I giggled as I saw Loki coming down the stairs, looking both bemused and annoyed in jeans, a fairly ugly Christmas sweater, and a soft-looking Santa hat.

"Remind me again when you became a Midgardian, Freya?" he grumbled, reaching the bottom of the steps.

"When you told me to come here," I reminded him patiently. "And when we got a flat here, in London." I looked out the window with a grin at the beautiful city. Snow gently coated everything. I turned back to him and said with faint sarcasm, "You know. Since we started living here."

"I still think that we should celebrate our version of Christmas, Freya," complained Loki.

I laughed. "But Midgardian Christmas is so much more fun!"

"A holiday built to honor a religious figure?"

I pouted. "With all technicality, you're a religious figure. So shut up. It's also technically built around a Pagan holiday meant to dispel darkness and cold amidst the season of the year that has the most of both."

His teasing mood disappeared like smoke. "I think I'm too cold and dark for this holiday, then."

I stepped forward, my face dropping into one of pain and sadness at remembered horrors. "Loki, please relax. You are not dark, or cold, or worthless." I stepped closer to him. "You are incredible, brave, and the most amazing man ever."

"You're so good for my self-esteem, Freya," he said softly, his countenance shifting back into jesting. He chuckled softly. "It must be why I keep you around."

I replied with a slight exhale of protest, stepping into his personal space. "You forget, Loki. You're not dominant in this relationship."

"But you're mine," he breathed, his pupils dilating as he looked down at me.

I laughed softly, craning my head back slightly so I could actually look at his green eyes. "That's where you're wrong," I growled low in my throat. "You're mine."

His gaze was heavy with want and neediness, and even though he looked ridiculous in his Christmas sweater, I was overwhelmed by his attractiveness. He leaned down to capture my lips in his -

and the bloody doorbell rang. I jumped backwards with a yelp and rushed down the hall, leaving a disappointed Loki standing at the foot of the stairs before he began to trail after me.

I opened the door to find Jane Foster standing on the steps and Thor standing there as well. "Come in!" I said happily. I turned around and yelled back to Loki, "They're here!"

Loki didn't reply, but in response to my yell, a tiny little girl came charging out from behind Thor and Jane. "Aunt Freya! Uncle Loki!" she yelled happily. Only three years old, she was wearing mini-jeans and a soft sweater, with boots that were too big for her on her feet and a Santa hat in a wild angle on her head. She nearly tripped on the carpet as she tried to run.

I scooped her up and swung her into the air, and she yelped, both of us laughing. "Is that how you say hi to your aunt, young lady?" I asked her with mock seriousness.

"No," she said, giggling, and reached forward to hug me. "Hi, Aunt Freya."

"Hello, Millie," I responded, setting her down.

She tugged her boots off with minor difficulty, then went tearing down the hall yelling, "Uncle Loki!"

I laughed as I turned to Thor and Jane. "She's doing well, then?"

Thor nodded, and I took a moment to realize just how odd he looked in normal clothes - but perhaps it was from a lifetime of seeing him otherwise. I led them both inside and sat them on the couch, hearing Millie's suddenly more confused cries of, "Uncle Loki?"

I turned around and said with a sigh, "Be right back." Jane just nodded, and I circled around the house to find Millie.

I went past the kitchen and into the den, where I found Millie standing in the center of the empty room, looking bemused and nervous but excited. She didn't notice me, and I leaned against the doorway, watching.

I heard Loki's voice come from midair, "Hello, Millie."

The little girl shrieked and sprinted to the door, but I blocked her way. "Say hello to your uncle, Millie," I whispered.

She turned around slowly to find Loki crouching in the middle of the room, his arms outstretched and a huge grin on his face. "Uncle Loki!" she yelled, and sprinted into his arms.

Loki leaned back with a laugh, then stood up and positioned her on his hip. "Have you been good this year?" he asked her.

Millie nodded vigorously.

"Has your dad been good this year?" The girl didn't notice, but I caught a trace of bitterness, a leftover from years gone by, in Loki's voice. I sighed inwardly.

Millie thought about it for a moment, then shook her head just as vigorously as she had nodded.

This surprised Loki into a laugh, and we walked out to the living room together, still laughing.

The doorbell rang again, and I sprinted off and opened the door to find Darcy and Ian standing there, with Eric hovering behind them. "Come in!" I laughed.

Within an hour, everyone was gathered in the living room that I had forced Loki to decorate, with a tree and lights and some holly on the mantlepiece.

Everybody was laughing and smiling as snow fell gently outside, the outdoor lights that I had put up with minor magical help (and by that I mean that I got tangled in the lights, fell over, got frustrated and used magic to string them all).

Darcy and Jane and I went into the kitchen, and I tried to help them cook, but the poor dears were hopeless. I ended up covered in flour, with a half destroyed gravy, and facing two sheepish-looking women. "Okay," I said quietly. "This is what we're going to do."

I snapped my fingers, and there were a few very loud banging noises before everything settled into place. Dish after dish settled themselves with gentle clatters on the counters, and I fought laughter as Jane and Darcy stared at me in wonder. "Show me how to do that!" breathed Darcy.

I shook my head with a soft giggle. "It's not really something you can learn."

Dinner was a giggly affiair, that involved me flinging olives at Loki across the table and showing Millie little pieces of magic, partially with Loki's help.

After dinner, I exiled Thor, Loki, Ian, and Eric to the kitchen and ordered them to clean up - with a fierce admonition to get along.

Then I joined Jane and Darcy in the living room and played with Millie, showing her more magic and to be honest, delighting the women as much as the little girl. After a few minutes of a distinct lack of water running and dish clattering from the kitchen, I stood and walked silently towards the kitchen -

where I found Loki, Thor, Ian, and Eric standing around in a perfectly clean kitchen, eating pie and laughing softly.

I knocked gently on the doorjam, causing them all to jump with a various mixture of Asgardian and Midgardian swears and much throwing of pie.

With a laugh, I pointed at the air and froze everything, keeping it from falling. "Now, boys. I told you to clean up the kitchen," I admonished them.

"We did," Eric replied. "Look around. Much clean."

I laughed again, nearly doubling over. "Yes. But it wouldn't be this clean this fast if you hadn't had help."

They all looked shiftily at the ground.

"That's what I thought," I said softly. "Loki, you menace, why'd you do that?"

"They - needed help," responded Loki, staring at his feet.

I stared around at them for a moment, then said quietly, "Dismissed. You are dismissed." They all started filing out, and I caught Loki by his chest and gently shoved him backwards. "Everyone but you."

He stared at me as the others left, and he whispered, "Now isn't quite the time, right, Frey?"

I laughed. "That was a nice thing you did for them," I murmured. "Cleaning up for them."

"Bonding," Loki replied with a tiny grin.

I smiled back, and arm-in-arm, we started for the living room. We were stopped at the doorjam by a whole line of grinning people on the couch, including Millie sitting in the middle of the floor. "What?" I demanded, acutely conscious of Loki standing right at my shoulder.

Jane pointed above my head, and Millie supplied the word: "Mistletoe."

I looked straight up, and found a bit of mistletoe dangling from the ceiling and rotating slowly between my head and Loki's.

"You're not allowed to move until you kiss!" Millie squealed excitedly.

"You teach your three-year-old these things?" I demanded of Jane and Thor, who only smiled.

Loki smirked. "Well, then. Do you want to be stuck here for the rest of the night, or d'you want a kiss?"

"Oh, please, you menace.," I replied, and he leaned down and pressed his lips against mine. It wasn't a very long kiss - in fact, when Loki pulled back, I released a tiny groan that I hoped didn't carry across the room - but it also was sweet instead of fiery, soft instead of passionate, and yet filled with the same type of love.

Loki shot me a tiny smile as he moved away to sit down, and I followed him with a brief hesitation.

About an hour later, our flat had cleared out, and Loki and I settled on the couch to enjoy Christmas Eve, just ourselves.

I leaned my head on his shoulder, curled up against his side. "So. How do you feel about Midgardian Christmas now?"

I felt rather than heard his laugh as his chest vibrated against my draped arm. "It's certainly a lot cozier than the Asgardian version."

I smiled. "Truth."

He turned his head slightly to look at me. "I'm just glad I got to spend it with you."

I grinned up at him. "Oh, Loki. My life would be so boring without you."

"You bet it would. That's why you love me, innit?"

"Ha ha, nope. I love you because I love you."

He leaned down to capture my lips with his. "You're not usually so open about that."

"No, but it's Christmas, idiot."

We sat there for a few minutes more before going to bed. The morning was a mess of coffee, wrapping paper, and a brand new kitten named Tony tearing around the flat, as well as a very giggly Loki.

Best (and first) Christmas ever.

Happy Christmas, Panwyn!