A note from the author: Fair warning, I've more fluff for you. Before the line break this chapter is pretty pointless as far as plot is concerned, but it's fluffy! So if you like fluff I hope this is up to par! :) Enjoy!

He admired his work smugly. Truly, he'd gone all out for dinner. Partly because it was so nice to have his magic back, and partly because he was intent on impressing her now that he'd already told Belison he was planning to keep Maisy. Perhaps he was getting carried away, but Loki never did anything halfway.

When Maisy came back from training he hid his work with an illusion of nothingness. The room appeared to have white walls, floor, and ceiling with no furniture. Maisy gaped at the emptiness and looked at him.

"Um… what happened to our room?" She asked, cautiously stepping in and closing the door behind her. The door vanishing into the whiteness, "Oh crap, that's freaky! This whole place looks freaky!"

"Sorry, I did not want to spoil the surprise until after your shower. Please, proceed. The bathroom should be normal," He waved his hand and the bathroom door appeared where it normally was.

"Ooookay…" She stepped through the bathroom door and found the lavatory was how it appeared on any given day, "You sure you don't want to explain this first?"

"No. Just take your shower. It will be all ready when you are done."

Maisy shrugged and locked the bathroom door behind her as she always did. Loki lifted the whiteness from the room and fixed a few finishing touches on his set up. Then he decided he'd perfect the illusion by dressing himself in Midgardian clothes. A black suit worked nicely and now he felt that everything had come together just as he'd wanted it to.

"Hey, you expecting me to wear this black dress?" Maisy called through the door after the water stopped.

"If you wouldn't mind," Loki replied.

"Okay then. It's pretty, where'd it come from?"

"Linn borrowed it from Agent Romanoff."

Maisy finally stepped out of the bathroom. Her eyes widened as she took in his illusion. He'd made the room resemble a fancy Midgardian restaurant he happened to crash through during the Chitauri invasion. It looked much bigger than the room was, but there was only one table, right where their table normally sat. Of course, now it was covered with a tablecloth and fancy dishes.

"Whoa," Maisy looked around the room, "How did you do this? This is the Rainbow Room, isn't it?"

"How?" He snapped his fingers and the gorgeous room turned back into their bedroom, "Magic, obviously."

He snapped again and the room turned back to what was apparently called the Rainbow Room. He hadn't gotten a great look at the place when he'd flown his chariot through the window and then right back out, but he'd been impressed and had thought the place might be an interesting spot to investigate if he succeeded in defeating the Avengers.

"I went to a fashion show at the Rainbow Room once," Maisy was looking reverently at the conjured New York skyline out the faux windows, "Well, I didn't exactly attend it. I got the highest score on a test in an undergrad fashion class and my professor arranged for me to hand the models their handbags as a reward. It was the coolest thing ever."

"I thought you might like the elegance of the place," He grinned, walked up to her, and offered his arm, "You look enchanting."

"You don't look so bad yourself," she looked him up and down, "Very chic!"

"Thank you?"

Maisy laughed and he led her over to the table, which appeared to be in the middle of the circular dance floor. They both sat down and Loki clapped his hands. There was a loud crash from somewhere unseen and then their door opened up exactly where it normally was, which meant it seemed to show up out of thin air. Linn poked her head through and rolled a rattling cart into the room.

"Ma'am and sir," she said exaggeratedly, "Your dinner!"

"What are we having?" Maisy asked.

"The leftovers from the kitchen!" Linn lifted the lid off of the plates with a flourish to reveal Asgardian food, "Best I could do on short notice."

"Looks great."

"Thank you, Linn," Loki tilted his head toward the door. Linn lingered for a moment longer, admiring the room and the dining couple before winking boldly and leaving.

"Do have too much fun, okay?" The laundress took one more glance around and then giggled and left.

"She seems… excited," Maisy picked up her fork and poked at the food, "And this looks delicious."

"Do you ever miss Midgardian food?" Loki asked.

"Not at first I didn't, it was fun to try all of the stuff here," she raised an eyebrow when he magicked a wine bottle onto the table, "But that's the way it was my first year of undergrad too. The dining hall was so new and exciting and then after a couple of months I missed homemade food."

"If you could have one thing from earth to eat what would it be?" Loki poured the wine, "We can ask Thor to retrieve it on his next trip."

"Uh… I do not know. I'd say chocolate chip cookies, but if I wasn't too lazy to cook I could probably make those here. So I'd have to say New York bagels - ooh! Or coffee! Man, I miss coffee."

"Bagels and coffee? Noted. I shall tell Thor."

"Thanks, that would be awesome!" She smiled and started eating. They sat in silence for some time before she spoke again, "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Did Odin order my execution?"

"What in the nine realms would make you think that?" Loki laughed, leaning back in his seat and staring at her.

"Well, you are being eerily nice to me," she gestured to the fabricated surrounding, "And went out of your way to make a special evening for me. And you're asking me what foods I miss like I might never get a chance to eat them again. It's got me kind of nervous."

"No, Odin has not given that command."

"Then why are you being so fancy?"

"Because I feel like it?" He leaned forward and took her hand, "It is a continuation of my apology. For everything. Inadvertently trapping you in Asgard, allowing people to throw rotten fruit at you when Thor was gone, allowing the situation with Drin to develop as it did, letting Egil accost you the way he has been… all of it."

"Thanks," She slid her hand out from under his and he noticed that her ring was missing, "That's sweet of you."

"Might I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"Where is your wedding band?" He quickly put his hands up peaceably, "I'm not mad, just curious."

"Oh right!" She wrung her hands, "I was going to tell you. Egil stole it last night! I tried to get it back-"

"He stole it?"

"Yeah. Put it in his pocket and wouldn't let me have it back!"

"That must have been why his nostalgia spell worked so well," Loki frowned, "I was wondering about that. The ring should have deflected it as I enchanted it to do."

"That makes sense," Maisy said excitedly, "Because I felt the ring through his pocket and that's when I stopped feeling like I missed him so much and stopped feeling okay with the situation. That and it kind reminded me that, you know, I'm married."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that it is still working at least," Loki tried not to dwell on her actions from the previous night, "I will get it back from him next time I see him."

"Thanks," she said and suddenly it felt very awkward between them so they continued to eat in silence. Loki was concocting ways to move the conversation along or make her feel more comfortable again. He hadn't missed how she pulled away from him, which meant she still wasn't comfortable around him, even after all of their time together. And he supposed he could understand that. It wasn't exactly like he was a cuddly, friendly, or even charming person. Anyone in their right mind would be afraid of him.

"You know," Maisy said, breaking the ice and shocking Loki out of his thoughts, "You and Thor are the only Asgardians who don't totally terrify me."

So much for that theory then.

"Oh? What of Sif and the Warriors Three?"

"They're great!" She nodded, "But I feel like if I ever ended up being a threat to Asgard they'd just as soon kill me while apologizing. Thor would find a way to work things out for everyone and you…"

"What? What do you think I'd do?"

"Well, you'd probably break about a thousand rules, nearly get us killed, and then sneak me away to safety," she laughed nervously, "I don't know."

"You're probably right," he smirked, "But I wonder, would you do the same for me?"

"Huh?" She paled.

"No, you are not the type to stir up trouble," he regarded her skeptically, "But you seem unreasonably willing to help everyone. You would probably try a diplomatic approach if I were in danger."

"I guess," she turned bright red and averted her eyes, "Yeah, probably."

There was another few minutes of silence.

"Maisy?"

"Mm?"

"You look lovely in that dress." It was amusing, he didn't think she could blush any deeper red, but she proved him wrong as the flush spread to her ears.

"Th-thanks."

The black dress was simple and plain in the front, but the fabric meant to cover her back was replaced by criss crossing straps. The skirt looked easy to move in, which wasn't surprising considering it was owned by Black Widow. Maisy, with her newly greened hair, looked a bit like some sort of enchantress in the garment.

Sensing the comment had made her uncomfortable, he decided to switch tactics.

"So, tell me about your plan for tomorrow. How will you defeat the others?"

She sat up immediately.

"So, Natasha and I were talking and we have a plan..."

They continued through the evening, chatting about her strategy for the next day and for the competitions to come. The wine started to take effect on them and they began joking around more. Loki had forgotten that Midgardians - especially ones as small as Maisy - got drunk rather easily. Especially on Asgardian alcohol. She'd only had half a glass through the conversation and it was easy to tell she should not have anymore.

"You know," She was beginning to slur her words, "You know what?"

"What?"

"I'm going to kick their butts tomorrow. Iss gonna be great."

"I'm sure you will."

"Hey!" She smiled and tapped her wrist, "Iss almost time for you to go!"

"Ah, you are right," he smirked a little and stood up, offering his hand to her, "And you should probably get to bed."

The illusion of the Rainbow Room cleared and Maisy took his hand.

"Yeah. Prolly," she stumbled a little and gazed at him when he caught her, "Thanks. And thanks you for the dinner."

"You are most welcome."

"G'night. Have fun!"

"Sleep well."

"I will," she laughed and lowered her voice to a whisper, "I think I'm just a teeny bit drunk."

"Good night, Maisy," he smiled, "I'm not sure when I will be back."

"Kay. Say hi to Thor for me!"

He chuckled and left her to get ready for bed. When he left the room he did not head in the direction of the library as he'd told Maisy he would. Instead, he shifted into a disguise and made for the servants' exit. He had some business to take care of in town and now that he had his magic back and he knew Maisy was safe he could get on with it. He hoped Idunn wouldn't mind such a late visit.


A few hours later Loki was irritable, uncomfortable, and exhausted, but he'd gotten what he'd needed. It only cost him a few secrets he'd never wanted to part with and a few promises, but he had it. And he hadn't been caught outside of the palace.

The guards barely noticed him as he tipped his hat to them and reentered the palace through the servants' door. It wasn't unusual for a worker to be coming in this late - or rather, this early. Keeping a palace full of royalty and nobles running took lots of people doing lots of jobs at odd hours. Plus, Loki had picked a time when he knew a few others would be coming in to switch places with the night shift.

When he was on the higher levels of the palace, a place were his own face wouldn't be cause for question or calling Odin, he dropped his disguise and trudged to his room. It really was annoying that he'd had to walk all the way to the edge of town to get what he needed, for now his feet hurt and the long hours of the day were settling in on him. He could not stop from yawning as he passed a maid in the hall.

"Excuse me," he said, nodding to the girl.

She bobbed a quick curtsy and Loki thought he saw her roll her eyes. She was probably used to seeing nobles out at this hour, partying and having a good time while she cleaned and worked away. And though he was irked by her disrespect, he didn't have the energy to say anything about it.

Finally, he made his way to his door and unlocked it. Stepping inside, he went over to one of his bookshelves. It still made him furious that Odin had taken all but three of his books away when his probation began. However, that was a problem for another day. Right now all he needed was to find the carving of a serpent. Then he pushed the eye of the creature in with his thumb and waited. A secret compartment popped out of the back of the built in bookcase. Just big enough to hide something precious. Like a stolen relic. Or an Infinity stone. Or an apple.

Securing the hiding spot once more Loki glanced at the mound of blankets on the floor and then collapsed into bed, shifting into his nightwear as he fell. He was asleep in a matter of minutes. Not noticing or remembering that he was not meant to be on the comfy mattress.

A note from the author: Thank you for reading and special thanks to ferbette, Eliza, and CheetahLover for the wonderful reviews! :)