Steve
Steve imagined that New Mexico would be busy, getting swept off to his hotel and barely a moment to rest before he was taken out to the site where the foundations of the building were being put in, and then off to some meeting with Fury, Stark, and a few other big guys of the company to discuss plans. What he didn’t expect was that it was the fourth day in, and he hadn’t left his hotel yet. A pleasant man in glasses with dark curly hair introduced himself as Dr. Banner, the physicist for the building. They were sharing a room together. So far, Bruce (as he insisted Steve call him) had shown him the preliminary report for the building, and had shown him how much artistic freedom he had for the project. There was a small office in the corner of the hotel room, and Bruce had supplied it with everything Steve could ever need. Bruce left early in the morning, and returned just after dark. The two spoke briefly, and Bruce had mentioned that the first meeting with Stark, Fury, and the others wouldn’t be until the next week at least.
Which left him with far too much time to enjoy the attractions of Albuquerque. Which, these days, meant the culinary attractions of Albuquerque. Fury Architecture had spared no expense on his business trip, so what better way to spend his free time than to try every restaurant in a five-mile radius?
Which is why he found himself at some hipster craft brewery bar on a Tuesday night, alone, and sort of wishing he was back in his hotel, eating a bottomless bucket of fries and watching tv, or skyping with Bucky.
He finished his beer, and was about to leave, when a very large, Scandanavian-looking blond man sat in the bar stool next to him. “I’ll have another mai tai, and whatever this fellow would like as well.” He said to the bartender, giving Steve a smile.
“Uh… white Russian. Thanks.”
“I’m Thor Odinson,” the man introduced himself. Steve hoped to God he wasn’t being hit on—he wasn’t sure how well he could handle that. In the presence of shyer, younger (or simply more submissive) men, Steve could easily take the upper hand and fill a room with his personality. But Thor was large, and everything about him was loud, screaming out his presence and taking up every inch of available space in amiable masculinity.
“Steve Rogers,” Steve replied, shaking Thor’s hand, not sure how to go on.
“I think I saw you yesterday morning at breakfast—were you at Aunt May’s Bed & Breakfast?”
The name did sound familiar. “I think so, yes. I had the cheesecake blueberry pancakes.” Was Thor going somewhere with this?
“And we might have ran into each other last night for dinner, at Barton’s Steakhouse.”
Was he a stalker? “Yeah, I had some really good fajitas.”
“Aha!” Thor’s eyes lit up. “Forgive me, I must seem terribly intrusive. You see, I came here to Albuquerque because of the food. I have a food blog, and several of the restaurants I wanted to review are here. I noticed you at Aunt May’s because I was going to order the cheesecake blueberry pancakes, and I wanted to see how you liked them. Seeing you again at Barton’s and now here was pure coincidence. I was thinking you might be a fellow foodie—and if so, perhaps, since I am here all alone and don’t have the advantage of knowing anyone in New Mexico, we could line up our food schedules and try out restaurants together?”
The bartender returned with their drinks. Steve was thinking that he would need that white Russian to handle this blond Norwegian. “I, uh, appreciate the offer, but I’m not…”
Thor cut him off with a hearty laugh. “I do believe I’ve come off a bit too strong. I’m not looking to pick you up—although, that is not to say I wouldn’t—“ he added with an outrageous wink “—but you needn’t worry about that. I am happily married to my husband, Loki, of four years. My interest is purely of the eatable nature.”
Steve grinned. “In that case, why not?”
Thor clapped him on the back. “Excellent! Let’s trade phone numbers. There’s a delicious pastry shop on the corner I was going to try for dessert. I’d be honoured if you would join me.”
Steve’s Uber dropped him off at the front of the hotel, and he took the elevator up to the fourteenth floor, mentally chastising himself for not taking the stairs. He was in so much pain that he couldn’t stand up straight. He was glad no one else was around to see him clutch his belly with one arm and the rail inside the elevator with the other. He made his way to his room, and flopped down on his bed with a groan.
Thor had happily proclaimed that if they couldn’t decide on one dessert, they could order both respectively, and take a taste of each other’s. But since Thor wanted to maximize opportunities to try out every place on his list, he wasn’t planning on returning, and they had ordered six desserts that they had split (more-or-less evenly) between them.
Why do I do this to myself? Steve wondered, discovering that he couldn’t draw a full breath. He fell asleep soon after that.
Steve woke up to the soft sound of a ‘ding’ on his phone, and opened his eyes to check the time. The digital clock beside his bed read 1:17.
He swore, sitting bolt upright, and turned on his phone. 58 unread texts from Bucky, 3 voicemails from Bucky, 17 unopened snaps from Bucky, … Steve wasn’t brave enough to read the rest.
He called Bucky right away, and he picked up immediately. His eyes were red.
“Baby, I’m so sorry, I slept in, I got in really late last night and I didn’t even think. I should have set an alarm. It was really selfish of me, I’m really sorry,” Steve apologised, at the same time Bucky spoke.
“I was so worried, I’m so glad you’re okay. Are you okay? You look okay. I mean, you look great, of course. I really miss you. I didn’t know what to think when you didn’t pick up. I shouldn’t have freaked out, it’s—“
They both took a breath at the same time, and laughed with relief.
“I’m really sorry,” Steve started again.
“Nah.” Bucky shook his head. “I trust you. I was just letting my imagination run away with me.”
They chatted for a few more minutes, despite the fact that it was later than Bucky’s usual lunch break and he should really get back to work.
When he finally did, Steve ended the call, and deleted all the spam notifications with a smirk on his face. Buried about fifteen messages deep was a message from Thor dated 9 a.m.
Hey breakfast buddy J was wondering if u wanted to join me at ur hotel for breakfast. They have great waffles! Reply at ur convenience. –Thor
The first thought on Steve’s mind was that he couldn’t even imagine eating after all the food he’d had last night, but it surprised him to discover that he was hungry. He had been up for about a half hour, chatting with Bucky, and his stomach gave a petulant growl. He was eating so much, all the time, and still his belly wanted more.
He texted Thor back.
Sorry I missed breakfast! I slept in. Too late for an afternoon snack?
A moment later, his phone buzzed.
No problem—I know how you feel, after all that food last night! It’s never too late for tea time!
Thor texted him an address, and a moment later, Steve was on his way.