Muffins - Loki & Ylva alternate universe stories

Cat sitting I

Author's note: A new alternate universe story! In this one Ylva doesn't know (about) Loki and... well... Loki isn't in a position to introduce himself properly. Enjoy!

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Having Avengers over as customers at Coffee & Books isn't unusual; after all, the coffee shop is located around the block from Stark Tower and they really do have the best muffins in town. Thor is a regular, often accompanied by a shorter man called Clint - Ylva only learned he was the famous archer Hawkeye after she had served him coffee a dozen times already - or the woman with the ever changing hair colour, Natasha.
The staff at Coffee & Books is used to their famous clientèle, already considering it normal that a certain Norse god is totally in love with their blueberry muffins - if he orders one, Ylva serves two. Clint likes chocolate chip cookies and Natasha only snacks in liquid form: always ordering a special coffee variety with added flavours.

The other Avengers only drop by occasionally, Ylva guesses they are too busy to come by often. That's why they also make deliveries to Stark Tower; Ylva is often the one to go there, she even has a special visitors pass that allows her to deliver the coffee herself to the higher floors of the building.
Today is different though, this time Thor and Clint are accompanied by Mr. Stark himself. They are seated at the side of the counter, where there are a couple of barstools that look out over the area behind the bar. Thor often sits there, probably because that way he is closest to the staff; his reliable source of caffeine and edible goodies. Clint always takes the last stool, his back to the wall. He sees everything.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen," Ylva greets the three with her usual cheer. "What can I get you today?"

A couple of minutes later she serves them their regular black coffee, a tall black coffee and an espresso, along with a chocolate chip cookie and two blueberry muffins. And after she sees Stark eye Thor's treats, she puts a muffin in front of him too. "On the house."

"You are too kind, Ylva," Stark says graciously. "Say, how was your date with that photographer?"

"Ugh! Don't get me started on that guy!" Ylva rolls her eyes. Last time she went to take a delivery to Stark Tower, it was at the end of her shift. She had a date right after that and of course Stark had asked why she wasn't wearing her Coffee & Books attire.

"What did he do?" Thor asks curiously. "Did he forget your name after five minutes like that other guy?" It's not the first time she has told him and his companions about her dating experiences in the big city. It makes for fun conversation topics, even though it sucks that her dates often turn out to be duds.

"Oh, he remembered my name all right," she assures the Norse god. "I think he wrote it down, right next to the names of the other girls."

Stark chuckles. "He wasn't betting his money on one horse?"

"I guess not!" Ylva shakes her head. "I mean, it's not like we were exclusive or anything like that. We only went on two dates. But it would be nice if he didn't schedule his dates back to back!"

The three men start to laugh at her words, even though she fakes an angry glare. "It's not funny! He literally said goodbye to me and walked to the next girl! I swear, she was waiting at the other side of the street!"

"Did she see you too?" Clint asks, trying to keep his lips in a straight line. Without succes.

"No, she had her back to us. I only saw her because I was watching him go, waiting for him to look back so I could wave at him." Saying it like that makes Ylva feel silly all over again. She had been humiliated and angry, though she didn't do anything about it at the time. She had just walked down into the subway station and taken the train home, blocking the guy's phone number as soon as she sat down on the train.