“I can’t sleep yet, do you want me to help?” I asked.
The Abbot looked tired, but he was watching us wearily. Before Theo could respond, he announced that he’d rather stay as well.
I glanced at Theo, the corner of his mouth twitching, as if he too couldn’t believe the Abbot was being this obvious.
Theo disappeared between the rows of books and every now and again a new book appeared on the table beside me. Theo sorted them into two neat piles, the ones I could read and the ones who were written in foreign languages or old fonts which I couldn’t decipher. I started scanning the pages for hints about the Gods in question, jotting down every piece of information, in case it was important.
Theo was about to sit down next to me when the Abbot called out from the other end of the room, “My lord, why don’t you come sit over here, so I can assist you better?”
Theo’s eyebrow rose up, and as he walked past me, he murmured, “You’re always getting me in trouble, wordsmith. Such a bad influence.” And I laughed, garnering me a scowl from the Abbot.
We worked in silence for an hour or two and my eyes were getting heavy. The Abbot had fallen asleep in his chair, but Theo was scanning the pages in front of him at lightningspeed. Watching him was fascinating, the way his face tensed and relaxed when he found important information, the way he righted the glasses on his nose every now and then and his tongue that wet his lips in concentration. I was still watching him when a piece of paper fell onto the page in front of me.
It was Theo’s handwriting, but he was still reading and focused on his task ahead.
“I can’t concentrate when you are watching me.”
How he could possibly know that I was watching him while reading? And how had he written that note without so much as looking up? I guess those were the advantages of being a God.
“I am bored, I mean who wrote these books?
Is it too much to ask to write a compelling story
rather than 400 pages describing the forest
around a certain castle?”
I folded up the paper. How was I going to get it to Theo now? As if by silent command, it disappeared in front of my eyes. Theo looked up then and winked at me. It took a minute or two and another note appeared in front of me.
“Don’t tell me this isn’t your idea of a fun night in?
What would you rather be doing?”
I looked over at him and smiled mischievously. He caught my gaze, and I heard him go “tsk tsk tsk” from across the room. The Abbot looked up at Theo, but he was staring atthe book in front of him.
Another note appeared.
“Don’t even think about saying what you were about to say!”
I laughed softly.
“Well, I think I would like to go into town
and maybe go to a pub with some live music?
Have a few drinks, talk to my friends,
make fun of the couple next to us having a terrible first date.
Something like that.”
Theo shifted in his seat and swapped books, taking his time to respond.
I tried to concentrate on the book I was currently scanning for clues, but the pages started blurring before my eyes. Another note appeared.
“That sounds nice, I have never done that.
Maybe one day… You should go to sleep,
