The Asgardian royal medical ward was truly something to behold, just as grand and gold as the rest of the planet. The ward was used to seeing injured war heroes, greeting bloody royalty with its arching double doors. The princes of Asgard themselves had once laid upon those beds, staining the white sheets red. As they grew older, their visits became sparse, as one brother learned to kill his enemies on the battleground quicker, and the other learned to nurse his injuries in private.

However what the Asgardian medical staff was not accustomed to seeing, was Midguardians. Only once before had they seen one, when prince Thor brought the lady Jane, who had been infected with the reality stone. Thus, the staff there felt a strange sense of deja-vu when the second prince of Asgard burst through the doors, carrying his own Midguardian lady. Loki had a much larger entourage with him, whom the staff had shoo'd away so they could better focus on healing the woman. Loki was the only visitor allowed to stay, as he had simply refused to put her down until they caved.

Still, he was banished to stay several feet away from her bed as the staff worked, the trickster watching their every move with glaring eyes. Clearly, he didn't appreciate the distance, but the staff silently resolved to gossip about the strange events later, when the ears of royalty were far away. Thus the room was silent, the only sounds to fill the ward were the rustlings of their equipment, and their footsteps upon the marbled floors. No other patients graced the ward that day, as there was no battle for bloody heroes to emerge from.

They worked carefully and quickly, several pairs of hand working together in a flawless and practiced fashion to cut off the woman's hasty bandages, and examine the wound. She had been shot with a high-pressure plasma blast, likely at a close distance. The blast made contact just above her left knee, and had caused her to loose a substantial amount of blood. While working, they found traces of magic around the wound, magic that they recognized as Loki's, meant to remove her pain. The staff shared glances, taking silent guesses at the nature of the relationship between the prince and the Midguardian.

After what had felt like an eternity to the stony prince, the staff finished their work, and dispersed themselves about the room, some breaking off in pairs of two, excitedly chittering in hushed tones. Loki paid no mind to them, and took it as his cue to finally approach Naomi. Standing at her bedside, he realized that there was more color to her cheeks, and the clean, white wrap around her thigh had no trace of blood upon it. With a sigh of relief, a great pressure lifted from his chest, and summoning a chair to him, Loki sat. He waited for a long while, his eyes searching over her face. He watched the soft movement of her parted lips as air was pushed and pulled out of them, her breath steady.

Loki did not know how long her sleep would last, but he didn't bother questioning the medical staff. Instead, he gently reached out, and took her limp hand in his, squeezing it in reassurance that he was there.

---

After being expelled from the medical ward, Thor, Bruce, and Valkyrie decided to turn to a slightly different location. The great feasting hall, where they were guaranteed good music, food, and most importantly, strong drink. The only one who planned on staying sober was Bruce, who also had no choice but to follow his friends as they expertly traversed the halls of the castle. Bruce had no idea how they knew where they were going, but lately he seemed to never have any idea what was happening, so he rolled with it.

The only other inhabitants of the grand hall was a few scattered servants, who quickly pushed themselves to the edges of the room once they saw prince Thor and his companions enter. Thus, the party of three was undisturbed as they claimed their seats at the center table, Thor immediately reaching for the meat, Valkyrie for the booze, and Bruce reaching for his patience.

"So what's the plan now?" Bruce asked, tentatively grabbing a loaf of bread for his plate. After noticing that there was no silverware present, he simply gave up on formalities and ripped into the bread with his teeth.

"Don't know." Thor mumbled through a mouthful of meat. Bruce idly wondered if Asgard had the same livestock that Earth had, and put the thought away for later.

"Naomi said we're going to Midguard, right?" Valkyrie asked, putting down her first empty bottle. Bruce sensed that several more empties were on their way. For as anxious as she had been walking out of the jet, Valkyrie seemed to be in her element at the table.

"I think you're going to Midguard." Thor waved what appeared to be an oversized buffalo wing at both Bruce and Valkyrie, surprising both of them.

"Why not you?" Bruce asked, frowning at the thunder god. Thor shrugged, unbothered by his lack of knowledge.

"Ask Naomi when she wakes up." Valkyrie said. The woman had finished all the nearby booze, and now hesitantly grabbed a bottle of red liquid that appeared similar to wine. She swirled it for a moment, taking a sniff as she wasn't accustomed to the finer sides of alcohol.

"I can never understand half of what she says." Bruce complained, finishing off his loaf and contemplating trying the mystery meat. Naomi was constantly making strange references, and finishing people's sentences at random. Perhaps she really was a prophet, Bruce mused.

"You get used to it." Thor smiled, comforting the scientist.