Our Underlying Darkness

Pizza and a Spider

3 hours into the flight and Loki is starting to get restless. He looks at Kiora. She has her head against her hand, her elbow is resting against the armrest and she is looking out the window.

Loki observes the wires going from a rectangular communication device on her lap up to both of her ears. He figures it's some Midgardian listening game. There's nothing like it on Asgard.

Huffing, he curls in on himself inside the bag Kiora brought him. Just as he's drifting off, a sudden force shifts him up. He hits the top of the bag and slams back down with another sudden shift. Hurriedly, he runs out of the bag and is about to jump into the aisle when two hands grab his back. Kiora turns him to face her.

"Relax, it's just a bit of turbulence." She places him into her lap.

Loki goes to move away, still somewhat frazzled, but Kiora holds him in place.

"It'll be more comfortable here, and if we hit more turbulence I'll keep you in place."

Loki huffs and Kiora rolls her eyes. "Stop being so difficult." She reaches behind his ears, "who's a good kitty?"

Loki swats her hand away and Kiora giggles. Still, he settles on her lap. The last time he sat like this with someone was as a child with his mother. Her body radiated warmth, Kiora's doesn't. She's cold, like him. But on this plane, surrounded by people he doesn't know, she gives off the same security and comfort that his mother had given him all those years ago.

A hard material against his ear breaks Loki out of his thoughts. He looks up, Kiora's holding one end of her headphones next to him. He tilts his head at her and hisses but doesn't move away as she puts the plastic in his small ear. His eyes widen.

Coming out of my cage and I've been doing just fine.

Gotta, gotta be down because I want it all.

The drums echo through his skull and the bass reverberates again and again against his eardrum. The guitar plays a tune like nothing he's ever heard before on Asgard, he loves it. He looks up at Kiora to see her smiling down at him.

Jealousy,

turning saints into the sea.

Swimming through sick lullabies.

Chocking on your alibis.

Kiora starts to hum along to the words under her breath.

Open up my eager eyes,

cause' I'm Mr. Brightside.

Loki purrs and closes his eyes. Relaxing completely for the first time in years, while listening to music with a new friend.

---

"It's called pizza."

Loki looks at the square-shaped box suspiciously. They are walking down an alleyway somewhere in New York. After dropping off Kiora's luggage at the motel they're staying at, she demanded that they come to Queens for something of the utmost importance. 20 minutes later they're at a pizzeria right across from some infamous sandwich shop.

"You're unbelievable, I'm in the middle of a crisis and you choose to-"

"Hold this." Kiora shoves the box into Loki's hands and looks up.

This building looks tall enough.

Loki scoffs. "Are you even listening to me!"

"Nope."

Kiora extends her arms by her sides and spreads her fingers. Her eyes darken and a splurt of dark energy comes from her hands. It reaches the ground and propels her upwards. She learned the trick from watching videos of the scarlet witch in battle. Her power is more eloquent while Kiora's is something like the blasters iron man uses to fly. She gets to the roof and Looks back down. Slowly, she extends her darkness to the pizza box in Loki's hands and brings it up.