The Samovar

"Mr. Smith sent a text this morning, sir," Devon said, as he set my cappuccino on my desk.

"Did he now? And how did he know to text you?"

"I gave him my number the last time he was here, sir," the drone replied. "I figured it would be more efficient for future visits."

I sipped the coffee and raised an eyebrow, but couldn't fault the man. He was nothing but efficiency wrapped up in a tasty drone package who ran my security division. "Of course. And what did His Lordship have to say?"

Devon grinned briefly then said, "He would like to visit this afternoon and bring you a present."

"A present? It's rare that Johnathan brings me anything!"

"Yes, sir," Devon said. "I set it up for four o'clock, as your meetings finish at three-thirty today and you have no evening activities scheduled."

I narrowed my eyes at him, but I didn't scold him for it. Drones as special as Devon were rare, and truly, he did know me very well. "Splendid. I look forward to it. Do arrange some some drinks and nibbles, would you?"

"Actually, sir, he said he would be bringing tea for you."

I perked up at that. "Tea?"

Devon grinned again. "Yes, sir."

"Well, set up the patio for tea, then, if you would. Ensure the heaters are on, though, since it'll be raining all day."

"As you wish, sir. I'll set that up while you meet with the accountants."

I groaned dramatically. "Well, at least it gives me something to look forward to after I'm tortured with numbers."

"Everyone has their kink, sir," Devon quipped and strolled out of the office. I noticed, with a smile, that there was a little bit of sass to his walk that I would have to address later. I shook my head, and, with a tiny bit of corporate dread, I opened my laptop to bring up the day's email and schedule in order to prepare for the meetings to come.

Later, when I finally emerged from the last meeting with the accountants, I stepped out onto the patio of my office to find Johnathan sitting at the table, staring out at the rainy San Francisco skyline. He looked a lot more relaxed that I'd seen him in a long time, especially for being in the city. "Well, it seems that Rome agreed with you," I said with a grin as I approached the table. Sitting on it was a large, plain black box. "What's this?" I asked, curious.

Johnathan turned to me with a smile of his own that actully reached his eyes, which I was glad to see. "It's a present, as I'm sure Devon told you. I've been wanting to find something like this for you for a while now and finally did."

I went to the table and lifted the lid on the box, nestled inside the packing material was a brass samovar and teapot, beautifully forged, and carved with a coat of arms that made me gasp in shock. "Where did you find this?" I said in a near whisper.

"It was in a private collection in Prague."

I touched my fingers lightly on the surface, tracing the crest, remembering a home and family that I had long since tried to forget. I lifted the samovar out of the box and placed it on the table, the polished brass glowing warmly even in the dull rainy afternoon. "I-- I don't know what to say, Johnathan. This is incredible! I thought everything had been destroyed!"

"Here," he said with a smile, handing me a tin. "Make me some proper tea?"

Opening the tin, I could smell the strong scent of the leaves and noted the label was from a prominent Russian tea vendor that I hadn't bought from in years. Mostly that was because I hadn't travelled home since the current regime had taken over. My eyes welled up a little. "Yes, of course," I replied, placing the lid back on the tin and setting it down so I could order Devon to bring wood and matches.

Before I could pull out my phone, I heard a rattle behind me. I turned to see Devon pushing a metal cart through the door with cups, snacks, and plates, along with three gallons of spring water, small pieces of wood, long matches, and two small pine cones. "Sir. Mr. Smith," he acknowledged, as he set the table. I waited until the top of the metal cart was empty of everything but the fire material and carefully set the samovar on it.

Devon came over as I poured the water in the body of the samovar. "This is lovely craftsmanship, sir!"

"Yes. Yes, it is," I managed, hardly able to speak. I busied myself with adding the wood to the chimney and lit it, ensuring the air holes at the bottom were open. "Devon, would you mind rinsing the teapot?" I asked.

"Already done, sir. Mr. Smith arrived early," he replied, then bowed himself out.

Johnathan smiled as I sat with him at the table. "Devon's become a lot more formal since I saw you last."

I cleared my throat. "Yes, well, he likes the role and service makes him happy. Who am I to stand in the way of anyone's happiness, especially anyone in my service?" I took a breath. "Are you going to tell me why you brought me this wondrous gift?"

"I will. When the tea is ready."

"Infuriating man!" I muttered, which made Johnathan laugh out loud. I looked him, confused. "What?"

"It reminds me of when we met at Mrs. Bennett's House all those years ago. I thought the same of you at that dinner before the Night Market. I believe you actually called me a prude that night!" he said, pointing at me.

"Well, considering your reputation and the fact that we were both oh so very queer, you really were!" I scoffed. "Telling everyone you were a widower! Very clever of Elisabeth to think of that one, though."

Johnathan's face clouded over. "Yes. She was incredibly intelligent."

Yes, she was, and you were very much in love with her husband. Shame you had to take her down like that, I thought, but didn't say it out loud. Always made me wonder if Tobias' spirit had come back for you then. I let the fire in the chimney burn for a while, then added the pinecones. The familiar noise of the samovar made the patio feel much more homey. All the rituals came back to me as I measured out the tea and cut the lemons. I felt the presence of my grandmother with me as I listened for the first little sounds that indicated the water was hot enough, and tried not to tear up again. Johnathan sat with me in companionable silence, letting me putter around. I smiled. In the nearly one hundred and fifty years we'd known each other, Johnathan had become a constant in my life, no matter how far away he was or how much I had gotten under his skin and annoyed him. The sound of the samovar changing pulled me out of my thoughts and I filled the teapot, then attached the teapot holder to the top, and set the teapot on it. I tracked the time in my head, then poured the tea, diluted it, added the lemon and sugar, and put one cup in front of Johnathan.

He took a sip. "Ah, that's lovely," he said.

I took a sip from my own cup and my eyes teared up again. This time I let it happen and wiped my eyes on my sleeve, not caring about getting makeup on the Armani. I took a breath, then said, "Johnathan, did you know that this was my grandmother's samovar? How did you find this?"

"Well, it helps to have an MI6 handler who is not only an expert in antiques, but has a particular love of Russian antiques," he replied. "And no, I just knew this was from your family's estate. From what I understand from Harry, there were some revolutionaries who decided that they wanted some nice things of their very own. Luckily, the ones who carried this off before they destroyed the house took very good care of it." He took another sip of tea and added, "Apparently Harry's negotiations with the owner of the collection were rather... brutal. But the museums he donated the rest of his collection to are incredibly happy and grateful."

I smiled widely, knowing exactly what kind of negotiations his handler would consider "brutal." Johnathan may be a priest and pastor, but he had been a spy for just as long, and was ruthless in both pursuits. I was touched. "This is an incredible gift, Johnathan, and I am truly grateful for you bringing this back to me, but why? And how did you know this was my family's crest?"

Johnathan put his teacup down, took a breath, then said, quietly, "When Toby died, you literally picked me up off of Market Street, took me to your House, and kept me from killing myself. And before then, when dealing with Tobias' death and Elisabeth's change, you were there for me, talking me into moving on with my life and finding purpose. You secured the investments needed to create the Gregori, and the wherewithal to keep Rising Hope Mission alive, along with so many numerous things you didn't have to do to help me. The very least I could do, Vlad, was find you something of the family you'd lost, since I knew they were important to you." He smiled, gently. "As to how, well, there was that time early in our relationship that you let me into your mind, and I saw your family's crest in a memory. I kept watch for that crest over the years, and when I asked Harry to look for it, I was able to send him the image mentally. Harry, fortunately, as an eidetic memory."

I stood and made a fresh cup of tea for him, as his was cold, mostly so I could have something to do in order to collect myself. I put the lid on the samovar and closed the vent so that the fire would go out and sat back down. We sipped our tea as the late winter sun set over the bay. After we'd finished, I asked, "How long are you staying in the city?"

He smiled again. "Not long."

"Will you ever forgive San Francisco, Johnathan?"

He drank the last of the tea in his cup, put it down, and stood. "Ask me again in a hundred years, when, hopefully, people like you, me, and Toby can live freely, without fear." He put a hand on my shoulder, squeezed it, and left.

I took a breath and stared at the samovar. Grandmother had been the only one to truly understand me, Johnathan, I thought at him, knowing he could hear me, but not really reply. And I understand you, brother. I sent the word "brother" not in English, but in Russian.

I felt his mind touch mine for a long moment, with a deep gratitude and love born of our long friendship, then fade as he got into a cab heading to the airport.