Naked & Afraid (Adrisse)

Libraries—a building stocked full of literature and history preserved and frozen in time. That familiar scent of leather journals or that satisfying crack of opening a brand new hard-cover textbook was unmatched by anything else. They were man's greatest achievement right next to discovering fire, to some. After all, where would the world be without them? Without a place to store and share information about the past, the present, and what it may tell us about the future, how could people ever evolve and grow?

Many people wanted to be fantastic, grandiose things when they grew up, but Elias couldn't see himself being anywhere other than a library. The smell of books and the grand acoustics of a large, open room was the feeling of home to him—maybe too much so.

"Ah... this... this looks too heavy for me..." Elias thought aloud to himself as he stared down a crate of books, ominously staring at it on top of the reception desk with a look of uncertainty in his eyes. He was the only one in today, and their library was a small one. Obviously, being the capital, there was probably a bajillion other libraries larger and far wealthier than this one, but they managed to stay in business because of their niche selection of books that were hard to find. He was by himself, but that just meant he wouldn't have to leave today! Suddenly, he smiled softly, "I'll just take them out one by one, then."

Today was going to be a good day, he felt. There was a stormy overcast of clouds, with that familiar sweet scent of rain in the distance. The sun was just peeking out from the holes in the atmosphere, and it was just cool enough to wear a light jacket. It was all wet and gloomy today, but that was just how Elias liked it. He basically had the library to himself, and if he was lucky, he would have time to organize the back. As long as no one showed up, what could go wrong?

---

Ding-ding!

The little bell hanging over the entrance doors to the library rang its light little sound, alerting Elias to someone's arrival. Their library usually quiet and it being a stormy day, Elias wasn't expecting customers at this hour and flinched when he heard the sound. He's been working here for a couple of years now, but he still couldn't get used to handling customers, and he loathed the sound of that bell. But as much as he loved being a librarian, it was still a job. And so, with a discouraged softness on his features, Elias turned around.

"H-Hi. How can I help yo—?!" Elias flinched back with an almost yelping sound as the customer he tried to greet sprinted past him in a flesh-colored blur, never saying hello or acknowledging Elias's existence at all.

For a socially awkward introvert like him, not having to talk to customers was great when they knew what they wanted or had an equal appreciation for solitude. But seeing this person sprint inside without so much as a word only terrified him.

"Wh-W-what...!" Elias sputtered as he slowly sunk to the ground, back against the desk as his skin paled. That person was definitely half-naked, right? And sprinting like that wasn't normal, right? Elias had seen all kinds of things since coming here, but this was definitely the first of its kind. More importantly... "Oh my God, oh my God... am I getting robbed? A-At a library?! This can't be happening... should I run? Maybe I should find someone! Oh God!"

Elias continued to mutter his panicked thoughts to himself for another minute, his body trembling as he mulled over his tricky situation. After the back and forth and the ups and downs of his mental state, a sliver of courage and realization finally twinkled in his eye, though it was pathetic in the face of his very obvious terror.

"G-Get it together! I... I have to protect this place!" Elias slapped his hands against his cheeks, trying to psyche himself up for confronting the robber. Even though his mind was vaguely set on this idea, his body was still pale and trembling as he tried to get himself up from the desk. His dark, black eyes looked over at the broom with interest, and he swallowed hard. "O...Okay!"


Tap... tap... tap...

Slowly making his way through the dimly lit corridors of bookshelves and tables, Elias managed to get on his feet, this time wielding a particularly aged broom. Even though the broom was intended as a weapon, the way he hugged it so close to his chest made it obvious that it was some sort of coping object more than anything. He trembled with every step, and every time he peeked around the corners and the halls was like staring in the face of the abyss itself. It was cool inside the library, his face was practically caked in sweat.

"H-Helloooo...?" Elias anxiously called out into the room, hearing his voice bounce off the walls and no reply find its way to his ears. The silence was almost more terrifying than the fact that he knew someone was in the library, and that he couldn't find them even though he was certain they ran in here! He checked all of the halls and corners of the place before he arrived at the last turn, but this time, he could hear the shuffling of books. There was no doubt about it—the robber was on the other side of this shelf!

It all went so smoothly in his head—he'd find the robber, beat them with his "weapon", and call the authorities to have them sent to jail! But as he approached the corner, Elias could already taste the vomit in his throat and his heart beating out of his chest.

"...Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!..." Elias whispered, slowly extending the broom from his chest and shaking violently. His mind was beginning to go blank, and it was getting to a point where he was sure he'd black out before he even got a chance to see the robber! The taste of acid in his mouth and his rear feeling the threat of his bowels at max, Elias sucked whatever he could up and made a violent and abrupt twist around the corner. "Die, die, die, die, dieeee!—Oof!"

To his surprise, books were littering the floor, and his clumsy foot had found itself right on a scroll. He lost his balance almost instantly and fell head-first onto the ground. The broom continued to fall straight and jabbed him right in the gut, sending a rush of discomfort and pain as if a hole was carved into Elias's stomach. He had just made a complete fool of himself right before his murderer.

"Ooohhhh my Goooood...." he groaned painfully, hugging his stomach with one arm and holding himself up with the other. Blood dripped down from his nose and onto the scroll beneath him, too. Needless to say, he started to cry as well. He really did it now, huh? This really, really, really sucked!

In a painful, crying mess, Elias sniffled the snot from his nose before slowly looking up at the robber in the corner, ready to beg for mercy.

"I'm so sorry, I..." Elias started to apologize for no particular reason when he finally made eye contact with... a half-naked kistune? Or maybe it was a neko. Either way, they were clearly boxing themselves in with books, and whether that made the whole encounter more or less threatening didn't show on his face. Instead, the pale, skinny inbucus was just left severely perplexed. "U-Uhm..."

What should he be saying right now?

---

To Elias's surprise, it seemed that both he and the intruder were equally frightened of each other, though the mild-mannered demonata didn't realize it until they both finally made eye contact. It was a half-naked anthros with a dirty face and eyes gleaming with caution and distrust, like a scared stray. He wasn't thinking clearly before (and still isn't), but he may have been right to assume it was a neko. Their features were so distinct that you could spot one amongst any crowd. Not only that, but he heard that their ears could be quite soft and smooth to the touch. But regardless of his race, it didn't change the fact that he had barged into the place without any explanation. So, puzzled and anxious, Elias looked up at him with an uncertain gaze.

"S-So... who—" Elias began again, but was cut short by the neko's sudden movement. He flinched as if he were bracing for an attack, but instead got to see the boy resume what he was doing before—constructing a book fort, this time insisting that Elias keep quiet with a shushing gesture. Even though now it was somewhat clear that the neko wasn't going to attack him, the situation became even more confusing. Who was this guy and why was he building a fort in his library? Why was he telling him to shush? Where did he think he was going dressed like that?

If not for his horrible curiosity and confusion, Elias probably would've done as he was told and remained as silent as a mouse, but his want for answers trampled over his instincts.

"W-Who are you and why have you come here?!" Elias sputtered again, smudging away the blood from his nose and rising onto his shaky knees while hugging the broom. From the looks of it, it seemed like the neko boy had no interest in robbing the place or burning books or whatever it is that people do when they break into libraries, but it didn't explain the frantic fort-building either.

It was then that he heard the distant but familiar Ding-Ding! of the doorbell at the reception area, alerting them both to the presence of another. The sound made Elias flinch and look the other way, fear in his eyes. Just when things couldn't get worse, someone else decided to show up? What was he supposed to do? After all, he kind of had his hands tied right now, and if he said anything now, he had no idea what this neko would do to him. Nervously, he looked back at the neko to see his reaction to the sound, or any reaction at all.

---

Of course, both of Elias's questions were completely ignored at the neko made the finishing touches on his book-fort. What started off as a messy but not unnatural corner of the library ended up looking completely out of place, almost standing out more than anything else nearby. After being blatantly ignored, Elias was beginning to muster up the courage to ask him once more before the neko chucked a piece of paper at him with writing scribbled all over it. Needless to say, he had a message.

"Hiding? Please get rid... of new person..." the nervous demonata repeated, looking up at the neko for some sort of further explanation, but only being greeted by a barrier of books. Well, maybe asking for details right now wouldn't yield answers, but the paper told him that although this neko was an intruder, he wasn't a robber. His scribbling was rushed, but even under his mysterious circumstances, he took the time to write 'please'.

What was he hiding from, and why? Where were his clothes and why did he look so dirty? More than anything, why did he think that a such a neatly constructed book-fort would do something? So many questions and so little time to answer them, but if Elias didn't leave for the reception desk now, who knows what the neko would do to him if the customers found him like this?

Without a word, Elias held on tightly to his broom and ran for the front, nearly crashing into the people waiting for him at the desk.  He came to an abrupt stop and looked up at the man who towered over him. It was a bald guy with a square face and bullet holes for eyes, and a much shorter, scrawnier man hovering behind him with his thin hair balding prematurely. They totally looked like thugs, and Elias turned pale accordingly.

"H-He-Hello! W...What can I... what can I do for you two?" Elias anxiously fumbled over his words, his lips wearing a strained, pressured smile as he looked up at the man while embracing his broom.

"Yo. Have you seen a male Neko come through here?" the bald man looked down, his brow so thick and bony that it almost cast a shadow over his eyes. He looked at Elias's strange injury with mild interest, to which Elias noticed and immediately wiped away whatever was left. Thoughtfully, he raised his hand up, "'Bout this tall? Pale brown hair? Kinda has a good face?"

"I... uhm..." Elias looked away from him, shrinking in his oppressing stare. These must be the guys the neko was hiding from. They certainly didn't seem nice, or seemed to have good intentions. The vibes he was picking up from these guys were far worse than the initial shock of what happened earlier, but he also had no idea what was going on. It was none of his business, and the neko gave him more trouble than anything by being here, but even so, he just said the first thing that came to his mind when the question surfaced.  "...no. It's just me here... in the library. I-If you'd like, I could help you find a book or—"

"No need," the butch man cut Elias short, beginning to turn away while peering into the dimly lit library ahead of him. Pausing, he stopped, "Actually, I've been meaning to find a good read. Mind if I take a look?"


Fwoop! Fwoop! Thoomp!

"S-Sir... please..."

"I ain't done lookin' just yet."

These guys were definitely thugs. If by 'take a look', the guy meant rummaging through shelves and shelves of books and scrolls and carelessly letting them fall to the floor, he was set on finding that perfect read. Aisle after aisle of knowledge littered the floor, and Elias couldn't say or do anything but watch with visible discomfort and irritation as it all unfolded. Normally, he'd draw a line when it came to the books, but his situation was so precarious that he feared losing his tongue if he spoke out against them.

It finally came to a point where they arrived at the aisle with the book-fort, and the neko did himself no favors by constructing such a penetrable, out-of-place fortress. While the butch man was still rudely rummaging through other aisles, the scrawny man instantly took notice of the fort. Squinting, he walked closer and closer to it, extending his hand out to remove a book.

"A-Ah, no no! Sir, please don't touch that! That's... those are currently not available right now, so...!" Elias pleaded, fidgeting wildly as the scrawny man continued to walk over anyway. Now that he was covering for this stranger, there was no telling what would happen to him if they caught him in his lie. His heart was threatening to leap out of his chest with every footstep. "Please...!"

Fwoomp!

"Man, let's dip!" the butch man called out from the other side of the room, the sound of a book clapping together bouncing off the walls, and then footsteps toward the door, "He ain't here, and all this dust is makin' my eyes itch like crazy."

The skinny, balding man was no more than an foot away from touching the barrier of books before his colleague summoned him, making him freeze in place with this look of frustration and suspicion on his face.

"But—" he tried to explain, but his thuggish friend interrupted him.

"Come. On!"

"Hm," he gave the books and Elias one final glare before pocketing his hands and waddling out of the library, the familiar ding-ding! finally leaving the demonata and anthros in solitude.


After quickly locking the doors and pulling the blinds down the windows, Elias returned to the neko's corner of the library with a weary and drained expression. His heart ached as he stepped over the dozens of books and scrolls left on the ground before he made his way back to the neko, never abandoning his broom as he stood a comfortable distance away from the fort. Even though the thugs were gone, he was only left to deal with... whatever and whoever this was, and the mess they caused.

The initial wave of terror had passed, and Elias could only release the most exhausting and relieved sigh by the end of it all, and all he could feel was immense regret.

"I can't believe I just did that..." he mumbled to himself, a gloom coming over him as he mulled over what just happened. After a moment of regretablly recollecting his thoughts, he looked at the fort apprehensively, "Uhm... they've left, so... well... can we talk now?"

---

Even though those thugs were gone, there was still this heavy silence and even heavier suspense that stood between Elias and the mysterious neko boy. With those men gone and the two of them truly alone, how would they turn out? Elias wasn't really sure what to think as he awkwardly watched the stranger carefully deconstruct his fort and stack the books in neat, organized piles, until the barrier no longer obscured them both from each other. Without anyone looming over them, they could finally see each other in full view.

The neko boy was undoubtedly dirty and greasy like a stray, but looked too well-fed to be one. It wasn't too farfetched to say that he was fit, really. His hair was just as the thugs described—something of a muted brown color—and his glossy, wet eyes reminded him of honey. But more than his pretty features, Elias's gaze eventually fixed on one curious item around the boy's neck—a collar. Like a  tragic little bow on the package, he noticed a stray tear run down the neko's face, and almost immediately he could tell what might be happening here. Or, so he thought.

The truth was that all the collar and the tear did for him was dispell his feeling of danger and replace it with an depressing slap of reality. His library was a mess, he lied to some dangerous-looking guys about what looked to be a fugitive, and most importantly, the fugitive was still here.

Elias's face grew gloomier and gloomier as it all hit him, mulling over the whole situation as he apprehensively awaited the neko's reply. They stared at each other for a long moment, Elias fidgeting under the pressure of this neko's slitted, prying eyes before he did something... odd. Suddenly, he pulled out a weathered notebook and began writing in it again. After a few moments of anxious scribbles, the neko held out the whole notebook for Elias to view. To his surprise, he was trying to talk to him again in written form.

"Oh... y-yes. Those men just left, and I closed the blinds too, so..." Elias looked down a bit, trying not to sigh as he thought about the books. How could someone so easily trample over something so precious? Having to clean up after such bullies was exhausting enough, but it was even worse that he had even let it get to that point. In a sense, he was just as trampled on as those books, and he just let it happen. His spirits began to sink a bit before he caught a glimpse at the neko's neat stack in the corner of his eye again. He took his time with that.

Anxious and in awe, Elias tried looking back up at the neko again, but his nerves got the best of him and he ended up not making eye contact. Instead, he setttled for looking at his feet.

"...W-Who are you?"

---

Reading what was written, Elias wasn't super surprised to find that this Adrisse character was a slave. Property on the loose, so to speak. And while it was terrible to rob a creature of its personal freedoms, that reality was that it wasn't uncommon for anthros to be on the receiving end of it. Some found satisfaction in making them the pets they so closely resembled, or perhaps pleasure in tormenting them through other ways. Many just settled for their circumstances and grew content with the fact that their quality of life was designed to be worse than everyone else's. Even Elias didn't think much of it, but he couldn't ignore this strange feeling in his chest when he saw the boy standing before him.

Even as Adrisse explained his situation, he did it all with the elegance and scribble of a pen on paper. Not a word had come out of his mouth since he barged into the library, and even with those thugs gone, he still wrote his thoughts down rather than spoke them. Was he mute? Or maybe just wary about anyone listening? Whichever the case, maybe Elias was lucky that the intruder was at least polite and tidy, but that didn't change the fact about how worrying his new situation was. All that was left was the single question—what now?

"Oh!" he perked up as the notebook was reeled back in to scribble in before Adrisse held it out again, this time with a new question. At first, Elias was so distracted by his own thoughts that he didn't realize what the question was asking until a few moments of looking at it, lost. After he realized what it was, his cheeks pinked slightly as he briefly looked at Adrisse. "E-Elias. I'm the librarian here—well, actually, not the librarian—but—you know, I work here? The librarian is out now, so I'm... yeah...

So there they were, a soft-spoken demonata and a runaway neko exchanging names and mulling over their new circumstances while surrounded by the familiar smell of leather and paper. Both of them were probably thinking about where to go from here, or maybe it was just Elias. Adrisse was probably relieved to have found some sort of "safe space" since coming from wherever he came from, but Elias couldn't have been more at odds with the whole dilemma.

Now that he lied to those men's faces, he had somehow wiggled his way into something he probably shouldn't have. It'd be easier to just kick the neko out and call someone to pick him up—after all, it wasn't any of Elias's business anyway, and he shouldn't have cared what happened to him either. But wasn't that too cruel? Whether it was out of pity or out of his own kindness, Elias found relinquishing Adrisse back from whatever hellhole he came from far more uncomfortable than the thought of him being here at all.

After a defeated sigh, Elias finally broke into a small, cordial smile, still hugging his broom as he looked at Adrisse. He didn't know what other looks Eldritch had given him before this, but those deep, black eyes of his were warm and comforting.

"Are you hungry?" was all he asked, and even though it may have been an act of pity, maybe pity was a type of kindness in itself.

---

Seeing those distinct ears of his perk up and those pretty honeyed eyes widen at the offer of food was mildly amusing to the soft-spoken demonata, and a little cute. It was a strange thought to have, but he could at least see why people enslaved anthros—not that Elias endorsed or enjoyed the thought. But of course, the food wasn't the only thing that caught Adrisse's attention. When writing, the only thing he seemed to want to talk about was Elias's brief mention of the librarian who owned this building.

"Uhm... it'll be three days before she gets back? She and her husband are on their honeymoon, you see. I've only met the man once, but he seemed very well-mannered, and—" Elias paused as he caught himself in his rambling again. Aside from the librarian he worked with, he didn't get to talk to many people. His nerves would get the best of him and he'd always look like a mumbling, bumbling idiot when he talked to people. He stopped himself before smiling softly once more, "...Anyway. Wait here, won't you?"


A few minutes passed before the mild-mannered demonata returned from the depths which he stepped into moments before, this time with a plate of bread, fruit, cookies, and black coffee. As an incubus, the only sort of sustenance he actually needed was the energy he gained from sleeping with others, so eating and drinking other things was for pleasure and delight alone. Yet, even though he didn't actually need to consume foodstuff, he did have a taste for certain things over others—oftentimes on the bitter side.

"Sorry, I don't eat very many sweet things, so the coffee's black and cookies aren't very sweet. Oh, I didn't even ask if you drank coffee... shoot," Elias continued to explain in a quiet, low voice as he dragged a small table on wheels behind him, placing the platter on top and scooting it over to Adrisse. Then, keeping a comfortable amount of distance between him and the anthros, he sat down on the ground, hugging his knees as he tried to keep him company. "Uhm... as for earlier, you don't have to worry about it. Those guys were real jerks to mess everything up like that, but I had them all organized a specific way, and making you put them back may just mess it up even more."

For a brief moment, Elias realized how picky (or even rude) he sounded, and suddenly he felt a wave of guilt wash over him. He didn't say anything for a few moments before he began to twiddle his thumbs and apprehensively glance over at Adrisse's feet. Again, he noticed the books and how he held them.

"Do you... like to read? And write, perhaps?"

---

When Adrisse offered the notebook yet again for Elias to read, the mild-mannered demonata was thrown for a loop. Finding out that this Neko not only likes to read and write, but held a deeper appreciation for it was enough for Elias to briefly break out of his shell and want to talk about the unlikely thing they had in common. It wasn't so often that he'd find people whose appreciation for the work possessed such depth, and less likely that they'd be some fugitive who barged in uninvited, but his heart leaped with delight when it was the case. However, the elegance of the handwriting and the length of his response were almost as if Adrisse were completely relying on written word to converse at all. Now that he had not only evaded his pursuers, but found enough security in sitting down to eat surely meant it was at least somewhat safe to talk in the moment, and yet he still chose to write it down?

Needless to say, Elias was thrown between a sea of emotion, split between bewilderment, curiosity, and joy.

"R-Right?! Books are more than just ink on paper! It's sharing the most private part of your very soul and giving it shape. It has the ability to take you to different dimensions and universes, make information immortal just by putting it on paper! Without it, who knows where we would be? I've personally...!" Elias paused abruptly. For a moment, he seemed caught in his excitement to have finally found someone who just 'gets it', but it was no sooner than he'd realized how much he was running his mouth, rambling. With that in mind, his overjoyed blush died down to a more embarrassed one, sheepish in his gestures as he almost made himself smaller hugging his knees, looking down at his toes. "...But yes, working in a library does have its benefits if you l-like to read and write, and uhm..."

It wasn't super obvious, but as Elias trailed off again, he was dying to ask about the notebook and their inability to have a normal conversation. He kept glancing at the notebook without having finished his thought, twiddling his thumbs as he awkwardly listened to his guest munch away at the snacks he gathered. Maybe this wouldn't be so awkward if he were eating something too? Goodness, he was too nervous to eat anyway! Anything he'd stuff down would just come right back up.

How should he ask? Should he ask at all? Did he get too happy about the question? Elias kept his mind busy and saturated with worry as he exhausted himself, brooding over what just happened.

---