Oh man…she’d made things even worse when she’d admitted her powers. Now, not only was the kid uncomfortable, he was embarrassed and a million other mortified things that a person did not want to bring out in a teenager. Kealey ran a hand through her hair and sighed over the hum of the dryer…how could she fix this now?

The silence stretched, the dryer dried…Kealey made a job offer.

The emotions changed, and Kealey sighed in relief. She really did need to be more careful with the younger mutants…they were so uncomfortable about things sometimes. Then again…she’d always known she needed to be more careful with disclosures about her own powers. It took a certain kind of person to be okay with someone knowing their emotions.

Lance asked if she had another hair dryer, and Kealey grinned, shutting off the one in her hand for the moment and holding it out to her new assistant.

”I’ll go borrow another one. You go ahead and take this, and you can get started while I‘m gone.”

His new boss handed the hairdryer she was using over to Lance, with explicit instructions to continue what she had already started while she looked for another dryer to use...

The teen dumped his binder atop a nearby table and eagerly took the offered dryer.

As Kealey left the library to go look for that other dryer, Lance took to drying the books like an Apache on a warpath.

Sadly, he hadn’t finished drying more than ten pages of the book detailing the life and works of Niccoló Machiavelli, when a series of Splugs reached his ear. Oh, Great! Lance thought, as he quickly turned off the dryer and headed in the direction of the noise.

Hurry up, boy... You don’t want your beautiful boss catching you slacking off in your responsibility this early in your employment now, do you? advised his inner voice in a smug manner.

Lance quickened his pace. His “conscience” was correct, however. No matter how much he resented the often times condescending, if not derogatory, manner of speaking, it did have its moments.

Making a quick left between two shelves, Lance quickly noted the “Literature” signage on the shelf. He came upon two kids, one boy and one girl, picking up several books on the floor. The girl guiltily looked at his direction while her friend continued on picking up the books.

“S... Sorry,” was all the she could utter. The other kid had stopped stacking the books when he realized that they were no longer alone.

Lance remained silent for a few moments, arching an eyebrow as he surveyed the books remaining on the floor. He wasn’t really that irritated, but he wanted to impress upon the kids that they had done something bad... really bad.

The girl even managed to look apologetic over the incident after catching the look that Lance had put on.

”Tell you what,” Lance uttered, breaking the silence. ”You two wait for me here while I get the step ladder.” he instructed in his sternest voice possible.

The girl simply nodded in understanding. Whereas, the boy looked confused.

”When I get back, the two of you will help me put these books back, alright?” Lance added, as he left to get the ladder from the biography section. The tone he used on the kids brooked no refusal.

A few minutes later, after a lot of struggling with the ladder, Lance was back in the Literature section and was glad to find the kids still there. The books have been stacked neatly, awaiting their return to their proper places on the shelves. Placing the ladder against the shelf, Lance climbed up until he had reached the fifth shelf where a large gap stared at him.

The two were quite helpful in returning the books they had accidentally dumped on the floor. The shelf was slightly out of their reach. Lance surmised that one of the two probably jumped to get a book and accidentally knocked the others off the shelf.

”What’s the title of the book that you were looking for?” he asked, looking at the two perpetrators.

“Anything about the history of American literature,” the girl answered.

Surveying the books on the shelf, Lance came upon A History of American Literature by Richard J. Gray. ”Will this do?” he asked the girl, showing her what he found.

The two kids eagerly nodded in response to his question. Thanking Lance for helping them get the book, the two headed off to one of the tables to work on whatever they needed the book for.

"Don't go climbing the ladder to return that to the shelf," Lance quickly reminded the two before they had gotten out of earshot. "After you're through, look for me at the circulation area, understood?"

The two stopped when they heard the teen calling after them. They nodded in unison in response to the reminder.

Hey, junior... Quit slacking off! You still have that pile of books you need to dry off, right?

The mental monologue brought Lance back to the present. Damn! he thought, as he realized that those soggy books were awaiting his attention.

He hoped that Kealey hasn’t returned yet from her hairdryer hunt.

It didn’t really take very long for Kealey to procure another hair dryer. The girl’s wing of the school was full of them, and all it had really taken was finding a student who knew her and asking. It was one of the nice things about being a ’nice’ librarian. When crisis struck, people wanted to help. As long as they would get their hairdryer back in time for the impending date they had that night.

Kealey returned to he library and stopped at the circulation desk with a frown. Her assistant had already abandoned his post? That didn’t bode well.

Voices reached Kealey’s ears, and she started working her way towards the source. She smiled when she found it.

Lance hadn’t abandoned his post, he’d simply taken on another responsibility.

”I found another hairdryer, so when you’re done here we can get back to work on the soggy books.” she said with a grin, then nodded to the kiddos.

”You know you can always ask for help with the books higher up.” she said with a smile, which made the kids perk up slightly, ”This isn’t that kind of library. We’re here to help.” she said, with slight emphasis on the we’re. It looked like this would work out quite nicely.

Hey, junior... Quit slacking off! You still have that pile of books you need to dry off, right?

==== O ====

Remembering his other responsibility, Lance had jumped down from the ladder with the intention of hurrying back to the circulation desk before Kealey returned. Sadly, she had beaten him to it...

His boss was standing at the end of the aisle between the bookshelves, another hairdryer in hand. Her attention seemed to be focused on the teen and the two kids he had helped earlier.

Time stopped for Lance as he feared that he might have overstepped his jurisdiction, which might not sit well with Kealey. It was a total relief, therefore, when she grinned at him.

“I found another hairdryer, so when you’re done here, we can get back to work on those soggy books.”

Lance returned Kealey’s grinning comment with a small grin of his own. He then noticed her eyes straying past him... he followed the gaze to the two kids he had helped earlier.

”You know you can always ask for help with the books higher up. This isn’t that kind of library. We’re here to help.”

The kids looked back at Lance and Kealey. Both of them smiled at the Librarian’s reminder to seek help when they needed it.

Lance glanced towards Kealey, flashing a smile. He was glad that she was not like other Librarians who tend to be stuffy and irritable. In fact, Kealey was the exact opposite... understanding, helpful and patient, and those qualities were probably only the tip of the iceberg... the teen thought.

”Looks like I’m done here...” Lance commented, looking around the area. ”So, shall we?” he asked Kealey, walking towards her location and eyeing the hairdryer meaningfully.