"This is really made from cow?" Loki asks in disbelief.
"Yep," Tony says. "That's what a burger is: cow." Although it is from McDonald's, so he can't be completely sure it's even real meat. He opts against mentioning how sketchy McDonald's is. The food tastes good. Who cares how it's made?
"This is delicious," Loki says. "Do these exist outside of the mall? Can we buy burgers elsewhere?"
"Yeah, no, totally," Tony says. "We can do that. We'll set a burger date for a few days from now; how's that?" He'd hate to have them too close together and get sick of them (although if he hasn't gotten sick of burgers by now, he's not sure he ever will).
"That sounds wonderful," Loki says. "I look forward to it. These are delicious."
"Have you tried the fries?" Tony asks.
"Not yet." With his burger in one hand, Loki grabs a fry in the other and takes a bite. He hums in approval. "This is delicious, too. Everything is delicious."
"Isn't it?" Tony agrees. "McDonald's is great. I'd eat it every day if I could."
"Well, why can't you?"
Tony pauses to consider that. "Um..." He shrugs awkwardly. "'Cause it's unhealthy. 'Cause I'm old and my bowels would melt. I don't know." He just feels like that wouldn't end well. There's gotta be a reason nobody eats at McDonald's every day, right?
Loki huffs a laugh, so at least it's an entertaining answer. "For the sake of your unmelted bowels, I suppose we can limit the amount of McDonald's we consume."
Tony cracks a grin and takes another bite of his burger, and Loki eats a few more fries. It's largely quiet at this time of night; the mall is only open for another half-hour or so. There are a few other people in the food court, but they're few and far between, likely in part because it's the middle of the week and most people have normal jobs to go to in the morning. It's nice. He's rather enjoying the quiet.
"When do you think we'll come back to finish looking around the mall?" Loki asks.
"I don't know," Tony says. "We can come back tomorrow if you want, or if you want to have a lazy day, or do something else; it's your call." He's been on Earth for 42 years. Loki's been on Earth for a few weeks. It seems fair that he let Loki pick what to do.
Loki eats another fry as he considers that. "Can I decide in the morning?"
"Yeah, 'course," Tony says. "I don't care." He's been to the mall before. He's not all that eager to come back if Loki's not in the mood for it.
They go back to eating in comfortable silence. Tony tries not to show how much he's enjoying the pop music they're playing over the radio. It's not his vibe, but he has to admit, it's not that bad. At least it's not Hot Topic. It could always be worse.
Loki's eyes go wide, and he reaches across the table, smacking Tony's arm repeatedly. "What is that?"
Tony looks over his shoulder, but everything just looks normal. People are walking through the mall. That's just... what malls are for. "What're you looking at?"
"That!" Loki says emphatically. "The animal! The little furry..."
Tony fights back a laugh and turns back to face him. "The dog?"
"Maybe?" Loki says uncertainly. "The animal on the rope that person is dragging around."
Tony would hardly call it dragging. Her golden lab looks very excited to be here, and is trotting right by her side and wagging its tail to show its excitement.
YOU ARE READING
Still Holding On
Fanfiction"I have built dozens of holes in this plan," Loki hisses. "Find them." When Loki tries to sabotage his own plan, the only reasonable explanation Tony can think of is that he wants to go back to Asgard, and that alone is more than enough reason to ke...
