Ablaze {Marvel} ||2||

14. Getting to Know Steve Rogers

My beef with Stark got put on hold after my change of clothing and leaving Stark Tower with Steve.

I'd refused the motorcycle helmet when Steve suggested I put it on, since he was the one driving us to the restaurant. I was already in danger, so how much more could this possibly add on? Steve didn't bother to argue with me on it, but he didn't wear the helmet either, as usual.

We weaved through the New York traffic to find a quaint little restaurant deep in the city's heart. Steve parked the bike in the lot, and the two of us walked alongside each other towards the entrance. I licked my lips nervously. I'd thrown on the first things I could find in Pepper's closet: a loose, black blouse, with some rather fancy dark jeans.

The host greeted us, and before Steve could even tell them how many people were dining, we were recognized and pulled to our own special booth. Steve and I exchanged looks. We knew this was Stark's doing, the evil bastard. He'd had this planned from the moment I'd refused to get out of the tower.

"Sometimes I think Stark is destined to be a master villain instead of a hero," I said once Steve and I got seated on each booth. "I mean, he crafted all this in just a short amount of time." And I knew why. Stark had this fascination that Steve and I were dating, or about to date. He claimed to see the telltale signs, whereas I thought he was babbling nonsense.

"Well, we can't get too mad at him," Steve said thoughtfully. "It's a nice place. Let's just hope he's paying."

I laughed. "Well, if he is, let's not be cheap."

We didn't make a lot of talk until we had to wait for our food.

"Looks like we both got duped by Stark," said Steve.

I snorted. "Oh, no, more like you did. He must've been pretty convincing through messages." I said this teasingly, of course.

"I thought I was talking to you." He shrugged. "An innocent mistake."

I rested my back against the back of the booth.

"Are you okay?"

"Hmm? Yeah, for now I am."

"Hey." My eyes looked at him at the pickup of his gentle tone. "This is just temporary."

I swallowed. "Yeah, temporary..." I looked away.

"It is, Kiara. I know it. You've never had trouble before, and if you did, it was because you weren't strong enough. This is something different."

"Can we...Can we not talk about my powers, Steve?" I asked. "If I want to air out, I want to air out properly. No talk about...that."

"All right, then. What do you want to talk about?"

"Well, I guess we can start by me getting to know Steve Rogers." I smiled timidly. "I know very little about you, aside from what I already know."

"You can always read a file on me, but you—on you, you need to tell others." His eyes twinkled in curiosity. "I want to know about you. About anything you want to tell me."

I chuckled. "So eager. Well...my parents don't possess any...you know. They're ordinary by Asgardian terms. Mum was a sweetheart, Father was always protective of me. I guess that's what comes with being the only child."

"Are they...gone?" Steve asked carefully.

"Not that I'm aware of, no." I looked at him curiously. "Why?"