@brooklynislandgirl sent: As an observer of human nature ~that sounds much better than 'quite staring Elizabeth, you make people uncomfortable'~ she can't help but notice that more than one pair of eyes land on Henry in a more than fond way. She gets that. He might be older than she is, but he's still a very handsome and strong man. His work is honest. His heart is tender and has room for nearly anyone he cares to call family. Rare though they may be his smile is warm. Then there's his hands, the dark night of his eyes that doesn't invoke fear, especially when they gleam in the Pony's light.
The more she...observes... the more she sees. She doesn't really hear what the bottle-redhead says to him, but it's a little loud, a little raucous. The woman's had more than one over what should have been her limit but at least one person in the group she came in with is sober. Good thing too, no Ubers in Durant that she can tell. When things slow and he passes by to see if she wants a little more coffee, Beth tilts her head and offers him an understanding smile. Despite her curiosity she doesn't directly ask what the woman said. She has no reason to feel a little territorial, after all.
"Henry? Wha's one compliment you always get but are too modest to accept, so you deflect it?"
He has come to enjoy Beth's presence at the bar. Some days she sits there with a glass of wine while he serves the people around her. Sometimes it is a mug of coffee. Always, she sits and watches. He has noticed the way she watches his hands, observes the way he talks to other customers, the way his smile rarely meets his eyes when he is talking to a drunken woman making a pass at him. He knows that Beth sees all of it. He is always aware of where she is in the bar, what she is doing.
Her quiet presence is something that he appreciates. He can escape the crowds to the spot at the bar where Beth sits, close to his office and the corner he has come to consider belonging to Mathias, and engage in conversation with her. He teaches her about what it means to be Cheyenne. She teaches him what it means to be Hawaiian. It is a good exchange, learning about each other's cultures, learning to understand each other better. There are also those times when either or both of them have horror stories of Walt to share. Beth learned early on that Walt Longmire is a particular brand of stubborn man. Henry is more than happy to help her navigate the world according to Walt, though. He has had years of practice.
The question is one that he was not expecting. He does not think of the compliments people pay to him because they are rarer than one might think. Henry knows the image he projects, that of the stoic Indian who does not have time for the white people he is surrounded by. In many ways that image is true. Though Henry does not consider himself stoic, and he knows that Beth does not either. She has taken the time to get to know him, though, to see past that image.
"I do not receive many compliments," he tells her, a small smile at the corner of his mouth, "But when I do they are generally about how I run my bar. I suppose that if I was to name one that I receive often it would be about how I am always there to listen. I do not consider myself a particularly good listener, but I suppose I do always have an ear for anyone who needs to talk it off." He pours himself more coffee, taking a fortifying sip. "What brought about this question?"
