"Can you call me..."

“Miss Erelae?”

The draenei looked up from her weapon at the quiet voice. Mani stood at the doorway to the smithery peeking in at her, a book clutched to his stomach. With a gentle smile Erelae set aside the sword she was polishing and met him just short of the entrance. It was quite noisy and warm in the building, not the most ideal place for a chat.

“Good morning, is somezing ze matter?” she asked, grabbing a cloth from a nearby workbench to clean her hands. The troll shook his head, raising the book to grasp it with both hands.

“I have...finished this, and would like to return it, but…” he looked around at the buildings surrounding them both, “one of your friends brought it from the library. I do not know where that is.”

Erelae gazed at him for a moment while he was searching; she had to admit, it made her happy to think he was comfortable with her enough now to come in a time of need. As simple of a task as this was, and as easy as it would be to find a guard to direct him, he felt he could come to her first. Perhaps it was more so because speaking to a stranger was less comfortable, but nonetheless it was a nice thought.

Stepping around the troll, she brushed a hand by his arm to gain his attention. “Zat shouldn’t be difficult to find between the two of us. Shall we?”

A faint smile tugged at Mani’s lips as he followed.

-------------------------

After only a few minutes, the pair located the library the book had come from. It was more of a bookstore in all honesty, definitely not a grand building distinctive enough from the other buildings in the town. But it was quaint and cozy inside, the smell of parchment and ink filling the atmosphere as soon as they stepped in the door. The elf at a varnished desk off to the side greeted them and offered assistance. Mani lifted the book and used it to gesture to the shelves, and the receptionist nodded, understanding their intent.

To Erelae’s surprise, Mani took the lead and began scanning the signs at each shelf for the genres and categories with ease. She noticed a brighter look in his eyes as he looked through the collection of reading materials.

“You really love to read, ya?” She remarked, and he nodded with a genuine smile. The draenei picked up a stray book and thumbed through the pages while Mani slipped his book onto an empty space on a shelf.

“I have not read a book through to ze end in many years. I enjoyed ze ones I finished, though- ah?”

Mani had slipped over to her side and made to ask for the book in her hands. She closed the cover and handed it to him, and he took a moment to read the title.

“...This one is not that interesting. Would you...would you like me to find you another?” he asked softly.

Erelae’s eyes flicked from the book to his face, a crooked smile forming at the suggestion. “Zat sounds lovely.” she responded, and the troll’s face lit up excitedly.

He almost ran off to another isle of shelves, and before Erelae could even find the one he disappeared into he returned, setting three different books down on a table for her to view.

Two were simple leather bound books with a bold title on the front; neither eye catching, but the first pages showed one was a fictional book about star crossed lovers, and the other a book starkly contrasting the first with a collection of different botanical specimens. The last had no decorative cover or title, which piqued the woman’s curiosity somewhat. She flipped to a random page, paused to read a paragraph--

And the loudly slammed it closed; her face flushed red. Mani looked at her curiously, and she stared back wide eyed.

“Mani-- uh…” Erelae cleared her throat and patted the book, “zis is-- zis is erotica?”

He nodded knowingly. There was a moment of silence before the draenei had to stifle a laugh. Whether it was from embarrassment, shock or amusement she did not know, but Mani chuckled with her as well.

“It is a good book though! The plot is a bit cheesy,” he started and sidled up to her side to flip through the pages, “but the way the author describes these scenes is bewildering and oddly fascinating. I’ve cross-referenced a handful of anatomy books and there is no way these people should be able to bend like this!”

His closeness and sudden amicability completely outshone the oddness of the conversation to Erelae. Again, she gazed at him while he chattered on about his interest in this novel, until he turned and met her eyes. They lingered for a beat, then realizing how close they were Mani’s cheeks gained a dark tint and he shifted away.

“Ah-- I’m…I am sorry if this was too much, miss Erelae, I can--”

The woman’s pale hand covered his on top of the book, and she smiled.

“Can you...call me Erelae?”

Mani blinked, “I did, did I not?”

“No, no “miss”, just Erelae.” she said, taking the book and placing it under the one on botany, then placing both under her arm. “If you like zis one, I can give it a read. But you have to start calling me zat.”

With a breath of laughter, the troll nodded in agreement, walking at the draenei’s side murmuring about how maybe she could even help explain some topics in the reading better than he understood. Ears red, Erelae hushed him until they were out of the store, at least.