Thor was looking at the shelf of tools and hardware supplies. "This is not a hammer." He took one down and swung it experimentally. Loki joined him. "What is that, brother?" Thor carefully placed it back where it belonged. "It claims to be a hammer, but that is not a hammer." He shook his head, and both brothers walked over to Bucky and Steve. The shelf was close to the door, and every time it opened, a blast of cold air and a few small snowflakes blew in. Loki stepped a few feet away, glaring at whoever opened it next. A waitress came over to them. "Your table is just over here sirs." Then she led them over to a table near the entrance and against the wall. She handed them their menus and went into the kitchen. As they started to scan the menus for their orders, a man walked past the table then abruptly stopped. "Wait. Wait. Wait. You two look familiar." He said looking at Steve and Thor. "Have I seen you somewhere before? Wait! You're Thor!" He shook Thor's hand and turned back to Steve. "And I have that exact same shirt." With that final remark, the man left the table. Bucky watched him leave, then turned to Steve. "What was that? Does that happen a lot?" Loki glanced at Thor, amused. "You're famous, brother." He shook his head and went back to reading the menu. Thor looked a little stunned for a minute, and then turned to his menu as well. A waitress came over to the table. "Hello, are we ready to order drinks?" Steve nodded. "I am. What about everyone else?" Bucky looked up from his menu. "I'm ready." "I will order first." Thor told the waitress, and she smiled and nodded. "What will it be?" Thor slapped the menu down. "Water." The waitress smiled again and scribbled it on her pad. "Everyone else?" Loki glanced up. "Also water." She stared at him a moment, blinking in confusion at his outfit before turning to Bucky and Steve. "Um, Coke." Bucky said, glancing at the menu. Steve ordered Coke as well. "Alright. I'll be back in just a minute to take your meal orders." The waitress finished taking notes and went back into the kitchen. Bucky leaned back in his chair. "That ad over there for a farm tool company. I remember that it was supposed to be better quality. That ad came out in late November, 1941 so the factory hadn't made any last I'd heard." Loki laid his menu on the table and looked at Bucky. "Exactly how old are you? I didn't think you lived very long." He tilted his head. "You don't look very old." Bucky sighed and rested his chair back on its feet. "Its complicated." Before he said any more, the waitress came back. "Alright, who's going to order first today?" "Me of course." Loki said. The waitress smiled, a little forced. "Do you have anything worth eating in this entire place?" Loki slammed the menu on the table, and stood. Thor grabbed his arm and pulled him back into the chair. "Give us a moment." He told the waitress, who nodded and hurried over to another table. Steve acted like he was invested in the dessert menu. "Look, a cinnamon roll pie." Bucky looked where Steve was pointing. "What is that?" he asked with a bewildered look on his face. "Why are the cinnamon rolls in a pie crust?" Thor looked at Loki. "Are you ready now?" Loki crossed his arms and frowned. "I had been ready." Thor sighed and shook his head. "I'll order two of mine. We are not doing that again." Loki glared at him, but was silent. The waitress came back over, her smile less genuine. "Are we ready to order now?" Bucky looked at the menu. "Ummm... the classic breakfast meal. With sausages and fried eggs, please." The waitress nodded and wrote it down on her pad. "And for you?" she said turning to Steve. "I believe it would be me next." Loki interrupted. Thor sighed unhappily and glared at his brother, who glared right back. The waitress was watching this, looking slightly frazzled. "This entire place is insulting." Loki stood. "Do you even know who I am!?" The waitress looked unsure of what was happening and slowly shook her head. Thor stood also trying to get his brother to sit. "I Am Loki Of Asgard!" By now the entire restaurant was watching. Thor gave up and motioned to Bucky and Steve to leave. He grabbed his brother's arm, and pulled him out of Cracker Barrel, leaving Steve and Bucky at the table. "I'm sorry about all this. Can we get our drinks to go?" Steve apologized to the waitress then went to the front to pay for their drinks. Bucky passed Steve six dollars for the Coke he'd ordered, then followed the Asgardians outside. When he got onto the porch, it looked like they were still arguing, so he went to the railing and looked off into the distance. "What was that!?!" Thor yelled at Loki, who had his arms crossed over his chest and was glaring at his brother. "That entire place was terrible. They needed to hear it." Loki told him. Thor made an angry noise and turned away. He walked over to Bucky and Steve. "Is there anything to eat at the cabin?"
"Crackers, canned olives and green beans. Maybe we can stop by the store." Steve said thoughtfully. Bucky took a deep breath. "I'll go. We need sandwich stuff, right?" Steve nodded. "You sure?" "Yeah." "Alright then," Steve replied. "We'll go back to the house. Meet you there." Bucky nodded then set off down the road to the grocery store. Thor started down the road back to the cabin, Loki following quietly a couple steps behind. "Some days, brother. I honestly don't understand you at all." He turned around. Snow had started falling softly again, but there was no sign of Loki. "BROTHER!" Thor called his hammer, and flew over to Steve. "Loki is missing." Steve looked around. "Darn it! Well, where could he have gone? Hopefully not far." The landscape around them was empty of any sign of Loki. "I guess we should try to find him." "Maybe he already went to the cabin." Thor said, but he didn't sound like he believed it. "Perhaps he is with Bucky. He does seem to enjoy bothering him." "Maybe. Well, lets look on the way back to the cabin. If he is with Bucky, then he'll be back soon." Steve said, still searching. Thor nodded and continued on to the cabin, looking carefully for any sign of his brother. It seemed pointless, but Thor called Loki's name every couple minutes. They made it back to the cabin, with still no sign of Loki. Thor searched the house, and then flopped heavily on the couch. "Nothing. He could be anywhere by now." Meanwhile at the grocery store Bucky was putting bread into his cart. "What kind of bread do Thor and Loki like?" he wondered aloud. He shrugged. "Probably doesn't matter." Pushing the cart, he headed for the frozen food aisle to get the turkey and lunch meat. White Christmas played over the speakers, and Bucky hummed along. "What horrendous song is this?" Loki appeared next to Bucky. Bucky jumped. "Ahh! Don't do that!" He glared at Loki. "It's white Christmas. Have you never heard it before?" Bucky sighed and kept walking. "Never mind. What are you doing here anyway? Thought of something you needed from here? I do have a phone you know." He said, pulling out a flip phone. "I was tired of hearing Thor rant, so I tricked him with an illusion and snuck in here." He glanced at Bucky. "Hopefully you are better company." Loki smirked. "Thor surely knows by now. When we return he is going to be very angry with me." "Yeah. I bet." Bucky put his phone away and kept walking. Trying to ignore Loki, he surveyed the shelves. "I just can't get used to the price of things. Six dollars for a coke tonight?" He put some lunch meat into the cart. "Its not just the prices that have changed though." "Really. What else has?" Loki came up behind him. "How long were you frozen? That is what happened, isn't it? Is that why you have that metal arm?" Loki grinned. "What terrible things did you do, to make you so guilty? I doubt it was truly that bad." Bucky turned around and glared at Loki. "Don't." He took a bag of tomatoes and put them in the cart. Checking his list, he pushed the cart towards the checkout line. "Well," he sighed, "that should be all. Lets go check out so we can head back." "Certainly." Loki followed after him, and they both waited while the cashier scanned the items. It was snowing outside and Loki sighed unhappily before stepping out into the flurry. "I've been wondering, do you not like the snow? Its fine if you don't. I just noticed you seemed uncomfortable in it." Bucky adjusted the shopping bags and started walking. "Brisk out, isn't it?" Loki sighed again, his breath condensing in a whitish wisp. "It reminds me too much of Jotenheim, and in turn, the frost giants." Loki stood completely still a moment, watching the flakes fall. He shook his head. "Forget it. It's nothing." He brushed the snow off himself as best he could and he set off down the road, towards the cabin. When they got back to the cabin, Steve was waiting for them. "Thor, your brother is back!" He called through the open front door. Bucky came up the steps and handed Steve a few bags. Then they both went inside to put the groceries away. Previous: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/963581909 Next: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/963596500
