Thor came to his brother's chambers late the following morning. Actually, it was more like afternoon, but he was still too hungover to care.

Loki and Myrkr were awake when there was a knocking on their door, though they were still laying in bed together savoring the moment held over from the night before. They looked at each other, but neither moved.

"Who is it?" Loki called to the servant now bustling around their chamber gathering discarded clothing and used dishes.

She went to check. "It is Prince Thor, my Lord," she replied.

"What does he want?" Loki called back.

"I want to speak with my brother and sister-in-law," Thor said as he came into the sitting room.

The servant hurried back into the bedroom. "Your brother has let himself in," she told them.

"That is fine. Finish what you were doing, and you may leave," Loki dismissed.

"Yes, my Lord," she bowed and quickly gathered everything in a large wicker basket and hurried out.

"Loki, Myrkr," Thor called from the sitting room.

"We are in here," Loki replied irritably.

"I know where you are. I would appreciate it if you came out to speak with me," he snapped.

"And we'd like to stay where we are," Loki dismissively teased.

Thor groaned in frustration and entered the bedchamber. He had been expecting to see them lying in bed together, which was why he was pleasantly surprised when whatever could have been seen of that was covered by a large, dark curtain.

"What did you want to talk about?" Loki prompted.

The large blond took a deep breath to gather his thoughts, only then noticing the odd musk that lingered in the air. It took him a moment to realize that it was the smell of sex because apparently Jotun sex smelled a bit different, somehow cold and dark. "I wanted to apologize for my behavior last night. I was drunk, though that is no excuse. I hope you can forgive me," he managed.

The couple behind the curtain laughed softly. There was a bit of whispering, then Loki said, "Come here," Loki requested.

Thor was unsure, but since he was there to make amends, he figured it would be best to go along with it.

Once his brother was standing at the side of his bed, Loki asked. "What else do you remember about last night?"

Thor had been doubting if the bizarre argument and kiss that followed as he was passing out had been real or something his inebriated brain had dreamed up, but when he entered their bedroom and realized what the lingering scent there was, his doubts began to disappear. "I remember you and Myrkr arguing then kissing," he tried.

"Do you remember what we were arguing about?" Loki pressed curiously.

"Not really. Just that you were angry that she let me kiss her, and she called you slow," he managed. "Is everything alright? I didn't mean anything by it. I promise it won't ever happen again," he vowed.

He reached around the curtain and drew it back just enough to reveal them to him. "We've decided to forgive you," he said with a cocky smirk when he saw how red his brother's face became at the sight of them lying naked together, their cool blue bodies partially intertwined.

"Thank you," Thor awkwardly replied.

"Under one condition," he stipulated.

"What's that?" he asked, forcing himself to keep looking at their faces to keep his eyes from wandering elsewhere.

Pulling back their curtain had another unintended side effect. Myrkr could see just how far into their day they were. "Oh, wow. Sorry, I really need to get up and get going," she said, slowly pulling away from her husband.

"What for?" Loki nearly pouted.

"I was invited to an afternoon picnic by your mother and some of the other women," she informed.

"Very well," Loki sighed and let her go.

Thor tried not to stare at her as she scampered off to their bathroom, which was easier than he first thought because he got distracted by watching his brother's appearance change back to the one he was more accustomed to. "What is your condition?" he asked, trying not to sound too impatient.

Loki's expression grew serious as he stood and got out of bed, taking a moment to find a clean pair of pants before continuing their conversation, which relieved Thor greatly. "You will speak of it to no one, not last night nor today. None of it ever happened. Are we clear?"

Thor looked at him questioningly. "But why? If you and Myrkr have finally-" he began but Loki cut him off.

"Don't even bother finishing that sentence. As far as everyone outside of our chambers is concerned, nothing between us has changed," Loki informed.

The older brother sighed. "I will do what you ask, but why wouldn't you want people to know that you really do care for your wife? People will be happy for you," he tried.

Loki frowned. "People do not understand the true nature of our relationship. Now, do as I've asked or I will make sure people know your lust for your brother's Jotun wife. I wonder how quickly they would start to assume that your previous lust to battle the Jotuns was really a lust for their women?"

"Loki!" Thor nearly shouted.

Before the younger brother could continue, his wife returned. "Husband," she called, her tone sounding utterly disinterested.

"Yes?" he replied.

"Help me with this tie," she requested, turning around so that he could see that the laces that ran down her back were undone.

"Don't you have handmaidens for that sort of thing?" he tartly replied.

"I do, but I was under the impression that this was a private conversation," she chided.

Loki smirked and did what was asked of him. He was tempted to tie it a little too tightly, as she complained that her servants often did, but decided against it.

"Thank you," she said with a small bow and returned to their wardrobe to tie up her hair. It was autumn, but the days were still too hot for her.

"You will not spread such lies about me," Thor said in a low, dangerous voice once she was gone.

"Then you will do as I have asked and not spread the truth about us," Loki countered.

Thor sighed. "If that is your wish, but I hope you realize that it hurts both your reputations to be so cold to her in front of others," he advised.

Myrkr returned again. "Such warmth is uncomfortable to me. I prefer the cold," she said, looking out the window at what she was sure everyone else would consider a beautiful autumn day, though both of the brothers understood that she was speaking about more than the weather. Then, she turned back to them. "Thor, would you be so kind as to escort me to the castle gates. I would rather not keep your mother and the others waiting."

With that, they were gone, leaving Loki to prepare for the day in much appreciated peace.

Myrkr's picnic with the other women was more pleasant than she expected. Although it was hot, the conversation was light and pleasant. She was even asked, with genuine hopefulness rather than morbid curiosity, if she would cool their drinks for them, which she was more than happy to do with only the slightest bit of unease. She knew that if any of her kin knew she was doing such a thing, she would be considered a disgrace, since she was there to represent the autonomy of Jotunheim not serve as an interesting diversion for the courtly women.

They ate and chatted for the better part of two hours before the Queen had other matters to attend to. She thanked her guests and took her leave. Most everyone else left shortly after that, leaving Myrkr alone with Sif in the meadow by the stream. Over the last month or so, she and the warrior woman had become rather close. In actuality, Sif was very quickly becoming Myrkr's closest friend.

"How have things been with you and Loki?" Sif asked as they lay in the shade of one of the largest trees Myrkr had ever seen.

If it was anyone else asking, she would have been offended. "As well as to be expected," she replied neutrally.

Sif frowned.

"What's the matter?" Myrkr asked, rolling onto her side to look at her friend's face.

"Please don't take this the wrong way, but I feel a bit bad for you. I can't help feeling like he's taking his frustrations about his inability to control his situation out on you," she said as carefully as she could. "It all seems a bit cruel."

Myrkr offered a placating smile. "He may be a bit cold, but he's not cruel. Saying he's cruel implies that he's wronged me, which he's been very careful not to do," she reasoned.

"He's passive aggressive, and the only compliments he gives you are backhanded. It is not the way a husband should treat his wife," she lectured.

The Jotun woman laughed. "What you are describing is a marriage based on the mutual affection between two consenting parties. What Loki and I have is a political alliance that is mutually beneficial to our people's."

"He should understand that you are just as much a victim of circumstance as he is," she weakly persisted.

"He does," she dismissed.

Sif felt stymied.

"You think he should be affectionate, that he should try to honestly care for me, to become emotionally invested in me," she presumed.

"I would think that would be a good step for both of you," Sif tried.

"Do you think our relationship, as it is, is unhealthy?" Myrkr asked honestly.

Sif was not exactly comfortable answering such a direct question. "I don't think it's unhealthy, but don't you think you would be happier that way?"

The Jotun woman shrugged. "I am quite content with things as they are. I am treated very well here. I want for nothing. It would be greedy of me to expect more than I've already gotten," she easily replied.

The other woman grew quiet. "I'm sorry," she said after a long moment. "You're right."

That made Myrkr smile. "It is very warm out. Would it be okay if we went swimming in the stream?" she proposed hopefully.

Sif sat up and looked around. "There is no one around to say otherwise," she replied impishly.

They pulled the blanket they'd been laying on closer to the bank and stripped down. After a brief moment to awkwardly stare at one another, they waded into the water. Sif found it a bit cold at first, but she was urged on by how quickly Myrkr practically dove in.

"Oh, goodness, this is wonderful," the Jotun woman said with a sigh of relief.

They floated and soaked for a while before they really started talking again.

"If you were in my position, would a romantic relationship be preferable to you?" Myrkr asked awkwardly.

"It's not really my place to say," Sif dodged.

"Please? You are the closest thing I have to a friend. I may disagree with you, but I would never hold your opinions about such things against you," she pleaded.

"Well," Sif said as she thought. "Hypothetically," she began and then thought of something. "We are talking about a romantic relationship with Loki, right? Or just anyone?" she hedged.

Myrkr giggled. "With Loki."

It took Sif a long time to answer. "Now that I think about it, I've never seen or heard of Loki having romantic feelings for anyone, though that's not really surprising. He does tend to keep things like that to himself. I suppose if he meant it, it would at least be interesting," she managed.

Myrkr looked at her for a moment. "You've been with him before, haven't you?" she asked curiously.

The lack of aggression or accusation in the other woman's voice took Sif off guard. She actually sounded genuinely curious about the idea. "I-um.. Well, you see-" she stammered for a moment.

"It's okay if you have," Myrkr said with a confident sort of disinterest. "He's been very honest with me about his history. I mean, he's been polite enough not to mention names, but I know he had quite a number of lovers before he married me," she reasoned. "Were you one of them?"

Sif blushed deeply. "We were together once, while we were both fairly drunk. While it wasn't bad, we both decided that it would be best if we didn't try anything like that again."

"Oh? Why's that?" the Jotun woman pressed.

She laughed nervously. "Don't get me wrong. He wasn't rude to me or anything. I'm not really a fan of the little games he likes to play, but even those aren't so bad from time to time," she managed.

Myrkr studied her again. "You care for someone. Is that why it is hard to imagine being involved with someone else?"

Sif's eyes grew wide. That was the second time that it seemed Myrkr had been able to read her mind, not realizing that she had just spent so long taking mental notes on how Loki was able to read people that she had picked up a thing or two. "How did you-?" she was about to ask when she was interrupted.

"It's Thor, isn't it?" she suddenly said. Judging by the bright red shade of her friend's skin, she was right. "No wonder you don't want to think about Loki that way, them being brothers and all. Don't worry, I won't say anything, though with the way you look at him sometimes, I'd be surprised if someone else hadn't noticed by now," she teased.

"This isn't funny," Sif scolded.

"You're just embarrassed. You shouldn't be. I think he has a certain preference for you as well," she winked. "And really, a relationship like that is something that people here can really root for, something they will genuinely appreciate and enjoy seeing."

Sif winced a little at the comparison.

"Something that would distract them from me," she muttered.

"The people are starting to warm up to you. It's just taking a while because you're so different," Sif reasoned.

"I know why it's taking a while, and it's not something I'm really very interested in accelerating. My purpose is served whether the public likes me or not," she dismissed. "Anyway, what was Loki like when you two were together?" she suddenly reverted back to their previous conversation.

Sif rolled her eyes. "I already told you. We were both drunk. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't terribly good either," she laughed. She thought for a moment. "If I remember right, he wanted me to do most of the work. I don't know if he was like that with others, but he seemed to want to just lay back and enjoy himself. Maybe you're better off not being romantic with him, if he's always like that."

Myrkr smirked. "He's not."

Her friend did a double take. "Wait. I thought you said you weren't..." she trailed off, not quite sure how to continue.

"You're not the first person I've talked to about this sort of thing," she giggled.

"Who else?" She was almost afraid to ask.

"Well, for one, there are a number of servants who are willing to share their experiences. They were a little scared to talk to me at first, but I've made a fair number of friendly acquaintances by asking about what my husband is like in bed. I think they felt bad for me, and some of them exaggerated a bit, but it was all for the sake of making things entertaining for me," she reasoned.

Sif's brow furrowed. "I don't know how you feel about this sort of thing, but if you really want to know what he's like, then why not try to get him to show you? Asking around like that seems...wrong somehow."

Myrkr gave a dismissive hand motion. "Have you seen the way he looks at me when he can even stand to look at me?"

To Sif's surprise, Myrkr didn't sound hurt by that. If their positions were reversed, she was certain that she wouldn't be able to handle being married to someone who could hardly look at her, especially if they were in a land filled with people who were only just beginning to get somewhat used to having her around. It was in that moment that she really started to appreciate the other woman's strength.

The pause after her question was so long that Myrkr just let it go. They got out of the stream a short while later and laid in the warm shade of the large tree again to dry off before redressing.

"I didn't mean to make you feel awkward. You shouldn't feel bad for me either," the Jotun woman said surely.

"I'm sorry. I just don't know how to react when people say things like that," she confessed.

"It's okay. Just be yourself. I like that you don't put on airs for me or try to lie to make me feel better," she reasoned. "I just appreciate that you listen to me and take me seriously and that you're not scared of me."

Sif smirked. "You're not scary."

"I could freeze your skin off without really trying," Myrkr countered playfully.

Sif scoffed. "I'd kick your ass way before you even got the chance."

A few seconds later, they were wrestling, playfully fighting for some kind of imagined dominance and uncontrollably laughing all the while. It was the most absurdly fun thing that either of the women had done in a very long time.

Unbeknownst to them, their private little party had not gone unnoticed. When Loki saw his mother and the other women return without his wife, he wondered what happened. In spite of himself, he was actually a little worried about her, though he knew his mother wouldn't leave her in a dangerous situation. Just the same, he went out to one of the balconies that overlooked the meadow they had been picnicking in.

It took a fair bit of concentration to maintain the spell to let him see her from so far away, but he had nothing else to do. He wasn't surprised to find her spending her free time with Sif. He had noticed them growing closer over the last few weeks, though he did wonder what they were talking about. He was a decent lip reader, but doing that while concentrating so hard was rather difficult, given that he was offered the proper angle to do so in the first place.

He smirked a little and began to wonder if his wife knew she was being observed when the pair of women stripped down and started swimming. They both had a certain sort of beauty and grace to them that he could appreciate. He smiled to himself when they got out and laid down to dry, rolling over occasionally to let the water evaporate from their exposed skin.

His appreciation of their exposure, as well as the contents of his pants, shifted when they started wrestling, which was why his heart skipped a beat when someone walked up next to him and started talking.

"Loki?" Fandral said carefully. It appeared his friend was lost in thought, a state in which interruptions were not generally appreciated.

Loki did his best to hold in his reaction. He was accustomed to being caught doing things that weren't exactly proper, and as such, he was also quite good at covering up whatever he'd been up to without others noticing. "Yes?" he managed with only a slight strain in his voice.

"I wanted to apologize for my behavior last night. What I said, it was uncalled for," he offered.

"Yes it was," Loki agreed. "But I accept your apology."

Fandral smiled a little as he sighed with relief. "All things considered, she isn't the worst companion one could have. At least she seems to understand that you have no interest in her beyond the political alliance," he tried.

Loki sighed with irritation and let go of the spell. Myrkr had just gained the upper hand, though it didn't appear it would last. "You were doing well right up until you started speaking again." Then he walked away.

"Loki, wait," Fandral called after him.

The prince paused and looked back at his friend. "Don't worry about it. Just keep being a gentleman when it is required. I only find it irritating that you feel the need to speak so frankly about this with me, otherwise you've done nothing wrong," he said and then was gone.