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Haruven sighed as he cleaned another glass. It's been a busy day and he could say he was a bit tired. He put the glass on the shelf and looked at the mirror on the ceiling. The shadows were slowly moving around and he smiled. A warm wind caressed his face and the door opened.
In walked a man soaked to the bone. He squinted as he looked around while Haruven rounded the bar.
"Good evening," he said and the man gave him a shy smile.
"Good evening. Are you open?" He asked and Haruven smiled.
"Always." He showed him to a place beside the fireplace. "Please, take a seat while I bring a towel and something that will warm you up." The man's eyes widened slightly.
"No, no, there is no need-…"
"Please, I insist." Haruven said as the man took a seat. He nodded his head, and Haruven smiled at him.
He walked to the back of the Café and up the stairs to his loft. He hummed through his nose as he took a towel from his bathroom.
'What should I serve him?'
A warm breath caressed his brow. 'He is tired and weary. He's been working nonstop for months since his wife died, and left him alone with their two children.'
'Oh, Merlin. What is his name?' he thought as he made his way down to the Café.
'Daniel D'Leigh.' Haruven nodded and placed the towel on the bar.
'So something that will warm him up, calm him, and help him relax,' he thought to himself as he started to mix a drink for the man.
'You are the best, Ven.' He smiled for himself and shook his head.
'I wouldn't be able to do this without you.' That same warm wind danced through his hair.
'You are the one who helps them. I only give you their names and background. You are the one who sees their soul.' Haruven sighed as he finished the drink. He took the towel and walked over to the man.
"Here you go." He offered the towel to Daniel who accepted it with a weak smile. His eyes were shadowed and his cheeks indrawn. He was a man in his mid thirties who looked like he'd already seen better days; much better days.
Haruven put the drink on the tea-table while Daniel rubbed the water out of his hair and clothes as much as he could.
"Thank you." He said and took the cup in his hand.
"I hope you'll enjoy your drink, Mr. D'Leigh."
The man moaned at the taste of his drink and smiled, and Haruven saw his eyes fill with memories.
"This is delicious." He looked at Haruven with a smile. It turned into a confused frown in a second and Haruven suppressed a chuckle. "Wait a second. How do you know…?"
"That doesn't matter. Please, try to relax. The rain won't stop for another hour or so. Take your time." Daniel nodded with an expression of confusion on his face.
Haruven bowed his head at Daniel and walked over to the bar. A small sigh escaped him and he started to polish the glasses again.
'You should get some rest later. No one else is coming tonight.'
'I'm not that tired,' he thought and looked at Daniel through the mirror behind the bar. He was gazing at the fire with memory filled eyes and a small wistful smile on his lips.
'Where are his children?'
'At their grandmother's; he visits them over the weekend. He knows that with his current job he can't take proper care of them, so he brought them over to his mother.'
'Did you find out where he works?'
'Yes. Why?' Haruven smiled and moved onto the next row of glasses. 'Haruven, you know you're not supposed to directly mix into their lives.'
Haruven hummed. 'And I won't mix in directly. I'll just nudge things in the right direction.'
'You never did care for the rules.'
Haruven chuckled and spared a glance at Daniel. His heart ached at the tired, hunched form of the man.
'That's why you're not supposed to mix in, darling. Your compassion will destroy you, if you do.'
'I think that same compassion is the reason you chose me.' He felt a gentle caress to his brow. With a small smile he threw his braid over his shoulder and walked over to the man.
"Can I do something for you?" he asked and the man looked at him. For a moment he was confused; as if he was shaken from deep thoughts. After a moment he shook his head and smiled.
"No, no. I don't want to burden you with my problems."
"You wouldn't burden me with anything. If anyone needs someone to listen I am here to do so."
Daniel raised an eyebrow staring at Haruven for a long moment before he sighed and looked at the fire.
"Does your employer allow you to sit with a customer?"
Haruven snickered and took a seat in the armchair beside Daniel who looked at him in confusion. "I am the employer," Haruven clarified and Daniel blushed. "Also, I am the only employee, so feel free to relax."
"You work alone?" Daniel asked and Haruven nodded.
"This job," Haruven accented because he couldn't find another word. "It requires devotion many can't give. I did not wish to burden someone else with some things that I've seen so I decided to work alone."
Daniel snorted. "If only all employers were as good as you," he muttered and Haruven tilted his head to the side.
For a few moments the man was silent and Haruven waited patiently.
"My wife died three months ago."
"My condolences." Haruven offered and the man smiled at him sadly.
"Thank you," he whispered and looked back at the fire. "Now that I think about it, besides my mother and my friend Jess, you are the only one who said that. I work in an Account office down the street. My boss?" he chuckled bitterly. "He leaves much to be desired. He docked a lot of money off my pay because I took a week off." Haruven frowned at that. "I had to send my children to my mother because I can't take care of them. I have Sundays off so I try to spend as much time with them as possible, but more often than not, he calls me back to do something he forgot to do, which is important for Monday." Daniel chuckled cynically. "What is worse, I can't quit. I have a mortgage on my house, my children need to eat and my mother's pension is too small to keep her alive, let alone my kids." Daniel sighed and rubbed his face. "And I miss my wife. I miss waking up with her, I miss laughing with her, I miss - God, I even miss fighting with her."
He looked at the half empty glass Ven served him. The clear, honey colored drink glimmered in the light of the fire, like a well of memories on held dear to their heart.
"This drink," Daniel whispered. "It reminded me of what she used to prepare for me when I came home late from work." Tears glimmered in his eyes although a smile tugged at his lips and Haruven smiled as well. "I can't tell you how much it made me feel at home."
Daniel looked at Haruven, and the raven haired man nodded. "I'm glad I managed to help you at least somewhat."
Daniel took a deep breath before taking a sip of his drink, and as he relaxed back into the armchair he took a look around. "You know what's strange?" Haruven tilted his head to the side. "I've walked down this street at least a thousand times, and I've never noticed this Café." Daniel looked at Haruven and the bartender hummed.
"Sometimes we can't find what we're looking for until we're ready to find it. Most of the time all we're really looking for is peace. But peace can't be found until we're ready to accept it. When we are…" Haruven looked in Daniel's eyes and the man trembled at the depth of the emerald gaze, feeling as though the bartender was staring right through to Daniel's soul. "When we're ready peace has a tendency to finds us."
Daniel nodded. Although his mind couldn't grasp what Haruven was telling him, his heart understood.
'Someone is looking for him.' Haruven looked toward the door. A second later the door opened, and a young woman peeked in.
"Excuse me - Daniel!"
Daniel looked at her and his eyes widened. "Jessica? What are you doing here?" Daniel stood up and rushed over to the woman. She enveloped him into a tight hug and Haruven smiled.
'She won't be staying.' Haruven nodded minutely, stood up and walked over to Daniel and Jessica.
"Mama Lucy called me and told me to come pick you up. She said you probably forgot to take your umbrella again."
Daniel smiled sheepishly. "Well, she was right."
Jessica clicked her tongue and looked at him fondly. "I wonder how Mary managed with you. She probably thought for you as well."
Daniel laughed, wiping a few tears away while Jessica stared at him in shock. "Yeah, she did."
Jessica looked first at Daniel and then at Haruven who just graced her with a small mysterious smile. "Danny, are you okay?" she asked and Daniel laughed lowly.
"I am, Jess. I'm not great, but I'm getting there. Wait for me in the car. I'll be right there." She nodded, still utterly confused.
"Okay," she said, nodded at Haruven, and left the Café.
Daniel sighed, turned around and took his wallet out of his back pocket.
"The first time is on the house," Haruven said since Daniel was about to pull out his money and Daniel frowned.
"If this is because…" Haruven just raised his hand and stopped him.
"No. The first time is always on the house."
Daniel relaxed slightly and nodded his head. "Then I'll see you again."
Haruven smiled at him and bowed. "I'll be happy to serve you," he said.
Daniel sighed, lips tilting up for the smallest of bits, and put the wallet back into the pocket of his jacket. "I'll see you then," with that he turned around and left.
Haruven waited for the door to close behind Daniel before humming quietly, and looking at the cup on the table. He raised his hand slowly, and the cup levitated over to land in it.
'What are you thinking about, Ven?'
'I'm thinking about the name and purpose of this drink.'
'What are they?'
'It's called Calming touch. The calming aroma of mint, chamomile and fresh oat with just a touch of honey and cream is supposed to calm both mind and heart, and refresh the body.' He turned the cup in his hand, watching what little remained of the drink swirl around the white edges, and the corners of his lips tilted up when he felt a gentle caress against his brow.
'His wife loved him very much if she prepared this for him.'
"Yes," he murmured, walking around the bar. "She must have loved him very much." He put the glass in the sink and looked up at the doorway. "Mr. Sanders is supposed to come again the day after tomorrow, right?"
'Haruven Sigurdsson, what are you planning?' Haruven smirked, which made him look quite devious.
"Wasn't he looking for a new secretary/accountant?" he asked slyly, and a playful breeze danced around him, ruffling his bangs.
'You devious boy, you.' Haruven chuckled and washed the glass.
'You know you love me.' The answer to his jibe was a feeling of being enveloped in a hug, and warm lips beside his ear.
'You know I do, sweetness. You know I do.'
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Tony grumbled something into his chin, and leaned back in his chair almost petulantly.
"I can't believe I can't find anything on him," he murmured.
"On whom?" he
Tony turned around in his chair and looked at Steve. "A waiter Bruce and I met the day before yesterday."
Steve raised an eyebrow at him and walked over to the big screens. "Is he a threat?"
"I wouldn't say so," grumbled the genius billionaire.
"Then why are you researching him?" Steve asked and leaned against the desk Tony's computers were on.
"Because there's just something about him…"
"That rubs you the wrong way?" Steve finished for Tony with a dull tone.
"No." Tony bit out petulantly.
Steve raised an eyebrow. "Then why?" he stressed and Tony shrugged.
"Because something about him feels familiar." With a few clicks the picture of Haruven Sigurdsson appeared on the screen. "Very, very familiar."
Steve looked at the picture.
He couldn't see what Tony was talking about.
The picture showed a man who seemed to be in his mid twenties with long, raven black hair, an oval face, and eyes of the greenest emeralds Steve has ever seen. "He has pretty eyes," he commented and Tony snorted.
"You should have seen them in real life. It's like…" Tony hesitated and focused on Haruven's eyes. "It's like he can see right through you to your soul."
Steve frowned. "I'd like to meet that man," he said and Tony snorted, not really surprising Steve when he actually pouted.
"Talk to Green," he grumbled. "He'll probably go again soon."
Steve rolled his eyes, resisting the urge to hit Tony over the head for being the possessive idi… well brilliant idiot that he is. "Let's go, Stark," Steve drawled dryly, "before your wife tears down the tower."
Tony chuckled and shut everything down. Steve smirked at him and once everything was shut down they walked out of the room. "Pepper would do that, wouldn't she," Tony spoke almost proudly and Steve laughed.
"Yeah. As much as I've gotten to know her, she would."
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You can tell from the first moment that Tony is head over heels in love with Pepper, but like the brilliant idiot that we all love and adore, he just didn't know how to tell her. :D
Anyway, I hope you liked it! Join me in seeing what happens next in 'A Whisper of Loneliness'.