"Hey!" Emmet shook her right arm several times before she finally snorted out of her sleep.
"Uh... e-erm," She hurriedly sat up, looking around as if she barely had a clue as to where she was.
"It's 7:00am in the morning and the Archive is about to open. Our deal is over."
She shut her eyes and a heaved a sigh of relief.
"Are you crazy?! I thought something happened!" She snapped at him once she opened her eyes again.
He simply raised an eyebrow at her.
"Ughh," She scoffed and her shape-shifter reverted into her hair. She then jumped off the table and started making her way out of the Archive when she heard him call out.
"Hey," He moved his eyes from her to the arrangement of chairs which she had earlier slept on.
She heaved a sigh and turned back to arrange the chairs as she had met them.
"Have a great day," He bade her farewell when she was heading out for the second time.
"I will," She poked out her tongue and waved a pouch in her hand at him.
His eyes widened when he felt around his waist for his pouch, only to find that there was nothing there.
"You!" He thundered and ran up to her but before he could get close enough, she threw the pouch at him and he swiftly caught it as though his life depended on it. Afterwards, he opened it to make sure the contents were still intact.
"Learn to be smart, circus boy," Ashley smiled and disappeared above the front porch of the shelter.
"Crazy girl," Emmet shook his head and released a light chuckle.
He then moved to switch the door's sign to "Opened."
"I hope today will be better than other days," He said to Liesl who was now resting on his desk in her cat form.
"You know, sire there are several other ways to promote your business. One of these are creating events that will invite customers to your store and allow you to show them why they should actually patronize you. When I say events, I do not necessarily mean that it has to be big and all that. It could be simple, fulfilling, and just right," The cat replied.
"Sounds like a pretty good idea..."
The jingling of the door's bell rang and in came a group of three. There were two boys and one girl, all seeming to be friends.
"What a pretty spot!" The girl exclaimed. "It feels so simple and natural."
The taller guy tsked. "We should have gone to our usual library. The air there feels a lot nicer."
Before they could take their seats, Emmet came up to them seeming like the gentle man he was expected to be.
The three sent him confused stares for a brief moment. However, the girl was the one to break the silence.
"Good morning," She greeted in her petite voice. "I really love your skin colour. Seems like you're going for the carnival happening at Deni's square tonight. What kind of paint did you use?"
Emmet allowed her to finish speaking before he broke out in a smile.
"I am not aware of the Carnival happening tonight and my skin colour is not a result of paint of any kind."
The girl's eyes bulged out and the taller of the two guys seemed to suddenly be protective.
"Your skin is...red?" Her mouth dropped open.
"Yes," Emmet nodded.
' What's the drama for?' He thought to himself.
"Oh my! It looks so gorgeous," Her words sounded genuine but Emmet wasn't too sure if it actually was or she was just mocking him like his peers used to when he was younger.
"Thank you," He forcefully smiled.
"Emily, I told you we should have gone to our usual place. What sort of place is this with this man with such appearance?" The tall guy turned to the girl. The way he spoke was as though he thought Emmet was a robot who couldn't get hurt by the words he had just spoken.
"Don't be so rude, Caleb," The shorter guy snapped at the taller one.
"I'm reading here in this comfortable spot overseen by this sweet gentleman," Emily hmphed and returned her attention to Emmet who didn't seem to care much about their little scene.
"Would you like for me to bring over some recommendations or would you like to explore?" He asked them trying to maintain a smile and cheerful composure.
If only Emily knew he was simply trying to earn XP by doing so, she wouldn't have called him a sweet gentleman.
"I would like to explore," She answered.
"And you two?" Emmet threw his question at the two young men standing at either of her sides.
"Same," They chorused.
He then led them to the midst of the shelves.
"If you need anything, please do not hesitate to call me."
With that, he returned to his desk. This time around he didn't read nor relax, he watched them silently as they scouted the shelves for something to read.
He soon learned that Emily and the shorter guy, Bryan were dating while Caleb was Emily's friend.
' Oh so he's the third wheel in the story. Typical behaviour,' Emmet thought after noticing how Caleb tried to be close to Emily. It was obvious that he and Bryan didn't like each other much either.
When they had settled down with a book each to read, Emmet moved over to their table and served each of them half a cup of Ethereal tea.
"Tea, thank you," Emily smiled and peered into the cup whose heat slammed her face.
"Smells nice," Byran remarked.
"What's this?" Caleb snapped.
"T-e-a," Emmet spelt. "Tea."
Caleb lightly chuckled. "A red man serves you strange tea and you two want to drink it?"
"Hey, stop being rude," Emily sent him a glare.
"Dude, you should shut up," Bryan could not hide his disgust.
"I've read that this is how the devil lures people to his kingdom. He has red skin, just like the devil!" Caleb continued. "Emily, let's head back to our usual library. Bryan can stay here if he wants."
' So he's technically being jealous of Bryan and rude to me at the same time just to be able to get out with the girl. Stupid kid he is,' Emmet noted.
"I apologize," He smiled and took the cup away from Caleb.
"Enjoy spiritual breathing for 2 gold coins only," He added, to Emily and Bryan.
"What do you mean?" Bryan inquired, obviously confused.
"This is Ethereal tea. It's ingredients are secrets of mine which essentially enable you to use spiritual breathing to garner spiritual energy no matter what realm you reside in," Emmet explained.
"Wow, that's cool," Emily nudged her boyfriend with a smile and he nodded in agreement.
But Caleb was a hater.
' If only he knows how much I would like to shove his arms down his throat,' Emmet thought before returning to his desk.
A few minutes had passed when the door opened with a jingle and Gilbert stepped in with only one of his friends he had come with last time.
Emmet cheerfully greeted him and welcomed him in to explore as he had requested.
For some reason, Gilbert and his friend appeared to be a little brighter than they used to be and when Emmet remarked on that fact, Gilbert smiled.
"It seems like that tea of yours does a lot of wonder," He said to the hearing of Emily, Bryan, and Caleb. "My essence tunnel has been blocked for years and since I drank your tea, a small part has cleared out."
"An essence tunnel resides in every human. It is the passage that allows spiritual energy to go into the body while the other passage which is the tract carries air into the human body," Liesl made sure to explain.
"It's good to hear," Emmet congratulated him.
Once they had both settled down, he served them both the Ethereal tea and returned to his desk to check his stats.
[Daily quests have yet to be fully complete]
[Clean up the Archive before opening it for the day - 100% complete]
[Smile and greet customers - 100% complete]
[Provide basic library assistance to customers - 35% complete]
[Main quest have yet to be complete]
[0/300 customer points earned]
[0/3 books sold]