Chapter 8

"Who in their right mind though that was a good idea," Ember yelled as soon as the sounds of the Quinjet and Tony's repulsors died away. "I mean, who thinks that the best way to solve an argument is to go in, guns blazing, and then talk it out?"

"Tony."

"….Your right, that was a stupid question."

Niki sighed and turned away from the door and her younger sister to look at the Norse god standing stalk still in the middle of her living room with his back to them. She slowly walked over and raised a hand to place on his shoulder. "Loki?"

He stiffened and jerked away. "Don't touch me!"

She recoiled a bit but kept walking towards him. "I'd say I'm sorry for that, but it's not my place to apologize for that. I am sorry that things went overboard but I wasn't really in control of that either." By now she was standing in front of him but is gaze was fixed on the floor and she couldn't see his face very well. "Loki? Are you alright?"

"Clearly I am not since I have been sent here by those who think they know what is best for me," he spat, looking up at her suddenly. Niki was taken aback by the slight glimmer of tears in his eyes but he quickly stormed away and slammed the door to his room shut.

"Niki?" Ember came up next to her sister, still looking after the angry deity. "How are we going to help him?"

"Any way we can." After a few moments of silence, Niki turned to Ember and smiled. "But we should let him cool down for now. How bout you go do your homework and I'll fix up something for supper."

Ember nodded, not quite feeling the happiness Niki was trying to exude and grabbed her backpack before settling at the dining room table and beginning her Algebra assignment.

Niki went into the kitchen and, leaning against the counter, sighed and ran a hand over her face. "How indeed."

Quickly she took out the roast that had been sitting in the fridge defrosting and put it in a stoneware pan with potatoes, onions, and carrots before dumping beef broth on it, wrapping it in aluminum foil, and putting it in the oven. For the next two hours she set about making the best meal she could and recruited Ember to set the table with some of the nice plates and silverware as she pulled out the roast.

"Okay, here comes the hard part," said Niki, walking up to Ember with a coin in her hand. "Who's going to go get Loki for supper?"

"Oh no, not me!"

"That's what the coins for! Heads you go, tails I stay."

"Waaaait a minute, I know that trick. Heads I go, tails you go."

Glowering, Niki flipped the coin and caught it before slamming it down on the table.

Tails.

"YES!"

"NO!"

"Deal with it, sis," Ember said, sticking her tongue out. "Go get the Lord of Pouting out of his room so we can eat. I'm starving!"

With a dispirited sigh, Niki walked out of the kitchen before squaring her shoulders and smirking. She was actually glad she won the toss. For some reason, Loki didn't like Ember currently and she didn't want her little sister to get yelled at by an angry god.

Softly knocking, Niki opened the door to Loki's room. "Loki? You alright?"

The lights were off and most of the room was dark except for the light coming in from the setting sun. Glancing around, she finally found him sitting on the floor leaning against his bed, facing the window. Walking round the bed, she sat on the floor next to him and gazed out the window as well.

Silence filled the room and a small black shadow crept into the room before skulking over to Niki, winding round her feet. She giggled softly. "Loki, you silly kitty! You know my feet are ticklish!"

"You named a cat after me?" The softly spoken question.

Niki smiled, lifting the cat into her lap and scratching his head. "Well at the time we didn't know you and being a mythology buff with a little sister who eats that stuff up, it was down to Loki or Baste for names. Since he's clearly male, we just had to go with Loki."

Loki gave a short huff of laughter before reaching over to scratch the black cat behind the ears.

"I dread to know what you would name a dog."

Niki shifted nervously. "Actually we do have a dog. He's very loving and basically mine since I'm more of a dog person and Em's the one who loves cats."

"And what did you name him."

"Ah, well, you see, he really is a loving dog. A massive golden retriever. And when we got him we had already become friends with the Avengers and I had a couple of bruised ribs when we got him because of a massive bear hug I had received from…someone after returning a long lost something-or-other…"

"You didn't."

"I didn't name him directly after your brother, if that's what you're implying."

"He's not my brother," Loki spat. The cat version hissed and batted at Loki's hand before rubbing his head under Niki's chin.

Niki sighed. "Right. Well, we didn't name the dog after him directly. Mjolnir is a good dog, really. And once he was full grown and he sat on you, it became impossible to get up so in reality we did choose an appropriate name for him."

Loki glared and resumed staring out the window.

"At least we named you correctly," Niki muttered to the black fuzz ball on her lap. The cat looked up at her before stretching and walking off, tail held high. If a cat could ever look imperious, the one did. "Maybe too well."

After a few more seconds of silence, Niki stood abruptly. "Well, supper's ready. Come on, you have no choice. You don't get to sit and brood. Supper time and you need to eat."

Loki regarded her sharply before standing in a huff and walking out towards the dining room. He stopped abruptly when Niki caught his arm.

"Look, I know this was a bad afternoon and a lot of people that you probably didn't want to see showed up. Just know that Ember and I didn't want that to happen. But it's over and done with. Try to forget it."

"But I can't. As your archer friend so kindly pointed out." He pulled his arm away with a jerk.

"Well to be fair you did possess his mind for quite a while. But that's not the point!" Niki stamped her foot and closed the distance between them with a finger jabbing his chest. "The important thing is not the situation but how you deal with it. That's what defines you. And you've been doing the exact opposite. It's time to stop letting the cards you've been dealt play you and take control of your life before you cross the point of no return."

Loki looked at her, startled. Slowly, the finger poking him in the chest lowered and Niki backed away. His gaze drifted to the floor once more before muttering, "But what if I already have."

"Then you run back as fast as you can. It's not too late though. There are still people willing to help you. You just have to let them." Niki reached out and set a hand against his cheek, smiling.

"Hey! Can we eat yet?" Ember appeared in the kitchen door, hands on her hips, glaring at them.

Niki laughed and, taking Loki's arm, lead him to the table. "Yes. Let's eat!"