The Asgardian way of celebrating, Rose quickly discovered, was to get as many people together in one place as possible, hand them each a tankard or two of mead, and let them have at it until the wee hours of the morning.

The last time she had done any amount of excessive drinking was for her friend Wendy's bachelorette party, and even that was months ago. Here, she found herself having a great time, even being challenged to a mead guzzling race by one of the men sitting closest to her. Cheers erupted around the long table as she managed to down hers first, and Rose could see Loki across the table from her, giving her an encouraging smile. She giggled and wondered if he would come over and talk to her, but he appeared to have his hands full as Thor began getting extremely rowdy, having already polished off at least six tankards already. Rose felt a tap on her left shoulder.

"Hello, there," said the handsome blond, who Rose recognized even as her head went a bit fuzzy as Fandral. "You remember me, don't you, Rose?"

She nodded and smiled widely at him. "Sure I do, yeah. You're good at using your sword."

He slipped his hand around her neck and into her hair, and she could smell the alcohol on his breath. "I could give you a demonstration now, if you like," he purred in her ear.

Rose blinked and was about to ask him what he meant when he was suddenly pulled away from her roughly. She tried to focus her eyes, and saw Loki holding Fandral back by the collar of his shirt.

"That is enough," he warned in a low, dangerous voice. Fandral struggled uselessly against him.

"Get off of me, Silvertongue," he snapped, his words slurring in his mouth. Loki growled in his ear.

"If you lay one finger on her again, I will see to it that you have no tongue." He pushed Fandral away from him, and looked back to Rose who stared at him in confusion.

"Come, let me get you out of here," he said, gently taking her hand in one of his and placing the other at the small of her back.

"But—I was having fun," she complained, letting him lead her out of the Great Hall and through the abandoned hallway.

"Yes, but too much of that kind of fun will get you killed," Loki gently pointed out. "Or worse, in this case."

Rose blinked hard again to clear out her vision when something caught her eye. "Oh!" She pulled out of Loki's grasp and stumbled under the archway that led to the outside.

"Rose—"

She ignored his protests and took a deep breath of night air. She closed her eyes and spread her arms out wide, feeling the sense of peace and calm that washed over her. She felt his cool hands guide her to a bench. "Here, at least sit down."

They sat down together and Rose stared up at the night sky. There were stars and planets peppering the dark backdrop and before Rose knew what was happening, her cheeks were wet with tears.

"What is the matter?" Loki sounded faintly alarmed, and she hastily brushed the tears away.

"It's just that…I was so glad to leave home," she admitted, continuing to explain when Loki remained silent. "He took me away, and I was so glad to leave. He showed me planets, and galaxies and things I couldn't even imagine." She lifted her face to the sky and tried to ignore the familiar throbbing in her chest.

"Who?" Loki's voice came quietly from the dark beside her.

She sniffed. "The….the Doctor. He took me everywhere, showed me everything-"

"Did he leave you?"

Rose turned to look at Loki, but his face was carefully guarded. He simply stared at her and waited for an answer. "N-no, he didn't—it wasn't his fault," she hurried to explain, but she was having trouble getting the words to come out coherently. "It was…an accident. I got pulled away from him." This was getting hard, and suddenly Rose wanted the comfort of physical contact. If only to reassure herself that she was still here—still alive. Still existing. Without thinking, she reached over and grabbed Loki's hand, which was resting lightly on his thigh. Something flickered across his eyes, and it looked like he might say something, but he just closed his mouth and let her hold his hand.

They sat there quietly for a few minutes before Loki spoke. "Perhaps we should return inside."

"No…" Rose couldn't leave, not yet. Somehow, staring up at the great big universe overhead was pleasant rather than heartbreaking. For the most part. She tugged at his arm to bring him closer and nuzzled into his collar, wrapping her other arm around his neck. Immediately, she felt his body tense up and he inhaled sharply at the sudden contact. She could feel his breath graze her ear as he bent his head.

"What do you want?" he whispered, his voice rougher than usual. Or perhaps she was hearing things. She was already so very tired.

"Just hold me, alright?" she mumbled into his jacket, noting distantly that the top few buttons of his shirt were undone. Huh. That's odd. He always dresses so neatly…her fingers slowly uncurled from his neck and found the long patch of pale skin, tracing a path over his Adam's apple which jumped at her touch, and trailed down to the place where the buttons met. She could feel the racing of his heart and the warmth of his skin through his clothes. His breath stuttered in her ear, and she felt him bring his hand up—figuring that he would move her hand away from his skin—but rather, he covered her hand with his own, locking it in place at the dip of his shirt. His other hand found her back again and very tentatively, as if he were being extremely cautious of any possible remarks from her about boundaries, pressed his fingers into her back, holding her to him.

Hm, this feels strangely familiar, Rose thought sleepily as she breathed in his scent. Leather and what was it…? There was something else she couldn't name, something that she realized must be distinctively Loki. For some odd reason, this was a comforting thought for her and Rose breathed in deeply once again before drifting off to sleep.