Closed Literary Assistance

[Ezra Ito]

Ezra was bored. Dorian had dragged him to the library because there were a few last minute books he just had to check out before the library closed for break, and now Ezra was sitting at one of the tables guarding a growing stack of books. Occasionally, Dorian would bring one back to him, then return to the shelves immediately for the next one. Ezra wondered how the Ravenclaw thought he was going to get them all up to the Ravenclaw common room. Ezra sighed. He would probably end up helping him. With another sigh, he glanced around. He spotted someone nearby, also with a small pile of books. He frowned at the other boy, seemingly in a similar situation to himself. It was that Raafe kid, the one who was always with Dorian's archnemesis. Only Dorian could have a nemesis. Ezra quietly thought to himself. He looked at the other boy curiously for a while, then hesitantly raised his hand in a quiet greeting. It seemed like they were in a similar boat. Ezra would bet Anisha was also gathering books like a squirrel preparing for winter. They were probably making some sort of competition about it. Ezra had no idea if the other boy would even acknowledge him. They were on opposite 'sides' after all, but Ezra was pretty much neutral in it. He wondered if Raafe felt the same way. He added an encouraging smile to his greeting.

 

[Raafe Khatri]

Raafe had been in this situation plenty of times with Anisha before, content to sit back and let her curate her Winter reading list to her hearts content, only occasionally offering a few pithy comments on her more recent book selection before watching her dart off again. He'd seen Dorian around doing much the same thing and wondered if the added competition would cause Anisha to set a new record or not. And whether now or later would be the better time to mention checking if the school had any limit on how many books you could check out at once.

That line of thought was waylaid when he caught Ezra's eye nearby, considering the other boy curiously and returning his wave with one of his own. Raafe's (or maybe more accurately, Anisha's) opinions on Dorian aside, they were kindred spirits here, clearly. "How many do you have?" He ended up asking, patting the stack of books next to him.

 

[Ezra Ito]

Ezra was pleasantly surprised when Raafe spoke to him. He laughed, then looked over at his stack to count them quickly. "Uh, five now." He said, glancing at the shelves where he couldn't currently see Dorian. He looked back over at Raafe. "You?" He asked, comparing their stacks for a moment. "I wonder if they've remembered they both live in towers that require a lot of stairs to climb." He mused.

 

[Raafe Khatri]

Raafe hummed, impressed at Dorian's count already, especially since he was pretty sure Anisha got to the library first. "Seven, though one of these is a two-parter. If that counts," he said, patting the books fondly. "Stairclimbing is an important part of the great book gathering ritual," Raafe said sagely, finding he was quite pleased to have someone to talk to while Anisha was otherwise occupied. "If they can't carry them they don't deserve to read them. It's why librarians are so ripped."

 

[Ezra Ito]

Ezra wrinkled his nose at the information Raafe gave. Maybe Anisha was even more intense than Dorian. Or maybe she had gotten here earlier, that was also possible. "I think a book so big it has to be split in two definitely counts as two." He said. "Dorian would be crushed to know he's losing." He added, though it felt a little bitl ike a betrayal to make a joke about his friend. "I'm sure he'll turn it around, though." He added with a smile. He laughed at Raafe's comment about carrying the books upstairs. "So you're not going to help her carry them?" He asked skeptically.