Love-marks is actually based on the book Runemarks and its sequel Runelight. Loki and Maddy hang out atop of the hill where a little slip-up can reveal a tiny fragment of the mystery known as Loki.

Loki had been through this before.

' I'm telling you we have to do something! '

Maddy and he were laying leisurely upon Red Horse Hill, the old hill, the way it used to be before the End of the Worlds, or the End of the Worlds before it. 'Why us? ' he exclaimed kind of sluggishly, 'Why not Odin, or Thor, or Goldy?'

'Becaaause,' she exclaimed 'we are the only ones with the super ninja match-making ability to do it. Well you at the least. I know you have your way of convincing girls to do all kinds of things for you. ' She grinned at him and turned to her side to face him. He looked at her kind of bored at the very discussion. 'Oh, you'd think? ' he said with a half smirk, 'Don't bet your life on that. '

'Well-,'

'No, Maddy listen,' he looked really tired and maybe a bit bitter now, 'I can't and I don't care about Skaddi's and Njord's non-existent relationship. I mean, why do you even care so much about it anyway? It's not like you can bring them back together. '

Maddy's mood faltered and her eyes bore a hesitant glint. His mood was all over the place today. She was starting to worry about her friend.

'Loki, what's wrong? ' she asked softly. He looked away.

'Talk to me. ' she urged him.

'There's nothing to talk about. I just wish you'd stop talking about Skaddi's love life and how you can fix it. '

She stared at him for a moment thinking hard and wondering -not for the first time- how missjudged he was by everyone and that he truly was a deep and tormented person. No one else, other than her and maybe his blood brother, the Allfather had even managed to get a slight idea of the very person before her. And why would they spare a meager thought about him. HIM? He was the Trickster after all, the ultimate prankster, the biggest liar and the most selfish, cowardly, evil person on earth, as some would consider.

'I just think that, since there's nothing useful we can do right now, we could spare a-,' she thought about his words a little more. Then her face lit up in an incredulous way that made her seem both scared and amused,

'You like her! '

'What, no-! ' he declared startled.

'Bloody hell, you are so into her-, ' She managed to say that in a cute chattery way but inside her she was shocked at the very thought of it. Maybe even a little sad- no not sad, you are NOT sad that he likes someone else, he's your friend for god's sake BE HAPPY! she scolded herself inwardly. Somehow, she couldn't really help it. But that matter was something she would consider later.

'Maddy no, really. ' His voice was kind of squeezed and leisure as if he thought she were saying something cute but Maddy wanted to know for sure, and, truth be told, she liked seeing him cornered so she played ball.

'And-, ' she insisted, 'you want me to do something about it. '

'No. ' he was a lot firmer this time, his harsh tone implying that the conversation is done, or at the least that he was done talking to her.

He got up from the hard but all the same comfortingly familiar ground and headed towards Little Bear woods without so much as a word or a nod, or even a look towards her, leaving a startled and curious Maddy behind him.

Uh-oh, boy he's mad, she thought.

She considered the whole thing a little more lying down on the ancient, rough surface of the hill gazing the lazy clouds passing by and dreaming of the days to come until it started raining and Maddy ran up to the comfort and safety of her home's four walls and roof.

That night she couldn't sleep. Dangerous thoughts and a sickening feeling was churning inside of her. She didn't know what to assume of Loki's odd behaviour. She couldn't keep up with his moods these days. Does he like her? she wondered. No, no he can't like her, he said so like a thousand times over! But then again maybe he was lying. Besides he did leave in a kind of abrubt way. He's the father of Lies after all.

'Damn I should get a hobby. ' She said aloud and plunged into deep sleep, only to be awakened a few hours later. By Loki. Of course.

'WHAT? ' she exclaimed after a minute of having to endure Loki singing 'Maddy, Maddy get out of bed, you're sleeping all day and I have to be fed, Maddy Maddy up on your feet you have to find me something to eat'

Maddy tilted her head lightly so that she could see him and groaned but tried her best to keep her composure. Yap he had that effect on people.

'Come ON-, ' he nudged her, 'get up sleeping beauty. You know, I'm here trying to wake you up so you won't sleep yourself to death, I even made you a song. So pull yourself together and get UP. '

He was back to his normal nerve racking self, with no sign of yesterday's weird turn of events on him. In fact he was in a pretty good mood. In an awfully good mood Maddy thought. That is never good she considered slightly amused, knowing that when the Trickster had his happy face on, some poor soul on this planet had to suffer his witty acts of pranking. She hoped that she wouldn't be the one to fill that role today.

'Loki, ' -sigh-, 'you are not doing this for me. You are doing it so that I charm Ethel into giving me blueberry pie. Well guess what- NOT gonna happen. ' And on that high note she pulled the covers over her and went back to sleep.

'OK. ' said Loki. 'But don't forget I called you a beauty. Maybe you can pull a little favour for me now? ' He smiled as graciously as his sewn lips could allow him though he was still charming and very, very- attractive. A lot more gracious than tons of handsome men out there. Maybe it was the chaos in his blood, a secret ingredient that paired up with charm, or his bad boy attitude that drawn a lot of women, or his emerald green eyes, or his vibrant smile or his- Stop, just stop OK? Jeez what's wrong with me?

Gods, and his smell. 'Fine! ' she exclaimed at last, 'just give me a moment and I'll be ready. Now get out of here! '

Loki said nothing but grinned at her, a grin that was broad as well as sincere and left her to get ready.

'I'll be waiting for you outside my lady. ' he teased and swept her a bow so low it was a wonder he didn't hit the floor and one of his dazzling smiles before he turned around to leave, closing the door behind him just in time to evade a book Maddy had thrown at him after being called a lady.

Who is he calling a lady? She groaned clearly disturbed at the Trickster's presence but all the while she was glad he was all peppy again.

Great, looks like I'll be the one enduring his good mood today she thought kind of bitterly yet amused at the same time, glad her friend was back to normal.

Maddy was ready in no time. She got up, washed her face, brushed her long slightly wavy hair and put her clothes on. Usually she'd wear tight black cotton pants and a corset and a vest that were clearly designed for battles. Maddy usually was always dressed and ready for battle. Damn genes.

Not today she thought. Today was special. So she decided to slip on a cute little floral dress along with a short pair of brown boots and a brown slightly oversized wool jacket. She looked at her reflection on the mirror. I look ridiculous. I can propably change back before he- snap too late. Loki was making his way into her room, his face a mask of slight annoyance propably at her delay which transformed as quickly as it formed into something- what? Confusion? Admiration? Was she really that ridiculous, or was she actually pretty? Surely not the latter... A dangerous thought occured to her. Adoration maybe? She spoke first, before he had the chance to say anything.

'Don't worry I'll change back into something more-, ' he recovered from his dumbfounded position, his voice bearing a funny tone as if he was playing her.

'You'll do no such thing. You look lovely. ' he assured her. Maybe his voice was sligtly pitched from the surprise but his words and the glint in his eyes told her he was honest. Worse still, he was enjoying this. She was certain there would be some nasty lady comment in for her.

'So you do remember. I almost thought you'd forget. ' he said with his gemstone green eyes and evil mastermind smirk. He took a few steps towards her, slowly but steadily, his face unreadable yet glowing. Maddy had her back on him watching his idol on the mirror making his way towards her, having this funny little feeling at the pit of her stomach.

She smiled at him tentatively, as he reached her, bringing his hands around her in a loose embrace. She held his hands in hers as they looked at their entwined reflections.

'Happy Birthday. ' he said and kissed her playfully on the cheek before resting his head on her shoulder. Her grin widened and they both laughed blissfully.

'Thank you. ' she said finally turning around to face him, their bodies still lightly pressed together, his hands resting lazily on the small of her back. He was taller than her, half a foot maybe and he was looking down at her as if she was something fragile and precious, absent mindedly gazing at her face in his scrutinizing way of his before he spoke again. The spell was now broken.

'Let's go. ' he said, letting go of her.

'Where to? ' she was legitimatly confused and maybe a little disenchanted at the lack of embrace. The place where his hand were rested felt very cold, very empty now.

'To the Great Hall of Whispers. ' a lazy grin spread on his face.

'But what-, '

'Shhhh, let's go birthday girl. ' And with that he caught hold of her hand and walked her out of the door.

This is like the very first time to ever write and publish fanfiction. I know it's short but there'll be more chapters coming. Costructive critisism welcome and wanted :)

Please also note that the cover image is fanart and belongs to Leonie Muller.