Break Free | Jacksepticeye x Reader

Chapter III

Jack stepped inside the large building – he was immediately met with the front desk where a man sat, typing words onto his computer.

"State your name and reason for visiting the Plaisteacha City Library." The brown haired man said with ease as if he'd already spoken the phrase a thousand times that day. His gaze remained on the computer as he awaited Jack's response.

"Jack McLoughlin, I'm here to study illustration." Jack replied easily, the receptionist typed onto his computer before replying with a simple 'proceed'.

Jack turned to the turnstiles and scanned his wristband – they immediately turned to let him through. The library didn't always need identity verification. Jack remembered a simpler time when you could simply walk through. However, three years ago a man with stage 3 switched-on-syndrome proceeded to break into the restricted section of the library and attempt to burn the old world's books. Those who were now diagnosed with stage 3 SOS and so on were banned from the library since, and security had been tightened significantly.

Jack walked through the turnstiles into the larger room – he was immediately met with the sight of hundreds upon hundreds of shelves each stacked to the brim with different books. Plaisteacha had the largest library in the new world – the government made sure they held a copy of every single book known to man. It was easy to get lost in the library, and if Jack didn't know better he would definitely lose his way.

A small robot, no bigger than 3 feet stopped at his feet. Its 'eyes' moved to focus on Jack as it wheeled itself back a step, "Greetings!" it chirped with significantly more energy than you would hear from a human, "What genre are you looking to read?" the mechanical voice asked with innocence.

"Drawing and design." Jack replied, his voice held no expression compared to the robot's. It quickly wheeled away, moving a tad quicker than the average human walking pace. Jack followed behind it for a good 3 minutes before the reached a row of books with the title 'Illustration'. It wheeled itself away as Jack began browsing the many shelves.

He settled upon a simple 'how to' book before moving to find a secluded spot.

-

[Y/N] tilted her head at the painting before her, her [Y/N] eyes squinted at the fine details as she bit her lip in thought. Her paintbrush raised hesitantly as she dabbed the red onto the vibrant leaves of the rose she'd created. It was a fine piece of art; something that would be worth thousands in the old world. Creative art these days wasn't appreciated however – it was needed to style rooms, but its creation was thought to induce SOS, and was never smiled upon.

It was something that kept [Y/N]'s thoughts occupied, and she enjoyed the simple activity. She deemed the painting finished for now and decided to take a break, quickly wiping the excess paint off the brush and pushing her belongings to the side. She was in a very private corner of the library, not many people came here. They would usually see her and decide to sit somewhere else for peace and to not disturb one another. Sometimes [Y/N] hoped one of them might spark a conversation, but that was extremely unlikely. Especially in a library of all places.

Her eyes caught sight of movement, she never usually paid much attention to the different people who visited the library. Even with its tremendous size – less than 30 people visited it each day. They came here out of necessity to learn a piece of specific knowledge and then move on. Their lives were boring to [Y/N] – she didn't want to imagine living without her emotions or individual will.

The man came into view and she couldn't help but tilt her head in curiosity. He was quite attractive with perfectly styled brown hair and a trimmed beard. Jack didn't notice her as he sat down on the couches a few metres away. [Y/N] had to move between a few bookshelves to see him again – the couches were in their own little separate area surrounded by the towering shelves – a private and quiet space.

She couldn't help but watch as he opened the book, his cobalt blue eyes scanning each page for information almost mechanically. It would usually irk [Y/N] – but this man seemed to be an exception.

"'1000 years of Design.'" [Y/N] read the title of the book aloud, her head slanted to read it from where the book sat in Jack's hands, firmly on his lap. The voice seemed to startle the man, and [Y/N] quickly frowned, she didn't mean to scare him. Even if she knew he couldn't be scared – he didn't seem to have SOS, he moved much too robotically for the disease.

Jack's eyebrows furrowed as he watched the strange girl. His eyes scanned her being; she was wearing a simple white dress that had a few wrinkles and her hair was slightly out of place. It was odd to say the least; it was rare to find anyone who didn't look perfect.

Yet he couldn't tear his eyes away from her as she sat down on the couch opposite him in a cross-legged position. It was a stark contrast to his own straight-edged pose. This girl was strange, and Jack didn't quite know how to explain it.

"So stranger, who are you?" [Y/N] asked, flashing him a small friendly smile to try and ease him into the conversation. His brows would furrow further if they could – she was smiling at him, no one smiled.

"Jack, Jack McLoughlin." He replied easily, his hands gently closing the open book on his lap and setting it to the side neatly. "And you are?" he continued the conversation out of kindness.

His accent almost startled [Y/N], but it only made her smile grow brighter. The change was nice and greatly appreciated, she wanted to hear him say more,

"[Y/N]." the {H/C} girl replied simply with tenfold the amount of emotion he had. "Why are you here, Jack? You're an illustrator, aren't you?" [Y/N] asked, her guess based on the book he had been reading. She always envied illustrators – they could create their artworks without a fuss from the public since it was their duty.

"Yes, I work for Cloak." He stated, matter-of-factly as [Y/N] nodded her head. She'd heard of the company – it was new and on the rise with its many scholarly articles and concepts. They documented significant past events and derived the good and bad from each event so humanity could learn and grow from it.

"What's your position?" Jack spoke with such formality – [Y/N] couldn't help but giggle. Jack found the noise and action strange.

"I'm an artist of sorts." [Y/N] replied, the same friendly smile stayed on her soft lips, secrets played on her tongue as she refused to let him know more just yet. "Do you enjoy your job?" She asked innocently, tucking some hair behind her ear before resting her head on the palm of her hand. She continued to gaze at him with curious [Y/N] eyes that Jack himself couldn't look away from.

"Yes," his reply was hesitant, he was sure of an appropriate answer to her question. He was too intrigued by her unusual movements and expressions – it quickly clicked with Jack that this [Y/N] must have SOS. It was the only explanation – yet the way she acted conveyed that her SOS was well past the first few stages. He was immediately reminded of the morning report he was forced to listen to each day and its advice when faced with a human such as this. The new discovery alarmed Jack and he quickly stood up from his seated position. The quick movement almost made his head spin, "excuse me." He simply stated before turning on his heel, leaving the area quickly and the barely touched book on the couch.

[Y/N] gazed after him almost longingly – the conversation was cut short quickly and she had a feeling it wouldn't be resumed. She couldn't stop the frown from forming on her lips – it had been a senseless idea to approach the man, yet she couldn't stop her mind from wandering to him once more as she moved to go back to her painting.

-

Jack deeply inhaled the fresh air as he stepped out of the building. It quickly eased his prior unease and allowed him to return to his normal state. His blue eyes caught sight of a visored male walking across the street a few yards away. He almost called out to the Health and Safety officer – tempted to do as he was meant to and report the odd girl inside the library. Yet his cobalt blue eyes drifted away from the visored man, and he began walking in the opposite direction, towards his apartment complex.