Loki and Myrkr were each issued a SHIELD communicator and instructed on how to use them to both keep in contact with each other but also how to signal that they were ready to be picked up and taken back to New Mexico so that they could return to Asgard with minimal interference from anyone else. Of course, this also ensured that the agency could keep the closest eye on the couple, track their movements, and eventually gather more information regarding their method of interstellar travel.

The couple sat with Agent Coulson and two other SHIELD agents in a helicopter as it hovered over the Antarctic ice.

"This should be sufficient," Loki said as he looked down at the drifting snow below.

"We'll find a good spot to land nearby then," one of the agents said.

"That won't be necessary. Just drop down another bit, and we can jump down," Loki dismissed.

The lower ranking agents looked to Coulson, who shrugged, so they did as they were asked.

"It's nearly dark," Myrkr noted. "How long till night?" she asked.

"About a month," Coulson replied.

She thought on that for a moment then nodded.

"Go on, Darling," Loki urged Myrkr once they were close enough. "I'll be along in a moment with our things," he assured.

She nodded and dove out of the chopper with a peal of giddy laughter until she landed gracefully in the snow and started to run around.

"She's like a kid on Christmas," Coulson mused.

Loki smiled at the reference. "Am I to understand that your organization will be observing us during our stay?" he assumed.

"I don't suppose it does much good to lie to you of all people," he chuckled. "So yes, but it will only be passive satellite monitoring," he assured.

"I suppose that's fair. What if I prevent us from being observed?" he proposed.

"Then we will have learned that you are capable of hiding two people in a largely barren wasteland," Coulson mused.

"Well, thank you again for the transport. It turned out to be quite convenient. I hope we meet again on good terms," he vowed as he gathered their bags. Then, he took their bags and dove out of the helicopter and down into the snow.

Coulson noticed as they flew away that Loki's skin had changed from caucasian to blue on impact. Though he did already know about the sly man's shape shifting abilities, it did make him wonder what his true form was, or even if he really even had one. Perhaps that was something he could discover when they met again.

They took some time to enjoy their solitude. There wasn't another soul for miles around, and while they knew they weren't completely alone on the icy continent, SHIElD had been careful to leave them in an area far from any human outposts. They had a snowball fight and raced, which ended in a wrestling match that quickly turned from competitive into something more cooperative.

Myrkr let Loki pin her on her stomach, relishing the feeling of her the snow on her face as he held her down with a firm hand between her shoulders. He was about to make a snarky comment about how she had been easier to catch than usual when her hips rolled and her backside moved upward to press against him, making him groan as his hand slid up from her shoulders to tangle in her hair.

Sensing that she had successfully shifted his attention, she reached down to her shorts. It took a moment for her to undo the fly, a seemingly simple button and zipper that she still had trouble with if she wasn't looking at, but as soon as it was undone, she pushed her shorts as well as her underwear down to her knees. She gave a gasping little moan at the feeling of the cold air on her most sensitive area. Relishing that feeling, she reached up and grabbed the cleft of her ass on either side, spreading herself as wide as she could.

Loki gasped, unintentionally taking in more of her intoxicating scent before moving his hands down to her hips. She expected him to take her then and there, since that was what she was obviously asking for, which was why she gave a squeal of delighted surprise when he rolled her hips as far forward as he could and stuck his tongue inside her, tasting every bit of her womanhood before shifting slightly to nip at her round backside. Myrkr whimpered and moaned into the snow, clawing ineffectually at the ice beneath.

"A-Are they watching us?" she barely asked when he sat back on his heels to push his pants down.

"They are trying to," Loki casually replied.

"But you won't let them see this, right?" she asked breathlessly.

He smiled to himself. From his limited experience with Jotuns, he had determined that she was unusually modest for her species. It was something that he hadn't put much more than a passing thought into, since he understood that her isolation and bicultural upbringing had caused her to be that way. Even if that wasn't the case, he did appreciate her desire to be completely alone with him. The watchful eyes of others tended to stoke the inhibitions of lovers, something that this little getaway was supposed to avert. "No, not this. While I dislike the idea of showing so much of my power to these humans, I would dislike sharing this moment with them even more," he assured.

Myrkr was about to agree with him, but the feeling of his body leaning down to cover hers stole her words. That was fine because she would prefer to communicate non-verbally instead by pushing back against him and rolling her hips so that his erection teased between her legs. That was all it took to get Loki to enter her. In fact, he was so immersed in their moment that he lost almost all track of what was happening. When he had opportunity to look back on it later, he would be glad that he chose to obscure their general area rather than try to maintain the concentration to hide two individuals.

All he could seem to think about was the gloriously biting cold and the beautiful howls of pleasure coming from the woman beneath him. It was probably the most carnal moment he'd ever experienced. He felt almost completely out of his right mind, acting purely on instinct and in response to what his body told him was right. It was unnerving and beautiful at the same time to be so lost in what was happening. It gave him an appreciation for how his brother and their friends seemed to feel most of the time.

Myrkr cried out for him as loudly as she could and pushed back to meet his thrusts as often as possible. She had never seen him behave so naturally, doing what felt right without so much as a second thought. It was a moment she wished could last forever. A dark little part of her even wished that they would just die together like that because it was just that perfect. The feeling of his uneven grip in her hair, his ragged, growling breath on her skin, his icy hard member pushing deeply into her core, it was almost too much.

He slammed into her so hard that by the time they were done, she was flat on her stomach; he had one hand tangled in her hair and the other braced firmly on the ground next to her. He finished with a forceful grunt before falling down on top of her. It took him a minute or so to come to his senses, at which point he was struck with a sudden pang of worry that he had perhaps been too aggressive or forceful in his moment of abandon.

Myrkr could sense that and when Loki started to back up off her, she gave a low growl and the next thing he knew, their positions were reversed. He swallowed a mouthful of snow as she laid down on top of him, gripping his hair to pull his head to one side. At first, he thought she was angry, but out of the corner of his eye, he could see a mischievous grin playing on her lips and the way she kissed and nipped at his earlobe made him shudder as she settled in on top of him.

"Where did you think you were going?" she asked through a playful growl.

"I just wanted to see your face, my dear," he managed to reply.

"You don't need to see my face," she told him as she continued to hold him down.

"I got a bit carried away there. I was worried-" he tried, but his breath caught when she started nuzzling the crook of his neck.

"I could have stopped you at any time. Even in a frenzy of lust, you hear me. Listen to your senses," she insisted. "Do not mistake the force of passion and the desire for release for the force of violence and the desire for power. I loved that you forgot yourself just now. It is an abandon that I am rarely party to. Do not sully it with your worry," she warned.

This was the most genuinely authoritative that Loki had ever seen his wife. He had seen her behave with authority on Jotunheim and wield the power of her position over others when necessary. This was different. It was real, and it he found it much more attractive than he would have anticipated. He made a small sound of satisfaction as he reached back and grabbed hold of her, flipping her over his head and onto her back where he could easily pounce on her. "Keep that up, darling, and the only thing we'll be doing while we're here is coupling like a pair of wild animals," he teased before giving into the urge to nip at her lips.

As much as she fought the displacement from her position of power, she ended up smiling. "How am I supposed to argue with that? Part of me feels like this is the first time we've been genuinely intimate with one another. Let it last as long as it can," she urged as she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him in for a passionate kiss.

They didn't couple immediately again after that, though they did spend quite a bit of time simply rolling around in each others arms, touching and kissing and generally being affectionate. Neither spoke hardly a word the entire time, opting instead for nonverbal cues and intense eye contact to get their feelings across.

Loki felt like every little caress set his senses alight. Colors were brighter and he could see the subtle differences in them more readily. It was as though he could feel every little flake of snow as it blew across his skin, and he noticed that instead of getting goosebumps, the wide, slight markings on his skin rose up instead. It was a little thing that made him smile and hold her even more tightly until they decided to find a better place to spend the majority of their time.

"This is fantastic. I haven't seen another soul since we landed!" Myrkr raved as they found a place to make camp and settle in.

Loki smiled and hugged her tightly. "Not quite Jotunheim, but as close as I could get without traveling into the complete unknown," he mused.

"Don't be silly. This is perfect," she said, holding him tightly and tackling him to the ground again.

They spent the next couple of hours getting settled and grooming one another. Myrkr showed Loki how to take a snow bath, which he found to be oddly refreshing, and he let her braid his hair so that it would stop getting matted with snow and sticking to his face and neck. It was something he found to be surprisingly intimate and very relaxing. She only pulled a couple of times, and never hard enough to even make him wince, but overall, she was quite dexterous, and the little song she hummed as her fingers carefully worked through his hair made it difficult not to relax. However, before too long, Loki's stomach started to growl.

Myrkr stopped and took a handful of snow and tasted it. "There's game nearby," she said with a glint in her eyes that he'd never quite seen before. The closest was the couple of times in their bedroom when he'd teased her until she pushed him down and rode him until neither of them could take it anymore.

"Shall we hunt?" he proposed.

She smiled and nodded. They took off toward the ice shelf.

"Those thing don't even look that good to eat. They're so fat!" she complained.

"Actually, it seems to me that while they do have an obvious layer of fatty tissue, they are also quite muscular. I believe they won't be so bad. I also think they're going to give you more trouble than you realize," he snickered.

She did not take kindly to having her hunting prowess questioned. "Back home, I would be compelled to ask you to sit this one out. Taking the life of such a small, sad creature is a task that only one should have to suffer though," she taunted in return.

"Then by all means," he replied, his smirk never wavering.

Loki was somewhat surprised when the herd of seals that made that particular ice shelf part of its home didn't really react to Myrkr's presence at all. Then he remembered that the biggest danger to these creatures was the weather. It made sense that they hardly reacted to her. Her next task, however, was more difficult. Apparently, they were cooperative in a way that she didn't expect. Whenever she could manage to get one of the lean creatures headed away from the group, it seemed that at least a portion of the group would follow it. He had never seen her hunt before, and it fascinated him to watch her.

Because their primary reaction to her was to make way for her if it wasn't too inconvenient to them, she was easily able to case almost the entire herd. When she reached the edge of the shelf and stopped to watch them glide into the water, swim around in the freezing water until they caught a fish, which they brought back up onto the ice with graceful, practiced ease only to have to do the strange undulating wiggle to get any further than that, an awkward sort of locomotion that Myrkr was apparently having a hard time coming to terms with.

She stood and watched them enter and leave the water for nearly half an hour before Loki approached. Some of the seals, especially the larger males, stood their ground against him, making him take a very meandering path to his wife for the sake of avoiding a direct conflict.

"I'm still quite hungry," he said in a chiding voice.

Myrkr sighed. "I don't like these creatures," she complained.

"They're a bit brighter than you anticipated, but don't tell me you can't manage at least one," he teased.

"Did you know that it's almost unheard of for a Jotun to hunt alone?" she asked as she watched yet another slick, blubbery creature slide back into the ocean.

"Except in situations where the prey is so small and so dull that one person could take care of it easily," he clarified, proving that he not only earned a handful of friendly acquaintances but also a cultural lesson in the process.

She nodded. "I mean completely by oneself," she said. "Even in the situation you're describing, there is always a hunting party. We go in groups, always, even when the challenge level of the prey doesn't require it for a successful kill."

Loki frowned.

"I never actually hunted with another person before. Either people shared with me what they had or I was forced to go out alone. Anyone would, from time to time, get tired of living off handouts and decide to just go out by themselves, right?" she reasoned.

Loki came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He kissed the side of her neck and said, "Undoubtedly, Laufey forbid others to hunt with you. He knew that the shame of such things would help to keep you in his control. It would also help to make sure you wouldn't get any more precious calories than you absolutely needed so that you could be kept weak."

"It took me far too long to realize that was what he'd done," she confessed. "If I was here by myself, I would have a choice. I could take the approach that my people would endorse, which is dive into the water after one and likely get attacked by a number of others, and it seems their teeth are quite sharp. This is obviously the dangerous option, because I could much more easily find one up on the ice, kill it, and have it dragged off before they even realized there was danger," she informed.

"When we visited your world, you told the others that you had slain great beasts, and the reason they were unaware of that was because you did it by yourself and without the need for recognition," he pointed out.

"I did what I had to in order to survive. Usually that meant accepting the offerings of other as graciously as possible. Other times it meant finding my own resources. When I could, I would hunt properly. I would do it the right way, even when no one was watching, but it wasn't always like that. When I was in a hurry or especially worn down, I would-" She paused for a moment to take a deep breath. "I would do it the easy way."

"What's the easy way?" he pressed curiously.

Myrkr gave a guilty look over her shoulder before turning to one of the larger seals. With a swift hand motion, it's flippers were stuck to the ice. Before it had time to realize what was happening, she made another motion with her other hand. A spike rose up from the ice and went straight through the creature's head. It immediately stopped moving, and the other animals slowly backed away from it.

"Dinner's ready," she said sardonically.

Her very brief display of her abilities made Loki's stomach flip-flop. "That was...very efficient," he managed.

His tone made her turn around to look at him. "It was wrong, but I was tired of talking about it. I killed it quickly so we could move on to other things," she said plainly.

Loki nodded. He had never seen her behave in such a cold and calculating manner.

"Is something wrong?" she asked as she released her kill and started over toward it.

He smiled in mild disbelief. "You know one of the things I absolutely love about you?" he asked as he followed her.

As they picked up the blubbery little creature and began to haul it off, she grimly replied, "That I'll break social convention to cut off an uncomfortable conversation?"

"I am rather fond of that, but I was thinking about how well you have to know the rules in order to break them so thoroughly," he half-teased.

That actually made her smile. Her entire life she'd been inundated by the rules of two very different cultures and was expected to live by them both without coming off as a traitor to either. It was a very fine line for one to walk, and he seemed to appreciate that. What she appreciated was that the person she'd been married to was also very acquainted with an inordinate amount of rules regarding every aspect of his life and how elegantly he broke those rule when it suited him.

"I also hope you're not offended, but I have to say that was actually very impressive. It was a clean kill, and it happened so fast this pitiful creature didn't suffer at all," he told her seriously.

"That is the redeeming element of the whole thing," she sighed.

When they were finished eating, Myrkr showed Loki how to best preserve the leftovers for later. Then, Loki turned to her with an impish grin.

"How 'bout that swim?" he asked hopefully.

Myrkr couldn't help but smile. They practically tore off their clothes as they ran to the icy water. She was the first one there, if only because Loki was enjoying watching her so immensely, and she dove in without a second thought. She found the water to be pleasant and refreshing, but when a very large aquatic creature came into her vision, she screamed and quickly made her way back to the surface.

Loki was just about to jump in when she surfaced with a slightly panicked look on her face. "What's the matter, darling?"

She looked at him, then back down at the water. Whatever she saw didn't seem to be following her. "There are no large predators here, right? Even in the water?" she pressed anxiously.

He hopped and swam over to her. It was his first time swimming Jotun form and he was surprised by how good the freezing water felt. "Not as far as we're concerned. Why? What did you see?"

Myrkr breathed a sigh of relief before urging Loki to follow her under the water. They swam for a minute before she was able to find the whale again. He smiled and swam up to the giant, gently patting it's side. Myrkr's eyes grew wide, and she carefully went over to do the same.

When they surfaced, she was amazed by what just happened. "That giant, it's so gentle," she awed.

Loki smiled. "Nothing quite like that on Jotunheim," he mused.

"Not at all, but we don't have oceans like this," she laughed and dove back down to explore more.

Loki followed and explored with her, finding that he could hold his breath for much longer in his Jotun form than he expected. Learning these new things almost would have made the trip worth it on their own, but having her by his side all the while made it all the better. He was happy to have all that hassle behind them and looking forward to having a nice vacation with the one person he truly felt bonded to.