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[She hears the voice, the timbre striking a chord of recognition in her. So do the words and the manner that they're spoken in. Turning, she's surprised to see a child being the source of her attention. Frowning, she follows after him and the other boys he's chasing]

[ He was just barely keeping up with the other boys, which was already pretty shameful. He runs, but he inevitably trips on the curb and stumbles to the pavement in the middle of the busy city street, the other boys turning to laugh at him before running away with his personal item in tow.

Snarling, the boy hoists himself up to his feet, and stretches out his hand. With a turn of his wrist, the fire hydrant the other teens are running beside suddenly loses it's cap, blasting them with a powerful burst of running water. And a shining gold, horned headpiece flies from their grip, rolling along on the ground before coming to a stop not far from him.

Ha. He grins, accomplished, as he leans down to retrieve the headpiece. ]

[She wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't seen it herself. The use of magic was a blatant sign in itself, but that grin... That grin he had on his face as he picked up the helmet she'd know anywhere was equally familiar]

Loki?

[To say that she's confused would be a gross understatement. She watches the teens get up, sodden and surly and turn towards the dark haired boy - and she steps up beside him and gives them a look daring them to try anything]

[ ... uh oh.

He freezes with that voice calling, not even paying attention to the bullies that turned to advance on him. She was at his side in seconds, and - my she's tall from this view - his feet are shifting in nervousness. The other boys shout at him, and then at her, making a big fuss over what he'd done to them (ice cream flies are totally naturally occuring buggies, okay?)

Quietly, during their verbal confrontation, he takes a step back behind her. And another. And one more.

And then turns around, bolting down the sidewalk. Uh oh. Uh oh, uh oh. ]

[She's listening to the boys yell in their direction, turning to look down and see what Loki's doing - only to catch sight of him bolting around the corner]

Oh, I think not.

[Benefits of superspeed? Catching runaway godlings who have a lot of explaining to do. Stopping in front of him, she stands there with her hands on her hips, giving him 'the look']

Loki... [That one word carries a lot of implications and tones behind it]

[ -- uh oh. Very, very uh oh.

Loki skids to a halt when she's suddenly in front of him, clutching his horned headpiece close to his chest like she would take it from him. He stutters at first, bracing himself for a stern thwack upside the head as he points back at the boys a block away. ]

It was their fault!

[ Just please don't turn around the other way and watch all the people cursing out an ice cream truck driver for buggies. ]

I'd done nothing wrong, they just walked up and stole my things, plain as day. Whatever they told you is a lie!

[If this was what he was like as a child... she doesn't know how his mother survived]

I think I'm a little more interested in why you're...

[She gestured at him, brow raised]

This.

[She could hear more raised voices from behind her and turned to see a group of seemingly angry people looking around - presumably for Loki.]

You just can't stay out of trouble, can you?

[ Well. His mother (adoptive) was a goddess herself. If she had to be, Frigga could be plenty intimidating to a trickster child. Some days, he feared her wrath more than the Allfather's.

Ah-- Loki scoffs, hands on his hips. Mimicking her, almost. ]

I can explain, if you give me a chance--

[ But then he notices the drawing crowd of familiar, angry faces turning towards them, and Loki steps closer to the alley beside them, immediately pointing an equally accusing finger at the group. ]

And I had nothing to do with that. Absolutely nothing.

[Somehow, she doesn't believe him]

We'll be having a little chat about what you did and didn't do later...

[Moving over to him, she reaches down for his hand, giving him a look that says if he's smart, he'll take it]

For now, let's get you out of here.

[Because she doesn't for a second believe that whatever's gotten the crowd so riled up had nothing to do with him. In fact, she's quite sure that he was gleefully in the middle of it, up until he got caught]

[ Of course she wouldn't. Nobody ever does. Tch. How rude.

He's apprehensive about her hand, concerned about whether she was going to drag him over to her apartment and yell at him. But, she won't hand him over to S.H.I.E.L.D or anything - not that they're looking for him anymore, he'd seen to that.

... and, well, that crowd is getting a bit more riled up. ]

Fine.

[ So he grabs her hand, with a slight, childish huff. ]

But I won't be carried over your shoulder like a potato sack.

[Strangely enough, she can't see any difference in behavior between this version of him and the taller one she was more familiar with. She bites back a smile, wondering if she should tell him, but figuring she'll keep it to herself until he's... back to his old self and she can use it as a dig.

She takes a firm hold of his hand and begins to walk away from the crowd, ready to bolt with him if necessary. Child or not, pranking brat or not, he was still Loki. Damned if she could turn off her need to watch after him]

Don't give me reason to and you won't have to.

[Though, she had a thought that a good turn over her knee would do him a world of good]

[ The young teenager form has it's own benefits. A lot of his mischief, he can get away with simply because he is seen as a child, and there's far more boundless energy like this for him. Older, he is more refined, proper in his movements and actions, but as a child he can do cartwheels off of park benches and people think he's cool.

Strange mortals. But if they knew he was the trickster god, they wouldn't be so amazed. ]

I'll do my best to refrain.

[ He slinks along against her side as they walk, making sure to stay out of direct sight from the crowd searching for him. But they were bound to give up and lose interest soon enough. Loki couldn't help turning his nose up at them, just a little bit. ]

And where are we going?

Somewhere we can talk. And you can explain... this.

[Because there had to be an explanation for why he was suddenly and most decidedly not the Loki she remembered]