In for a Long Afternoon | Vala/Pieter

Vala scowl at the multiple stacks of books that needed to be put away. Why must children pull all the texts from a shelf when they only need one or two of them? Gritting her teeth, she set to checking them all, making note that those that had been 'out' had been returned, as well as looking for any damage.

Glancing up as someone entered the library, the girl stiffened, taking a deep breath to stop from grabbing her wand to hex the boy.

"I see you've arrived," Vala stated evenly, then held out a hand. "I'll be having your wand for the afternoon."

Pieter stood at the doorway, obviously not happy about this punishment. He had planned to do something with some 6th years today, but now he had to be that loser in the library.

Might as well make it interesting.

Smiling as he pressed back a yawn with the back of his hand, then waving to the teacher.

"Hello to you too," he murmured in heavy Russian, walking over to her. He paused, then rummaged around in his pocket before drawing out his wand. "Here.

Vala took the wand and shut it away in one of the drawers of her desk, murmuring a locking spell in Italian.

"Right," she said briskly, her native accent subtle. "I have a lot of work to accomplish, today. I will allow you to leave only when it is finished.

"There are new books that I need to catalog, so I want to check these over." Vala gestured to the piles she'd been working with. "Check for any damage and check in those that have been out. Use this." She picked up a small rectangular block. "It's charmed to log the books in and out."

She moved off to the opposite end of the desk, where a stack of new books awaited. The blonde cast a glance back at him, then set to her task, cataloging the new arrivals by hand rather than using magic.

Pieter nodded, taking the block and going out to work. He had honestly tried to be a good child and help her, but, about ten minutes into the exercise, he had grown bored and distracted. Instead of checking in the books, he began to read some. Joking around, he read out loud, knowing he would probably only make the librarian angry.

"He ate and drank the precious Words, his Spirit grew robust," he said with a smile, " He knew no more that he was poor, nor that his frame was Dust!" He then paused and pouted, "This book is missing a page,"

Then a thought struck him. "Why don't we just do this by magic?"

Vala's teeth had ground together. Did she really have to babysit the boy? It wasn't his behavior that caused her to whirl about, however.

"What?" she demanded, something of genuine horror on her face. "Who had this book, last?" Though, the question was mostly rhetorical; she was already checking the logs.

"A lot of the books in this library have wards and spells set on them," Vala answered, tone a bit sharp. She was angry about the damaged book, however, not the inquiry. "Use of magic beyond the basic charm on the scanner could interfere with them. Some of the texts are preserved only because of magic. Disrupting the protective spells could cause them to be lost.

"Aha!" the girl exclaimed victoriously, a vicious gleam in her eyes as her finger came to rest on the name of the probable culprit. "Sei un uomo morto!"

Pieter watched her antics, smiling slightly. He resisted the urge to flinch at her tone as he began to calmly check in books again.

"Could have just said so, Miss Snooty," he muttered under his breath, watching her track down the man, "You Italian?"

Vala gave the boy a sharp look. "I believe I did," she stated archly. "You might not give a damn about these books, but that happens to be my job, so excuse me if I get upset over some snotty brat tearing a page from one of them.

"I am, as a matter of fact," Vala replied. "Fortunately, my parents sent me to school here, rather than Beauxbatons. I'd rather have died. The curriculum here is far more balanced."

Pieter slammed a book down, then glared at the teacher. Then a calm crossed his face and then went back to his job.

"I'd rather go to the french school. The uniforms are cuter," he replied, "I don't go to the classes here anyway,"

"If you are going to mistreat my books, I will set you to work cleaning," Vala gritted out. "Next time, I shan't take the time to answer your question if you can't take my response graciously. Clearly, I wasn't angry with you, as you weren't the one who'd checked out the book. You therefore have no reason to take my ire personally."

The blonde gave a light laugh. "The uniforms are cuter," she agreed. "And the people more civilized, for the most part. The curriculum here is more balanced, however. Still, I would rather have died than attend school with my neighbor. He still tries to stalk me. It's rather irritating, really."

Pieter grinned and continued working, certainly not looking forward to cleaning these books, most of which looked like they were dust themselves.

"I would rock that blue hat," he declared, watching her closely. "Who's this stalker? What's his name? "

Target of her wrath identified and stored away for later admonishment, Vala had returned to cataloging the new books. She glanced over at him thoughtfully.

"Blue would be a good color on you," she decided, then turned back to her task. "Maurilio Garelli. An irritating little man with delusions of grandeur. He keeps owling me, even thought he knows I can't stand him. It's been a few months, actually. Maybe, he's finally given up. I won't hold my breath, though."

Pieter nodded, his attention going from the books to the teacher and back again. This was nice, he decided. He sort of liked the gossip talk.

"Little man?" he huffed, "Don't even acknowledge him; You could get an eight or a nine easily,"

Pieter realized this could be taken as flirting, so he quickly added, "Of your own age, of course,"

Vala laughed. "I know I can," she stated. "And I don't acknowledge him. I never have."

She went back to her task, gaze flitting to various points in the library as she did so, ever aware of what was happening in her domain. Perhaps, she would finish her tasks at a reasonable hour, tonight. It was a pleasant enough thought, that she started to hum contentedly.

Pieter snickered at the teacher's pride as he finished with his task. It has been easy and quick; Why did she even need an assistant?

"I'm done," he said flatly, "Anything else you need?"

"Yes," Vala stated calmly. "Now, I need you to put them away. In their proper places, if you please." She gave a sweet smile.

"After you've done that, I'm sure I'll have something else for you to do."

Pieter groaned, lifting himself out of his chair. He picked up the entire pile of books, grumbling under his breath. He headed into the isles, calling back, "I almost thought you were cool!"

Wedging books into the shelves, Pieter sighed, his mind somewhere else.

"Next time, don't spit gum into the carpet!" Vala called back with a grin.

Done cataloging the new texts, the girl picked them up and went to put them on the shelves, as well, humming contentedly as she worked.