It was a lazy spring afternoon when Eirikur decided to head into town after school. He'd have to catch a bus home, but that could wait for later. He felt like having some time for himself before he went back home to his brothers. It wasn't a big town, but Eirikur lived in a village a little way out and needed to catch the bus to get there. There was only one shop in the village, so he liked to stick about in the town for a while after class.

He enjoyed the peace and quiet of his own company as he walked through the town, eventually stopping at a small teashop on a street corner. He'd passed this tea shop many times before but never gone inside. He wondered to himself about why he'd not been in there before- well usually he just went with his friends to whichever shop they wanted to go to. Today he was alone though and he could get himself something to drink and maybe a snack too… he was a little peckish.

Entering the threshold as from the street, he could hear the tinkling of a door bell above his head. The floor was clean and tiled; on it were mismatched chairs and couches at various assorted tables. He could smell coffee on the air as he headed over to the counter, eyeing the cakes in their display dishes as he did. Maybe he'd get the shortcake- he was partial to it.

The young man at the counter was someone Eirikur recognised from school… except he didn't see him around anymore since the previous summer. He was sure that they were in the same grade, so… maybe he'd been transferred? He'd probably never find out anyway. It wasn't like they could host a deep conversation about what they were doing with their lives when one; they hardly knew each other, and two; they were in a service environment, not one for long conversations. He was sure the other would have to deal with other customers.

"What can I get you?" The young man asked casually, leaning on the counter with his elbows.

"Uh…" Shit- he hadn't even checked the drinks menu yet. He looked up at the board. He considered coffee or a hot chocolate, but he did have to wonder what herbal teas they had to offer. "What teas do you do?" he asked him awkwardly. He felt like a pain for not knowing exactly what he wanted to order yet.

"We have breakfast, Earl grey, black tea , green tea, ginger, fennel, chamomile, mint, liquorice root, nettle, strawberry and raspberry, lemon and ginger… There's others if you want me to keep going." That was a long list, Eirikur could understand if the other didn't want to list all of them.

"Liquorice root tea sounds good." He told him "And uh- how much is a slice of the shortcake?" he asked

"It's not too much." He told him "$2.50 per slice. My sister makes all the cakes here from scratch, so I promise it is very good." He added, seeming pretty proud of his sister's baking. Eirikur supposed that it was warranted if the baking was good, and it at least looked good.

Eirikur nodded at that "Okay yeah I can afford that." He told the other casually, pulling out his wallet and paying the other for the cake and the listed price for tea.

They young man put the money into the register before hopping down from a stool that Eirikur hadn't even noticed. That was right- he did remember him being short now that he came to think about it- Eirikur wasn't sure if the other even broke 5'5". He remembered that the other's school friends used to be much taller than him, coming closer to 6 feet tall. There was Alfred, his Australian cousin too, Antonio and… what was the other guy's name- Francis? Well he only hung around them some of the time.

The short young man went about preparing the tea, getting out a pot, a couple of tea bags, a teacup, and a plate for the cake. He was pretty quick really, assembling everything. He must have done this so much that he'd made it into a fine art at this point. "You can find a seat; I'll bring your order over to you once the tea has brewed."

Eirikur nodded at him casually "Yeah okay, I'll just go sit down then." He found a quiet table in the corner of the shop where he could be sat in the cosy corner space, looking out over the shop. There was chatter from other customers sat at their tables with their drinks too; nice art decorating the walls, relaxed music playing from speakers up in the corners. Eirikur himself was sat in a soft leather armchair, relaxing into its cushions.

The young man from behind the counter walked over after a few minutes with the pot of tea and the shortcake on a tray. He placed down the tea pot, the cup and saucer, then the plate with the strawberry shortcake, then a little fancy looking cake fork. "I hope you enjoy these." He told him, brushing a loose strand of hair from his face. He lingered a little as if he wanted to say something but then left, adjusting his apron a little.

Eirikur wondered what the other had wanted to say. He wished he could remember his name… What was it? He thought it began with the letter L, but that wasn't much help, lots of names started with the letter L.

He tried not to worry on it, starting on the slice of shortcake. It sure looked delicious. After taking a bite he could confirm that it was definitely delicious. Man- he was going to need to come back here again, it was totally worth the money. His parents gave him a good enough allowance for that anyway, well- maybe it was to make up for having to be abroad for work so much. They were good people though. Eirikur appreciated them.

Eirikur stayed sat in the armchair for a while after finishing both the tea and the cake, just relaxing in his own company. He did have friends of course, and he loved to spend time with them too, but there was just something so peaceful about being alone when he'd chosen to be so. Next time he came here, he'd bring a book to read- or maybe a notepad to write.

After a short while the dark haired teen was back "Are you done with all of that?" He asked him with a tray balanced on his hip, wanting to know whether he could clear his table.

Eirikur nodded at him before letting the curiosity get the better of him "Hey- I swear you used to be in my grade." He said "You get transferred to another school or something?"

The other laughed for a moment "Yeah, yeah I was. I remember your hair." He told him "But no, I didn't get transferred- I sorta dropped out for my old man, so I could help out more here at the shop."

"Wow- you must care about him a lot." Eirikur said, impressed with the other's devotion to family, thinking that he himself would never do that. He needed an education after all, and to him that was what needed to come first.

The other laughed again, this time it sounded a little bitterer "Something like that." He said "Anyway- I hope you have a good evening." he started to walk away after speaking.

"You too," Eirikur said "Hey- what was your name again?" he asked. He felt rude for not knowing it even though they'd been in school together, but he didn't like not knowing his name.

"Leon." The young man said before walking into what was probably a kitchen, hidden behind a wall behind the service area.

"Tell your sister I liked the cake Leon." Eirikur said before leaving the teashop to head home. It was about time he got home.

The next day Eirikur returned to the teashop after school. He'd felt preoccupied all night before he went to sleep, and all the way through the day too… He felt like he needed to know more about Leon- He needed to know more about his situation. Surely the other didn't care so little about his education? He'd never get a job anywhere else just dropping out like that.

He tried to remember what he'd seen the other be like in school as if this would give him a hint. He'd always seemed pretty relaxed around his friend group; though Eirikur was sure he got into a lot of fights. He tended to come into school with black eyes and swollen knuckles pretty often. He had to wonder what he got into fights over. His friends never seemed too worried though so it can't have been serious… What else did he remember-?

If he was correct, he could remember the other skipping classes a few times, seeing him around the school when he was running errands and the other clearly was not. Maybe he didn't care much about school? Eirikur wasn't sure. He always looked tired though, like he didn't sleep- Eirikur couldn't remember much else though.

He walked into the teashop again, walking over the tiled floor to the counter where Leon was again. "Hey, could I get the same as yesterday?" he asked the other casually, digging in his pocket for a moment to pull out the correct change.

Leon nodded at him, taking the money and hopping down from his stool to prepare the tea and put a slice of the shortcake onto a plate. "You really like it then?" Leon asked him with a slight smile "I should introduce you to my sister some time, I'm sure she'd love to meet a fan of her cakes." He told him with a smile.

Eirikur chuckled a little "Yeah maybe." He said "I'm sure she must be busy though, baking stuff like this must take ages after all." Eirikur didn't want to be a bother, and he never knew how to act when he was introduced to people. "I'll go sit down then." He told the other hesitantly before leaving to sit in his armchair in the corner of the teashop again.

After a few minutes Leon walked over with the other's order as he had done the day before "Here you go." He said, putting everything onto the table for him "Need anything else?" he asked.

"Nah nah, I'm good." Eirikur said, looking up at the other. Leon did have a very handsome face when he came to think about it, the other seemed like someone who prided himself on his appearance, wearing skinny jeans and a shirt that were perfectly co-ordinated to the apron he had on, his hair was clearly very carefully styled too.

Leon nodded at him when the other said he didn't need anything else and left to stand behind the counter again. Eirikur watched him, not trying to pry, just… trying to figure him out. He looked pretty bored to be honest, leant on the counter with his feet on the little stool. Eirikur couldn't help but smirk to himself at the stool "He likes to feel tall~" he mused to himself quietly, remembering something he'd seen on the internet when a dog was on a countertop or something.

After a while, Eirikur decided he'd get on with eating his cake and continue writing that story he was working on. It wasn't anything special, but he did like to write when he had some spare time. It was a nice hobby after all, and most Icelanders had at least one book published to their name.

Before he knew it, it was starting to get dark outside. He'd finished his tea and the shortcake hours ago, he'd just been writing… He wondered when the shop even closed before noticing a figure stood by his table.

"Hey, this is on the house." Leon said, putting a plate down. It had a slice of shortcake on it. "Don't take it too personally, we don't like to waste food, or sell cake that's more than a day or so old." He told him "So we need to finish off the shortcake before it starts to go stale."

Eirikur blushed, thinking it probably wouldn't be all that healthy to be eating so much cake but- well… Leon was offering it to him so kindly, and the cake was really good. It wasn't like he was on a diet or anything so he figured it would be fine. "Thank you Leon, even if it's just for convenience or whatever," he said "I appreciate the gesture."

Leon smiled back at him softly "I'm just glad you like the cake so much." He told him "By the way, what are you like even writing?" he asked "You've been sat there for hours with your nose to that notebook, what have you got down?"

"Oh- well it's just a story really." Eirikur told him "It's not all that good, I just really like writing, y'know?" he said with a bashful smile.

"Could I read some?" Leon asked curiously, he really did seem interested in what the other was working on.

"Well uh… not this- but… uh…" Eirikur hadn't really let anyone else read his writing before other than anonymous people on the internet. But that didn't count. He didn't care if they hated it. He'd never have to meet them face to face and have the embarrassment of knowing they'd read one of his stories… but he supposed he could show it to Leon… maybe… "I have other stories that are finished," he told him "They're not all that good though, so don't expect too much."

"I'm sure they're better than you think." Leon said casually, "Just show me one if you feel like it, yeah?" he suggested "Also it's coming up to closing time so y'know- you might want to hurry up." He told him. "As much as I'd love you to stay, we have to clean up and set up for tomorrow." Leon told him. This was his job after all.

Eirikur nodded at him, starting to eat the shortcake the other had given him politely before his phone started buzzing. It was a call from Mikkel- Oh jeez it really was late, the others were probably worried sick! "Yes hello," he said before being interrupted by the Dane.

"Are you okay? Where are you? Me and Lukas have been waiting for you to come home all afternoon, are you hurt or something?" he bombarded the other with questions, but it was only because he cared, and Eirikur knew that.

"I'm fine I'm fine, don't worry about me," he said, shaking his head a little "I just got caught up writing at the tea shop I told you about yesterday, they just gave me some free cake so if it sounds like I'm eating- it's because I am." He told him.

Mikkel seemed to be vaguely relieved by the other's statement "Well there aren't any more busses to the village running now, so uncle Tino is gonna have to come pick you up." He told him "Do you know the postcode of the café?"

Eirikur did not know the post code. "I'll ask the server." He said, before walking over to Leon who was at the counter "Hey, what's the postcode to this place?" he asked him "My folks said they're gonna pick me up 'cause it's late, but they don't know what to put into the sat nav."

Leon told him the postcode, and Eirikur relayed it to Mikkel who relayed it to Tino who then said he'd be there in fifteen minutes or so to pick him up. Eirikur felt a little guilty for making the man have to come out to collect him, but he supposed there was nothing he could do about it now. He went back to his shortcake, eating the rest of it before waving Leon goodbye and waiting outside the teashop so that Leon could close up shop.