Ah, I miss him already.

O'vel-win sat silently in the room arranged by the librarians with his masters and the second technician that the men had arranged to accompany them to the city following the summons of the Grand Librarian.  After he had bid farewell to his lover, he had traipsed in a melancholic daze into the inn to find that the two masters and his colleague were eating a light breakfast.

"You did not return to the room last night," the other technician had mentioned in passing.  "Is everything all well?"

"Everything is fine," O'vel-win had replied, but felt a slight heat in his cheeks as his mind flittered back to the night before in perfect recall.  "I just caught up with an old friend, who coincidentally happened to have business in the city."

"What luck!" The man had commented.  "These days and nights have dragged on and we seem no closer to resolving the issues.  I miss my family."

"Master," O'vel-win had said to the individual sitting beside him.  "Is there no compromise?"

"It seems not," his master had replied.  "Though bleak, we have thought about other solutions, but all would set the project back some time."

"And we were just making progress as well!" The other technician had sighed.  "If we had a season longer, we might be able to ensure that the Machine works without fault."

"Perhaps the Grand Librarian would be willing to wait one more season," O'vel-win had claimed with hope.  "Following the Machine's completion, who would be unwilling for it to be moved?  It would require close contact with the Grand Central Library at that point after all."

The two masters glanced at each other.  "We can only ask," one had said to the other.

And so the Masters had finished breaking their fast and freshening up, before deciding to have the two technicians come with them to the Grand Central Library to speak with the Grand Librarian, in hope that their compromise was accepted. As on the other days, the men were met by a junior librarian, who took them through corridors and halls and rooms filled with books towards a small room that happened to have a window providing small light into it from the outside world. They were asked to wait here and that the Grand Librarian would see them shortly. However, that had been some time ago and the four men were still waiting, each to their own thoughts.

This had naturally led to O'vel-win's preoccupation with thoughts of his lover. To be by his side had felt natural, as if they were meant to be together and not apart. As K'tai-tul had been a shelf carved to fit a single book and O'vel-win was that book. It had felt wonderful to lie beside him, to touch him, to pleasure him. It ran across his mind that they should be able to do more, but he couldn't think what sorts of things they could do together to show love in intimacy. It would have to be something that they explored over time.

He was shaken from his musings when the fitted door was opened and creaked softly. The four men glanced up from where they sat at the thick wooden table almost sighing with relief that the Grand Librarian was finally here. And yet, it turned out that he was not.

"Begging your apologies, sirs," the junior Librarian bowed, humbly. "Unfortunately, the Grand Librarian will be unable to speak with you today. Something has come up that urgently requires his attention. So I am here to lead you out."

The men were impolite enough that they did not hide their dissatisfaction, but were polite enough to keep harsh words to themselves. "Lead the way," one of the Master's said with a heavy sigh. The junior Librarian bowed again and began guiding them down the hall outside of this room. O'vel-win peered over the shoulder of his Masters as he idly began comparing the way to the exit to his mental map of the way into the library. This corridor lead into a large hall that was lined with books and connected to many doorways, the one they would take is straight ahead, rather than the one left that seemed to lead to an even bigger space filled with books or to the right where he could see more openings, one of which K'tai-tul disappeared down.

He paused.  Did he truly just have his lover on his brain, or had he really witnessed the man, who was supposed to be on route to his home, in the Grand Central Library.  He shook his head, thinking that it was likely the former and continued to follow his masters.

Outside of the large doorway exit of the mountainous library, his masters gifted both their technicians another day of free time, before complaining bitterly to each other as they returned to the inn.  The other man queried about what O'vel-win planned to do, to which he was about to respond that he wasn't sure, but something caught his eye.  It was a wagon in the stable building next to the library, a very familiar wagon.  One he had seen off a few hours ago, yet strangely remained in the city.

He groaned inwardly.  Then the man that he saw in the Library really was his lover.  "I think I might actually visit the Library as a visitor," O'vel-win told the man.  "After all, when would such an opportunity present itself in the future?"

The other man thought about it, then shook his head, wary of the fees needed just to enter.  And so the two technicians bid each other good day and parted.  O'vel-win made his way back up to the entrance and parted with the tokens needed to re-enter.

Due to his memorisation of the Library's twisted corridors, it did not take him long to retrace his steps to where he had witnessed his lover disappear.  He knew that there was a chance that K'tai-tul might not be where he had last seen him, but his whole being thrummed with the need to be together with him, not wantonly, just sharing the same space.  The doorway that K'tai-tul walked through lead to a staircase, which seemed to have been carved out of rock just as the walls and floor.

O'vel-win ascended, feeling almost nostalgic as he was reminded of home. Yet he chuckled to himself as he knew that the next time that he ascended the family estate to the rooms of his parents, he would do so with a confession. He could not replace the man he loved with another. It was impossible.

After counting the steps into double digits, he found himself in a room that house scrolls rather than books and had two exits. He frowned, wondering which way that he should go. One veered off to the left and the other seemed to veer to the right. He pondered for a short time before choosing the exit to the right and began to walk down its slightly sloping gradient. However, before he got too far, he was stopped by two small bodies.

"You are going the wrong way!" The small boy said, in his energetic way. The small girl nodded in silent agreement. O'vel-win frowned, completely taken aback.

"How is it you two come to be here?" He said, startled and slightly panicked. "L'nan-win, should you not be at home at the estate and Ch'mai-tul, your brother definitely claimed you were with your mother on the farm."

"No time," Ch'mai-tul said, lightly.

"That's right, cousin," L'nan-win cried out. "We don't have time to explain! We have to hurry!"

"We are not going anywhere until you explain," O'vel-win replied, stubbornly. His surprise was swiftly being overcome with anger. Two small children were running unsupervised through the Grand Central Library, not a guardian in sight. Where was that irresponsible person? Why did they bring the children into the city?

"Please, O'vel-win," L'nan-win said, his large eyes looking pitiful. "We will explain later, we promise. But right now, K'tai-tul may be in trouble!"

His arguments despite coming from a child that could not possibly help even were it required swept away any questions he may have, becoming entirely focused thoughts of K'tai-tul. "What sort of trouble?"

"Hurry!" Ch'mai-tul pushed at his legs, somehow making him move and he allowed the children to guide him back to the room containing the scrolls. The two children then ran through the exit that he had ignored and all he could do was follow. He came to be aware that this corridor not only veered left, in a slight spiral, it also ascended. It seemed to take a while before they left the narrow space for another room. The room was sparse of furnishings and had a large window to light it, although it was too high for him to peer through, unless on top toes.

"There is no one here," O'vel-win stated with a frown. He glanced at the children, who waved him over towards the bookshelf that looked as if it had been moved slightly. With a sigh, he humoured them, all the while gloomily thinking that he had picked the right way after all and he had been foolish to listen to two naughty children. They would be in trouble when he took them to the inn and he would demand they tell him what he needed to know. And then he would have to figure out how to get them home safely.

However, all words of reprimand were swallowed as he came to see a door hidden behind the bookshelf, one that was ajar. He pushed open the door and both children clung to his clothes as he walked through it to find himself in yet another fair sized library room. The children dashed passed him and he protested, but jogged a little to catch up with them.

"Let him go!" L'nan-win cried out suddenly and O'vel-win glanced up to see the tall, silver haired Grand Librarian holding a man aloft by his neck. A man who just happened to have sun-kissed skin and black hair with silver white tips. K'tai-tul, his beloved.