He had had enough with his brother and the Warriors Three to last him a lifetime, and with the revelations offered by Odin, he had been feeling less than welcome. Heimdall had been easy to convince to let him come here, which was a relief. But regardless of that, he was still upset with everything that had happened. How dare they treat him like that!

One day they would pay for their transgressions… one day.

Ember still couldn't quite wrap her head around everything that was going on, and she knew that it would take time. 'At least, unless he kills me in my sleep or something'… she thought to herself.

It had almost been an hour and she hadn't moved from the stool at her kitchen island. Her hands wrapped around the now-cold mug of tea and she all but stared at Loki as if trying to figure out if this was really happening. "So…this Asgard, it's real?"

"As real as your world, yes."

She nodded, and realized that she was very bad at small talk. "What brings you here, then?"

"I needed some time away, and this was the first place I thought of."

"I see." Chewing on the inside of her cheek, she narrows her gaze a bit. "So are all Asgardians naked?"

Loki laughed and it caused a shiver to trail down her spine, and she closed her eyes. "No, we are not. I don't know how that happened, but I apologize. I did not mean to…make you uncomfortable at all."

"Who, me? Nah. Never… I have naked men falling from the sky all the time." Sarcasm laced her words as she took a drink.

"Really?" Loki looked at her with astonishment.

Blinking, she looked at him with her mouth gaped slightly before shaking her head. "Sarcasm? I was being sarcastic." She even had the decency to blush. "I guess you don't have sarcasm where you're from, I apologize."

"I see. No need to apologize, I'm sure. I guess it will take some time to get used to the mannerisms here, I suppose."

Fumbling with the glass as she heard that, she turned her attention fully on him, "Does that mean you're staying?" Way to go, Em… real smooth.

"For awhile, yes I think I am." It wasn't like he was welcome back home anyway. Everything had changed, even if no one else knew the truth but Odin. He couldn't go back, at least not yet. It's not as if they would miss him or anything.

"You could stay here if you'd like." Ember offered without even thinking twice.

Loki seemed genuinely taken aback by her offer. It wasn't something he was expecting from someone whom he put into a precarious situation. "I would like that very much." It was a kindness he was not accustomed to.

Nodding her head, "Then it's settled." She reached over and pushed the button on her phone that let the time light up. It was almost four am and she needed to be at school in a few hours. "However, I need to get to bed. Let me get you some pillow and blankets and such. I think there was a pair of sweats in the pile of clothes you could wear until we can get you something more fitting." She had noticed that Jace's clothes were a little baggy on him, which was okay.

"You're too kind, my dear."

Grinning a bit, Ember giggled and waved her hand "No, no I'm not really…" she brushed off the compliment and slid off of her stool to put the glass in the sink. "Um. If you're hungry at all, there's some food in the fridge, or I could make you something real quick?"

He shook his head, "I'm fine, but thank you." He smiled at her and she nodded.

"Well, I have to get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning?" She asked with raised brows. "If you need anything, let me know." Making her way to the exploded linen closet, she grabbed a couple blankets and some pillows and headed back to the living room. "Here you go." She set them down on the chair with a smile.

Excusing herself, she padded her way to her bedroom, and as soon as the door opened, her kitten made a break for it. "Hey! Come back here!" She called out and sighed, "Sorry about that. I didn't know if she would bother you when you were…out."

"I'll keep an eye out for her, go, sleep."

Nodding, she soon closed the door. Once she was alone, she flopped down face first on her bed and laughed into her pillow, and soon she was out like a light.

Was this really happening to her? Really?

She laughed herself right to sleep, and it took no time at all really.

And then he was alone. Loki looked around the small apartment and he spotted the small kitten peering from around the curtains.

It was times like these that would be hard, he was left with his own thoughts and they went to a dark place, and it was somewhere that he didn't want to be right now. But, he couldn't help that anger that rose up within him at the thought of what his so-called family did to him.

Shaking his head, he changed into the clothes that Ember had pointed out to him. She had been nice to him, which was something he didn't expect from anyone, let alone a Midgardian.

Then again, she didn't know the truth. She didn't know anything about him at all really. And that's what was getting to him. She knew nothing of whom or what he was yet she offers much to him. It was a foreign concept.

Of course, he couldn't sleep. He rarely did anymore, and so he looked around her apartment curiously. It was so different than how they lived, and it was a bit sad. But no matter what, at least here he couldn't be compared to his brother.

And that was a relief.

Happening to stumble upon her pile of textbooks and he picked up the one on Medieval Studies and headed back to the couch to sit. Loki may not have been as strong as his brother or their fellow Asgardian's, but he was smarter than they would ever be.

Thumbing through the pages, he began to read and before long the small black kitten jumped up onto the couch and began to purr before climbing onto his lap. A small smile touched his lips as he chuckled and scratched the kitten under the chin.

The hours passed, and he kept reading. It was interesting things these Midgardians thought they knew about them. Some of it was true, and some of it was not. But, it seemed as if Ember wanted to know about the past, which was something again, that he never expected.

Drowsiness was washing over him and he shifted the kitten enough so he could lie on the couch. Leaving the book open on the ground, he finally drifted off to sleep, and that sleep would be burdened with nightmares, as usual.

Mother Mary won't you whisper – Something but the past is done…Mother Mary won't you whisper…

The sound of Tool jarred her from her comatose sleep as her phone rang next to her head. Blindly patting at the table, she opened an eye and was bathed in moonlight from the open window beside her bed.

Picking it up without seeing who it was, she answered. "Yeah?"

"Jesus Fuck, Ember. Where the hell are you?" Drew's voice bellowed over the phone and she cringed.

"What? I don't have to be to work until tonight…"

"Do you know what time it is? You were supposed to be here two hours ago!"

Well, that got her attention. She looked at the clock and it read 9:00pm in bold green letters. "Holy shit, I slept all day! I missed school, too!" She cursed lightly under her breath and sighed. "I'm so sorry, Drew. I'll be there ASAP, promise." She hung up the phone and threw it on the bed as she leapt to her feet and threw the door to her room open and nearly tripped over her own feet when she saw Loki sleeping on the couch with the kitten.

A smile crept across her face as she chuckled and he opened his eyes to look at her. "Good evening, Ember." He said casually as he lounged in the jeans and tee-shirt that she had given him the night before.

"Good evening. I…um…overslept it seemed. I need to get ready for work." She reached up and scratched her head a bit, still not being able to believe a damn thing she was seeing. "If you'd like to come with me, I would really like that and I can't imagine that you would want to stay here by yourself all night -" she rambled a bit and saw stack of books that laid on the coffee table. "Those are my books?"

Nodding, he smiled a bit, "They are quite interesting. You're curious about this?"

Furrowing her brows, she nodded in turn. "I'm studying Medieval Studies and Mythology at NYU." It had always been an interest of hers, actually. "Wait, did you say you read them? All of them?"

"Indeed. They are all quite good, but mostly inaccurate."

Of course he would know that…he was from Asgard, after all. "It's taken me almost a semester just to get a quarter through one of those books…" she laughed nervously and tugged on her lower lip.

"I'll have to let you know some things that aren't in there sometime, it would be my pleasure."

"Okay." Her voice whispered out as the blush engulfed her face and she turned on her heel and rushed into the bathroom, but not before shoving everything back into the linen closet and grabbing herself a couple towels.

Once the door was closed, she switched on the shower as cold as she could get it and stripped her pajamas off. Looking at herself in the mirror, the blush was still ever evident on her features and she looked a mess.

What was she doing to herself? She'd not had a guy in her apartment in years, and now she had one that she didn't know, yet was oddly very attractive to her.

There had to be something wrong with him. No one was that perfect.

Showering in record speed, she hopped out and ran a brush through her hair and let it hang in an ebony curtain over her shoulders as her bangs dripped water into her eyes. With her daily habits done, she wrapped the towel around herself and tried to sneak back into her room, but when she passed the living room, she caught him looking out the front window.

Even in the slummy part of the city, she had a rather good view – one she paid a pretty penny for, but she had the money most months. Gulping almost audibly, she made a break for her room before he saw her.

And soon her door almost slammed once more and it caused a grin to curl Loki's lips. He saw her, all right, and of course he didn't mind. Though, her reactions to him were intriguing to say the least.

Quickly getting dressed, Ember pulled on some shiny black leggings and a black skimpy one shouldered dress that was somewhat loose and low cut on top and hugged her hips towards the bottom. It was long enough to cover the curve of her rear.

She was a waitress, not one of the dancers. She didn't need to be almost naked as a dress code, thankfully. Slipping on the same black stiletto heeled boots; she did her makeup rather quickly and was almost ready to go.

As usual, she rimmed her crystalline blue eyes in winged black liner and mascara. A dash of blush and some lipstick and she was ready to go. In record time no less.

Opening the door to her room, she stepped out and was greeted by a look of utter shock from Loki, he hadn't expected her to have to dress like that for work. Though, he appreciated the outfit, it looked much like some of the dresses Asgardian women would wear to parties.

The look of shock turned into a look of appreciation and he smiled. "You look lovely." He said genuinely and it caused her to blush.

"Thank you." She smiled and grabbed her coat from the stool in the kitchen. Tucking the phone into the side of her bra, she went to put the jacket on but before she could, he had taken it from her hands and held it for her.

Was this chivalry?

Chuckling, she slid her arms into her coat and turned, "Thank you, again." Her voice was quieter than normal, and she was trying to hide her bashfulness.

Ember realized that she was really, really bad around men at times.

"Are you going to be warm enough?" She asked him, her brows furrowed in worry. She didn't have a jacket his size, or even a hoodie.

"Yes, I'll be okay. I like the cold."

Nodding her head, she buttoned her jacket up and grabbed her keys from the counter and opened the door, holding it for him to exit first. Once they were both standing in the hallway, she shut and locked the door behind them before stuffing the keys into her pocket.

When she turned around, she saw Jace and the blonde from the night before climbing the stairs to their floor. Jace stopped and saw Ember and Loki and nearly dropped the arm full of groceries. His heart sunk and there was a pang of jealousy that his girlfriend picked up on and yelled something at him and all but shoved him up the stairs.

Ember smiled and nodded to him before leading Loki down to the entrance to the building as she tried to pretend that didn't happen.

That didn't work out so well.

"Who was that?"

"Jace, he's my neighbor a couple floors up. It's his clothes you're wearing. We've been friends for awhile now." She smiled a bit and pushed the door open only to be greeted by a flash of biting cold wind and the spattering of snow once again. "The weather needs to make up its mind…" She murmured to herself, although it was mid-December, and the snow hadn't gotten too bad yet, thankfully.

"I see. He seemed shocked to see that you have company."

Ah. "Uhh… yes. Because I don't have visitors very often and especially not visitors that happen to be highly attractive men." And the moment the words left her mouth, she wanted to crawl in a hole somewhere and die.

A light chuckle, and Loki smiled offering his arm out to her. "You find me attractive, do you?"

"I have eyes you know…" she blinked at the offered arm, and took it attentively. "I mean, I'm sure you know just how attractive you are."

"Actually, my dear, I don't." The smile was sad as it crossed his lips. "Where I'm from, I'm not exactly what people find attractive. I'm much too small, and I don't like beating up things for fun." It was true, most Asgardian's were much stronger than he was, and they liked the art of war and fighting.

Loki was smaller than the rest and therefore inferior. He was not a prospect for many of their women. But, what he lacked in brawn, he gained in brains. And hearing that Ember found him attractive made him extremely happy, which was a first for him. "Most of the men are well bred and that kind of makes their brains go soft. Intelligence isn't a trait that Asgard finds useful in most circumstances. Seidr was something that was a woman's trait, something to get them quickly out of fights. And women weren't often found in battles.

He was, for all respective purposes, the runt of Asgard.

Lacking both the physical prowess and the desire to attack everything that moved, he found that he was very much an outcast when it came to his family and one family member in particular. His brother Thor, Odin's crowning glory. He would never live up to that, and now he didn't really want to.

All he had wanted was to be his equal and no one could even give him that.

His thoughts went dark and he shook them away. Now was neither the time nor the place for delving into such dark places.

Ember listened to him and when he went silent; she squeezed his arm and smiled. They hadn't really had the chance to talk yet with everything that was going on so she was enjoying listening to what he had to say. Though, believing that he thought himself unattractive was beyond her. She was the unattractive one here, not him. Not by any means.

"Honestly, they sound like jerks and muscle heads. You're plenty attractive and I don't care what they think." She nodded her head, confidant in what she said – which was a first, and she was surprised that came out without a giggle or a babbled word.

It didn't take them long to walk to the Orchid Lounge, as it was just a stones throw from her apartment, really. Which wasn't great sometimes, but it cut down the need for a car.

She stopped them in front of the entrance and took a deep breath before looking at him.

"You sure you want to come with me? I can always take you back."

"I'm sure. I would rather be with you, wherever you are than alone." Which was something he never expected to say at the moment, but it was true enough.

"Okay." She breathed and took him by the hand and led him inside.

This was going to be a night he definitely would not forget.