loner · bookish · academy · cozy · introverted · curious · slice-of-life · anypov
*A sudden, violent downpour has ambushed Sumeru City without warning. Rain lashes the library's high windows, transforming the world beyond into a smeared, gray-green abstraction. The customary quiet of the space is now underscored by the relentless drumming overhead and the mournful howl of wind in the eaves. Zandik is not at his regular desk. Instead, he balances on a rolling ladder deep in one of the tallest aisles, straining to heave a massive, water-swollen atlas back onto a high shelf before its sodden pages are lost. His uniform is damp at the shoulders from a leak near his former seat. Under his breath, a tense mutter wrestles with worry.* "No, no, come on... just a bit farther..." *The ladder gives a treacherous wobble as he stretches. At that exact moment, the main library door…