Magic was so unpleasant. However, Loki had no way not to use magic in this situation. It seemed to work, too, to get him a place to stay for the night. An unsuspecting teenage boy had heard his plea for help, and now he was off to shelter, alongside the intriguing girl from the coffee shop.

"Meow."

This little sound brought the boy's eyes down to him. "It's okay, Victim. We're almost there."

Loki closed his eyes in frustration. He was trying to speak with the mortal girl, but that obviously was not working. He was just gaining more attention and pets from the oddly-cold boy. He couldn't complain, though. Being pet was actually quite pleasurable...

"Aw, look! He's purring," the boy said with a goofy grin on his face.

The girl chuckled and shook her head. She began to walk up some steps, and lead Loki and the boy into a warm, well-furnished house.

"I'm home!" she called through the place. There was a quiet female voice that responded from in the heart of the home. "I can't hear you, Mom," the red-haired girl complained.

An aged, near-exact replica of the girl came out of an opening, gesturing with a spoon. "Clarissa Fray, you have to explain to me why Mrs. Lightwood has asked for a meeting in the Institute's Library!" At the sight of the boy, she said, "Hey, Simon."

The girl the older woman had addressed as "Clarissa" responded with, "What? Why would she want a meeting?"

"I don't know, you tell me!"

Clarissa furrowed her eyebrows. "I mean, I broke up with Jace, but that's no good reason..."

Loki interrupted with a surprised yowl. That boy in the coffee shop with her did not belong to her; at least, not anymore. The boy called Simon began to pet him again. "Shh..." he whispered. "Let's go find Luke, and get you some water, and maybe a bath..." And they began to walk away from Clarissa and the Clarissa look-alike, much to Loki's disappointment. He tried to claw his way from Simon's grasp, but it didn't seem to be helping. "It's okay. I bet you just smell Luke. He's okay, really. I mean, we should be mortal enemies, but we're cool. I'm sure he won't eat you or anything."

Though he was sure that Simon was trying to make him feel better, the idea of this so-called Luke being able to eat him made him nervous. He dug his claws into Simon as hard as he could.

"Ow," Simon muttered. This didn't deter him, however, and he squeezed Loki harder. "Victim, be nice." Loki hissed angrily. He resisted the urge to change his shape, and sat as patiently as he could in the boy's arms. He hated being toted around by this stupid mortal; it made him feel wea-

Was that dog? Did he smell dog? Was this the Luke that Simon had been talking about? His cat-pupils turned to slits as the mortal walked him into a normal looking human kitchen. Loki scanned the room for any sign for any sign of anything vaguely canine. The only other living being in there was a burly man.

"Hey, Luke," Simon said.

"Hey, Simon," the man said. Well, that was confusing. If Luke was a mortal, why would he want to eat him? "Why'd you bring a cat?" he asked.

Simon beamed like a child, and looked down at Loki. "He was cold and hungry and alone. So, I thought I'd warm him up." Loki wanted to roll his eyes. If only he knew how cold Jotunheim was, how cold he was used to being.

Luke shook his head. "A boy who has no ability of creating body heat decides to hold a shivering kitty..."

"Shut it, Luke," Simon, without much anger to his voice. "I can give him a bath."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Alright, I'll find something to feed the thing," he said. He headed over to the refrigerator, and began rummaging around inside of it. Simon dragged Loki the other direction, towards a sink. He knew that a normal cat might shy away from the sight of water, but he wouldn't mind a bath right now. In fact, it might just soothe him a bit...

He was placed delicately into the sink, which was filling with hot water. It felt different to be taking a bath with fur; the water seemed to try to slip off of him. Maybe it would just be easier if he was hairless...

Loki carelessly went on his whim, and caused all the hair on his cat-person to disappear.

"What the-?" Simon said, dropping Loki.

"What the what?" Luke said placing a dish of what looked like leftover lasagna on the counter.

"Victim lost all of his hair!" Simon said, exasperated. "He was covered in black fur, and now it's all gone! Nothing there!"

Loki stopped enjoying his bath. Well, they already think something's wrong with me, he thought. Might as well freak them out some more.

So, Loki lept out of the sink, and onto the kitchen floor. And then he changed back into his Godly form, horned helmet and all.