Somewhere on Knowhere: Book Three

9

Stephen was sitting up in bed rubbing his eyes as he had been for about the last 20 minutes in an attempt to keep himself awake. He wasn't, for some reason, forgetting a single detail about the dream, which was odd, because usually he forgot dreams almost the second he woke up. That wasn't entirely a good thing though, because his head was overloaded with input, though really it shouldn't have been.

Stephen stopped rubbing his eyes and looked at the illuminated alarm clock on the bedside table. It read 3.56am.

He let his hand fall onto his lap dramatically and leant against the headrest. Why was he stupid enough to wish for something exciting to happen?

Stephen shook his head. No, he could think about that later. This was his duty as an Avenger and Master of the Mystic Arts, and he could congratulate his stupidity later. Right now it was more important he get ready to go help Loki.

But he wasn't sure what he was getting ready for, so that wasn't amazingly helpful. How did you prepare for something when you didn't know what you were preparing for?

He should really get Loki a phone so they could just text about it. Then no one would be in danger of self-combusting.

Eventually, Stephen found the motivation to get up properly, and changed into his wizard attire, including all his wizard-y gadgets. There was no telling what he would need, so he found an old rucksack and packed a bunch of essentials, including his spare sling ring, spell-book on all the most essential spells, plus a couple of chocolate bars for snacks (because you never know when you may want a chocolate bar).

He didn't really know what to expect from space. The last time he'd gone, he was kidnapped by an alien and Tony and Peter had to come rescue him, then they'd met some space weirdos who called themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy, then fought against Thanos. After that he'd died.

So he wasn't too anxious to go back. But maybe at least this time he could take some pictures.

For a change, it was actually Stephen who had to find the cloak in the morning. It got excited when it saw him, maybe thinking (or whatever cloaks do instead of thinking) they were off to go do some exciting stuff.

"Hey buddy," Stephen said to it. He wasn't entirely sure why he called the cloak buddy, as it wasn't, in fact, alive. "How does a space daytrip sound to you? You want to go see Loki again?"

The cloak tilted its collar inquisitively, as though it recognised Loki's name.

"Good enough for me," Stephen shrugged. He and the cloak went to sit in the hallway to wait, Stephen conjuring himself a cup of tea as he sat down on the steps. The time still only read 4.19am.

Stephen drummed his fingers on the edge of his mug in anticipation. He wasn't sure when Loki would actually get here – all he'd said was when his energy had restored itself. Did that mean hours? Minutes? Was he on his way this very second?

That very second Loki materialised from nowhere right next to him.