Lisa had no clue as to when the last time the Knights of Favonius library was cleaned by Noelle. All she knew was, it must not have been recent.
The library was full of dust and who-knows-what on the books. Spider webs were occasionally spotted wedged between bookshelves, spiders are sometimes seen on it. Lisa was disgusted by the dirtiness of the place but chose not to clean up the area herself. One, she hated germs. Two, it was too much work. If her Vision was Anemo, then maybe she would be willing to clean the library. (Maybe.) Three, Lisa was far too lazy to do any cleaning. It wasn't her job, after all. She was the librarian, not the maid. Not that she was blaming the dirtiness on Noelle. She was sure that the dutiful maid was busy, too. Plus, not many people visited the library. Noelle probably thought that Jean would think it was a waste of time and effort to clean the library.
Lisa sighed as her eyes lay upon a pile of romance novels on the floor. Like she said, she wasn't a maid, she was the librarian. People were far too irresponsible to put the books that they had browsed through back. If they didn't know where the books were supposed to be kept, they could have asked her!
Huffing, the librarian picked up the books and began placing them back in their original spots. She should complain to Jean about this issue. It's been going on for years. She grimaced as she touched something sticky at the back of a book. Ew. Gross. What was that?? Good thing that she was wearing gloves. She didn't know what she'd do if she touched the sticky substance with her bare hands. Puke all over the place, she supposed. She sucked it up and returned the book.
When she was done with returning all the books, she went to the bathroom to clean her gloves with soap. It was seriously disgusting. As she left the bathroom, she heard a familiar voice. She turned her head to check, some of her brown hair entering her eyes. She brushed them out of the way and blinked once. Sure enough, there were Bennett and Razor walking down the corridor of the Knights of Favonius. Bennett was chattering away to Razor about the domain that they had just cleared in a proud, but not arrogant, and happy voice. Razor smiled and nodded along.
An idea formed in Lisa's mind. Smiling, she approached the two boys. "Hello, darlings," she said sweetly.
Bennett and Razor turned to her. Bennett grinned. "Hey, Miss Lisa!" he exclaimed, hands on his hips.
"Hello, Teacher," Razor said with a solemn look. Lisa chuckled a little at the expression. The expression certainly didn't suit someone like Razor; innocent, usually happy.
"Aw, cutie, you don't need to be quite so formal," Lisa said, patting Razor's head, not minding the crunching sound his hair made when she touched the top of his head. She had to tell him to wash his hair, too. It was really crusty again. Lisa continued, "Say, darlings, are you busy now?"
Bennett shook his head. "No, Miss Lisa. We just finished our commissions for the day! And, we were looking for our friend, Fischl. Have you seen her?" he asked her.
"No, darling. Sorry. I believe that she already left. However, would you mind doing me a favor?" Lisa smiled innocently, hands behind her back.
"Nah, we won't mind!" Bennett said.
Razor shook his head. "Benny and Razor no mind," he said.
"Thank you so much, darlings. See, the Knights of Favonius library is quite dirty. There are a lot of weird, sticky substances on the books and all. That's the reason why I went to the bathroom to wash my gloves." She held up her wet gloves. "So, could you help me clean the library? I would, of course, do it myself, but I am a very busy woman, and I have to run a few errands for the Acting Grandmaster. Could I trust you to clean the library? I'll treat you two out to dinner at Good Hunter later. You can bring Fischl along if you want. Just help me clean the library. Please, darlings?"
Bennett nodded. "Of course, we'll help! You must be really busy, Miss Lisa!" he replied.
"Mhm," Razor said.
Lisa clasped her hands together. "Really? Oh, bless you two darlings. Thank you." She gestured to the bathroom. "The cleaning cloths are there. I think there is a bucket inside as well. I trust that you two know how to clean, right?"
Bennett and Razor nodded in unison.
Lisa nodded, chuckling. Very well. I'll be going now, cuties. I'll see you in the library in a few hours. Please, be patient." She walked off, blowing Bennett and Razor a kiss. She sauntered into Jean's office.
Jean was sitting at her desk, piles of paperwork on the desk. Jean was scribbling on a piece of paper, muttering to herself, "Sara, Good Hunter...deliver food to Ernest at Dawn Winery..."
Lisa walked over to Jean. "Hello, Jean," she said with a sweet smile. She planted a soft kiss on the crown of Jean's head.
Jean looked up with a tired yet happy smile. "Hello, Lisa." She yawned, setting aside the piece of paper and taking another sheet of paper.
"Could I help with any of that?" Lisa asked.
Jean shook her head. "No need, Lisa. But, could you find Klee? I think she might be fish-blasting again. If you find her doing so, bring her here, could you?"
"Of course. Anything for you." Lisa gave Jean one last smile before exiting her office. She hurried off, wanting to find Klee as soon as possible.
She would do anything for Jean, even if she had to order sweet and cute Klee to stop fish-blasting.
***
"Miss Lisa didn't tell us that there were this many books to clean up!" Bennett exclaimed, picking up a book carelessly thrown on the floor. He found some stains on its cover. He took his cloth, dampened it slightly with the soap water in the bucket next to him, and wiped the cover. The stains came off easily. Bennett looked around at all the bookshelves and sighed.
"Cleaning...no fun," Razor muttered, jumping up to place a clean book back in its original place. He took a new book.
"Yeah, I know right? We should have brought Fischl." Bennett smiled. "Then again, she might just sit in a corner and read one of her fantasy novels instead of helping." An image of Fischl sitting in a corner of the library and reading a book, telling Bennett and Razor to pretend that she was part of the background, popped into Bennett's mind. It was near impossible to ask Fischl to stop reading her fantasy novels once she began reading them. Bennett chuckled a little at the thought. He sat down and continued to wipe down the books.
All of a sudden, he felt like he was being watched. Bennett slowly lowered the book in his hand to see Razor peering at him. Bennett startled, dropping the book on the ground. "Ah! Razor!" He sighed. "Don't do that again!" he mock-scolded. "You gave me a heart attack!"
"I..." Razor trailed off, sitting on his knees. "Sorry..." He averted eye contact.
Bennett's eyes widened. "Wait, no, Razor, I was just joking! I didn't mean it!" he exclaimed, alarmed.
Razor swallowed. "Sorry..."
"It's not your fault! I'm not blaming you!" Bennett put a hand on Razor's shoulder and softly smiled. Razor looked up, blinking. A small smile appeared on Razor's face. He nodded. Relief washed over Bennett.
"Razor understand Benny." Razor grinned.
Bennett turned away, face going hot. So cute, he squealed in his mind.
"Should we...uh...continue with the cleaning?" Bennett asked Razor, starting to stand up. Razor took his wrist and gently pulled him back down.
"Razor...sleepy," Razor muttered.
"What?!" Bennett choked on his own spit. "Razor, we gotta finish cleaning up the library!"
"But, Razor tired."
"Do you wanna face Miss Lisa's wrath if we don't finish cleaning by the time she gets back??" Bennett shuddered at the thought of how Lisa's Vision could make storm clouds appear in the sky.
Immediately, Razor shook his head. "No, Razor no want to make Teacher angry," he said.
"Exactly! This is why we have to clean up the library before she gets back!" Bennett stood up quickly and grabbed a new book. He wiped it down quickly and glanced down at Razor. "Razor, come on! Quick!"
"Can Benny...hug Razor?" Razor asked, his red eyes staring into Bennett's. "If Benny hug, Razor help clean."
Bennett's face turned crimson. "Uhm..." He took a deep breath. Relax Bennett, he thought. It's just a hug, not anything like a kiss. Oh Archons, why did I think of a kiss?? Damn it, Bennett, what is wrong with you?? Ah, maybe that I'm very unlucky. That's what's wrong with me. Strange, nothing unlucky has seemed to happen yet today...
"Benny?"
Bennett looked at Razor, snapping back to reality.
"Just get this over with," Bennett muttered under his breath, face still as red as Diluc's hair.
He sighed and sat opposite Razor. Then, before he could do anything else, Razor straddled him.
Bennett's face burned. "Holy shoot! Razor, what in the name of Barbatos are you doing?? I thought you said you wanted a hug??" he exclaimed, his mind thinking of all the smut novels that Fischl had lent to him. That just made his face even redder. Oh Archons, he wasn't ready for that kind of stuff to happen, especially not somewhere like a library. Luckily, no one was inside.
"This...no hug?" Razor asked, genuinely confused. He blinked.
"Uhh, Razor, this isn't even close to a cuddle," Bennett muttered.
"So...what is this?"
"Uhh, you don't need to know, Razor." Bennett gently pushed Razor away from his lap, not removing Razor's hands from his shoulders. For some reason, he wanted Razor's hands on his shoulders. He had no idea why. He just wanted them there (and nowhere else, thank you very much, horny readers). Bennett put his arms around Razor. "This is a hug, Razor. Not that. Please don't do that to anyone else."
"Hmm...Razor see." Razor copied Bennett. He smiled. "Razor understand now."
"Phew. Good Razor." Bennett pat Razor's head.
"Can hug some more?"
"Sure, of course!" Bennett felt his cheeks tint pink.
So, they remained in that position for what seemed like a long time to Bennett. And then, Bennett heard Razor's soft snores.
Crap, he fell asleep, Bennett screamed in his mind. Awkwardly, he lifted Razor out of his arms and set him down on the floor. Then, he looked around the library and sighed.
Looks like he'd have to clean everything up himself.
***
Razor woke up to see Bennett fast asleep, leaning against a bookshelf. He looked around. Only one or two more bookshelves were still dirty. Razor picked up his cloth and began to clean up the rest.
Thirty minutes later, Lisa entered. "Hello, darlings," she said, closing the library door behind her. She looked around. Her eyes locked onto a sleeping Bennett and Razor wiping down a book. She smiled at Razor. "Why, hello, cutie," she told him with a chuckle. "I see you have been doing all the work, while your friend has been taking a nap."
Razor shrugged.
Lisa continued, "Well, wake Bennett up. You have done quite well, darling. Let's go to Good Hunter for dinner now. You deserve it."
Razor nodded. "Yes, teacher." He approached Bennett.
Lisa turned away with a giggle. It seemed like she should call on her little helpers more often.