Prose

Teamwork Makes Dreamwork

Y/N's POV

The next few weeks went by in the blink of an eye. I had started to become comfortable with my job and my colleagues, specifically Armin, Hange, and Zeke. The work was straight forward; catalogue new materials, help students find and use library resources, circulation, etc. Nothing I wasn't prepared for. However, there was one unexpected variable. A devastatingly handsome asshole named Levi. Armin didn't lie when he said that Levi spends a lot of time in the library. I started to get used to his sneers and cold presence; however, his sharp tongue was still put to good use on me. Oh god, no not like that! Just pelting me with snide comments and insults. During my fourth week, he walked into the library, looked at me with his head cocked and apathetically said, "Oh. You're still here?" and then strode over to his usual table to grade.

"Why is he always working here? Doesn't he have a whole classroom to himself?" I asked Armin.

"You know how sometimes when you're working, you need a change of scenery and go to a coffeeshop? This is his coffeeshop."

I'd been spending most of my lunch breaks chatting with Zeke. He's a friendly guy who's easy to talk to; not intimidating and doesn't outright insult me. Armin and I take separate breaks so that someone's always in the library and Hange usually works in their lab throughout lunch. Sometimes I'll come in and make sure they've eaten or remind them to go to the washroom. Their student teacher, Moblit certainly has his hands full. And he thought it would be the students making his life difficult. The number of times I've seen that man with soot on his face and small burns in his shirt, looking for a second fire extinguisher, is one too many.

One Sunday afternoon in late October, as I was putting away groceries, I heard a ping go off in my pocket. I had an email from the principal, Dot Pyxis. Fuck. Had I done something? I haven't talked to him much. Just a quick "hello" in the hallway, but here he was, in my inbox.

Dear Y/N,

I hope you're adjusting well so far. I've heard nothing but wonderful things from Armin. On that note, I would like to see you tomorrow to discuss a project we will be starting up in the coming weeks. I'll explain more when I see you, but I feel you would be just the person for the task. Would 11 AM work for you?

Yours sincerely,

Dot Pyxis, Principal

LEVI's POV

What a pain in the ass. Pyxis doesn't need to send me an email about this and host a whole ass fucking meeting for it. I run this program every single year. So why do I need to meet with him? It's honestly a little insulting. I'm also not wild about the fact that it'll take up my planning block aka my few moments of solace away from rat moustached teenagers. I went over my lesson plans for the week and sipped my tea as I had my students work on their current project. I had asked them to write a newspaper article where they report on the events of Macbeth as if they were there. Y/N, the new librarian delivered a cart of laptops to my classroom. She had a smear of printer ink on her cheek, clearly unaware of its presence which I was courteous enough to alert her to, loudly and in front of the class. Her cheeks went red, but her e/c eyes shot daggers at me. As much as I was a dick to everyone, I especially liked riling her up. She'd get all flustered and trip over her words if I caught her off guard. But even more than that, I like when she's prepared to bicker with me. The bursts of confidence I can drag out of her are kind of sexy. Not that I would allow myself to go down that path. She's cute, I can tell she's smart and I'm sure, to her dismay, we have a lot in common. But I can't let that happen again. Not after Petra. At least my interactions with her are limited to the library and whatever annoying event Four Eyes plans for us all next. Once the bell rang and my class filtered into the hallway, I checked my phone: 10:55. I had five minutes to freshen up my cold tea and head to this absolutely unnecessary meeting with Pyxis. I rolled my eyes. That bald alcoholic had better make this worth my time.