Chapter Text
Jon stares at the desk drawer, his hands periodically reaching forward, before he realizes what they’re doing, and pulls them back into the safety of his lap.
He hasn’t been able to take his eyes off of the place the book is hidden all shift, it keeps gnawing at the back of his mind, holding all of his attention.
“Joooon? Jonathaaaaannn? Hellooooo?” The drawn out words cut through his thoughts, and he looks up to find the speaker leaning over the desk, watching him, their golden curls resting against the counter.
Jon quickly stands from his chair, pulling himself back together, trying to set the thought of Beholding to the side to give his focus to the job he’s supposed to be doing.
“How can I help you, Professor Shelley?” He asks, positioning himself across from the psychology professor.
“Oh come on, I’ve told you, just call me Michael.” They reply, straightening to their full height, a crooked smile on their face.
“Right. How can I help you, Michael?” Jon repeats, his words monotone.
“Much better. Good job, I’m so proud of you.” Michael replies, clapping, before he laughs, it sounding off kilter, grating on Jon’s nerves.
He stares at them, trying not to let his irritation show.
Michael sighs, before taking a deep breath, and straightening out his striped tie, which seemed to feature every color in all existence.
“Right, well. Where were we again?” They ask, cocking his head to the side, his curls bouncing from the motion.
“You were just about to tell me what I can help you with.” Jon answers, having to force himself not to grit his teeth.
“Yes, that!” Michael exclaims, slamming his hands onto the desk, his long colorful nails glinting in the light. “I was wondering if my students could occupy your little library for a little bit?”
“Occupy how?” He asks, automatically growing suspicious.
He can’t help but fear that it won’t end well if a group of students want to “use the library”. Anything could happen, they could damage books, they could get lost in the maze of shelves, a shelf could fall on them and hurt one of the students, or a book could start telling them their surroundings and freaking them out.
“Well you see, I want my students to run an experiment of sorts.” They start to explain, leaning forward as they talk, excitement in their bright blue eyes. “They’ll be studying a whole bunch of different places, running their own tests on how environment affects learning.”
“So you’re just your students to run a test for you?” Jon asks, raising his eyebrows.
“I’m giving them the opportunity to do things themselves, Jon. It’s hands-on teaching, and it will yield better results than only having them study out of the books you insist on.” Michael replies, crossing their arms over their chest. “You’ll see.”
Jon shakes his head, still certain they’re just using their students as a way to run unpermitted experiments, even if they’re harmless ones. They’re young for a professor, he probably wasn’t able to get a job where he could run the tests he wanted, so is instead using his job as a psychology professor to do them instead.
That’s the impression he gets from them, anyways.
“All students are permitted to study in the library, you don’t have to ask.” Jon informs them begrudgingly, doing his job as a librarian even though he doesn’t want to be involved in whatever it is they’re actually doing.
Michael’s expression brightens once more, and they smile at him.
“Thank you Jon, I knew I could count on you.” They say, grinning.
“Right. Is that all you need help with?” Jon asks.
The Professor nods, before turning, practically skipping out of the library in his flared neon trousers.
Jon simply shakes his head as he watches them leave. He hasn’t known them for long, but he has a feeling he could have known them for years and still not understand them in the slightest.