"I'll accept your offer, brother," Loki spoke confidently and nonchalantly to his older brother like it wasn't a huge deal the God of Mischief was joining the Avengers. Thor stood there in shock, he knew his brother wasn't really causing trouble anymore, he even helped out on a mission not too long ago but he never expected that he'd actually accept his offer to officially join the team. Honestly, neither did the God of Mischief, not too long ago the idea of working and living with mortal superheroes to protect Midgard would have been the last thing he'd ever do, but that was before you. A little mortal named Gracie Andersen, the God looked down at the bracelet and recalled how it happened.
Loki was stuck in New York City, he was on the move after a run-in with another wannabe supervillain who apparently wanted to team up, but in reality, it ended up a trick, at the God of Mischief's expense. Loki wasn't planning to involve himself with this low life but he wasn't about to leave a Powerful Rune Tablet in the hands of some mortal. Unfortunately, the Tablet itself was cursed, as so many of them are and Loki discovered he would be without his powers and magic for the next 24 hours. He only had several hours left to go and he managed to find a place to hide temporarily in Central Park but with the wound he had, he wasn't sure how long he'd last.
"Fuck" he murmured to himself, putting his hand on his wound, feeling the blood leaking through his leather armour, knowing he didn't have long, only hoping he'd get his powers back in time. He could have gone to see his brother, they were on better terms now but he would not let any of those annoying Avengers see him like this, he really would rather die than let that happen. Even if he wanted to go to the Avengers Tower he didn't have the strength to stand, feeling rather sleepy, but what kept him awake was the sharp pain in his abdomen. Sleep would no doubt overtake him at some point, but he knew from previous injuries, even without his powers he still had a little more time.
It wasn't too long after he heard an audible gasp and someone rushing over to where he was. "Just my luck," Loki thought, "a stupid mortal found me, what am I going to... do," his thoughts were interrupted as the human in question came into view. It was a girl, just a girl, well probably a young woman seeing as she clearly wasn't a child but she didn't appear that old either. Loki couldn't take his eyes off of her, there was something different about this girl, and it wasn't just her hair and outfit that made him think that.
She had her hair up in space buns with loose tendrils hanging down around her face, it was messy but in a sweet way. She had cute little freckles dotting her nose and cheeks, with long eyelashes and big doe eyes that sparkled like stardust. She appeared a little flushed and her lips looked a little chapped but they were nicely shaped, and a lovely shade of dusty rose at that. As for her outfit, she had on a pair of brown boots, with light grey blue knee-high socks sticking out from underneath them but you could hardly see them. She had on a short skater dress, it was the same blue as the socks but was covered in little rainbows and different coloured hearts. Under her little dress was a pair of short leggings but they were dark pink. Her jacket was a light sunshine yellow, it had a large hood and was a bit longer than her dress. She had on a large backpack with a pair of headphones around her neck, and a lanyard also hanging down with her keys, ID, a little flashlight, and a rape whistle.
The girl looked at Loki, he could see the concern on her face, seemingly shocked by all the blood but she also didn't hesitate as she came closer. She knelt down beside the God of Mischief and quickly took off her backpack, pulling out a smaller bag labelled "First Aid Kit". Loki was surprised, the girl wasn't afraid of him, not at all, there was a chance she didn't know who he was but that was unlikely seeing as Loki wasn't dressed like your average human. He was wearing one of his usual looks; fine Asgardian leather, with gold detailing here and there, it was mainly green, with black trousers, black fingerless gloves and a bit of white fur on the collar of his jacket. The jacket itself was quite long, going past his knees and although it along with his entire outfit usually looked amazing, seeing as he was injured and bleeding out, he was looking a little more dishevelled than usual. He had even removed his gold-horned headpiece, having it and his sceptre next to him on the ground within arms reach in case he needed to move again or to defend himself. His hair was all messy and with his five o'clock shadow he looked like a wreck, hot of course, but still a mess, he could definitely go for a glass of wine and a bath right now.
The girl made quick work of getting out the supplies she needed to patch the God of Mischief up, not wasting any time the girl went right up to Loki, practically sitting on top of him as she put on a pair of disposable gloves. The girl clearly wasn't a doctor, seemingly too young but she did know her way around a wound, this was obviously not her first time stitching someone up. Loki tried to stop her but she looked up at him with a frown, telling him that he better keep his Asgardian ass still so she could patch him up. Loki looked down at her with wide eyes, this girl knew exactly who he was and didn't care, he didn't know how to feel about it. Loki continued to watch the girl while trying to work out everything he was feeling both emotionally and physically.
The girl did a surprisingly good job, although it hurt she was gentle and took her time, telling him exactly what she was doing just before doing it. Loki stared down at her in awe, despite the pain, he wasn't sure exactly why he liked her touch so much, how with each part she patched up, it didn't hurt anymore. It could have been the blood loss, but it didn't seem right, he remained calm, not typical when losing this much blood, as one's heart usually speeds up to compensate. You would usually panic, and freak out as you grew more delirious, eventually falling unconscious as your breathing became more rapid and shallow, before dying altogether.
After about 10 minutes she was done, placing the last of the sterile gauze pads on before wiping up some of the blood and pulling off her disposable gloves, putting everything she used into a separate bag to dispose of later. She then cleaned herself up, using a few wipes to remove some of the blood that got on her arms, face and thighs. She then put everything away and sat down next to the young God, she pulled out a lunchbox, offering to share the lunch she had forgotten to eat earlier that day. Loki hadn't actually eaten in a while and despite his reservations about sharing food with a human, he took her up on the offer. She told him she made everything herself and it was surprisingly good but of course, Loki didn't say anything about it, just a simple "thank you, mortal".
He sat with her for a while, getting to know her better, the basic stuff mostly, otherwise Loki just sat quietly next to her, listening to some music that she put on with her "smartphone". Loki found out the girl's name was Gracie Andersen, she was a sweet young thing who loved music, cooking, dinosaurs and arts & crafts. She asked a lot of questions, seemingly wanting to know everything about him but Loki wouldn't say much, only really telling her his birthday. He was surprised though, as Gracie seemed to make a mental note of it while taking out her little device again, adding it to what appeared to be a calendar of sorts. One other thing Loki found out about the girl is that she was also apparently really clumsy, so much so that her mother made her carry around a first aid kit. Although Gracie admitted she never got hurt too badly, simply a small scrape here or a little bump there, she ended up patching up other people, for the most part, mainly her friend Peter.
"Your friend wouldn't happen to be Peter Parker, would he?" Loki asked and Gracie looked at him with wide eyes, surprised with an expression that told him his suspicions were correct. Gracie went on to explain that she patched him up for the first time just over a year ago and has done so a couple of times since then but she hasn't seen him lately, as he moved schools. Loki knew Spiderman was learning and teaching at the Shield Triskelion, he heard about it from his brother, who was talking about all these new young heroes in training. He wasn't sure if you knew about his secret identity, but even if you did he doubted that you would tell anyone, as you seemed like the kind of person who could keep a secret.
They started to talk about music, Gracie soon asked the God of Mischief what kind he liked to listen to but Loki wasn't really into music. She played samples of different types of music before asking Loki which he liked best, but he wasn't into any of them so Gracie thought of something else. She explained that when she needed to calm down from being over-stimulated she would listen to what she described as "sleepy songs". They weren't exactly songs per se, but she liked listening to a mixture of different sounds like the rain or wind, sometimes she added the occasional instrument, it was so relaxing. She opened up the app on her device and played her custom mix of sounds; it was a combination of rain on leaves, a piano, and a harp, it was so lovely, soft, and peaceful.
Before Loki realized it, he had closed his eyes and had fallen asleep for a little bit, being without his powers for a whole day while on the run really took it out of him. He woke up not too long after but he did notice that it was a little darker out and he was shocked to find that Gracie was still there. It wasn't only the fact that the girl was still here that surprised him, he felt better, like a lot better, he was nowhere near well but he found that he could move his arms and legs a bit and they barely hurt. Loki was in so much pain before he fell asleep, he was barely able to keep it together, only managing to do so as he wasn't going to let anyone see any weakness. It didn't matter if he was literally dying, he wasn't going to let anyone see him in pain, see that he was weak, or let anyone know he wasn't always as tough as nails, not even a little mortal.
Loki turned his attention back to the girl, wondering what she could have possibly done to him, as there was no way he should be feeling better, or as "well" as he was now. It wasn't only that, he didn't know why she was still here, why she hadn't left yet, it didn't make sense to Loki, not at all. Loki was certain the mortal would have left but there she was, just sitting quietly doing her homework, she explained that's what it was when he asked about it. She was just finishing up actually, only a couple of questions left on her last assignment and then she'd be all done. She finished up within about 15 minutes and Loki watched somewhat intrigued, he found it interesting watching how focused she was, as her "thinking" face was rather amusing.
Gracie put all of her stuff away, quickly standing up, offering a hand to Loki but to his surprise, he managed to get up on his own. His powers had been back for a bit now, but he still shouldn't have been able to get up that quickly, even if this girl did something to him he shouldn't have been able to. Loki then questioned if perhaps he was wrong because he was disoriented, maybe he misjudged the severity of his wound seeing as he was injured without his powers. He had never been injured without his powers before and perhaps he miscalculated, you were just a mortal after all, what could you have possibly done? But still, Loki wasn't able to heal that fast so he concluded that maybe he didn't lose as much blood as he thought.
Whatever it was, he continued to stay with the girl as he walked with her back over to the pathway. Straightening up his appearance on the way, fixing his hair and adjusting his jacket to look more presentable, as he had a certain reputation to uphold. Gracie even pulled out a couple of wipes offering to help with the blood on his tunic, but Loki just took them from her, doing it himself. Loki knew he owed this girl his life, as he was sure he would have bled out without her aid and he asked what she wanted in return. To Loki's surprise, Gracie appeared rather flustered, saying she didn't need anything, she helped him because she wanted to, but the God of Mischief insisted. First, this girl helps him out of nowhere, then she stayed with him until he woke up, she wasted all this time with him and now she didn't want anything, this girl was truly strange.
The mortal looked up at the sky seemingly nervous about something before asking if it wasn't too much trouble if he could walk her home. She explained it was about a 30-minute walk from here, giving basic directions on where she'd have to go before admitting she was scared about walking home this late by herself. An escort home? That's all this girl wanted, seriously? She could have asked for anything and she asks for this? He could give her gold or jewels, did she not know how powerful he was, well usually, but no, this girl wanted none of that, she really was like no one he met before.
The God of Mischief rolled his eyes rather annoyed, letting out a huff before magically shifting into some Midgardian clothes, being a simple black suit with green and gold accents. It hurt a little, using his magic right now but he couldn't exactly escort her home still covered in bloody clothes, it would no doubt garner too much attention. He grabbed Gracie's hand dragging her off in the direction of her home as he complained about how she should have just left earlier if she didn't want to walk home late by herself. "But you'd be alone," Loki heard from behind making him stop in his tracks and he turn back to stare at the girl who looked at him with sincerity, she was truly concerned about his safety. Loki turned away staring off into nothing as the girl walked closer, pulling something out of her pocket to give to him. She recaptured Loki's attention, showing him a green, black, and gold bracelet, with a little black button to keep it together and prevent it from falling off. Gracie said she made it for him while he was sleeping, before doing her homework, it was a friendship bracelet, she apparently gave one to all of her friends.
Gracie quickly wrapped the bracelet around Loki's wrist, she then smiled up at him, seemingly happy that it fit him well. She then took his hand and started walking again but she couldn't go far as the God of Mischief was still stuck on the spot, unable to move yet. She asked him what was wrong and Loki snapped out of it, as he promptly started walking quickly pulling the confused girl along. They walked silently for a while, Gracie only speaking up when they had to cross a street or change directions to get to her house and soon they arrived.
"I'd invite you in, but my mom doesn't like me having anyone over when she's not home, especially boys, well I guess you're a man, not a boy but I don't think that'll make a difference to her," Gracie said nervously, but Loki understood, telling her it was okay, he had to go anyway saying his farewells giving the mortal a small bow. Gracie let out a little laugh before hugging the God of Mischief goodbye, thanking him for walking her home saying how she hoped they could hang out again soon. Gracie then walked over to open the front door of her house and she turned back, smiling at the God of Mischief, giving him a wave before quickly closing the door behind her. Once Gracie was inside Loki looked down at the bracelet, he thought it was dumb and childish but for some reason, he couldn't take it off.
There was something about this Gracie Andersen, Loki couldn't put his finger on it, was it because she was sweet and kind, was it because she came to his aid, staying by his side to make sure he was okay or was it something else. He wanted to see her again but knew it would be difficult if Midgard still saw him as the bad guy, so he'd take up his brother's offer and join the Avengers.