Working Title : Loki & Annie

80 A Familiar Face?

Annie had prepared a plate for herself and Loki, setting a small amount to the side in case she wanted more before bringing Thor the entire baking dish with the rest of the chicken and vegetables. She had thought it looked like enough food for the god, especially as she had used almost the entire bag of potatoes. Yet now sitting before Thor it didn't look like very much and she thought about the single roast in the crockpot with worry. She would need to put another one in the oven, maybe two just so there would be something for lunch tomorrow.

Bringing Loki's tray over to him she carefully knelt on the floor next to where he sat on the couch, trying to decipher his thoughts by his face. He had slipped back into that near expressionless gaze that didn't give his emotions away so she was back to staring at him with the hope that she would figure him out.

"Here you go. It's not a lot but you've had most of it before." Making sure to move slowly she set his tray on his lap then pointed to each group as she named it, "Roast chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces just for you. This is potato, these are carrots, a little celery and this is broccoli." She picked up both the spoon and the fork, "Now, which one do you want to use?"

Loki's nose itched. He rubbed at it with his fist while looking between the fork and the spoon. He gave a glance to Annie's face trying to determine which one she wanted him to use. He studied her but couldn't tell so he hesitated to reach for one because he didn't want to pick the wrong one.

Annie saw that look and knew what it meant, "I don't care which one you use, both are okay. What I want is for you to choose the one you want." His eyes moved back and forth while his fingers twisted and pinched each other. "There's no wrong answer."

Loki looked at Annie with confusion on his face, a puzzled frown between his eyebrows. He didn't understand what she meant. There had to be a right answer and a wrong answer. He swallowed and went back to looking between the fork and spoon while the fingers on one hand pinched the skin on his palm. The tip of his tongue poked out from between his lips, he didn't know which one to pick.

As Loki began breathing through his mouth Annie glanced at Thor. He was staring at Loki with his own look of confusion while slowly eating his own food. She decided to end Loki's dilemma. "Okay, how about this." She set them on the tray, "What if you just use your fingers to eat while you think about it, yeah?" She didn't say anything about the look of relief that passed over Loki's face. "I'll get you something else to drink, too." Under her breath, she muttered, "I should be making sure you drink more."

Thor silently ate while he watched Loki sneak a peek at Annie. When Loki did the same to him Thor quickly dropped his eyes and tried to look interested in his own plate. Which he was, he was enjoying the chicken and potatoes with all the other foods, even if he normally didn't eat so many vegetables. These were acceptable since they had been prepared with the chicken therefore they actually tasted like chicken. He determined he would need to get used to the strange Midgardian custom of eating so many vegetables.

Loki used one finger to poke at a piece of chicken, moving it slightly then picked up a piece of potato which he pushed into his mouth. The flavors burst on his tongue. After swallowing the bite he picked up a piece of chicken and quickly did the same, one piece after another.

Glancing back when she was in the kitchen Annie was relieved Loki had started eating. He was way too skinny and she was just glad that he didn't seem to be getting sick from what she was serving, now she just needed to remember to have him drink more. Looking in the fridge she grabbed a drinkable yogurt and a straw. Taking everything with her she went and sat down in her chair.

Thor cleared his voice, "The meal is delicious, Lady Annie. Thank you for preparing it."

Though he didn't say it Annie could hear the suggestion in his tone that he expected Loki to thank her as well. Rather than leave empty air Annie filled it herself. "You're welcome. There's a couple of standard meals that I can cook, chicken is one of them."