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Tucked between cobbled streets and flowering hedges, the Voxthain Gingerlily Library feels less like a building and more like a secret kept by the town. Ivy curls lovingly around the arched windows and wooden beams. Inside, the air is warm and softly spiced—scented with old pages, candlewax, and faint hints of ginger tea that the staff are constantly sipping on. Lanterns hang from twisted iron hooks and drift lazily overhead, their amber glow casting gentle halos on the well-worn rugs and velvet armchairs. Books fill every corner, begging to be picked over all the others.

༉‧₊˚. isla rey.

gingerlily library; casual hang out with antonio.



the minute isla walked through the double doors of gingerlily library, she felt like she had returned home. the scent of books was unbeatable for her, and the sliding ladders beckoned her like nothing else. isla was pretty certain that she could practically live in the library, and be content every day. whenever she was inside the library, she felt as if she was in a dream world and every thing she took out lead her to another world full of mystery and fun - a thousand portals at her fingertips.

isla walked calmly over to her favourite section of the library - sci-fi and fantasy (anyone who didn’t like that genre be damned) - and ran her hand along one of the shelves of books, just waiting to find one that would lure her into that mystery world of the day. her fingers scraped across a familiar surface and it caught her attention, leading to her pulling it out of the shelf. her breath hitched as she studied the title. a hundred ways to love, a thousand ways to lie. it was cleo’s favourite book - or had been her favourite book, and that was years ago anyway.

nowadays, whilst cleo’s missing presence was still incredibly noticeable, isla refused to think too much about her sister. she was lacking her old best friend, but she had emmaline, right? she had antonio, and elliot. she wasn’t lacking friends, not exactly, but she was lacking in cleos, and no one could truly replace the gaping hole that her sister had left in her heart. isla put away the book with a sigh. where was cleo anyway? her sister had left two years ago and shunned isla out of her life, and there was no sign of her - a bit like elliot for his brother draven, she supposed, though cleo had chosen to leave, and elliot was forced to. well, he would have left anyway, wouldn’t he? it made no difference.

isla’s manicured nails caught on something else as she continued to scroll. a new book? she took it out and peeped at the title - one she hadn’t seen before. after reading the blurb, isla carefully descended from the ladder, making sure her skirt didn’t flap up, and sat down on a sofa, already in the world of the book. she slowly took her bag off her oversized, hand-knit jumper and delved into the book, totally distant from the rest of the world.

   
   
     𝓐𝓷𝓽𝓸𝓷𝓲𝓸 𝓖𝓻𝓪𝔂 𝓢𝓽𝓸𝓻𝓶𝓿𝓪𝓵𝓮
   
⠀⠀gingerlily library - just a normal day
   

   Antonio didn’t usually go to libraries. Not voluntarily. Of course, he had had to back when he had been in Cogworks, but it had now been nearly two years ago. Which was wild to think of, really. How could he have been out of school for two years already? It felt so much shorter than that. But also longer somehow? Weird, really. He can’t deny those Cogworks days were fun, and sometimes he does look on them with perhaps a bit of nostalgia, which is probably unwarranted given it wasn’t all that long ago, and he’s only twenty. He doesn’t think twenty-year-olds are generally seen as getting nostalgic, but it is what it is.

Anyway, while he wouldn’t generally go to a library as his own first choice of something to do, Isla has been known to drag him there a couple of times, like today. Antonio has never been the type to insist on always doing what he wants, not when it comes to people he cares about. And, honestly, he hadn’t been able to spend as much time with his friends and family lately as he used to. Maybe that’s part of the reasoning behind his possibly premature nostalgia. Auzulia and Alaia have been busy with something he doesn’t know what, Elliot obviously has a lot of militia work, especially with these murders that have been happening - Antonio wondered if there was anything he could do to try and figure what was going on with that, probably not the best idea, he was sure the militia had it handled, but, well. Maybe it would be nice to do something. Antonio was just an athlete. Which was great, and his dream since he had been little, but sometimes he felt like he should be doing something more important. Elliot was an investigator, Isla was aiming to become a councilor one day, Emmaline was in the militia, as well, Xander was busy with politics, and representing the family - which Antonio should possibly be trying to help with more. And Antonio was playing soccer. Which he loved, but it wasn’t really… achieving much, was it?

He followed Isla through the library. He didn’t often read for fun, so he wasn’t really looking for a book, just scanning the titles, and catching himself looking back at Isla as she did the same with much more purpose, her long ginger waves spilling over her shoulders as she bent to examine the books on the lower shelves.

He could still remember the first time he had met Isla, back in Cogworks. Which was where he had met most of his friends. First Elliot - the Stormvales and Delacroixs had never been on the best of terms, and Antonio hadn’t attended too many noble events as a child, so they hadn’t met before that - who had already been acquainted with Emmaline. And then Emmaline had introduced them to her friend, Isla. Even then, Antonio has been sure that she was the prettiest person he has ever seen. Obviously, he had been far too young for it to be love, but at some point, as they got older, it had just hit him. He had had other crushes, but there was something about Isla. Always had been. And, at this point, Antonio was sure there could be no one else for him. However, they were friends, good friends, so that was awkward, but he couldn't lose that if she didn't feel the same way. Which, surely, she didn't, they had been friends for years after all.

Isla pulled a book from the shelf, her breath hitching. Antonio took in her face. “Is something wrong?” he asked. He got the feeling she was unhappy about something. And Antonio hated to see people unhappy.

Isla eventually found a book, and sat down to read. Antonio wondered if maybe he should try to find a book, himself. While reading wasn't really a hobby of his, he had enjoyed some books in the past. He certainly wasn't going to sit and do nothing. He wandered around nearby for a bit, before climbing one of the ladders, at first intending to see if any of the titles in the higher shelves caught his eye, but then the view caught his eye instead. He made his way up to the very top of the ladder, and looked out over the room. He really wished he could be doing something active. He was sure the librarians wouldn’t look kindly on physical activities inside the library. He swung his foot, until it hit the shelf, and sent the ladder sliding sideways. His grip tightened, as his body was thrown sideways along with it.

He wondered if there was some way to get the ladders to just keep going. That could be fun. Antonio returned to the floor, and wandered through the stack a bit, reading titles, but not actually looking for anything. He pulled a small rubber ball from the pocket of his varsity jacket, and started tossing it into the air and catching it again, as he returned to where Isla was reading, and threw himself onto a small sofa positioned across from her.