[Job - Solo] De-Dirtifying the Library

With his personal research being put slightly aside for the time being, Eero still couldn't sit all too much idle. Thus, instead of handcore studying, he decided to have a casual read. The books he had in his room weren't suited for that, though. That meant that he would have to visit the library. Of course, that didn't pose any issue for Eero, but it was already quite late in the afternoon. Hopefully the librarian won't mind him staying late. He did stay overnight at the library before, but he had already sneaked inside when it was blessedly empty. /"It'll be fine."/ He thought and stood up. He was about to leave, when a light tap on the window stopped him. Soho. Eero would open the window for his bird companion to fly in and then close it afterwards. Soho landed on the edge of Eero's desk and smoothed down his wing feathers. "Wanna go down to the library with me?" The boy would Soho. The bird let out a small screech in agreement and changed his position from the edge of the table, to Eero's shoulder.

As the boy walked downstairs, he hoped that Soho would be allowed into the library. He knew there were some rules, but he wasn't sure if any of them talked about the scenario where one brought a friendly bird companion with them. Eero could always find something else to do with Soho, if the library idea wouldn't work. The boy reached the library's door and gently pushed them open. The librarian looked up from their work and smiled. "Hello hello! Anything you need helping with or just browsing?" He would greet the young mage. He had a much better attitude than some other librarian he had met not too awfully long ago. "Hey, just browsing, thanks." Eero would reply. "Do mind me staying late and having Soho with me?" He would ask, before going to fish for a seat. The librarian looked at Eero in surprise. "Not at all! Just clean up when you're leaving." The librarian would reply, but then get caught up in a thought. "Speaking of cleaning.. Since you want to stay late, would you mind cleaning the library as a whole? Like dusting off some less used shelves and mopping up the floor?" Eero didn't expect that he would be asked to do a cleaning job. But hey, it gave him something more to do, after he was done with reading. "Sure. Got any mops and dusters somewhere?" The librarian would nod. "Yes. There is a door just around the corner here that is meant for staff. There we keep cleaning supplies and some other things for easy access. The key is under the counter." He would point at the counter he was sitting at. "After you're done, don't worry about locking the front door. We keep it open all the time, as I'm sure you know." The librarian would mischieviously chuckle. He must've known that he was there studying before, then. Or he was just referencing the possibility. "Alright, got it. Leave it to me." Eero would say and go see what seats were available. He saw only a handful of figures, some of which he was pretty sure were dozing off. The boy chose a cushioned armchair and set Soho on an armrest. "I'll go pick a book, you watch our seat." Soho wanted to screech in agreement, but Eero put a finger to his lips, gesturing for the bird to stay quiet. Soho nodded instead. The boy grinned and disappeared between the shelves.

Not long after he emerged with a somewhat sizeable tome. Eero sat down and Soho tried to see what the book was about. "So, I figured that I could as well learn more about you and your fellow brethren." Soho tilted his head as the boy opened the book. There were numerous pictures and many different species captured, along with detailed information about them, wherever it was possible. It seemed that Soho was a somewhat rare bird of prey, that liked cold temperatures, but preferred more mild temperatures. The boy would turn to his bird companion. "Whatever were you doing in the Phoenix Mountains, buddy." Soho would only look apologetically at Eero. /"Either way, I'm glad he didn't end up as a trophy for poachers."/ The boy thought, as he flipped through the last pages of the tome. He didn't even realise how much had passed, until he noticed that he was the person left in the library, along with Soho. Since he had pretty much finished reading, the duo could move onto a different task - cleaning the library. Eero returned the book back onto the shelf it belonged to and headed for the counter.

It took him a couple of minutes to figure out where exactly the keys were under the counter. Soon after, he was looking for cleaning supplies in the staff's closet storage room thing. There were somebody's extra shoes and coats, besides the things that Eero needed. Thankfully, there was also a sink, that was a tad bit lower on the wall, so that the mop and other things could be washed out easier. Soho watched the boy bring out a few rags, a duster, a bucket, a mop, a broom and a couple of bottles of various cleaning liquids. "Alright Soho, here's the plan." The boy would turn to Soho and the bird jumped on a chair that was closest to him, listening. "I'll dust the shelves, sweep and mop the floor. You clean the tables." Soho looked at Eero, confused. How was he supposed to clean tables? "I'll spray some of the cleaner on the table, you just slide on the rag over it a few times. Just make sure not to scratch the tables with your talons." That was the only risk with letting Soho clean the tables. The bird would let out a short screech, now that the library was empty and grab a rag with his talons. Eero would pour a bit of the cleaner on the wooden surfaces of the tables and let Soho have a go at the cleaning. Eero himself would disappear into the less used parts of the library and swiftly dusted the shelves and tops of books lined in them. The dust made him sneeze a couple of times. When he got back to the main room with all the tables, he saw Soho sliding on the tables, as per instructions he was given. "Having fun, are you?" The boy laughed and poured some more cleaner on the tables. Soho screeched and kept on sliding. Eero chuckled as he shook his head and grabbed the broom. He started sweeping in the fartherst corners of the library and slowly made his way back into the main section. He collected a lot of trash and dust bunnies along the way. Soho was still sliding around, but not so much. Eero took a look at the tables and were quite sparkly and clean. "Great job, Soho. Thanks for the help." The boy would thank his bird companion and scratch him on his neck. Soho screeched with pride. Eero chuckled and sweeped the collection into a bin that was near the front desk. In the meantime, Soho grabbed the bucket with his talons and placed it in the sink. He tried to turn the water knobs, but he just couldn't do it. After Eero cleaned the bottom of the broom, he noticed what was Soho trying to do. The boy smiled and walked over. He turned one of the water knobs, filling the bucket roughly halfway. Eero pet Soho on his head and took the bucket. He poured a tiny bit of one of the cleaners into the water and mixed it with the mop, to give the mopping a kick. Once again, he started at the farthest corners of the library and working his way back. In the meantime it seemed that Soho returned all of the supplies that Eero had taken out and wasn't using them anymore into the staff closet. Eero set down the bucket with mop inside it next to the front desk and Eero himself sat on top of it, waiting for the floor to dry. "We make a pretty good cleaning team." The boy would say to the bird who sat on top of the chair that was behind the desk. He puffed up his chest, proud with the work he had done. Eero yawned. He didn't even realise he became so exhausted. Perhaps seeing Soho having fun excited him, so that he didn't notice his own tiredness. He was glad that Soho could help out, though. "The floor's pretty much dried up. Let's clean up the last bits and call it a night, hm?" Eero would suggest and hop off of the desk. The bird nodded and flew around, looking for any more bits that they may have forgotten. Eero cleaned up the bucket and mop he had used and returned them to their rightful places. Soho didn't find anything that was amiss, so the boy closed the staff's closet door and locked it. He placed the keys under the desk, where he first found them. "Let us away." Eero would say as Soho sat back on his shoulder and exited the library quietly.