Winter Storm

The first day is always a nightmare, too many thoughts of things going wrong. It's not like one loses those, but are at the back of one's mind, the sound of the wind and the one of something hitting the place wouldn't have your heart skipping a beat and start racing as if you are running.

Branches falling, snow accumulating in weak spots on the roofs, wild animals sheltering in the same place they are with none knowing.

One thing the people of Telmar are grateful about their location, here it never rains in winters, temperatures too cold for it to appear and with it, the assurance that Telmar will never face a flooding that will raze the houses.

But fog will appear, an old friend that is always there.

Merchants and hunters will go out the next day to work. They are restricted in how long they can be outside, they know the times when it is safe to go out, even the people will go outside to move the snow, buy things or do their work. One with time knows when the storm will calm and rage back again, wouldn't be there if they didn't.

His uncle will work in his study, his grandparents will work on the animals, the milk and leather, cutting wood for the fire.

His parents will be doing the food or eating at this hour.

He is cleaning the furniture in one of the halls, midday is close as the smell of the food is getting stronger and going everywhere. The first lunch at one, there is a second for the workers that will still be working for longer.

Eating the first one fits better with his work hours, as he was informed that Liam's family will eat at one too. He avoids the occasion of not being there when someone is at the library, and recently also avoids missing visits from Liam.

And when he finishes cleaning and eating, he will go back to his room to start carving the guidelines he made for a dog.

Carving slowly.

That night one of the cooks asked him if he could help them, he would be lying if he said he wasn't grateful about it.

As he can't help the outside workers, he knows he will be redirected to the inside with a scold waiting for him, and the most simple one is he doesn't know how they do things.

Also if something happens to him, he doesn't know if his parents will still get the money from this month.

Two days went by waking up, cleaning, eating, carving, helping at dinner and staying in his room until sleep came for him. He misses his archery and cutting trees, he feels the same as when he is sick, the feeling of being unable to do things for not having enough energy.

He hates that.

Even here he used to have something to do, classified the books, read them, the visits of Liam, coming to his room after work to carve, eat and go to sleep. Something repetitive but it keeps him doing things and makes him happy.

Close to night, the radio gives the information that the storm will leave in approximately two to three days. On the fourth day most of the people can say that the storm will go soon.

He has two bears and a dog carved.

The night before he goes back to work in the library, one of the persons in charge of the food asks him if he can write some recipe. Something about a tradition for everyone that works with the food of leaving a recipe of theirs that in some moment will be chosen to be made, leaving a mark and expanding the options of food.

Leaving a recipe of cookies, the same ones of that day when he was offered the job.

Maybe he could save some for Liam too when they make it.

He knows the faces of people working where now, but he wouldn't say he is friends with anybody of them, more like people that know each other but will not talk if they don't need to. Also most of them are in their thirties, including people that are old enough to be his parents.

For the day he goes back to work in the library, is not really working inside of it.

More helping to move snow from around, investigate if something is damaged on the outside part. Then later give rounds inside to see if something happens that can't be seen from the outside, that would be nothing, apart from wet rugs, covered windows with snow and little branches, and two curtains that got wet, no damage happened.

Saying goodbyes and thanks to the others, he goes back to the library.

Cold almost as the outside one.

No fire has been started, prohibited by everyone until the check is finished, if snow gets inside it wouldn't melt and put the risk of damaging the books or furniture.

Visitors wouldn't come until the next day when the fireplace would work, the wet rugs would have been picked up and the windows would be cleaned, or at least most of them.

Pair of boxes, six of them were left in the library. Casper tells him that various boxes are fully packed for the moment, now with the winter attracting storms to prevent any incidents in transportation one time at the month six boxes would be left.

If he didn't have his already tested method and efficient one that leaves him with hours, he would protest a little, but he is pretty sure he can manage this situation.

He would make three sections based on assumptions of the titles, after separating them he makes sure they are in the correct place by reading them, putting them in the correct category.

He welcomes the work.

***

Is twenty-four today.

The past days of work have been simple, with the library now empty from other people he can hear very well when the door opens. He sees Liam and starts to think that maybe he ended up learning the pattern people make in visiting the library, there are too many coincidences at this point.

But he can't deny that he is happy and the urge to move in his body is really big.

– What do you want to do? – leaning on the desk, asking maybe a little too loud. Work long forgotten.

That doesn't matter as Liam's expression lights up and gives him a grin, as he leaves the books and things to annotate.

– Can we play? – He wasn't expecting that answer.

But

– Well… – he goes back, never stopping to lean.

'If Liam wants to play…'

He leans forward and touches the shoulder of Liam – You got it! – 

'Then we will play!'

To hell the rule of not running in the library!

It takes some second for him to hear Liam steps after him, but he can hear him giggle. He can't run faster than Liam and that's why he decided to start it. In a library he was for months, knowing all the turns and places he could use to hide.

Well, he needs to work with his laugh problem to not ruin it.

Right, left, run straight for one shelf more and left. When he looks behind him, Liam isn't there.

'Haha lost him!'

Or that was, he hears steps from directly behind.

Arms surrounded him.

– Boo! – He will deny ever screaming that loud.

– Liam! –

The mentioned is bending both of them in his laughter, still holding him and he is failing to suppress a giggle or two that soon transforms in a full out laughter with Liam.

He will keep laughing if it wasn't that Liam decided to change his grip on him and start spinning.

– Wait! Waitwait– Liam is fucking laughing in his ear – Liam! –

After an unknown number of spins for him, Liam stopped, but that doesn't changes his world is fucking spinning. He feels Liam hug him one more time and says something to him, then leaves him running somewhere.

It takes him a moment before he realizes that Liam just said you got it.

At least he can hear how Liam, probably, hit something somewhere in his right.

***

They played for a couple more hours, they could keep at it if none of them decided to look outside and see that the sun had already gone down, but he did look outside and doesn't have the minimal idea of what hour is.

Somewhere at the beginning the game started morphing between a game of hide and seek and some other things.

But he is tired at this point.

And sweaty.

Now he and Liam are just lying on the couches, he can see how Liam has this smile plastered in his face and knows very well his is too.

– What have you done these days? –

– Study more than nothing, but now that my brother is here we usually hear my sister's piano – a wave of his hand – I got to see them spar and they even let me braid their hair! Hehe –

– I passed my days helping in the kitchen and cleaning, with my totally healthy amount of carving – Liam just giggle  – Now I have been cleaning this place from dust and snow –

– Oh right, what with all those boxes? –

– They are going to deliver all the month boxes in one day to avoid any damage to the books in this winter –

And then it hit him.

He has read his middle goal of the book… two-hundred and fifty.

– Uriel? –

– I did it – Liam is just expecting him to follow his sentence. He needs to thank him for reading him so well later – I read two hundred and fifty books! –

– What? Wait. I know you read a lot, but that's whole another level Uriel – Liam has his eyes open wide yet there is a big smile in it. He looks so surprised that he can't contain a giggle to escape – How long have you been reading? –

– Since October, that's when I started to work here – He can see the moment Liam counted the total of months, nine months and he has get to his middle goal, a year and three months to get to real goal are left – My minimal goal is to read five hundred books –

He doesn't want to see the face of his friend, one part of him is afraid of ever saying that to someone and now he just told Liam about it. Maybe he will find it a funny and unrealistic goal, he knows that already, but he doesn't want to hear it.

The other part trusts in Liam, after all he already knows about his wish of becoming a mage.

'… He has been really transparent with Liam for the time they have known each other

At least formally knowing each other'

Heh, two months and he already trusts Liam in this sense.

– How many books do you need to read each month for that? –

– A lot of them. The first month I was only capable of reading four books at all, little by little I started to augmented the quantity of books I read each months passing –

When he glances at Liam he only sees curiosity in the other.

He leaves Liam at the corner of his eye, he can see if the other just smiles at him and he feels how his mouth changes to one as well.

– Well that's more awesome than having Bres breathing at my neck –

They both explode in laughter – You were really waiting for the moment, aren't you –

– From the first moment the storm finished the joke was formed.  I just needed to get it out–