Gas station bathrooms in Canada were pretty much exactly the same as gas station bathrooms in America. Darcy tried not to think about all the diseases she’d catch from using it, and just prayed there was soap at the sink. She caught her own reflection in the mirror, mistaking her new bottle-blonde hair for someone else’s, and nearly jumped out of her shoes. She’d completely forgotten all about that, and quickly became bitter and resentful about it. She hadn’t wanted to dye her hair blonde, and only did it because she was trying to avoid being recognised. It took less than a day for her to be recognised anyway, and now she had ugly blonde hair that stood out even more than her natural brown.

Grumbling under her breath about it, Darcy quickly washed up and went back into the gas station to return the key and make sure Loki wasn’t trying to buy more beer. Which did sound really good at the moment, but the last thing they needed was to get pulled over for an open container violation.

As she handed the key back to the guy behind the counter, ignoring his weird stare, she looked around the small shop for Loki. Not that he was difficult to find. He towered over everything like the outer-worldly being he was and frowned at a bag of Combos.

"They totally look like dog food, but I promise they’re delicious," Darcy said, grabbing a few bags of the pizza flavoured ones. Since Loki hadn’t shared any of his first batch of snacks, Darcy loaded up on her own and took them up to the counter to wait for Loki. Since she still had the cash, and Loki didn’t know what it was worth anyway, Darcy paid and went back out to the car where Lil was waiting.

"Oh my god sorry. This was the last stop, I promise," Darcy said as she climbed back into the SUV. She handed Lil a bottle of Coke before settling in for the rest of the ride.

"When you gotta go, you gotta go," Lil said.

"You could have found a tree, if you were that desperate. There are plenty of them around," Loki said like a smug bastard.

Darcy sneered at him in disbelief. "Have you ever even seen a girl?" she asked.

Lil waited for the two of them to stop bickering and for Loki to fasten his seatbelt before leaving the parking lot and getting back on the freeway. The terrain was starting to climb again, with mountains faint on the horizon in the setting sun.

"We’re gonna be able to go over that?" Darcy asked. Trying to navigate a mountain pass in January did not sound like a good time.

"Yep. Highway all the way through. It goes clear across Canada. We’re taking it all the way to Winnipeg," Lil said.

"Well, that’s easy," Darcy said.

"How far is it to Tórshavn?" Loki asked.

Darcy wanted to throttle him if he asked that question one more time. "Probably about the same as when we were in New Mexico. We actually went backwards when you bamfed us to Portland," she told him.

"You’re joking." Loki leaned back in his seat and covered his face with both hands. "Why is your realm so needlessly large?"

Darcy reached over the seat and petted his head, not even surprised when he slapped her hand away.

"So, what all can you do?" asked Lil hesitantly. "I used to know another technopath, years ago. But you can teleport too?"

Darcy didn’t expect Loki to answer. She got the feeling he didn’t like Lil, but was only sitting in front to get away from Darcy herself.

"I can do what you can’t even imagine possible," Loki said. "But not here. I need to leave this realm and everything on it."

Darcy was just glad Loki hadn’t declared his intent to destroy everyone as well. She held the vague hope that maybe he was having second thoughts, or maybe he’d only said that at all to frighten her. At least he understood that frightening the help would get them nowhere. And probably stranded in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Just looking out at the snow was making Darcy cold again, so she bundled up in the blanket like it was a cocoon. A scratchy wool cocoon. Even though she was sick of Loki asking, she was wondering the same thing he was. She was already so sick of going places, and just wanted to be done already. She wished she at least had her phone so she could look up how much farther they had to go. And maybe figure out how the hell they were supposed to get there. She knew fuck all about Canada and where Calgary was in relation to Winnipeg, and where that was in relation to their final destination. For all she knew, they were going clear up to the north pole. She was just about as lost as Loki was, but at least she wasn’t suffering horrendous culture shock as well.

As the sun fell behind them and night fell stupidly early, Darcy started looking around behind the seat again. "Hey, is there another blanket in here?" she asked, feeling around blindly.

"You’re not that cold," Loki said in that grumpy way he got when he was too tired but resisting going to sleep. Darcy tried not to think about the fact that she’d been with him long enough to begin to recognise his moods.

"How do you know? You’re not me," she said. She gave up trying to find another blanket and tugged on Loki’s shirt instead. "Then trade me spots, because the heater doesn’t reach back here."

"Heater’s not on. I need to save gas," Lil said.

"Oh, well no wonder," said Darcy. She shivered into her blanket and wondered how far until the next gas station if they were running on economy mode. "Okay, seriously. Where’s the other blanket then?"

With an irritated growl, Loki flung what remained of his snacks into the back seat before following after them, much to the indignance of Lil.

"Would you sit down," she demanded, trying not to get hit by Loki’s long legs as he climbed over the back seat.

Before he even got settled, he picked up his forgotten hoodie from the floor. He jammed it over Darcy’s head like he was trying to shove her into a burlap sack and fell down heavy beside her.

"Would you shut up," he said.

Darcy hesitated for a few seconds, not sure if she should try to make Loki wear more than just his T-shirt, but she decided against trying to provoke him further. She pulled the hoodie on over her own and re-settled herself against Loki’s side, making sure to share the blanket with him as much as he’d allow. He shifted away, and for a second, Darcy thought he was going to try to bail out the door, but he apparently changed his mind and settled down again.

"Go to sleep," Darcy said quietly. "You’re getting mean and scary again."

"Good," muttered Loki. Darcy refrained from asking if he was five.

Instead of going to sleep, he reached for Darcy’s bag of sour gummy bears and took took about ten of them and ate them all at once.

"Oh, god," Darcy said.

Judging by his face, Loki immediately regretted his decision to steal her snacks. He spat the whole thing out onto the floor and wiped off his tongue with the back of his hand.

"It’s gone off. It’s rancid," he complained.

"It’s supposed to taste like that. You’re just not supposed to eat that many at once," Darcy said, not even trying to hide her laughter.

"Whatever you just spat out, please clean it up," Lil said tiredly.

Rather than say anything about how she’d already been putting up with this bullshit for about a week, Darcy found an empty carrier bag and handed it to Loki. He looked at her like he expected her to do it, but Darcy just dropped it onto his lap and pretended not to know what he wanted.

He finally picked his mess up from the floor, only to open his door and throw it out to the side of the road.

"Are you fucking serious?" Darcy demanded. "Oh my god, you’re such a dickhead. What is wrong with you?"

"What’s wrong with you?" Loki countered, like the overgrown five year old he was.

Fed up with it and seeing an opportunity, Darcy unlatched her belt and quickly climbed over the front seat to take the spot Loki had vacated.

"Oh, you now," said Lil, sounding like she was starting to get pissed. Darcy smiled weakly as she did up her seatbelt.

"Sorry. I forgot he’s an ass," she said. She snuggled up in her blanket and looked out at the road, and the stretch of black wilderness ahead of them. It was going to be a long trip.