Occasionally, we all have those moments where we want to just not be at home. Typically for silly reasons like a small argument with your parents, or more serious issues with your parents and your relationship with them. Erika's situation was a bit more complicated than either of those situations though. You see, she had everything a girl could ask for. She had a loving mother, father, and papa (yes she had three parents, they were all in a happy relationship together) and there wasn't much conflict in the home, in fact they all got along rather well. But Erika's mind often painted the view of this happy environment. Nights spent alone, up until three in the damned morning because anxiety decided to keep her up all night, only to wake up three hours later at six to get ready for school even though she didn't want to crawl out of bed because of depression. It was honestly tiring, and sometimes even the atmosphere of the entire house was this dark and dreary place, not just her room. Even with her loving, supportive parents, the mood of the house was dull. So occasionally, and with her mother's permission (though not the first time, but that's a different story) she would pack a bag for a day or two and go stay with her Uncle Thor. There wasn't anything unhealthy about this, she just sometimes needed a change of setting for a day or two to just unwind and let her mind at ease. Here is the story of one of those trips.

Erika had been having a rough week, nothing big happened to make her have this bad week, just her own mind, and she just needed a break from home once again. That being said, she currently stood at her uncle's door, waiting for him to answer. When he opened the door and saw his niece, he simply smiled softly at her and opened the door wider. He knew the routine, if she wanted to talk, she would. If she didn't, he'd just let her go to her hiding spot in Tempest's room. However, Erika didn't do either of those things. Instead, she just fell forward, face planting into Thor's chest. This surprised the god of thunder only briefly, before he wrapped his arms around the small girl and picked her up. Yes, most other kids this age would be a bit too big for this now, but her uncle was a freaking god, meaning he wasn't going to get tired of picking up his niece anytime soon.

After a long bit of silence, Thor broke it in the quietest, softest voice anyone could manage.

"One of those weeks, huh?"

Erika simply nodded, seeming to just hide against her uncle's chest.

"Anything I can do, Kiddo? Need a moment alone?"

Erika clung to her uncle at that, frantically shaking her head.

"Okay, okay," Thor sat down, still holding Erika. "Hey, I have an idea. Why don't we have a movie night? It'd just be me, you, and Tempest, Aunt Jane's busy at work, but we can watch whatever you want, okay? And we can have snack and cuddle, how does that sound?"

Erika smiled and nodded at the thought. And so, as promised, Erika spent the rest of the evening cuddled up between her cousin and uncle, watching a movie.