My Milkshake Brings All the Spies to the Yard...

[atrickygod]

Who: Kid Loki and Natalia Romanova
When: Sometime during Loki's sad excuse for a party...
Where: A kitchen in Stark Tower
What: In which Loki tries to make Natalia a milkshake...and fails.

Comments

[atrickygod]

Loki shrank back from the girl and her sudden diatribe. He continued to hold himself around the chest, more for protection now than nervousness. She had appeared so docile only seconds before. He could not tell if this was a girl thing or a mortal thing. Furthermore, he did not understand why she was so angry. He had only made an observation and here she was purposefully piercing herself with the rose's thorns again. Perhaps the girl was insane. It wasn't a good idea to upset crazy people.

Clearing his throat, Loki murmured, "I apologize. I did not mean to offend you. You just act very different from the girls I have met back home. I thought you peculiar."

He picked up the rose.

"I just do not like you as you like me, but that does not mean that we cannot still be friends," Loki explained, pulling the petals off the flower.

[red_in_ledger]

Natalia just looked down her nose at him. "You are either a very bad liar, or you are very stupid," she retorted. "You did not mean to offend? What part of calling me stupid, of telling me I'm not worthy of being in your presence is supposed to be unoffensive?"

She brought her thumb to her mouth, swiping away the bit of blood that had welled up before showing him her hand again. "And the condensation over such a small thing! It is already almost done bleeding. Yes, it hurt, but I did not need healing, and certainly not such a rude lecture."

Crossing her arms, Natalia sniffed at him. "If girls at your home let you insult them so, I do not have high opinions of them. I might be mostly nice, but I will not let people be cruel to me. So tell me why I should want you as a friend, when you are mean."

[atrickygod]

The last petal dropped from Loki's hand to settle with the small red pile on the ground.

"Oh, but you shouldn't want to be my friend," Loki said, glancing up at the girl. His face held no expression. "Bad things can only happen, as you can see

[red_in_ledger]

"I already told you that," she shot back. "Friendship at the least, a kiss at the most. Yes, learning magic from you would be cool, but the other two are more important. I'm close because I like you and I touch you because I think you are attractive and that is how I was lead to believe Americans show interest."

She stepped closer to him. "Apparently it is that you are stupid," she scoffed. "That does not make sense. You can be my friend, but I cannot be yours? You can have pure motives, but I cannot? I can ask of you the same question, you know. What are your motives with a little Russian girl, far from home, lost in a strange country? What cause might you have to want to gain her trust, and just how might you be planning to betray her?"

Natalia turned the full force of her glare on him. "So stop with this 'mortal' stupidity. Stop trying to sound like you are just so much better than I am. You are just a lonely kid. I want the same thing you do. But if you continue to be cruel, I will leave and make friends elsewhere

[atrickygod]

Loki frowned still poking at the ice cream. "Do not leave. I wish for you to stay. I wish for all of you to stay." Pushing the carton of ice cream towards the girl, he offered her his spoon.

"I have no other motives but to play. And I am not American. I am an Asgardian. The skinny boy named Rogers, he is an American," Loki explained. "Although I believe he would not understand your strange mating rituals."

"And lastly, you are mortal. I am not. This is just fact, but I suppose I should not have said it so harshly. Mortals are not all bad. Some are very nice."

[red_in_ledger]

Slowly, Natalia came back, making a show of cautiously taking the spoon from Loki and eating some ice cream. She ate it slowly, savoring the treat, before passing back the spoon.

"Apology accepted," she said, smiling at him. "Even though I dislike the implication that I would be so fickle as to switch my affections to Steve, just because he is American."

Reaching out, she grabbed a strawberry, swirling it in the melted cream before holding it up as an offering. "Try?" she asked. "I do not get fruit often, but this is a tasty way to eat it."

[atrickygod]

"You seemed fixated on the nationality so I merely suggested it," Loki said, shrugging. He eyed the piece of fruit warily. "Why do you not get fruit often? It is a staple of any kitchen."

He took the fruit from her and nibbled at it. "This is not bad, but where I am from we eat golden apples. They are far tastier...and better for you." He added smiling to himself. "I have even fought a wicked giant who threatened to steal away the fair goddess who grows them for our kingdom."

[red_in_ledger]

Natalia froze in the middle of reaching for another piece of fruit, drawing her hand back and hunching in on herself to feign embarrassment. "Fruit is often in kitchens," she agreed, shifting her weight to look uncomfortable. "If you can afford it."

She glanced up at him, before looking down at her hands. "Fruit is expensive. Not all can afford to keep it in their kitchens."

[atrickygod]

Loki didn't say anything. So she was of a lower class? He felt bad for bringing the subject up for it clearly made her uncomfortable. Making this girl uncomfortable was not something he wished to do given her temper.

"Then it is good that you are here," Loki acknowledged. He waved to the kitchen at large. "You should eat whatever you like. The owner of this tower is a very rich and eccentric man. I am sure he would not mind if you ate your fill."

[red_in_ledger]

Abandoning all interest in the ice cream, Natalia devoted her attention to her fruit. "That is what I am afraid of," she replied ruefully. "I do not want to eat myself sick, but they are so tempting."

[atrickygod]

"Once I dared my brother to eat an entire barrel full of pickled beets," Loki snickered. "I told him I did not believe he could do it, but he did. He was sick for three days."

He chuckled at the thought. "He is so very easy to trick. He must always prove himself."

Choosing a whole strawberry from the remains of the milkshake, Loki took a bite. He liked this fruit. On a whim, he pulled out his stolen Stark phone and began searching for more food ideas. This time he looked for recipes related to the strawberry. Ones that did not require a blending machine.

"Oh, look!" Loki turned the phone around to the girl. The picture showed a curved glass filled with layers of strawberries and cream. "It is called a parfait and needs only a knife to chop up the fruit. We should make these parfaits instead of the milkshakes for our friends!"

[red_in_ledger]

Natalia sniffed. "That sounds like a stupid thing to do. Of course he could not eat that much. And so wasteful! Not only to gorge on so much, but to then sick it up after? That would have fed so many people."

Blinking at the image, Natalia smiled. "Yes, that looks quite easy," she replied. Flipping her knife out of her waistband, she turned to some of the still-dry fruit and began chopping.

[atrickygod]

"Alright!" Loki said jumping to the fridge to find more whipped cream. He moved to one of the cabinets and pulled out two glasses. Bringing the items to the counter, he filled them in layers. First with cream and then with the strawberries Natalia chopped (He chose not to ask about the knife in her waistband.) and then ice cream or chocolate syrup. When he'd filled the glasses to the top, he placed a whole strawberry on each and then drizzled more chocolate.

"Now these look good!" He cheered, passing Natalia a spoon. "Much easier than milkshakes."

[red_in_ledger]

Picking up the spoon, Natalia took a bite of the confection. "This is much better," she allowed. "I especially like the combination of strawberry and chocolate."

She tried another bite. "These would be very good to share."

[atrickygod]

"Yes, I agree," Loki said, snapping his fingers and levitating five more glasses to the counter. He began filling them as he continued, "Perhaps the promise of sweets will bring my brother out of hiding. His absence from my party annoys me. He should not avoid me."

Loki finished filling the glasses and glared at them. He rapped his knuckled on the counter as if coming to a decision.

"No, I should not dwell on it. I do not need him anyway. I have my new friends." Loki turned to Natalia. "And you. We can be B.F.F.s. Would that please you?"

[red_in_ledger]

Natalia tilted her head, summoning a perfect expression of girlish confusion. "I do not know if that pleases me," she admitted. "I do not know what a 'B.F.F.' is. Explain it to me, and then I can decide?"