"I haven't noticed a rotten thing about you," Lasairian says simply. Mateo snorts. "Neither have I," he says innocently, laughter in his voice and something gleaming in those silver green eyes, something like mischief.
Mateo loved surprises, and he took great joy in surprising others, although this was not always well received. He had learned over the years the qualities in a person that made them likely to react in delight and awe instead of annoyance and anger. Put most simply, it was only the most arrogant of creatures who did not like to be surprised. A surprise was a reminder of all the things one did not know, things one could not know (if the surprise was a good one), and things that were out of one's control.
Lasairian seemed open-minded and far from arrogant, although Mateo could not say for certain that the man was humble-- not that this was a bad thing-- true humility was hard to achieve, and it was frankly quite boring. The surprised look on Lasairian's face is pleasing to the black pegasus. "Most don't." He grins, not a little arrogant. "Come on, I'll show you." He waits only a moment for confirmation before leading the way to the room of lost things.
Mateo steps lightly (an easy task, when you're as small as he) through the library, weaving from room to room with an ease that suggests deep familiarity with the place. He leads his companion deeper into the grove that makes up the library. It is difficult, at first, to realize which way is deeper. The structure of the library was a curious thing that could not be thought about with too much logic, or else the threads of reason would simply become a tangled, confusing mess. It was an organic thing, a building that was grown and not built, and as such it did not follow the rules of construction that one was used to.
Eventually they step through a small passageway ("watch your head," Mateo murmurs, a little jealously. He doesn't have to worry about hitting his head, short as he is.) into a large, circular room. It seems as though they are on the inside of a massive, hollow tree, for the ceiling is-- well, there is no ceiling, just a dappled light streaming in from far above. The walls of the room are rough like the texture of bark, at least the walls that can be seen. There are hundreds of nooks and crannies, all different shapes and sizes, cut into the walls. Most are crammed full of scrolls and papers, although there are other oddities to be found-- trinkets and babbles, some of them seemingly very valuable, most of them surely sentimental in nature. All the things that had no other place in the library eventually found themselves here.
The room of lost things.
"Here we are." His voice is hushed, almost reverent. The room has the atmosphere of a church; even the dust motes, hung in the lazy sunlight, seem like they are in prayer. The place demands respect-- all lost things do.
A library helper suddenly scampers in, swaps the scroll in its mouth for another, and stares at the stallions with an icy "I'm watching you" sort of glare before scampering back out. "Never take anything from here you don't need." It was a rule that until now went unspoken and so he did not know if there was any truth to it. But Mateo felt responsible for bringing the other man to this secret place so few knew about, and so it only seemed right that he shared his personal rule with the other.
With not a sound other than the soft shuffle of feathers, Mateo steps out and leaves Lasairian to himself and the mysterious room.
@Lasairian <3 (edited in Mateo's exit)
