Time Away (Loki/Open)

[Deleted]

Clary couldn't think of anything else to do so she wondered into the forest. She started walking, not sure where to go so she just went in a random direction. She thought about working on her ability to change forms as she hadn't be a tiger in what felt like months but was actually only about four days. She sat at the base of a tree for a moment, welcoming the sensation of being a tiger as her forms shifted.

Once she was in her preferred form she looked around her and shook her coat out. In this form nearly anyone could tell she hadn't really been eating properly. She had had maybe three meals in the last four days, thankfully someone had taken pity on her that day and she was satisfied with what she had gotten which was why she ventured to the forest. Stretching she unsheathed her claws and dug them into the soft dirt then turned to a tree. With her claws still out she sent long scratches into the trunk of it, sharpening her claws. This was going to be a good day.

Continuing into the forest she kept her ears and nose open for anything sneaking up on her. She couldn't sense anything at the moment but that didn't mean nothing was there as she continued deeper into the forest.

[Loki]

Night had fallen by the time that the little shapeshifter named Loki made his way into the woods. It was a journey that the boy seemed to be making quite often as of late. Loki wasn't like most other shapeshifters that lived in New Orlands. Unlike most shifters who spent so much of their time in the forest that they practically lived in it, Loki rarely came to places like this. It was strange for a shifter but he had his reasons. Honestly he didn't feel the need to be in here. Loki didn't have a large animal form that would stand out too much if he shifted in the city. Sure his animal form was still far from normal in the eyes of humans but he could still pass off as a house pet if he wanted to. He didn't need to hunt either, as much as Loki did like to pounce on a few mice, rats, and birds from time to time he didn't need to hunt for his food. He could easily buy what he needed now, and even if he couldn't do that all the game he normally hunted could easily be found in the city. What use did he have for this place? It was too far from home, and with so many other, more powerful creatures that lurked in places like this he had never felt much of a pull to come here.

That was until a month ago. After an unfortunate run in with the hellhound named Guillotine Loki had been coming to the forest more often, sometimes alone, other times with a friend. Why? To train. Loki had never been much of a fighter. He was naturally small and frail for a boy his age. Growing up he had been pretty sheltered too, he had his father, and his father's guards to protect him whenever he was in trouble, even when he had lost all of that when he came into this world the boy still managed to avoid having to fight. But over time things changed, he had gotten himself in very dangerous situations with people that wanted him dead, he still managed to get out of the situations alive without having to fight for his life. All that changed when he met Guillotine. There was no running from that monster. The hellhound was relentless, had a good sense of smell, was very powerful, bloodthirsty, and worse of all had a vendetta against him. Loki had survived the bastards first attempt to kill him but only because his friend and roommate Azazel came to his aid.

After that day he realized he couldn't keep going the way he did if he wanted to survive. Loki needed to become a fighter so he could protect himself, and more importantly to protect and not be a burden to the few friends that he had. After that fight Loki's training began. At least once a week Azazel brought him out to the forest so they could spar and he could learn hand to hand and knife combat. During the days he wasn't training with Azazel or working Loki would come out here on his own to practice his knife throwing skills. This was something that Loki didn't tell his friend about, solely because it was just something he wanted to try on his own. Tonight was one of those nights he did his private training. He grabbed his things, said a quick goodbye to Azazel and Wey before heading out to the woods. Loki ventured deep into the woods to his usual training spot. The shifter went about his normal routine, setting up his targets against the nearby trees, lining up his throwing knives, and then started his training. He was definitely improving in his skills. He could hit the bullseye most of the time at a greater distance than he could in his first few sessions.

“Maybe its time I started using moving targets.” the boy mused. As impressive as his improvements have been there was only so much he could improve with a stationary target. Enemies rarely stood still in a real fight for him to take proper aim. How would he go about that though? It wasn't like he could make some moveable targets to train with, nor could he ask someone to run around for him and take a knife or two just so he could get better. Perhaps he could use it while hunting? He couldn't run around town throwing knives at rats, but there were plenty of small game he could try his luck with in the forest. Loki pondered this thought as he pulled his knives out of a tree to start over when he heard something. It was faint, easy enough for anyone without a very keen sense of hearing to miss but unmistakable to the shifter. It was the sound of steps. Someone else was here. Loki pulled one knife free and looked around him. He couldn't see who or what was out here but he knew he wasn't alone. Was he in danger?

“Its not wise to sneak up on strangers in the middle of the woods.” the boy backed away from the tree he was standing at, lazily twirling his knife in his hand as he spoke. There was a chance that he was just dealing with one of the local wildlife in this forest. If that was the case the sound of his voice was most likely going to scare whatever it was off. If it was something more than the average animal though his words were a good warning to them that he wasn't someone to mess with. Friendly or not Loki was not going to take a risk in playing nice with a potential stalker. Given his unfortunate luck in the past any supernatural he did run into was bound to not be nice. He had gotten lucky with Weylyn but he didn't expect things to improve just because of his last encounter. “Show yourself or walk away, I don't care either way. So long as you don't try to play any games with me. I don't care too much for games.” Loki continued to scan his golden eyes through the forest for any signs of who or whatever was lurking out beyond it. One way or another something was going to happen.

[Deleted]

Clary was just walking when she heard something, maybe knives or arrows, hitting targets and she got curious. The sound was very faint but she though she knew where it was coming from. Carefully she walked toward the area, still in tiger form. She tried to be stealthy but lack of food and the fact that she was a big animal made it difficult to be completely silent.

When the person called out she jumped, she was to far away for anyone normal to hear her footsteps and they should have been quiet to a human anyway, no matter her current situation. After her moment of shock she took in the smells, she smelled feline coming from the direction of the voice and the earlier sounds. She took to the trees to be safe.

Going from branch to branch after climbing a nearby tree she got to where she could easily see the person who she heard earlier. Finding a solid branch she laid down across the branch and shifted back. The tree she was in would be impossible to get to had she not used her other form.

"I wasn't meaning to sneak up on you really," She said looking down at the person. She was confused by the scent he was giving off, what was he. "I heard those knives of yours hitting the targets and was curious about what was going on so I started walking this way," She said noticing as she looked around that it was in fact knives she had heard. "Of course than you called out and startled me, may I ask your name?" She asked politely, she felt she had explained enough and she felt safe up in the tree from his knives.

[Loki]

Loki wasn't alone out here in the woods. He soon found that out the moment he had heard footsteps approaching. Being a shapeshifter did have some perks, while his animal form wasn't as powerful as most of his kind it did bless him with sharp senses. Those senses came in handy for moments like this. How easy it would have been for this stranger to sneak up on him and attack him if he had been human? It was a good thing that he knew that it was coming, but he didn't know what was coming. Footsteps were not enough to go by in identifying his potential enemy. He couldn't see who it was despite his excellent night vision. There was just enough moonlight for his feline eyes to catch and enhance his vision. But whatever was out there wasn't within his line of sight to make use of that natural ability. There wasn't even a scent for him to catch either. The wind was blowing the wrong way, preventing him from finding this intruder by scent, unfortunately the wind was in the perfect place to carry his scent though. If this mysterious person had a keen sense of smell too it would know what he was. He could only hope that it wouldn't be as drawn in and addicted to his scent like Gil was.

The boy debated about what he should do for a moment before he finally called out to whoever was lurking out in the forest with him. There was no way that Loki could hide given the circumstances. He couldn't just ignore what he heard either, he knew what kind of creatures lurked in these woods too well to turn his back on this stranger. So to be on the safe side Loki announced his presence, giving a subtle hint to any potential enemy that he wasn't someone they wanted to mess with. It was only a matter of time till he got some kind of answer, either the sound of the person fleeing, or coming towards him. Either one worked for him. Running away was the preferred option of course. Loki stood there, twirling his little blade as he waited for a response. Soon one came. He could hear something moving up in the trees now, but it wasn't going away from him, it was coming towards him. His body tensed up as the sound got closer but he kept his expression cool. His faintly glowing eyes peered up in the trees for any signs of this being, but he didn't see anything until she spoke.

The moment that Loki heard the female's voice he turned around to look up at the tree behind him. So he wasn't dealing with a normal animal after all. Loki took a good long look at the woman up in the tree as he sized her up. She looked fairly human but that didn't fool him. He after all looked pretty human too, only his eyes, and a few little habits of his could give away his true nature. This female had to be the same, she didn't look human but he doubted that she was. He couldn't tell what she was yet though from this distance, not without at least being able to pick up her scent anyway. Appearance wise she didn't seem too threatening, she was nothing more than a lone, wary female, she was fairly slender for someone her age, much like he had been (and still was) back when he had lived on the streets. He couldn't help but feel a little bad just looking at her. When she spoke he almost felt bad for being overly cautious.

“Is that so?” the boy finally answered when she had finished explaining herself. “I can't really blame you for being curious but you should really be more careful about indulging your curiosity. Taking a quick peek at someone training with dangerous weapons might lead to a very deadly situation. Some people don't like being sneaked up on. It makes them jumpy, and jumpy people can be very dangerous.” Loki smiled up at the female before putting away his weapon. “Luckily for you I am not a dangerous person.” At least he wasn't dangerous to those he didn't consider his enemies. Judging from this female's looks and from what she said he had nothing to worry about from this one. “My name is Loki, since you asked. What's your name?”

[Deleted]

Clary smiled as Loki replied, it seemed she wasn't seen as a threat. That was a good thing. Clary took another whiff of the air as Loki spoke. "I know sneaking up on people isn't the best thing, generally I stick to the trees anyway. It's harder to hit something that's above you like I am to you. Besides, as I said, I wasn't trying to sneak up on you," She said calmly as she stayed where she was on the branch.

"Well, hello Loki, my name's Clary," She said then shifted and jumped from the branch. When she landed she sat down and shifted back coming out of the shift in a crouch. "So what are you may I ask? Your obviously not human if you could hear me coming, and you smell feline," She said with a smile. She was actually a very kind person, she tried to make friends since she escaped her prison but she hadn't had much luck. She kept her smile as she stood straight, showing just how thin she was since she was skin and bones, anyone could tell by how her arms were as well as how her clothing hung on her. At least she was trying, which was more than she was doing at first.

[Loki]

After taking a good look at her and talking for a little bit Loki decided to loosen up a bit. There was no need to be so guarded if he wasn't in any danger, at the moment he didn't consider this female a threat to him. She hadn't been the stealthiest of creatures, but she had a perfect opportunity to attack him in the time it took for him to figure out where she was. This woman could have easily jumped down from her perch and attacked him before he could do anything, depending on what kind of powers she possessed she could have made quick work of him, female or not. But she didn't. Instead of attacking she decided to reveal herself and come clean about her intentions. There was little reason for him to think that she was not telling the truth, she seemed to be pretty friendly and honest. Well, this was the second supernatural person Loki had ran into that was actually nice. Perhaps his luck was improving a little bit?

“Stick to the trees huh? That's pretty smart.” Loki commented. The more he talked with the girl the more interested in her he became. She was a bit clever, and he liked clever people. “And here I thought I was the only one that did that.” Part of that was instinct of course. As a cat Loki was prong to climbing up things to avoid dangerous situations when he found that he couldn't outrun the problem. The safety of the trees, with their thick leaves to conceal your presence, many branches to sit on, and height, it made the perfect place to seek shelter. He didn't use it nearly as much as he would have liked though. That was one of the major problems with living in the city, there were few trees to safely hide away in when you were on the run. It was a shame really.

The topic shifted when the female asked him for a name. Being the friendly little shifter that he was Loki didn't hesitate to give his name. Rarely did Loki feel the need to hide his real name even with enemies. He still wasn't that well known in town for anyone to try and trace him by it for it to be a real concern. He was more than willing to give his name out, and in turn he got the female's name. “Clary...a beautiful name for a beautiful girl.” the boy smiled and winked up at the woman. He wasn't lying when he called her beautiful, despite her uncomfortably thin appearance she did look rather pretty, she had the potential to be even more attractive once she got a little more meat on her bones. Without warning Clary transformed and hopped off her perch to stand in front of him. Loki watched her in wonder. He was right she wasn't a human, but he hadn't expected her to be a shapeshifter. But once she asked him what he was he started to have doubts that she was a shifter.

“That's because I am a shapeshifter, a wild cat shifter to be more precise...though you should have known that seeing as how you are a shifter yourself right?” No matter what breed of shapeshifter they were every shapeshifter could identify one another by scent. Why didn't Clary pick up on that when she could smell him? Out of curiosity Loki took a step towards her and took in her scent. “Strange....I thought you were a tiger shifter but you don't smell anything like a shifter.” Her scent was all wrong. He could smell the tiger in her but there was human mingled into it as well, that was odd for a shifter. Though shapeshifters did have a human side they retained more of their animal scent, what little wasn't animal did not smell human. “I don't think you are a halfling either, if you were I would be able to pick some hint of shifter in you but I can't. Interesting...what are you?”

[Deleted]

Clary laughed, seems she wasn't the only smart one. "The trees hold refuge, they make it hard for anyone to hit you with anything. It's hard to aim into the leaves and limbs, along with the fact that they give height and a clear vantage point they seem the perfect place to hide," She said with a smile. She was glad someone saw her genius,very few recognized it.

Clary blushed and looked away, she hadn't been called pretty since she was small and had a proper family. That was years ago and she honestly never thought she would hear it again. Smiling she went to stand against a tree across from where the targets were set up.

Clary looked at the ground when he asked if she was a shifter, of course that's what he would expect. She took a deep breath and waited for the inescapable question. She let out the breath she had been holding when he asked. "Well, you see I'm not normal, even by supernatural standards. There a quite a few people like me, just none really out running around like I am. From the time I was five I was taken to a lab, they tested on me and conducted experiments. I took 'well' to what they did according to the scientists. Truthfully I was human, I was normal. I fit in," She said as she started sobbing. "N-now I stand out, I d-don't fit in with h-humans and I don't fit in with supernaturals," She said then shifted and climbed into the tree she was leaning against before shifting back on a high branch and continuing crying.

Clary was broken, she expected to be hated after she explained. The scientists had made her something she thought would never be accepted, honestly she wished she had just grown up normal. It was an easy thing to make Clary run from you but it was harder to make her cry. She expected to be pushed away so she ran away before anyone could push. She had tried to tie back her feelings, along with knowing she wouldn't be accepted, to keep herself from crying. It only works so long for someone who is so broken and who has had to basically be by herself since she was five, enduring test after test. She tried to take deep breaths to calm her crying but it wasn't helping at the moment.

[Loki]

Loki nodded in understanding as the woman named Clary explained her reasoning for using the trees in her current situation. The shifter didn't need any explanation on why trees were useful. Her logic was the same as his when it came to using trees. Height in general was a good way to hide oneself Loki found. Most people did not think to look up when searching for someone, and even when they did they normally had more difficulty climbing up to reach him anyway. Clary realized that too. She was smart. She would have to be smart if she was living out here on her own. If life in this world had taught him anything it was that only the smart of the strong survived in this world, more often than not it was intelligence that kept one alive. Those that had both traits outlived both of them. Perhaps Clary fell in this category as well? Seeing her animal form Loki was sure that she was stronger than she looked, if not right now she could be if she could feed herself better.

She would be very pretty too if she did so. Loki was quick to point that out when he was talking to her. He couldn't help but notice the faint blush on her cheeks when she looked away from him in that moment. Seeing the female blush brought a wicked grin to his face. Blushing made everyone cuter in the shifter's view and Clary here was no exception to this rule. Judging by how quickly he made her do so too meant it would be far too easy for him to get the same reaction out of her again. Boy he couldn't wait to see more of this adorable shy side to this woman. For now he would have to wait. Too much teasing and flirting too soon with such a cautious woman might scare her off. He didn't want to do that. He was too curious about her to risk scaring her off so soon.

Loki's curiosity peaked once Clary came down from her perch. Her scent was something he had never encountered before. He knew before she revealed her tiger form that she was probably not human, but once he finally took in her scent he quickly realized that his 'she's a shapeshifter' theory was wrong. She smelled too human to be one. At first he thought she might be a halfling. Half breed shifters were not a common thing back in the world he had came from, but with this new world that he lived in where he could barely find another shapeshifter, let alone a shapeshifter of his particular breed, it wouldn't come to him as a shock to meet a half human half shapeshifter here. But that scent wasn't right for a halfling either. She didn't smell anything close to a real shifter at all. So what was she? His curiosity prompted him into asking her this. The question he had asked was pretty innocent. Loki wasn't one to antagonize those that were different from him. Since he had come to New Orlands he had met plenty of new supernaturals. He was currently living with a Fallen Angel and a Shadow Cat, made enemies with a Hellhound, and even knew a Witch, a human that just happened to gain the knowledge of magic. He was always interested in encountering new creatures and learning about them so long as said new creature didn't want to chew on his cute fluffy tail.

His question was innocent, but Clary didn't take it well. At first she seemed reluctant to even answer his question but when she finally did she eventually broke down. The sudden change in emotion caught the boy off guard. He didn't even know what to do when she broke down. Everything about this just made him confused. Her answer wasn't what he had expected, he wasn't even sure that he fully understood it. What did she mean by tests? Did that mean she was originally human before those people got to her? Who were those people? Seeing the girl cry made him feel immensely guilty. He didn't mean anything harmful when he had asked her that. He didn't think it would be such a big deal to ask since she had already asked him to reveal himself. Now he made her cry. Just like how he upset Blake the first time they met, had he done something wrong?

“Clary wait!” he called out to her as she ran back up the tree she had came from. Cursing himself the boy shifted to his feline form and climbed up after her. He really hated making women cry. All his life he had been taught to please the opposite sex so he couldn't help but try to make things right with this girl he thought he had wronged. Loki made his way up to the branch Clary was crying in. He was tempted to shift back to his human form to help console her better but he didn't want to risk putting too much weight on the branch to make it snap underneath them. He couldn't do much else but mew and gently paw at her to get her attention. “I'm sorry if I offended you.” he apologized. Once again he screwed up and he had no idea what he had done or how to make it right but he would try anyway.

“You know you aren't the only person in the world that doesn't fit in...I might not have gone through the same things you have but I never really belonged either. I was treated differently from others when I was a kitten because of who I was born to...my childhood wasn't as bad as yours sounds like but it wasn't the best either. Then when I ended up in this place, torn away from the place I was born I was even more isolated than before. I was suddenly thrown into a place I had no idea how to live in, surrounded by people that wanted me dead just because I am not a human, and just because I am a supernatural doesn't mean that I belong in this world with them. There are plenty of humans and supernaturals that would kill me just for who I am. So trust me when I say this, you aren't the only one who doesn't belong.”

[Deleted]

Clary could, of course, hear Loki calling after her but she couldn't help it, she didn't even really know why she lost it earlier. She just knew that she had been holding back the fact of what she was for a long time, mainly from fear of everyone pushing her away because she wasn't like them in any way. Sometimes she wished she had stayed in AXIUM but that would mean staying where you are tested on constantly and are never happy anyway.

"Y-you didn't offend me, I promise you didn't," She said trying to smile through the tears still streaming down her face. "Honestly I was trying not to cry, I've been one big mess since I got out of where I was. It was a horrible place but at least I knew how to survive there," She said softly. She sat up on the branch and slowly tried to stop the stream of tears, it somewhat worked but for the moment she still had tears streaking down her face every few seconds.

"Still, I felt like I belonged way better when I was five. I felt like the world was mine! Now I feel like everyone should hate me and push me away for something I can't control. I feel like people should automatically turn their backs on me," She said sadness in her voice.

"Considering what I've said though you probably have question," She said with a smile. Her eyes were dry now and she hoped she could contain her emotions while explaining if Loki wanted to ask. "If you do it's fine, ask away. I think I can handle it, control my crying. I still don't really know why I started crying earlier anyway," She said her eyes bright.

[Loki]

Had he done something wrong? That thought had entered his mind when he saw the female cry. It was a strange sight to see for someone like him. Usually Loki's presence made females feel at ease and smile at him, not cry. As of late though that seemed to have changed. After spending so many years avoiding all contact with others the only women he had ever bothered to talk to at all seem to get upset around him. Clary was the second female to break down on him like this. It was hard to understand exactly what he had done to cause this but it seemed to be an uncomfortable pattern emerging with the male. Well, at least his relationships with other men had seen a great improvement. With the exception of Guillotine, Loki managed to befriend two guys. That was a drastic improvement compared to his luck with the same sex before he entered this world. Pattern or not though Loki was determined to make this right somehow. He made the effort to climb up and sit beside Clary and tried to comfort her.

He was able to get her to smile at him, though her smile felt more forced then genuine. He didn't bother to call her out on it, at least she was trying to recover and that was something. Clary tried to explain to him that her tears were not his fault and that she was just in a very emotionally vulnerable state due to recent events. Loki nodded his head in understanding of that. From what she said earlier it wasn't really much of a surprise to hear such a thing. “Living out in the world like this definitely is a big change.” he replied. Loki understood that all too well. This world had been so overwhelming to him when he had first woken up here that it was a miracle that he even survived his first year. He wouldn't have made it if it wasn't for Amalia. Having her by his side for him to look after and have a shoulder to lean on helped him keep going. That was until she died. “For you its probably better than where you came from. Its not easy but I have little doubt that it could be worse.”

Could it be though? The thought came to him just as he uttered those words. For Clary things could improve but for him he wasn't so sure. While Loki could not deny that his life took on a better turn for the most part since Azazel and now Wey entered his life nothing lasted forever. The last time he had someone he was close to he ended up getting them killed. A part of him still worried that he would do the same thing to the friends he made now. That fear had made him break things off with Blake before she could become too attached to him. There was always the chance that things could turn bad for him and everyone he cared about again. But that was his fate, not Clary's. Loki forced his attention away from his own depressing thoughts to listen to Clary once more. He shook his head when she started to put herself down. “This world can be a cruel place sometimes but that doesn't mean that you don't belong in it. There are plenty of people in the world both supernatural and human alike that will reject you, but there are just as many of those that won't. Take right now for example. I am different from you and I am still here. You need to have pride in who and what you are. You never had a choice in what you are, but most of us don't. The moment that you start thinking that you are a monster or that you are dirty you will never find happiness. You can't be a monster because of what you are, its what you do in this life that turns you into one. Speaking from experience I don't think you are one.”

Loki hesitated for a moment when Clary invited him to ask her some questions. Loki was pretty curious about Clary's past but he wasn't sure if he should ask anything. Despite her claims that she could handle it he had some doubts that she wouldn't break down on him again if he prodded her too much. There was also the problem of her turning the tables around on him. That was always a big risk when one brought up the past, the more one asked about the past the more the other party took interest in the questioner's history. There were certain things in Loki's life that he didn't want to talk about. If he asked this female for some very personal information there was a good chance that she would turn around and ask him the same thing. He didn't want to risk that. At the same time there were a few things that he wanted to know, mostly because he was a little worried about this woman. “Maybe it will be better if we keep the past in the past for now and focus on the present.” the boy finally answered. “You said you escaped from somewhere right? How long ago was that? Where have you been living since then?” That was probably the safest question he could ask. It also happened to be the one he was the most interested in. It was plainly obvious that Clary was having some trouble adjusting to her new environment on her own. There was no way that she had any real place to stay or any way of feeding herself as she was now. Perhaps he could help her out if he knew more about her current situation?

[Deleted]

Clary smiled even wider when Loki started encouraging her. Her smile was no longer something that she had to force or fake. Loki was the first person to really want to help her, who had encouraged her and made her feel better. Most shifters or other supernaturals wouldn't even try to chase her up the tree like Loki had. She relaxed, more comfortable by his side in the tree than she had since she had left AXIUM behind.

"Your right, I shouldn't put myself down, and now I can honestly say I feel better than I have in a long time," She said, her smile and eyes beaming contentment and happiness. She truly felt okay for the first time, and that was both a sad thing to say for society and a good thing for Clary.

Taking a deep breath Clary prepared herself for difficult questions and things that would take time to explain, but those things didn't come. "Okay then," She said a bit surprised. "Well to start with, yes I escaped from somewhere. About three months ago, maybe four, I didn't really keep track at first, I escaped from this lab. I've been living on the streets since, no one really cares about a homeless 18 year old who has no where to go and is terrified of most things since she doesn't want to get caught and sent back to the place she escaped from. So my life hasn't been very good since I left, better than being a prisoner in a lab with tests done on you every day, but not great," She said, her eyes looking toward the ground as she finished. She was scared again of how Loki would take it, he would eventually piece together where she had been since she was five.

[Loki]

Clary seemed to be responding well to Loki's attempts to console her. She had stopped crying, and even her smile felt a lot less forced than it had been before. He was making progress here, now he just needed to keep her happy. That wouldn't be the easiest of tasks. Loki was a pretty good judge of character. He could tell a lot about a person's personality, their weaknesses, strengths, flaws, you name it, all within a short space of time. He might not have known Clary long but he could already tell what kind of person she was. She was scared, vulnerable, and wary of others. It didn't take a genius to figure that out, but it did take some level of brain power to know how to deal with someone like her. If he wanted to keep this female from crying or running away from him he'd have to be cautious on how he talked to her, specifically on the kinds of questions he asked her.

It was obvious that anything to do with where she came from was a no go. She had been so upset at him just asking what she was that he was almost certain that if he asked her anything about this lab place she had escaped from she would have a mental breakdown. He couldn't really blame her for that. There were somethings in life that one did not want to think about. Loki had his own demons in his past to deal with, while he seemed reluctant to forget about them and move on he liked to keep those demons to himself, leaving them to only rise to the surface whenever he was alone, or even subconsciously in his sleep. Out of caution, and understanding from his own pain did he avoid asking about her old home and instead focused on asking her about her current situation. After all there was no way to change the past, but there was a way to change the present. So long as the present needed changing that was.

Loki listened quietly to what Clary had to say. It had been less than six months since Clary had escaped her old home and started living in the streets. That explains her physical condition he thought. Loki could remember how hard it was for both him and Amalia during their first few months in this world. Everything was so different and scary that it was overwhelming to the shifters. The hunger was the worse part. It was hard to find food in the cities. There was less prey to hunt, and they didn't have the money to afford to buy food. They didn't even understand the currency at first which only made their situation that much harder. If it wasn't for Loki learning how to pickpocket they'd both probably starve to death in that time. Clary's case was probably not much better. She might have been born in this world but that didn't mean that she knew how this world worked in order to survive it, and unlike Loki she didn't have someone else to endure it with.

“I see so you haven't been out on the streets that long.” he mused out loud. “It doesn't look like your current lifestyle agrees with you, that's for certain.” Clary was the second person that Loki had met that needed help but he wasn't sure how he could help her. He was tempted to give her the same offer he had made with Weylyn but he was hesitant to do so. Like Wey Clary had no where to go, but she wasn't as calm as the shadow cat was. Despite his amnesia Wey had been pretty relax around Loki from the start so when Loki offered him a place to stay he had jumped at the offer. Though he was a little too eager at the idea of sleeping with the shifter there was no problem with giving him that offer. Would Clary even accept the offer if he gave it to her? More importantly was he in any position to ask her in the first place? There weren't a whole lot of places that she could sleep in if he did. It was one thing for Loki to share his bed with another person, but two was another story. The female might find it extremely uncomfortable sharing a bed with another male, let alone two. Azazel might also object to him suddenly bringing another person home with him too.

He'd have to think about this scenario carefully before he rushed into anything. He couldn't offer a place to stay if he didn't have one to give. But that didn't mean he would just abandon her in her current state without doing something. He wanted to help somehow. It wasn't that long ago that he had been living out in the streets himself so he understood all too well how that was like. “What have you been doing to get by?” he asked next. Since he had to think over offering Clary a place to stay he might as well address another problem at hand. Since Clary had been living out on the streets for only a few months there was a good chance that she didn't know how to survive properly out there. For Loki he had learned that the contents of a person's wallet could mean life or death, but had Clary learned that yet? How did she survive?

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It was true that Clary wasn't in the best physical shape but she was trying, she could only get by with so much. She had never learned to pickpocket, she knew what money was though and the importance of it. She was quite curious of what Loki would say to her current situation and wondered if he would help.

"No I haven't, it's been hard though, like I said. The world is so different than I remember, of course I can see the evil easier than the good now to," She said sadly. To Clary it was a sad thing that she could only see the bad anymore. It was like she was surrounded by blackness with MAYBE a couple bright spots like Loki. It was weird to think of it that way, but true.

Sighing she looked at her hands, she knew Loki had to be curious but she didn't really want to talk about her life in AXIUM. It was true that she hated the place and she never wanted to open the door to thoughts of what they did when they gave her the other form. They did that long before she learned to block out the pain.

She was pulled out of her thoughts about her past by Loki's next question. "Well, mostly I've been just begging for food, trying to play up people's sympathy. Of course you see how well that's working," She said with a sad smile at Loki. It was hard, she knew, to be on her own. She hadn't imagined it this hard though. She took a deep breath, holding back a few tears when thinking about her current situation, noting like had burst out of her earlier though.

[Loki]

Loki listened carefully to what Clary had to say. He didn't need her to tell him that she was having a hard time living out in the streets. All it took was one quick look at her to figure that much out on his own. No one got as skinny and frail looking as she did if they were doing well. Though even Loki had to admit he hadn't done much better than he did during his first few months living in this world. Thieving his way to survival helped put a bit of meat on both his and Amalia's bones, it helped keep them going just enough to keep moving. But there were still days that they both were left hungry, or times that they got little sleep because they couldn't find a good place to sleep in the city. What he did was probably better than whatever Clary was doing. What was Clary doing anyway? That was what he wanted to know. In order to survive on the streets one had to be smart and quickly adapt to their new enviroment. Somehow he doubted Clary had learned to adapt yet. She was too emotional to be the kind to easily adapt to a new enviroment. That worried him.

He was right to worry. When she finally told him what she was doing to get by the boy shook his head. Yup, it was just as he had thought, Clary was not going to make it very long the way that she was going. “If living in the streets has taught me anything its that you won't get too far begging your way to your next meal.” the boy said. “No one cares about vagrants. Most won't even look at you, those that are more likely to give you dirty looks than a bit of spare change. Unless you can charm a few extra bucks off of the more simple minded folks you won't get far. Even if you are a pretty face.” Loki never did make much trying to beg in the past. He at least made more than Amalia had but that was only because he knew his way around gullible women. A bit of flirting here and there could go along way. Of course he wouldn't tell Clary to go that far. Since Loki was a guy flirting with the opposite gender was harmless. But for women, especially young and vulnerable women it was likely to end in disaster.

“Let me tell you a little secret. If you want to make a living in the world you are in you have to know how to manipulate your way into a better place. Make friends with the right people and you can get anywhere you want no matter where you start from. Its either that or take what you want. If you need money don't just go begging. Take it directly from the source. Its not the best way to live, taking what you need always has a huge risk to it. But its better than begging.” Could this girl really become a thief though? Loki didn't think she could, but if she wanted to survive she just might have to. Loki wasn't sure that he could give this female the same opportunity that he had, or the one he had given Wey. If he couldn't give her a place to live right away that meant that she would have to stay where she was. How long it would take to find her a place of her own he couldn't be certain, so she had to have some way of living in the mean time. This might be her only option.

“Those tend to be the options for most of us. Either get smart enough to climb your way up, resort to petty crimes just to get by, or die. That's it. Plain and simple. But there may be another way.” Loki paused for a moment as he tried to think of what he would say next. He didn't want to make any promises that he couldn't keep but at the same time he didn't want to leave Clary alone with nothing to hope for. “I would offer you a place to stay if I had one right now, but thanks to recent changes in my living arrangements that might not be possible right now. But I do have a job, not a stable one, but one that pays decently enough that I might be able to help out a little. I also have friends that might be able to help out too. I can ask them about making some kind of arrangement for you to get off the streets. I can't promise anything on that front though. But I can give you a bit of money and food in the meantime. I am not sure how much I can spare in the long haul but it will definitely be more than what you are getting now. What do you say?”

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Clary listened for a moment, she knew Loki was right. "Yeah, I've figured out that begging doesn't get you far. I don't really know how to steal or anything else though," She said, she looked at her hands in her lap.

"Besides not knowing how to be a thief, I'm terrified to really meet people. If I meet the wrong person they could take me back to that place," She said with a shiver going down her spine. She was terrified of pretty well anyone, the only reason why she approached Loki was that he was out here practicing and not in a lab somewhere, that and he didn't smell like the scientists did. Even the ones who were some kind of supernatural always had an underlying scent of chemicals, at least to her.

She sat there in silence for a moment and pondered over what her life had become. What was she going to do if she DID run into one of those scientists? She didn't know if she could really fight them and she knew if they had anything to subdue her with them she would be done for. Shaking her head slightly, she tried to get rid of the thoughts.

"I-I'd say thank you. You don't have to take pity on me," She said surprised. She wouldn't mind a place to live and she certainly wouldn't mind having a better amount of food. She smiled, looking up at Loki.

She debated on telling him about her past anyway, she trusted him more than anyone she had really known. She could trust him not to sell her out she was sure, and he would hopefully still want to protect her after he knew. That was what was stopping her though, she didn't want to be abandoned by the one person she could count on at the moment. She looked out into the distance, lost in thought for the time being.