Library Emsiecat

Summary:

From an 'imagine your OTP' prompt:

Person A writing a romantic note in a library book and giving it to B. Person A waits for B to melt, but instead... B promptly smacks them in the face with the text for daring to write in a library book.

Chapter Text

In a small village in England, there was a library. Bilbo Baggins, son of Bungo and Belladonna Baggins had worked in and owned this library for a good ten years now. He had inherited the place from his father and even though his youth had been full of dreams of wild adventures and travelling the world, he found that he simply couldn't abandon or sell the place after his parents had passed away. It wasn't the most exciting or glamorous job, but he liked it well enough.

It was a library after all, and a library meant quiet.

Above all else, this was something Bilbo craved in his life. What with a multitude of nosey, gabbling relatives and neighbours, peace was something that Bilbo sorely missed.

The smell of old books, the dust motes caught in sunbeams shining in through the windows, the high wooden shelves filled to capacity, and the ancient squashy chairs patrons could sit upon to read. Bilbo loved every nook and cranny of this place. If nothing else the quiet atmosphere and gentle lull of turning pages and murmured voices worked wonders for soothing frayed nerves and inspiring his passion for writing.

Something which he did frequently when customers were few and far between.

The old library had never really caught up with the twenty first century. Instead, it had lingered behind, the relic of a by-gone time that still gloried in the use checkout cards and signatures, that refused to acknowledge computerisation and steadfastly feigned ignorance when some poor unsuspecting youngster would question why.

Of course, such an attitude did put-off a certain amount of folk, but still more loved the whiff of nostalgia the place invoked, and visited for that odd little sensation of stepping back in time more than anything else.

In such a small place, Bilbo had come to know his regulars very well, at least by sight if not by name and so he was rather baffled when his newest visitor had begun attending the library on an almost daily basis four months ago.

He usually came alone, quiet and reserved, and would sit in the far corner just in view of the checkout desk reading whichever tome or novel had piqued his fancy that day. On occasion, he would check a book out; but he seemed to prefer the peace and quiet of the library itself to do his reading, and this Bilbo could easily identify with, feeling the smallest of connections to his new regular through this shared trait alone.

His name was Thorin, he had discovered through the checkout cards and it seemed he had a preference for history, high fantasy, and romance novels.

He also had two nephews; loud but endearing lads in their teens who had stopped by once or twice to pester their uncle for money, or food, or to 'hurry up, Uncle! We want to go now; Mum says she's not bothering to wait for your broody grumpy butt any longer!'

Bilbo hid a smile as he recalled the embarrassment on Thorin's face at that instance, and attempted to return to the proper task of re-shelving the returned books rather than let his thoughts be consumed by the other man.

He was very handsome though...

Enough of that!

Get back to work and stop mooning over poor put-upon uncles who have a soft spot for reading Jane Austen novels, Bilbo Baggins. The poor fellow will be scared off if he ever finds out the silly things you think!

Bilbo was barely half-way through his task when he heard the bell above the door chime merrily signalling the arrival of a visitor. Dusting his hands and popping back out from behind the shelves, Bilbo saw none other than Thorin waiting by the desk.

He looked rather nervous...

"Ah, hullo again! Are you returning the book already?" Bilbo beamed at the man and he nodded stiffly in reply. Bilbo tried not to let the lack of conversation bother him and attempted to plough on regardless. "You must read very quickly, you only checked this one out the day before yesterday."

"I- yes, I suppose I do," Thorin hummed, eyes darting anywhere except Bilbo's face.

Unperturbed, Bilbo accepted the book back and checked it back in.

"Will you be borrowing anything today?"

"I thought I would just have a look around... maybe read a bit here, if that is alright."

Bilbo chuckled and waved the man off. "Of course it's alright, it will be nice to have some company actually."

Indicating to woeful lack of people in the library that day, Bilbo returned the handsome man's hesitant smile with a warm one of his own.

"Thank you, Bilbo."

Thorin wandered over to the shelves without another word, and Bilbo was left a little flustered, that was likely the first time Thorin had used his name.

An hour passed in relative silence, Bilbo working behind the desk and Thorin reading whichever book he had chosen, until of course Bilbo noticed something.

The librarian had been checking through the rest of the returned books for damage when he reached the book Thorin had brought back that day.

Pride and Prejudice, one of Bilbo's favourites... and apparently Thorin's as well since he had borrowed it twice before.

Now, it was a point of pride that Bilbo took very good care of his books. He checked them regularly, especially after they had been returned, to make sure that no damage had been caused whilst out on loan.

Bilbo was quite good at restoring books and he was quite pleased to say that many of his books were probably older than the library itself.

He was not the kind of person who could afford rare books or first editions of course, but he did like to have older copies so that they were of slightly more interest than the generic mass-produced modern editions.

And he deeply disliked finding any damage on his precious books.

Especially if it was intentional and not accidental.

Imagine then his horror, as he flipped through the book Thorin returned only to find that the great idiot had written in it!

Had his poor precious book not been defaced, Bilbo might have actually been charmed by the words scrawled on page 356.

I will love you for more years than this book has pages.

Then below that and rather hastily scribbled out was...

Are you a library book? Because I'm checking you out!

Bilbo had not noticed that in the time he had taken checking his books; Thorin had not read a word from his. Rather, he had sat staring at the librarian and fidgeting as he waited for Bilbo to find the note.

If he was hoping for a positive reaction, he was going to be sorely disappointed.

Bilbo stood with the book in his hands and marched over to where Thorin was seated. Any hopes and wishes of Bilbo being endeared by his words were dashed as Bilbo glared at the man, lips twisted into an angry frown.

"You!"

"Uh-"

"You. Wrote. In. A. Library. Book!?"

Thorin yelped as the irate little librarian actually punctuated each word with a sound smack to his arm or shoulder with aforementioned book.

"I-"

"You defaced my property just so you could- could flirt! And badly at that!"

"It wasn't actually all my-"

"Out!"

"What?"

"You intentionally damaged a book, you're banned, get out," Bilbo's voice had dropped then to something dangerously calm and flat and Thorin cringed at it.

Setting aside the book he had been attempting to read, Thorin stood, heart sinking. He really had messed this up, hadn't he?

"I'm very sorry."

"Go, please," Bilbo was red faced and cheeks puffed in anger, it would have been quite an adorable sight had the anger only been directed at someone other than Thorin.

"Yes, of course... my apologies again."

Thorin wasted no time in gathering his coat and bag and walking quickly to the entrance, shame-faced.

It was only after the man had left and Bilbo was utterly alone that the librarian finally calmed enough to replay the scene in his mind. Groaning and burying his face in his hands as he sat at the desk with the fateful copy of Pride and Prejudice in front of him, Bilbo realised he had probably overreacted.

"I went and attacked him with the bloody book! ... He could go and report me for assault or something if he had half a mind to," Bilbo mumbled miserably to himself.

Perhaps it had been because it was one of his mother's copies that he had reacted so poorly, but Bilbo had just seen red at the haphazard handwriting scribbled in his book. Still, there was no excuse to lash out at a customer like that...

"And I went and banned him as well," Bilbo whined to the empty library at large. "Now I won't even have his stupid handsome face to keep me entertained anymore."

Feeling morose and very sorry for himself, Bilbo picked up the paperback and flipped through to the note again... the love note... oh Hell...

It was... sweet, even if he had defaced the book with it.

And really, a voice that sounded much like his mother's chided him. Since when did it matter so much anyway? It gives it character and history. A story within a story.

Oh yes, 'Are you a library book? Because I'm checking you out!' clearly a quote for the ages to be immortalised on paper forever more.

True that one had been crossed out but...

Oh bugger it! It wasn't even in pen either, it was pencil! Bilbo could have easily rubbed the note out of the book and there would have been no harm done, but now...

"I really have made a mess of this, haven't I?"

Bilbo trudged up the path towards the library to open up several days later still feeling rather forlorn.

There had been no sign of Thorin since the unfortunate banning incident and Bilbo was feeling the loss keenly.

On the upside, there had been no visit from the police regarding an assault by paperback romance novel either, so that was something at least...

Bilbo was so busy looking at his feet as he made his way up to the front door that he nearly walked straight into the person stood in his path.

"So sorry I wasn't looking- oh! Thorin!"

Book-defacer extraordinaire was standing in front of the library doors looking incredibly sheepish and very contrite. He cleared his throat, shifting from one foot to another with his hands behind his back before speaking hurriedly.

"I know you banned me, and I am truly sorry for what I did. I'm not expecting you to repeal the ban or forgive me, but I just wanted to make amends..."

From behind his back Thorin produced a book, Pride and Prejudice to be exact.

Thorin had bought Bilbo a replacement for the book he had written in.

He had managed to get the exact same edition with the exact same cover as well.

"How did you-"

It wasn't as if it was a very rare copy, but it was an older edition, and Bilbo had not seen any other around before...

"eBay comes in handy sometimes."

"Oh..."

"I uh, I also-" his other hand emerged from behind him to reveal a small bunch of flowers. "Dís said you might like these as a peace offering... she said something about your garden being lovely when she's passed it so you might like flowers and- well..."

Dís, Thorin's sister and mother to this dear fool's miscreant nephews; he'd only ever seen the woman once before but she seemed nice enough.

Bilbo could feel the blush on his cheeks and he shook his head, accepting the book and flowers with a small smile. "Come on in, we can talk some more inside."

Really, the man was far too attractive when he smiled like that; Bilbo averted his gaze from the relieved grin Thorin graced him with and set about unlocking the library doors.

Thirty minutes and a cup of tea later found Thorin and Bilbo both seated in comfortable armchairs amongst the shelves of books. Bilbo had forgone flipping the sign on the door from 'closed' to 'open' so they could have some uninterrupted time together to talk properly.

"It was my mum's book; I think that's why I reacted so poorly... I am sorry though, I shouldn't have shouted at you and smacked you with the book like I did, that was- well... very poor form to put it mildly."

"Your mother's book?"

"A lot of the books in here are, hers and dad's that is."

"I think I understand why you acted so protectively now... but why would you let your parents' books go out on loan in the first place?"

"Mum always said books were for sharing, dad agreed with her. After they died I thought they'd like it if I added their books to the library as well."

Thorin shifted, looking uneasy.

"I was going to just erase it you know. I wrote it on a whim, as I was just so desperate to confess to you but had no idea how to go about it, but Kíli said it was a good idea. He said that you might find it romantic... so I left it in there..."

"You took relationship advice from your teenage nephew?"

"Yes..."

"The same teenage nephew who thought that clambering up into the tree in front of my library and attempting 'parkour' might impress the pretty redheaded lass he'd been pining after?"

"That- that would be the one, yes."

"He nearly broke his bloody arm and you seriously thought taking advice on how to woo someone from him was a good idea?"

"He er... he did actually get her number after that so-"

"You're an idiot," Bilbo sighed, but his lips were twitching. "You're also very much forgiven... I hope you can forgive me for acting the way I did too."

"You had every right to act as you did, I damaged the book."

"It was only pencil... and as much as I hate to admit it, it was rather sweet."

"Really?" Thorin perked up, looking quite foolishly hopeful and Bilbo chuckled fondly.

"Yes... well the note you crossed out was pretty awful, but the other one was actually very nice."

"Did it rub out alright? I know I bought you a replacement but-"

"I er... I haven't bothered erasing it. Every time I went to I just couldn't," Bilbo ducked his head feeling the silly smile that had been on his lips since he let Thorin into the library widen. "I think... maybe I'll retire that copy from library use, and put your replacement out there instead. I'd quite like to keep the other as it is."

When Bilbo looked up it was to see Thorin looking so very hopeful and Bilbo decided he had left the poor man in suspense over a proper answer for too long. Standing up, Bilbo approached Thorin's chair before taking the man's hands in his.

"For a book vandal you are entirely too charming and I'm actually very smitten with you... so if you meant what you wrote in there, I'd very much like to take you out for coffee some time."

"I'd like that," Thorin looked overjoyed and relieved all at once. He quickly lifted the hand holding his so he could press a quick, chivalrous kiss to Bilbo's fingertips and the librarian laughed softly at the gesture. He really did read a lot of romances...

"For now, if you don't have anything planned, we could read some books together," Bilbo suggested, uncertain if the idea would sound too boring. It was something his parents used to do though, and he found the idea appealing.

He need not have worried, as Thorin seemed quite taken with the idea, and for the first time in a long time, Bilbo did not bother to open the library that day.