Sometimes people do come in that aren't from here, and it's always a little different than one would expect. But Shirayuki worked with her grandparents, and sometimes the nights felt so long that she felt like she was falling asleep behind the bar's counter. And then, the door opened late into the night, within two hours of closing time, and there's a man she's never seen before.
He can't be too terribly much older than her, but he has the pose and the confidence of a man well esteemed and well established, with definitely the skillset and smarts to be more than just a teenager. And his hair is so long compared to the hair of most of the guys she's met; it is pulled back into a ponytail that begins to fall almost like a waterfall.
Shirayuki isn't sure what to think. Her grandmother's talking to a regular and pouring him a drink, and her grandfather, at the moment, is in the back cooking some food for a few lone stragglers, that are hungry when most people are heading off to bed.
"Hi," He greets and somehow his voice even sounds smooth, "Would I be able to order something to eat? It's been a long night."
And Shirayuki nods her head before the words even leave her lips, "Of course. I'll get you a menu." She's too tired to tell him all the possibilities of food that he could eat here, though she feels surprisingly alert as she looks at him, even before he came up to the bar counter where she stood.
"Thank you." He's kind in a way that feels smooth, almost like gentlemen of the past or a more formal knight. He feels like someone important, someone that wouldn't ever frequent a bar. She's certainly never seen him around town before, and she's positive that she would have noticed him if he'd been around.
"You're welcome. Here's the menu." Shirayuki answers as she comes back and lays it down before him, and he looks at it like he's not even sure if any of the food will be good. She tries to cool her nervousness that either springs up from being around someone of such great authority or from her grandparents' cooking skills being doubted or perhaps from the beginnings of awe and admiration that rises up within her.
And when he orders, he also orders a water rather than a drink. And Shirayuki marvels that he likely isn't one for drinking either. Shirayuki's spent her whole life around alcohol and tends to avoid it often just on principle, and she isn't interested in sampling even so much as a sip of the stuff.
"You look a little young to be working here." He tells her when she comes back with his food, and she gives him a cautious look.
"My grandparents own the bar. I help out." Shirayuki almost tells him that she's more passionate about herbology and finding cures rather than about tending bars and keeping customers from accidentally injuring themselves when they are far too intoxicated to think straight or to walk.
He nodded his head, and Shirayuki hopes that's approval. Finally.
"What do you do?" She asks, curiousity bubbling up without her meaning to, but nobody comes from out of town and walks into the bar to order a quick dinner when it's this close to closing.
"I oversee people." He tells her, and the answer is as vague as it is frustrating.
"What kind of people?" She asks, and she hopes it's just some high up management position and not anything like nobility; Raji is enough of a problem without stumbling upon another prince. But he isn't over the top dramatic or intensely arrogant, just calm and composed, and no prince she's heard of would simply walk into a family owned bar and order dinner and not complain about the food he receives.
"Just people." He tells her and looks down at his food and takes a bite, letting that be all that he says on that topic.
"People aren't just people, you know?" She tells him, "They have lives and stories and others know them and love them."
"I know." He smiles at her, "You're almost like my younger brother, aren't you?"
"I've never met him." She tells him honestly, if only to take away the comparison. She'd rather be seen as someone else than a mystery younger brother who might be a good guy or not so great for all she knows.
"You wouldn't, hopefully." He tells her, "He should be back home in Clarines."
"Does he travel much?" She asks instead of focusing on the fact that she was right, and this man is definitely not from Tanbarun.
"Too much." But when he frowns, she sees the hints of worry rather than anger. He's hopefully not a runaway.
"Sorry about that." She tells him, and she figures if she ever meets his brother, she'd tell him about this, if only to keep him from worrying the older brother, in order to keep him safe.
"It's not your fault." He tells her, and when he looks back up at her, Shirayuki wonders for a moment what he sees. Some only see her red hair, that's still growing, only just a bit past her shoulders and tied back. Some see a young girl without much to offer. And some see just the bartenders' teenage daughter, and therefore a woman who deals with people who might not always make the best kind of decisions.
What does a man with so much authority that is just a teenager right now see?
"What's your name?" She asks, just to keep the conversation going and ignore her gnawing curiosity.
"Izana." He tells her, and she knows absolutely nothing about the royalty of Clarines, so she doesn't even think of it.
"That's a different name." She tells him instead, "Clarinesian names must be very pretty then."
He smiles at the compliment, more amused than not, "What's your name, little bartender?"
She huffs at what feels like teasing, only just now realizing she hadn't completed the nicety and introduced herself too, "I'm Shirayuki."
"Snow White?" He asks, and she hears the curiosity in his voice.
"I'd ask my parents if you're curious, but good luck finding them." She feels a hint of pleasure at getting back at him, and he shakes his head.
"Maybe one day, that mystery will be explained." He shrugs it off, and Shirayuki is once again lost in her curiosity and what feels pretty similarly to a budding crush. She doesn't know quite what to make of all this, but here's this teenager probably not too terribly much older than her but given more authority than she could ever imagine, and he makes it sound easy to find her father, a man she saw once when peering out from behind a corner.
"If it is, come back again, won't you?" She tells him, just to hear the promise that she isn't sure she believes will come to be.
"I will." He tells her, easily, and Shirayuki feels something a lot like hope, and wishes that maybe she didn't feel just a bit different around this man that came by to eat a warm meal at peace and met a somewhat inquisitive bartender that has the biggest dreams of being an herbalist one day.
Just even before he leaves, she hopes to see him again one day.