Dalamyr had not expected this when the old man (Gandalf) had offered him a job at a café. Being used to working long hours in a factory and earning so little that he often had to chose whether he wanted to eat or pay his taxes. Now, he was working in a brightly lit, clean café where all of the people were friendly (including his employer, who he was still somewhat afraid of). He earned quite a bit more than he was used to, and no longer had to pay his rent since he was no longer leasing a house. If anything, this was an opportunity for him to start a new life, just as his parents had hoped for when they moved here.
He was lucky that there weren't too many workers in the café, or at least they came in shifts of three to four and they all wore name tags. He wasn't good with names, but he certainly remembered their faces. He was currently working with the tall blonde (who always seemed to be working there), the scruffy, stout red-head, the curly haired man who constantly complained about some 'Caffeine Girl', a tall, dark haired man, and a man with eyes that were so blue Dalamyr thought that lasers were going to shoot out of them.
Today, it seemed, was a special day. Why, Dalamyr didn't know. He mainly kept to himself, and he quietly served the drinks and baked goods to the customers. He was still certain that behind the friendly smiles of his fellow employees were feelings of deep hate. Gandalf had said that he explained the situation that brought Dalamyr to the café to them, and now Dalamyr was scared to make a proper conversation with them.
He brushed by the curly haired worker, listening as he mumbled about this being the sixth coffee a person had had, and served a bunch of tea to some girls. They were giggling at something, and Dalamyr had the distinct impression that they were giggling at him.
"Excuse me," one of them said, and Dalamyr stopped in his tracks, "You're new here, aren't you?"
"Y-yes," he replied, desperately wanting to get out of this situation and back behind the counter where he could at least pretend to clean the already clean coffee machines.
"I thought so," she said, turning to her friends, and mouthing 'you owe me five dollars' to one of them. Dalamyr tried not to sway back and forth on his feet as he thought of what to do. He could just leave them now that they had their food and drinks, but it seemed as though they still wanted to make conversation.
Suddenly, from the counter, there was a call of "Dalamyr! We need you to help behind the counter!"
Dalamyr turned abruptly, ignoring whatever the girl was about to say, and scampered back behind the counter. He recognized the voice to be the tall man who was wearing a particularly girl necklace. Dalamyr made a mental note to ask him about it later on, if he ever got closer to the workers.
"W-what do I need to do?" he asked, trying to keep the tremble from his voice. He wasn't used to working in a relatively non-threatening place, and was used to keeping his mouth shut and working. He didn't know what had gotten into him; when he was talking with Gandalf he was completely fine. Now, he was a stammering mess.
"Oh, nothing, I just thought you needed some help," the man said, a smile growing on his face. Dalamyr returned it, glancing down at the man's name tag to see that he was called Aragorn. He didn't understand why Aragorn was being so nice to him, but he appreciated it. There was a small yelp from the kitchen, and then Aragorn sighed, "Can you give these to the table by the window? I need to calm Legolas down."
Dalamyr vaguely made the connection to Legolas as being the blonde-haired baker, but he obliged to what Aragorn asked him to do. Once he was done, he walked back to the counter and began to absentmindedly wash the counter. The curly-haired man seemed to be handling things fine from what Dalamyr could see, and he didn't want to get in his way.
Dalamyr was about to go to wash the cappuccino machine, when a tall, long-haired blonde man strode into the café and walked over to the counter. Dalamyr walked over, and said, "C-can I help you?"
The man looked down at him in a rather superior fashion, and Dalamyr just wanted to shrivel back into the wall. Despite being completely okay with murdering a man for a couple of thousand dollars (which he didn't get, since he had basically run away), he was not okay with this tall, fair-haired man.
"Yes," he said in a low drawl, his head held high and his nose up. "I am wondering if there is anything on this menu that is organic."
Dalamyr stared at the man. He had never heard of somebody walking into a coffee shop and asking if anything was organic. Selling organic food was for grocery stores and farmer's markets.
"I'm… not sure," Dalamyr said. The man's nostrils flared for a moment, before he smiled rather sweetly at Dalamyr. Dalamyr then wished that he could turn into a puddle of mush because this man was too terrifying.
Suddenly, Legolas appeared from the bakery, and then said, "Dad, technically everything we eat is organic, because all living things are organic beings."
"You know what I mean, Legolas, without chemicals."
"Not to be rude, sir," the curly haired man (Dalamyr remembered him to be called Pippin now), "But everything is chemicals."
Dalamyr then feared for Pippin's life as Legolas's father whirled around to face him. "Do you know who I am?"
"That movie star from Mr. Bilbo's movies?" Pippin offered, seemingly unaffected by the man's glare. The movie star rolled his eyes, and then turned back to the counter.
"I come all this way to visit my son, and I am greeted with sass!" the man said, dramatically putting a hand on his forehead. Dalamyr slowly backed away from the counter and let Legolas deal with his father, "The great Thranduil should not have to deal with this!"
"You're a movie star, Dad, not the king of a country," Legolas said, before he said, "The pumpkin muffins are both vegan and 'organic.'"
"I played a king of a country once. And Legolas, I do not understand you fixation of vegan foods," The man shook his head at his son.
Dalamyr tried not to eavesdrop, but the conversation was too good not to. Pippin was also staying around the counter, trying not to laugh as he pretended to wash the already clean counter. Dalamyr hung around Pippin since the curly haired man had easily stood up to the scary movie star.
"This is gold," Pippin chortled, before he turned to Dalamyr, "I don't understand you. You'll willingly attempt murder, but you can't really deal with people."
Dalamyr stared at Pippin, before he muttered, "Trust me, killing people is a lot easier than dealing with them."
Pippin stared laughing as Legolas responded with, "I don't understand why everything has to be organic to you. Here's your muffin, Dad. Have a nice day."
"Am I not going to get to stay with you?" Thranduil demanded, staring down at his son.
"I'm working, Dad," Legolas said, "Maybe after."
"Oh, but after I have to shoot a movie," Thranduil said.
"I knew you didn't come here just to see me," Legolas grumbled.
"But Legolas, you do not know what it is like working with that… Thorin Oakenshit," Thranduil said, tearing off a bit of his muffin and putting it in his mouth. "He's completely barbaric. He eats genetically modified everything and purposely sabotages my salads with his bags of bacon bits!"
"Maybe it's because you didn't help him when his house got robbed. You were right there, too," Legolas pointed out, raising his eyebrows.
"I couldn't ruin my nails, Legolas, I just got them manicured for a part," Thranduil explained. Pippin snorted into his arm, before he began to mock Thranduil, pretending to adore his own nails. Dalamyr bit his lower lip as to not burst into laughter.
"Well, I'll see you later, Dad. Please leave, we have a line of customers," Legolas said monotonously. Thranduil briefly looked over his shoulder, and then gave Legolas a small smile.
"I will see you soon!" Thranduil called.
"Eru help me," Legolas said as Thranduil disappeared out of the café with his muffin. Dalamyr walked over to him.
"I'll manage the cashier… it seems as though you need a break to emotionally recover," Dalamyr said. Legolas nodded, before he made his way to the 'STAFF ONLY' door, muttering about how dysfunctional fathers seemed to be everywhere nowadays.
"Poor Legolas," Pippin commented, "His dad's a loony."
Dalamyr nodded in agreement, though he had quite a large smile on his face. Pippin was wearing a very similar one.
"Makes for good entertainment though," Pippin said, before he saw the hand raise of the notorious 'Caffeine Girl.' "For Varda's sake…" Pippin then went off to take her order.
Dalamyr smiled to himself. He was liking this new start quite a bit.
Thanks to BoricuaPinkRanger, LoTR-HP-PJ, kittlekat, Revolutionary Star, Wanderingidealism, lotrharrypotter3, LadyVanya, TortoisetheStoryteller, MoonLight1300, and Daeril Ullothwen for reviewing! Thanks to StormwalkerofLorien, Revolutionary Star, EvenstarRoses, blue candlelight 13, Adela Green, and TrisanaChandler13 for favouriting/subscribing. Thank you for reading, and please review!
Dalamyr is an OC, he does not exist in LOTR which is probably why none of you know who he is. But basically in the books, the Haradrim are a race to the south, commonly called the Southrons by the people of Gondor, that joined forces with Sauron during the war of the ring. You may remember them as the people who ride Mumakil. Basically, they were screwed over by Sauron.
I am considering doing a Read Aloud of this story, and posting it either to tumblr or Soundcloud or one of those kinds of sites. If you are interested in hearing me read my own writing, please tell me and maybe I'll actually do it.