Hastings Nebraska, 1992

While honing her abilities was a part of her everyday routine, Brynn purposefully did not use them to steal. The last thing she needed was someone screaming about their wallet floating out of their pocket.

Though to be fair, what happened next probably wouldn't have happened had she used her powers.

The man caught her wrist just as it was pulling his wallet out of his pocket. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Brynn countered off the top of her head.

"Me? You're the one trying to steal my wallet!"

"And you're the one who's getting his wallet stolen by a thirteen-year-old!" His 'you're insane' expression quickly became a glare, but it wasn't the least bit threatening. "You think you scare me?"

"I should."

"You don't."

They had a sort of staring contest for a moment before the man smirked and released her arm. "What's your name kid?"

"Brynn."

"Brynn? Nice to meet you Brynn. My name's Loki."

"Loki?" She raised an eyebrow. "Like the Norse god?" Angels, demons, sure why not gods?

"Like the Norse god? Honey, I am the Norse god."

"Prove it."

"I don't have to prove myself to you."

"So you're nothing but talk then?"

The look he gave her clearly said he didn't like to be challenged. In a strangely familiar bend of reality, they were suddenly off the street corner and in a house fancy enough to be a museum.

"Well?" He smirked.

"Nice parlor trick. You're still not getting this back though." She said, holding up his wallet.

"You can keep it," he shrugged. "I'm a god. I can make myself another one."

"You think you're impressive."

"I am impressive." He said, a tinge of a whine in his tone.

"You wish." She chuckled.

"Loki." a woman at the top of the huge marble staircase called down. "There you are. I was starting to think you'd be gone all day." her eyes landed on Brynn. "What's that?"

"It's a human child."

"What is it doing here?"

"I brought it here."

"It has a name thank you!" Brynn shot Loki a look. He simply shrugged. "It's Brynn." She informed the woman.

"Kali." She said shortly.

"Nice to meet you Kali."

"I know." She turned back to Loki. "Will you be keeping the stray long?"

"Haven't decided yet."

"Well just make sure she doesn't cause any trouble." She said, turning and heading back down the hall.

"That lady is not gonna like me." Brynn informed with a shake of her head. "Trouble is my middle name."

"Mine too," Loki smirked.

"Hm. You suddenly become more interesting."

And that was how Braelynn spent the day pranking from all sorts of different religious. While she didn't know much about any religious besides Christianity, the deities she and Loki were messing with were still very powerful. She should have been afraid, but she wasn't. Perhaps it was the fact that Loki had taken a liking to her, perhaps she was overconfident enough in her abilities to think she could take on the gods, or if that failed simply teleport away.

Perhaps she simply knew she had nothing to lose.

"Are you ready?" Loki whispered.

"Let's light this baby!" He lit the fuse with a snap of his fingers and Brynn threw it into Baldur's room. The god shouted as it exploded into about a million paint colors. Loki busted out laughing as he leaned back against the wall.

"Loki!" Baldur shouted, making him stiffen.

"Run kid." They took off down the hall, the threat behind them not at all as threatening as it should have been "Woo-hoo!" Loki laughed. We slid across the floor, ducking into one for the many rooms. Loki and I slid down to the floor and attempted to catch our breath. "That was awesome!"

"Totally!"

He beamed. "You're alright kid."

"You're not so bad yourself."

"Well thank you!"

It was silent a moment before he looked at her with a more serious face that didn't really suit him. "So what were you doing stealing wallets in the street anyway?"

Brynn shrugged. "Food cost money." While she could easily steal that too, stores often had security cameras in place, making the option of stealing the money much easier.

"Where's your family?"

"You tell me."

He frowned. "You mean to tell me you're living on your own out on the streets?"

"Technically I'm living in the abandoned warehouse on 46th."

"Oh Brynn…"

She scowled. "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Give me those stupid pity eyes. I don't need a home, and I don't need a family. I can take care of myself."

"Right. That's why you're getting caught stealing wallets."

"Hey, I ended up in a house made of marble and gold." She countered, making him chuckle.

"Touché. You know it's a pretty big house..." he looked around idly.

"Yes it is."

"And...I dunno. I guess having a new face around could be interesting."

Brynn raised an eyebrow. "Am I being invited to live in a house full of gods?"

"Only if you want."

"Sounds like fun." She smiled in spite of herself. Sure, being a kid living on the streets lead to an occasionally bout of charity, but it never lasted. Screw it though, it was close to winter and the warehouse didn't have heat.

"Is that a yes?"

"Depends; which room's mine?"

He smirked and grabbed her hand, pulling her to her feet and out of the room they were hiding in. "You ready for this?"

"Nope!" Brynn shook her head, which only made him laugh.

"Welp, here we go!" He pulled her into one of the rooms, probably at random, and threw his arms out in a wide 'ta-da' motion.

"Whoa…." After seeing the rest of the extremely lavish house, the bedroom Loki brought her into shouldn't have surprised her. But it was huge! Perhaps her modest upbringing at the convent left her bias, but she could have fit her room at St. Katherine's in here at least five times! Not that the space wasn't already filled. There was an oriental rug under her feet, large oak furniture with gold accents that had to be older than she was, and the centerpiece of the room was the biggest bed she had ever seen lifted up on a small platform that was covered in purple velvet. The bed itself was made with a red and gold duvet and a pile of embroidered pillows. There was a curricular, golden canopy above it that went up into the ceiling.

"Awesome?" Loki offered.

"This is all for me….?" Brynn asked, hardly daring to believe it. There was charity and then there was…whoa…

"All this and more!" She couldn't help it. She threw her arms around the Norse god, not really having the words to express how she felt. Loki seemed startled, but relaxed after a moment and hugged her back. "You're welcome…"

The bedroom, as it turned out, was a full sixed suite complete with a fully stocked bathroom. At first it boggled her mind how everything was prepared for her despite the fact that no one knew she'd be coming, but after spending the day with Loki she simply chalked that up to the Norse god's magic. It took a while to figure out how to use the fancy fixtures, and there were several things Brynn found in the drawers under the sink that she genuinely didn't know what they were, but she wasn't about to complain about being thrown into the lap of luxury.

There was something extremely humbling about trading her ratty old clothes in for a set of silk pjs, especially when she examined some of the other clothing in the dresser. Still, she tucked her old clothes into her backpack with care, sliding it under the bed. She straightened and studied room around her before her eyes landed back on the bed. Unable to contain her gleeful smile, she launched herself face-first into the mattress, squealing when silk slipped against silk and she went into the pile of pillows.

Rolling over, she giggled madly. "This is so cool!" she said to herself. After marveling for a moment at how absurdly soft the bedspread was, she pulled herself up just enough to pull it down, tucking herself in and practically melting into the cloud-like mattress. After spending so much time sleeping in a sleeping bag she had purchased with stolen funds on the concrete floor of her warehouse, it wasn't at all surprising how quickly Brynn fell asleep.

"Come on sweetheart…We can be your family. Isn't that what you've always wanted?"

"Not like this! I'm not like you!"

"Oh, but you are honey. You're exactly like me."

Brynn's eyes snapped open and it took her a moment to remember where she was. The top one percent house full of gods. She was safe here, for now at least.

Climbing out of bed Brynn dug the simplest thing she could find out of the dresser, trying her best not to balk at the labels she recognized as designers, though admittedly there were a few she did not recognize but there was no way they couldn't be.

She wandered out of her room and attempted to find the kitchen. Key word attempted. Not only was she not sure if gods ate, but this house was a literal maze and it wasn't like she had a map.

Once she found the stairs she got distracted looking around and slipped on the runner that covered the marble stairs. She squeaked and stumbled, falling back into a strong pair of arms that had come out of absolutely nowhere.

"Careful now, wouldn't want to stain the tile."

Brynn jumped away, turning to face the dark-haired man, who again had shown up out of absolutely nowhere. "Who are you?"

"I should be asking you that, you're the strange person in my house."

"I asked first."

He smirked slightly. "Mercury. My name's Mercury, and you are?"

"Brynn."

"Ah, so you're the little stray I've been hearing about. Loki always did have a weak spot for a pair of pretty eyes."

"I'll take that as a complement. You know where the kitchen is? I'm hungry."

"Third door on the right." Mercury pointed through the open doorway on the left side of the entry hall. "Race you." And he was gone, as quick as he'd come.

Without even thinking about the repercussions of doing so, Brynn shut her eyes and zapped herself in the direction he had indicated. When she opened them she found herself sitting on the granite countertop of a large kitchen that was just as fancy as the rest of the house. An instant later, the door swung open and Mercury came speeding in.

He blinked when he saw Brynn already there. "H-how-?" he looked at the doorway behind him.

Brynn simply grinned and slid off the counter. "I'm in the mood for pancakes, you want any?"

He stared at her a moment, then he laughed. "Sure, why not?"

Having had a very Christian upbringing, Brynn didn't know much about other religions. She had only recognized Loki's name because she had found a book in Heaven's library that referenced the trickster's trouble making history once.

Mercury was all too willing to educate her however, though he had a bit of a bias towards the Roman religion he originated from. As it turned out the house was a bit of a hub for the gods, a vacation spot when they weren't off doing whatever. Loki was the only one that really stayed there full time; apparently too many religions under one roof caused conflict.

Surprisingly, Brynn took to this new information with the same fascination she had taken with learning more about the angels. There was something about learning the details that were left out of scripture – some perhaps for good reason – that was as exciting as it was extremely humbling.

Not that other religions didn't have their flaws the same way Christianity did. Mercury warned her about which gods to steer clear of; while Loki's fondness of her put her on a certain level of protection, there were plenty of deities that frequented the house that cared very little for mortals – Ganesh apparently liked to eat them.

"There you are kid." Loki's voice made Brynn and Mercury look up from their conversation. "Mercury, I see you've met our newest resident."

"Indeed I have." He nodded. "Quite the inquisitive little thing."

"Mercury was teaching me about the Romans." Brynn informed. "They used to rule the world."

"Is that so?" Loki smirked. "I didn't realize a history lesson required such a mess." He looked around the kitchen.

"I made breakfast." She said innocently. "The flour for the pancakes sort of….exploded."

"Pancakes huh? Any left?"

Brynn pushed the plate she had piled the pancakes onto towards him. "You're outta syrup."