Work Text:
December 2008
Beep, beep.
Gary smiled as he scanned in three books for a mum and her kid. "There you go." He handed over the books and tidied up the desk. Then he looked around for other people to assist. As he found none, he decided to go back to his own office desk, which he shared with his colleague Laura. Their desks were opposite one another so that both of them could experience privacy to work with different tasks.
Gary saw that Laura was currently at her desk, putting barcode stickers onto the back of a newly arrived stack of books. Laura was one of Gary's favourite colleagues. She was a brunette, and she always had this eccentric feeling about her. He politely greeted her as he poured himself a cup of coffee. Laura looked invitingly at Gary as she reached him a white teacup with sweets in. "Hey Gary, do you want some?" She said with a friendly smile. Gary shook his head.
"No, sorry. I'm trying to stay off them. I've not had lunch yet, and I'm supposed to go to the dentist tomorrow." He said as he sipped his coffee.
Laura tilted her head in sympathy as she - reluctantly - popped a sweet into her mouth. "Aww, drat. When's your appointment then?"
Gary cringed at the thought and smiled awkwardly at his colleague. "At 8 AM. I'll come in later tomorrow, unfortunately." He put the coffee cup down to his desk and turned on his desktop computer.
"Good luck," Laura then concluded kindly, as she returned to focus on his job. Gary checked the library software interface. A deep concentration enveloped him as outside, the last sunlight of the day was disappearing. It was getting late, and Gary finished his coffee. He felt spent from a long day of socialising and really just wanted to go home. He was on the toilet, flushing his face with cold water, thinking of what to buy for dinner as suddenly, he heard an alarm go off from the front door of the library. He composed himself and hurried outside to notify Laura.
"Laura, have you heard the alarm-" Gary gasped for air as he felt considerably stressed. Another of Gary's colleagues, Roger, approached from the hallway. He was a tall man with blonde hair. He also seemed in distress, pointing towards the main room of the library. Laura nodded frantically, turning pale. "What... What's happened?"
Roger dismissed her gently. "Gary and I will look at it. Take your phone in case we need to call the authorities."
Gary felt unsettled as he walked with his two colleagues towards the entrance of the library, where the alarm was triggered. He thought to himself he'd approach an onlooker to get a better idea of what had happened. He stopped by a punk-looking girl in leather-wear with fluorescent pink hair. She was a little taller than him, Gary noticed.
"Hi, sorry to disturb you, Ms. Did you see the scene which triggered the alarm?" Gary asked in an authoritative manner.
The girl looked back at him, squinting her eyes. "I'm not... exactly a girl. But, I did see what happened. Two boys walked into the library. I was looking at a book when I saw one of the boys grab a bunch of magazines and stroll off again without checking in. The other boy was hesitant and protested, though."
Gary rubbed his chin, trying to make sense of it all. "Okay. I'm sorry I offended you by calling you by the wrong pronouns." Gary's safe softened a bit as he raised his eyebrows in sincerity. "These two boys, where are they now?" He asked warily, looking around.
The pink-haired person smiled a bit, seemingly pleased by Gary's correction. "It's okay." She assured. Then she pointed ahead of her;
"Look, they're trapped between the two doors. The last door closed in time for them not being able to escape. I think both of them were quite old, so I felt it was really surreal."
Gary clenched his teeth. "I see, thank you for your help."
He then returned to his colleagues. Laura and Roger conveyed the expression of being in the middle of a discussion. Laura gestured to her phone as if she wanted to call the police, Roger shook his head in disagreement.
"Hello... Anything new?" Gary said, unsure of how to handle the entirety of the situation. Roger scoffed. "I don't know, maybe you should ask Laura."
Laura's face was reddened by anger. "Roger, you dunderhead! Can't you see that we need to call the police right now? It's their job to fight crime after all, and we just experienced one."
Gary subtly slid in between them. With his arms gesturing towards the floor, he calmly spoke to both of them. "Please, stay calm. Have you realised that these two - I think they were men - are humans just like us? Let's not get ahead of ourselves and open the doors so that we can speak to them above all. Be kind to step aside."
He paved his way through the onlookers and pressed the code to open the automatic doors.
Laura still looked concerned and was not able to contain herself. "They could be dangerous!" She burst into desperation.
Gary made eye contact with Laura across the room. "If you won't, then I will." He claimed. With these words, he turned his back on the crowd and stepped into the room where the two library crooks were.
One of them was sitting on a chair. He was in a white shirt, black trousers and had brown hair, standing around 6'1. The other one had black, long hair and was not as tall, only around 5'5. Said guy was an unnerving sight, as he just stared at Gary with his empty eyes.
It didn't take Gary long to make out which one was the guilty one, even though the two guys cleverly had dumped the magazines in question onto the floor.
"Hi." He said, shuddering at the uncomfortable atmosphere in the room. He took out his phone. "I'm going to call the police now... Don't move."
The two guys looked at each other. The brown haired guy bit his lip, looking remorseful. Gary almost felt bad for him, and he had to convince himself he was doing the right thing by calling the police on them.
"I didn't do anything, believe me. If you're not sure, check out the surveillance." The guy with brown hair spoke.
"Tell the police, not me." Gary harshly spoke as he finally called the police.
The black haired guy still didn't move. It felt like someone had plugged off the power on him, a total blackout. It didn't take long for two uniformed people to show up, and they questioned the two guys as Gary stepped back.
As the four people spoke, Gary noticed that the brown-haired guy had started to cry. As his discomfort visibly grew, Gary felt bad as he thought it was obvious that it was the raven-haired guy at fault.
Nevertheless, both guys were taken to the police station across the street. Gary was asked to come with them as a representative for the library.
The oddsome quintet checked into the police station. Gary tried to make himself comfortable in a very spartan and sparse waiting room outside the interrogation rooms. He sighed loudly and sat down in one of the chairs. It was rather uncomfortable, but Gary knew that there was nothing he could do. He picked up a magazine and read it to calm his troubled mind.
After around half an hour, the door opened again. The brown-haired guy left the room. It was evident that he was in shock, but still relieved. Gary looked up from his magazine and glanced at the guy.
He looked briefly at some infographics on the wall before his eyes met Gary's. Gary froze on the spot and lowered his magazine.
"I've been deemed innocent based on the available evidence." He said. He sounded somewhat disconnected as if there was a wall between him and the outside world. Gary let it slide. After all, he had just been in a police interrogation.
"I always knew that you were," Gary confessed. "You had this aura about you which was completely different from the other guy."
The other man nodded and stroked his brown hair awkwardly.
"What's your name?" Gary asked, trying his hardest to sound friendly and not startle the other man.
"Robbie Williams." The other guy confessed. "I'm 35 years old if you were wondering."
"Right. I'm Gary, I'm... 38 years old. I work as a librarian, what do you work as?"
Robbie chuckled slightly. "Nothing much at the moment... But tell me, however... Do I know you? You seem very familiar to me."
Gary shrugged, rubbing his chin. "I don't know where you should know me from... You said your name is Robbie, right?"
"Yes, my name is Robbie," Robbie confirmed.
"Okay... give me a moment, I'll try to remember..."
Gary froze on the spot and it felt like his breathing came to a halt as he remembered where he knew Robbie from.
School again. Gary's insides filled with dread as he stepped inside his classroom again after being outside all break with his friends.
He clutched his books like a lifesaving anchor as he warily found his place. He opened his book and tried to hide behind it, preparing for the incoming storm...
Robbie walked in with bravour. He had - as always - his two friends/worshippers Reggie and Miles.
He spat into the trash can and looked around the room in an audacious manner. For Gary, it seemed like every other sound stopped, only the sound of his heavy breathing was to be heard. As well as the sound of his footsteps as he made it towards Gary.
Gary made himself small in preparation and fastened his eyes on the book, frantically reading every word as if the book could take him away. Unfortunately, no such thing happened and Gary could feel Robbie breathe threateningly against his neck.
"What are you doing, nerd? Reading about your princesses and dragons today too, are we? That's so lame!" Robbie spat with a poised smile.
He then leant down to read the title of the book. "The Neverending Story? Cripes, that's a load of crap! You know that these things don't exist in real life, do you? Oh no, forgot you're such a weirdo!"
Hearing four girls giggle in the background broke another piece of Gary's heart.
Gary slid the book into his lap under the table with a stoic face. "What do you know about good books, huh? I've hardly seen you read one! You shouldn't talk about something you don't know about!"
Robbie grinned mercilessly. "Oh, I do read books... Just not bollocks ones like yours! What a twat load of bunk!" He ridiculed Gary by imitating him reading a book.
"Ehhh, Gary! I'm desperate! I need a prince to save me, or the dragon will eat me!" He whined in a mocking manner.
He then made his voice deeper and imitated Gary's own tone of voice. "Oh, Esmeralda my dear! I'm coming to save you! I can't live without you!"
Gary shook his head dismissively. "You don't understand, so just go away."
Back to the present, Robbie's face was gentle as he waited for Gary to remember.
Gary chose his words carefully, then looked into his eyes as he spoke. "I think you used to call me a nerd for reading books back in school."
Robbie blushed in embarrassment. "Did I? That's so odd for me now. I've changed, become a better person." He looked to the floor.
"That's quite nice to hear," Gary smirked. "Do you enjoy reading now, though?"
Robbie cringed subtly. "Yes, about that... Gary, I think I have a problem you might be able to help me with, as you're a librarian..." He trailed off.
"Really? What's that problem, then?" Gary asked curiously.
"I like reading books, but I have trouble doing it," Robbie admitted. "No matter what I read, it just won't stick in my memory. When I turn a page, I can't remember the last one."
Gary listened silently and then thought about it. "Hmm, that's rather odd. What- What do you think would help you- How do you reckon I could help you with that?"
Robbie blushed once again, this time a little more visible. "I was thinking that maybe you could read to me on a regular basis. But only if it isn't too much of a hassle for you."
Gary smiled, shaking his head. "I definitely think that I could help you... It wouldn't be too much trouble for me. Shall we go back and pick a book?"
"Yeah, let's do it. Thank you."
***************************************************
Gary and Robbie met up at the local park that night. Neither of them had any better things to do or any partners to please, so they both figured that would be the best solution.
It was quite cold, a night in the middle of December, so Gary had put on winter wear. A fur coat, as well as a brown hat and finger warmers. He had boots to keep out the cold.
He turned on his flashlight and drew stickmen in the snow beneath him as he waited for Robbie. In his lap, he held a book. The same book, which Robbie had picked on him for liking almost 24 years ago.
He saw a shadowy figure move closer and was delighted to find out that it was Robbie.
Robbie clenched his teeth as he sat down next to Gary. Gary figured he was cold.
"Do you want some tea? I made some. It's hot though. You might want to wait a little bit."
Robbie nodded as he rubbed the sides of his arms with his hands.
Gary poured up the tea for Robbie in a little cup and gave it to him.
"Thank you," Robbie said quietly. He looked at the stars above them as he felt the delicious smelling warmth spread from his hands down his entire body.
"Are you ready?" Gary let his fingers slide over the cover of the book as he lit the flashlight at the first page.
"What are we reading tonight?" Robbie asked, holding on to his cup of tea for dear life.
"The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. I'm sure you will love it."
"Alright. Let's start, then."
********************************************************
After a lot of peaceful nights reading chapters from the book, it was finally Christmas Eve. Both Gary and Robbie were well aware of this, and a special kind of joy was burning in both men's eyes as they met up yet another night in a row.
Gary made tea for Robbie as usual, and Robbie was happy to drink it to warm himself. Gary had brought some biscuits too.
"I baked some amazing biscuits today. They're with cinnamon because it's Christmas."
He offered Robbie the bowl. Robbie inhaled their smell and relished at the sugary blessing, "They look fantastic, now I have to try one." He joked.
Gary, meanwhile, prepared the book by removing the bookmark to the last chapter of the book. He wet his lips with his tongue as he comfortably sat back, waiting for Robbie to be ready. As he thought Robbie was ready, Robbie did what for Gary was unthinkable.
Robbie reached out for a corner of the book, getting Gary's attention. "I want to read the last chapter. Can I, Gary?"
Gary was taken aback but agreed. "You can."
Gary sat back and poured himself a cup of tea as Robbie mentally prepared himself. Finally, he started to speak.
It was a magical sight for Gary to see how correctly and delicately Robbie pronounced each word. The intonation and breaks were correct as well. Gary couldn't help but feel incredibly proud.
As Robbie finished reading the chapter aloud for Gary, Gary felt the silence was overwhelming. The two men sat there and enjoyed the momentum before Gary spoke.
"You know, errr, Robbie... It's Christmas. And at Christmas, you give each other presents, So... I have something for you." Gary turned off the flashlight momentarily and reached for something.
"For... Me?" But I don't deserve that- After all I've done to you, and I..." Robbie stuttered.
Gary humbly shook his head with a little smile. "You do deserve it. Please, receive this gift from me." He held the gift in both his hands and put it in Robbie's lap. Robbie felt it was somewhat heavy.
He loosened the gift paper and saw the title... of a book.
"The Hobbit... Saga..." He read. Gary smiled and blushed.
"Thank you so much." Robbie giggled. "This has made me very happy." Then he raised his eyebrows with a smirk.
"Speaking of gifts, I have a gift for you, too," Robbie confessed. Gary felt his heart leap around inside his chest as Robbie reached for something which crinkled like plastic.
Robbie put the item in Gary's hands and lit the flashlight so Gary could see.
It was a caramelised apple in a protective plastic film with a red, Christmassy band around the top. It was on a stick like a lollipop, but that wasn't what caught Gary's eye the most.
What interested Gary the most, was a Christmas card beneath the apple. A card which contained the following words hastily scribbled in an unusual handwriting.
"I THINK I LOVE YOU.
MERRY CHRISTMAS
ROBBIE XXX"