"I will," Elaine promised. She grinned a bit. "We'll see if I get cell reception." She hugged him quickly. "Try not to worry too much, okay?"

Steve smiled a little and hugged her again, holding her for a few seconds longer.

"I'll try. But I make no promises." He managed to grin at her.

"I know you'll worry some," Elaine said, cuddling him a bit. She grinned. "If I have to, I'll tell Tony to keep you distracted if you start pacing or locking yourself in the gym, though."

Steve chuckled. "Well, I'll keep that in mind," he said, smiling a little. Because he'd rather not find out what exactly Tony's brand of distraction was.

Grinning, Elaine leaned up to give him a small kiss and then slid out of his grasp.

"I need to go change and then do some shopping," she said. "I don't think I own anything nice enough for this, so I'll be back soon."

Steve nodded, letting go of her.

"Alright. Have fun." He watched her go before he shook his head, still unsure about the whole thing but not about to tell her anything.

Elaine grinned and bounced off to change out of her bathing suit so she could go shop. Once she was dressed, she went to find Kae.

"Want to go shopping with me?" she asked. "I want to get what I need now so I know I'm not forgetting anything."

"Sure, sounds good." Kae grinned and got up, stretching a bit and going to get her purse so they could go, since she was already dressed again. "Where to first?"

"Clothes," Elaine said promptly. "Macy's or something."

It didn't take them very long to update their wardrobes a bit, and packing was done in near-record time. Both girls really wanted to go to the conference, so much so that neither of them really slept the night before they had to leave for it. Not that it stopped them, of course; that's what coffee was for. Once she was sufficiently caffeinated, Elaine made sure all of her things were together and then waited for the others.

Kae and Loki emerged at almost the same time, Kae carrying her two bags and Loki dressed like a mortal again.

"Ready?" he asked them both, raising an eyebrow.

"As ready as it's possible to be, I think," Elaine replied, nodding. She had her bags next to her, and a small golden symbol pendant peeked out from the neckline of her shirt.

Loki nodded, eyeing the pendant for a moment before he shrugged. It was her choice to wear what she wanted. So long as she stayed with him, anyway.

So he snapped his fingers (purely for dramatic effect) and all three vanished, appearing outside the hotel that was holding the conference.

Once Elaine had her feet back under her, since she was definitely not used to being teleported places, she looked up at the hotel. It was a really nice place, even from the outside, and she began to feel just the slightest bit nervous.

Kae took a moment longer to get to her feet, since her prosthetic decidedly did not like magic, but she made it up again.

"This is where all the events will be," Loki said, twitching his jacket into place. "Most likely. Unless some of the others decide they want to test and see who is strongest. Again." He wrinkled his nose.

Elaine paused as she really processed that information.

"So help me, if there ends up being a thundering contest..." she muttered as she picked up her bags. She shook her head a bit.

"There are usually many contests," Loki said dryly. "Which is why we do not gather in such numbers often. It is usually... detrimental to the area."

"I can imagine," Elaine replied. She settled one of her bags on its wheels and put the second on top of it. "Ready when you are, I guess." She glanced at Kae.

Kae nodded and followed Loki into the hotel. He strode straight up to the front desk. The clerk blinked at seeing him with two humans.

"Ah, one room or two, sir?" the man asked after a moment.

"Two," Loki said, his lips twitching. He could share a room with the girls, but he had the feeling they'd like the semi-privacy better.

"Hey, minions get their own room," Elaine joked quietly to Kae as they waited to see what was going on. There were others filtering in and out of the lobby, and most of them seemed familiar in a way that Elaine wasn't necessarily comfortable with.

Kae snickered at that, already busy looking around the room and noting all the people who passed. She would have gone exploring but she wanted to find out where the room was first.

Loki took the card keys and handed one to each of the girls before he strode off to the elevators to go up to the fifth floor, and then down to their rooms. Of course, the girls' room was right next to his. Because they were there with him.

Elaine followed Kae once they got the card keys for the room. They still passed other people now and then, but none of them acknowledged the girls for the moment. Once they got to the room, Elaine claimed one of the beds and sat down.

"How many of them do you think were gods?" she asked Kae. "Because I think I spotted a lot."

"Yeah, that about sums it up. A lot." Kae shook her head. "I don't know how many exactly, but probably at least half the people we saw."

"At least," Elaine agreed. She bit her lip slightly and looked at her friend. "I'm suddenly a little nervous. It's like everything we ever learned about mythology is suddenly not just in the book anymore."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Kae sank down onto the other bed, looking out the window. "Suddenly shit just got real."

"No kidding," Elaine said, nodding. She was quiet for a moment. "What do you think will happen next? I mean... This can't really be like any of the conventions we've ever gone to."