Jeni about near-sprinted out of his classroom the moment he heard Jena had intercepted two boys fighting in the library, and that one of them had cited his name.

He wasn’t surprised to find the said culprits to be his star pupil, Caleb Beirne, who most definitely had some unresolved issues, and the seventh prince Damien Oziah, notoriously known for trouble-making. Why had he ever thought it a good idea to send one after the other?

Caleb sat at one of the library tables, arguing with Jena, and Jeni wanted to tell him to stop. Jena wasn’t a force to be reckoned with. Caleb would just be digging his own grave. Meanwhile, Damien sat at the same table, two seats apart from Caleb, looking at him and Jena argue with disinterest.

“Jena!” Jeni said, reaching the table, “Sibling dearest! Spare the children, please!”

“Professor Jeni,” Caleb said, frowning, “please tell the librarian that they’re wrong.”

Jena’s voice was dangerously lowered as they said, “Oh, I’m wrong, am I, you fuc—”

“Jena!” Jeni said, placing a hand on their shoulder to calm them down. “Jena, Jena, let’s not say anything that could make us lose our jobs, yes?”

“We’re teenagers,” Damien said, choosing the worst possible time to speak up. “You can’t possibly be expelled for swearing in front of teenagers.”

“Damn, right, we can’t!” Jena snapped. Jeni glared at both boys to shut up before they somehow found a way to blow up the entire planet.

“Jena, let’s be calm—”

“Oh, I’m calm, brother,” Jena said, laughing maniacally, “I’m very calm.”

“Extremely calm,” Damien deadpanned. “Completely level-headed. Never before has such a poised and composed person been seen.”

“Thank you,” Jena said, completely missing the sarcasm. It was to everyone’s benefit that they did. That didn’t stop Jeni’s heart rate from spiking, though. At this rate, he’d start balding before thirty.

“Jena, really, let the boys be. Especially Caleb, he was here on my orders, not skipping class—”

“They’re not in trouble for skipping class, and they know it,” Jena said with venom.

Jeni frowned and looked at the two boys. “What in the world did you do?”

“We committed the lowest of low crimes in the history of crimes,” Damien provided unhelpfully.

Jena, once again, missed the sarcasm completely. “That’s right!” they said. “These two are in here for ruining the sanctity of the library!”

“Blasphemous,” Damien said. 

“They broke the one rule that should never be broken! To! Remain! Quiet!”

“You’re breaking that rule yourself right now,” Damien pointed out, and Jeni wanted to smack him across the face. Could he not read the room?

But, surprisingly, Jena caught themselves and let out a dignified cough. “Ah, yes. Pardon me.”

“We all get a little passionate at times,” Damien said, nodding.

“Yes. Of course. However, being passionate about the wrong things in the wrong place can lead to several disputes,” Jena said gravely.

“What Jena means, of course,” Jeni cut in, resisting the urge to hit his head on the table, “is that fighting is wrong! You shouldn’t fight!”

“You will serve detention,” Jena informed the boys. Damien shrugged, but Caleb started protesting.

Caleb turned towards Jeni. “But sir—”

Jeni held his hand up to silence him. He would try to get them out of this, dammit.

“Jena, don’t you think detention is a bit too harsh—”

“He grabbed my collar,” Damien said, pointing at Caleb. 

Caleb snapped towards him and glared. “You left me with no choice.”

Jeni wanted to dig a hole and bury himself, and salt the earth above it so he wouldn’t have to deal with any of this ever again. A problem child, Damien Oziah might be, but he was still a prince. 

Caleb caught his gaze and deflated slightly. “He refused to come to class,” he muttered. 

“I told you to find him, not manhandle— Oh my god.” Jeni covered his face with one hand. 

“So, there you have it,” Jena said triumphantly, leaning back and crossing their arms. “They’re in detention for fighting.”

“I thought your problem was that they broke the silence in the library?”

“That’s my personal problem. The reason for their detention is a more appropriate, general problem. What’s there not to understand?”

“Makes perfect sense to me,” Damien said innocently. 

Jeni considered early retirement.

* * *

“I can still come back, right?” Nathan asked.

“There’s an insect on your shoulder,” the librarian informed him without looking up from the book they were reading.

“Yes, I know,” Nathan said, turning to look at Cantis. She had come back sometime during the argument between the two twin teachers and had reclaimed her usual spot on his shoulder. “But can I come back to the library?”

“I’m afraid not, Damien,” the librarian said, calmly flipping a page. “I’ve never cared about things such as students skipping classes, so I was willing to let you stay so long as you didn’t make a ruckus. But guess what you did? You made a ruckus.”

“I also arranged your rainbow-coloured nightmare of a fiction shelf by genre,” Nathan said, “and by alphabetical order of author surnames.”

The librarian raised an eyebrow. “All twelve?”

“...Nine and a half,” Nathan admitted.

The librarian shut their book and pulled out a notepad. They scribbled something on it, tore the paper off, and handed it to Nathan. Then they went back to their book.

Nathan read the note. It said, simply, Library Assistant. Access granted at all times. Signed, Jena.

“Thank you,” Nathan told them.

The librarian didn’t look up. “Get lost.”