"I hope I'm not bothering you. I can go and work on another room if you want." (Y/n) apologetically gazed at the male that she had inadvertently began keeping company. Eban immediately shook his head in a contradicting manner before seating himself on one of the small desks and soft, cushioned chairs where he rested his body against the textured spine.

The girl had been pleasantly surprised by the practicality of the small library as each shelf and desk had been intricately spaced and positioned to allow enough area for a person to freely move around the interior. It was relatively small for a standard library, but remained larger than any other comparing room. She brought her cleaning supplies from the closet next door and had to play a standing duck for a few minutes as she pondered over what she was intended to clean.

Aimlessly looking about herself, she began feeling slightly embarrassed at the incoordination and cluelessness. She scattered her gaze throughout the number of supplies and began playing mental roulette with which one she could start with. "Do you need some assistance?" The boy inquired the lost girl, earning an unsure grumble from the helpless female.

"I'm not sure what I'm supposed to clean and with what..." Eban gave her an encouraging smile before he moved his position to near the supplies displayed on the side.

"You can start off with a cloth and some bleach solution, and begin working on the shelves. Let me show you." (Y/n) prepared to cease the male's demonstration, feeling patronised by one of the inhibitors of the house presenting her work. "Don't worry (Y/n), you can take over in a second. It's pretty simple to understand." The male scanned through the room to set his sights on a single shelf. Pouring the chemical on the material, he expertly began spreading the liquid atop the wooden framework, gradually stacking books away as he worked on the wooden surface with strong swipes and brisk manoeuvres. The girl couldn't help but admire the mechanical movements as she took notes over how her own performance should be executed.

The female had to forcefully snap herself out of her observing nonattendance to realise he had finished off her work on the structure. She shamefully shuffled towards the boy to take the handed cloth. "Thank you...I feel like I've bothered you enough with this."

"Not at all. You needed help so don't be afraid to accept it." She gratefully smiled at the boy's incentive and began repeating his instructive motions as she started working on a separate shelf.

"Yeah, I guess we all start from somewhere. That's how we prosper, right?" Eban nodded his head in firm agreement before stacking back the books he had separate from their places, once the wood had dried.

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Once his task was finished, the male proceeded to take his seat once more in continuation to immerse himself in the literature he had chosen. The boy soon felt the occasional sensation of a speculative gaze directed towards him. After periodically glancing up from his book, he eventually noticed the girl's focus stilling on him before she quickly swivelled around to concentrate on her duty. "You seem like you want to say something. Is everything alright?"

(Y/n) slightly winced at her embarrassing discovery. "No, no. Please, I didn't come here to bother you. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable." Eban closed his book in a conclusive manner, a clear sign of protest over letting the subject slide.

"Believe me, you're by far the most interesting thing in this entire house. So how about we just talk like normal people." His welcoming words seemed to lower the girl's anxiousness, giving her slight hope at the opening for receiving answers. "So, what's on your mind?"

She took a few seconds, throughly scrubbing the woodwork in a thoughtful demeanour before concluding on a bothering interest. "I'm curious about everyone. What is this place and why are you guys here?" She turned to see the blond calmly collecting his thoughts in a presentable explanation over the system of the compound.

"I'm guessing you're confused what the purpose of the premises is." He earned a confirming nod from the eager female, urging him to finally provide some insight. "It's honestly not complicated at all. This house is the private property of St Mary Academy, the school the others and I go to. The best way I could describe the compound is as a dorm for the students. There are more houses like this scattered around the area, but they each surround the Academy which remains right in the centre. In fact, if you go south from here, you'll be able to reach our school without any problem. Of course, you'll need to go through the trees by foot." The girl followed the explanation as the scattered pieces she held in her mind began clicking into place with his added details.

"Wouldn't that mean there would be more people living here if it's an entire school?" However, the male shrugged his shoulders in a denying manner.

"It's only for those who's families are far away. Plus, the stay isn't cheap, but it's very close to the school, and it's a safe area...did that clear up some of the confusion?" (Y/n) gratefully hummed her agreement before proceeding to follow up her work, now that her mind had been cleared.

As Eban watched the female that was determined on perfecting her work, he felt the emptiness of the room engulf him with its silence as only the friction of the cloth against oak filled in the hollow space. The boy felt slightly disappointed at the ending of the company he had acquired. However, he chose to allow the girl the privacy to execute her work.

"Do you like photography?" The male was taken away from his unamused preoccupation to look up at the curious girl. He noticed her sights intently focused on the novella he held, describing techniques of achieving amazing images; along with repairing heavy duty cameras. He self-consciously tried to cover the book in an attempt to brush off the subject.

"Yes, you could say that..." The female finished off the shelf with a flourish and began whipping the excess down while still keeping the conversation progressing.

"I've always wanted to take something like that up as a hobby. Though I never found the time or equipment...is it fun?" The boy's confirming gesture answered her inquiry, taking out a small object from his pocket to reluctantly present it.

"I do it as a pass time, but I quite enjoy it. It's one of the only things, I feel like, can't be taken from me." The girl curiously approached the male before leaning down to observe the device he exhibited as she recognised it as a miniature camera that was no bigger than his hand.

"Can I see the pictures you've taken?" Her cautious voice reached the male, anxious not to push her marvel against his comfort. However, he gave her an amiable smile before directing the flat screen of the device towards her.

"I don't usually get manny chances to take shots. I'm very picky when it comes to taking pictures and only really choose to capture things that I consider beautiful or interest me. Here's one I took a few days ago." He directed her attention onto the display to show an elegantly taken image of a small, grey duck paddling along an area of water. The lighting in the photo carefully illuminated the creature as thin rays of light were captured in its feathered coat while its little black eyes gazed towards a distraction in the distance. The girl found herself admiring the well composed shot and took notes of any techniques that had been captured in the single photo.

"So what's the story behind this?" Eban gave the girl a slightly perplexed gaze, encouraging her to clarify on the query. "Well...a picture is worth a thousand words, and you said you take photos of things that interest you. Why did this catch your interest?" The male thoughtfully watched the inquiring female in silence for a few seconds before edging closer to give her more involvement into his explanation.

"Well, this one here is actually a baby duck. It looks a bit bigger in the picture, but it was so much smaller in real life. Usually ducklings stay close to their mothers and constantly follow them everywhere they go. But this one was all alone when I found him. There weren't any other ducks around the area, so something must have happened to the mother or the brood." The girl carefully studied the small animal to notice a certain loneliness to the entire spectrum of the image. There seemed to be a new view of the creature as its longing eyes seemed to search for the warmth of a fellow body.

"I heard ducklings won't survive long once they're away from their mother. It could probably be dead by now..." She gravely lowered her eyes to the ground in a mourning demeanour before realising her downcast attitude. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to make this sound depressing. I feel like a ruined the mood..." Eban comfortingly petted the female's head in an assuring manner.

"Don't worry, I called up an animal shelter to take it in and watch over it. It probably has a surrogate mother by now." (Y/n) let a sigh of content escape her lips at the relieving news.

"That was very attentive." The boy lightly chuckled at the supportive compliment before clicking through the device to bring them to their next image. A picture of a clump of clouds gathered at a single converging point amongst a sky of pink and orange saturated hues. The great, fluffy mist of condensed air obscured the sun in the centre, letting thin and refined strips of light sieve through the gaps of the white puff as though the heavens itself were shedding its sights on the chosen areas that was lucky enough to be illuminated. "That's so pretty...what happened here?"

Eban amusingly watched the girl's wide eyes stare at the colourful shot of the cloud as it bathed in numerous tones and shades amidst the grey outline of the stratosphere. "You could say it's the peace after the storm. There was a huge downpour a week ago and it nearly took down trees. The wind was so strong, it could carry you with it. There was this constant clash of thunder and a light show of lightning. It felt like the rain would never stop, and as it continued barraging against the property I thought the whole house would fly off the premises." The boy's entrancing voice and delicate tone captured the girl in his through description, imagining herself among the unruly weather. "Then as soon as everything seemed to weaken; bricks, trees, ornaments, gates, bushes, pillars...it all stopped like a switch. It was like someone had pulled on a string and completely messed up the environment back to normal. I took this picture right when everything had calmed down. You could actually still see the dark clouds around the edges." The male demonstrated the grey shrouds at each corner, only bringing more attention to the colourful centre.

"It must have been quite worrying..." Eban sensed the concern in the girl's voice and automatically patted her shoulder in a calming manner.

"Don't fret. It was actually quite amusing at some points. Gennai started hiding all of his things under the bed because he was scared the storm might get them. The bed actually started lifting off the ground at one point from all the junk." The girl chuckled at the image that formed in her mind the furniture hovering over a clutter of objects as the pair shared a moment of laughter amongst each other. "And then Padraig had to be tied to a chair to keep him from going out to check his statue. All in all, there was both a rhetorical and literal silver lining in the end." (Y/n) cackled at the bantering tone that described the situations, only to be sucked in by the the stunning photograph.

"That turned out amazing...it's really fascinating how there can be a story behind every picture and you can't always know it. I guess as much as a picture is worth a thousand words you need to have those words actually organised to make something out of them. But these are really good." The female voluntarily pressed the button on the camera to continue on to the next picture. Unbeknown to her, the male watched her with a humoured gaze as he felt a warm solace at the girl's understanding ideology. "So does this have a sad backstory?"

The male's distracted attention was directed back to the device as he stared at a freshly bloomed Daisy that had all its colours burst in the lighting that the photo had taken. "No, I simply thought it looked dazzling so I just took it on a whim. There are a few more as well after this-"

"Wow, let me see!" In an excited daze of impatience, the girl snatched the camera to quickly move between each picture of delicate and intricate plant and flower that were displayed. The female promptly memories the simplistic version of each image as she speedily moved through the depictions with a thirst for their splendour.

"W-wait!" As Eban's panicked voice passed through her perception, her fingers abruptly paused on the button to witness a picture of a distant individual entering through a familiar gate. (Y/n) surveyed the person's fairly confused body language amongst their new surroundings and felt a sense of déjà vu at the very similar display before her.

The girl turned the camera around to present the picture with a confused frown. "Is this me-?" Before she finished her sentence, the girl unintentionally pressed her finger on the top button of the mechanism, triggering a blinding flash to sheet her eyes with a whiteness as her pupils dilated from the sudden change of spectrum.

The female remained unsighted as she heard amused laughter emanating from her left. She felt the camera gently being taken off her to allow the girl both pairs of hands to rub her pained eyes. After blinking the blank spots away she turned her obscure sights towards the grinning male. "Be careful. For a small camera the flash if very powerful."

"You're telling me..." Her sarcastic words came out muffled and groggy as she attempted to squint the rest of her slightly limited eyesight. "But going back to my question, was that me in the picture?" The female could make out the slightest hint of a smile on the blond's muddled features.

"Yes, you accidentally came into the shot when I was trying to photograph something else. It was from yesterday when you first came here, but I think it turned out quite nice for a mistake." The girl looked over at the photo to better assess it, once her eyes had cleared. She agreed there was a certain perfection to the unscripted image as the lighting seemed to add an atmosphere to her unsure posture.

"Hm...not bad." The female further scrutinised over the image as she could feel the sense of nostalgia bringing her back to the same confused spot.

"If you want, I can get it printed and give it to you as a gift." (Y/n) carefully examined the image before shrugging her shoulders.

"Don't really know if I want to relive that embarrassing introduction, but you do what you want." (Y/n) prepared to proceed with the work she had temporarily halted, only to realise her solution had almost run out. She inspected the rest of her supplies in search of a replacement, only to come out with no other product. "Oh no...I'll go check if there's more in the broom closet." She spoke out her intent, more so directed at herself, and left the boy on his lonesome.

Eban stared at the closing door as the girl fully departed from him, to bring his interested gaze back to the camera. As he scrolled through the latest photos, his suspicions were confirmed once he saw the curious and baffled features of his previous companion staring past the camera. He smiled at the clueless gaze that was directed above the lens, remembering it to be the moment that the girl had accidentally pressed on the button to inadvertently capture her own portrait.

The male stared at the female's gentle features that would scrunch up once the flash had faded. Eban lightly chuckled at the lucky coincidence before taking his time to appraise her image. "Cute..." Commenting on the aesthetic of the portrait, he solemnly looked towards the closed door, knowing the girl would not return.