A/N: Sorry this one took so long. What a summer it's been! Enjoy
They drove down the road eventually spotting a town in the distance.
"Hey, Tony, looks like you won't have to deal with me much longer." She teased lightly, but Loki frowned, this would not work well with his plans.
"Gosh I'm starving. We should find a diner." She suggested. Loki wasn't hungry, but nodded anyway. The more time before their departure, the more time he had to plan and work.
"Darcy, where is it you're headed?" He asked.
"Puente Antiguo, I guess." She replied, not sure why he cared.
"And how far is that?" Loki carefully considered the possibility of tagging along the rest of the way.
"Maybe another day's travel, provided we don't get lost, why?" Even though she asked, Loki knew she already had caught on, or rather just hoped he'd come with, based on her use of 'we' rather than 'I', which would have made more sense.
"Could I possibly be dropped off there? If I wouldn't be intruding, of course." He added the last bit to keep his gentlemanly reputation intact.
He saw the flash in her eyes, and knew her answer before it left her lips, "No you wouldn't be intruding." She automatically replied.
"Thank you, Darcy. For everything." His hand touched the blanket in his lap when he said the words and she blushed bright red.
"I was afraid you'd be cold last night, so I covered you up and gave you a pillow." She explained; her cheeks still pink.
"It's perfectly all right." He smiled, if she could break the no touching rule, then he could smile. He had to admit he found great pleasure in the way he was making her feel. It appeared while his words did not seem to affect her, his smile seemed to make her nervous. He liked the power he had over her with such a simple gesture.
They stopped at a little diner in the town, he hadn't even read the sign so he wasn't really sure where they were, but knew it was much too close to his crash site.
They took a booth seat and he sat across from her, "Well I don't know about you but I would kill for a shower." He said and gave her another smile. He loved how she seemed to shudder lightly at the curve of his lips. Not in a frightened way, but in a way he didn't quite get and that interested him.
"Sorry, you'll have to wait for tonight. We'll get a motel and you can shower then." She replied, looking away from his eyes; fear flashing through her own.
The way he'd said kill was so serious, it almost had a malicious echo to it. She could hear it resounding in her eardrums. She suddenly wondered if she'd been smart to offer the man a ride. 'He's gorgeous though! And he's so gentlemanly. And he speaks so properly it makes me smile. It made him sound intelligent and even more beautiful. If you can call a man beautiful. She still found his last name odd though. Foster? She supposed it was common, but then again Jane was the first Foster she'd met, and she'd met a lot of people in her life.' She reflected on her thoughts briefly before responding.
"So what do you want to eat?" she asked, "Not that the selection's too great." She added as an afterthought when she scanned the menu.
"Just order two of whatever you decide on getting. I'll trust your judgment on the matter." Tony/Loki offered. He placed the menu at the edge of the table and sipped the water that had been brought along with their menus. It had a metallic taste that he disliked quite a lot, but kept his face straight.
The waitress approached with a notepad and pencil, "What'll you have today?" she asked blandly. She was a heavyset middle aged woman and looked about as happy to be there as a child might be in a dentist's office.
"Well, we'll each have the Cactus Burgers with chili cheese fries as an appetizer. Oh and can we get two millers?" she asked, not even bothering to ask if her companion drank.
"ID?" the woman asked skeptically, just to be presented with Darcy's card confirming she was of age.
Loki hadn't a clue what anything Darcy had ordered was, but knew he should, so he simply nodded as if satisfied with her choice. Meanwhile, he contemplated how he could explain he was without money.
"I hope you drink," she smiled shyly, "Kind of forgot to ask. But hey, I'll take both and you can drive." She smiled.
"I do drink," he replied, "and I think I'm hardly qualified to drive considering you are the one who knows the route to our destination." He said; avoiding carefully the fact he'd never piloted an earth vehicle.
"That's true." Darcy concurred. "Anywho, why do you want to go all the way to Puente Antiguo?" she inquired.
"Well, there appears to be little to nothing here." He returned. It was true, the town consisted of a gas station doubling as a post office as well the shabby diner they sat in, besides this, there were only some houses and minor businesses scattered about the town's 'main drag'.
"Yeah, I guess it'd be cruel to dump you off here. I didn't even see a motel." Her words were quiet; as though she felt embarrassed she'd ever imagined leaving him here in the first place. She was spared when their food arrived.
Loki scanned the plate in front of him. It appeared to be a patty of meat served between two halves of a roll and some assorted vegetables. It came in a red plastic basket with wax paper lining. When Darcy gave him an odd look, he knew he had no choice but to eat it.
Pleased that the meal had not been as revolting as it appeared, but rather disappointed in the low quality drink the waitress had brought, he climbed back into the car and they headed off.
Darcy frowned when the passed over the Texas State Line, she was lost. Again. With a light sigh she headed farther down the road. They'd at least have to find a town so that she could figure out where they were exactly. She hoped that Tony didn't notice her anxiety. She had no such luck.
"Is something troubling you, Miss Lewis?" Loki/Tony asked lightly. He swore right then and there that if she was lost he might have to break her neck and figure out the mechanics of the vehicle to drive it himself.
"No," she lied, smiling at him in a hopefully reassuring way. She had a feeling this man recognized bull pretty easy though.
"Mis-" he was cut off by the woman.
"Just Darcy," she said. "Really Miss Lewis is way too formal." 'And it creeps me out…' She thought none too nicely.
"Darcy," he amended, "if we truly are lost please just tell me so." He verbalized in the nicest manner he could muster, but this was verging on ridiculous.
"Don't hate me," she frowned, her voice slightly weighed by her knowledge that she had messed up twice.
"I do not hate you." The statement all the very frustrated prince could manage. He, of course, truly did not hate her, but did feel very angry towards her due to her incompetence. "Do you own a map?" he asked, hoping they could get back on track.
"Well, actually, no." She laughed only slightly. "Funny story really." She smiled, half in hopes of it making up for the stupidity, and half in memory of her very nauseous ex puking on the map whilst they'd driven through some winding roads in California.
"Well, just keep on then I suppose." He sighed, closing his eyes and leaning the chair back.
Darcy was stunned, "No yelling?" she asked, upon realizing she said it aloud she felt ashamed. Here he was trying to make up for last night by being all calm and she basically expressed her assumption that he was going to be as rude as the previous night.
"I could yell," he countered and she could already here the animosity. "I could yell at you for many things. To start: you are not in possession of a map, you are clueless as to our whereabouts, and also you seem to have forgotten my desire for a shower. And I may as well tell you now, I will not be sleeping in the car again tonight, Darcy, is that clear?" he did not raise his voice a single notch, but his words did grow venomous. Darcy wondered if she might have preferred him to yell.
"Well, we'll find a town and get a motel room for the night. Then you can have your precious shower and we won't have to sleep in the car." She spat, really sick of nasty his voice was. 'Then again I kind of asked for that. Gosh, Darcy! Don't you dare defend him!' She battled herself mentally.
"Woman, I hope you can be held to that promise." His once handsome green eyes were cruel and Darcy avoided them. They scared her too much to endure their stare.
"I am about to tase you again, mister. And this time I won't make sure you're comfortable when I do it!" she raised her voice only slightly. She was getting defensive, but who wouldn't under that stare?
Loki stopped for a moment; he really did not wish to be tased again. So he carefully chose the next words his lips formed, "Darcy I apologize for my words. Sometimes they are a bit harsher than I mean for them to be." He looked at her with an 'apologetic' face. It was falsified, of course.
"Well, apology accepted. For now, but any more of that and you'll be out cold." She held up her Taser in proof of that.
They rode silently on.
When they finally came to a town, the only hotel that looked worth stopping at was a Best Western. Darcy hoped she had the dough to cover the bill. It was a hundred bucks for a night in the simplest room they had. (Or the simplest one with two beds, since sharing was out of the question entirely.)
They made their way up to the room, Darcy plopping on the bed farthest from the door, nearest the window and air-conditioning unit. Loki didn't protest, but simply headed for the shower. He undressed and hopped in, feeling refreshed but rather annoyed when he had to use the entirety of the small bottle of shampoo for his hair. When he was clean he realized he had no clothes to sleep in. With a sigh of frustration he put on the clothes he'd worn for two days now and felt that the shower had been kind of pointless.
When he exited, Darcy was still in her clothes and had just finished checking on her mobile for something. "Hey, I know you just showered and all, but it's not too late and there's bar a block down if you want to grab some food and maybe a drink."
Loki, of course, had no real use for sustenance, but considering his current position, a drink didn't sound half bad. "Why not?" He sighed, almost looking forward to it.
A/N: The infamous ' Why not '! Teehee, had to throw that in!
Once again, thanks Ally! My super beta!
Review, please!