"I'm learning so much from him! And I don't mind working with him at all, he is so smart and funny at the same time.
And kind of sweet when you get to know him. I never thought he'd be so nice," Carter admitted.
Loki was out picking up a magic thingymajig for the portals they were working on, and Carter and I had been practising for a while together in the training room.
We got to talking, and as so often happened to me, Loki quickly became the topic of conversation.
"You know, when you two started dating and got married I was really surprised.
After everything that happened, after the horrible things you'd seen him do, how could you love him?"
We hadn't told anyone else about Beaumont, not even Jessie. So I simply shrugged.
"Because he's a different person now," I answered as honestly as I could.
"Yes, he is," Carter smiled.
"And you two are so good together, you are so adorable!
You know, one day all this stuff can't be kept a secret anymore, not with the way phones can record video and take pictures so clearly.
I'm sure that when the Secret World all comes out in the open they'll make a movie about the two of you, or a TV show!"
"I'm not sure anyone would be interested in seeing me on their screen," I blushed.
"They would! It's such an epic romance, such an amazing tale!" Carter's eyes practically shone at the thought. Sometimes she was as bad as Danny.
"What's your ship name?" She asked.
"I don't know," I admitted, "I don't think we have one."
"You two totally need a ship name, all good couples do!"
I suddenly giggled. "If they turned our story into a TV show people would be shipping Loki and Cedric in no time, and claim I was just a beard!"
"Noooo….!" Carter laughed.
"They'd even have a ship name: 'Bloodfrost'. Can't get more awesome than that!" I laughed.
Carter snorted inelegantly. "They really would, wouldn't they? But surely you'd have a cool ship name too.
How about… Sorki? Lokcha?"
We both burst out laughing again.
"That is awful," I laughed.
"Yes, it is! Think you can do better?" Carter challenged me.
"How about… Tupperfrost?" I giggled.
"Oh, that is so awful it's good!"
Carter and were still laughing as Loki walked in, his face dark.
"They didn't have it." He said curtly to Carter.
What are you two laughing about anyway?" He grumbled dourly, obviously not in the best of spirits.
His mood had been swinging back and forth ever since his confession about Beaumont, and I was well aware he wasn't sleeping again.
"Your new ship name, Tupperfrost!"
"What?" Loki frowned. "That is asinine, absolutely ludicrous!
How did you come up with that?"
"Because I'm as frumpy and as indestructible as Tupperware, and you…." I could see from Loki's face he wasn't in the mood.
Carter wasn't as good at reading him as I was and she continued on: "...and people always end your ship names with -frost because of the Frost Giant thing."
"Yes. Absolutely hilarious.
I feel slightly less intelligent for even having listened to that explanation," Loki said dryly.
"And for what it is worth, I veto this. We shall not be known, either now or in the future, as 'Tupperfrost'.
I absolutely forbid it.
Ridiculous custom, these 'ship-names'."
Loki wrinkled his nose as if he smelled something bad.
I carefully avoided looking at Carter in case I started giggling again.
"Anthony left a tablet with a note for you in the study, he thought it might be important," I said quickly, hoping to distract Loki and stave off any further acerbic comments.
Loki stalked towards the study, Carter and I practically running behind him to catch up.

Less than a minute later, the tablet Anthony had left for Loki went crashing into the wall as Loki threw it through the room in anger.
"ANTHONY!" he barked loud enough to be heard throughout the hold.
Carter's eyes met mine and I shook my head. Loki was in a foul mood and if she'd tried to intervene she'd likely just become a target for Loki's wrath herself.
I motioned for her to get out of the room but she pretended not to see me.
Anthony came running into the room, nervously pushing his glasses up his nose.
"Whatever Doctor Lee pays you, it is obviously too much!
As a matter of fact, you should probably be paying him for the privilege of allowing you the pretence of calling yourself a 'language expert', Loki spat.
"If even the simplest of documents is beyond your current grasp of the Jotunn language, please do not waste my time with your insipid and dull guesswork!
If incompetence and ineptitude are all you have to offer, why are you even still here?"
"Loki!"
I understood he was in a bad mood, but the Jotunn language was incredibly complicated and I knew Anthony Ryan was doing the best he could.
I felt more than a little bit sorry for the young polyglot as he braced himself redfaced at the vehemence of Loki's sharp tongue and temper.
"I have had enough of this!" Loki growled. He roughly grabbed Anthony's head between both his hands, nearly knocking off the younger man's glasses and began chanting as his eyes glowed green.
Anthony screamed as his eyes began to glow green too, the power of the spell lifting him off his feet as he dangled in the air.
"Anthony!" Carter cried out as I grabbed her arm before she could run towards her boyfriend.
"Loki! Stop it!" I yelled.
Loki ignored us all, his long black hair streaming out behind him as papers began to fly through the room.
I could feel the magic that was crackling in the air, ancient and so thick I could almost taste it.
It stopped as suddenly as it began.
Anthony fell to his knees on the floor, scrambling around for his glasses that had fallen on the floor. Carter ran towards him and helped him.
"What?" Loki asked me irritably, slightly out of breath. "All I did was grant him the gift of the AllSpeak. I've done it before.
Of course, I was slightly younger back then…" he stumbled backwards into Jessie's desk and sat down on her chair.
"Yes, you could say that…" Carter whispered as she looked up at him, her eyes wide.
I stared at Loki in horror, my hand in front of my mouth.
"You should have used the circlet and Friezegem." I finally managed to say.
"Yes, probably," Loki admitted with a small smile. "I feel a bit weaker than I thought I would."
"Loki…"
"What?" Loki looked around at the horrified faces staring at him. "I'm just a bit light-headed, I'll be fine!"
"You may want to go and look in the mirror," Carter finally said.
"Okay." Loki looked at her in confusion but unsteadily stumbled his way into the bathroom anyway.

"You saw it too, right?" I asked Carter as I sat down on my own chair with a bump.
"Oh yes, that was hard to miss, he's aged years in a matter of minutes!" she nodded.
"He must have used some of his life force by accident…
I'd better go after him, he is going to be horrified when he sees it!" I stood back up again and went after Loki.
"I can read it now!" I heard Anthony's voice behind me. "It is so simple, why couldn't I see it before?"
At least Loki's spell had worked and Anthony now had the AllSpeak, the ability to speak and understand almost every language in the realms with the exception of the forbidden ones.
Almost simultaneously I heard a wail from the bathroom.

"Loki? Loki, let me in." I pushed against the door but couldn't open it.
"No! Never! And I am never coming out again!"
"Loki, I know the door isn't locked, just let me in!"
"I'm sitting against it with my back, and I will stay here forever until I waste away, which certainly shan't be long now!" It came out as a desperate wail.
Despite my worry, I bit back a grin. While the situation was serious, Loki was being a bit overdramatic.
"It wasn't that bad!" I knew it would fall on deaf ears.
"I look hideous!"
"You look fine. Just let me in so I can see for myself how bad it is!"
"Never! You'll never want to look at me again!"
"Maybe I can heal you?"
"You can not heal the cruel decay wrought upon my body, nor the ravages of old age that now mar my glorious visage!"
I stuffed a sleeve in my mouth trying not to laugh. Laughing at him and pointing out he was being a drama queen would not get him to let me into the room any faster.
"I know you are upset, please just let me be there for you."
"It is better if you remember me the way I was, before this cruel twist of fate turned me into a decrepit geriatric!" Loki moaned feebly.

Since sympathy wasn't working I decided to try another tactic.
"Loki Laufeyson, if you do not open that door right now I will blast it right off its hinges!" I threatened as I gathered my anima into a blazing ball of fire.
"Are you insane? What part of 'I'm sitting against the door' did you not understand, you deranged woman!" He suddenly sounded a lot less feeble.
"I am going to count to three!" I continued mercilessly.
"One, two, two and a half, two and three quarters…"
"Okay, okay, I'm opening the door! Just don't look at me!" Loki threw the door open hastily.
He was sitting on the floor of the bathroom with his forehead leaning on his pulled-up knees, his arms wrapped around himself. His hair was hiding his face so I wouldn't see him.
"Oh, Loki…" I said softly, feeling sorry for him. There was no use pointing out that he had done this to himself in a fit of bad temper.
"Just don't look at me." His voice was barely audible.
"I am going to have to, okay? Can I at least see how bad it is?"
I had a globe of blood in my hand, but my blood magic detected nothing that was directly harming him.
"I already saw it before, in the study. I just want to take a better look."
"If you've seen it before you don't need to see it again." Loki tried to argue.
I sat down before him and began to stroke his hair back. It was as thick and glossy as ever.
"There are only a few strands of grey here," I said softly.
Loki sobbed.
"I've always liked men with a few grey hairs, it makes them look distinguished," I said conversationally.
Loki looked up a bit. I kept stroking his hair back. "It is truly only a few hairs, just a few strands of silver here by your temples. It is barely noticeable."
I took his face in my hands, gently forcing him to look up. His eyes met mine and he promptly hid his face again.
"I have wrinkles!" he wailed.
I bit my lip to hide a smile. It really wasn't as bad as he made it seem.
"Just a few crows feet beside your eyes. And they've always been there, they just deepened a bit."
"No, they haven't, I never had wrinkles," Loki's head shot back up as he eyed me defiantly.
"They aren't really wrinkles, they are just little lines from laughing. It's a good thing! I have them too!"
"They weren't this visible before," he muttered.
"I think they look good on you."
Now I had a chance to look at him, it really wasn't as bad as he made it out to be. A few strands of silver and a few wrinkles that had deepened by his eyes. I sighed in relief.
"You know, I secretly always thought you were a bit too young for my taste. I like my men older," I smiled.
Loki eyed me incredulously.
"More than a thousand years older than you, you mean?" he asked, the corner of his mouth starting to twitch.
"Oh yes, I mean, the cutoff age has always been at least twice that for me, you were the exception. It's why I was single for so long," I said straight-faced.
Loki began to smile. "You are an absurd creature, you know that?"
"See, that's why those lines are there, they are laugh lines.
And I might be an absurd creature, but you are the most handsome god I've ever met."
"And you've met a lot of gods, have you?"
"I've met a few," I shrugged.
Loki laughed and pulled me into his arms.
"It's really not that bad?"
"Have I ever been able to lie to you?"
He kissed me and slowly stood up. He eyed himself critically in the mirror. "I suppose it is not as bad as I first thought," he admitted. "But I'm going to have to dye my hair."
"Can't you use magic?"
"I like going to my hair stylist," Loki argued, "I love having my hair washed and blown out! It's nice to get pampered!"
"You don't have to, you know. You look great just the way you are." I meant it, if anything he was even more beautiful than before.
"I must have used part of my life force to cast the spell," Loki thought out loud.
"I despise how weak I have become. I used to be able to grant AllSpeak without a problem, and look at me now." He ran a hand through his hair.
"Is it because of the injuries you sustained?" I asked.
"That, and because I used up part of my life force when I created Beaumont. I think part of my life force is his now. It's what is keeping him alive."
"How much did you lose?"
"Today?" Loki frowned. "Comparatively speaking, if I was human, about 5 to 6 years in human years if I had to take a guess. Before that, probably a bit more."
"That is a lot of life to have lost," I said softly.
"At the time I thought it was worth it to create Beaumont. I'd rather lose a little than all of it, and I didn't see any other way I could keep on living back then.
Today, however?" Loki sighed. "Anthony better find something worthwhile in those tablets!"

I helped Loki back to our bedroom, I could see he had one of his headaches.
'How could you be so impulsive?'
'Why can't you just control that temper of yours?'
'You are so smart, do you have to make such stupid choices?'
'What would I ever do without you, how could I live on all alone?'
'I have lost so much before, don't you know I can't ever go through that again?'
I didn't ask any of the questions that were going through my head. I didn't want him to change, wouldn't change him even if I could.
Instead, I got a cold damp cloth to put on his eyes and gently began to unbutton his shirt. I undid his belt and helped him take his trousers off, then I tucked him in under the covers and kissed his forehead.
"Get some rest, love," I whispered.
He took my hand before I could stand up.
"Stay. Please? I can't sleep when you aren't next to me in the bed," Loki murmured.
I smiled, remembering how he almost left the first night we spent together because he couldn't sleep with someone else present. Now he couldn't sleep without me.
I snuggled down next to him and lay my head on his bare chest. I listened as his breathing slowed and deepened as he fell asleep.
My own mind was going around in circles.
I kept going over Loki's plan for Beaumont, Sif and Thor over and over again. There was a flaw in his plan, and if I realised it, surely Loki realised it as well.
Thor could not leave Loki's side.
Once I was sure Loki was fast asleep, I quietly got up again and went to Thor's room. I sat down in one of the deep comfortable chairs in front of the big fireplace and waited.

"Aargh!" Thor started as I greeted him when he walked in. "You scared the life out of me, I didn't expect you here!"
He had a big hiking backpack on his back.
"Going somewhere?" I asked.
"I borrowed it from Matt, I thought I might join Sif tomorrow. I miss her and I don't like the thought of her out there all alone," Thor confessed.
"Loki thought you might," I nodded.
"If he sent you here to manipulate me into staying…"
"He didn't, he doesn't know I'm here. He's sleeping off a headache. I'm here on my own accord, to ask you nicely.
Please stay?"
"Sorcha…"
"Thor," I interrupted him. "What will happen if you leave here? You were sent to keep an eye on Loki by Odin. If you leave and join Sif in the hunt for Beaumont, what will Odin do?"
Thor fell silent for a moment, a frown creasing his brow.
"He doesn't trust Loki, you know that. Who else will he send?"
"I don't know," Thor admitted. "Father sent us because we are family. He trusts us and we know what Loki is capable of.
I can't think of anyone who knows Loki as well and who would be capable enough to stop him."
"So what would Odin do?"
Thor thought for a bit longer.
"Either send the Warriors Three with several of his Einherjar under their command, or he will come himself."
"I will not allow them to take Loki, you know that, don't you?
I will fight and so will Loki.
It will start a war between Asgard and Midgard, and we are no longer hapless ants to be ground underneath Asgard's boot.
You and I will end up on opposite sides of the battlefield.
And if they were to take him or hurt him, I won't rest until I have him back, even if I had to tear Asgard apart stone by stone and bring about Ragnarok myself."
"Father would execute him for his part in Mother's death," Thor said softly.
"Yes. And if our Loki dies now he ceases to exist, because Beaumont has his soul. Neither Valhalla nor Niflheim will await him."
I watched Thor's eyes widen in horror as the truth of what I said sank in.
"Not to mention what it will do to your father. The life force he'd have to spend to send more people to Midgard would not be insignificant."
Thor agreed. "He is getting so old and frail. I don't think he has much left."
"A good king would do what is best for his family, for his people. Not what is best for himself."
"I never wanted to be king. I still don't. And I always thought Loki would be right by my side once I had no more choice in the matter."
Thor rubbed his brow tiredly, torn between wanting to be by his wife's side and doing the right thing.
"I know," I patted Thor's hand. "But that won't happen if Loki dies or if we are at war."
"Sif is hunting down Halja and Beaumont by herself. I'm not as observant as you are, but even I can tell Loki is scared of him.
She will be facing them all alone!"
"Sif is strong, and Sif is careful. And she knows we are only a phone call away if she needs backup," I reassured Thor. "But Loki needs you now, and I think the only reason why he hasn't asked you himself is that he feels like he doesn't have the right to ask more of you after everything he has done.
But I am asking you now, I'm begging you. Please stay."
Finally, Thor reluctantly agreed not to join Sif.
"I'd like to be alone now if that's okay?" Thor asked, his handsome face sad and worried.

I left his room and closed the door behind me.
Leaning against the door I felt a huge grin creep over my face. I almost punched the air. Nailed it!
Suddenly I was horrified at my own thought. Was I becoming as manipulative as Loki?
I realised I didn't care.
There was nothing I would not do to protect Loki, nothing I would stop at if it meant the two of us would be able to live the rest of our lives side by side.