Dragonscales

Chapter 50 | A Date to the Aquarium

Loki and I's hands were intertwined as we meandered throughout New York City. A floppy beanie covered my pointed ears and horns. The hat was merely to keep my head warm, I didn't need to disguise myself anymore. New York had seen plenty of things, and Stardust Grove was an official country in the United Nations now. 

We stopped at a small corner store and got ourselves sandwiches. A picture of Peter in his suit giving a thumps-up outside of the store hung above the cash register. The caption read Spiderman approved. Loki payed for the sandwiches with one of Tony's credit cards he stole. I munched on my sandwich as we leisurely traversed the streets. A few times I was stopped by fans of mine to take a picture or get an autograph. I had gotten more popular over the course of me being a superhero. 

My ears pricked up as I heard a few whispers from the pedestrians. "What is she doing with a villain?" "He attacked us and she's holding hands with him!" Loki's head lowered as his eyes shamefully slid to his feet. I squeezed my hand in reassurance as I titled his chin toward me. Our eyes met before I passionately kissed him, Loki melting into the kiss. His arms automatically snaked around my waist. We broke apart as we started to block foot traffic. 

We continued walking until we found ourselves at an aquarium. "Would you like to visit it, darling?" Loki asked, flashing Tony's stolen credit card. I nodded excitedly. We paid for our entrance and I picked up a brochure. "It says here you can touch a stingray!" I exclaimed, then added, "Whatever that is." They weren't native to the coast of Stardust Grove, therefore I had never seen one. 

My eyes caught the first little habitat. It was a rocky pond with algae growing in it. A few chunky lizards lazed on the rocks, while another was swimming underwater. They all had a variation in their scale patterns, from tinged with white, or red, or blue. One lizard jumped into the water and began eating the algae growing on the rocks. I watched in fascination as the chunky lizard propelled itself through  the water. "They're called Marine Iguanas, native to the Galapagos islands." Loki read off a plaque. I said goodbye to the colorful, chunky marine iguanas and moved to the next habitat.

This one was a little larger, with a rocky formation and a river flowing below it. A small cave was hidden in the rocks. I squealed in delight as an otter padded out from the cave. A parade of the family of otters ensued, all traveling to the river. An otter padded towards me, an cocked its head to the side. "Hello, little one." I greeted them. The otter made a small chirping noise and slid its paw between the glass partition. I gently placed a few fingers on top of their paw. We stayed like this for a minute then Loki and I moved on to the next thing. 

We arrived at a small pool with creatures inside it. I tugged on Loki's sleeve in excitement, pointing at the sign. "You can pet these animals." "Intriguing." Loki and I doused our hands in sanitizer. I stuck my hand in the pool, feeling a sea cucumber. My nose wrinkled. "That's..." I searched my brain for the proper word to describe the sensation, "slimy." My attention caught a figure gliding through the water. "It's a stingray!" I exclaimed excitedly. I ran my fingers over the ray, grinning. "This one is also really slimy!" Loki placed his hand on the stingray. "Hmm. This is an interesting feeling." I giggled as we washed our hands. 

***

Loki and I exited the gift shop of the aquarium. A large stuffed otter was tucked into one arm, the other was intertwined with Loki's. A light dusting of snow on the sidewalks crunched beneath our boots as we traveled home. Streaks of smoke bloomed in the corner of my vision. My arm tightened around Loki's as more shadow wolves began to form. An army was forming, and at the helm, was my mother.

She grinned in gristly delight as her army of wolves gathered around her. The iridescent wings on her back sparkled in the afternoon light. "Hello, my lovely daughter." Her cloak billowed behind her as green magic swirled around her hands.

Different magic sparked in my peripheral vision as Loki summoned his full Asgardian battle gear, including the murder tiara. Knives shimmered in his hands. I took a fighting stance and flicked my wrists. My weapons shifted into their blade form. I thrust my conciousness towards the tower, hoping to contact Tourmaline. Hopefully the team would be here soon, even if most of their weapons didn't affect the wolves.