Another sparkling day.
The weather on Asgard was always so far past beautiful, even the rain was gorgeous.
'Asgard is like Earth, but photoshopped.' Kagome snickered to herself, swinging her basket in one hand and brushing the hair out of her face with another, tilting her head back to let the warm air and cool breeze mingle on her skin.
'It is absolutely the perfect day to go see Heimdall, I bet the bifrost looks especially beautiful today!'
She skipped ahead down the rough, foot worn path that cut through the kitchen garden, the closest exit from the castle to out-of-doors after her stop through the pantries.
Every once in a while she liked to bring lunch to Heimdall, maybe have a picnic with him when he felt like humoring her. He didn't get enough visitors and he worked way to hard in her opinion. Always loyal, always faithful, the best of the best on the front lines of security, but he deserved to have a break here and there too.
She hummed something under her breath, another old Earth song she'd long forgotten the words for and breathed in the life and vitality of the world around her.
"Going to the stables as well?"
"WAAHH!" With a very graceful flail and spin, Kagome met Loki's smug, insufferable look with a formidable glare.
"How did you- oh. It's a clone." She flicked her fingers in its face and sent a wave of reiki out, shattering the aura-less illusion while the real Loki stepped out from behind a bush, laughing hysterically and feeling much too proud.
"That's not fair or funny."
"Oh I don't know about that, little priestess. It's certainly funny from where I'm standing."
She crossed her arms and tapped her foot while he collected himself, and she internally chided herself for being so distracted he was able to sneak up on her.
"You're lucky I didn't drop my basket. And to answer your question, no, I'm not going to the stables. I'm going to see Heimdall."
He eyed her curiously for a moment and she tried not to squirm.
"And you're walking?"
"Yes. Why wouldn't I?"
"The bifrost is long."
"Well, I don't have any other way to go. I'm certainly not going to commandeer a ship, it's not that far."
He stepped closer and she smacked his hand away when he tried to lift the cloth on her basket and peek inside.
"Why do you not take a horse like every other mildly sane being does when crossing the bridge?"
"Uh... I don't mind walking."
He circled her, and tendrils of amusement, interest and secrecy brushed against her awareness.
"That's only a half truth. Ah, I see, you don't know how to ride a horse, do you?"
She tilted her chin up, stubbornly refusing to give into her rankled nerves and let the butterflies in her stomach consume her.
"Who cares about riding horses? Walking is good for you anyway."
"You've been here much too long to have never ridden a horse. That will not do, not at all."
He stopped in front of her, and his rapid shift from up-to-something to genuinely earnest was dizzying. He held out a hand to her.
"Come."
She hesitated, gingerly placing her hand in his, blushing as her fingers tingled where they touched his skin.
"I will teach you. Then no more long walks down the bifrost." He tugged her along, not releasing her hand, showing no mercy for the torrent of emotion wizzing through her that she prayed he didn't notice.
"Oh that's... it's really okay, you don't have to do that. I really do like walking."
He glanced back over his shoulder, and his grin could only be described as lascivious.
"Then I guess I'll simply have to take you for a ride."
She squeaked and blushed so brightly Loki almost felt worried she might keel over. But she hurried along beside him, eyes wide and sparkly with embarrassment, meeting a challenge head on despite her uncertainty. It was an admirable quality.
"Wait here."
He left her in the grassy field next to the stables and went in to collect his horse. He'd been on his way to groom him, something his father had always expected of them despite having a groomer on staff, when he'd ran into Kagome and decided to mess up her plans for the day and turn them toward him.
When he returned, horse fully prepared and ready to go, she'd placed her basket on the ground and had started twisting the hem of her training tunic in her nervousness.
Another habit of hers he found charming.
"Here we are."
She stood there, heart hammering away in her chest trying to ignore Loki's smirk or the casual way he stood with his arms crossed, looking broad shouldered and way too beautiful for words and 'Kami-sama HOW do I get myself in these messes?!'
"Oh stop being such a skittish little mouse. Up you go."
He grasped her around her waist and lifted her effortlessly, placing her on the saddle and giving her no time to recover before he swung himself up behind her.
She went rigid as his arms came around to hold the reigns. He flicked them and his horse began a calm trot, and he turned them in a wide circle around the field.
He transferred the reigns to one hand and looped the other back around Kagome's waist, pulling her back against his chest and leaning forward enough to speak into her ear.
"Relax, or you'll fall right off."
She gripped his arm with a shuddering breath and nodded, relaxing back into him a little more and he pushed them on a little faster. They left the little field behind, and he steered them away from the palace and the city to a nearby meadow where there would be plenty of room to run and feel the wind on their faces.
He didn't often ride for pleasure's sake, but one glance down at the head of glossy black hair tucked close under his chin and he felt that this was a worthy exception.
Kagome did her best to hold on for the ride and hold on to her heart which threatened to beat right out of her chest, but Loki was solid and steady at her back and the view of the sun warmed landscape rushing by was breathtaking. A wide, wonderstruck smile stretched across her face, the thrill of riding and the fuzzies brought on by Loki's extremely close proximity leaving her light headed.
Her laugh was bright and clear and Loki smiled indulgently at the sound of it. He really had gone soft on her. She turned to look back at him, eyes glowing, smile so honest he felt his heart skip and he pulled her even closer, much closer than strictly necessary.
But she hunkered down, and laid her head back on his shoulder, fully at east and with complete trust, and it warmed him.
He didn't mind going soft at all.
They'd slowed to a lazy pace, clomping along, enjoying the weather, enjoying the company, and Kagome had stopped feeling panicked and instead felt excited and jittery in all the best ways. She was pleasantly surprised to see him steering them toward the bifrost which glowed and glittered under the bright afternoon sunlight. He sped them back up and the horse ran the long length of the bifrost, leaving Kagome awed at the beauty of it racing by underfoot.
'It's like Mariokart' she giggled secretly to herself.
When they'd reached the end, Loki slid off the saddle and helped her down, and she brightened even more when he didn't immediately climb back on and race off.
"You're staying?"
"Well I can't bring you all this way and not take you back."
Her grin had grown so large it nearly ached.
"Oh wait, my basket! I forgot-"
With a showy flourish Loki produced her basket seemingly out of thin air and she took it with apparent amazement.
"Thank you so much, this has been so much fun."
His face was soft, his eyes were warm, her cheeks burned and she suddenly felt shy to have him looking at her this way.
"It was my pleasure, Kagome."
"Well now you have to join us." She quickly grabbed his and and pulled him along to the bifrost gate and he followed, helpless to do anything else, unwilling to try.
"Heimdall! We've come to visit! Break time!"
"Hello little princess, my prince. To what do I owe the pleasure of your presence?"
"One: don't call me that. Two: break time. Come eat!"
"My task is unceasing, my guard must never break, my eyes must alway be upon the safety of-"
"Break. Time. Now."
Loki watched on in amusement as Heimdall gave in with a bare sigh and Kagome laid out the treats she'd brought. She bossed them both into sitting near, easily coaxed them into conversation, made the whole silly set up feel rich and serene. Even Heimdall seemed relaxed.
'I've misjudged her for a very long time.' Loki thought, watching her face light up as she told some story or other, admiring the silky fall of her hair.
'Indeed, she is a remarkable little woman.'