Chapter 10 - An Immersion in Culture Among Other Things
Hello, everyone! Let me just start with saying, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TOM HIDDLESTON! The root of all of these chapters here and so many different fanfics. So it is only natural that I would update today, right?
Haha, sorry, I had to get that off of my chest. Anyways, thank you all for the wonderful reviews! We hit 60! My goodness that makes me so, so, so, so, happy! And it is all because of your guys! You are truly amazing and every time I get a review sent to my phone, I get this humongous pride burst. So thank you! I love you all!
Oh, and as I was writing this one, I was totally thinking "Poison and Wine" by the Civil Wars. Look it up; it is an amazing song. And I think that it very closely relates to our two favorite characters. But that's just me.
Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel or anything related. Excuse me while I go ball my eyes out.
Steve's fist pounded into the stiff bag, a deep indention signaling its eventual death. With another second, the bag glided through the air, hitting the wall and causing an explosion of sand.
"You know, we are going to run out of those eventually if you keep destroying them like that," Hill's teasing voice announced. "That makes ten now, doesn't it?"
Steve felt the familiar blush creep up his neck and settle into his boyish face. He looked down at his taped up hands shamefully. "That thought typically comes to mind after I break one," he admitted. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "It's just that now we know who is behind all of this… I was supposed to finish it. It was my job to kill Schmidt. And all I got was 70 years on ice. I failed the job."
"I wouldn't say that. We won the war, remember?" she replied.
"At how many lives though?" he retorted. "Maybe I could have prevented so many deaths."
"No use crying over spilled milk. What's done is done," she told him tersely. "And as I recall, I came here for a workout. Not for tears," she teased. "Are we going to practice or not?"
Steve chuckled, feeling more relaxed as he felt his muscles quake in anticipation. He held his arms out in offering, taking immediate note of her smug smirk. She charged at him, a familiar fire taking over in her sapphire, blue eyes. His arm deftly caught her across her chest making to stop her. However, instead of coming to a painful halt, she took it all in stride, using her momentum to throw up her legs and knee him in the back of the head. As he fell forward, she somehow managed to position herself on his back, her small body surprisingly making a rather loud crack on his spine as they fell to the hardwood floor. He felt the tip of her gun at the side of his neck, making him grin.
"Is that a record?" she mocked playfully. "Five seconds, Rogers?"
The super soldier flipped over rapidly, knocking her off of him and the gun away from her. In her shock, he grasped her wrists tightly and held them behind her back. His lips fell against her ear. "I don't know. Is it?" he teased.
"I had that won, cheater," she snapped, tearing her arms out of his hold and turning around to glare at him darkly.
He held his hands up in surrender with a shy smile. "You're right; that was wrong." He held out a hand for her. "You win?"
She stared at the hand for a moment before reaching out to take it. "You're buying me breakfast, cheater," she scolded. "And not McDonald's like last time!" she demanded with a smirk.
"Where do you want to go?" he asked, grabbing his gym bag and coming to stand next to her before they made their way out of the gym.
He wasn't exactly sure of what was going on between the two of them. Out of everything that had happened, even going back to Loki's week of world domination, Maria had really been the only constant. Her smart-aleck responses for everything, and yet undying support and loyalty were some of the only things that could make him smile anymore. Everyone else on this ship, in this team, all had hidden agendas and secrets. Maria was the only person at this point who seemed to be truly real to him. If there was something that the young, beautiful, agent wanted to say, she would say it without regrets. She knew where her loyalties belonged, and she wasn't afraid to make them known. And he admired that about her.
Steve was beginning to think that there was maybe a little bit more than friendship between them. At least on his side. A part of him regretted these emotions, because he had been so in love with Peggy. But something also told him that Peggy would want him to be happy and to move on. And maybe it was with Agent Hill that he could do this.
Loki awoke in the morning from Thor's enthusiastic pounding on his bedroom door. His brother's golden smile seemed overly bright in the dim lit room, and the younger prince made quick to glare at the offender. "Why are you awake this early?" he asked crudely, sleep still thick in his voice. Thor rarely ever awoke before he did, and receiving a wake-up call from him was definitely not a good way to start the day.
"Lady Natasha wishes for you to be awake. For you are meant to depart soon, and she worries that you will 'dilly-dally' to coin her words," Thor explained, the smile not showing any signs of leaving.
"Why did she not wake me herself?" he questioned. "She certainly would not be so cruel with her… arousals." Well, maybe she would now that he thought about it…
"Because I thought it would be funny," he heard her declare as she entered the room. A smug look was plastered on her porcelain face, corners of her lips turned upwards and a sparkle in her emerald eyes. "And it was. Thanks, Thor," she chided, patting his brother's arm lightly. Thor grinned widely before leaving the room. "He was right though," she started, walking over to him. "You need to get ready now."
"Will Barton be accompanying us to the airport?" he asked, throwing the blankets off of himself and walking to the makeshift wardrobe in the corner of his room. He grabbed simple clothes before turning around to look at Natasha who avoided his gaze.
"I've decided that another agent should drop us off today," she answered quietly. He arched an eyebrow at her in surprise. He knew that she was upset with Barton, but he never thought that it would have gone to that extreme that she would disregard her best friend entirely. "With everything that's happened, I just don't think it's a good idea for the two of you to be in the same room."
"Are you worried for me, or is it actually you who simply doesn't want to be around him at present?" he remarked.
"Maybe a little bit of both," she admitted.
"Because he told you that you're afraid of happiness?" he guessed. She shrugged in indifference. "I think that there was more to it than that, Natasha," he told her. "You don't get bothered by people's opinions like that. Or at least, you don't show it. What else did he say to you that makes you want to avoid him?" he probed.
She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "I don't want to talk about this with you. Meet me on the bridge. Just get ready as fast as you can." She quitted the room then, closing the door behind her and walking to the conference room. No one was in there at the moment, but she took her usual seat anyway, staring at the table with her arms crossed.
In another ten minutes, she was joined by Thor who was talking animatedly to Loki, an arm around the younger brother's shoulders. Loki looked extremely uncomfortable with the contact, but didn't move away from the hold. Thor moved to sit in his chair, and Loki made a quick dodge to sit next to Natasha, giving her a tight smile. "That's Barton's seat," she whispered.
"And I thought you wanted to avoid him?" he cheeked, making her smile.
"I must say, Lady Natasha, you do bring out an interesting side in my brother," Thor commented, a sneaky smile on his face. "It isn't often that I get to see him this happy." Natasha froze at Thor's words, and she felt Loki stiffen next to her as well. "I mean, I don't recall him ever smiling so often. It seems that whenever the two of you are together, it's like he's a whole new person."
"I think you've said enough, Thor," Loki growled.
Thor's face fell and he looked down at his folded hands on his lap. "And then, whenever I try to be cordial and try to elicit that happy person, I am received with hostility. Someday you must divulge your secrets to me, my lady."
Tony was next to barge into the conference room, and he pointed accusingly at Natasha. "And it just so happens that I think that whenever she is around Loki, she seems to be a much more happy person."
"You aren't part of this conversation, Stark," Natasha said gruffly.
"I'm stating facts. You've been walking around like someone's kicked your puppy, but whenever Reindeer Games walks in, serious mood swing," Tony continued. "Like when you were all alone in here five minutes ago. Then Loki walks in, says five words to you, and you look like you've just been to the moon or something."
"What are you trying to insinuate?" Loki commanded.
"And what does it have to do with getting the Tesseract back?" Natasha added, getting a firm nod from Loki in agreement.
"Nothing," Tony admitted with a smile. "I think Thor and I are just observing aloud, aren't we, Point Break?" Thor nodded happily.
"Well stop it," Natasha barked as the remaining people of the team walked in. Clint walked in last and glared heavily at Loki in his chair.
"Making sure I can't whisper the truth into her ear about you, Loki?" the archer asked.
"Making sure that you don't emotionally damage my partner for the mission," the god retorted calmly, hands folded on the table.
"Oh, she came running and crying to you, huh?" Clint rounded.
"How much would it bother you, I wonder, if I said she did?" Loki mocked with a smug smile.
"Stop it, Loki," Fury ordered, glaring at the prince viciously with his one brown eye. "Barton, I suggest you start up a jet."
"I already got someone in a jet waiting for us," Natasha announced, standing from her seat. "I was just waiting for Loki, and to see if there was anything else you would like to add to the mission, sir."
"There isn't," Fury said slowly, looking in between his two best agents nervously. "Is there anything that I need to be worried about right now?"
"No, sir, there isn't," Barton answered. "Only Loki whispering lies about me into Natasha's ear and making her his little puppet is all."
"Care to enlighten us, Agent Romanoff?" Fury questioned.
Natasha sent a harsh glare to her fellow Avenger, her arms folding tightly across her chest. "Agent Barton is simply concerned about my mental wellbeing since I am with Loki. Needlessly concerned. As I have told you, Director, Loki is a large asset on this mission, and he has proved exceptionally useful thus far. Barton is being ridiculous, and I do not wish to hear his pessimistic comments about my job." Everyone remained silent. "Can we go, sir?"
Fury nodded, and Natasha quickly left the room, leaving Loki with the others. The God of Mischief bowed his head slightly to the team and took his leave, his long strides quickly catching up to the Black Widow's side. "Don't you think that maybe that was a little… harsh?" he wondered.
"I said what needed saying, is all," she replied. "Don't tell me you're disappointed?"
"No, just surprised that you would so willingly put Barton into trouble like that. Being that the man is supposed to be your best friend."
"Right now, he and I are anything but best friends, Loki," she answered, climbing into the quinjet and taking a seat.
Once they arrived at the airport, and the S.H.I.E.L.D agent left them, her whole mood seemed to change around him. She was smiling more easily, and being that they had arrived two hours before their plane was meant to leave, she even vouched that they look in the gift shop and browse. Loki was surprised with her happy attitude, but decided not to comment on it, in fear that she would revert back to her troubled behavior again.
They walked into the quaint little shop, people swarming around the merchandise, and making Loki feel unbelievably crowded. She gravitated toward the snow globes in the back of the store; thankfully there were less people in this area. "I never figured you one for these kinds of meaningless toys," he remarked casually.
"I'm full of surprises," she replied, picking one of them up and shaking it. It held the Empire State Building, some of the windows lit up majestically as the fake snow trickled down. "I suppose that it's almost a way to torture myself," she commented, her voice melancholy. "It's this little world in which everything is perfect. All of the little figurines have perfect lives, and there is nothing that could ever go wrong in them. They're happy and normal. I could never have that." She set the snow globe back on the rack and stared at the dozens of others with a sad expression.
Loki frowned, not quite understanding her logic, but understanding enough to know that there were times that even the great Black Widow wanted a normal life. She didn't want all of this weight constantly falling on her shoulders. "Well, I would imagine that the figurines would want the opposite," he told her, picking up the snow globe and holding it out to her. "They're stuck doing the exact same thing every day. Perhaps it is they who desire adventure?"
"If they had it, they wouldn't want it," she said coldly.
"And if you had what they do, do you not think that you wouldn't want it?" he retorted.
Natasha shrugged, taking the knick-knack out of his hands and giving it another shake. "Do you ever wish that you were normal?"
"Never," he said easily. "Mortals are ugly creatures."
"Okay, maybe not mortal normal, but Asgardian normal. Like if you were actually Odin's son, or just some other god up there who wasn't feeling all of the things that you do now?"
The suggestion made him pause for a moment as he deliberated. Now, he supposed he could understand her sentiment. It would be nice if he could be removed from everything happening. Knowing that there wouldn't be a single moment where he could be blamed for the things that were happening. He wished that someone else could be in control. But only sometimes. Being the person that he was, he had real power. He had recognition, even if it had a bad connotation, he had it. "Occasionally, I suppose," he admitted. "But then when I look at the alternative, I don't complain. I am a prince."
"A very much in trouble prince," she reminded with a small smile.
"But a prince nonetheless. I've seen things and done things that most people would only dream about. I don't have regrets."
"Now, that can't be true," she argued playfully, moving away from the snow globes and looking traveling coffee mugs.
"I am happy with the choices that I have made. Some more than others, but overall, I'm happy."
"I think that you're lying to yourself about that," she commented. "Or you actually are happy simply because you blame others for your misfortunes and problems. Like Thor or Odin. When in reality, it's all on you. You just don't want to accept that."
"Perhaps, but nevertheless, no reason to fix that which isn't broken."
"I think you're very broken," she muttered. "You've even said as much before all of this."
"How much longer until our flight leaves?" he asked, terminating the conversation.
"An hour," she replied after looking at her watch. "We should buy something," she stated.
"You live in New York, I highly doubt that you need a souvenir to commemorate it."
Natasha rolled her green eyes at him. "Fine, then let's get something to eat before we go. Airplane peanuts are not exactly what I would call a fitting meal."
"Alright. Where would you suggest?"
"McDonald's fries are always good," she answered.
"Lead the way," he said, letting her take his hand and tug him from the gift shop.
As they sat down on the plane, Natasha made a quick dash to the seat by the window, smiling evilly at him. "You get to deal with any old people," she teased, fastening her seat belt.
"And you call me an infant," he teased, taking the remaining seat and strapping himself in.
"That would be because you are," she replied, leaning up and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. Immediately, all of his senses came alive at that moment, and all he could think of doing was turning her head around so he could kiss her properly. And he was absolutely positive that she was aware of his sudden distress, as she started chuckling.
"You really ought to warn me when you are about to do that," he whispered into her ear, grabbing a magazine and flipping it open to a random page.
"Why? So that you don't start spontaneously drooling?" she teased.
Loki merely rolled his eyes and started reading the article, finding it somewhat interesting. Humans' ideas of astronomy were obviously limited, but it was funny to see them flounder with their pathetic little mysteries of the universe.
As they touched back down in Munich, Natasha couldn't help but feel a little relieved. Though this was soon to be the epicenter of hell on earth, she couldn't deny that this place felt nice.
They walked into their hotel, dismissing the receptionists curious gazes as they trekked up to their room. Even being back inside the small quarters felt wonderful for the redheaded agent. Nevertheless, she charged to her pillow on the bed and slid her gun underneath it.
"You want to go for a walk? My legs need to stretch," she stated.
Loki nodded and threw on a long black coat that dwindled at the back of his knees and flattered his lithe figure far too much for her comfort.
Their walk was surprisingly peaceful, she found. It has one of those silences where neither felt the need to occupy it with mindless chatter. She looped her arm around his and rested her cheek against his arm, hiding from the harsh wind. She felt his lips graze the top of her head, and she couldn't stop the smile that broke out across her face. She should hit him for doing that, but all she found she could do was smile. Natasha pulled away slightly and showed him the bright smile she was wearing. She suddenly saw Loki leaning in towards her. Both stopped walking, and she watched helplessly as his lips continued to get closer and closer to her own until they finally touched.
It was a hesitant kiss, and it only lasted for a moment, but that was all that Natasha needed to pull away from him entirely and stare at him. "What the hell was that?" she demanded, casting a look around and not seeing any pedestrians walking by.
"What do you mean 'what the hell was that?' You could have stopped it," he barked, looking flustered and unnerved.
"What made you think that I wanted you to kiss me?" she yelled in a whisper, punching him angrily in the arm. "There isn't anyone around for you to prove our fake marriage to, and you suddenly get the idea that kissing me is a good idea?"
"Well, forgive me for mistaking your large, happy smile as an invitation!" he barked back.
"How do you even know if it was a real smile?!" she ordered.
"How do you even know if it was a real kiss?" he retorted, throwing his hands up in the air.
The comment stung her, and she suddenly felt tears creep into her eyes, and it definitely wasn't because of the biting wind. She wrapped her arms around herself and looked down at the cement sidewalk under her feet, biting her lip. "Let's go back to the hotel. It's getting too cold," she said in a tight voice.
There was absolutely no reason for her to be as hurt as she was by the comment, but she was anyways. Everything that she had seen from him, she had taken for attraction, and even now, she was confident that he was attracted to her. But the fact that he may or may not have wanted to kiss her at all made her gut wrench painfully.
Oh, if only she could find a local shooting range. She needed to let out some steam and connect herself back to the mission. Befriending Loki was a mistake - probably the biggest mistake she had ever made in her long life. She had let the God of Lies weasel his way into her mind, just like Clint had told her he would. Loki possessed her. Even without that stick.
Having feelings had never hurt so badly. Betrayal, anger, sadness, pain, hurt, all of them were coursing through her body at lightning speeds and making her head and heart spin. What had he done to her? She used to be so unfeeling when it came to reality. It never affected her like this. He had taken control over the infamous Black Widow and had compromised her. She was weaker now because of these feelings.
As soon as they arrived back at the hotel, she grabbed her nightgown and slammed the bathroom door behind her, locking it. That was when the tears exploded from her green eyes. Her body shook with pain, and her cries scratched greedily at her throat. Fumbling with the knobs, she turned on the shower, divested of her clothes and climbed in. The water was ice cold on her body, but they disguised her tears. Eventually the coldness started to get to her, and her cries turned into shivers. She could practically feel her lips turning blue, and it was then that she switched the water to a scalding hot that burned away any remnant of emotion that she was feeling.
By the time she turned the water off and climbed out of the shower, she felt… better. Maybe not how she used to before she ever met the God of Mischief, but better than how she had been acting. The emotions from his cruel words were still tumbling through her head, but she pushed them to the recesses of her mind, letting the importance of their mission overtake her. There was nothing else but the mission. Get Schmidt to trust them. Kill Schmidt. Steal back the Tesseract effectively saving the world from the German. And then send Loki's slimy ass back to Asgard where he can be punished to the highest degree.
She emerged from the bathroom, seeing Loki sitting on the couch with his elbows on his knees and looking nervous, maybe even a tad remorseful, but she didn't care. "I, um, bought some food," he started, pointing to the little makeshift table that had a couple to-go boxes on it. "I don't know if it tastes good, but, I figured that you should eat."
Natasha walked over to the food and flipped over the lid, staring at his peace offering with disdain. There was an assortment of noodles and meat in the mix, and quite frankly, it looked delicious. She could feel the water building up in her mouth as she continued to look at the food. Mentally slapping her hand, she grabbed both of the boxes of wonderfully smelling food and threw them in the garbage can. "Probably poisoned them," she surmised.
"I don't think that that was necessary," he commented.
"You want to kill me, don't you? Food poisoning is always a good way to go," she retorted, folding her arms across her chest, staring him down. "I'm going down to the cafeteria for dinner." Where all of the disgusting food is, she added in her head. "You can fish out that crap if you still want to eat it. Don't follow me," she ordered, grabbing her robe. She ran her fingers through her still damp hair and left the room, slamming the door behind her.
Her trek to the cafeteria was a long, painful one, and a part of her desperately wanting to run back up to the room and eat the food he had bought for her. Even if it had been in the garbage. Maybe it was all a big misunderstanding? Maybe he had said what he did just to get back at her? Maybe he really had meant the kiss and it was real? It was true, she had led him on in that moment, and it was a great lapse of judgment for her that she would regret for forever. But at that moment in time, it had felt so right. Like she was meant to stay at his side and let him kiss the top of her head. But it was wrong. It had all been a lie, she told herself. It had to have been his endgame all along. Get her to have feelings for him, and then crush her. Well, she wasn't the kind of woman to get crushed by feelings, and she was going to prove it to him. She wouldn't be hurt.
"Miss?" she heard a man ask in German, and she looked up to see a relatively young man looking at her anxiously. He had a rugged look about him that reminded her a little of Thor but with a dark beard and finely cropped hair. "Are you… alright?" He cast a glance at her in her robe and nightgown, and if she had any strength left from her crying, she may have blushed with embarrassment.
Natasha flashed the man a breathtaking smile and blinked any tears away from her eyes. "I'm fine," she replied in German. "Husband troubles," she said, lifting her left hand to show off her ring.
"What did he do?" he asked nicely, taking a seat next to her.
"How do you know it was something he did and not something I did? Because I think that I am more to blame than he is," she answered, looking down at the table where Styrofoam plate sat with an assortment of fruits decorating it.
"I don't think that someone as beautiful as you could have done anything wrong," he praised. The comment was generous, but it didn't mean anything to her, and at the moment, she didn't want to put in the extra effort to make a fake blush.
"Are you flirting with me?" she asked. She realized that at the moment, she could just about anything she wanted. She could have mad, passionate, revenge sex with this man, but something held her back. Even though she wasn't in any way affiliated with Loki that way (as of one hour ago) she still felt like she would be betraying him. Though he had been the first to betray her trust, she wasn't sure if she could actually take that final step and give him the payback he deserved.
"Maybe I am," he admitted. "I just don't see the point in a someone like you being sad by a man. I would divorce him if he makes you like this."
Natasha smiled softly. "If only it could be that simple," she replied with a sigh. His hand fell on top of her own on the table and her eyes flashed up to his brown ones. She preferred blue to brown any day. She pulled her hand away from him and gave him a rude look. "I may be going through difficulties in my marriage right now, but that by no means signifies that I want to cheat on him. I suggest you leave now."
The man sighed and gave her a tiny smile that she didn't bother returning. He left her at her table, and she grudgingly finished the fruit on her plate.
She slowly walked back up to her room, unlocking it and finding Loki still on the couch, both boxes of take out still in the garbage. At her entrance, she replaced the firm mask on her face, meeting his blue eyes with no emotion. He stood and folded his hands in front of him, looking disturbed. "How was your dinner?" he asked politely.
She looked at the food in the garbage. "How was yours?"
"Well, gods don't need nourishment constantly like mortals, so I didn't eat anything," he replied hurriedly and then bit his lip.
"Then why'd you buy food for you? You're wasting our money," she chastised, taking off her robe and climbing into the bed and grasping the handle of her gun. She turned her back to him and stared at the door, fighting to make sure that the tears wouldn't return.
"I thought we could talk," he said quietly.
"I don't want to talk," she stated clearly, squeezing her green eyes shut.
His shoulders hunched over slightly and he ran a hand through his raven hair. "Are you mad at me because of the kiss or because of what I said afterwards?" he asked.
"Does it matter?" she retorted.
"I think it does. If we are going to be good partners and pull this act off, we need to act like we don't hate each other. I believe you were the one to point that out our first time we were here. And then we went up that mountain, and had, what I believed to be a good time."
"Loki, I do not want to talk to you right now."
"Then at least tell me why you're angry?" he suggested.
"I'm not going to grace that stupid question with a response."
She felt his hand tightly grab her arm and yank her out of the bed, throwing her on the floor. She felt fear tremble through her body as she stared up at him, but she refused to let it show. "I think I've tolerated your attitude for long enough.," he declared. "I bought you food which you promptly threw into the garbage, and then you go down into that cafeteria and flirt with that man, and now you won't even talk to me! My patience is wearing thin, Natasha."
"You followed me down to the cafeteria?" she demanded, standing and glaring at him. "After I told you not to follow me?"
"Don't act so surprised," he mocked. "How nice it was to get comfort from that man, I wonder? Apparently not nice enough for you to stop being a bitch."
"Why do you even care what I do? It's not like we're actually a couple, and I have to be loyal to you!" she yelled, giving him a mean shove.
"Believe it or not, that shower didn't really drown out those tears," he stated, and she froze, her eyes widening and her mouth hanging open in shock. "And since I considered us to be at least friendly acquaintances, I figured that I would try to better your mood as I have had to do countless times. But then I find that all of my efforts are anon because of some rugged mountain man in the cafeteria."
It took her a moment for her to gather her bearings, and she blinked harshly at the fresh tears threatening to come out. "I didn't sleep with him," she finally muttered. "Told him to get lost."
Loki wasn't exactly sure how he should respond, so he simply nodded and walked back to the couch, his head falling in his hands.
She made him so frustrated sometimes, it was insane. One minute, she was happy and awaiting his kiss, not even pulling away from him, and then, as soon as it happened, she hated him vehemently with everything in her. He didn't know what to do. And he had heard her crying in the shower, and all of his anger with her evaporated. There was something that he had done that had caused her the pain that she was feeling. Normally, he wouldn't have cared that he had been the root of someone's despair, but Natasha… It was upsetting just to see her sad in general, but it was something completely different with him being her reason for sadness. So he thought that he could win back her favor over a nice dinner that he had ordered. But the Natasha that walked out of that bathroom was not the Natasha that he had befriended. It was the Natasha he had met first - her trying everything she could think of in order to hurt him and unravel him. It had been the Natasha who truly wanted to kill him, and had sold her life to him in order to do it. And then she had to twist that knife in his back by flirting with that buffoon of a man in the cafeteria. Even a superior god like Loki was still very susceptible to jealousy, and he hated the man who had her attention.
He watched at she walked over to the trash can and took out the boxes of food, setting them on the table. "Is there any way you can like… disinfect these?" she asked meekly, looking down into her lap.
"Now you want to be polite?" he growled, seeing her frown deepen. He sighed and walked over to the boxes, letting his magic sweep through him and settle into the food. "They should be fine now."
She grabbed the plastic forks and pushed one of the boxes and forks in his direction and then opened her own. "This doesn't mean that I forgive you, you know that, don't you?" she asked, taking a bite out of the noodles and stifling a sigh of content as the flavors exploded in her mouth.
"I haven't exactly apologized for anything," he remarked, taking a bite out his own food. It wasn't as nice as his Asgardian cuisine, and not quite as addictive as the McDonald's fries they ate earlier, but he supposed that it was a nice, comforting food.
"Do you ever plan to apologize for something?" she asked him. She still didn't sound like the Natasha that he liked, but she didn't sound nearly as terrorizing at the dark and crude one from earlier. He would have to compromise.
"Do you ever plan to tell me what to apologize for?" he rounded. "Because I still don't know why you're mad at me."
"Why do you think?" she asked roughly.
"I'm going to elect to not answer that question at present. You're in too much of a sour mood, and I fear that I would answer incorrectly. And then it would be worse," he answered with a smug smile.
Natasha shrugged, accepting the vague reply and continued eating her dinner.
She finished a little before he did, and he watched as she climbed back into the bed, her back facing him and her hand creeping underneath the pillow to no doubt, grab hold of her precious gun. He sighed at her mood and threw away the boxes for good this time. Loki laid down on the couch, turning his back awkwardly in order to fit on the small piece of furniture. Gods, he hated this thing. Maybe, if things had gone better earlier, he would have had a shot with the bed, but he knew better than to test her already tepid waters right now. She could have the bed, and he could suffer the aches that tomorrow would bring. Because he would deserve it.
So, there is the next chapter. I know, I know, I'm a terrible person for making them have that big blow out fight at the end. But hear me out! They've been basically best friends this entire fic, and knowing their strong willed and stubborn characters, I just don't see them being able to be all buddy-buddy forever, you know? But hey! There was a kiss that was thrown in there so that should at least win me a couple of points, right? Right? Maybe? Please don't hate me! I suppose that I should also apologize to Tom for making a sad chapter for him, but it is where the story had to go! I have plans, I assure all of you! And they will be able to get back on track very shortly, I promise. Probably the next chapter. And if not then, then definitely in the one after that. I can't stand for them to be angry with one another either!
Let's see if we can hit 70 reviews guys! I know we can! Let me know what you thought of the chapter, but PLEASE NO FLAMES! I will gladly take constructive criticism, but there is no reason to hate on the author enough to make her cry! Not that any of you have done that in the past, but you know. :D
Oh, and I don't own McDonald's! Or their wonderfully, amazing, perfect, delicious, sinful fries!
Love you all lots! Even though it doesn't look that way now!
- Books