blurry [junko]

Hunched over an inventory book and comparing lists was not exactly Junko's idea of fun, but a job was a job, and she was grateful that the library wasn't a very physical job. Strength and stamina had never been strengths of hers, and nothing in her life had really helped to remedy that. The sound of another voice broke her out of her concentration, and she blinked a couple of times at the newcomer.
"Ira-" No, not in Romuda. That was not how people were greeted in places of business. She managed a sheepish and apologetic smile after a moment, and rose to address the woman properly.

"Yes, I am Junko." While she may be a bit young to be looking over a library by herself, Arianna didn't really look like the type of person who would want to become a librarian. Appearances could be deceiving, of course, but the impression was still made. But help was help, and she was not about to turn down the opportunity to get some work done. "I was told that we might be having some new workers soon. It is a pleasure to meet you, Arianna." She still had to get used to the whole first-name-by-default aspect of things, but that was something that would come in time. On the bright side, it did make everyone seem a bit more familiar and friendly. If a little too familiar and friendly, at times.

But it seemed Arianna wasn't too interested in chit-chat. The library was almost empty, so, despite keeping her voice low, Junko wasn't too fussed about speaking. "As for what needs doing..." Junko bit her lip in thought, and toyed with her hair. "There are some books that are going back on the shelves." Her speech became more slow and considered, as she went beyond the stock pre-prepared phrases she had learned long ago. "We also received some books. So they will be moved, sorted and put into the... the ledger." That was what she had heard it referred to as, but she still wasn't sure what the word meant. 'The book that records all the books and who borrowed them' was a bit of a mouthful, so ledger worked. "And then put into the shelves." Junko looked down at the floor for a moment, shifting from foot to foot. It didn't take long for her to look back up at Arianna, and flash a winning smile. "So you came at a good time. Lots to do." Junko indicated a relatively non-dusty box near the door. "We can start with that one. Could you bring it here, please?" Junko leaned down to finish with the last of the cross-checking with the ledger. It was good to have all the inventory in check before new things were added. At least that much was familiar to her.

It felt a bit odd to be taking on the mentor role so early, considering that she was still new to this job herself, and Arianna was clearly older. A very distorted relationship by her standards, but, like many things, she would just have to swallow that discomfort and get on with the task at hand. Junko hesitated a moment before speaking, clearly getting her thoughts and words in order.
"We have to record these books, and put them in the right place." She lifted a book out of the box, and briefly examined it. A donated box, the books were still in fairly good shape, but were obviously second-hand. Still, books were books, and no sane librarian would turn them down. "We learn the book's..." Junko's brow furrowed in thought, murmuring to herself as she attempted to sound out the word before attempting it. Why did the language here have to have so many words that were so similar in meaning? "The book's type." It wasn't great, but hopefully it would get the idea across. Examining the back and surveying the contents briefly, Junko nodded to herself. "This one's fiction, so..." The ledger was leafed through, the correct page found, and the title of the book entered in neat, if slow, handwriting. A moment was taken to check her spelling, and Junko nodded to herself. "After that,, we give the first page the library's stamp." Wouldn't do to have people think that the book lying in their desk was, in fact, theirs. The stamp was dipped in ink, then applied, quite carefully, to the book. Junko nodded to herself, satisfied.

"Lastly, we put it in its proper place on the shelf." Junko smiled, hoping that her explanation was both understandable and correct. "It is not exciting work. It is not difficult work either. Are there any questions?" It was, at least, the kind of work that could be done whilst talking, as Junko was still a bit anxious to meet the people who lived here. Thus far, it had not let her down in its reputation for being a peaceful and friendly place, and she always needed more practice in the native tongue. "We will finish this before we do the other work, if that is alright." When Junko was taught how to do this, she was supervised the first few times to make sure that she wasn't doing something wrong, usually in regards to the ledger, or the book's genre. Though that may have been simply because she was still a fairly slow reader.

It wasn't a hard task, despite the fact that Junko needed a little longer than Arianna to get the gist of any given passage or book. It was tedious and easy work, but if it were physically arduous or mentally demanding, it was unlikely that someone like her would have even been hired. She set about working through each book, arranging them in roughly-sorted piles according to genre. Once something of a rhythm had been achieved, Junko spoke up. If they were going to be working together, they might as well get to know one another. Besides, conversation was a good way to make the time go faster.

"Are you new to Asgard as well, Arianna?" It was a shot in the dark, especially considering the lack of an easily-discernible accent, but it was a reasonable guess. In a slow-moving place such as this, people didn't tend to change jobs too often, and it didn't seem that Arianna was overly eager to be working in a library. She stamped the book in her hands, double-checking all of her work before setting it aside. "I am still trying to get my bearings, but it is a good place, don't you think?" To be honest, Junko had no idea what to talk about, but it seemed it was up to her to try and spark conversation. Other than the library and their gender, she wasn't really aware of any common ground, and talking about the library whilst doing a dreary task wasn't overly appealing.

It wasn't that Junko was nervous, just that she was being somewhat careful. After all, she was going to have to work with this person whenever she had work, so keeping things cordial would be a definite boon.