Zorian shrugged. «You better hope it doesn’t rain.»
«Ha ha,» the boy laughed nervously. «I’m sure I’m not that unlucky.»
Zorian smirked. Ah, the benefits of foresight. Or was it hindsight? Language really wasn’t designed with the possibility of time-travel in mind.
«Ah! I didn’t introduce myself!» The boy suddenly blurted out. «I’m Byrn Ivarin.»
«Zorian Kazinski.»
The boy’s eyes lit up immediately. «Like—»
«Like Daimen Kazinski, yes,» Zorian said, suddenly finding the window incredibly interesting.
The boy stared at him expectantly, but if he had expected further elaboration from Zorian on the subject, he was about to be sorely disappointed. The last thing Zorian wanted to do was talk about his eldest brother.
«So, um, are you related to Daimen Kazinski or is your last name just a coincidence?» asked the boy after a lengthy pause.
Zorian pretended he couldn’t hear him, and instead retrieved his notebook from the neighboring seat and studied it intently. It was almost completely empty, since all his previous notes about the invasion and the mystery of his ‘future memories’ were now gone, lost in a future he left behind him. It wasn’t much of a loss, since the vast majority of those notes had been worthless — hollow speculations and dead-end leads that hadn’t got him any closer to solving this mystery. Still, he had written down a few things he remembered from his previous notes, like the spell chant the lich had uttered before killing him. Yes, Zach was likely responsible for all of this, but he couldn’t be sure…
After judging the silence to have lasted for a fittingly awkward amount of time, Zorian looked up from his notebook to fixate a look of confusion at the waiting boy.
«Huh? Did you say something?» Zorian pretended, frowning slightly as if he honestly hadn’t heard a word of the question he was asked.
«Err, never mind,» the boy backpedaled. «It’s not important.»
Zorian gave the boy a genuine smile. At least he could take a hint.
He talked to the boy for a while, mostly just answering the boy’s questions about first year curriculum, before growing bored with it and starting to feign interest in his notebook again, hoping he will take the hint.
«What’s so interesting about that notebook, anyway?» He asked, either oblivious to Zorian’s disinterest in continued conversation or deliberately ignoring it. «Don’t tell me you’re studying already?»
«No, these are just notes on some personal research,» said Zorian. «It’s not going too well so I’m a little frustrated with it. My mind keeps drifting to it.» Especially when the alternative was talking to an overly inquisitive first year.
«The academy library—»
«First thing I tried,» Zorian sighed. «I’m not stupid, you know?»
The boy rolled his eyes at him. «Did you search for the books yourself or did you ask the librarian to help you? Mother works as a librarian, and they have these special divination spells that let them find things in minutes that would take you decades if you search by title and skimming alone.»
Zorian opened his mouth before closing it. Ask the librarian for help, huh? Okay, maybe he is stupid.
«Well… it’s not really a topic I want to bother the librarian with,» Zorian tried. Which was true, but he knew he’d end up trying it anyway. «Maybe I could find the spells themselves in the spell repository? But no, if they are anything like other divination spells it’s using them correctly and interpreting the results that’s the problem, not casting them…»
«You could always get a job in the library,» the boy offered. «If the academy library is anything like the one my mother works in, they’re always desperate for help. They teach their employees how to use those spells as a matter of course.»
«Really?» Zorian asked, rather intrigued by the idea.
«It’s worth a try,» he said, shrugging.
For the rest of the ride, Zorian stopped trying to evade conversation. Byrn had definitely earned some respect from him.
«Of course! We’re always looking for help!»
Well… that was easy.
«We can’t pay you much, understand — that miserable gnome of a headmaster cut our budget again! — but we’re very flexible about work time and we’ve got a pretty friendly atmosphere here…»
Zorian waited patiently for the librarian to run out of steam. She was an unassuming middle aged woman at first glance, but the moment she had begun speaking he realized her looks were rather deceiving — she was cheerful and had a sort of indescribable energy about her. Just standing around her made Zorian feel the same sort of pressure he felt when stuck in a crowd of people, and he had to rein in his instinct to step back as if from a raging fire.
«I’m guessing you don’t get many work offers, then?» Zorian tried. «Why is that? Shouldn’t people be fighting tooth and nail to work in a place like this? It’s a pretty famous library.»
She snorted, and Zorian could swear he could feel the derision and a touch of bitterness in the seemingly innocuous sound. «Academy regulations require us to only hire employees that are first circle mages or higher. Most graduates have better paying and more glamorous options than this,» she waved her hand towards rows or bookshelves around them, «reducing us to hiring students. Who are…»
She suddenly stopped and blinked, as if remembering something. «But anyway, enough of that!» she said, clapping her hands and beaming at him. «From this day on, you’re one of the library assistants. Congratulations! If you have any questions, I’ll be glad to answer them.»
It was only through superhuman willpower that Zorian stopped himself from rolling his eyes at her. He never agreed to anything, merely inquired about the possibility of employment… and she undoubtedly knew that. But oh well, he did want the job, and not just because he was hoping to learn some nifty new spells and translate the lich’s chant — he suspected that library employees got to access parts of the library that would normally be restricted to him as a first circle mage, and that was just too much of a temptation to pass up.
«Question one,» said Zorian, «How often do I come to work?»
She blinked, surprised for a moment. No doubt she expected him to protest her presumptuousness. «Well… when can you come? Between the classes, and the need for study time and other commitments, most of our student employees work once or twice a week. How much time can you set aside for this?»
«The classes are pretty easy at this point,» Zorian said. «We’re mostly doing the review of our second year, which I know like the back of my hand. Setting aside one day for unexpected developments, I could be here 4 times a week. My weekends are mostly free too, if you need any help then.»
Zorian mentally berated himself for talking like that — the classes hadn’t even started yet, so how would he know what they consisted of? Luckily, the librarian didn’t call him out on it. Instead her eyes immediately lit up upon hearing this and she started shouting.
«Ibery!» she called out. «I’ve got a new partner for you!»
A bespectacled girl carrying an armload of books popped out of the small room adjacent to the information desk to see what was going on. Oh. It was the green turtleneck girl (she was wearing it even now) that he shared a compartment with…
…except he had chosen a seat on the other side of the train this time, so they never met on the train. Oh well, probably wouldn’t have mattered anyway.
«Anyway, I believe some introductions are in order,» the librarian said. «I am Kirithishli Korisova, one of the few actual librarians in this place. This pretty lady,» she gestured towards the turtleneck girl, who blushed at the praise and shifted uncomfortably, clutching the stack of books tighter in her arms, «is our resident busy little bee, Ibery Ambercomb. Ibery has been working here since last year, and I don’t know what I’d do without her. Ibery, this is Zorian Kazinski.»