay?" You say, watching curiously as WV takes the phone from you and taps the screen a few times.
"There," they announce handing the phone back over. "Now you can just text me your schedule, and I'll work something out with the head librarian. Take care of the paperwork and all that." You look at the contacts page open on your phone, and sure enough, there's a new addition labeled "Wizardly Vassal".
"Haha, thanks," you laugh, putting the phone back in your pocket. "My last class end at about five tomorrow, is that an alright time for me to come by?"
"Sounds acceptable," they nod. Just then, the walkie-talkie holstered to their waist buzzes. "I've got to go. Can you find your way to the check-out counter?" They ask.
"I'm going to go with... yes," you say, nodding at the large "check out here" sign a few yards away pointing to the main floor.
"Right then," they nod. "See you tomorrow."
"See you then," you agree, smiling as WV walks off. Find a job? Check. Meet new people? Check. Make some new friends? Vague check! You think WV could be something of a friend. Who knows, maybe you'll even befriend a few people you meet in class. Speaking of...you've got to run! Looks like it's going to be a mad sprint to make it to Bio Lab on time!
AN: And so ends the slow day-by-day pace of WBOTH. Be prepared for a time jump next chapter, thigs are going to start speeding up! As always, comments are joyously welcomed. Thanks for reading!