My Paradise... Invaded. [Social - Open]

Nikolai sat in a paradise. Not particularly well known or famous one; one of his own design. A small little place to escape the world and relax. Deep inside the Great Library inside the Blue Pegasus Main Hall, he had found a small desk. After observing for a few days, he realized very few came by the section it was in, and no one ever stopped to use it. Perfect. Mentally declaring this place as his own, Nikolai had found his new retreat. Here, he could surround himself in books and just read. He could spend all the days he wasn't working away from the world; away from the people, away from the sound, away from the women, and simply relax. The most he ever experienced people with down here was the random person asking if he had seen a book that they were looking for. It was perfect.

There was no downside to it. He wasn't very well known or popular with his guild, so none of them had any reason to come and find him. Nor was he any type of academic or scholar who people would want to talk to. There was no reason anyone would come find him specifically. The only way anyone would stumble upon him and actually seek conversation would be accident, and the chances of that were low enough to the point Nikolai considered them impossible. It was a fortress of solitude, and he loved it.

Like any other day, Nikolai went to the Great Library early in the morning, looking for a selection of books and bringing them to his sanctum. Putting his books down and stretching, Nikolai smiled as he prepared for another peaceful day. He took a seat and began to delve into his first book. He mentally noted he'd probably need to go introduce himself to more members of his guild eventually, doing jobs alone was rather taxing. But for now, it was just him today, and there was no way anyone would find him.

Nikolai was completely immersed in his book, not paying any attention to the area around him. He had been there for a few hours, and had already gone through two books of his pile; he was a fast reader. He was reading a book about the history of Blue Pegasus currently, deciding that today was a good day to brush up on his history of the guild. He was about halfway through the section about the second leader when suddenly, a noise. Now, there were very few things that startled Nikolai - Ok, there were a lot of things, but he liked to believe there weren't - but the largest one was unexpected noise. Forcefully ripped from the world of the past, he looked around, blinking rapidly as he tried to regain himself. Looking to the side of him, he saw something, something he definitely was not ready for; a girl.



'Evasive Action! Man the guns! Cowardly Girl, she blindsided me!' Nikolai's mind was still in the past, he needed to bring it back. Placing the book down, he looked at her, trying to calm himself. 'Alright, relax, it's just a girl, calm down. She's just as afraid of you as you are of her. Ok, that's probably not true, but believe it anyways. Just think, what could she want. Think think think think think.' Nikolai looked away from her, trying his best to regain control of his own mind - but failing - his anxiety getting higher and higher. Taking a deep, he turned back to face her, giving her a nervous smile. Despite all attempts to hide it, his fear, nerves, and confusion shone through. "H-H-Hi..... Ummm, Wh-What are you l-looking for? C-Can I help you?"

Ania walked nervously towards the guild library. Today, she was given the task to fix books, an honor for her to do. There was almost no person in the library, a great relief to the nervous girl. Hiding her presence with her magic, Ania started her work. First, she picked up books that were questionably piled in a corner, took the ladder, and started her way up. “I’m going to do this right” she repeatedly thought between her shaking legs, but she had only gone a few feet above the ground when the ladder started to wobble. “No!” she shouted in her mind, hugging the books as they toppled down to the ground.
"I'm Viola, what's your name?" was the next thing she heard.

Nikolai's eyes went wide when she sat next to him. This is not what they do when they are looking for a book. This. Is. Not. What. They. Do. What was she here for, was she here to find him? Was she a guild member he hadn't met before? How had she heard of him? Maybe it was just a random person? Millions of options ran through Nikolai's head, finding himself trying to decide what was the correct one. She pretended to cry, and Nikolai's confusion only grew. Hurt her? He'd only said a few words to her? Why would he- Dark Guild. Analyzing her once more, he saw the guild tattoo on her neck, recognizing it; Nox Animus. Definitely a Dark Guild.

Nikolai's mind started to run even faster. 'Why is someone from a Dark Guild here talking to me what have I done do I have a bounty on my head is she here to collect it why would I have one what did I do to deserve it and why did they send a girl how did they know my weakness who exactly put this hit out on me oh god am I gonna die I don't have my glasses on me and I can't properly use my metal in here if she's an assassin I doubt I can make it out to get help in time I think I mig-' Nikolai's mind imploded on itself, resetting from the start. 'If she was here to kill me I doubt she would have gotten my attention, she could have easily got me when I was reading. If she managed to walk past all of the guild members too she's probably allowed to be here. She's staring at me now, why is she staring at me?'

When Viola introduced herself, he let out a deep breath, trying his best to calm down. He looked at her, still clearly nervous. He fidgeted slightly, constantly looking away after making eye contact. "I'm Nikolai... N-Nikolai Granit, of Blue Peg-Pegasus. How can I help you V-Viola? Why is a m-member of Nox Animus in-in the G-Great Library?"  His anxiousness seemed even worse than before, but he at least managed to calm himself enough to speak properly. At least, better than before.

Hearing the sound of the falling books in the back, Nikolai nearly jumped out of his skin, trying his best to calm down. His heart was pounding; today had quickly went from being peaceful to deadly, he didn't know what to do.

"ata...ta..ta...ta" Ania cried as she found herself sitting down on the ground, with her work fully ruined and her presence all too obvious. "No! No! No!" she screamed. Picking up the books and climbing up the ladder once again, not knowing that she was now too obvious and was being very noisy. Up she went the ladder and down she went wtih a loud thump with the books once again. The library was now in a lot more mess than how it was before Ania arrived.

As soon as Nikolai saw Viola fall, all of his thoughts stopped and he went into action mode. He moved out of his chair and knelt down, placing a hand on her shoulder and extending the other in front of her. "Are you alright? Here, let me help you up." It took a few moments for what he had done to catch up to him, his mental red alerts screaming at him. 'What are you doing dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb she could be an assassin here to kill you why are you helping her it could all be a trap stop no please I don't wanna die.'

Forcing himself to tune out his mental voice, he blushed and looked at Viola, taking his hand off her shoulder, but still extending his other to help her out. "S-Sorry, I may have gotten a little ahead of-of myself there, I just w-wanted to help you." He looked away from a second, taking a deep breath. "I'm not sc-scared of you because of your guild, I had even c-considered joining Nox Animus before I join Blue Pegasus. I only ended up h-here because it was closest, and I-I wanted to use their l-library. Plus, I th-thought I might have a hard time fitting in at Nox Animus. I'm rambling now, sorry." He looked away from her again, taking another deep breath before turning back. "I'm afraid of you, well, I-I'm af-afraid of because..." He hated this part. More than anything else. He could think of 13 things he'd rather do right now than admit this, 7 of which were illegal. "...Because you're a girl... I-I had some issues in the past with women, and n-now I get really nervous a-around them... Sorry..."

He looked over towards the sounds of someone clearly struggling with life and death itself. "W-We should probably check out wh-what that is, shouldn't we?" He turned back to her. "Th-That is, if you want too, and you feel alright. Did you hurt anything in the fall? Do y-you want me to get some medical help." Nikolai's previous fear and confusion seemed to be replaced with concern and care. He was still nervous, but besides his stutter it was mostly gone, him too preoccupied on making sure she was alright.

"Niyaaa!!" Ania sighed with a frown as she sat and looked at the fallen books surrounding her. Half of the library was now a mess and all of it was her fault. She only wanted to help out, but it looks like it didn't turned out too well. "Gomenasai... Gomenasai" She apologized to the books, bowing her head repeatedly.
Brushing her dress from all the dirt that fell from the shelves and picking up the books that fell to her lap and head, Ania stood up.  She looked around, and for the first time, seemed to notice the two people who were busy chatting.  "Well, I don't know what happened in the past, but all I can say is you wouldn't need to be afraid of me.. Like, I'm afraid of the dark, of being alone and of fire, we all have our fears, so I won't make fun of you for having a fear over girls." the girl said, and Ania couldn't help but nod, for she too had a lot of fears. For example, meeting them or even having to talk to them would be horrifying. But who knows, they were probably guild members she never had the chance to meet and would be lovely companions.
Ania liked the sound of new friends very much, that the thought seemed to make her walk to the pair. Freezing midway, a sweatdrop appeared over Ania's head. What was she doing? Of course she didn't have the courage to even say 'hi' to them. Speeding backwards, Ania picked up a book and carefully put back. "hehehe" she laughed at her foolish attempt.

Nikolai chuckled awkwardly, looking away from Viola as he mumbled under his breath. "Easy for you to say, you're not in front of a blazing inferno now are you..." Turning back to Viola, he slowly attempted to lift her up, using his hand to pull her up. He looked around, trying to figure out where the noise had come from, but not currently seeing any major signs. He turned back to Viola, trying to think of what to say now. 'Well, you must be so proud of yourself now. You helped her, wooo-hoooo, you got to be the big hero. Now what, genus? There's still someone else making a mess of the library, and you're exchanging social pleasantries with an enemy of the guild! What'll happen if you get caught? You could get kicked out, sent to trial, imprisoned by the council. You need to run. Now. As fast as you can and as far as you can go. Save yourself, this boat is going down.'

Nikolai looked at Viola, giving her an awkward smile as he ignored his own mental warnings. "I'll try my best to calm down, but no promises. If you're sure you're alright, we should probably start to investigate that noise, shouldn't we?" Moving away from the desk, Nikolai began to look around the library. Noticing first the ladder, then the spilt books, Nikolai's eyes finally settled on Ania, and his heart stopped. 'Is she another member of Nox Animus no if she was Viola probably would have mentioned her that means that she's a member of Blue Pegasus and I'm caught with a member of a Dark Guild crap crap crap how do I handle this what do I do think there must be a way out of this.' And all that Nikolai could managed was, "....Ummm, H-Hi?"