The days after the festival altercation proved uneventful. With the holiday festivities at an end, Yuna returned to the forest, spending some time by her lonesome while Loki went on to do whatever it was he did when she was away. Knowing him, he was probably making some other god's life miserable with another one of his pranks. And after seeing the way they treated him firsthand… she couldn't entirely blame him. Thus, she had given up on asking him to behave himself, instead settling for a milder version of 'try not to get in too much trouble.'

It was a cool morning in the forests of Asgard, the sun slowly climbing its way into the sky. Down below, the goddess of winter relaxed beneath a fir tree, atop a chair crafted from snow and ice. In goddess form, she attracted far less attention from the forest creatures, allowing her to enjoy animal watching while they conducted their activities. In front of her was a small table, complete with various icy decorations.

A shimmering plate of ice sat before her cradling a nice helping of roasted meat. Beside it was frozen utensils with a nice napkin of snow for principle. In the middle of the table sat a beautiful centerpiece, with ice lilies sitting carefully inside of a frozen vase. The goddess had created a small breakfast set up in the forest clearing, which was unusual to say the least. "Happy birthday to me." She muttered, gazing solemnly at her solitary table setting.

Her meal was delicious, adding some joy to her small occasion. It was a relatively common practice that she had come to enjoy somewhat over the years. A little smile appeared on her lips as she took the final bite of her venison roast. She released a happy hum, pleased with her work. She was so enraptured with her food, she nearly choked on it when a quiet voice rose from behind her.

"…What are you doing?"

"Eep!" Yuna jumped in a rather undignified display, turning her head quickly to the side to identify her intruder. It was true that she had been so distracted she hadn't been paying much attention. But to be fair, she hadn't expected to find anyone so deep in the forest at this time of day. But a quick look at her unexpected guest reminded her that this god apparently operated on his own unique schedule. "Hello, Thor. What brings you to the forest?"

The god of thunder stared at her with a look of gentle amusement. "Tracking a moose. And you?" He asked, repeating his question that she had been too preoccupied startling to answer.

Yuna looked back at what used to be her celebratory meal and laughed nervously. She hadn't expected anyone to find her here and now that he had, she was a little embarrassed to actually admit it. "Oh… just celebrating… sort of."

"Yule celebrations have concluded."

"Oh no, nothing like that. It's just a little something do for my birthday, is all."

"It's your birthday?" Thor asked, a look of surprise evident on his features.

Yuna smiled at him, amused by his confusion. The goddess, and many others, had always believed that Thor was emotionless. An expressionless god with little feeling and nearly nothing in the way of physical displays. But over the course of her stay and spending time with them, she had come to realize that the thunder god was actually quite expressive… if one knew where to look. The secret to Thor's emotions were in his eyes, often showing far more feeling than anywhere else on his body. By observing this, she learned how to read his moods, at least some of the time.

Shaking her head, she corrected him. "Well, not anymore. It actually already passed. I've been a bit preoccupied with all of the festivities. Since it's over, I figured…" She gestured weakly towards her icy table setting, earning a raised eyebrow in response.

"You're alone." Thor commented, somewhat stating the obvious. His comment was clearly meant to be a question of sorts, but he likely wasn't sure how to do so without possibly offending her. The thunder god was adorably considerate in that way.

"I generally am. My followers are few in number and I tend not to have many acquaintances."

"Apologies."

"No need to be sorry. I make the best of it."

Thor paused for a moment, his eyes looking around the area. Yuna watched as his mind worked, clearly trying to figure something out. She assumed that he was searching for his quarry and would soon excuse himself to continue his tracking. After a few moments, however, he came to a conclusion… and did the very last thing she expected.

He moved slowly around the table, standing across from her. She watched him standing awkwardly for a few moments, as though he wasn't sure what to do. Then, she tilted her head, a thought coming to mind. Was he looking to join her? Curiously, Yuna waved her hand, bending the snow beneath their feet to her will. It rose and swirled, stacking itself and hardening into the form of a second chair behind him. She crafted his larger to accommodate his size.

Confirming her suspicions, Thor slowly sank into her makeshift chair, cautiously at first. Then, he settled in, a bit surprised by the ingenuity of her design. While crafted primarily of packed ice for support, it had a surprising amount of give. The furniture piece had a thick dome of this snow, padding the lining and molding to the form of the user. The result was slightly chilled but surprisingly comfortable seating.

Taking a moment to admire her creativity, he looked back at her. "You and Loki are similar in that way."

"Hmm?" Yuna eyed him curiously. Loki frequently held solitary birthday parties in the middle of the woods with frozen decorum?

"His birthdays are much like yours. There is Balder and I…" His sentence trailed, leaving the goddess to take a wild guess towards its entirety. There is Balder and I, but no one else. And chances were, before them, there was no one at all. Possibly not even his own parents. The thought made her heart ache.

"Did Loki's birthday pass too?" She asked. Thor slowly nodded, earning a saddened frown. "I see…"

The two sat in silence for a few moments, Yuna thinking carefully about her next course of action. Suddenly an idea came to mind, but as the god of thunder was closer to him, she wondered if she should consult him first. "Thor… do you think perhaps…"

"Yes. I believe he would."

"Okay. I will. Thank you."

"Of course."

It was often like this. As the two of them spent time together, Yuna had learned that Thor was generally a man of very few words. He said only what he needed to and offered nothing more than was necessary. Despite this, he was surprisingly intuitive, and often knew what she was thinking even if she didn't entirely voice it. Thus, the pair frequently had broken, disjointed conversations, indecipherable to the untrained listener but perfectly clear to the two of them.

Do you think perhaps I should celebrate with him?

Yes. I believe he would appreciate that.

Yuna smiled at him, her silver hair billowing carefully behind her. Thor smiled back at her, in his unique way, eyes glistening with gratitude and amusement. Loki was a precious friend to him and it saddened him to watch him suffer so much throughout his life. That this strange goddess would come to them seeking to change all of that made him happy. Perhaps their meeting had been a good thing, despite the unfortunate circumstances surrounding it. He wasn't sure how much longer she would remain in Asgard, but he hoped that it would be for some time. And whenever she did have to return home, he hoped that she would one day return.

After a few more minutes of comfortable silence, Yuna decided that it was time to bring an end to her little celebration. She had enjoyed her meal and the thunder god had provided her with unexpected company. Now, she would help him in return. Slowly rising to her feet, Yuna stepped away from the frozen table. Thor followed her example.

"Thank you for joining me. I… it means a lot to me."

"Anytime."

"Now then…" The goddess turned, eyeing him with a mischievous look. "You mentioned something about a moose?"

"I did."

Nodding, Yuna shifted in a swirl of snow, returning to her wolfen form. Her golden eyes looked up him, wiggling her nose as she acclimated to her new senses. Then, with a lift of her eyebrows, she addressed him. Well, let's go find it.

Thor smirked at her for the briefest moment, turning to follow her as she trotted off into the trees.

. . .

After her birthday breakfast, Yuna and Thor went on to complete a very successful hunt. Her search brought them not to one, but a whole herd of animals roaming across the frozen countryside. They had their pick of the group, and she assisted him in bringing down the moose of his choice. Thanks to her keen senses and tracking capability, she had unintentionally helped him snag a creature even larger and meatier than the one he had originally been following. And he was very grateful for it. Yuna was happy to help, their hunt bringing a joyful and entertaining end to her afternoon.

She offered to help him bring home the kill, but the thunder god refused, insisting that she had already done enough. So, with nothing further to do, she followed behind him, splitting off when they approached Loki's cottage. The god of fire returned shortly after her arrival, finding her waiting for him at the base of his steps. Of course, as was his nature, the mischievous god couldn't help but make a comment about her waiting loyally for her master. The result was an irritated goddess and the offending party nearly falling victim to a row of angry teeth.

When their bickering subsided, the two made their way inside and followed their normal routine of relaxing by the fire. Loki filled her in on the events of his day, ranging from a prank on Balder to an exploding smoke bomb in the gardens of the palace. Yuna told him of her hunt with Thor and the game he had brought home as a result. They finished their night with mugs of ale… and with it came the unusual requests and activities that so often went along with alcohol consumption.

"So… like this?" Yuna asked, working carefully with Loki's long flaming locks.

After enjoying a few drinks, the goddess had found herself curious about his hairstyle. While she had seen similar designs in her home world, she had never seen them so carefully and tightly woven. And having grown up primarily in solitude, she had never learned how to recreate them. She mentioned her curiosity to him and allowed Loki to braid her hair, resulting in a thick silver rope trailing down beneath her waist. She was so fascinated by the design that she implored him to share with her his craft. Unable to resist her adorable face, he conceded.

"Close. The folds are a bit loose."

"Hmm…" Yuna frowned, taking note of the long red braid. He was right. Her folds weren't as tight as Loki's usually were. Shaking her head, she unfolded the braid, freeing his flaming strands once more. "Sorry." She apologized, sure that he was growing tired of her repeated failure.

Loki shrugged, tilting his head back at her as the familiar sound of crackling ice reached his ears. "Eh…? What are you doing back there?"

"Combing your hair so it doesn't tangle." The icy wide-toothed comb solidified in her hand. She gripped it and dragged it downward, slowly cording the teeth through his strands. Removing the gentle knots one at a time, she gingerly held bundles of his hair, sliding through them with slow, careful strokes.

Loki closed his eyes. His shoulders sagged slightly, his body relaxing beneath her tender touch. The god of fire had worn his hair in three braids since childhood, both because he liked the style and just to keep it out of the way. He frequently untied them and brushed them, so he wasn't unfamiliar with the process. But he typically always did it himself, and to someone else do so for him was a somewhat foreign concept. Her fingers felt cool against his scalp, sending a pleasant shiver down to the base of his spine. He may have been a god… but this was truly heaven.

"Feel free to try as many times as you need to. You're a little dense, but I'm sure you'll get it eventually."

Yuna paused, a slight twitch forming at the corner of her eye. He had a lot of nerve making fun of her while she held onto his hair. To teach him a lesson, she tugged it, widening her eyes slightly at his reaction. The small shiver across his shoulders didn't escape her notice. Of course. So that was his motivation. Sighing, she parted his hair, carefully weaving the strands into a long crimson rope. "You know, Loki… if you like having your hair combed, you can just say so. I'd be happy to do it for you anytime."

Loki didn't respond to her. Instead, he sat silently in front of her while she continued her work, a happy smile slowly appearing on his face.