cut
"Tony? What are you doing?" Bruce asked as he entered Tony's lab. His friend shut down several screens immediately and swiftly turned in his chair. He gifted Bruce with an innocent smile and the Gamma-scientist rolled his eyes at him.
"Nothing! Nothing at all! I was just-…"
"Trying to find whatever you could on Mr. Sigurdsson, weren't you?" Bruce stated and Tony pouted.
"I was practicing my research skills." Tony muttered and Bruce sighed and shook his head.
"Then you won't mind if I go for a walk." He turned on his heel, and walked back towards the elevator.
"Bruce!" Tony called out and Bruce looked at him over his shoulder. "You're going back to Starborn, aren't you?" Bruce raised an eyebrow at Tony.
"I might stop there for coffee, why?" Tony flexed his jaw, and shifted in his place.
"Be careful." He warned and turned his back on Bruce. The Gamma-scientist raised an eyebrow before he shrugged and pressed the button to summon the elevator.
"Call me if you need me," he said as the door of the elevator opened and he stepped in.
"BRING ME COFFEE!" Tony hollered and Bruce chucked as the door closer.
"Yes, your majesty."
cut
Bruce shivered when he stopped in front of the door leading into Starborn Café. He didn't know what it was about it that made him feel both excited and slightly apprehensive, but just like the first time when he was standing here with Tony he was again both hesitant and anxious about entering.
With a deep breath he took a step forward and pushed the heavy door of the Starborn Café open. He was immediately enveloped in warmth and scents, and as the door slowly closed behind him he felt as though calmness settled both in his mind and in his heart.
"Good morning." He looked down the room, and found Haruven at the bar. He just put away a glass and rounded the bar giving Bruce an opportunity to observe him.
Silent, graceful and enticing; there were no other words to describe him.
Haruven moved more like some apparition than a physical human being.
"Good morning." Bruce greeted and looked around. The fires were burning in the fireplaces. The wood would sometimes crack, giving the silence of the Starborn Café a homier atmosphere. "Are you open?" Haruven smiled, and gestured elegantly for Bruce to follow him over to the bar.
"Always." Bruce nodded with a small smile. When he took a seat and leaned on the bar, Haruven immediately started to make something. He moved swiftly, effortlessly and intently, and when he turned around and placed a cup in front of Bruce, the Gamma-scientist could only quietly breathe in the scent of the drink.
It smelled beautifully, but looked interesting at the least.
It was three colored, and served in a tall see-through glass. The bottom and upper part were in shades of white, and the middle part was an electric green.
Bruce tilted his head to the side, and Haruven's lips tilted into a small smile while his eyes glimmered mysteriously.
"What is this drink?" Bruce asked.
"It's called Eye of the Storm." Haruven said, and Bruce looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Try it." The door opened and Haruven left to greet the new customer. The middle aged man was looking around the Café with the same apprehension Bruce felt when he first came in.
"Good morning." He stuttered out.
"Good morning; and welcome. Please, take a seat." Haruven directed the man towards a table in the corner. Bruce could see the confused, almost enchanted expression the man looked at Haruven with.
"I'll come back with your drink right away." Haruven said and walked away. The man shook his head and looked around while he waited for his drink.
Bruce observed as Haruven seemed to prepare a regular coffee, and tilted his head to the side in confusion. He looked at his drink and took the spoon off of a plate Haruven placed beside the glass. He stirred it and watched as the different drinks mixed and mingled, until the color of the drink became a nice, calm, pastel green.
The scent reminded Bruce of pistachio, cream, nuts and something else, and his mouth practically watered. He brought the glass to his lips and took a sip, barely managing to suppress a moan of appreciation.
"Is it to your liking?" Bruce looked at Haruven and nodded.
"It is incredible. Not hot, but not cold either. It's creamy, but still easy to drink. How did you-…?" he stopped talking when Haruven shrugged elegantly and leaned back against a cabinet.
"Do you know why it's called Eye of the Storm?" Bruce looked at the drink and shook his head.
"No."
"The ingredients it's made of shouldn't mix so well, because of the different textures. If one knows how to balance them though, they make a delicious drink." Bruce frowned and tilted his head to the side.
Balance.
That one word struck him with a certain weight.
Wasn't that something he sought ever since the experiment?
Wasn't balance something he was lacking?
He looked at Haruven and frowned when he saw the small smile on the waiter's lips.
'Mona Lisa smile,' he thought to himself. 'A smile that speaks of secrets and knowledge.'
But Haruven smile wasn't mocking in its mysteriousness.
It was an encouraging smile; one that brought comfort and peace of mind. One that said: If I could figure out what you need, then you can as well. All you need is to look deeper, and you'll find what you're looking for.
Bruce looked at his drink again and took a sip. He breathed a sigh of relief, closed his eyes and relaxed. He opened his eyes and looked at his reflection in the mirror behind Haruven. It came to him like enlightenment.
The Other Guy was calm.
Usually there would always be the whisper of the Other Guy in his head; a threat that he would come out at any moment if Bruce didn't hold his anger in check.
But now there was no anger; only calmness. Now that he focused on the Other Guy he could almost hear him purr.
Bruce looked at Haruven in surprise, and the bartender smiled at him.
"If I may be so blunt, Mr. Banner, how long did you think denying yourself what you want would work?" Bruce frowned and bowed his head.
"Denying myself?"
"Yes. Yourself. The Other Guy. Hulk." Haruven stressed out and Bruce looked at him from under messy bangs. "He is a part of you. Why do you deny him?"
"He is the result of a failed experiment." Haruven hummed and nodded.
"The Other Guy may have been brought out by that experiment, but he has always been a part of you; just like every living being has a similar part of them hidden deep inside their hearts. That primal desire to survive and protect what is ours is buried so deep in some that at first sight they may seem like peaceful men and women, but if you push them hard enough they can become almost monstrous." Haruven looked in Bruce's eyes and the scientist felt the Other Guy shift inside his head and growl lowly.
"When we become defenseless or someone we love with all that we are is threatened, that part of us comes out. We may become frightened of what we are capable of doing when in that state, but the fact is that once we discover that side of us we have several possible decisions to make. We can suppress it and forget about it; continue with our lives as if nothing happened. We can exploit it and become monsters, or we can choose to fear it, and that deeply buried anger at our own weakness, our fear, our helplessness, our desire to protect, takes over us and begins to rule our lives." Haruven said and Bruce's eyes widened.
The Other guy rumbled softly in his head as though he agreed with Haruven.
"What would you do?" Bruce asked quietly and the bartender hummed.
"Accept it." He looked at something beyond Bruce and his expressive emerald eyes shadowed for a moment. "Accept it. Become one with it. It is a part of you. It only wishes to aid you when you need to protect what you cherish. If you allow it that liberty, if you permit it to fulfill its purpose, you will be able to lead a normal life."
Bruce allowed Haruven's words to roll around in his mind for a few moments. The Other Guy was rumbling lowly in the back of his head. There were no traces of aggression and anger. There was a silent threat, but it was so small that it was practically nonexistent.
"So all that I need-…"
"Is balance." Haruven finished for him and Bruce looked at the drink he was cradling in his hands. The door opened and a young woman entered the café. "Excuse me." Haruven excused himself and walked over to her while Bruce sunk into his own thoughts.
He didn't even try to think about how Haruven knew everything he did. Something was telling Bruce that it didn't matter.
With a small sigh, Bruce took another sip of his drink and closed his eyes.
Balance.
What did that word mean?
A low growl made him focus on the Other Guy and for the first time since He came to be, Bruce actually tried to focus only on him.
He was practically overwhelmed with fear, the desire to destroy everything that created that fear, and protect from everything that created fear. He opened his eyes and realized that, for the first time in his life, he actually felt peace.
'Hulk. Protect.' Those words echoed through his mind, and Bruce smiled for himself. He looked up at the mirror behind the bar and watched as Hadrian served the customers that came into the café without Bruce noticing them.
A smile tugged on Bruce's lips
He didn't know what brought him to Starborn Café, but whatever it was he was grateful to it.
Haruven looked at him through the reflection of the bar-mirror, and Bruce nodded at him, receiving a smile in return.
"Please, enjoy your drink." Haruven smiled at an elderly lady he just served, and walked over to the bar.
"Thank you for the drink." Bruce said and took out his wallet. "How much?"
"This isn't that sort of a Café, Mr. Banner." Bruce shivered when Haruven covered the hand Bruce was holding his wallet in with his own and pushed it towards him. "You pay only if you find it necessary to do so." Bruce raised an eyebrow and Haruven laughed quietly.
"How do you mean that?" Haruven hummed and looked around.
"People come to this Café looking for something they cannot find out there. I am here to serve them a drink that will relax them and help them find the answers they are looking for. Some pay, and some continue coming until they find peace, and then they pay. Some never do, because they feel that if they do they won't have a reason to come back anymore. Some leave something every time, and so on."
"How do you stay in business?" Bruce wondered and Haruven let go of a laugh that reminded Bruce of wind dancing through trees and bells chiming in the wind.
"I did not open this Café for profit, Mr. Banner. It doesn't matter to me." Bruce could only stare at Haruven for a long moment.
"You are a strange creature, Haruven Sigurdsson."
"I shall take that as a compliment." Haruven bowed his head and Bruce saw a mischievous shine in Haruven's eyes.
"Then I will bypass paying you this time so that I can have a reason to come again."
"And I shall be pleased to see you again, Mr. Ba-"
"Bruce. My name is Bruce." Haruven nodded.
"And you may call me either Haruven or Ven." Bruce nodded at him and turned around to leave only to stop and turn back.
"I almost forgot that Tony hollered for coffee." Ven laughed again, and Bruce chuckled with him. He felt incredibly at ease and relaxed. Ven moved around quickly, and not a moment later he placed a takeout cup in front of Bruce.
"Send my greetings to Mr. Stark. I hope he will like this." Bruce raised an eyebrow at Ven only to have his eyes widen when Ven actually winked at him and placed a finger over full, cupid-bow lips.
"My secret." Bruce shook his head and sighed.
"Until next time." He said, took Tony's coffee and left the café, feeling as though a great weight was lifted off of his chest.
As the door closed Haruven Sigurdsson smiled, and looked at the ceiling of the Café. In the middle of the ceiling was a mirror, and around it was a set of runes. From it, spreading to West, East, North and South were runic lines.
With a pleased sigh he took Bruce's cup off of the bar and put it aside to clean it.
A warm wind caressed his face, and he raised his head as the door opened. In walked a young woman with features that reminded him of Elven maidens from old stories.
'Betty Ross.' A whisper caressed his mind and he smiled at the woman once their eyes met.
"Welcome." He said as she took a seat at the bar.
"Hello."
"Please, settle comfortably. I'll have your drink ready in a moment."
cut
*sigh*
If only Bruce stayed a few minutes longer…
But never mind! You never know who you might run into when you enter Starborn Café, so stick around for the next installment, 'A Calming Touch'