"Where am I?" Loki groaned and took a look at his surroundings. Midgard. He had to be in Midgard. However, something was not right about this place. It...felt wrong, like déjà vu. It left him trying to figure out just what was going on and why he felt so uneasy. He took a moment to register where he was: a small structure in which Midgardians parked their chariots.
Now, what were those called again? He searched his memory for the correct word. Parking garage. That is what they were called: parking garages.
How he even got into the structure baffled him to no end. By his account, he should be in Asgard, learning what punishment Odin had set up for him. Unless... this was his punishment: to remain on Midgard, powerless and helpless as a babe. That terrified him. Without his powers, he might as well have been put to a slow, painful death.
Just as he was about to cry out in anger, he heard two female voices coming towards him. He quickly ducked behind the nearest chariot and waited for them to pass. The girls were rather strange looking to the ex-god. They were dressed in, as far as he saw it, nothing but their knickers. The first was wearing pants along with a shirt that came to her midriff, the other two were dressed in a corset and leggings, and the only thing covering their shoulders was a cloak with fur trim.
"Hey, are you ok, sir?" one of them asked, finally noticing him huddled behind a station wagon.
"I'm perfectly fine!" he snapped, hoping that his bluff would fool them.
"Then why are you hiding behind my mom's station wagon?" she asked, not an ounce of hostility in her voice or eyes.
Loki tried to come up with an explanation, but he could not. In fact, he could not even speak.
"My name is Katerina!" The girl - no, Katerina said, smiling as she held out a hand for him to shake.
Loki stared at the hand, unsure what exactly he was supposed to do.
"You're supposed to shake it." She chuckled as she took his hand gently and shook it.
"I-I knew that," Loki stammered.
"Do you have a name?" she asked.
"Loki Laufeyson, God of mischief," he replied utterly serious.
"Riiiight," one of the other girls said, laughing.
"Be nice, Kelly!" Katerina said, smacking her friend's arm and giving her a death glare.
Loki could not understand what had caused the mortal known as "Kelly" to laugh as she had, nor could he understand why Katerina had reprimanded her friend for her actions.
"Such strange mortals," Loki muttered.
"Kat, I think he truly believes he's Loki." Kelly's grey eyes grew wide and she took several steps back, almost as if she didn't want to catch his insanity.
Katerina held up a hand in a "just wait a second" manner and said: "Si- Loki. Loki, do you know where you are?"
"Midgard," Loki said matter-of-factly.
"Wow, he does." Katerina's look of total shock said everything.
"I don't believe I am Loki, I actually am Loki!" he insisted, his tone reaching that of a child on the verge of a tantrum.
"Ok, ok! Easy!" Katerina said, trying to calm him down a little.
Loki looked like he wanted to say something, but instead he huffed and just stood there pouting slightly.
"Do you have any where to go, Lord Loki?" Katerina asked, figuring it'd be better to just go with his insanity than try to correct it.
"No, I do not," he admitted.
"My place is open." Katerina smiled, hoping it would cheer the strange man up.
"You would let a stranger into your home?" Loki asked raising an eyebrow at Katerina's offer.
"You look relatively harmless," she replied, praying he actually was.
"Alright, Midgardian, I accept your offer," Loki said, regaining some dignity.
"Awesome!"
Loki almost jumped out of his skin when she unlocked the door.
"What sorcery is this?" he shouted. His voice sounded a little squeaky from the fright.
"Unlocking my mom's van. It involves science, not magic." Kat chuckled, as she opened the side door for him.
"Where I come from science and magic are one and the same." He sounded very much like Thor. Which did not please him.
"Huh. Well, if you're coming, you might want to get in the van." Kat was a little perplexed by his statement, but didn't think anything of it.
"Alright," Loki said, taking a tentative step into the vehicle. Luckily, it didn't take him long to figure out how to shut the door. Although, the seat belt posed several problems, until Kelly, rolling her eyes at his struggles buckled it for him. He mumbled his thanks and stared glumly out the window the rest of the way.
When they reached Kat's house, it was long since dark and Loki was more than a little nervous. Last time he had been on Midgard he’d had the upper hand, but now he was completely vulnerable. Kat sensed his unease, took his hand, and squeezed it a little.
"It's ok. I promise no one's gonna hurt you, " Kat said comfortingly.
"Alright." He sighed, still not entirely convinced of the nature of the mortal's kindness.
"Come on." Kat smiled softly, gently leading him inside and taking him upstairs. "I'm not sure if Chad's gonna have anything you'll like, but at least it'll be a change from what you're currently in."
"Why do you wish for my clothes?" His suspicion clear as day.
"So I can wash them, silly!" She laughed. It was a beautiful laugh that the god could not help but love.
"Oh." Her kindness had clearly caught him off guard and he was worried that he was going to regret agreeing to her offer.
"You can sleep here. Chad's away at college and won't be back for several months," she said, motioning to the room next to her. "Shirts are in the first drawer, pants in the third, socks and undies in the fourth, and I don't even want to know what's in the second drawer."
"Th-Thank you," he replied, not used to this amount of kindness.
"You're welcome, " she smiled. "Oh, and the clothes bin is to the left of the dresser."
"Good night... Katerina," he whispered.
"Good night, Loki." She turned out the lights smiling a little.
