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Tony was a frequent patron of The Golden Hall restaurant.
He was a great tipper, friendly with the wait-staff and incredibly handsome. He was usually in Loki’s section--bantering and joking with Loki who only ever rolled his eyes at the man and called Tony an idiot--but Fandral had lucked out and had the cute brunet at one of his tables.
Grinning madly, Fandral had grabbed the menu and made his way over to the table with a swing to his hips and a purr in his voice. Tony had seemed surprised to have Fandral instead of Loki, but he’d been cheerful enough, laughing and responding to Fandral’s flirtations with an easy charm but a very definitive lack of interest. It was disappointing to learn the cutie wasn’t biting, but Fandral had still winked at him as he finished scrawling down the order.
It was only as he’d looked away from Tony and back towards the kitchens that he managed to see Loki. He was standing directly by the kitchen doors, his eyes wide as he looked at Tony with an almost crushing disappointment.
The last of Fandral’s amusement fell from his face as he suddenly put two and two together and realised what was going on: Loki was infatuated with Tony.
It all came together like bricks falling into place: Loki always rushed to serve Tony and was always more irritable on nights that the brunet didn’t show up. Loki always seemed tense until he was certain that Tony was dining alone. Loki always lingered longer by Tony’s table than anybody else’s.
Fandral couldn’t say or do anything to reassure Loki that his flirting with Tony hadn't gotten anywhere however as Loki was suddenly gritting his teeth and looking away. He also yanked off his apron and snapped something at a startled Sif before storming back into the kitchen.
But Loki’s sudden anger wasn’t able to hide the way he’d looked as if he’d just had his heart stomped on.
And he couldn’t blame Loki; after all, Fandral did have a reputation of being the waiter who got the most dates with Golden Hall patrons. Thor had joked that: “if Fandral flirts with it, he’s going home with it”. It didn’t mean he had a perfect track record, but he was still winning a phone number eight out of ten times.
And Loki must have assumed that Fandral had, or was about to, win Tony’s.
Fandral stayed where he was for a few moments more, his mind desperately trying to think of a way to fix it.
He started by turning back around to Tony’s table. The brunet was spinning a fork on the table absently and looking at something on his phone. He glanced up at seeing Fandral, a small frown on his face, but Fandral had never been subtle and he didn’t plan to start now, “Are you interested in dating Loki?”
Tony’s eyes went wide, he swallowed and a faint pink dusted his cheeks, as far as Fandral was concerned that was three for three: “You are only coming here to see him, aren’t you?”
It looked like Tony might deny it for a second, he certainly darted his eyes around the restaurant as if searching for the other waiter, but when he realised Loki was nowhere around, he slumped a little in his seat and stared at the table.
“So it’s either obvious to everyone but him,” Tony muttered under his breath before letting out a low, sad sigh, “or he’s just not interested in me.” Tony lifted his eyes to Fandral and gave a tight smile. “Any chance you could tell me if it’s the latter? Help me sneak out with my tail between my legs and a rejection not said to my face?”
Fandral let out a very large sigh of relief before gesturing for the brunet to stand up. Tony frowned suspiciously but slowly shifted out of the booth. Fandral just grabbed his sleeve and started tugging him towards the kitchens. “Now, I’m only doing this since Loki’s parents own the place and I probably won’t get fired for letting you into the kitchens.”
“Why am I going into the kitchens?” Tony asked, looking at Fandral like he’d grown a second head.
Fandral just smirked. “Because I am far more likely to get fired if I accidentally steal Loki’s crush from him.”
Tony’s eyes widened and he looked at Fandral with shock and nerves and hope and it made Fandral really hopeful that this was going to end in something other than disaster as he pushed open the kitchen doors and scanned the room for Loki. He wasn’t there, but one of the chefs, Volstagg, saw them and pointed to the stockroom which had a door that led to the alleyway outside. Fandral just tugged Tony into the next room before opening the alleyway door and ever so casually shoving Tony outside.
Fandral did linger by the open door, poking his head out slightly so that he could watch the way Loki went from leaning against the brick wall with his arms crossed and scowling furiously at the ground to jerking into a standing position and staring at Tony with shock.
“Tony?” Loki swallowed. “What are you doing out here?”
“Um,” Tony moved to glance behind him at the door and Fandral hurriedly shut it a bit more, hiding the fact he was still eavesdropping.
He waited a few seconds before pushing it back open. The sounds of the kitchen had hidden whatever else Tony had said, but he saw Loki glaring at the ground again as the dark-haired waiter muttered, “Fandral? Let me guess, he’ll be out here in five minutes so you can start making out against the wall.” The words were almost spitted, full of bitterness and more than a dash of jealousy. “Well, don’t let me stop you.”
He started to walk away, obviously planning to head back into the kitchens but Tony grabbed his arm gently before Loki could go far. It left them standing close together, their faces not far apart and Loki’s eyes wide even as he dropped his gaze to Tony’s lips before darting his eyes away.
Tony just looked nervous. “I didn’t come here for Fandral.” He licked his lips. “I don’t come to this restaurant for Fandral.”
Loki’s eyes flicked to Tony and Fandral had never seen such an openly hopeful look on Loki’s face before and he’d known the guy for years. It had Fandral’s fingers gripping the door tightly as his heart pounded and he almost vibrated with anticipation.
Come on, come on! He mentally chanted, willing the two men to move just a little bit closer together.
“Then why do you come?” Loki asked Tony quietly and Fandral was almost holding his breath.
Tony just smiled at Loki, his eyes soft and his smile almost shy. “To try and scrape up the confidence to ask out my favourite, sarcastic waiter.”
Loki let out a short bark of laughter, sounding surprised and happy and Fandral felt like his cheeks were going to break from the strength of his grin. His smile only got wider when Loki darted forward and kissed Tony. It was only for a few seconds, but when Loki pulled back, Tony just responded by pulling him into a softer, longer kiss.
Fandral watched as Loki’s hands came up to cling to Tony’s jacket, keeping him close, while Tony’s arms moved to wrap around Loki’s waist. They looked so incredibly, overwhelmingly happy that Fandral felt as if he’d caught some of the pleasure radiating off them. He felt warm and proud of himself for shoving the two of them together. He felt victorious and Fandral finally stepped away from watching them, shutting the door completely to give them their privacy.
As he made his way back into the kitchens he made a point of loudly telling everyone that the alleyway was off limits and that anyone who went out there would get fired. He got numerous uncertain and wary looks, but Fandral hoped that would be enough to give Loki and Tony at least a few minutes alone.
Slipping back out into the noise of the restaurant, Fandral had a number of orders piling up and he also saw that some of Loki’s tables needed attending. Fandral didn’t hesitate to pick up Loki’s as well as his own as he started rushing around the restaurant to talk to all the patrons, with a wide smile on his face and a bounce in his step.
He didn’t mind the momentary additional work, not if it gave the two men a chance to arrange a time to go on their first date. Honestly, Fandral was nothing but excited for them.
Well... okay, Fandral was also excited for the moment when Loki and Tony came back out of the kitchens smiling and with the flush of happiness in their cheeks. He was looking forward to walking over and teasing Loki thoroughly about making out with his new boyfriend when he wasn’t even on his break yet.
With any luck, Fandral might even be able to make the two of them blush.