-1 year later-
1St of September
Part V
He soon came to realise that he was right about two things- Alex was the one being chastised by his father and that something drastic must have happened whilst he was asleep to make every single person in the kitchen look the way they did. Tony Stark was leaning against the window frame, posture emitting air of nonchalance whilst the furious fire that burned rather intensely inside his irises could burn anybody given the chance. His older brother was sat on one of the three stools, head in his hands- he seemed to do that a lot, Loki noted. Next to him sat his wife, a mask of shock and sorrow painted finely upon her visage, yet it took the demigod mere seconds to realise that she was playing it up a notch. The cat had an urge to roll his eyes at her rather poor effort- there was something about the mortal woman that really irked him, but he was yet to figure out exactly what it was. Cerulean gaze flickered away from the woman, quickly focusing on a much smaller figure that sat on the cold parquet of the kitchen floor, and his eyes narrowed. Alex was motionless save a few irregular deep breaths that would send shudders down his spine, jerking his whole body. His head was in his hands and Loki couldn't help but think-
Like father, like son.
Alex was clearly upset and, unlike his mother, he wasn't feigning the emotion that was glued so tightly to his features. He was genuinely upset, shock still lingering within the sapphire irises. The whites of his eyes were red and the cat was quickly able to pick up the wet tracks that were gliding down the pale cheeks. A curious tilt of the head followed his discovery as the demigod began to wonder what could have actually happened to cause such an uproar. Seeing Steven upset wasn't quite new to the feline as the man didn't possess the emotional stability of his wife, but seeing Alexiel shed tear after tear curled on the floor was something that he wasn't really used to seeing. Whenever he would get in trouble with either of the parents, which was almost every other day, he'd just stand quietly and listen to the lecture only to go and do something just as outrageous the next day. Crying wasn't part of Alex's agenda and Loki knew that more than anybody else. Perhaps it was the nature of Alexis' character that kept the demigod interested in this family for so long? After all, he couldn't help but notice a few similarities between the two, but he was yet to fully admit that to himself.
"So? Any bright ideas as to what we do now?"
Tony spoke, brown optics narrowing ever so slightly as his gaze fell upon his older brother, but then softened once it flickered over to Alexis.
"Hey Alex?"
Lips parted, calling out to the boy. His head bobbed, blonde locks swaying gently with each movement, showing the older male that he had acknowledged his voice.
"It's not your fault, I hope you know that"
This time there was no movement despite the fact that Alexis had heard each and every word his uncle had spoken. He didn't believe it. His brain had desperately tried to rationalise everything that had happened over the past three hours, but nothing that he could come up with agreed with what the older male had just uttered. It was Alex' job to bring her back home safe and sound, he was her older brother after all. It was her first day of school- as if that's not terrifying enough as it is and he had the audacity to just leave her to walk hime by herself simply because he wanted to go out to the skate park with his friends. She must have been waiting for him all alone by the gates- if only…
"We won't accomplish anything if we just sit and mope. We need to go back to the school, retrace her steps- maybe even see if anyone had seen anything. We can't just sit here!"
Steven snapped, his face finally leaving the comforting warmth of the palms of his hands.
"I've done that already. No one saw anything."
Tony replied with an exhausted sigh following shortly after the spoken words.
Whilst this debate was going on, however, none of the adults have managed to notice a ball of black fur slipping out of the kitchen.
Loki strutted towards the cat flap that was so conveniently installed on the front door, his thoughts racing a thousand miles per second. He had a plan- for the first time since he was turned into this Midgardian abomination he had a set, fool-proof plan of action that will without fail return him back to Asgard in no time.