Sophie twisted her wet hair up quickly and went to her wardrobe. As she pulled a short dress and pair of leggings on, she absently wondered if there was such a thing as indestructible clothes. When she was dressed, she went out to find Loki in the kitchen, selecting things from the refrigerator and cabinets. "You really ARE cooking aren't you, dear? I love that."

Loki paused with his head in the fridge and looked over at her, smiling. "Yes darling, I intend to cook but I cannot seem to find the pork chops I saw earlier. Did you move them?"

Sophie joined him at the fridge. "No, I didn't. Aren't they in there? I haven't touched anything but a coffee cup all day." She peeked in a giant sauté pan on the stove and grimaced at a sticky mass of at least a dozen raw eggs that had obviously been sitting there for quite a while. "Who is responsible for THAT disgusting thing?" She whined.

"Ah here they are, hiding in the drawer." He stood up with the pork and looked into the pan she was speaking of and grimaced. "That would be Thor; he was attempting to make breakfast this morning before I distracted him. I will clean it up dearest." Loki set the package on the counter then grabbed the pan off the stove and scraped the gelatinous mass into the garbage. After cleaning the pan he set it back on the stove before moving back to his pile of ingredients. "Darling, can you help me butterfly these chops? Sarah bought hers already prepared."

"Do I really get to help show you how to use a kitchen knife this time? Or am I the teacher and you the student again?" Sophie winked and smiled as she laid out the cutting board and opened the chops.

Loki rolled his eyes playfully and smirked at her. "Teach me the ways of the kitchen knife mistress."

"Ohhh no you don't. You're smirking again and I actually am really hungry right now." She blew him a kiss and ran a knife through the meat. "It's just a matter of not cutting all the way through the chop. That's all. There's a dozen here. Are we doing them all in case your brother shows up hungry?"

His tongue poked from between his teeth as he laughed, Loki watched as she made a slit in the chops. "Would not hurt, as far as I know he has not eaten. Would you mind terribly finishing those while I prepare the filling?"

"A kingdom with double ovens." She waved across the room. "We can't let it get overrun." As soon as she spoke the front door burst open. She heard several voices, but Thor's was the loudest.

"We must be quiet until I know how Loki fares." The thunderer bellowed.

Loki crossed his arms and cocked his hip against the counter while staring at Sophie pointedly. "Can I defend our kingdom now?"

"You are the King. Have at them." She grinned.

He grinned right back. "Thor you oaf I am in the kitchen." As soon as Thor's big blonde head appeared within view, Loki threw the knife he was using and embedded it in the wall next to Thor's head. "Damn I missed. No matter, we have plenty more." He looked at Sophie and saw her frown. "Perhaps I will continue cooking instead."

"Perhaps stirring something? Spoons aren't great weapons." Sophie suggested to Loki then looked at Thor. "Are you here for dinner? Loki is cooking. Who's with you?"

Loki finished up his stuffing and took the chops from Sophie, filling each one and seasoning them. He popped them into a pan with sliced onion and beef broth then off to the oven they went. Staying quiet, he went and prepared potato wedges for roasting.

Thor stared at the knife next to his head in shock; Sophie's question knocked him back to reality. "I had planned to return with glad news but now I fear for my safety." Thor motioned his guest to step around him. "I have brought friend Barton along, is this alright?" A faint growl could be heard from the general direction of Loki.

Sophie wiped off her hands and laughed as she yanked the knife from the wall. "It's all good, Thor. Loki's just being a bit…overprotective right now." She waved at Barton. "Hey Clint. What's up?" Then she turned back to Thor. "What glad news? I haven't heard GOOD news in so long I'm not sure I would recognize it."

Loki flicked a small chunk of potato at Sophie and snickered as it connected. Thor brightened up immediately. "Yes good news indeed!" He laughed out. "I have received permission to take you both out to the carnival under the condition that Barton comes with, once the meal is finished then we shall all go enjoy the festivities!" Thor beamed with pride and Clint scowled and whispered under his breath. "Yeah if we don't get food poisoning first."

Sophie's eyes opened wide. "We…Loki gets out? Really?! How did you do that?" She flung her arms around the large man, hugging him tightly then bounced across the room to Loki, going up on her toes to kiss him. "We get to go OUT! Together!"

"Truly Lady Sophie, the Director witnessed my foul mood and agreed to my demand under the condition that Barton accompanies us." Thor laughed and hugged the woman briefly.

Loki was so stunned at the revelation that he miss judged his cut and sliced open his finger. He would have yelped but Sophie's lips were upon his. "I cannot believe it darling; we truly get to go out. Brother, I cannot thank you enough. Both of you make yourselves comfortable before we dine."

Sophie smiled up at the turn about in Loki's mood, before she noticed his finger. "Oh Jeeze, dear. Are you OK?" She grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his hand. "Let me fix you up here or do you want to do it?"

"I am fine love, just a small slip. The news is truly welcome, perhaps we could call this a date? We will just have to contend with Father Time and Mother Goose over there as chaperones." Loki grinned at her while she tended his hand. "I can handle this, unless you would like to kiss it better?"

"Yes, yes, yes…" Sophie kissed his hand and whispered. "A date…"

Loki healed his hand then cupped her face, tilting it up so he could kiss her. "A date it shall be love."

She bounced up and down on the balls of her feet. "We can cook fast, right?"

"Only as fast as the food will allow." He laughed. "Quit distracting me woman, I have a meal to finish." Loki patted her behind and returned to his vegetables, within an hour he had finished his stuffed pork chops with onion gravy and rosemary roasted potatoes and steamed broccoli with cheese sauce.

While Loki was busy, Sophie ran back and forth between helping him and chatting lightly with Thor and Clint. At one point Clint put his arm around Sophie's shoulder and said, "You must be feeling pretty fancy girlie girl. What are you going to do with three dates tonight?"

Sophie chirped back, "Nothing that I haven't already done today."

Clint choked on his own spit. "I don't wanna know but in a way I do, care to share? Let me live vicariously through you?" He waggled his eyebrows.

"Yeah, Loki probably wouldn't let you live too long like that." She laughed. "You've lived enough through my laundry alone, anyway." Then she sauntered off and wrapped her arms around Loki's waist. "Dinner looks wonderful, my King." She said softly.

Loki shuddered in delight as he put the finishing touches on the meal. "It looks good but the question is, does it taste as good as it looks?" He turned in her arms and kissed her gently. "Dinner is ready my Queen."

Smiling beautifully at Loki over her shoulder, she took plates to the table and waved everyone over. Picking up a vegetable and popping it in her mouth, she gave Loki thumbs up.

He beamed broadly at her thumbs up; even Thor complimented his cooking skill. Loki was rather proud of himself and dug into his own meal, not too bad at all. Dinner was rather quiet but amazingly not awkward. "Thor, since you left a pan full of eggs on the stove this morning you are in charge of cleaning the dishes." Loki said, Thor nodded sheepishly and as soon as he was done eating, he set to work on the pans.

Sophie bounced into the kitchen after Thor, calling after him. "No, no, no, no not NOW. The dishes will be here when we get back!" She gave him a pointless shove towards the doorway, "Go put on something less…armor-y, more denim or something."

Thor laughed and allowed himself to be shoved out of the room. "Alright Lady Sophie, I shall do as asked." Loki just shook his head and watched with an amused grin.

Sophie stopped at the table with her hands on her hips and looked from Clint to Loki and back. Gesturing at Loki she asked, "What are we going to do with him? On his own, he might not get recognized, but if we stand him between you and Thor… there will be trouble."

Loki shrugged. "We can turn him into a parakeet."

Sophie rolled her eyes. "No dear, you. You can't walk around looking like… you. It's too soon."

"You make it sound like I tried to take over the world." He brought a finger to his lips and tapped it gently in thought. "Oh wait I did. Alright then darling, any suggestions?"

She squinted at Loki for a second "It's the hair and the armor that stood out in the pictures. So as long as you are casual and we change this up…" She pulled his hair back into a pony tail and peeked at him. "Nope. Still Loki. If you were blonde or something maybe…"

Loki rolled his eyes. "I will go change, stay here." He went to the bedroom and stood before the mirror, considering his options before settling on a look. He chose some faded grey denim jeans that made his butt look amazing if he did say so himself. A button up white shirt that he rolled up the sleeves and left a few buttons undone. Loki decided to throw a bit more of himself into the ensemble and wore his boots and leather cuffs on each wrist. Next he shortened his hair and turned it a reddish brown with a few waves to it, he stared at himself and figured he would go all out and added some stubble to his face. Completing the look was a braided leather necklace with a small dagger charm hanging between his collar bones. Some what satisfied, he went back to the living room. "Well love, what do you think?"

Sophie blinked at the man that walked out of the hallway. He sounded enough like Loki. She approached him slowly, then broke out laughing. "You look nothing like yourself and exactly like yourself at the same time! You are adorable." She ran the back of her fingers over the stubble on his jaw. "I don't think I have ever seen you unshaven."

He frowned at her laugh but relaxed when she stroked his jaw, Loki bit his lip. "Do you like it darling?"

" I do. You are still you. But it makes you look…happier somehow." She went to her toes and placed a small kiss where his teeth had bit his lip

"Me, happy? We cannot have that now can we." Loki smirked and returned her kiss, he growled at Clint who was making gagging noises behind them. Thor stepped into the room before Loki could throw something at the bird brained buffoon.

"It's cute when you growl." Sophie whispered before she bounced off toward her room. "Now give me 2 seconds and Ill be ready." She quickly tossed some make up on and grabbed a jacket. It was due to get chilly in the evenings. Then she popped back out into the Living Room where things seemed tense again. She went to Loki's side but spoke to Clint. "The carnival huh? This is all you isn't it?"

Clint grinned. "I mighta mentioned somethin but otherwise it was all Thor, he said Loki just loooved festivals and this is the closest thing we got this time of year."

She hopped forward and embraced Clint and Thor quickly. "Thank you." She said quietly. "You guys have no idea what kind of a day we have had."

"I might have a slight idea." Thor rumbled after returning her embrace. "Let us go, this carnival will not enjoy itself." He boomed and marched out the door.

Clint shook his head and mumbled. "You have no idea buddy." Loki stared at his brother. Shall we love?"

"We shall!" She squealed out as she pulled Loki's hand to follow after Thor. "You like festivals? She turned her head and look at him curiously I never would have guessed that."

He smiled at her excitement and followed happily. "Yes I do enjoy them, but I fear Barton was being sarcastic, the last festival I attended wound up entering awkward territory and it put me off of them. Thor must have mentioned the Fandral incident."

"Nope. No, he never did, dear." She turned to face him while still walking backwards down the hall and wrinkled her nose. Sophie's eyes twinkled. "Tell me."

"Perhaps when we return home, it is a long story." Loki grinned at her. "Besides, we are about to go on an adventure. Do not want to spoil the mood now do we?" He swooped in and grabbed her hand before she could crash into Thor's back. "At this rate we might not make it out of the building without you running into things."

She laughed as she stepped toward Loki and leaned against his chest. Then spun around in his arms and let Clint catch up to them and lead them into the elevator and down through the basement to a connected garage and into a nondescript SUV.

Loki oped the vehicle door for Sophie to slip into the back seat then slid in beside her. Thor and Clint chatted away in the front seat as they drove, Sophie was nearly bouncing in her seat the whole drive. Her enthusiasm was contagious and had him smiling broadly by the time they pulled into a parking space near the carnival.

Before they got out of the car Sophie leaned her head between the front seats. "Just to make sure, this is celebrating GOOD news about help, not softening the blow of bad news,right?"

Clint was the one to answer. "Yeah toots, its good news. Fury is assembling the team to help ya out, in a couple days hes going to bring you both in for a meeting to stratigize and shit. Now get outta the damn car and go have fun." He palmed her face and pushed her back into the seat.

Loki opened the door and waited for her to join him. Sophie blew a raspberry at Clint and laughing fell out of the door into Loki's arms

He caught her easily and helped her find her feet again, Loki chuckled and gave her a peck on the cheek. "I have no idea what there is to do here darling, I am at your mercy." He pushed her hair behind her ear. "Lead the way, my dear one."

Taking Loki's hand she led the way through the wooden gates and onto the gravel Midway. The sun was beginning to set and the lights on all of the rides and attractions were flickering on. The smells from the food booths were amazing. She looked to Loki and the other two. "It's too soon after dinner to be hungry, huh? Rides or Games?"

"Hmm let us see what these games you speak of are." Loki laced his fingers with hers and smiled serenely at her.

She looked down at their hands and grinned. Clint spoke up from behind them. "Rides it is! I'm not going to carry your prizes around all night."

Sophie laughed and leaned her face against Loki's shoulder. He kissed the top of her head. "Looks like we are going on rides, darling." They followed Clint to a booth to purchase tickets for the rides, Thor being nice enough to purchase admission for everyone and even slipped Loki some cash for later. "Where to first? Roller coaster or tilt-a-whirl?" Clint chimed in while looking around at everything.

"Tilt-A-Whirl!" Sophie cheered as she skipped off, not letting go of Loki's hand. Never wanting to let go of his hand. The line was short and soon she and Loki were strapped into a car. As they began to spin, she slid up against him, laughing because the spinning made her giggle.

Loki tensed tighter than a bow string at first, the contact of her body and exuberant laughter relaxed him and by the time the ride ended he was laughing as much as she was. "That was interesting, what next?"

"You don't have anything like this?" She asked? "Lets try to fit your legs and your brother into bumper cars. What say you Clint?" She slipped her hand back into Loki's.

"No, nothing like this." His fingers tightened on hers again. "What are these bumper cars?"

Sophie pointed to a large lit area with tiny round cars buzzing around. "You just drive them as fast as you can and run into other people as hard as you can. That's it." Not even noticing what she was doing, she lifted her face up to nuzzle against his scruff.

Loki bowed his head so his lips were near her ear. "You mean to tell me that I can run a moving conveyance into my brother and not be blamed for attempted murder?… Let's go!" He dragged her over to the brightly lit area and waited for Thor and Clint to join them.

While they waited in line, Sophie tucked herself up under Loki's arm and pointed at things and explained things excitedly. At one point, the people next to them stared when she loudly exclaimed, " No! It's OK. Look, little kids are doing it!" Sophie shrugged at them and said, "He's never been to a carnival. He's from…. Europe?" She winced and hid her face from them against his chest, laughing at herself.

Loki buried his own face in her hair and wrapped his arms around her shoulders and laughed. "Yes, northern European, too cold for outdoor festivities." His accent changed to that of a more Nordic person. The people around them still stared, but this time not strangely, more intrigued than anything.

Thor had come up behind them with a smile brighter than a lightbulb. Loki rolled his eyes at him and allowed Sophie to drag him to one of the cars, after a basic tutorial on how to operate it, they were off.

After watching the brothers take off after each other and make several spectacular head on collisions while screaming like maniacs, Sophie bumped her car up against Clint's and hollered at him over the noise. "I am staying the hell away from THAT!"

Clint laughed. "Yeah I agree, that is nuts. You would think they really are trying to kill each other. Asgardians man, completely off their space rockers." He threw his car in reverse and gunned it after the bumper brothers with a battle cry of his own.

As the cars crawled to a stop, Thor pumped his arm in the air and shouted out, "ANOTHER!"

The guy at the gate shouted back. "End of the line!"

Thor shouted again, "I am Thor, Prince of Asgard! ANOTHER!"

Again, the guy answered, "I am Monty, Ride Operator! END OF THE LINE!"

Sophie stumbled over to Thor's car and pulled him out by the arm, waving at Monty. "We're outta here! It's OK."

Loki stumbled over to them at the exit with an enormous grin on his face, laughing at Thor's attempt to persuade the operator of another go. "Come brother, we can wait for a time." Loki slipped his arm around Sophie's waist and pulled her close to his side. "Where next?"

She looked up and smiled into Loki's still green eyes, caught for a moment. She went to sleep with this man, woke up with him, loved him and fought him with her heart and body, but the simple gesture of walking with his arm around her waist made her heart thump in her throat. She pointed absently at the stand next to them. "You don't have to be hungry for cotton candy," she replied a bit hoarsely.

He noticed the sudden hoarseness of her voice but didn't comment. "What is this candy cotton you speak of? Let's try some."

Clint appeared beside them. "You two behave for a few minutes, I gotta go do something." He slapped Loki on the shoulder and trotted off. Loki cocked an eyebrow at him then turned back to the woman at his side and hugged her closer. "How about that cotton?"

Sophie ordered two sticks of cotton candy from the window of the small trailer, while Loki peered in its window. After paying, she handed a pile of blue fluff on a stick to Thor and went back to Loki as they slowly wandered down the Midway. Holding a large pink cloud out to Loki, she said, "We can share."

Loki plucked a small piece of the pink fluff off the stick and cautiously stuck it in his mouth, instantly his tongue was flooded with sugar. He grimaced at the taste. "Gods that is awful, it's nothing but pure sugar. How can you eat this? I can feel my teeth rotting as we speak."

Sophie pulled a large hunk off and squished it into her mouth, letting it melt, while she blinked at Loki in surprise. "Are you KIDDING me? This is pure awesome. It's like happy on a paper stick."

"You can have your happy stick and I shall stick to brownies." He grabbed another wad of fluff and held it to her lips.

She gleefully pulled it into her mouth with her tongue and grinned at him. "More for me."

Loki leaned in and kissed her grinning lips. "Hmm perhaps I could grow to enjoy this sugary confection if you taste this sweet after."

"Aren't I always sweet?" She laughed.

"Sometimes." Loki grinned devilishly at her. He glanced over her shoulder and saw something that made him grin. "Thor I think I found something you might enjoy.' He led them over to a rather tall device where you had to hit a small platform with a hammer and try to make a weight ring a bell. "This strongman contraption seems right up your alley brother, have a go." Thor beamed and strode toward the waiting operator, giving him money and taking the hammer. "This game was made for me! Stand back brother and witness the power of Thor!" The game operator rolled his eyes and flipped the switch on the side. Thor drew the hammer above his head and brought it down with a resounding thwack, the bar barely moved. "Too bad mate, better luck next time." The carnie handed a dumbfounded Thor a keychain while Loki laughed. "Behold the not so mighty Thor!" While they shared a laugh at Thor's expense, a little girl came up to the game and took her swing. Loki's eyes lit up as a clear ding was heard, the little girl whooped and danced around while she was handed a giant stuffed puppy. "I like her." Loki said with a sly smirk at Thor.

Sophie covered a laugh watching the brothers. She would find a way to deal with her Thor issue, for Loki's sake. She slid her arm around Loki's waist and leaned her head on him, catching bits of cotton candy with her tongue and pulling them into her mouth. "Awwww. She got a giant stuffy. That's adorable."

Loki leaned his head against hers and slipped his arm back around her waist, they all walked around the game booths until another one caught his eye. Specifically one that had a giant white teddy bear hanging from it. "Sophie can you stay here with Thor for a moment; I need to step over there. I will be right back." He slipped away before she could protest and straight to the carnie. "What needs to be done to win that bear?" He demanded. The carnie picked at the dirt under his nails and said. "Throw the darts and pop the balloons, 3 balloons is a small prize, 8 gets a medium and 20 wins that giant bear. Buck per dart." Loki slapped the cash on the counter and the man just raised an eyebrow, not believing this guy could possibly get very far. He laid the darts on the counter and stood back, easy 20 bucks. Loki grabbed the first dart and threw, nearly missing. He pursed his lips. "Tell you what buddy, if you can hit all of those balloons without missing; I'll give you that bear and your 20 bucks back, how's that sound?" The carnie grinned thinking he had this in the bag then added. "But if you miss even one, I keep your money and you owe me another 20, deal?" Loki thought for a moment and agreed to his terms. 10 minutes later and Loki had himself a giant bear and an extra 20 bucks in his pocket while the carnie behind him swore up a storm.

Meanwhile Sophie turned to Thor and noticed that quite a bit of his cotton candy was stuck in his beard. She waved her hand at his face. "You have some…. uhh blue…your candy is kinda stuck…" He looked at her in confusion and she hesitantly reached up and pulled a piece of sticky fluff off of his beard and held it up in front of him. He laughed loudly, before thanking her and trying to wipe it off himself. Sophie scanned the passing crowds looking for where Loki had gotten to. "Where did your brother go? I can't see him."

Loki had just come up behind her as she finished her sentence. "Maybe you should look behind you." He said while holding the bear in front of him.

Sophie spun around and sucked in her breath as she saw the giant bear. She opened her arms wide to grab it and pull it to her chest. Eyes closed, she buried her face in the fur for a moment before she peered over its shoulder at Loki. Her eyes were large and embarrassingly almost teary as she looked at his grinning face. "I..I've never been the girl that got one of these." Tucking it under one arm, she went to Loki, wrapping her free arm around him and tucking her face up against his neck, "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

He laughed and wrapped his arms around her and the bear. You are very much welcome darling. Loki released her and studied the bear. "I think he looks like a Bartholomew, yes Bartholomew 2. What do you think love?"

"Yes dear. I think so." She tried to bite her lip and smile at the same time. Sophie's free hand reached to Loki's cheek, stroking it and guiding his face down so that she could kiss him.

He happily complied and kissed her sweetly. Thor cleared his throat when things got a bit more heated than was publicly decent. "Where to next?"

Looking around, she pointed up at the giant Ferris wheel. "There. Let's go on the Ferris wheel." Whispering up to Loki. "You can't hear anyone clearing their throat up there." Then she grinned and danced off to the pop music that was playing loudly along the game booths. She spun and skipped and wiggled along the paths, singing along, "…she said, Shut up and dance with me!"

Loki fell in step beside Thor while Bart was tucked under his arm, his face started to ache from all the smiling and laughing he was doing today. He couldn't remember a time he had been happier, seeing Sophie in such high spirits just made it all the better. When they arrived at the Ferris wheel, Loki handed the bear to Thor and dashed after Sophie who had just slipped into one of the cars. "I made sure Thor had an escort, your bear makes an excellent companion."

"You're better. You let me be the one someone won the giant prize for. You let me be yours." Her hand slid up through his strangely short hair as she cuddled up against him.

"No darling, we belong to each other. The bear is a bonus." Loki tilted his head and pressed his lips to the inside of her wrist, he turned so he sat diagonally in the seat and pulled her into his lap so he could hold her close and watch as the buildings disappeared and gave rise to the setting horizon.

She sighed happily with his arms around her, it was getting chilly up so high in the open. "I love you. Do you know that? Not just know it, but… KNOW IT?"

Loki rubbed his hands along her arms when he felt the slight shiver in her. "I do know it darling; I know it, I feel it and I can see it. I love you as well hjarta mitt."

She brought her face close to his and whispered, "What does that mean?" Against his lips.

His lips touched hers briefly. "It means… My heart."

Sophie's heart caught in her throat for the second time that evening. She laid her head on his shoulder and thought how beautiful and simple everything looked from their vantage point. After a moment she spoke. "This is a good look for you. I mean, it's not better than YOU, but it IS good."

"Hmm thank you love. If you enjoy it maybe it could be incorporated into our extracurricular activities." He chuckled.

Sophie laughed with him. "I'm sorry I'm just …. me."

"You are more than enough as you are darling, never be sorry for that." He rubbed his face along the side of her head. "It is rather beautiful up here."

"It IS beautiful. Let's stay up here all night." She ran her hand up Loki's thigh.

"As appealing as that sounds, I do not think they would allow us to do so." He purred out. "But if you wanted to cause a bit of mischief, we could come back after the carnival closes."

"It sounds like fun, but let's not make anyone regret letting this happen. But," she whispered hoarsely, "ask me something else in that voice."

Loki nipped at her ear lobe. "What are you thinking of now darling?" He purred again. "Are you thinking of defiling this small transport as much as I am?"

"I am now." Sophie whimpered.

"Hmm and what should we do about that, our time here grows short." He moved her legs to drape over his and ran his hand along her thigh.

She leaned in and kissed him deeply, fingers curling into his shoulders.

Loki returned her kiss just as eagerly before moving her to straddle his lap fully.

Sophie cradled Loki's head in her hands and didn't stop kissing him.

Loki's mouth worked against hers as his hands slid under the hem of her short skirt, cupping her bottom and grinding her hips into his rapidly hardening member.

Her lips worked along his jaw, feeling at the new sensation of his facial hair. She murmured in his ear. "Are we slowing down?"

"We near the top I know, but yes it feel as if we are slowing." He bucked his hips into hers again. "More to our advantage then."

"Insatiable." Sophie took a deep breath and ground against him, looking at the horizon over his shoulder with fluttering eyelids

"So are you love, insatiable, absolutely gorgeous," Fingers found their way to the inside of her thighs and slipped under her panties. "And already dripping. By the Nine woman you are amazing."

Gasping at his touch, she drug her teeth along his ear, and rocked against him. "It's now or never, dear."

Loki moaned and removed his fingers from within her to open the closure of his pants. He managed to shimmy them down enough to free himself. "Lift yourself a bit love."

Sophie's levered herself up against his shoulders and sunk back down quickly onto his straining erection. "Unh." She grunted as she sheathed all of him at once.

He groaned when he bottomed out in her core. "Yes love, that's it." Loki's hands went to her hips and helped her rock against him slowly. "Steady on, nice and slow."

She gasped into his ear, hoping she knew what she was doing, "I know you have stamina, but how quickly can you come and fill me with yourself, my King?"

An animalistic growl escaped him. "Keep saying that and we will see. I am trying to gentle darling but calling me your King drives me wild.'

She clenched herself around him as tightly as she could; the situation and his voice alone had her already hanging close to her own climax. "I want to see, you know I do. My King would you prefer I kneeled again to this?"

As much as Loki hated it, he could feel his own climax creeping fast, she knew how to press all of his buttons. "Do not dare move." His grip tightened while his thrusting grew more fevered.

Sophie held still against him and moaned in his ear with her head against his shoulder. Her thighs trembled as she sharply fell into her orgasm. "Loki! Ohh…Loki."

Loki kept his pace. "So close darling." He groaned out.

"Now my King." She growled into his ear and dug her nails into his shoulders through his shirt. "I love you."

"Sophie!" Loki came long and hard with a shout. He sat panting once he had emptied himself completely. "By the Nine darling…" He brought his lips to hers for a searing kiss. "Gods I love you."

Sophie quickly raised up and slid from his lap onto the seat next to him, pulling her skirt down. Then leaned back into another kiss, while she fumbled with refastening his pants.

All he could do was watch in breathless amazement, when he recovered a bit more he helped fasten his pants. Once they were more presentable he draped his arm over her shoulder and peppered the side of her face with kisses. "Incredible love, absolutely incredible." He kissed her a few more times and noticed they were moving again. "Perfect timing."

"I can't believe we just did that!" She squealed and buried her face against him.

Loki chuckled and hugged her. "It was fantastic darling."

"Oh my God it was though, wasn't it?" Sophie laughed and kept her arms around Loki

He made a sound of agreement and just held her quietly as the car descended to its starting position. They exited and met up again with Thor and the previously missing Agent Barton. "You two enjoy the ride?" Clint asked. Loki coughed and replied. "It was very… stimulating."

Sophie relieved Thor of Bartholomew the Bear and buried her face in it to conceal her pink cheeks and laughter.

Clint's eyebrow rose and Thor looked thoughtful. "Perhaps I should take a ride on it myself, a warrior must always be stimulated to stay in top form." Thor said while rubbing his beard, Loki lost it and laughed at him.

Sophie peeked up and looked around. "Well big guy, the bear and I are getting funnelcakes, you can ride on your own, unless Clint's going up with you."

"Yes I am sure you could stimulate one another quite nicely." Loki grinned like an imp. "I will be joining Sophie for a cone shaped cake."

"Actually Loki, they MAKE them with a funnel." She reached out and brushed her fingers across the back of Loki's hand and stepped toward the food trailer. "I'm sure you will like this one." She told him as she ordered two. They turned out to be massive and she juggled around with the bear to hold onto them.

Loki took the bear and one of the cakes from her. "There is a bench over there, let us go sit." He lead her to the bench and set the bear on the seat next to him then tugged her down to sit on his other side. He eyed the funnel cake warily. "What exactly is this? The only thing I recognize is chocolate sauce."

"It's fried dough, with chocolate on this one and powdered sugar on this one. Here." She pulled a bit off of his and held it up to his mouth.

He glanced at the bit in front of him, then at her, then back at the cake, finally his eyes locked with hers and took the piece into his mouth along with the fingers that held it. "Delicious... The cake is good too." Loki grabbed a piece of hers and held it to her lips.

Sophie plucked it out of his hand with her teeth, then her tongue slipped out and licked the powdered sugar off of his fingers. Closing her eyes she purred, "Mmmm. So good."

He cleared his throat. "I think it would be good if we fed ourselves for now, otherwise another ride on the Ferris wheel might be needed darling."

"I'll be good if you can't handle it." She grinned at him, feeding herself, but waving a piece in front of his mouth.

Loki licked his lips then took the piece offered to him. "Not sure you know how to behave, you naughty minx". He tore a large piece from his and stuffed it in his mouth.

"I know how to behave. I can be very prim and proper if I have to be. Do I have to be?" She lifted her pinky while she stuffed the next piece in her mouth.

He snorted. "If you behaved yourself I would not be here darling, it is part of your charm... That and your have a fantastic bum." Loki winked at her and smirked as he popped another piece of fried dough in his mouth.

Sophie paused and just looked at him. "I'm sorry if I'm a bit too much tonight. It's just this morning was so..." She shook her head and continued with a smile. "And THIS. It means so much. It's the first time I've never worried about people. We came with Barton and the only place he's going to drag us off to is home. There's no way Hydra is going to jump out and snatch me out of your arms, even if they know what I have. I could dance on a table with joy right now. I can do ANYTHING right now and it's OK. And all I want to do is feed you this funnel cake and smile at those dimples."

Loki leaned back on the bench and blanced his plate on his crossed legs, he entwined one of his hands with hers and kissed the back of her hand. "You are happy tonight and that makes me happy love, no need to appologize for it. These dimples you are so fond of are sore from smiling so much." He smiled again. "These cakes really are delicious." He plucked a piece of his with his free hand and ate it, never breaking the hold his other hand had on hers.

"I knew you would like something." She lifted their twined hands briefly. "And THIS. I like this."

He grinned again and shook his head. "Never thought I would do this but I am going to quote Thor... This hand holding, I like it... Another!"

Sophie balanced her plate on her leg and held out her other hand to him, smiling. The colored lights blinked around them making shadows chase in time to the music and sounds of the crowds.

Loki grasped her hand and pulled her in for a quick kiss. "We have company." He whispered as Thor and Barton walked toward them. "Are you both throughly stimulated now?" He asked with a sly smile.

Clint flipped him the bird and pulled 3 tickets from his pocket. "Finish up love birds, we have a show to catch."

Sophie tore a large piece off of her funnel cake and offered the plate up to Thor and Clint. "Finish it up for me guys?"

Thor happily took the offered plate and began to shovel it in his face, Clint looked horrified with the amount of powdered sugar gettin in his beard. Loki polished off the last of his and stood up, tugging Sophie up in the process. He grabbed the bear and tucked under an arm. "Where to?"

Clint showed them over to a large tent with animal pens off to the side. It seemed to be part petting zoo part trained animal show. They handed off their tickets at the entrance. Clint gestured towards the seats. Thor took the first seat, Loki and Sophie slid in after him and Clint settled next to Sophie with a grin. "Babe, I know the guy that runs this one. After the show we can all go back and ya can play with the animals if ya want."

Loki took his seat and grabbed Sophie's hand again, he heard what Barton said and growled. "Will we all be allowed to see these creatures or just Sophie?"

Clint sighed and rolled his eyes. "Settle down there Rudolph, I said all of us."

He glowered and squeezed her hand a little tighter, eventually he settled his grip and prepared to watch the show.

Sophie leaned her head on Loki's shoulder and whispered up at him. "Be nice, dear. It's OK." With her free hand she reached over and squeezed his knee.

Then the lights dimmed and the trained animals were put through their paces. Ponies pranced, goats climbed and jumped, dogs walked on their hind legs and jumped through flaming hoops, ferrets and weasels ran along wires and on balls. Thor really enjoyed the goats, shouting them along through their tricks. Loki watched the weasels and ferrets with a sly smile and a sparkle in his eyes, while Sophie leaned up against him. Soon the show was over and Barton led them through the back against the exiting crowd into the area where the animals were kept. It was another large tent with pens and wire crates.

Clint was talking to the guy that seemed to be in charge and another trainer waved the others over to the pens. Sophie went over to a pen that had small goats in it. Thor followed along and Loki scanned the cages. When she leaned over to pet one, a tiny kid reached it's head up and started chewing on her sleeve. "Hey there lil guy, let go!" She laughed and bent over further to pull it free. Her already short skirt crept up dangerously high. The trainer standing next to her eased his hand over to hover just behind her rear. Thor's large hand immediately clamped over the top of the man's squeezing slowly and firmly as he sliently pulled him back from the clueless Sophie. Loki's attention was caught as his brother shoved the other man out of the tent.

Loki tilted his head in curiosity and followed after his brother, he found them not far from where they exited. Thor towered over the terrified man. "Thor what are you doing?"

"Removing this man." Thor said simply, as he went back to the tent. "He would have accosted the Lady Sophie."

Loki's face instantly morphed into rage. "He would have what?" He said through clenched teeth and bore down on the already petrified man.

Thor gently eased Loki back toward the tent. "Brother, leave him be. I believe he realizes his error. I have taken care of it."

He wheeled around so he was nose to nose with Thor. "No brother, I do not think he has at all. He still breathes, let me kill the ingrate and be done with it."

Sophie realized no one was next to her. She turned around and saw Loki and Thor standing inches apart, face to face. Not listening to them, she snuck up behind Loki and gave his back a shove, pushing his face into Thor's. "Now kiss and make up!" she laughed.

"Hey!" Loki exclaimed and swiftly pushed himself away from the now laughing Thor. "That was unnecessary, Sophie." He bit out harshly.

"But it was funny!" Barton barked as Sophie made a hurt face at Loki.

He hissed at Barton then turned his attention back to Sophie and the hurt look she gave him, instantly he felt bad. He cautiously took her hand and held to his chest. "I am sorry darling, I did not mean to sound so harsh. A situation arose that brought my ire to the surface, the push surprised me and I reacted badly." Loki gave her his best puppy dog expression. "Forgive me?"

"I was just joking. Forgive me?" She blinked up at him.

"It was my fault for snapping at you, normally I would have laughed at it. There is nothing to forgive, love." Loki leaned in and kissed her forehead.

Smiling up Sophie said, "Then all is well." Her eyes caught on a cage behind his shoulder. "Ohh look there! Could he be any cuter?" She turned Loki around to look at the young weasel in the cage behind him.

He looked in the cage she indicated and grinned. "He is a rather stunning little creature." Loki moved closer and bent to examine the weasel closer. "Just look at his eyes, you can see the cunning intelligence in them. Much to smart to be locked away in this tiny hovel." The weasel moved closer to the edge of the cage and sat on his haunches, head tilting with every word spoken. "You understand me don't you little one?" His whiskers twitched in response. "Yes, much too intelligent for the mortals that think they can keep you. Show me what you can do little beastie." Loki held his hand closer to the cage and the weasel sniffed at him. They stared at one another, judging. The furry creature darted to the back of its cage and under a log that was placed there, seconds later Loki felt the soft fur of the animal in his palm. He straightened and brought the animal to eye level. "Yes, too smart indeed."

"Hey!" The trainer called. "Put that one back! He's mean. He's untrainable and looks cute, but he'll tear you up. Going to the furrier as soon as his white coat comes in."

Loki whipped around in shock. "He bloody hell will not! He is not mean in the slightest, he is entirely too intelligent for your piddling mind to comprehend." The weasel scurried up his arm to rest on his shoulder and hissed at the trainer.

Sophie had been watching Loki interact with the tiny thing. The look in his eye was familiar. She stepped around him and smiled at the trainer. What he meant to ask was, "How much would the furrier give you for him? Twenty bucks?"

The trainer looked between the weasel and the lady in front of him. "Fifty if his coat is white, who does this guy think he is?" He pointed at Loki. "That weasel is going to attack, look at it! It's freaking spitting"! Loki scoffed and lifted a hand to stroke the soft fur, the creature started to calm but kept a sharp eye on the handler.

Sophie raised an eyebrow at the man, "Fifty sounds high, but for fifty he thinks he's the guy that can handle your weasel. Deal?"

"You can handle my weasel any time babe." The trainer winced at the growl and his that was directed at him, he wasn't sure which sound came from where. "Yeah fifty bucks and you save me a bloody hand come skinning time."

Sophie dug the money out of her wallet and handed it over. "Thank you ,sir"

"Yeah thanks." The guy mumbled and walked away. Loki grinned slyly and stepped next to Sophie. "You were amazing darling, thank you. Toukka thanks you as well." Said creature relaxed and rubbed itself along the stubble on Loki's jaw.

"Toukka huh?" Sophie peered at the tiny weasel. "You're welcome Toukka. You too, dear." She leaned up to brush her lips across Loki's.

He caught her lips briefly then felt the slight weight of his new friend slip away, he pulled back to see Toukka sniffing at the side of Sophie's head. Loki couldn't help the beaming grin from taking over his face. "He likes you."

"Because he's not spitting and attacking?" She smiled, then lifted her hand slowly up near the animal.

"Precisely, and he obviously has good taste in people." Toukka sniffed at the hand offered him and rubbed his small head in her finger nail. He chattered at her then dove off and shimmied his way back up to Loki's shoulder, he sat up and looked to the exit before chattering excitedly again. "Looks like someone is ready to get out of here."

"Yes. I think we have about out stayed out welcome". She looked around at Thor playing with the goats and Clint talking with his friend, then called out, "We are going to go find the corn dog stand. You guys want to meet us there or head out with us?"

Clint waved them off and Thor ignored them in favor of having a stare down with a rather large ram. Loki shrugged. "Seems it is just us..." A squeak interrupted him and he laughed. "Sorry, just us and our fuzzy companion."

"And then there were three." Sophie held her bear in one arm and reached out for Loki with the other as they set out.

"Four if you include the bear darling." His arm slipped around her waist and the headed out of the tent and toward a stand that sold corndogs.

As they neared the corn dog vendor Sophie noticed a very large crowd of young women around the place. It looked like it was either a Hooters waitress convention or a sorority group from a nearby college. She grinned at herself when she realized that this was something she had never seen Loki deal with, especially looking the way he did this evening, with the easy smile and tight jeans. "Dear," she asked, "would you mind going up there and getting the corn dogs, a couple extra in case we get company again? Bartholomew and I will look for a bench back here where it's less busy."

Loki stopped petting Toukka. "Hm? Oh yes, how many should I get?"

She stepped away from a little bit and shrugged. "Four? Do you need money?"

"No I have some." He pecked her on the cheek. "I shall return." Loki wandered over to the corn dog stand and waited, absently toying with the playful weasel on his shoulder. Once to the window he ordered 8 corn dogs, just in case, and then stood off to the side to wait for his order. He leaned against the side of the stand, crossing his arms and ankles while he waited.

As Loki stood in line, several of the giggling females quite obviously noticed him. While he waited for his order, a small group of them approached him, flirting and introducing themselves. "Umm hi, I'm Bianca. This is Shawnee and Allison and Jodee." One of the girls in an exceptionally tight tissue weight T shirt started, then pointed at Toukka. "She's cute. My roomie has a weasel too." The other girls giggled and posed while she spoke.

Loki's face contorted into confusion at their approach. "Congratulations to your roommate, this is Toukka, a male." He shook his head when the one in barely there clothing puffed her chest out, he looked away hoping they would take the hint. Toukka chattered angrily on his shoulder.

The girl named Jodee spoke and batted her eyes. "Your accent is awesome. Are you from Australia? You can always come on some rides with us if you want."

He scowled. "Thank you and no I am not." Loki straightened up and cleared his throat. "I went on a rather wild ride earlier, thank you for your offer but I must decline."

A third girl piped up, "Jodee! You're creeping him out. Stop it." Allison looked up at Loki with large serious eyes and laid her hand on his arm. "Sorry about that. Since you aren't from around here, once you get your food, I could show you around. Without all of the crowd." She glared at her friends.

"Thank you but no, I am here with someone." He glared at the hand on his arm. "Please do not become so familiar with my person, I do not know you and you are upsetting my weasel." Toukka started hissing at the girls.

Sophie sat on her newly found bench, clutching he stuffed animal to her bare legs to hold off goosebumps as she watched Loki get surrounded by the girls. She almost went to rescue him, but decided that her being unable to control her laughter would just upset him more.

The girls stepped back and bit, then wandered off, one of them waving back at Loki, the rest in hysterics repeating "Upsetting my weasel!" over and over again. A few of the others clustered around the booth, also waiting for their food tried to catch his eye, but didn't approach him.

Loki rolled his eyes and sighed, he would never understand mortal women. His order was called and he walked straight back to Sophie, ignoring the giggles and flirtations thrown his way. "I was not sure how many you wanted so I got two for everyone." He noticed the twinkle in her eye and the shaking of her shoulders. "Alright what is so amusing darling?"

"Wow. That's a lot of tube shaped meat on a stick." Sophie giggled out, before helping him hold some of them. Then she composed herself for a moment and said, "I TOLD you, you were pretty. How many numbers did you get?"

Loki rolled his eyes and grinned when she took the items from him then he got confused again. "Numbers? Why would I have gotten numbers when I was sent for corn dogs?" He took a bite of the dog and chewed slowly, surprisingly it wasn't bad. "And thank you for calling me pretty again but you are more so."

"Phone numbers, dear. So that you could call the girls." She smiled. "And I am not so pretty that I can't go out without getting accosted like you just were." She peeled the cornbread off of the half of one of the hot dogs and held the stick out by Loki's shoulder.

Toukka poked his head out and sniffed at the offered stick, Loki gently lifted him off his shoulder and set him on the seat between them. "Why on Earth would I want to call them when I have you?" He watched as his little friend chewed away happily on the tube of meat. "Then you were not paying attention love, plenty of men were staring at you. Luckily Thor was quick in his perceptions for once and redirected their eyes before I removed them."

Sophie looked over at Loki with soft eyes. "I have been a bit distracted by someone this evening and happily not looking for monsters in the crowd. What did I miss?"

"The instance when we got Toukka? The trainer thought he could put his hands on you, hence the reason Thor removed him from the tent." Loki grinned at her. "A few other males were deterred by the mere presence of three large males following you around, well two large males and bird boy."

"Well, thank you then." She leaned over and pecked his cheek. "Maybe I have always been doing it wrong. I should have had extra-terrestrial bodyguards instead of hiding."

His head turned so her lips met his instead of his cheek. "You are welcome darling, now you know to look for the aliens first before hiding." Loki laughed softly then looked down at Toukka. "If that is what he can do to a hot dog then I fear what he could do certain parts of someone's anatomy." He drew his brows together worriedly. "Such a vicious little thing." The weasel licked his tiny little lips and chirped at them before climbing the front of Sophie's dress and rubbing her cheek with his head.

"Yes, yes you are dear aren't you? Sophie whispered down to the weasel. You'll kill something three times your size and chew its head off for fun. Won't you? You won't ever back down from a fight and when it gets cold, you'll change color so you can live in the snow." She ran a finger gently down Toukka's soft back, then looked up at Loki. "Does Toukka mean something, or is it just a name?"

"It means Caterpillar in Icelandic, thought it fit. Beautiful but can be deadly." Loki reached over and ran his fingers down Sophie's cheek then across Toukka's fur. "My beautiful and deadly loves." The corner of his lips turned up in small smirk.

"I am HARDLY deadly. I mean I could make some bad salmon mousse or something." She sighed. "Given our situation, maybe I need to change that."

"You very much have the potential to become so darling, Paul bore witness to that." They watched as Toukka scurried down Sophie and started to bounce and roll around on his lap, effectively doing the weasel version of chasing his tail. "I will teach you to defend yourself when we get home love, nothing to worry about right this moment. Enough of that, what is next on our to do list?"

"Figure out what to do with five corn dogs? More rides? Find someplace warm? It's cold out here on the pier. I should have worn pants. What would you like to do? There's a haunted house that you would undoubtedly find very NOT scary."

"Hmmm decisions, decisions." Loki spotted Thor in the crowd and called him over. "Here Thor, enjoy these." He handed the extra food over. "And keep an eye on the bear, Sophie would you like to take a walk with me?"

"Of course I would." Before going to Loki's side, Sophie stood, took a few steps toward Thor and said very softly, "Thank you for back at the tent. For me and for keeping HIM out of trouble." Then she joined Loki. "Where are we going dear?"

Loki scooped up Toukka and placed him on his shoulder. "For a walk." He smirked and took her hand and led her to a staircase that took them down to the beach. At the bottom he took her to a spot under the pier where no one else was, he conjured up his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. "That better, or do you need something for your legs?"

"That's better." Sophie smiled up at him, clutching the jacket around herself, then she made a face and bent down with his hand, pulling it back up her goosebumps covered legs. "But I'm still an idiot for thinking it would be warm enough for bare legs."

Loki licked his lips as his hand was dragging up her bare legs. "Anything I can do to remedy the chill on your legs darling?" He set Toukka on the sand to let him scamper off and rummage around the rocks.

"I don't know. You could let me have your pants?" She laughed quietly still holding his hand; in fact she pulled it up to her chest under the jacket, running his fingertips over her hardened nipples. "See? Still chilly."

"It would be only fair, would it not?" Loki laughed with her and his breathing increased then held when his fingers grazed her hardened peaks. "Yes, I can feel. Do I need to examine them closer to determine the cause?" He stepped closer and wrapped his arms around her waist under the coat, lips close enough to share breath.

"I don't think that would calm anything down at all, dear, probably quite the opposite." Sophie whispered, sliding her arms around Loki.

His nose slid along hers, across her cheek, below her ear then finally to her neck where he placed soft kisses. "How unfortunate." He whispered then ran his hands up her back to rest between her shoulder blades and pulled her impossibly closer. "How should I fix your problem darling?"

Sophie moved her hands from his back and held his face, fingers brushing along the stubble and slight goatee. Then she pulled his face to her and caught his lips hungrily.

Loki returned her kiss with equal hunger; he hooked a hand behind her knee and lifted it. With her off balance it was easy to sink them both to their knees on the soft sand.

Sophie mumbled up at Loki. "You won me the bear, lent me your jacket and now we are making out under a pier in the sand… I swear to god if you ask me to wear your class ring I will start crying."

He laughed into her lips. "I do not have a class ring but I do have a necklace that belonged to Frigga, would you wear that?" Loki's lips moved down her neck once again to the exposed area on her chest, he licked and nipped at the flesh exposed by her dress.

"Yes I would." She whispered as she ran her fingers through Loki's hair.

He stopped his open mouthed kisses and reached inside a pocket on the inside of his jacket where he removed a silver chain with a silver mounted amethyst hanging from the end. He brushed her hair to one side and fastened the necklace around her neck. "I gave this stone to Frigga for her birthday when I was 7; she had it mounted to the chain not long after and wore it every day until I returned with Thor. When I was returned after the attack she gave it back to me with the inscription on the back of it." Loki lifted the stone from her chest and let it dangle from his fingers. "Always close to my heart. She would say that to me every time I came home from a journey."

"I…You..You don't have to." Sophie stammered. She looked at Loki with damp eyes and a quivering lip. "I won't take it off."

He smiled and kissed her quivering lip. "She would like you and I want you to have it. With you I am home remember?"

Her arms sliding around his back again, Sophie leaned into Loki and held him tightly. Burying her face against his neck, she tried not to let herself get teary. "Yes, I remember, dear. And thank you again. I think I am warm now."

He hugged her tightly then moved to lay back on the sand, he tucked an arm behind his head and opened his other one so she could curl up beside him. "Lay with me darling."

Sophie curled up tightly at his side, laying a leg over his and pulling the coat over them. "I love you." She said it as a simple statement.

"And I you Sophie." Loki's arm curled around her tightly and just lay on the beach, content.