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Chapter Text

Loud shouting and playful chatter filled the air of a large school courtyard, the slight chill in the wind bringing goosebumps to small arms, and cloaks and jackets to be bundled up tighter, affecting all but one dark-haired Prince of Asgard. Loki sat under the shade of a girthy weeping willow at the very edge of the yard, absorbed in a book. Or at least he was pretending to be. Loki was peeved. Very peeved. Internally he was fuming from the conversation he had with his mother that morning. Right during breakfast, she announced that starting from today, he was cast to the lovely hellhole called school. Without asking him or anything. The nerve of her.

“Don’t worry dear, it’ll be fun for you,” assured his mother, Frigga, while running a gold comb through his hair.

“But Mother, I don’t want to go to school. Why can’t I have tutors or something instead?” Loki whined, stamping his little feet. 

“Bah, this will be better. You’ll make friends and get to have a normal school life. This is better for you, trust me. Thor has such a fun time at school, ask him.”

Mouth bulging with fruit, Thor vigorously nodded. “Wa bober, efs fo fum!”.

“Thor, don’t talk with food in your mouth” scolded Frigga. 

He swallowed hard. 

Loki crossed his arms and pouted. 

Frigga took his small hands into her own. “Come on love, please? For me? Just give it a try”. Loki looked into her silently pleading eyes. Curse his soft heart.

“ Alright mother, I’ll go”.

Her face instantly lit up. “Thank you, darling.” 

Okay so maybe he agreed to come but still. That didn’t mean he liked it. The school was a private school for the elite, the sons and daughters of snotty nobles and generals and crap. A ring of tall wood and gold buildings circled the main courtyard, a large circular field of grass dotted with odd trees, swings, and sports nets. A single walkway cut through the field like a river cutting through an overgrown forest. The place would have been nice enough with its beautiful architecture and sweeping grounds had it not been for the horde of, ew, children. 

Children of all ages dashed around the expansive lawn, yelling and talking much too loud for the introvert’s liking. Cliques of girls and boys sat around the courtyard and talked to their friends, while a group of kids at the center of the yard sparred with wooden swords, Thor and his friends included. Currently, Thor and Sif were battling as fiercely as two small children could, and Thor was losing badly. Some of the older children passed money between themselves behind their backs. 

His brother had tried to invite him to join in but Loki immediately refused. Swords were just not his cup of tea and he had no interest in getting his arse handed to him by Sif. His brother had just simply shrugged and ran off to rejoin his friends again, leaving the boy to his own devices. He would rather jump off the rainbow bridge than try and probably fail to make friends with the other children so here he was. Still, it wasn’t that bad. Things were almost peaceful in his little bubble. He could almost drown out the other sounds in the background and relax in the meantime, at least until his first classes started. Loki started to relax and slumped back against the tree more, the book slowly sliding from his grip. 

“HI!” 

Loki swore his soul left his body at that moment. He jumped up with a most undignified yelp and clutched his chest as he whipped his head around to see who had startled him. 

“Up here!” 

He jerked his head up. A little girl was perched on one of the gnarled branches of the tree, dangling her legs from the branches and giggling through her fingers at his probably stupid expression. She had long, light-brown hair with a crown of braids around her head, a spatter of freckles on her cheeks, and large hazel eyes. She was wearing a simple blue dress and a backpack. Right now, the Prince wanted to smack her between the eyes. 

“Thanks for nearly giving me a heart attack,” he snapped irritably, “I appreciate having my soul launched out of my body this early in the morning.” 

“Sorry,” the girl muttered. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“You should be sorry,” he mumbled. Loki picked up his book, which had fallen to the ground, and dusted the cover off. He had absolutely no idea when or how that girl had appeared but he prayed to Odin that she went away. 

She tilted her head curiously.  “Are you new here?” 

Her sweet, perky voice only added to the annoyance. Loki didn’t even want to bother with sarcasm. “Yeah, I am,” he said dully. 

“Cool!” she chirruped. “I am too!” She jumped off the branch, landing in front of him, and extended a hand. “Helgi Magnusdottir at your service.”

Loki pushed himself off the ground and stood up. Good god, she was short. He was a head taller than her. He hesitantly took her hand. She shook it enthusiastically. “Pleasure,” he muttered. 

“And your name?” she asked. 

“Loki Odinson, at your beck and call, oh short one.” He let go of her hand and gave a little mock bow. 

She giggled again. “You’re funny, I like you.”

“Wonderful,” he muttered. 

She rolled her eyes playfully and fell back down on the grass. She looked at him expectantly, and with a sigh, he sat down next to her, although he still kept a good distance. 

She leaned towards him. “Sooooo, what were you doing?” 

Loki leaned back. Sensing his uncomfortableness, she retreated back, although she still looked like she was waiting for an answer. 

He fidgeted with a piece of grass. “Nothing much, just reading stuff.”

“Hm.” She tilted her head again. “That’s nice. I don’t do much reading unless it’s my Dad reading a story to me, but I suppose that that’s just listening. What were you reading?”

“None of your business,” he snapped. “Why are you even talking to me, you weirdo?”

Her eyes grew very wide. She looked taken aback for a second before frowning at him. “That wasn’t very nice, not at all. I was just talking to you because you looked lonely and in need of a friend, but you can mope around all you want if you’re going to talk to me like that.” 

Loki was surprised by the coldness in her voice compared to the cheerful warmth from earlier. 

She thought that HE needed a friend? Did he really look that sad and pathetic? A part of his mind went elsewhere. He never really imagined having friends besides Thor, and Thor didn’t really count because he was his brother. Maybe it would be a good thing to have a friend. 

He was even more surprised when she stood up and started to walk away. He wanted to let her walk away and leave him alone, but the temptation of having a friend of his own…

I cannot believe I’m doing this

“Wait!” 

She stopped and turned around. “Yeah?”

IcannotbelieveI’mdoingthisIcannotbelieveI’mdoingthisIcannotbelieveI’mdoingthis

Loki grasped his own wrist. “I’m sorry, that I said those things. I was a bit mean, but I’m not too good with people. I’ve never really had a friend before. Oh, uh, and I was, uh, reading this.” He extended his spellbook, gifted by his mother, to her. 

Her expression was blank for a hot second before she smiled and walked back to him. “It’s alright. Everyone can be mean sometimes, even when they don’t mean it.” She took the spellbook in her hands and flipped the page while Loki watched over her shoulders.

 “This is actually interesting!” she exclaimed. “Magic books are fun to read. Can you do magic?”

Loki meekly nodded then pointed out a page with a green bookmark sticking out of it. “I was on this page. I can’t really figure it out.” 

She looked back at him excitedly. “That’s really cool! I know some magic too, maybe I can help you.” 

He shrugged. “I doubt it. It’s really hard.” He reached out and flipped to the bookmarked page, shapeshifting into animals. “Shapeshifting into animals is a really difficult bit of magic. I can’t do it and my mum, who’s the best sorceress in the world, still has a bit of trouble with it.” 

To his even bigger bigger surprise, she smiled even wider. “I CAN do this! My magic is shapeshifting and I, am a shapeshifter, just like my dad! I even got on this tree by turning into a bird and flying here.” She jabbed a thumb proudly at her chest. “I can help you with this!” 

He looked at her with uncertainty. “Are you pulling my leg here?”

She hooked her pinky onto his. “Pinky promise! I can show you.” 

She let go of his finger and stepped back a bit. Loki was still taken aback at the sudden contact but he was curious. “Can you turn into,” he thought back to his favorite animal. “Can you turn into…a snake?” 

She grinned. “Sure! One snake coming up!”

She stood in concentration, and to his amazement, began to shrink into the grass. Her body elongated and grew scales, her face grew into a small snout, and suddenly in the grass, there was a small black rat snake. She looked at him and flicked her tongue before slithering around his leg once and turning back into a human once more. She put her hands on her hips and chuckled at his astonished expression. “Cool, right?” 

Loki managed to look more dignified and smirked. “Not bad, I suppose. Could you teach me how to do that?” 

“Sure!” She came over to him. “It’s pretty simple, all you need to do is very clearly imagine the animal that you want to turn into. If you want to turn into a snake, for example, you need to see yourself becoming a snake. The same goes for turning back, but reverse.”

He frowned. “Can’t be that easy.” 

"Just try it!"

Loki rolled his eyes and did what he was told. To his enormous surprise, it actually worked. The sensation wasn't painful but it wasn't pleasant either, like he was getting an over-enthusiastic hug from a troll. He shrunk down into the grass and his green and black robes melted into scales. Just like that, he was a snake. 

He slithered clumsily around the grass a few times before repeating the process but imagining himself instead of an animal, and he was himself again. 

Helgi grinned widely. "Well? Wasn't it easy? And fun?"

Loki rubbed the back of his neck. "Easy, yes, and fun, mediocre. Overall it would be a six and a half out of ten for me." He softened a bit. "But, um, thank you for showing me how to do it properly." 

Her grin softened into a small smile. "Sometimes, things that seem hard are actually easy, and things that seem hard are only hard because you overcomplicate them. But that's what learning is for, and we have a lot to learn. And, you're welcome!" 

Huh, wise words from a child. Maybe he should stop calling her a child, she was the same age as him after all. Still, surprisingly wise. 

He cracked the smallest smile in return.

Suddenly, a large bell chimed three times in the courtyard. 

"Oh!" Helgi exclaimed. "That's the bell. Let's go!"

 She took his hand, which caught Loki by surprise. It wasn't terrible though, it was alright. Her hand was warm and had a good grip on his hand, but not a firm one. He could easily slip out of her grasp if he wanted to, but honestly, he didn't. He allowed her to drag him along while rambling endlessly. 

Looks like he made a friend. An annoying friend, but a friend.

Chapter Text

“Shhh, shut up and hide!” 

“Move over!” 

Loki and Helgi were hiding behind a large bush near the corner of the courtyard, Loki hissing for silence and Helgi trying and failing to stifle her giggles. 

During the past few days, Loki had become rather, ugh, fond of Helgi. Sure she was annoying, with her endless stream of chatter and her positive sunny attitude, but he also kind of admired the warmth and light that she contained. He had to admit that sometimes her endless energy could be a bit overwhelming for the boy, but at long as Helgi was patient with him, he could afford to be patient with her. 

The brown-haired girl had been coaching Loki on shapeshifting during their breaks before and between classes. During their sessions, Loki had gotten the idea to use his newfound skill for something…special. Helgi’s face had spread into an evil gremlin grin when he had suggested it, and now here they were. 

“Do it,” Helgi hissed. “He’s right there.” 

“Alright, alright,” Loki muttered back. Gathering all his concentration, the dark-haired boy turned into a little green grass snake. Snake Loki looked up at Helgi and flicked its tongue once before nodding and slithering through the grass to a group of kids nearby, right towards a small blond boy boasting loudly to an exasperated-looking girl. 

Noticing the creature in the grass, Thor exclaimed loudly. “Snake!” 

The girl and the other kids scrambled away instantly, but Thor grinned and kneeled down towards snake-Loki. Helgi grinned wider as she watched on. Thor very gently picked up the green snake and held it close to his face as he admired it. 

“MHGAAGGA it’s me!”

Shink

“LOKI!” 

The next moments were filled with screaming, yelling, and child cursing. Thor held his bleeding gut tightly with both hands as he and his friends chased a madly cackling Loki around the courtyard. 

“I’M TELLING MUM AND DAD,” Thor bellowed at his little brother. Loki just laughed and ran faster. 

Helgi snickered and watched the scene with amusement. Sif eventually caught Loki by the back of his robes and yanked him back towards Thor and the other children where they proceeded to yell at him. Concerned, Helgi started to move forward to help her new friend when a hand yanked her back behind the bush. Loki put a finger to his lips before glancing at the ongoing chaos, an impish grin spreading across his face. Helgi looked at him wide-eyed. “How?-”

“Illusion magic,” he whispered to her. “They don’t call me the god of mischief for nothing, you know.” Helgi clapped a hand to her mouth to stifle her giggles. Loki smiled mischievously and also started to giggle as he watched his brother and his friends chase “Loki” around the courtyard again. “I suspect that it’ll take a while before Thor realizes that it's not me.” 

“Bet you five sweets that it’ll take five minutes,” she whispered back. 

Loki scoffed and rolled his eyes playfully. “I bet you ten sweets that it’ll take ten minutes.” 

Helgi grinned. “Deal. And when I win, I’ll have you know that I enjoy toffee and lollipops.” 

“Right, right. Anyways, when I win, make sure to get chocolate of any kind.”

Helgi extended a hand. “May the best guesser win, and you better not cheat.” 

Loki took the hand and shook it firmly. “Prepare to lose. And now why would I ever cheat?” 

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Helgi ended up winning the bet despite Loki’s cheating. A day later, on Saturday she received a basket with exactly 5 toffees and 5 lollipops in it, along with a note that read:

Apologies I wasn’t able to deliver these myself, but for all time, always, I am grounded. Or at least until I get Thor back on my side, which will take 5 minutes tops (not a bet), and bribe convince him to convince father to unground me. 

Ps. You most definitely do NOT get bragging rights and if you say I told you so I will stab you 

                                                                   From Loki Odinson, Prince of Asgard

Helgi smirked and popped a toffee in her mouth before bringing the basket inside. 

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next Monday, Loki nervously clutched her wrist as she walked through the entrance hall and into the courtyard. It had been a month since she’d been friends with Helgi, and she usually was never this nervous, but it would be the first time that she’d see her like this, as a girl. Her mother and Thor were very supportive of her being both a girl and a boy, and Loki hoped that Helgi would accept her as well, but there was still a heavy pit of deep insecurity and worry weighing down on her chest that she wouldn’t. 

Why do you care so much about what a peasant girl thinks of you? 

Shut up

Ooooooh, scared now are you?

I said SHUT UP

Conversations with yourself like that are totally normal, right? 

The grassy area was almost completely scarce. It was rather early and only a few children had arrived. Loki sat under the stout willow tree and opened her book to try and distract her warring mind, and it mostly worked. But as time went on, her anxiety only grew into a bigger pit at the bottom of her stomach. 

Suddenly, Loki spotted the small brown-haired girl among the crowd of children. Helgi also noticed her and started to wave but stopped when she came closer to the black-haired girl. "Hi there, who are you? You seem familiar." She looked quite confused. 

"Um," Loki fidgeted with the hem of her robes. "You do know me, I'm Loki." 

"Really?" She asked, tilting her head questioningly. "I thought that you were a boy." 

Loki looked to the ground and mumbled. "Most of the time I'm a boy, but sometimes I'm a girl. It's called being genderfluid." 

"Genderfluid…" Helgi remained silent for a second before smiling widely. "Okay! That's really cool!" 

Loki looked at Helgi with surprise. "You're alright with it?" she asked. 

Helgi sat down next to her. "Of course I am. Just because you're a girl sometimes doesn't mean that I'll stop being friends with you. You're still the same person." 

Don'tcryDon'tcryDont'tcry

"Thank you," she managed to say with a straight face. "Although it's not like I was scared or something." 

Helgi rolled her eyes and smiled before scooting closer to Loki. "Sure you weren’t. And ooooh, your hair is really long and pretty! Can I braid it for you? Pretty please!” 

Helgi looked at her with puppy eyes. Loki rolled her eyes. “Fine.” 

“Yay! Can I braid in flowers?” 

“No.” 

“Aw, alright.”

“...Fine, just a few though.”

“Yay!” 

Helgi sat behind Loki and combed her long black hair with her small fingers before beginning to braid. Loki sat still and closed her eyes. The motion was kind of soothing, and the contact didn’t bother her so much. The background sounds of the school faded away, leaving only a calm that Loki hadn’t felt in a while. With Helgi, like how he felt with his mother and brother, he felt safe. 

Helgi gently plucked some of the surrounding yellow dandelions and white daisies and braided them into her friend’s hair. A few minutes later, Helgi finally tied a hair tie to the end of Loki’s braid. “Done,” she declared. “You look really pretty!” 

Loki materialized one of her daggers and looked at her reflection. She had to admit, she did look pretty. Helgi had braided her hair into a style similar to what she usually wore, a crown of braids circling around her head, and the braids were adorned with flowers. Loki thought that she looked rather like an elf from Alfheim, and she really liked it. 

Loki grinned. “I love it! Thank you, Helgi.”

Helgi grinned back. "It was no problem! I can teach you how to do it yourself if you want." 

The school bell rang three times. Helgi groaned. "I'll show you later after class. For now, let's go." 

She stood up and offered a hand to Loki, which she took with only a few seconds’ hesitation. "Alright, let's go."

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A month later, Loki and Helgi both walked to the Palace together side by side. As usual, Helgi rambled about some random topic and Loki mostly listened and occasionally added sarcastic comments. This time, the topic was…crushes. Which was fine and all, but like, yikes. It was fun listening to Helgi talking about how she thought that blah blah blah was nice and stuff and teasing her for it, but Loki prayed to Odin, which he rarely did, that she wouldn’t ask-

“Soooooo, do YOU like anyone?” Helgi asked. 

Loki sighed internally. Screw his father, this was why he didn’t ever pray to Odin. 

“Uhhh.” Loki rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “Maybe?” 

“Oooooh!” she squealed. “Who is it, who is it?” She bounced up and down with excitement. “Tell meeeeeee!” 

“It’s embarrassing,” Loki muttered. 

Helgi looked him in the eye, dead serious, and raised a hand as if she was taking an oath. “I swear to my dad that I won’t tell anyone.” 

Loki raised an eyebrow. “Or make fun of me?” 

Helgi giggled. “I can’t promise that. But just tell meeeee. If you don’t then I’ll probably explode!” She made an exploding gesture with her hands. 

Loki faked an exasperated groan. “Alright, I’ll tell you. But you better not tell anyone.”

Helgi nodded. “Or you’ll stab me.”

“Ehhhh, more like steal your candy in the dead of night and draw a mustache on your face while you’re sleeping.” 

Helgi gasped dramatically and put a hand to her heart in mock fear. “My word, that’s evil! You really are the god of mischief. But just tell me already.” 

Loki rolled his eyes and beckoned her closer. Once she was close enough, he quietly whispered. “Fandral. I think that he has nice hair, and he’s quite dashing in my opinion.” 

Helgi snickered. Loki looked at her questioningly. “What?” 

She grinned smugly. “I knew it. It was SO obvious that you fancied him, I mean, why else would you be staring at him during class time?”

Loki blushed. “Was it really that obvious?” 

Helgi shrugged. “Kinda.”

He groaned and buried his face in his hands. “This is embarrassing. Just kill me already, pitch me off the Bifrost.” 

Helgi grinned. “Bifrost, more like Bi-Frost, am I right?” She elbowed Loki. “Y’know, because you’re…yeah.” 

Loki looked at her and deadpanned, “That was the worst attempt at a joke that I’ve ever heard. It doesn’t even make sense.” 

Her face fell. “Sorry,” she muttered. “Just trying to get you to be, I dunno, less embarrassed and stuff.”

Loki nudged her shoulder. “Hey, you tried at least. And at least I’m cringing at that then at myself, so it worked.”

Helgi smiled once more. “Yeah!” 

Suddenly, Loki heard a familiar voice shout out from behind him. 

 “HEY, FREAK!” 

Crap.