Strangers on this Road

Chapter 6: The First Reveal

Loki stares at me with utter confusion, a hint of concern, while I go back and forth on the swing set in the children's area of the park. I mean, it's fully understandable to think that a fully trained Avenger would enjoy playing in a children's park. I jump off the swing as it reaches it peak height, allowing myself to float in the air for a few moments before landing nicely on the ground. I turn back around to smile at Loki, and he manages to smile back at me. I sit on the floor while Loki remains the bench a few feet away from me, "so, you enjoy being in a place made for... children?" He asks me and my cheeks turn light pink.

"Okay, you make it sound a lot weirder than it actually is," I chuckle a little bit, "I just think it's a calming place to be in...when there's no kids around," I look around, the sun's slowly setting and we probably should be getting back soon, "so I'm guessing they don't have parks in Asgard?"

He shrugs his shoulders a little bit, I gesture for him to join me on the floor, "you really want me to sit on the floor?" He looks at the ground with slight disgust.

I playfully roll my eyes, "you're in New York now, Your Highness," I tease his title, "just for a few minutes, pretend like you're a normal person," we stare at each other for a few seconds. He sighs before sulkily walking over to me, he sits next to me and I point at the trees, "look, you can see the sunset coming through the trees, isn't it beautiful?"

We stare at the sun slowly going down and golden glow covers us, I close my eyes to enjoy the brief moments of peace.  I feel my phone start to vibrate and I let out a deep sigh, I start to take my phone out of my pocket but Loki softly grabs my wrist, "why answer it if you don't want to?"

I chuckle a little bit as I shake my head, "as much as I enjoy peaceful moments like this, I need to be there for my team," Loki lets go of my wrist and I check my phone, "it's from Wanda, apparently there's a curfew for when you need to be back at the compound." 

Loki stands up first and he holds out his hand for me, I smile before holding his hand and he lifts me up. I stumble into his chest, he shoots his arm around my back to hold me steady and we make eye contact, "you really are a clumsy one." He helps me steady myself, our eyes linger in each other for a few more seconds before I hold my arms out to create a portal back into the compound. 

We step through the portal and it closes as soon as we're safe in the compound kitchen, Wanda and Vision smile at us. I jump up to sit on the counter and Wanda wraps her arms around me, "please don't tell me that you took Loki to the park," she sighs in my ear and I simply shrug my shoulders, "you are the weirdest 19 year old I have ever met." She squeezes me a little tighter and kisses my cheek.

As soon as she lets go of me, I wander over to the kitchen counter and I search through the cupboards, "Loki, do you want anything to drink? We've got practically everything in here," I ask him, but I turn around to see that I'm alone in the kitchen. I slowly move away from the counter to look around, blue mist starts coming from my finger tips as my caution grows. I turn the corner that leads straight into the living room and I notice Loki watching something on the T.V. 

I let out a deep sigh of relief as the mist fades away into nothing, I hear screams coming from the T.V, I walk closer to see what he's watching and I feel the colour drain from my face as I watch the scene. I reach out my hand and the remote instantly flies to me, I turn the T.V off, but I keep the remote clutched in my hand. Loki turns his head to look at me, his eyes flooded with regret and anger. I steady my breath before putting the remote down and turning away, "so anyway, I was asking if you wanted a drink. Anything you want-"

I freeze when I feel his hand softly grab my wrist, he slowly gets closer to me and his hand moves down to hold mine. "I can't begin to understand how you must feel when you look at me. If there's anything I can do while I'm here to make up for my...behaviour, I will gladly do it."