ONLY FOR YOU | Loki

CHAPTER 33: HASH BROWNS

OLIVIA HUMS AS SHE FINISHES OFF HER LAST PIECE OF BACON. Across from her, Bruce takes a sip of his Dr. Pepper to wash down a very syrupy chunk of waffle.

"So how was the movie?" he prompts, clearing his throat a little. She shrugs, crinkling up her nose a little.

"I didn't like it as much as The Dark Knight," she hums. "It was still really good, though. I especially liked Catwoman; Anne Hathaway really killed it." Bruce nods along, not really getting it but listening anyways.

"Wasn't she the girl from, uh... Princess Diaries?" He recalls. Olivia nods in confirmation.

"How do you know Princess Diaries?" she wonders, a confused half-smile on her face. Bruce shrugs.

"One of my coworkers had a daughter who loved it," he dismisses. "Sometimes she'd have to bring her into the lab for a few minutes, and she'd watch it in the corner until her dad came to pick her up." Olivia hums.

"I get why; I loved that movie when I was a teenager," Olivia reminisces. "Still do, actually. But her role in this movie was super different than that one, and she pulled it off really well."

"That takes talent," Bruce acknowledges. "I don't really get your taste in movies, but I can appreciate good acting."

"I bet you don't watch sci-fi either," Olivia accuses teasingly. Bruce chuckles.

"The science never really makes any sense," he agrees. "Kind of ruins it for me." Olivia chuckles along, grinning.

"So what do you watch?" she prompts conversationally, grabbing a forkful of hash browns.

"Oh, God, I don't know," he sighs, thinking for a moment. "I mean, I never really have a lot of time for movies— nature documentaries, I guess?" Olivia takes a second to consider that.

"That makes sense," she agrees. "They are pretty relaxing— have you seen the one about the penguins that Morgan Freeman narrated?"

"March of the Penguins," he recognizes. "Yeah, yeah; I got the DVD while I was on the run. It's pretty good."

"Super good," she agrees.

"Why are we at a Waffle House?" Bruce finally asks. "It's— I mean, it's fine, just... we could've met literally anywhere, but you chose 5pm at Waffle House."

"Like you have any room to talk," she replies accusatorially, "you can't expect me to believe you've never had Waffle House for dinner before."

"That... that's fair," he admits. "I can't really argue with that; I did it last week, even." She grins.

"Yeah, I don't know though," she lies, shrugging. "Just in the mood for bacon, I guess." Bruce pushes his bacon across the table to his sister.

"I like chewy bacon," he admits. She narrows her eyes at him.

"If I thought that were the truth, I would disown you right here," she claims. "But I'll take the bacon anyways." She pops a piece into her mouth, dropping the look with a shrug.

***

"—House has better bacon, but Denny's' Tumblr account is comedy incarnate," Olivia informs Loki as they return to their shared dream-space from her memory of Waffle House.

"I really don't see how that has any bearing on anything," he replies. "Also: what is a Tumblr account?" Olivia chuckles.

"The less you interact with Tumblr, the better you'll sleep at night," she advises him. He blinks.

"Well, that's not at all ominous," he mutters to himself.

"What movie are we feeling tonight?" Olivia prompts, crouching to peer at the movies on her bottom shelf. "Horror maybe? Actually, they came out with a movie adaptation of Bleeding Colors last year; we could watch it tomorrow, I just need a refresher first."

"Well, that's not especially helpful tonight," he reminds her, settling onto her couch. "Actually, why don't you have it already?"

"The movie's fine if you haven't read the book, but they cut out Ron and ruined Selena completely," she complains. "It was bothering me way too much, so I watched it once and it's been collecting dust on my shelf since."

"They cut Ron?" he echoes disbelievingly. "How did they even manage to get through the third investigation without him?"

"I don't quite remember," she admits, "but I think they just had Harrison do it." Loki's nose crinkles up in disgust.

"That completely ruins his relationship with James," he huffs. "It— it makes his whole subplot meaningless! The movie can stay on the shelf, I refuse to watch it if it's like that."

"I completely agree— hey, what do you think of watching Sherlock Holmes again?" she prompts over her shoulder.

"The first one or the sequel?" he fires back suspiciously. She turns a little to shoot him a look.

"The first one," she replies, as though it should be obvious. He thinks about it for a moment, then nods.

"Why not?" he sighs. "Tomorrow, though, I pick what we do." Olivia nods, pulling the case out of the shelf and walking it over to the TV.

"Sounds like a plan," she agrees, taking the disk out of its case and loading it up. "I can't wait to see what you've got planned."

Collapsing onto the opposite side of the couch from Loki, Olivia presses play on the movie.