Chapter Four – Destructive When They're Young and Bored

A/N: I know, two in one day, but like I said, this chapter and the one before were originally one big chapter until I realized how big it had gotten. This is a bit more action-filled. Definitely sets up some important plot points for later on. And Vidar gets a tiny, mischievous friend! I stuck with Garbage's "The World Is Not Enough" for continuity. And how awesome a song it is.

People like us
Know how to survive
There's no point in living
If you can't feel alive

Heimdall looked between the two and Loki wondered for a moment if he would think it a more foolhardy venture than some of Thor's expeditions.

"We wish to travel to Nidavelir." Ilmr smiled up at the ever-watchful gatekeeper.

"What should we expect to find there, Heimdall?"

The massive gatekeeper turned to watch Loki. Somehow it always felt as though he was being looked through and it made Loki feel uncharacteristically self-conscious. "No war yet, but the dwarves are restless and the rock trolls patrol their borders. Do not expect calm and do not let your guard down. Be as inconspicuous as possible."

Ilmr stepped in next to Loki and nodded. "We're ready when you are."

Loki enjoyed the feeling of traveling through the Bifrost. It was a stomach-at-your-throat adrenaline rush. He glanced to Ilmr when the air solidified around them in Nidavelir. She had her back to him and her hands hovering by her belt of knives that rested on her hips. It was hard to see much, the grass was tall and dark, as though it grew by swampland. The great expanse in front of them was broken up by hills and in the distance, huge, snow-covered mountains surrounded by dense tree cover that stretched miles ahead of the roots of the mountains.

She relaxed a fraction seeing and hearing nothing near them. "We will need to head east, Cailean prefer the denser, wooded areas of the land at the foot of the mountains."

Loki glanced eastward and nodded slightly. The mountains were several leagues in the distance. "We'll be back in Asgard by tomorrow evening."

She nodded, voice soft and velvet as she spoke quietly. "Likely. Sooner, if we find a pack closer than anticipated. Later, if we don't and you are truly set on finding one, or we get caught up waiting out a conflict."

Loki glanced at her as they walked. If she had not spoken, he would not have realized she was beside him, so quiet was her footfall. "How many weapons did you bring?" He realized her hands were still hovering close to her hips.

She spared him a glance. "Enough. Nidavelir is deceptive - it seems very quiet and peaceful but it isn't true. Dwarves will not harm us, if they think we are just passing through seeing the sights of the Nine Realms, but they will most certainly demand reparation if they find out we are here for the Cailean. If the rock trolls find us..." she smiled slightly. "I am sure you know well the behavior of rock trolls."

He nodded. "Have you been back since you were here with your brother?"

"No."

It was all she offered. Silence was preferred and while he was glad of it, it was a strange adjustment, to be on a quest without the incessant chatter of one of the Warriors Three or Sif or his brother. He enjoyed it. He could focus and better take in the realm as they walked.

An hour into their walk, Ilmr's outstretched arm brought him up short. "Get out of sight. Now."

He narrowed his eyes at her for her order, but she was pulling him along to an outcropping of rock some one hundred yards away before he could snap at her for it. When she stopped them he opened his mouth to speak and found she covered his mouth with her hand. He could feel his anger building.

She put a finger to her lips, mimicking the gesture with the hand against his mouth. She smelled of vanilla. Just as he glanced away to spy what she had, he felt the faint rumbling of the earth underfoot. Rock trolls. He silently thanked her elven senses. It took nearly fifteen minutes before the trolls were near enough to clearly hear and see. Loki hastily cast a spell and he and Ilmr vanished from sight.

He smiled seeing her quizzing look as she noticed his movement out of the corner of her eye. He covered his eyes with one hand to indicate their invisibility. They would still need to be silent, but they could at least now move undetected. She removed her hand from his shoulder where it had fallen and stood, nodding in the direction of the mountain.

Carefully, Loki followed. Once they were half a league away from the trolls, he let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. He glanced to Ilmr; she was as stony as before, but now her body was tense, eyes seemingly straight ahead.

It was another two hours before the tree line came into sight. She crouched down as they closed what distance they were from trees, moonlight casting her features in shadow and silver. "There's a pack nearby." She pointed to the track in the grass leading away and into the forest.

He nodded. Glancing around, he saw other signs, now that he knew what signs to look for. He tapped her shoulder once and headed slightly north of their eastward trajectory. Since the rock trolls, they both seemed to silently agree to speak only when necessary. Two rock trolls were likely a scouting party and so they would need to be on guard to avoid stumbling into a skirmish or a camp.

Ilmr rose and followed behind him, glancing into the trees as they approached. They were less than ten yards away from entering the forest when he heard a noise just as Ilmr's head whipped to one side so quickly Loki startled. He had yet to get used to how quick her reflexes were, even given his own speed and agility. She grabbed his wrist and yanked hard enough to pull him off balance. He nearly toppled her; as it was they had stepped over the other's feet. Before he could properly glare at her, a muzzle that looked to be the size of Vidar's head came into view, snapping shut where Loki had just been.

Loki looked at her wide-eyed. He knew he could not ask with the animal so close, it would hear him, even if it couldn't see him. He was fascinated. She was right - Vidar would get bigger. Much, much bigger. Loki wasn't sure where the hound would live when he got to be his full size.

Ilmr shoved him into the forest when she realized he was too busy staring in awe at the behemoth.

"What did you think you were doing?!" She rounded on him, whispering harshly when they were far enough out of earshot that she felt comfortable. They had likely lost the tracks, though he couldn't imagine they would be too hard to find again.

He smirked. "Staring, I've never seen a hound that size. Vidar will get that big?"

"No, I don't think his sire and dam were that big. That's a female, her mate must be truly massive. There must be pups around, otherwise she would likely have heard us and simply avoided us."

"That is smaller than Vidar might be?"

Ilmr smiled. "Now do you see why I want them for Asgard's forces?"

"Where would we house them all?"

She gave him a grin too innocent to be innocent. "You mean you don't have room in your chambers?"

Loki would not give her the satisfaction of a smile yet. "So there are pups nearby, you said. Where?"

Ilmr nodded. "Very young, too, if she didn't follow us. Getting out will be much more difficult, we won't be able to keep the pup quiet and she'll likely notice it missing." She gave him a wicked smile. "I hope you have energy enough to run back to the Bifrost. With your enchantment the rock trolls won't see us, and neither would any dwarves, but she won't need her sight to be at our heels."

"Let's be brief, then." He circled the air by his right ear, amplifying the sound that entered as he strove to hear the whimpers and snuffling of young pups. He cast his eyes around for any signs of tracks from the female they had just seen.

Ilmr studied the ground and trees, carefully stepping over underbrush. They were farther off track than he had thought, judging by the deep furrow in her brow.

Glancing skyward, Loki righted himself, beginning to work his way northeast again, Ilmr trailing just behind him. It was half an hour before they stumbled upon any sign of the Cailean again, a large tuft of fur caught on a branch that had been snapped backward. The animal's shoulder had to be half Loki's height again, if the broken branch and fur were any indication. They were heading straight towards the den of trouble and teeth the size of his hand, if his memory from their brief encounter served him. He felt a thrill rush through him at the thought.

He snapped out of his reverie when he heard what she did not a moment later, eyes meeting and horrified. Without waiting, he grabbed her wrist and ran through the trees. The sound of heavy paws on the ground behind them had them forcing to dodge through various trunks and under branches. They must have been closer to the pups than they thought. Loki took her through enough twists and turns that the sound of the heavy paws faded eventually.

They doubled back with as much stealth as they could muster. It took even longer than before to find their trail again.

All at once, Ilmr dropped to her knees, her voice an excited whisper. "Pick one!"

For a moment, Loki thought she had fallen and he searched her face wildly before seeing her hands uncover a small den, large enough for only the tip of the mother's nose to get through, to expose eight pups that looked barely more than a few months old, by Cailean standards. "The-" he turned slightly hearing the paws again, much closer than expected. Reaching his arms down, he grabbed a pup in one arm and Ilmr's elbow with the other, rushing headlong back through the forest.

Loki could feel the mother hound's breath on his back as they ran, her growl resonating in his chest. He cast a barrier behind them, smiling to himself hearing and feeling the vibration of it as the monstrous animal slammed into it with all of her force. Ilmr let out a breath of a laugh.

Her smile died on her lips moments later, eyes urgent and cheeks flushed with excitement and anticipation. Loki was halfway to asking what she sensed when he felt it - the ground underfoot felt like an earthquake. The sound of the Cailean hitting his barrier had caught the attention of a battalion of rock trolls that were somewhere nearby.

"Run. -Run!" She gave his shoulder a shove as she took her own advice and they picked up speed, racing across the grasslands, still so many leagues from the Bifrost site he could not see it on the horizon. They could both run the distance, but he was confident there were other camps brimming with rock trolls between they and the Bifrost. They could very well be cut off and cornered.

He found his suspicion to be correct not half a league later. Loki still had them wrapped in a spell so they could not be seen, but with the alarm being raised from camp to camp, the rock trolls would likely try to gather by any means of entry or exit.

Loki sent another barrier out behind them to close off the trolls from advancing. "Stay close, Ilmr. They will try to block off our access to the Bifrost; we won't get more than one chance to exit through that portal before they swarm it. Heimdall will not transport us if our enemies are too close."

She nodded. He could see the tension in the thin line of her mouth. "I will be ready."

Loki was glad he did not wear his heaviest armor. By the time they reached the Bifrost more than an hour later the rock trolls were nearly on their heels, despite his many barriers; there were simply too many from too many different directions for him to be able to contain them all. Ilmr was barely ten paces behind him, his longer legs affording him greater strides.

He stretched an arm out to Ilmr as he shouted. "Heimdall!"

Rather than feel her grasp his arm, Loki heard Ilmr's gasp and angry groan as he watched her crash to the ground, a rock troll gripping to her ankle, his hand squeezing hard as if to crush the bone. Loki noticed Bifrost began to shimmer around him and the rest of the rock trolls nearly upon them.

With a ferocious yell, Ilmr kicked back with all of her force, striking the troll square in the face hard enough that he loosed his grip. She threw herself up and away towards Loki. She latched on to his arm just as the Bifrost activated.

When they felt the floor of the observatory under their feet, they both stumbled slightly from stopping so abruptly after running most of the night. A quiet laugh bubbled up out of her as she caught her balance.

"Thank you, Heimdall." Ilmr inclined her head to the gatekeeper, who nodded gravely in return. She started for the palace with Loki as the first light of dawn crept over the horizon.

Loki watched her out of the corner of his eye. If the troll had done damage to her leg, she did not act as if it bothered her. "Are you-"

"-What's his name?" She looked to the inky tuft of fur in his arms.

He shut his mouth around his question, answering hers instead. "I haven't thought of one yet. I was a little distracted."

"Think quickly" She smiled. "When we rise, we'll set aside time for Vidar to meet him." She thought quietly a few moments. "He and Vidar should spend several hours each day together, in fact -at first, with us present, but after the first few meetings, they will be able to be left alone together while we attend our own duties."

Loki nodded, walking along with her in silence for several minutes before deciding. He was distracted by how well this little Cailean pup would serve his greater plan for seizing the throne. "Fenrir."

She smiled, giving the midnight-colored fuzz a gentle pat. "Fenrir. Hello."

At her instruction, Loki set Fenrir down in a basket she had lent him from her chambers, lining it with blankets. They needed to be kept very warm, their first year of life. He pulled the basket into his bed, as well, piling his blankets high on top of the pup as an added measure. He opened the book she had give him and picked up where he had left off, somewhere in the middle of the history of the animals, and flipped to the details regarding their early years.

Fenrir was making whimpering noises with increased frequency and it was beginning to drive him crazy. Loki picked up the basket and teleported to Ilmr's balcony.

"Why is he-Oh, my." Loki spun as quickly as he could to have his back to her. He was not so quick or desperate to forget what he had inadvertently seen.

"By Odin, Loki!" Ilmr was quick to duck behind a privacy screen. "The teleporting needs to cease. Or at least announce yourself from the balcony before entering."

He still had his back to her; he was not going to make the same mistake twice regardless of whether he wanted to. "How did you not know I was there?"

"I can't hear you teleport, I can only hear you once you've arrived. I'm not exactly expecting a visitor when I'm just out of the bath." She smiled wryly. "I will have to be on guard at all times now, I suppose."

"You heard rock trolls and one of the Cailean before I did, even with an enchantment to enhance my hearing. I do not believe you."

"I am dressed." She sighed. She stepped from behind the screen in a deep violet dressing gown. "What is it?"

He turned around to face her and held out the basket with a whimpering Fenrir, who was now near-howling. Vidar had noticed and was carefully sniffing the basket but not getting too close yet. "He will not cease his noise."

"Oh honestly!" She crossed the room in a huff, carefully plucking the pup from the basket and holding him against her, gently scratching his ears and chin and petting his back slowly. She nuzzled him before looking to Loki again. "You need to show him some attention and affection, Loki! He's a baby, yet." She held Fenrir out carefully, allowing Vidar to sniff the pup, holding him against her again only when Vidar's curiosity was satisfied.

"You will keep him here until that maddening behavior ends."

Ilmr scoffed. "Absolutely not."

Loki turned back from his march towards her door. "I will not get a thing done with him in such a state constantly."

"He is your charge. If you want him to bond with me -if you want me to keep him- I will gladly do so." She stepped forward and carefully forced Fenrir back into his hands.

Loki fumbled slightly, doing an admirable job of keeping a disgruntled look about him when he accidentally grazed the side of a breast as he took the pup back from her. She did not seem to notice or bother acknowledging it if she did. "So what do I do with him?"

"Care for him. When he cries, be sure he does not need to relieve himself. Give him attention and play with him, pet him. Especially at night; he will be unused to being alone for the first few weeks, he's still used to sleeping cuddled with his siblings. I found that keeping Vidar close to me helped him adjust very quickly."

"What should I feed him?" Loki had gotten through what they ate in the wild, but it did not sound particularly practical for domestication. He felt, for one of the few times in his life, as if he hadn't thought through a decision.

"Raw meat and vegetables are best; some grain. We will take them out a few times a week into the woods and Vidar can teach him how to hunt too so that when you are unable to feed him from the table he can fend for himself and help feed you as well."

He changed his mind. He had thought this through better than he realized. It struck him again that Fenrir would need to spend a great amount of time with Vidar while he was young and, therefore, Loki with Ilmr. It was the perfect excuse to keep her from his brother and his friends and get her positioned perfectly for her place in his plan. "I should be able to manage."

"Good. For now though, get some sleep and give him some attention. It will be good for both of you." She didn't wait for a reply to turn and head towards her bed, blowing out candles as she went.

He clenched his jaw around a reply and instead teleported back into his bedroom. He set the basket back down on his bed and resettled the blankets. Resting his chin on a fist, Loki watched the pup. "Affection…" he reached out hesitantly and carefully laid his hand on the frizzy, fuzzy head and gently pet from the crown of his head down his back.

Fenrir was bigger than he expected; Loki had assumed much of his size was fur. But for all the fur he had, he was not much smaller than he looked. Ilmr had been right, though: even at such a young age, there was nothing fragile about the hound. He was a solid mass of muscle.

Loki quickly discovered that Fenrir would lean into his hand if he scratched just right slightly below his left ear. It made Loki smile in a way he realized he hadn't in many years.

He woke to the sound of a servant knocking on his door. He didn't realize he had fallen asleep, but Fenrir was still unconscious, a paw far bigger than the rest of him shoved between two of Loki's fingers.

"Enter!"

A maid bustled in, bringing his morning tea. "Breakfast is laid out, my lord; the King and Queen are expected in the banquet hall within the hour."

He nodded, rubbing his face and waving the maid away. He heard Fenrir shift and his eyes went wide. He rushed the pup outside not a moment too soon, apparently.

Placing Fenrir back in his basket, Loki swept off to breakfast after conjuring a change of clothes and smoothing his hair.

"Mother." He took his customary seat diagonally across from Frigga, tucking into his plate.

"Loki, you're awfully hungry this morning." Frigga smiled curiously at her younger son, watching him eat an amount of food at a speed she hadn't seen since he was a boy.

"Mm." He swallowed hastily. "So it seems, I-"

"-Where is he?" Ilmr had apparently arrived, and she sounded rather panicked.

Loki cringed internally. Frigga glanced between them as she spoke. "Good morning, Ilmr. Loki, where is…who?"

He stood quickly, grabbing Ilmr's arm discreetly as he gave his mother a grin. "A jest, mother." He pulled her from the room before Frigga could say anything else.

Once out of the hall, Ilmr wrenched her arm out of his hold. "Where is he?"

"Discretion, Ilmr! He is in my chambers."

She sprinted towards Loki's doors. Throwing them open, she smiled grimly. Loki was aghast.

Fenrir, small, soft Fenrir, had created a tornado in Loki's room. Feathers floated in the air and the tea setting was overturned on the floor.

"Fenrir!" The pup didn't look up at his name as much as the noise, and Loki was in front of him in an instant, using his size and anger to make the pup cower. Loki twisted his palm and the room was cleaned, leaving the pup even more shaken, seeing so much disappear in front of him. He started to whimper.

Loki wanted to discipline him further, to teach him how wrong he was in what he had done, but he found himself instead crouching down and lifting Fenrir in his arms.

"If you're going to leave him alone, especially so young, you should black him in somewhere and give him something to occupy himself with. A bone, maybe. They're very destructive when they're this young and bored."

"Like you were as a child, my son." Frigga smiled as both Ilmr and Loki turned, horrified looks fixed on their faces. She couldn't help but laugh. "If you thought I would not follow you, you do not know me, Loki. Is this why you are so hungry today? An excursion to…"

"Nidavelir, my Queen." Ilmr bowed her head slightly.

Frigga nodded. "I imagine he will get to be the same size as your Vidar, Lady Ilmr."

"Probably bigger, Fenrir's paws are bigger than Vidar's were at this size." She glanced to Loki. "You saw the size of his mother. Fenrir will be monstrous."

"And you both think that this is a good idea, to have two such creatures in the palace?"

Loki nodded. "Yes, mother. Fenrir will be as well-behaved as Vidar. They will be unobtrusive."

"If I may, my Queen, I think I may be able to allay some of your fears. Fenrir will be an asset; he will be as fiercely loyal as Vidar and will offer great protection - not just to Loki, but to any Loki instructs him to protect. He will be a companion and a benefit to Loki in battle."

"Loki needs no more advantages on the battlefield." Frigga's grin was somewhere between rueful and proud. He felt a flush of anger and affection.

Loki watched a confused expression settle over Ilmr's face. "I don't understand."

"Loki's magic is powerful, Ilmr. With it, and his skill on the battlefield, he needs no more advantages than he already has."

"He may not, but what of those he would seek to protect, his people or his soldiers? Would Fenrir not be useful? Perhaps it is different in Asgard, but in Vanaheim we afford ourselves all the advantages we can get."

"We are not in Vanaheim, my dear." Frigga glanced to her son.

Loki had watched the exchange in silence; if his mother did not approve of the pup, his father would have it cast out, likely along with Ilmr and Vidar for putting the idea in Loki's head to begin with. His plan would be set back so far he felt he already had trouble seeing the crown.

"Mother, please. Indulge me. Do you not think a companion would be good for me? You often mention my solitude."

Frigga raised her eyebrows a fraction. "I think you already have one, my son."

She took her leave before either could reply.

It had been nearly two weeks and Fenrir was growing at an alarming pace. Loki felt as though he could not keep him fed; the plates of food he produced, piled high with meats, were devoured and Fenrir would pick up his eyebrows at his master as if to ask if that was all there was.

Loki had never been so glad for his magic; while Ilmr had to carry several plates back to her quarters, Loki was able to conjure as many plates as Fenrir desired. Odin still did not know of the pup and his mother had not yet warmed entirely to the idea. Loki was determined to keep Fenrir from Odin until it was too late. Loki was unsure when "too late" was: when he was too big to remain hidden, when Loki was sure he was well-behaved enough to present, when he could sneak him into battle and bring him to his father's attention after Fenrir had proved himself too useful to abandon.

Ilmr was a frequent companion in the weeks since the venture to Nidavelir; he was glad of her knowledge and cherished her quiet. She spent several hours each day training, whether it was with Asgard's forces or on her own. Another great chunk of time was spent with himself, Fenrir, and Vidar. She did not take after her mother's side much in appearance, but she had a keen way with animals that was unmistakably elven. Fenrir was willful and Loki was unsure that he would have been able to control him without his magic if she had not been there to direct him.

"Vidar was no less stubborn at that age, he is simply testing his boundaries, he will stop soon enough, just continue to be consistent."

Loki sighed. He had found Fenrir attempting to gnaw one of his favorite rugs to shreds when he noticed a stray string Loki had not. Despite his attempts, the pup would not be swayed. He also had a penchant for trying to convince Loki to share any meals he took in his chambers, regardless of whether Loki had already fed him.

"How long must I be consistent?"

She smirked. "His whole life. They are remarkably intelligent, but Fenrir will still look to you for direction if he feels himself unsure. You must be consistent, and it begins now – any habits you do not want to encourage, you must work to eradicate. Any you want to encourage, you must foster. "

"How long did it take you?"

"Some things did not take Vidar as long as others. He was housebroken very quickly. Teaching him to fight took many years, but it started small, as all things will."

"I do not know how you mean, in this way."

She watched him quietly a moment as she thought of how to explain. Over the course of the few weeks she had been present in Asgard, Loki had grown accustomed to her gaze. His initial aversion had been more about a lack of familiarity with more than a passing glance from folk than discomfort. As Thor's younger brother, and the Dark Prince, as the nickname went, he was typically afforded little more.

Ilmr stood and took several large steps back. Snapping her fingers, the ever-watchful hound stood and waited for her next command. Instead of a hand signal, she dropped into a smooth crouch, one leg bent underneath her, the other outstretched. One hand was behind her as if reaching for a weapon, the other was angled across her body defensively.

Vidar immediately placed himself beside Ilmr, crouched in a playbow that was anything but playful: teeth bared, hackles raised and shifting slightly on his haunches as if ready to pounce at her word.

Instead, she gave a sharp, short whistle, and he relaxed, sitting down instead and tilting his head back to see his master.

She gave him a pat. "It isn't a stance he would naturally fall into at a word, like sitting or laying down. But, if you break it down," She turned to Vidar and took him briefly through the various parts: standing in front of her, bowing, baring his teeth. "Once he has all of those, take him through them one after the other so they become a smooth move. As you do, give it a name or a command, and praise him for it. -You did not have pets, did you?"

"No, they were not deemed seemly, for princes."

Ilmr made a face. "I see why you are loathe to bring him far unconcealed."

She had put up a particularly large fuss when she discovered Loki carrying Fenrir to and from the stables when they would go out into the clearing, or when he concealed him with an enchantment.

"When can we begin to teach Fenrir such things?"

"When he has mastered the art of sitting and staying."

It was true; Fenrir was proficient at sitting. He was too excitable to stay still for long, however. "And then we can teach him?"

"Then we can begin teaching him to come, to heel, to hunt, some defensive stances and eventually, play fighting."

Loki raised his eyebrows. "All this in a year's time?"

"Much of it, yes. Some of it - the defensive stances and play fighting will take longer."

A knock at Loki's chamber doors interrupted. Sweeping Fenrir into his arms, Loki quickly deposited him in the basket he had settled behind his fireplace grate.

"Brother." Loki had reached his doors in few strides, giving Thor a cursory once-over.

"Brother!" Thor gave a slight nod to Ilmr. "Lady Ilmr! I have come to call on you to attend the arena with me. I would very much like to spar with you."

Ilmr rose fluidly, giving Thor a smile. Loki grit his teeth. Of late, his brother and his friends had been increasingly calling upon Ilmr while she was away with Loki. So much so, that he felt it was not only purposeful, but beginning to interrupt Fenrir's training. It would have to end, this constant distraction.

"I would be honored, my lord. Would you allow me until noon? I have some matters I must still settle beforehand."

"Of course! And please, Ilmr, indulge me - do not bring your practice sword."

She smiled wide. "I won't."

Loki whirled on Ilmr once he had shut the door behind his brother. "He would use Mjolnir."

"I know."

Loki narrowed his eyes at her. "You are not strong enough to beat him."

"I know." She had retrieved Fenrir and currently had him snuggled up to her chest and face. If it was one thing Loki was grateful for, it was these moments. He was not shown much physical affection as he grew, and so giving Fenrir affection was as difficult as disciplining him, for Loki. By watching Ilmr, he was learning the fine line between too much and too little discipline, and how to comfort the ever-growing pup.

"You are truly mad."

She placed Fenrir in Loki's arms. Her skin was always so warm compared to his own, even her fingers, when they brushed his during moments like these. "I do not need to be stronger than him, Loki. You know that as well as I. I just need to be faster and more cunning. That, I am."

The corner of Loki's mouth lifted. He had come to truly enjoy her company in the few short weeks she had already been present in Asgard. He found that she thought similarly about many things. She was shrewd and calculating and she disliked the great noise and to-do of many of the Aesir and most noticeably, his brother, though she seemed to have affection for the oaf regardless. It was good, he decided. If he was going to have her on his side -at his side- then he was glad that she seemed like someone whose presence he could bear.

She seemed to be trusting of him. If she minded the time she spent with him, she did not show it. She was patient as he fell into a routine with Fenrir. She did not ask anything in return. This still made him suspicious, but he could do nothing about it, at least not now.

"…Loki?"

"My apologies."

She smiled. "I said while I was sparring with Thor, you should practice some more with Fenrir."

"Oh, no. I will not miss this. Other than myself, few have the chance of besting Thor."

"You think I could?" She leveled her gaze at him, a curious glint in her eye.

"I think you have the best chance, aside from myself. You may rank lower than Sif, but you are the better fighter."

Ilmr laughed. "Don't let her hear you say that."

Loki let out a breath of a laugh. He found that she smiled more when he did it, seemed to trust him a little bit more each time, as if she thought she was breaking through to him and getting him to trust her. "She already dislikes me, there is little more I could do to further raise her ire."

"Oh, I don't know. She seems to be quite jealous."

"Sif is as belligerent as my brother."

"No, I mean that I think she is jealous of me."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "Has she been rude?" He did not care either way, but he needed her to rely on him. He needed to appear as though he would not stand for any to be unkind to her.

"No, certainly not." Ilmr laughed. "I mean she seems to be jealous of the time I spend with you. She always has a comment of some sort that I think she believes to be subtle."

"I do not think Sif, of all people, would be jealous of your time with me. Likely, she is trying to get you to spend less time in my company."

"That's ridiculous."

This tone was something that began to show itself earlier in the week, seemingly out of nowhere. She did not seem to like the fact that Loki was kept on the outer fringes of the court and his 'friends'. A little more time, Loki estimated, and he could begin to cautiously advance in the way a potential suitor might and have a chance of success. Or at least leave with all limbs intact.

"Do not worry overlong, Ilmr. I certainly don't. You should instead worry about how you'll best my brother in half an hour's time."

"Half an hour?" Her eyes went wide at this. Snapping her fingers, she gathered up the few things she had brought with her to Loki's chambers. "I still need to get into my armor." She tossed him a glance over her shoulder, Vidar following behind. "Wish me luck."

"You will not need it."