Cold-Blooded

[]Chapter 4[]

I looked at the human food in my hands with a skeptical eyebrow raised. "This is a hot-dog?" I asked slowly. It smelled good, but it was shaped so oddly. Since when do humans eat such things?

"And this is a Coke," Bruce informed me, sitting down at the table across from me, and sliding a brightly colored can over to me. He took a bite of his own food, so I knew it wouldn't kill me. 

I took a bite of the hot dog, and then gazed at it in surprise. "This is delicious!" I exclaimed, wiping what the humans called 'mustard' off my face, chuckling. Banner smiled and took another bite and then a sip of coke before answering.

"Good to know you like it," he replied after swallowing. I took a sip of the soda, marveling at how it fizzed in my mouth. It truly was amazing what humans had invented in the time I had been away, separating myself from them for safety reasons.

"So, what is this made of?" I asked, holding the hot dog up after taking another sip of Coke.

"Pig intestines." I choked on my soda. 

"What?!" I screeched, eyeing the food with a disgusted look. Eating animals was no problem to me, after all I basically lived on reindeer meat. However, it just shocked me how blatantly he had said it. I shoved it away from me slowly. "I think my appetite is gone," I said quietly, still gazing at it.

Bruce nodded in understanding and didn't force me to finish it. Again, that guilty feeling of having him buy this for me, and then I made it seem like I didn't appreciate it. I cleared my throat awkwardly.

"Thanks for everything," I said quietly. 

"No problem," he replied, obviously not catching the seriousness in my voice. I decided to change the subject.

"So what was that you didn't tell me earlier?" 

"What do you mean?" 

"Earlier, when you were telling me you wanted me to stay at S.H.I.E.L.D. and join the Avengers Initiative. You cut off," I responded.

"Nothing important."

"C'mon Bruce, I can tell your lying. Whatever is, tell me. I'm not going to laugh at you."

Bruce shuffled in his seat, looking uncomfortable. "Well...," he started, but never finished. I took his hand in mine. 

"Bru-uce," I said in a sing-song voice. He sighed. 

"I was going to tell you that I'd miss you too much if you left," he replied quietly. I squeezed his hand. 

"So why were you so worried about telling me this? I'd miss you too if I left," I replied, giving him a reassuring smile. "So I guess that means I'm joining the Avengers!"

Bruce grinned and hugged me. "That's great news! We need to head back and tell Fury though," he responded. I frowned.

"I don't want to go tell that bread loaf the news yet. I'm having a good time. Let's explore a little bit longer, and then we can tell him," I stated, making it clear we were not going back yet. 

"I agree. I don't really want to go back yet either, but let's go do something else. I'm not too good at skating," he joked and pulled the skates off. I followed suit and we left, but I wasn't too sure where we were going.

A song came on the radio, and I tapped my fingers on my knees to the beat. I opened my mouth to ask what song it was and who sang it, but Bruce beat me to the punch.

"The Offspring, You're Gonna Go Far Kid," he stated boredly. By now it was getting dark outside. All he was doing was driving around town. 

"I've got an idea!" I exclaimed, excited. He raised an eyebrow.