Soon the time came to go down to the beach. I had gotten changed into beach worthy attire – Rachel had insisted. And the gods know you cannot say no to that woman. After prising Loki off of me and shooing into his own room, she threw clothes at me and demanded I wear them. When I'd finally given in, I was dressed in a bikini style green and white flowered top, matching shorts and an almost transparent pullover which kept in a surprising amount of heat for something so thin. I had to work especially hard to use the Mist and cover up my entire scar, until Rachel brought out the bottle of conseler no one knew she had.

All the demigods had changed out of their travelling clothes into something more beach suited, but the Asgardians were still in their armour with the exception of capes.

"Aren't you going to be uncomfortable in that armour?" Rachel asked Thor boldly.

"Not at all, Lady Rachel," Thor rumbled. "We Asgardians live and breathe in our armour, so much so that it is like a second skin. That is so that in battle it is not uncomfortable and does not hinder out movements. What would you suggest we wear?"

What a question to ask an artist.

"Well," Rachel began, "Now that you mention it, I had had a few ideas…"

Another twenty minutes later, the Asgardians descended the stairs, looking very out of their depth in their Midgardian style beach wear. They still insisted on carrying their weapons, though. Thor looked a bit like a lumberjack in his checked shirt and frayed shorts. Sif and the Warriors Three looked like they'd just walked out of a surf catalogue and Loki… Loki looked amazing.

He was the last to come down the stairs and the one looking the most uncomfortable. He was wearing a forest green t-shirt which showed off his muscular arms. He had beige coloured shorts on and white pumps on, the underside of which had the same pattern as my clothes. When I noticed, I sent a sidelong glance at Rachel who was adamantly refusing to meet my gaze.

Loki came over to me.

"I feel ridiculous," he complained.

I smiled reassuringly. "You look amazing," I said. "Just loosen up a little, and you'll be perfect."

He looked dubiously at me. "Me? Loosen up? Have you not been paying any attention to me at all?"

I glanced over my shoulder at everyone. No one was paying attention to us. I quickly rose up and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Far too much attention than would be classed as healthy," I said, smiling cheekily.

His eyes clouded over with longing.

"Oh, you're going to regret torturing me so, my love," he whispered hungrily.

I just laughed and pulled him over to others. After about ten minutes of walking through that amazing forest, we arrived at the cliff that lead down to the beach where we arrived that afternoon.

"Last one to the sea's a Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth cried, racing down the path.

"Don't think I don't know that was a dig at me, Wise Girl!" Percy yelled, running after her.

"Will they be okay?" Volstagg asked, looking a little scared.

Thalia laughed. "They'll be fine," she said. "But we'd better head down to them to make sure they don't do anything dangerous when they're approaching the sea. You'd be surprised how competitive they can get." She set of after them.

The others started to follow them, but I stopped Loki.

"Didn't you tell me that you found teleportation quicker than walking?" I asked him, smiling slyly through my lashes.

"Would that not be cheating?" he asked quietly, his grin demeaning the scolding tone of his voice.

"Not at all," I said. "It is merely tipping the odds in our favour. Anyway, Nico would probably Shadow Travel down there if he remembered he could do it."

"Then shall we?" he asked, holding out his hand to me.

"We shall," I said, taking it.

The ground fell away from my feet again, and I felt like I was walking on air. This time it took longer to reach our destination, but I had the feeling that Loki was doing that on purpose. Then we arrived in the ocean, Loki's strong grip on my waist the only thing stopping me from floundering like a fish. The cold sea water was a shock to my system, bringing a gasp from my lips. I looked up the beach and saw that Annabeth and Percy weren't even on the beach yet. Looking back at Loki, I saw that he'd somehow removed his shirt. I had to admit, it was a very nice view.

"You're right," I said, looking up at Loki and smiling, "This is a quicker way to travel."

"You say that as if you doubted I was right in the first place," he said, smirking.

"Never," I said, leaning up and pecking his cheek.

Automatically his eyes darkened with desire.

"You are going to have to stop doing that," he ground out.

"And why's that?" I asked, kissing his other cheek.

He lowered his head and growled. "I don't know how long I can control myself."

I smirked and leaned up to his ear. "Then don't," I whispered, kissing the shell of his ear.

He snapped. He pulled me in front of him and kissed me like there was no tomorrow. His tongue slipped past my willing lips, tasting every inch of my mouth. I kissed him back just as fiercely, rubbing my hand up and down his back, driving him crazy. In retaliation he pressed my hips tightly into his, making my moan into his mouth. This was certainly the most heated kiss we'd shared yet. Somehow, he always managed to top himself.

Before we could part for air, a massive wave swept over our heads, forcing us apart. Knowing there was no natural wave that could have done that without sending us out to sea, I glared over my shoulder at the culprit. Percy just stood there looking sheepish.

"And that was in aid of…?" I asked him sternly.

"It was Annabeth's idea!" he cried, ducking behind his girlfriend.

"You are such a wimp, Seaweed Brain!" she chastised. "And you two looking like you needed cooling off, that's all."

Loki visibly relaxed. "You will not tell my brother, will you?" he asked.

"Of course not," she said. "Although I'm surprised he hasn't already worked it out. You two are always all over each other. We'd all worked it out without having Thalia torture Nico for confirmation."

"He told you?" I asked.

"Only because Thalia tortured him," Percy insisted.

"What kind of torture?" I asked, suspicious what could break the feared son of Hades.

"The worst kind," Percy said conspiratorially. He leaned in closer. "She threatened him with Frances!"

I laughed heartily. I should have guessed. The only thing that scared Nico was his girlfriend. Hell, even though she was one of my best friends she scared me sometimes. Especially when someone took the last jar of Nutella…

A few moments later the others arrived. Loki and I separated reluctantly.

"You cheated brother!" Thor cried as he entered the sea.

"Did anyone say I could not use magic?" Loki countered. "No, they did not. As such, I did not cheat. You should have been more specific in the rules of the race, brother."

Thor, obviously not liking that answer much, tackled his brother under the water. The demigods were kind of shocked, but when the Asgardians began to laugh we relaxed a little. The wrestled in the water for a few minutes before Thor brought Loki to the surface above his head like a set of weights.

"Ha ha, brother!" he cried triumphantly. "I have defeated you once more!"

"It seems you have, Thor," Loki said, looking a little queasy. "How about you put me down now?"

Thor's expression took on a mischief that I was used to seeing on Loki's face.

"But of course, brother," he said, deceptively calm. Right before he threw Loki full force into the ocean.

It took a lot for me not to flinch. Where they always this rough with each other is play? Looking around, I saw similar thoughts reflected on the faces of the other demigods.

"Do not worry," Hogun said. "This is a regular occurrence from these two."

"Even though Loki hardly fights back," Fandral muttered to Volstagg, who chuckled. I glared at the two of them and they shut up.

"Then why stop with those two?" Percy said. "We should all join in the fun!"

Realising too late what he meant, another huge wave swarmed us, drenching us and starting the best inter-species water fight in history.