Avalin ordered her pasta quickly and handed back the menu with a soft smile. She turned back to talk to Loki, shrugging and picking at the corner of her cloak, "I hope so too…even if just the majority of them go away. I'm hoping it'll get better." Nightmares had been a constant when she had been working, and only rarely was she graced with peaceful sleep, even when she was exhausted. Maybe being back with him would help that. At least he would be there if they didn't go away.
“Maybe we’ll see mother and Leif tonight.” He said softly with a small smile. He hadn’t been able to see them since that first time they had used the bracelets. He assumed it was because Frigga was cross with him for fighting with his brother. Loki didn’t blame her, now looking back on it, there defiantly things that could have gone differently. He took a deep breath and nodded “they will love.” He reassured, pressing one final kiss to her hand before breaking away as their waiter came back with their food
"I would like that," She replied gently, a tiny smile on her face, "I haven't seen them in forever." Avalin's smile grew slightly at the kiss to her hand and it grew, even more, when their food arrived. It smelled like heaven, and even better, she hadn't helped prepare it like almost all of her other meals. She didn't hesitate to dig in, the first time of her doing so in months. It would've been a sight to Magnus, and if Loki knew about it, he would most likely be quite surprised at the sight as well.
Loki said nothing as Avalin immediately started eating. He knew that she hadn’t been eating much but he hadn’t realized just how hungry she was. He thanked the waiter and also started to eat, forgetting how hungry he was as well. He really couldn’t blame Avalin for not eating, since he too refused to eat most days due to stress or rebellion, he couldn’t tell. He smiled softly, glad that she was enjoying the food.
She was silent the entire time she ate, only speaking again once her entire plate was empty. "That was really good," Avalin admitted with a tiny smile, looking up at Loki and leaning back against her chair. It felt really good to eat something again, especially something as good as the food here. "If we get the chance I'd really like to come back here sometime."
Loki nodded, trying to steal a piece of her food before she had finished. “It really was. We are defiantly coming back here again.” He said with a smile, finishing off his food and setting it aside. It did feel good to finally way something different. “Want to try the dessert or should we save that for another day?” He asked, glancing around the area as it started to fill with more customers
"That's up to you, I'll probably just eat off of whatever you order though," She admitted with a tiny smile. Going from eating barely anything to so much made her full extremely quickly, and she knew if she ordered something for herself, she was going to get a killer stomachache. It couldn't hurt to just take a little bit from him though.
He laughed softly and nodded. “That’s absolutely fine. We can order one to share. If we don’t finish I’m sure we can take it home.” He said, showing her the options. “You choose, I don’t think I can decide.” He said, honestly fine with anything on the menus
Avalin smiled and shook her head, pushing the menu back to him, "No I want you to decide, surprise me. It's your dessert that I'll be stealing off of anyway." She didn't have anything in mind, but anything chocolaty sounded perfect. Or at least that's the thing that she figured would give her the least intense stomachache.
He chuckled softly and nodded, taking back the menu and looking over the options. He nodded once he decided on and showed the menu option to the waiter once he came by, not wanting to spoil the surprise by saying it outloud.
She settled into the seat, excited to see what he had picked out for dessert but more excited to just spend more time with him in general. "So, where do you want to go first?" She asked gently, "Now that you're out and I have no more work to do?" They had more than a years worth of time to make up, and she didn't want to be anywhere near Asgard when they did that.
“I was thinking one of islands in Midgard. Since you seemed to like the beaches in Florida. I know of a few places like that off that coast.” He replied with a smile, now excited to actually go out with her after a year apart. “We can stay there fir a few months or travel around if you’d like. We’re going to have to come back here eventually, though.”
Avalin nodded in agreement, a soft smile on her face, "I like that idea. Maybe staying there for a little while wouldn't be a bad thing." She put on a playful fake frown and sighed at his last addition, hoping she didn't actually look disappointed, "I suppose we would have to come back here, you're right. As long as you're not being locked back into that cell again."
Loki laughed softly and shook his head. “No love, I hopefully won’t be.” He gently took her hand again. “That won’t happen anymore. As much as I can help it, it won’t happen.” He said softly, gazing at her and smiling
"If there's even the idea that you'll be locked away again I'm taking your punishment," She replied almost instantly, though her words were soft enough not to draw attention to their table again. Avalin smiled at him, squeezing his hand as she watched for the waitress and hopefully their dessert.
He shook his head “Love, I’m not that happen. Anything I do that gets me thrown back in a cell will never be pushed to you.” He said, having never liked the idea of Avalin taking any sort of punishment, especially after what had happened with thanos and with Leif. She didn’t deserve any more pain. He would make sure if anything did happen to him, she would be far away enough not to get hurt.
He glanced up as the waiter came by with the dessert. Two mini lava cakes, lavishly decorated with caramel and cherries, the stark red a nice contrast against the chocolate cake.
Avalin shook her head in return, squeezing his hand again, “Love, you don’t deserve to be put in any cell ever again, and I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen to you.” She glanced up just in time to see the cakes being brought to them and her face lit up in a happy smile, though she didn’t let go of his hand.
Though he didn’t like the idea that Avalin would voluntarily take his punishment if anything were to happen in the future, he had to admire he resistance and resilience, as well as her stubbornness. He pressed a kiss to her hand and sighed softly. “What am I going to do with you my queen?” He murmured teasingly, nodding to the mini cakes and picking up a fork. “Go ahead love, they’re best eaten warm.”
"What am I going to do with you, my king," She copied with a tiny smile and the same teasing tone. Avalin happily took one of the forks, pulling one of the cakes towards herself. She didn't hesitate to dig in, watching the filling in the middle pool out onto the plate with a happy smile. "These are good," She added in with a hum, barely finishing her sentence as she shoved another -not very polite- bite into her mouth.
He squeezed her hand gently and smiled adoringly. “I’m glad you like them.” He said with an amused laugh. “They don’t cool that quickly darling, take it easy. They’re not going anywhere.” He took a bite of his own, pleasantly surprised at how delicious the dessert was. He could easily understand Avalin’s haste to eat the cake
She just hummed and nodded in reply, still happily eating. The thought of a stomachache was far from her mind, but from how full she still was, one was quite inevitable if she ate the who lava cake. "When we come back to Asgard, can we stop again here again?" She asked, pausing for a second as she looked up at Loki, squeezing his hand in return.
He tilted his head back and forth, indecisive. “We’ll see. Next time planned to come back won’t be…as pleasant.” He said, trying to choose his words carefully. He had been trying to avoid the topic about Leif’s funeral but it remained in the back of his mind. He knew losing their first child would nevertheless be fully accepted but he hoped that one day they’d come to peace with it and learn to live a life always in memory of their first prince
"I know," Avalin replied softly, well aware of what he was bringing up, "I was going to ask if you wanted to figure things out before we left. Then at least coming back won't be as bad." She paused eating as she studied Loki's face, She set her fork down as she was forced back into thoughts and memories she hadn't wanted to remember just yet.
He nodded and laced his hand hers, silently reassuring her it would be alright. “We’ll see. I’m not so sure how willing Thor is to talk to me at the moment but I’ll try to bring it up before we leave.” He took a deep breath and glanced up at her. “We’ll both talk to him.” He said softly, standing and walking over to her, seeing that she had stopped eating. He hugged her close and knelt beside her. He didn’t care anymore if people watched.
She nodded, glancing at the food in front of her as Loki walked over to her. Gently, she hugged him back, though didn't say anything as she sighed. It was going to be painful to accept Leif's death. She had pushed off the thoughts for the months she had been working, and now they were going to flood over her in an instant if she gave in. All she had to do was hold it together until they left the restaurant at least.