The crow caws at them again, mocking, before flying off.

And the two of them can go to hide their supplies for a later date.

Loki, of course, is still working with her friends from magic class on their group project.

Mal thinks they should center it around enhancing technology, though technology can do so much it'll be hard figuring out something only magically enhanced tech can do...

Loki has any knowledge of how Asgardians blended technology with magic! Hopefully that'll be enough to show off...

Well, they can make a lot of progress on the planning, at least.

Still, Raine seems tense around Loki - pretty much the entire time, answering her a bit more shortly than normal, usually directing comments to Mal...

Loki lets Mal leave ahead of her, lingering and trying to catch Raine's eye.

"Hey. Something up, Loki?"

"I was kinda going to ask you that. You've seemed - really unhappy?"

"Oh. That." She waves a hand. "No big deal, just some personal stuff. School stress, mostly."

"Well - if you need anything, help or just someone to vent to, you can let me know, alright?"

"Thanks. You're a good friend, Loki."

"I'm trying!"

"Doing well at it!"

And then it's time to go their separate ways.

Loki focuses on her studies over the next few weeks, growing ever stronger in magic - and especially mental defenses. She won't be weak like that again, especially not with Kid Omega still angry at her.

Thor and Steve come over pretty often, sometimes together, sometimes apart. Loki perks up whenever they visit, especially when Thor brings old tomes on magic or Steve gives her the email of a sorcerer friend of his.

Her personal life is going a bit less well. Raine gets cold, and Mal gets ever more hesitant around Loki, especially once their presentation's done. Loki flounders in trying to figure out what's even wrong.

Still, she's an odd sort of friends with Five in One, now, learning more and more how to tell the quintuplets apart. (And there's something weird about those five. It's not like Loki doesn't refuse to talk about her past, too, but Loki's at least decently open about not having a past. The Cuckoo girls never mention family, or where they were before joining Xavier's Academy this year, or - anything.)

Kid Omega seems to be getting angrier, too, lashing out verbally more and more at other students - still not openly using his powers, though, at least not that Loki can tell.

And then, one day, when just Mal's there:

"Loki, I want to talk to you about something."

"Is something wrong?"

"I - "

"I think we shouldn't hang out so much anymore."

" - Why not? We're friends, right - "

"I'd rather not be."

Loki just -

Stares at her.

Disbelieving.

Mal shifts, seeming uncomfortable.

"Look, I'm not gonna start being mean or anything, I just - why don't you play more with the kids your age?"

Loki takes a deep breath.

And turns and runs in the other direction.

She needs to get away, needs to hide somewhere no one's going to try to talk to her about this hateful roaring in her chest - the urge to rip Mal apart will go away if she just ignores it -

There's a comfortable little tangle up that old tree, hidden from just about every view point. Someone small like Loki could probably wedge herself in, and the only one around's a single crow, who flutters away a bit when Loki runs past. (She might've missed the spot, if not for the motion catching her eye.)