I will be away in NYC for the next few days, so I'll upload a couple of chapters tonight to make up for it. Loves! =3

xxx

Siobhan awoke curled up in a ball, moaning at the sun that was shining on her face. She tossed the blanket over her face as she heard a laugh. She tensed as the night before came flooding back to her and a shadow came over the blanket

"Good morning Siobhan" He said gently as he lifted the blanket from her face. She stared up at him in shock and embarrassment

"Uh, yeah, hey. Um, what happened last night?" He chuckled and sat beside her as she covered her eyes with her arm. The light was blinding to her, and the minor hangover wasn't helping at all

"We met on a bench, you invited me to "drinks", you got drunk, we met Clara, I brought you here, and you fell asleep. And now you are awake." He said with a smile, quite amused by her cluelessness. He had nursed Thor too many times after a foolish battle's celebration, and she was much easier to deal with.

"We didn't, uh, do anything, did we?"

"You fell a few times, and I had to carry you up the stairs." Siobhan peaked at herself under the blankets and saw that she was still wearing the same clothes as she was the night before. She looked back up at him as he furrowed his brow in worry

"Do you fear me?"

"Should I?"

Loki froze. Should she? He was a monster, but she did not know that. These people had no knowledge of what a frost giant was. This woman was trusting, albeit carelessly so, but he held no bitterness towards her. If anything, he saw her simply as amusement until he could figure out some way to get back to Asgard and make his family pay for what they had done

"Here, let me see you" He said softly, placing his hands gently on her temples and closing his eyes. He could feel her tense for a second, then relax

"Oh, wow, that feels so much better. How'd you do that?"

"Magic" He said simply before instantly regretting it. Siobhan laughed, slowly sitting up in the bed and looking around. They were in a nice hotel, and she could see out the window that they weren't too far from where she had been the night before

"Right. Pressure points, I teach biology" They looked at each other in awkward silence before she looked away. The way he watched her made her uncomfortable. Like he was analyzing her. There was some sort of plan always behind his eyes, and he was just waiting for the moment to act. "I, uh… I think I should take a shower and go."

He looked over her silently before standing and sitting himself in a chair a few feet away from the bed. She watched him for a moment, in awe of the way he sat as if that chair was a throne and the hotel room was his kingdom. His eyes were far away in thought as she slowly lifted herself from the bed and snuck into the bathroom. Once she locked the door she looked herself over in the mirror. No worse for wear, just looked like she had been drunk the night before. She took a quick shower and mindlessly started to sing the first song that popped into her head. She got dressed again and began to towel her hair off as she walked out of the bathroom, shrieking in terror at Loki standing in the doorway

"You sing" he stated, stepping to the side to let her pass

"Fuck's sake man, you scared me. Uh… it's called Maredead. It's old English"

"Do you speak it?" His eyes were bright in an odd excitement that she couldn't place, or figure out

"No! It's a dead language. More dead than Latin. It's dead dead. Clara turned me on to the band. I sort of want to learn the language though if I can"

Loki nodded quietly before sitting down in his throne chair. "You should"

She looked at him oddly as she continued to dry her hair. "Uh, yeah, it's not like you can go out and take lessons on it. I'm trying." She mumbled as she looked him over from the mirror. He had changed while she was in the shower to a black and tan sweater with a dark green coat and black pants. He held his scarf in his lap and looked out the window deep in thought. She looked over her arm in the mirror where she had a bruise from falling against the bar

"Wyrd bið ful aræd" she mumbled under her breath, suddenly aware of Tom's eyes staring daggers into her

"What did you say?" He asked, a flare of rage in his eyes though he kept his voice cold and flat

"It's a line from a poem that I'm trying to learn. The Wanderer. It's also in old English" She said softly in shock. Maybe I should fear him?

He looked away, rubbing his face before standing. "I feel like adventuring today"

She chuckled as she put her shoes on "Well, there's a bookstore a few miles up I was planning on going to before heading back to my apartment. I can take you to it if you'd like." She looked up as he smiled

"I would enjoy that greatly"

xXx

Loki wandered through the bookstore, content for once in an area that he was used to. It was nothing like the library he once had, but it would suffice for now. He walked through the history section, picking up a few books here and there and laughing at their idea of history. Their history was but a moment in time, and it was nothing but petty arguments. He smiled to himself; taking over this realm would be easy. Their war was nothing like what he was used to. His war would be simple and to the point. It would be over before they knew what had happened. Flipping through yet another war book, he grew bored and decided to look for his mortal that he was so unfortunately attached to for now. He couldn't say he hated her, he was just annoyed that he would be attached to someone like his brother. Only he didn't love her like Thor did his mortal woman Jane. He simply found amusement in her, like watching a mouse blissfully unaware of the cat stalking it. Loki searched for a minute before finding Siobhan on the floor in an area labeled "mythology" with multiple books spread open around her

"What have you found?" He asked softly, hiding his curiosity of one of the books that was open to a page labeled with his name

"Every mythology has the same sorts of gods. Loki, Raven, Coyote, Anasazi, er… Anansi, um… man, I always screw up his name. Whiskey Jack… Uh, Wisakedjak. They are all trickster gods. But Loki and Raven, they're my favorites. They do good and bad, but everyone always remembers them for being bad. But they've done so much good. I mean, look at this myth with Loki." She said excitedly, turning the book around for Tom to see as he sat down

"This is my favorite. The gods have all gotten this builder to make huge wall, I guess, in exchange for the moon, the sun, and the goddess Freyja. Seems like everyone wants Freyja, she's the topic of a bunch of myths, and Thor and Loki have to save her another time. That's another thing! Thor and Loki, they're like best friends. Sometimes brothers, sometimes companions, but like, yeah, they have each other's backs. Anyway, the gods agree that the builder can have these things if he can complete the work by himself in a set amount of time, but he's able to use his horse, which has crazy awesome strength and so now all the gods are afraid that they're going to have to give up everything, and for whatever reason they blame Loki for it all. So Loki's all "I got this" and turns into a mare. A female horse. Yeah, I know, right? So he, now a mare, goes and gets the builder's stallion all in a tizzy and runs off and so the builder can't finish in time, saves the day, and ends up having a foal, uh… Sleipnir, who's this awesome horse that has eight legs and gives Sleipnir to Odin as like a "hey, have this awesome horse" sort of gift. And like, the whole moon and sun thing is pretty common with tricksters too, least it seems that way. That's how the raven turned black. He was originally white, but he stole the sun, and the sun burned his feathers and turned him black" She rambled on excitedly before looking up to the man who watched her silently. There was almost a pain in his eyes as he leaned back against the bookshelf across from her

"Yes, but they also silenced Loki Liesmith by sewing his mouth shut after a simple haircut" He said softly, secretly amused by the shock in her eye by him knowing his own nicknames and past

"Yeah, he can be a jealous bastard too. But it's like… If they didn't do that, then maybe he wouldn't lash out so much. It's all cause and effect. He seems like a good guy. He's the god of trickery, not evil. Tricks are fun sometimes. It's when you start acting out that it goes from fun and games to something serious. I don't think Loki's bad. I think he's… I don't know, misunderstood seems so just blah to me. He just doesn't seem to be able to get a break. It's like he's the sacrificial lamb of the gods. When everything goes wrong, blame him" She turned the mythology book back around and continued to flip through it as he watched her. She glanced up and offered an awkward smile

"Why do you always watch me like that?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like… that. Like you're studying me or something. Like you're expecting me to do something. I'm really not that interesting" She said with a laugh and stuck her tongue out at him. He shook his head at her foolishness and crossed his ankles

"I study people. You could call it a pass time of mine"

"Ah. How did you know Loki's nickname 'Liesmith?' Have you studied Norse mythology before? I mean, having his mouth sewn shut is kind of a common myth, but most people don't know anything about Norse mythology" He shrugged and smiled in return

"You could call it a nickname that I have been given from time to time"

"Loki" she mumbled under her breath and shook her head, mindlessly flipping a page as he grinned hearing her say his name. "You don't seem like a Loki. You seem too nice for that. Or maybe it's that I've just met you"

"The best tricks are the unexpected" He shrugged

A few silent minutes passed as Siobhan continued to read the Norse mythology, flipping back and forth between a few different paged before sighing and closing the book

"Ok, I'm gonna get this. Ready to go?" She asked as Tom looked over at her innocently and stood

"If you wish," He said lightly, offering his hand to help her up. Siobhan moved to take a step, but instead instantly stumbled into Tom's waiting hand a few feet ahead of her. She cursed and looked down to see that somehow both of her shoes had been unlaced and her ankles tied together

"You bastard!" She laughed, sitting in a huff and working on the impossibly tight knot

"And that, my friend, is how I got the name Loki" He said with a proud grin

"Bastard…" was all she had to offer as Tom took her book and walked off. By the time Siobhan had corrected herself, he was back with a bag

"And yet you chose to spend the day with me" Tom quipped before offering his hand once more. She eyed him for a minute before placing her hand in his

"Yeah, well, I should head back to my apartment. Clara's probably wondering where I've been"

His brow furrowed in confusion "But I thought you two were apart"

"It's complicated. Like hard core complicated" She sighed as they walked out of the store. They stood on the sidewalk for a moment before Siobhan realized that she was still holding Tom's hand and awkwardly pulled hers away

"I uh… I should go. Would you like a ride anywhere before I go?" Loki shook his head as he slipped his hands into his pockets

"However I thank you for the offer" They looked at each other awkwardly before Siobhan grabbed a pin and his hand, writing her number on his lower arm

"Maybe see you around again?" She offered softly as he smirked

"Certainly" He kissed the back of her hand, though froze as he felt her lean in and kiss him lightly on the cheek in return

"Ok, uh, bye! And thanks for the book!" Siobhan said quickly before walking away, her ears turning as red as her hair