The God of Mischief on Midgard

Six

 "Let it be noted that I told everyone that this is a bad idea," Loki says, staring at the unimpressive Midtown Tech building.

"Don't tell Natasha, but I agree," Bucky says. Nobody wanted to be the one to bring Loki to school and finish registering him. After an hour of arguing with each other, they drew straws. Although Tony is Loki's adoptive parent, Bucky pulled the short one and was saddled with the responsibility.

"How about we leave?" Loki suggests.

"Let's not do that," Buck disagrees.

"It'll be fine," Peter shrugs his backpack on and opens his door.

Loki grabs Peter's arm, nails digging into his skin. "It won't. Don't you understand? You've shown me many movies of mortal high school. What makes you think I will possibly fit in here?"

Peter closes his door and faces Loki. Bucky averts his eyes to give the two a semblance of privacy. "Loki, I can't promise you'll fit in - not even I fit in here, but that shouldn't matter. Fitting in isn't always the best option. You're meant to stand out no matter where you go."

Peter's words strike Loki dumb. This is the first time he's ever been told that he shouldn't change himself to fit other people's standards. On Asgard, Odin detested Loki because he wasn't exactly like Thor.

Peter continues when Loki doesn't respond. "I'll introduce you to Ned and MJ - who don't fit in either. They're great people. MJ will even keep people from being mean because she's terrifying."

Maybe living on Midgard won't be as terrible as Loki initially thought. Already, he's made a new friend who treats him like his own person, and now, Peter is encouraging Loki to be himself. Loki can be who he wants and live how he wants. He hopes his punishment on Midgard never ends.

"Are you two ready?" Bucky asks from the front seat. Peter nods. "Let's go then."

Peter opens his door and struggles to fit his body and backpack out of the car simultaneously. Loki rolls his eyes at the display. He grabs his bag, steps out of the vehicle, and slings his backpack across his shoulders - like a normal person does.

The gravity of the situation doesn't hit Loki until he steps foot into the entrance hall of the school. He's really doing this. He's really going to high school.

No doubt Odin assumes Loki will be miserable, but that could not be further from the truth.

"I've never done this before; what do I do?" Bucky asks.

Peter points to the front office. "Loki needs to pick up his school schedule, and if Dad wants you to tell the school anything, now is when you need to do that."

"What about you? What will you do?"

"We are supposed to have the same schedule, so I'll wait with you guys. I'll show Loki the way to classes."

The receptionist greets them with a smile as they enter the front office. "Hello, how may I help you?" Her perkiness in the morning is too much for Bucky, but he holds back his grimace.

"Hello, I have a new student with me."

"Which one of you is new?" Peter points to Loki. "If you come here, I can find everything you need."

Bucky and Peter sit in the hard plastic chairs as the receptionist talks Loki through his class schedule and the bell schedules for Wednesdays and the rest of the week. Loki crumbles his schedule into a ball and tosses it into the trash. The receptionist frowns at him.

"I need to speak with the receptionist in private. Peter, wait outside the office."

Peter curiously glances between Bucky and the receptionist, but he complies.