A First Impression
Heilyn let the music flow over him like water. He learned a long time ago that the work that he did for a living went much quicker, and was much more enjoyable if he worked with music that was loud enough to drown out his thoughts. It wasn’t that he didn’t like working as a cleaner for the premier cleaning company in New York City, it was just that cleaning was sort of mindless work. Sure, he got to see how the rich and famous lived up close and personal in the line of work, but it didn’t matter if your client was upper middle class or in the elite of society. They all left dirty dishes in the sink for the cleaning staff.
This morning his manager had called Heilyn in a panic. It turned out one of his co-workers had come down with a cold and was too sick to clean for her usual client that day, which sucked for her, but it didn’t change the fact that they needed to send someone. Which was how Heilyn found himself lugging a cleaning cart around the upper floors of the very fancy Stark Towers.
Once he had been introduced to the (frankly terrifying and amazing in equal measure) AI Jarvis, he had quickly lost himself to the standard cleaning tasks. As much as some clients had very particular requests of their cleaners, there were only so many ways that you could do the dishes. It was hardly rocket science after all.
His cleaning playlist had just reached one of it’s better songs for dancing to as he moved onto the last few steps in the kitchen. It didn’t take long for Heilyn to feel his body unwind and start to shift around to the music. The stress practically melted away as he wound his way through familiar dance moves that had never fully left once he stopped going to the ballet classes he used to attend. There was only so much teasing that a boy could take before he stopped enjoying things like dance classes after all.
The muscle memory was still there, however, and whenever music started playing in his hearing, he often found himself moving without conscious thought. It was incredible how often a dance move could be brought back to it’s origin in ballet.
He may have gotten a little too involved in his dance, but in Heilyn’s defense, it was one of his favourite songs, so by the time it was ending, he was no longer even giving the slightest pretense of still cleaning. He struck the finishing pose as the last familiar notes wrung through the air, the only traces of why he was in the tower being the gloves still on his hands, and the apron around his waist.
Clapping from the doorway broke Heilyn out of the single-minded focus he had had for his dance and the music, and he felt horror crash through him. He ducked his head, feeling his cheeks flush bright red in his embarrassment as he pulled the headphones out of his ears quickly.
‘You know, correct me if I’m wrong, but you don’t look like Louise, or if you are, that is one doozy of a cold you caught,’ the dry comment came from the same direction the clapping had, and Heilyn found himself having trouble convincing himself to raise his head.
‘Um, no. Louise was too sick to come in, so the company asked me to,’ he managed to choke out passed the humiliation he was drowning in. ‘I’m Heilyn. Um, I’m nearly done in here, sorry if I’m in the way.’
He still hadn’t brought his head back up, and he wasn’t honestly sure that he would manage it any time in the near future. If this person was here, then there was a good chance that he was important, and if he was important enough, he could have Heilyn fired for wasting time that Stark Industries was paying for.
He felt sick at the thought. He really needed this job.
‘Uh, not in the way. I wouldn’t mind an encore though, if one was going,’ was the reply that managed to filter through the panic Heilyn was feeling. If he wasn’t wrong, the speaker didn't sound annoyed, in fact he sounded like he was holding back laughter.
He tilted his head slightly, still not looking up from the far safer option of the kitchen counter top. Was the man not mad?
‘Okay, I’m gonna need you to stop looking like that. I’ve got a bad heart, so you know, no more imitating a puppy dog over there. My heart can’t take it.’
Heilyn was so shocked at the implication that he looked up and met the most amazing and ultimately horrible sight. The man who had walked in on his stupid impromptu dance session when he was supposed to be working was Tony Stark. He was the man who was paying for Heilyn to be cleaning these floors of Stark Tower.
He was going to be in so much trouble.
‘Mr. Stark! I’m so sorry! I swear, I have actually been doing the work you’re paying for, that was just a really good song, and I couldn’t help it!’ Heilyn cringed as he heard his pitiful apology. Yeah, he was in big trouble.
He rubbed at the back of his neck, knowing his face must be mirroring the dread he felt. What was he going to do now? He would have to try to find another job for sure. If Stark was feeling particularly put out, he could make it impossible for Heilyn to work in New York in any capacity.
‘Hey, it’s fine, calm down,’ Tony’s voice was coming from much closer than before now.
Heilyn looked up into the biggest brown eyes he had ever seen and realised that Stark was almost holding him upright. That was when he realised that he couldn’t really breath. He registered in the back of his mind that he was hyperventilating.
Huh, he thought. Well that’s not good.
‘Alright, come on, just breathe. Follow me now,’ that voice was incredibly soothing he thought absently as he tried to force his lungs to do their job properly.
By the time Heilyn managed to come back to himself, they were in a heap on the floor. The kitchen counter made a fairly decent backrest as he just focused on breathing. The unfortunate thing about coming back from a panic attack was trying to explain it to anyone who had witnessed it, Heilyn contemplated as he steeled himself for the coming conversation.
‘Gotta say, that’s a new one,’ Stark mused softly. ‘Never caused someone to start hyperventilating from my presence alone.’ Heilyn was treated to a quick once over as it looked like Stark was trying to determine if he was alright or not.
He felt his cheeks burning as he pulled himself back up. Before he could talk himself out of it, Heilyn held out his hand to help Stark up from their spot on the floor. It was the least he could do when it was his fault they had ended up there in the first place.
The man stilled in his attempt to get back to his feet and watched the hand in front of his face blankly for a moment.
That blank look on his face hurt Heilyn. He groaned internally. He was always going and getting attached to random people, and this was no different. One confused look when he offered to help Stark and he wanted to go and smack the people who had ruined this man’s trust.
It wasn’t even necessarily a lack of trust. The blank look he had received showed Heilyn that it had been a long time since anyone had offered such a simple thing as a hand getting up to this man, and it made his blood boil.
He reached down and, keeping a close eye on Stark’s face, took his hand and helped haul him to his feet. The blank look morphed into a confused look at the action, and Heilyn realised that his stupid heart had gone and gotten attached.
‘Thanks, for helping me. I just, I realised that you could have me fired for not purely doing my job, and I really need this job, and it just all came crashing down on me. Sorry,’ His cheeks were burning by that point. It really hurt to have to admit to one of the richest men in the world that he needed his job and it was essentially in his hands, but then, he was almost sure Stark wasn’t that type of man. If he was like those stuck up rich people he normally cleaned for then he wouldn’t have helped.
‘Huh,’ Stark mumbled. ‘Makes sense.’ They stood in silence for a minute, both staring idly at where Heilyn still held Stark's hand.
Then Heilyn realised what he was looking at, and felt all will to live leave his body.
‘Sorry!’ He squeaked as he pulled his hand away from Stark's. His eyes felt like they were about to pop out of his head if they got any wider than they had gotten at that realisation, and the ice that ran through his veins was almost enough to make him shiver. If only his face would lose the flush that hadn’t left it once since this man had walked into the room.