OOM: A Tale of Two Cities

[herr_bookman]

Pain never used to bother Autor, not really. He didn't dwell much on his or others'--there was no point wasting the time when he had so much work to be done.

But then Lohengrin flinched and Rabastan cried, so now the boy is looking back at other ponds he may or may not have made waves in. To his chagrin, he found a few. Even worse, he found some storms ready to burst.

So he put off his work and scoured the library for a solution. He devoured poetry after poetry book, history after history, and found nothing. As much as it irritates him, he's out of his depth. He knows he needs to turn to a person with experience in these matters.

Someone who knows him, but is disconnected from the situation. Someone who can't possibly guess who else is involved. Someone who happens to be walking right beside him at the end of a long day.

"Majesty Lemia?" he asks hesitantly, and then straightens his posture. "You have a great deal of experience in diplomatic negotiations, do you not?"

Comments

[herr_bookman]

"Wait, what?" Autor says, blinking at them. "What? I can't do that!

"I mean, I've made a working Muggle form of the Bruise Removal Paste and I'm working on a Girding Potion," he rambles, "but I'm fairly certain that if I try, say, a potion for closing wounds or a Dr. Ubbly's Oblivious Unction I'll end up poisoning myself."

He fidgets a bit and stares at his shoes. "As everyone under the sun keeps pointing out, I lack magical ability."

Looking up, he furrows his brow. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

[gorgonfondness]

"Because I'd rather help you find positive outlets for your obvious skills," Mia answers.

"And because Draco can probably keep you in line," Nash adds.

"He's not that difficult," Lemia remarks. "But I'd much rather have him with me in the library."

[herr_bookman]

Autor leans back. "Oh," he says. He's not sure what else to do.

Except give a side-eye to Nash. There's always that.

"What hours does Draco keep? I could drop my courier work and work at the shop then," he says, glancing at Lemia. "But I would prefer to stay at the library as much as I'm able."

[gorgonfondness]

"There are some evening hours you can work if you like. I'll ask Draco what he might have for you."

[herr_bookman]

Autor adjusts his glasses, nodding. "Evening hours would be preferable; I'm sure there is inventory to catalog, if the store is as busy as you say."

He begins gathering the empty cups. "Thank you for these opportunities, Mia. Majesty Lemia."

And Nash... Well, Nash just gets a good-natured smirk.

[gorgonfondness]

Nash smirks back and goes, "Thanks for the tea, Autor."

[herr_bookman]

Autor ignores him completely, because, well, that's just what you do when you want to get a rise out of people like Nash. Ridiculous, Lemia said, he thinks, but not in a bad way.

And Autor finds, to his great surprise, that he likes Vane, Lunar, and its people.