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"What is that?" Loki pointed to the green fizzy liquid in the mason jar Darcy was holding.

"It's just a drink they serve every year. It has some kind of magic in it, I don't know what … good feels? Felix Felicis? Or maybe it's just Everclear and Midori, not sure."

"That doesn't sound wise, drinking something and not knowing its origins."

Darcy shrugged. "Normally I'd definitely agree with you, but its Halloween at The Dungeon. They're not going to drug us and then take advantage of us. If anyone came here with ill-intentions, they'd be a stain on the floor in two seconds flat."

Loki nodded.

"Here, have some." Darcy said. "But be careful … I may take advantage of you later."

He already had his bourbon drink, but tried it anyway, grinning. "I look forward to it."

"Good, eh?" She asked, with a seductive smirk.

"Yes. Very."

"They force amorous juju into it along with the carbonation." She took her drink back and finished it.

Loki slowly smiled. The evening was turning out to be quite pleasant. He had been a bit hesitant at first, what with the strange costumes, an under-dressed lover, and a seemingly hostile Earth-god, but things had taken quite the turn.

After his discussion with Eshu, they'd approached the bar to reconnect with their party, and he was introduced to various keepers of magic on the Earthly realm. Meeting Chango had been fascinating and perhaps a bit unnerving ... because even though he looked very different from Thor, Loki could tell that he carried within himself the same kind of energy and confidence as his brother. He was also a huge mass of brawn, like his Asgardian counterpart ... and as of late, held the same kindness in his eyes. Thor didn't always have that kindness … sure, he had been nice when he wanted to be, especially with his family, but there was always the arrogance that came with it. After his fall to Earth, that arrogance seemed to be a dead skin that Thor had shed.

In the months prior to the invasion of the Dark Elves, Loki hadn't been sure which version of his brother he hated more ... pre-Earthly banishment or post-Earthly banishment … but none of that seemed to matter lately. The last few days he'd spent in New York, engaging socially with Thor, laughing and drinking as they used to ... only now very different. It had changed something. The fraternal bond was still tentative and fragile, but there was a shift happening between the two of them. Thor was trying to understand. Loki was trying to let him.

"I'd like to meet this brother of yours," Chango had said with his booming deep voice. "I must have a discussion with him about calling the power of the storms without the need of that phallic symbol. It must be exhausting having to carry that thing around with him all the time."

Loki had laughed. "I think he's quite attached to it. Mjolnir is like an extra appendage at this point."

And even though the Earth-holiday known as Halloween had turned out to be quite a bit of fun, as Darcy had rightly predicted, he still wouldn't mind abandoning the rest of the night's festivities in order to take her back to bed. He certainly didn't need a green fizzy drink to make him amorous.

"Come on," Darcy said as she put her empty glass on the bar. "We're going back across the street to meet up with the guy that Scott is seeing. I think he's tired of being around couples."

"Can't this person come here?"

"No way, Scott's new dude is a muggle," she said. Loki had actually understood that reference, having speedily run through the collection of books she had given him about the young wizard with his own dark lord that haunted him.

After venturing back to the muggle bar, Loki was introduced to a rather tall lad named Richard, who appeared to be wearing a garment that rivaled Scott's in tightness. He asked Darcy who he was meant to be, and she said something about an alien named Ziggy, though Loki had never heard of a race of androgenous spiders on the planet Mars.

At this point, the back part of the bar had been opened up to reveal a stage, and a band happened to be about half-way through its set. This was around the time when the night began to seem as if it happened in a series of flashes instead of a linear and smooth unit of time. Bourbon with a chaser of magic had a tendency to do that.

Flash.

The beginning of the night's mischief all started with the band. The three couples and Chango snaked their way through the crowd and stood to watch an act consisting of two leather-clad guitar players and a drummer. The music was boozy and atmospheric, enamoring the audience with seductive riffs. Loki looked over, saw Eshu and his brother grinning at each other, and then felt the magic start to permeate the room. It was magic that went straight to the lower chakras, and for the humans that were open to it, the energy compelled them to surrender to the moment. They danced a little closer together, their eyes shined a little brighter, all the colors were a bit more vivid, and the night held infinite and enticing possibilities for them.

The Norse god stood listening to the music, standing next to the woman he … loved. He closed his eyes. These new gods were a different breed. They used magic freely and with joy, confidence ... they communed with their people ... danced with them. He'd certainly never danced with his people, even when they had still left him offerings and prayers, which they didn't any longer … and he'd certainly never shared his magic with them, helping to send them into an ecstatic state. His magic had always been looked down upon, so why would he ever be compelled to share it with humans as a gift?

Eshu may have been testing him when they'd met, but he had been right in his accusations. Loki gave nothing. He had always been too worried about what wasn't being given to him.

Darcy took his hand and he looked over. She tugged on his arm and got on her tip-toes.

"Stop your brooding!" she said into his ear, breaking his train of thought.

He bent down to kiss her, feeling the gentle static and hum of magic on their lips.

Flash.

After leaving the show, Eshu insisted on walking down Bourbon St., to the protestation of the four humans.

Jules voiced her opinion rather loudly. "Ugh! Not Bourbon, I hate Bourbon! It's all tourists and pick-pockets!"

"You are free to go somewhere else, we have work to do." Eshu grabbed Loki's arm and led him away. Darcy watched as he grinned and gave her a shrug. When in Rome, indeed, she thought.

As per usual, people were packed in like sardines on the famous street, but doubly-so for Halloween. Darcy and her friends reluctantly followed and found their gods standing before a crew of "bible thumpers" who had camped out with their picket signs in the middle of an intersection, fervently protesting and condemning Halloween as Satan's holiday. Decrying New Orleans as a city of sin.

There was a lot of eye-rolling from the humans, as they were used to seeing that sort of thing … the zealot thumpers were like leeches, trying to suck the life out of every party-holiday in the city. They always turned up for the big events … Mardi Gras was especially holy to them as they'd come out for the days leading up to Fat Tuesday with their bullhorns, signs, and hateful messages.

What could two "Gods of Mischief" possibly do to these people? A big smile formed on Darcy's face.

As Loki used his silver tongue to distract a handful of zealot bros in conversation about what the Bible said about aliens (the Chitauri hadn't been alien-beings from a distant galaxy, but demons from hell, they said), Eshu stood back and concentrated on their signs. By the time Darcy came up by Loki's side and hooked her arm through his, she looked up and saw that while Bible verses were still being displayed … but the messages had changed somewhat.

The big bold letters in the headline of "Repent, Fornicators!" became "Repent, Fabric Blenders!"

"God hates polyester blends!"

And Eshu had it backed up with a Bible verse.

"You shall not … wear a garment upon you of two kinds of material mixed together. Leviticus 19:19."

For the next one, "God Hates Homos" turned into "God Hates the New Orleans Saints."

"Football is an abomination! Touching a pigskin is a sin!"

"You shall not eat of their flesh nor touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you. Leviticus 11:8."

"Sinner football players work on Sundays!"

"Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings. Leviticus 23:3."

And a sign that had read "Fortune-Telling, Witchcraft, and Voodoo are the works of Satan!" became "Louisiana Shrimp, Oysters, and Crawfish were created by The Devil!"

"Eating shellfish will send you straight to hell!"

"That does not have fins and scales among all the teeming life of the water, and among all the living creatures that are in the water, they are detestable things to you. Leviticus 11:10."

Darcy stood back and laughed as folks in the crowd started to notice what the signs now said. Chango, who was well aware of what was going on, started a scene by standing with his arms crossed in front of the guy holding up the anti-New Orleans Saints sign, and staring him down. It attracted the attention of quite a few people passing by.

The much shorter bible thumper took one look at the hulking figure in front of him and backed up a few steps, looking around and wondering why the crowd had become even angrier at them and giving more attention than usual. You just don't go to New Orleans and trash-talk the Saints ... or the crawfish, for that matter.

Darcy watched as people started closing in around the group of protesters, and one by one the signs dropped.

She thought she could hear thunder off in the distance.

Leaving Chango behind, Jules started ushering everyone along … "Y'all are going to incite a riot!"

Darcy yelled after her. "Hey Jules, have you met Eshu and Loki? Gods of Mischief?"

The Orisha god flashed his crooked smile as they quickly walked along. "Those guys can't pick and choose which rules to follow. If they expect everyone to follow a few obscure commandments from thousands of years ago, then they have to follow all of them … one can't be more important than the other. I don't want to see any of those motherfuckers who are whining about people's sex lives, eating any shrimp this weekend!"

Loki felt a familiar fire in his veins. It was like drinking with a dear old friend. Like slipping under the sheets with a familiar lover, after a long stretch away from home. The sweet satisfaction of trickery that he hadn't felt nearly enough of lately.

Flash.

The next few hours were spent going in and out of bars and clubs … they'd leave after Eshu and Loki had accomplished whatever would satisfy them as an addition to their mischief quota for the evening. In any establishment with an internet jukebox, they'd loudly play a series of annoying songs ... R. Kelly's "Trapped in the Closet", Rebecca Black's "Friday, Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmas Time", Aqua's "Barbie Girl", James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" ... or just putting Culture Club's "I'll Tumble For Ya" on constant repeat. This would effectively torture the patrons, thus clearing the place out. Many of the bartenders couldn't figure out why it was impossible to turn the volume down or manually skip to the next song ... and most went so far as to completely unplug the machine, but still the music played.

In one bar, Darcy noticed that they bailed just after a pair of bros slumped off their bar stools, while looking incredulously into their drinks.

She looked back as they began to walk out the door. "What did you do?" She had never seen Loki this relaxed and happy … outside of a bed, at least.

"We just switched their drinks with ones that they'd bought for those young ladies over there." Loki nodded towards two girls that were looking very confused at their now barely-responsive dates.

Darcy's attention on their trick was short-lived, however, when she saw a flash of blue in the crowd. Loki looked on as she ran towards a bald blue-painted man in extremely short cut-off jeans and a very fake mustache.

"OH MY GOD IT'S A NEVER-NUDE!" She furiously waved Loki over to where she was standing. "LOKI! It's Tobias Funke!"

"Who?"

She shook her head. "Oh, nevermind. Just come over here and take our picture!"

After Darcy proceeded to tell the man that she loved his work and was a big fan, Loki then pressed the camera button on her phone as the very drunk "never-nude" gave Darcy a peck on the cheek as she smiled a big toothy grin for the picture. Any other time, he would have frowned at the blue smudge left on her face, but either he was too tipsy or too happy to care much about it.

There were quite a few more pictures taken as they made their way down the street, including a big group photo after finding more ghostbusters in the crowd.

Loki had had enough of playing the photographer, however, after he heard, "OH MY GOD IT'S CAPTAIN AMERICA! Hey! Look what I'm wearing!"

He found himself acting as if he hadn't heard, while ducking into the nearest tavern. It was probably for the best that he missed Darcy showing the star-spangled party-goer her bikini-top.

Flash.

After the humans insisted on entering a nightclub on the gay end of Bourbon St. and dancing their asses off to electronic music, Scott then pulled them towards a karaoke bar, where Loki discovered how Darcy must have gotten her love for the rather irreverent art-form.

Somehow, Scott had procured a Dracula-esque cape to drape across his Gozer costume and proceeded to sing "Like a Wrecking Ball" in a bad eastern-European accent. He and Jules then did a rendition of "Rollin' on the River", complete with Ike and Tina Turner dance moves … though for some reason, Scott couldn't lose the Romanian accent.

"Why are you not performing?" Loki wondered why Darcy didn't go up on stage with her friends. They were tucked away at a table in the corner so they could still hear each other speak.

"I'd need Jane. The only songs I know anymore are the ones we worked on while the sciency info was slow to come in."

"Have you heard from Jane?"

Darcy frowned for the first time in hours. "No … I had strict instructions not to contact them and they were told the same, apparently."

"I'm surprised that Thor listened."

Eshu came up to sit with them while Jules and Scott finished their song. He then discreetly flashed into his ancient form. "Loki, we should do that thing I suggested before." He grinned.

Loki stiffened. "Em. Thank you for the offer, but I'm afraid I have to decline."

Eshu narrowed his eyes, determined not to give up.

Darcy was inebriated enough to argue. "I hope you're not refusing for my sake, because I don't give zero fucks about you turning blue. You saw my reaction to the never-nude, right?"

Loki blinked at her. "I still don't understand what that means."

"That's Tobias from Arrested Development … he can never be nude, so he always wears those cut-offs, and he paints himself blue just in case the 'Blue Man Group' has an opening."

"I cannot even process what you just said."

"Whatever! Just do it."

Eshu jumped in. "It's the perfect night, as no one will notice. We hide in plain sight among humans ... I promise, it's very freeing. Good for the soul."

Loki felt very uncomfortable. He was having fun, but the thought of assuming his Jotun form, for any part of the evening, made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"I am not sure it's such a good idea."

"Dude. Look around … there's so many crazy costumes that no one is gonna know the difference. And everyone is hammered."

Eshu only smiled, knowing that they were beginning to wear him down.

Darcy was drunkenly insistent. "Loki … just, let it go!"

"Let it go," sang Scott, while walking up to the table.

"Let it go," echoed his boy Richard.

"Can't hold it back anymore! …" Jules went along with the tune as she came up behind the others.

Darcy started to cry from laughing so hard, but got through the next line. "Let it goooo, let it go. Turn away and slam the door!"

Scott finished, still in his Dracula accent ... "I don't care what they're going to say. Let the storm rage on, the cold never bothered me anyway!"

"You are unhinged," Loki said calmly, though a grin threatened to form around the corners of his mouth. "The whole lot of you."

"Come on, babe. You're not gonna melt."

"SOME PEOPLE ARE WORTH MELTING FOR!" Scott said through his drunken laughing.

He was used to their inside jokes at this point and refused to be affected by them any longer … but then he looked over to Jules and Eshu. She had sat in his lap and put her arms around his neck, his primitive and stranger form apparently doing nothing to diminish her inclination towards him.

He looked at Darcy. Loki didn't want her to run. He wouldn't be able to bear the look of disgust on her face … but then again, perhaps he wasn't giving her enough credit. Midgardians didn't grow up with tales that painted Jotuns as monsters ... they grew up with deformed men in striped shirts and razor-tipped fingers, hockey-masked serial killers, and chainsaw-wielding Texans as the creatures that haunted nightmares.

Fucking Helheim, he must have been completely inebriated. The magic must have totally impaired his judgement.

He sighed. "Very well, Eshu. Do your worst."

A fierce smile appeared on Eshu's lips and Scott took it as a cue to take his boyfriend to the bar for a drink.

The Orisha god took a long drag from his skinny cigar, reached over, and touched a finger to Loki's palm. His blue skin began to travel up his arms and then to his face.

Darcy and Jules watched while smiling and nodding approvingly. Not while retreating and screaming.

"How long will this last?" Already, it felt as if Loki's skin had taken a nice long stretch after waking up from a nap, though he didn't want to admit it.

Eshu nodded knowingly. "Just for an hour … long enough for you to try it on for size."

"But my skin will burn a human's flesh in this form."

The Orisha god shook his head. "I've raised your temperature. You're good."

The Norse god took a deep breath. Eshu had thought of everything. Blast the man.

Darcy instantly then got up from her chair and proceeded to sit in Loki's lap, like Jules had done.

She bent down to kiss him, wrapping her arms around his neck, surprising him. "Happy Halloween, Mr. Blue Sky."

He laughed softly, slightly relaxing, and kissed her back.

"Wait, wait, wait …" Jules said as she fumbled around in one of her many jumpsuit pockets. She came up with an eyeliner pencil and pointed it towards Loki's face.

He instinctively ducked. "Don't worry, Loki … I'm just putting a Dr. Manhattan symbol on your forehead." She reached over and drew a dot, and then a circle outside of the dot, between his eyebrows.

"Jules … Dr. Manhattan is bald. And naked." Darcy said.

"He's not always naked … he wears a suit sometimes … and those man-kini bottoms," she giggled.

"I don't want to know," Loki said dryly.

Darcy shook her head. "He's from a comic book. The Watchmen. He's this incredibly smart glowing blue guy, pretty much a god … and he's so advanced that he's surpassed the human inclination to wear clothes."

"Apart from the not-wearing-clothes part, I think I actually like this character."

The girls laughed. "Yeah, he's a favorite of the ladies … him and his big blue penis!" Jules so graciously pointed out.

Darcy turned to look at Loki with wide eyes, and a question on her face.

"Don't even think about it," Loki said between his teeth.

She put her hands over her mouth to cover the big smile that she couldn't suppress.

"Time to bounce," Ehsu said, knowing that Loki needed the girls to stop giving him attention.

As they filed back into the street, they saw a commotion about a block down.

"What happened?" Darcy asked a nearby Pee-Wee Herman, who was watching the scene.

The man laughed. "Apparently these guys got into a fight outside a strip-club down the street, and they broke out guns. Everyone went crazy because of all the recent shootings … but when they shot at each other, turned out they were just squirt guns."

His friend, Edward Scissor-Hands, came up behind him. "Looked like some freakishly real squirt guns."

"Yeah. They still got arrested for causing a panic. And the idiots looked pretty shocked by the whole thing. It was seriously entertaining."

Darcy and Jules looked over to their dudes.

They both shrugged.

Flash.

The four humans and two gods found themselves walking up some stairs to a party. A high-school friend of Darcy's had invited them up to his French Quarter apartment that boasted one of its trademark balconies.

The party attendees on said balcony were busy with Mardi Gras throws that had been collected the previous winter, and were sending them down to the mass of people on the street. Darcy picked up a few light-up beads and dropped them to a couple of zombies. Only tourists thought you had to show skin in order to get a Mardi Gras throw.

Loki saw a bag containing small stuffed animals, plush roses, big colorful plastic coins, and a few plastic swords and spears. He picked up an inflatable sword. Humans were so strange, he thought.

"Those are for kids! They get thrown from the floats at Mardi Gras parades," Darcy instructed.

He set it down and picked up a light-up spear, featuring a plastic arrow-head on one end.

"SIR! PUT DOWN THE SPEAR!"

Darcy then broke out into a hysterical fit of laughter, and it took him a few moments to figure out what had her in stitches.

He looked down at the toy spear, not sure what to do with it.

"SIR! PUT DOWN THE SPEAR!" She yelled again.

"Alright, Darcy, I get it! You are a very very funny girl. You don't have to repeat it." The corners of his mouth were beginning to twitch into a smile.

"I'll repeat it until you put it down! No seriously, throw it! That's what you're supposed to do."

He looked down into the sizable crowd and several people reached up their arms, waving furiously, trying to get his attention for him to throw them something. He rather liked this vantage point.

"SIR!"

"OKAY!"

He aimed the toy spear at a man in a tight light-up suit and matching helmet. He threw it and the guy caught it, jumping above several other people who were trying to get at it. A big smile came across the man's face as he howled and fist-bumped into the air. Loki wondered what was so exciting about catching a cheap piece of plastic, but admitted that the exchange had been fun and strangely satisfying.

"AWESOME NIGHTCRAWLER COSTUME, BRAH!" the man yelled up to Loki.

"AWESOME TRON COSTUME!" Darcy yelled back down to the man.

Loki leaned into Darcy's ear. "How do you know about the things that happened … back when … you know, about the spear." Or rather, the scepter, he thought.

Her eyes widened and she shook her head. "I didn't mean to offend … I was more making fun of Fury than of you … but Clint was the one that told me about it. Actually, it was at happy hour one day after work. We got a little too happy on dirt-cheap PBRs and people started doing impressions. Clint does a mean Fury impression, it's so totally awesome. And Natasha, man, she's the best. I couldn't breath after she did her Coulson impression. I woke up the next day and my ab muscles hurt from laughing so much."

Loki noticed a far-away look in her eyes. "Do you miss New York?"

Darcy wistfully looked out over the French Quarter rooftops. "Maybe a little, but I'm cool here. I just hope everyone is okay."

He pulled her in for an embrace. "This has been the most aimless and random night of my entire life. And yet, I haven't had this much fun since attending the summer festivals on Vanaheim."

She looked up to him and grinned. "You better watch yourself. You're starting to say nice things about Midgard."

Loki's red eyes grew dark. "You better watch yourself." He reached over and zipped up her jumpsuit once again. "If this zipper goes any lower, I'm going to carry you back to our room and restrain you from being able to pull this back down."

She raised an eyebrow and threaded her fingers through his cold ones. "Promise?"

After a few minutes of watching everyone throw things into the crowd below, Darcy decided that she was thirsty.

"Come get a drink with me, Loki." She looked at him as she walked a few steps backward off the balcony and into the hallway, lowering her zipper.

"Looooo-kiiiii …" she then turned around and kept walking, dodging party-goers, and disappeared through a doorway, completely bypassing the kitchen where all the drinks were being kept.

Of course, he followed her siren's call.

As soon as he entered the not-kitchen room, she shut and locked the door. Her arms came around him, lips pressed against his. It wasn't until her hands had untucked the shirt from his pants, fingers finding their way to caressing the sigils on his back, did he remember that he was still in his other form, his Jotun form … and the way it felt, the way the night had felt … he didn't care anymore.

He backed her up to the door and pressed her against it with his body, grabbing ahold of the zipper to her jumpsuit and pulling it all the way down, revealing her bikini top. It was the first look he'd gotten of the whole thing and he saw the two Captain America emblems gracing her breasts.

The look in his Jotun eyes almost scared her. "Birthday present from Jane ... it was a joke," Darcy said, almost breathless. "She also got me Iron Man boy shorts," she added.

He cocked his head to the side. "You are claimed, Midgardian. Hold to your modern feminine ideals. Your mind is yours ... but these ... " He grabbed her breasts and kneaded none too softly ... "are mine."

Her eyelids fluttered shut and she leaned against the door, too turned on to stand straight ... then her eyes shot back open, and she gasped to the feeling of him ripping the bikini open by the string holding the two cups together.

Loki growled. "I'd say that I was going to buy you a new one ... it's just ... I'm not going to."

He then pulled the fabric out of the way so that he could bury his face in her breasts, swirling a nipple with his tongue, sucking, marking the soft sensitive skin as his.

Her unrestrained sighs of pleasure were driving him mad, and he tried to comfortably get a hand between her legs, but her costume was restrictive and in the way. He'd have to strip her naked to get anywhere, and while he normally had no problem with that, they were in someone else's house and probably shouldn't totally undress.

"Darcy," he said, coming up from her breasts ... back down to Earth, temporarily. "This suit of yours is very inconvenient."

She laughed softly. "That's okay. This isn't really for me."

She moved away from the door, turned him around, and backed him up against it … then sank to her knees.

He looked down at her, alarmed. "Darcy." His voice had an edge to it.

"Loki," she grinned up to him. "I want to worship at your feet," she said, seductively.

It was like a punch of arousal to the gut … and it sank lower. He was already hard, but her words made him throb. Puslate.

She palmed him through his pants and he gave a strangled moan. She was actually going to do this, with him in his monstrous Jotun form. He tried to relax, but revealing this side of himself to her, or to anyone, was taking every bit of courage he had. To have her on her knees was an intensely arousing thought … but not like this.

"Loki, let go … let me … love you."

It dawned on him what she just said ... he looked down at her, dazed and wide-eyed, and nodded. It wasn't quite the declaration he desired, but it was pretty damn close.

Darcy unbuckled, unzipped, then freed his Jotun cock from his pants. She smiled up at him enticingly, to let him know that she was still totally into what was right in front of her.

She didn't know when someone might want to come in the room, as it seemed to be some sort study or home office, so she set right to work, swirling the tip with her tongue, gripping him at the base … pausing to lick one of his Jotun ridges running down the sides. The back of his head fell back, hitting the solid surface behind him rather loudly, and he slammed his fist into the door. Well that elicited a reaction … interesting.

After she took him in as much as she could, until he reached the back of her throat, Loki couldn't hold back a loud gasp, and then a strangled moan. This gave her the go-ahead to continue, and she found a steady pace ... then realized that the temperature of his dick was actually having a numbing effect, which made it strangely easier to go a little deeper.

Darcy sneaked a peek up at him. He had his head thrown back and his eyes were shut tight, panting heavily, no doubt trying to control himself. He really didn't need to do that … she wanted him to let go … so she broke her rhythm and ran her tongue down the ridges on both sides again, then went deep. He practically fell apart around her and brought his hands up to her head, urging her to go faster, please go faster … almost, almost, and then he slammed the door with his fists again as he came, creating dents in the wood, crying out her name … a different sort of orgasm, powerful, tingly, and oh so good … like a fresh cold breeze of pure pleasure washed all over his body.

Darcy stayed kneeling for a few moments and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her cheek on his thigh. That had been an experience. A pretty arousing experience, actually. He tugged on her arms, helped her to stand up, and then attacked her mouth with his.

Her lips were very cold from the attention she had just given him, and the mere thought of it made him hard all over again. He thought, fuck it, and made to slide the jumpsuit off her shoulders, but she broke their kiss.

"Shhhh. We can't do this here. Someone's coming."

There was a knock at the door and they both froze.

"Hello?" Darcy asked tentatively.

"Yeah." It was Scott. "Someone heard loud banging on the door and then saw that it was locked. They were worried that someone was stuck in there. You better hurry … I think they went to get keys." He sounded pretty amused.

"Shit." They scrambled to get their clothes back in order and get back to their party, though it felt very odd for Darcy to have no support on her chest. She tucked her ripped bikini-top into one of her pockets, but Loki reached in to grab it, tossing it in a trash can filled with beer cans and liquor bottles.

Everyone was still on the balcony, enjoying the night, the late-October breeze, the friends … the moment. By this time, Loki's skin had reverted back to his normal Asgardian form, and he found himself unexpectedly disappointed. Eshu had also gone back to his modern-self and gave his brother-in-mischief a knowing smile. It had been freeing. Liberating. It had felt good … like jumping into a cool lake on a hot and humid day.

Loki was much more comfortable in his pale skin, but he could see the appeal of exploring other sides of himself from time to time.

Especially if Darcy kept doing that thing with her tongue.

He gave her a peculiar look, one of adoration. "Thank you," he said, as sincerely as he ever got.

She was opening up his world in ways he never thought possible. He was certain it would be impossible for someone to love him in his Jotun form. It needed to stay hidden at all costs.

But she embraced him. All of him.

Flash.

They stayed out for a bit longer, and little by little, they lost the people they were with, which was fine. Scott and Richard bailed first, wanting some alone time. Then Jules and Eshu went to spend the rest of the night together, before he had to leave.

"I'll see you again soon, brother." He held out his hand.

"Yes." Loki shook it, with a grin.

By the time they got back to the hotel, there was a strange, dark, and arousing energy that was practically pouring out of him.

Perhaps that's why he felt compelled to reveal a side of him that was a little more … intense.

It was something that needed to be done. It was automatic that he had to return the favor she bestowed upon him at the party ... and as soon they tumbled into the bedroom, he was finally able to divest her of the blasted jumpsuit.

He zipped it down and slid it from her shoulders as she took off his suit jacket and started working at the buttons of his vest and shirt. It wasn't hurried, but reverent, like they were drinking in every tiny moment. He watched as she unbraided her hair, and let the waves fall loose around her shoulders and curves.

She slid out of her underwear as he removed his shirt, and took a moment to relish in the feeling of naked skin on naked skin, before he backed her up to the bed until she was lying on it. He then climbed over her, kissing down her body, and set his mouth between her legs. Perhaps one of these days he could experiment with his Jotun tongue … something to look forward to, he thought.

He had mentioned slow sweet torture to her before … for when they had more time, and tonight they had plenty of time. After he had her begging, sobbing, and squirming beneath him for more, her hands going back and forth between grabbing hold of his hair and grabbing hold of the sheets, he finally sat up and went to unbuckle his belt.

She came up on her elbows and watched hungrily.

Loki looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "You like this belt, don't you."

She smiled slowly and nodded. "Yessir."

He slid his belt out of the loops in one sweeping motion and rolled it up in his hands. The sight hit her deep, low in the belly. Her nipples hardened, and she found herself holding her breath.

He looked at her with darkened eyes. If she didn't know him better, the look he was giving her would have scared her. She imagined he'd worn the same expression right before going into battle. Wild. Thirsty … except at the moment, he wasn't thirsty for blood. He was thirsty for release, but more than that, he was thirsty for possession.

"Get up on your knees and turn around," he commanded, darkly.

She got up deliberately slowly and complied, then waited for more direction … wondering if she was going to get spanked across the ass with that belt. The anticipation made her heart speed up.

"Grip the bed-post."

Darcy took a few breaths, then crawled unhurriedly on all fours, until she reached the bedpost at the head of the bed. She silently did as she was told.

He sat behind her for several moments, as she waited for the jarring sensation of the belt across her backside, and was excited by thought of it … so very excited. She rubbed her thighs together.

He saw this and came up behind her, stuck a knee between her legs, spreading them … so she couldn't do it anymore.

"I didn't tell you to do that," he said with dominating authority. He then ran his hands up her sides, over her shoulders and down her arms.

He silently and deftly took his belt, quickly wrapped it around her wrists, and secured them to the bedpost before she had much time to register what he was doing. Damn his super-human reflexes!

Or not. This could be fun.

She tested how strong of a hold she was under, spreading her fingers and tugging on the belt … nope, not going anywhere.

After being restrained, Loki then took his time with her … running his hands over her back, up and down her sides, across her thighs, and driving her crazy … she wanted him to touch her in much more erotic places.

He knew exactly what he was doing, as he laughed his little evil laughs in her ear when she whimpered, as he would brush right past a breast, a nipple, or between her legs … but she refused to do anymore begging. If that was what he wanted, then she'd be strapped to the bed for quite a long time, her hands going tingly and numb, she didn't care.

She made sure to tilt her head back, brushing her long hair against his chest and arms … he wasn't the only one who could tease.

Finally, Darcy felt the bed move behind her, and she turned back slightly to see that he was taking off the rest of his clothes.

"Did I say you could turn around?"

She shrugged and went back to facing forward, smiling … deciding to toy with him just as much as he was toying with her.

"Be careful with me, Loki … it's my first time," she said with a low breathy laugh.

He came up behind her and finally reached around to grab her breasts, pinching her nipples, and she moaned. "Ohhhh … Loki."

He swept her hair over one shoulder, kissed the back of her neck, trailing down to her shoulder … and one of his hands came around to her belly and traveled down, starting to, at last, rub her slick flesh, that had ached almost like a bruise without his attention … but he didn't touch the exact spot she wanted. He made a strangled male sound as he found how wet she had become.

She could feel his erection right up against her backside, and then right up against her entrance. She tried to lean back into him, to help guide him inside … but he pulled back. He went to not touching her again … waiting.

Loki was going to draw this out. He was going to tease, and he was going to be wicked about it … hmmmm. We'll see about that.

Darcy turned her head back again, defying him.

"I did not say you could turn around," he said, intensity in his intoxicating voice.

She looked at him under her lashes and bit her lower lip, arching her back, and pushing out her bottom into a very wanton position. "I'm very sorry, forgive me … but I'm just so … soaked," she said in a sultry voice. "All for you," she whispered.

He growled and a dark shadow descended across his face.

He moved like a big cat, graceful and swift. He penetrated her in one fluid motion, both of them crying out. The angle was intense, and he filled her to the hilt ... it felt so good … fucking finally.

He held her hips and moved maddeningly slow at first. She tried to hold onto the bed-post in order to be able to ground herself and meet his pushes better, but her hands were tied in such a way that she couldn't, giving him most of the control. Of course.

"Loki," she moaned, like a plea.

"You know what I want you to say." He completely stilled, and she sobbed.

"Say ... it … Darcy." His voice held an edge to it.

She took a deep breath and rubbed against him.

"Put your back into it! NOW," she growled.

"MINX!" he yelled, letting go, losing control. He tightened his grip on her hips, fingers digging into soft skin, and began fucking her hard, fast.

She might have been the one tied up … but who actually had the control?

Between the moaning she managed to say it, giving it to him, giving him what he wanted.

"P-pleeaase."

"YEEESSS!"

He fucked her even harder.

Because of the angle of their bodies, he was hitting her in a spot that was highly sensitive, and it began a sensation that was a bit out of the ordinary. It felt amazing, but in the past, she could never climax just from that particular stimulation. Loki knew exactly what he was doing though, and it seemed like that was his specific aim … and something was building. Something intense.

"I—will—have—you … come—undone …"

"Pleeease."

He then changed positions slightly as he pressed himself against her back and supported her weight more, pushing in deep and letting his hand come in front of her, expertly putting two fingers on the spot she'd been wanting him to touch for what seemed like hours. "Oh, God ... Loki."

"Come—for—me."

She could feel it build … something familiar and something new. She cried out. The stimulation was too much. She felt too exposed.

"Let—go."

And she felt it. There was a moment when she was trying to control her ascent, and then there was a moment when she completely let go and gave it over to him. It was a turning point in more ways than one.

"Let. Go. I've got you."

She moaned and let her head fall back on his shoulder as he held her and fucked her. Completely possessed her.

Almost. Almost …

A sudden force crashed into her and she came, crying out in shock at the intensity, the power, her cry continuing as the orgasm consumed her, flowing back again and again when she thought it would begin to ebb.

He felt her climax grip him hard, felt the warm gush around his cock that he was after, and then he came totally undone, right along with her.

"YESSSSS. GODS, YES."

He groaned as he spilled inside of her, panting into the back of her neck.

After regaining his senses somewhat, he gasped as he withdrew and quickly reached over to release her hands from his belt.

Darcy fell back completely into his arms, her body feeling totally boneless, totally relaxed. His demeanor had changed from one of dark lust to one of tenderness as he gently laid her down and held her in a spooning position, giving her neck soft kisses.

He embraced her tightly … and could tell that she was falling asleep. He'd be asleep in minutes as well, too relaxed and contented to care about the mess. Mind-blowing sex was always a messy business.

As he held her, he realized that she had completely given her trust to him, after tying her up like that. Trusted him enough to give herself over and let him have all the control. She wasn't afraid of the darkness inside of him. She was right by his side the whole time.

Loki nuzzled her neck and whispered into her ear.

"I love you."

The words stirred her from her half-sleeping state. She rolled over so that she was facing him, threw a leg over his hip, trying to get as close to him as possible.

"I love you, too."

~~*...*~~

They woke up early to finally test out the huge tub … and to test out their new-found status as people who loved each other.

She rode him slowly, wanting it to last, the warm scented water moving gently around them. They looked at each other as if they didn't believe, couldn't believe how good this felt.

This time she said it first.

"I love you."

He made sure to look her in the eyes as he said it.

"I love you, too."

~~*...*~~

Darcy's forgotten phone vibrated several times on the floor, where it had fallen in the midst of the haze of the previous night.

There were many messages from Jane, but only Darcy would know who they were from, as they were from an unknown caller.

A caller with a brand-new pre-paid cellphone, bought for one specific purpose ... to be untraceable.

"Overseas pharmacy, buy Viagra!" the text message said.

If anyone read it, it would look like spam.

But it wasn't spam.

It was Jane/Darcy-code.

Code for "the shit has hit the fucking fan".

~~::::::...::::::~~

AN: Boom. That's all I really have to say ... off to pour myself a glass of bourbon ;-)