What If... Love is hate? • One-shots [ENG]

Next reunion at McDonald's [After 2x02]

Translated without translation correction via DeepL from Czech language. 

Loki returns to McDonald's to see Sylvie again and try to talk to her. This time, not about TVA, but about them. This fanfic follows the events of the show after the second episode of the second season. 

This short story was created in collaboration with Adeline-H.

###

Sylvie was on her next afternoon shift at McDonald's.

After what had happened the day before, she tried to keep her hands and head as busy as possible, just so she wouldn't have to think about Loki bursting into her life like a hurricane again. After so many months of not hearing from him and him not showing up even once, she interpreted it her own way. It wasn't that she didn't hope to see him again, but with each passing day she counted on it less and less. And suddenly he was in her life again.

Her colleague and, in fact, her shift supervisor of sorts - Jack - had been peeking in on her whenever he had the chance. He'd been intrigued by her from the very first moment, and the more he knew her, the more interested he became. He knew she was older than him, but he couldn't help it.

More customers were entering the restaurant and Sylvie had no idea that Loki was hiding among them. He had changed his appearance. To avoid attracting attention, he ordered some food, but he didn't have the courage to order it directly from Sylvie. He sat down so that he could see her clearly and watch her work. It was obvious she was very good at it and she was so nice to customers, he had never seen her smile like that before. It irritated him that she didn't have that smile for him as well. He thought of her words about being happy here and it seemed to be true.

Another 20 minutes passed...

Sylvie was tidying up around her workstation when she noticed a small crying baby a short distance away, who appeared as if out of nowhere. It was a little girl, and she looked pretty upset. Sylvie looked around, but no one seemed to belong to the little one, so she walked over to her. Jack noticed it too and just hollered at her to try find her parents so Sylvie could watch her. She was a little uneasy about it. She actually had almost no experience with children.

Sylvie squatted down next to the small child and tried to calm her down. But the little girl continued to cry anyway. Sylvie looked around, and when she felt that no one was looking, she conjured up a small teddy bear. "Look who came to say hello." She smiled and handed the toy to the little girl, who beamed.

No one noticed her little charm, no one but Loki, who watched the whole scene intently.

When Sylvie gave the toy to the little girl, she stopped crying immediately, and Sylvie was pleased. "You like it, don't you?" The little girl looked like she wanted Sylvie to take it in her arms, and she hesitated for a moment, but finally actually took it in her arms. It was such a strange feeling for her. The little girl wrapped her arms around her neck and waist and clung to her tightly. Sylvie's face showed how surprised she was, but at the same time she hugged her as if to protect her from all the bad things around her.

Then Jack came back, and when he saw them there was something in his look. For a brief moment, he had the look of being fully captivated by Sylvie again. When he recovered, he told her he'd found the little girl's parents arguing in the parking lot.

Sylvie looked rather annoyed and went over there with the little girl, Jack hot on her heels. She stepped into their argument and ran them both down without much embarrassment. Though she spoke calmly so as not to frighten the child in her arms, her expression added emphasis to her words, "You don't know how lucky you are. Something could have happened to your daughter, notice more things around you before it's too late!"