Chapter Text
Y/N Amerie, a librarian at the Public Berlint Library. No codename, no 'real identity'... Everything considered, Y/N was a completely normal Ostantian Working-class citizen. Both parents were alive, their siblings were alive, and considering the fact that most of their siblings and father served in the war or were currently in the military, Y/N got off extremely lucky to have no loss in their family.
The big concerns were only ever about typical squabbles, calls to check in on each other, and what was for dinner. Humming to themselves, Y/N organized the pile of books from the return pile, stacking them based on their categories. As they were about to deliver a stack back onto their shelves, they noticed someone walking up to the desk.
"Excuse me? Could you help me with something?" A masculine voice asked quietly, considerate towards the atmosphere. Y/N turned to look up from their desk to take in the man's appearance. A young adult, maybe around their own age, although his dark circles indicated he might've been older. His hair was shoulder length black, his skin a pale olive toned, and his eyes narrow and a deep red. His clothing was fairly casual, a cap hiding the top of his head, his jacket a green baggy yet durable fabric...
"Oh! Yes, of course. Sorry." Y/N blinked, snapping out of their staring to offer a soft smile. "What do you need help finding?" Althea asked in the same quiet tone.
A paper was slid to them. "I, uh, wanted to know where you kept your collection for newspapers, magazines... stuff like that." He asked, Y/N nodded, but opened the paper to notice what he was specifically looking for. He could've just said that... Y/N squinted at the paper then looked up at the man, who... looked rather cheerful and polite. Maybe he's just an embarrassed nerd. With a nod, Y/N stepped out from behind their desk. "Of course, I hope you don't mind me coming along, just so I can unlock some stuff and uh, supervise." Y/N nodded. The man's eyes widened slightly, "Coming with?"
Y/N nodded, "Yes, for where you're asking to go." They affirmed, folding the paper and sliding it into their pocket.
It took a moment before the man nodded, awkwardly following them over into where the man had actually requested to go. The archive of the Library, home to countless amounts of data. Which was absolutely open to the public... as long as you asked permission. Most people who come in without any degree or job specification usually wouldn't be supervised, but for the random man, it was necessary.
Y/N hummed quietly as they unlocked the door, letting their voice melt into a comfortable volume, now a lot more alone. "Fan of surfing databases?" Y/N asked, moving away to let the man through, who awkwardly shimmied in... judging by how hunched and stiff he was now, he probably wasn't expecting to be supervised. "Uhm... yes. I am." He decided to answer.
"Then I trust you know standard protocol. Wash hands, don't take, you can touch and look, don't smudge or damage anything, and of course, no food or beverages are allowed in here." Y/N explained with a firm nod, closing the door. "You're free to come and ask me anything."
"Yes, thank you... Mx...?" The man tilted his head at the librarian. To which they nodded. "Mx. Amerie. And you are?" They responded, tilting their head, almost mimicking the stiff guy.
"Yuri, Briar. Thank you, Mx. Amerie." He nodded, introducing himself.
The rest of the visit was quiet, Y/N didn't really ask any questions and didn't really pay too much mind to what Yuri would specifically look at and read. If anything... They couldn't help but stare at his expression, in wonder of how focused he was at the material... but wasn't even bothering to take notes. In fact they doubted he'd even brought something to take notes with. So he's a big time hobbyist. Did he just get bored of the normal books and public records? What a weird hobby... not that they could even judge. They knew how it was.
Yuri eventually glanced up, narrowing his eyes at Y/N, to which they awkwardly smiled and stiffly looked away.
It was a few more moments of awkward silence before Yuri straightened his posture and neatly organized what he'd taken out and returned it. "Thank you, I believe that's all I wanted to look at." He affirmed, brushing himself off and walking towards the librarian. "Out of curiosity... do you really have to stay the entire time..? And stare?" Yuri asked, furrowing his brows. His last quip mumbled quietly.
The librarian furrowed their brows in return. "Unless you bring me a form from your job stating your usage and responsibility over you... yes. I do. These Archives are welcome to the public who get permission from us directly, but it's also our job to be responsible for you in the event of a mishap." Y/N explained with a frown, hoping that this guy would understand it's just their duty to oversee the archives when normal people are going in and out.
This answer... seemed to relax whatever knot was stuck into Yuri's brows as he relaxed... and... almost looked embarrassed. "Wait- the paper- that-" Yuri covered his mouth before quickly checking his pockets and pulling out another folded paper... and carefully unfolding it... and deflating on the spot. "I gave you... the wrong one... I'm so sorry... that- I was meant to keep those... as reference..." Yuri explained, his hand tracing his eyebags.
Y/N's brows relaxed, holding their hand out. "May I?" They asked, before Yuri handed them the paper. The librarian turned it around to read...
‘Ohhh... a poor office worker from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.’ Y/N winced, looking up at Yuri. "I see... I guess they're working you like a dog for you to be making mistakes like that... It must be rough." They explained, digging out the original paper that Yuri had given them and handing it back. Keeping hold of the form and folding it neatly into its place. "That's quite the mix up! I should apologize too, I should've clarified earlier... maybe then it would've been cleared up sooner."
Yuri shook his head, "No, no. It's my fault. I should catch up on sleep the next time I can... but... I wanted to make time for my sister..." he mumbled to himself.
"Oh? Something happen?" Y/N asked curiously, their eyes tracing over Yuri's tired expression... he seemed to perk up, looking almost giddy. "Well! No. Not really. I guess I just wanna check up while I can since she's still single. I mean I offer to pair her up with some of my closer colleagues, but there's usually a lot of reasons why that doesn't go through." Yuri sighed, "I just wanna look after her, she worries me and I want her to rely on me now that I have a good job!" He complained with a deep frown, but his face was slightly flustered, as if embarrassed for some reason...
Y/N didn't really question it but smiled, "I see... Well, I guess I can understand where you're coming from. My brothers are the same way, they're always nagging me about relationships and health ever since I moved here." They explained, "I think it's great you look out for her so much! I'm sure she'll reach out when she needs to." They smiled, before their eyes widened. "Not!! Not that I should intrude! Sorry- sorry, no that was out of bounds, that's on me-" Y/N stammered, covering their face and turning away. "I'm so sorry for overstepping sir, I truly didn't mean to- let's get you on your way so you can rest up and visit family as soon as possible!" They awkwardly cheered, opening the door for Yuri before walking out and making sure to lock it behind them. Yuri didn't respond, but... looked to be in a better mood, nodding to the librarian and letting them lead the way.
.
.
.
Back at their desk... Y/N looked to their left, seeing the stack of return books. ‘Right. I've gotta get these back into their place and back in the system to check out.' They internally affirmed, checking one of the stacks before picking them up and leaving to return the books onto their shelves...
While organizing the books, Y/N hummed to themselves in consideration. 'Man. That guy was kind of weird.' They blinked, their lips forming into a firm line. 'Overworked obviously, but you'd think a diplomat would think to check what he was handing to someone... the way he did it was so awkwardly secretive.' They continued to internally yammer on before shaking their head. 'Whatever, that's just how it is.'
By 6p.m it was already time to close up, using the intercom to remind folks about the closing time and letting officer Natalie do her job in going around in person to remind any others to leave. Y/N clocked out and logged out, being sure to power down and lock up the place, waving their goodbyes to the officer and leaving the building to go home... sitting at the bus stop in wait.
They really couldn't help but grin. They loved their apartment. Sure, it was small. But it was in a good area and had decent neighbors... and it was theirs! They still felt dizzy, even after a month and a half of living in Berlint. It was still dizzying.
Y/N boarded the bus as it came, sitting down awkwardly between the other folks who had just gotten off of work, but still excited to lay down and put on a show to relax for the night...