AN: Ummm...I haven't been updating lately because-forget. I don't think you guys would care. I just make up for it by shutting up and letting you read this new chapter.

Chapter 4: A little Water can go a LONG way

Chirp, Chirp

'Uuuugh, what's with that infernal racket! I feel like I hit myself with Laevatein a million times…'

Fenris tried opening her eyes to only close them back in pain. She blinked over and over until she could stand the light. When she tries to get up, she notices that something is holding her down.

'Something's holding me down…whatever it is, it sure is warm…and…BREATHING!'

She gives one final yank and the something that was holding her let go a little. When she sat up, she once again found herself and Loki in a VERY intimate position.

Loki's POV

'MMMMMMM…warm, soft, Fenris…hold on, where did that come from? I wonder why I had such a strange dream. Must be my imagination, Pixies have not inhabited this forest for decades…I think.'

As I open my eyes, I have a throbbing headache. I am guessing we were drugged last night.

'So this is what a hangover feels like: shit.'

Something is on top of me-not again. Fenris is straddling my waist again. Wait a minute where is Carrot Head and the Loud Mouth Cleric?

End POV

"Ugh, Fenris, why are you on me again? And where are the others?"

Blink, blink, realization.

"OMG Loki! I'm sorry-groan. My head hurts a lot. I think the…others are…"

Both of them look behind them and see Chaos and Iris sleeping.

-Sweatdrop-

Their two friends were both still very asleep, and in the weirdest positions. Chaos somehow moved his head in the fire pit, and his hair was now covered in soot. Iris, well, she was sleeping across his stomach, face in the ground. How she could breathe was a mystery.

"Loki, should we wake them up?"

"No, I rather not. That little cleric will give you and I even more than a mere headache. She would turn it into a mind breaking experience with all the whining she will do."

"Hahaha, oh Loki. You can be so funny at times when you aren't even trying…"

But as soon as Fenris finished her comment, Loki noticed how she suddenly paled to a sickly white. Before he could ask what was wrong, she took off at a sprint into the forest. He ran after her and found her bent over, belching her guts into a bush. Loki shook his head as he stepped up to her and pulled her hair behind her head and rubbed her back a little.

Arie had just made it in time to see the two of them. You could practically see the hearts popping out of her eyes as she watched Loki help out Fenris.

After a while, Fenris stopped throwing up and collapsed to the side. Only to have Loki sit next her and put his hand on her forehead. He still had his headache but just 'pushed' it aside and concentrated on Fenris. Both of them and the other two most likely had a hangover and would feel sluggish.

"Uuuugh, I feel like I just encountered ten nests worth of gargoyles…Thank you Loki…"

"It is alright Fenris. You are not the only one feeling horrible. I am having the worst headache right now. Most likely the others will feel the same…"

"What do you think happened to get us drunk?"

"I think it was the food; that was the only thing we consumed last night"

"But how can that be, Iris and I didn't put in anything but potatoes and veggies."

"Well someone must have slipped it in."

"…"

"…"

"Mmmmm…as much as I like talking with you, I think we should go back to camp now. I might have some herbs that will help numb the headaches."

"…"

"…"

They both walked back to camp without a word. Arie just sat and stared after them.

' I know those two have strong feelings for each other. Last night proved that. But they could be so-o stubborn. Oh well. Their hangovers just bought me half a day. I better visit Kali about that favor he owes me…'

SNAP-POOF

When they got back to camp, the other two were just getting up. Chaos saw all the soot in his hair and groaned as he started brushing it off. Iris had a dusty face from her encounter with Mr. Dirt.

"Mornin'…yawn…Frens…mmmm…Lock-blegh- I feel like crap."

"Morning to you too Chaos, I see you still like playing with the fire..." said Fenris referring to the 'Boiling Water Incident'

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up-groan"

"I think I ate dirt last night. Why the Hel do worms like that stuff? Hey guys…uuugh, I'm having a horrible headache right now."

"That is how I feel whenever you open that mouth of yours," stated Loki. But Iris was too incapacitated to come up with a good come back.

"Come on guys, no fights alright. None of us feel too good. I'll grind some herbs for us to eat, it'll numb the headaches."

Fenris went for her bag and started taking out some pouches that contained the herbs she would need. Everyone else just sat around watching her or was trying to stop the parade in their head. After she finished grinding them in her bowl, she set it down and stood up.

"I need to get some water for us. That's the only thing that could get those herbs down our throats, andit's probably the only thing we could hold down right now."

"I will go with you Fenris," said Loki. Before she could object, he added, " I do not think it would be safe for you to go alone when we all have these hangovers."

"Okay Loki, you got a point there. Let's go."

Iris just sat there giggling at Loki being so being so overprotective of Fenris. And Chaos just sat there scratching his head in confusion at what Iris giggling at.

"Hey Iris?"

"Yeah Chaos?"

"How did I get my head in the fire-pit?"

"…"

Loki and Fenris hadn't talked as they walked towards the stream again. This time, Fenris was paying attention to where she was walking and saw the hole she tripped on the other day.

-Sigh-

"Is everything alright Fenris? You seem down."

"I'm alright Loki. It's just that I was thinking about all the things that have happened to us since we entered this forest. You know, all those times I…um…you know?"

"I understand, it's not everyday you have someone trip and fall on you. Or waking up to someone straddling your waist."

"And again, I am -really- sorry for all those mishaps Loki."

"…"

"Well, do you remember what all of us…did last night? My memory's hazy right now."

"I recall that stupid Pyromaniac asking me about my virginity. And being told that my clothes were once dumped in a basin full of pink dye. Besides that, I have no recollection as to what we did."

In truth, Loki did remember one more thing about last night. It was about when Fenris had kissed him. But he didn't want to mention it because Fenris might've laughed at him.

But she would never really laugh at him for that. Because she remembered admitting to Iris that she had a dream about Loki and herself. And about how she had kissed him. Yup, that kiss went through both their minds, and they decided not to think anymore of it and got their heads out of the gutter.

'I/she was drunk. It probably wouldn't mean a thing to him/her. It was just something to get him/me back to playing that stupid game.'

But deep down, that little kiss meant the world to both of them. When Fenris got the water, she shook her head at the memory. Both of them felt now wasn't an appropriate time to talk so they kept quiet. So they just walked back to camp, with only the sounds of the forest and their breathing accompanying them.

"Hey, Chaos? Do you think Fenris and Loki like each other?"

"Huh? I wouldn't know. I mean...Loki doesn't really show that much. And Fenris does the same. Kinda' hard to tell."

"…Do you think I'm annoying?"

"Well, sometimes you over do things a little, but…um…most of the time it's kinda' cu-"

"WE'RE BACK! Come on, let's get rid of these stupid headaches."

'Was Chaos about to say I'm cute? I guess I'll never know what he thinks of me…'

'Great timing Fenris! You just saved me a whole lot of talking!'

"Hey you two. Drink this up and the headaches will go away momentarily."

Everyone drank the water that had the herbs, and started feeling relief from the parades in their head. But because everyone felt so squeamish, they decided to take a brake from their journey and would just relax the rest of the day.

"So…anyone want to do anything?"

Everyone else: Glare

"Okay…I take that as a no. But seriously you guys, we can't just sit a around and do nothing. That would be totally boring!"

"The last time you were bored, I woke up with my hair covered in soot."

"I had the most peculiar and vulgar things asked of me…"

"And I lost some weight throwing up last night's dinner at the base of a tree. Some of your ideas are a little…over the top Iris. Lets just relax okay?"

"But-fine, I'll just sit here bored out of my mind…"

Chaos, Loki, and Fenris glanced at each other wondering why they got off so easily.
"ONE MILLION BOTTLES OF BEER ON THE WALL!ONE MILLION BOTTLES OF-gaaah! I was just joking you guys! Can't you take a joke!"

Iris kept on jumping and running away from everyone trying to out run them and their flailing weapons. So they ended up chasing her out of camp. They headed towards the stream, only to see a huge river in front of them. And because all of them were caught up in their momentum, they fell into the river.

From her spot behind a boulder, Arie gave a high-five to her friend Kali, the water spirit.

"Thanks a bunch Kali! All of them needed some comic relief. You should have seen them, they looked so stiff and…serious-eeew."

"Your welcome Arie. It's been a while since I've helped you out on one of your matchmaking games!"

"Yeah…about 3 and 1/2 weeks. It must not be traveling season anymore. But it's so fun!"

(Truth is, there was a 'Shortcut this way' sign at the entrance to the forest. Someone just happened to put them up -cough- Aerie -cough- 'bout 2 weeks back)

"I'll see you later Arie. Tell me how this bunch does at the end of the week okay?"

"You got it! Bye!"

And by clapping his hands two times, Kali disappeared in a small whirlwind of water.

"Pssh, show off."

"I heard that!"

"My bad!"

When the gang reemerged, they gasped for breath. They were about chest deep in the river. They looked at each other and how soaked they were. Suddenly, Chaos, Fenris, and Iris burst out laughing. Loki wasn't laughing, but you could see the amusement in his eyes.

Fenris started splashing at Loki, and he turned around so he wouldn't get hit in the face. Chaos copied her example and started a water war with Iris. Fenris laughed when Chaos got a face full of riverbank mud.

While Fenris was distracted, Loki dove under the water and disappeared. Fenris spun around trying to find him, when suddenly, he was right behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her under. When they both resurfaced, Fenris turned around to try and strangle him. But when she saw his face, she saw a small smile and he was chuckling. Her eyes widened in surprise, but then she smiled back at him. But before you knew it, she had dove at him and they went under water again.

Iris and Chaos laughed at the other two's antics. When Chaos turned around, Iris had splashed him with a wave of water.

"Ack! I'll get you for that shorty! Bombs away!"

Chaos did a cannon ball off of a near by boulder and made a huge splash.

Iris was right next to the spot he splashed into, so she got hit in the face with so much water. She shook her head and smirked at Chaos.

"Oh you're going to get it."

Chaos was surprised when she dove right for him, and now they were both underwater. But Iris had him in a tight hold so he couldn't get out. Iris just kept on smirking at him, then she got close to him and gave him a kiss on the lips. He was surprised at first. But then he started kissing her back. If it wasn't for the lack of air they would have just stayed there. But they eventually resurfaced and were gasping for air.

After they filled their lungs with air again, they just floated in the water as they stared at each other.

'Did that just happen? Did we just kiss each other?" ran through their minds as they drifted.

"Umm…that was…fun…"

"…"

"Iris? What's up?"

"Nothing, I'm sorry Chaos. I think I'll just sit on a boulder and dry out for now…"

Chaos stared at Iris in confusion. They were just having a lot of fun, and now she was all quiet and down. Was it because he had kissed her back? Because she had just kissed him just to tease him, and that she had not meant for it to go any further? So he got out of the water and just sat on a boulder across from her, staring at the river.

Chaos' Thoughts:

'What could be wrong? I mean, it felt like a pretty good kiss. And it was just some teasing she did to get back at me, right? So why is she all down? Maybe…that kiss does mean something to her…and she thought I thought that she thought-uugh my head starting to hurt again from thinking too much!'

End Chaos' Thoughts

Chaos shook his head to try and get rid of his dizziness. While he was doing this, Iris stared at him from across the river. She had been thinking about the kiss they had shared a while ago.

Iris' Mind

'It must have been some tease to him…But who the Hel teases people with a KISS? Uuhg, I really like Chaos, but sometimes he can be a stupid doofus. But he is really cute when he does. Some love life I've got, yup, the best in ALL of Midgard…"

End Iris' Mind

Iris looked up from her gaze on the river, and stared at Chaos. She felt her clothes to check if they were dry: damp. Oh well, she could just strip down to her undershirt and underwear…She really wanted to swim again and just let herself float, so she just started taking off her clothes.

Chaos had heard something rustling in Iris' direction, so he looked up. His eyes widened as he saw her undressing. He could feel the heat rise up in his cheeks as he continued staring at her as she took off her boots, skirt, belt, vest, and over shirt. He just barely caught her comment and looked up from her chest area into her laughing eyes.

"You know Chaos-giggle-it's rude to stare at people. Even if they are as beautiful as me-giggle-"

He shook his mind out of the gutter and countered back: "Oh really Iris? Because an ogre is WAY more appealing than you!"

"Oh shut your trap beef head. Your just jealous 'cause I look prettier than you!"

"Whatever Iris…you just feel the need to say that because you feel insecure!"

"Juvenile Delinquent!"

"Dunce!"

"Momma's Boy"

"Daddies Little Brat!"

"Dragon Breath!"

"Griffon droppings!"

"Manure face!"

Without realizing it, Iris and Chaos each took a step closer to the other. Now they were two steps away from each other in the river yelling insults at each other.

-One step-

-Two-step-

-Face to Face-

-Glaring at each other-

"Bitch…"

"Bastard…"

Their faces were now one to two inches away from the others. Chaos looked into Iris' eyes, and vice-versa. Before you knew it, Chaos was kissing her again. But really softly, waiting to see if she would pull back disgusted. Iris did the exact opposite, and slowly wrapped her arms around his shoulders, kissing him back. Then he slowly wrapped his arms around her waist, letting them hang there loosely.

As they stood there, they started drifting until Iris felt her back make contact with the boulder she had been on a while before. She suddenly gasped in surprise of the impact, and Chaos took his chance and pushed his tongue passed her lips and in to her mouth. When he found her tongue, he started playing with it, and she let out a throaty moan. Chaos smiled into the kiss as he continued.

Arie's Mind

'Score! All right! At least I got one couple to kiss. And this one looks intense! I better stop them for now…let's see…used sleeping powder already…too poisonous…too lethal…umm too weird…'

End Arie's Mind

While Arie had been digging through her stuff, Fenris and Loki came back. And suddenly, Fenris called out to the other two in the water.

"IRIS! CHAOS! Get out of the water! You might catch a cold if you stay any longer!"

Chaos and Iris quickly separated from each other. Both of them were flushed that the color of their faces would rival with their hair color.

They looked at each other real quick and then looked back towards where the others were. Then Iris quickly got out of the water and grabbed her clothes off the boulder. As she got back to the edge of the riverbank, Chaos was already out and waiting for her.

He looked up from the ground and smiled at Iris. She smiled back and was suddenly given a chaste kiss by him. Iris looked back at him surprised and just giggled.

Fenris and Loki didn't see this exchange because they had already started back to camp, and they were deep in thought about what they had just been doing.

Flashback

While they were underwater, Fenris watched as Loki kept smiling at her. Then she pulled both of them up for air. As she and Loki looked around, they found out that the rivers current down taken them farther away from the others. So the two of them just floated there staring at the water.

"That was very mean of you to pull me under like that, Fenris."

Fenris snapped out of her reverie and looked at Loki with a smirk.

"That was payback for pulling me under, too Loki! Besides, you had it coming anyway."

"Oh really? If you had not pulled me under, you would have been in for it as well…"

"Oh no! Loki the MASTER of the ASSASIN'S GUILD is threatening poor little me…and I am only a mere warlock! Oh what am I to do?"

Loki snorted at Fenris' fake 'plea for help.' Even though, he could think of a couple of things that he could do as payback…

"Cut the dramatics Fenris, you know very we that I won't kill you…just torture you until the point of you begging."

"Sure Loki. Just because I'm a little hyper doesn't mean that I'm dense. I highly doubt I'll get to the point to begging…"

As they were taunting each other, they had drifted closer and closer to each other. When they were actually nose to nose, they looked each other in the eye.

'Loki has the most beautiful green eyes I've ever seen.'

'Fenris' eyes are such a rich shade of violet…like glass.'

Just then, the current knocked into Fenris pushing her into Loki and also so that her lips brushed his slightly. Suddenly, Loki started kissing her back and was deepening their kiss.

He wrapped one arm around her waist seeing that he was the only thing keeping her from drowning. Loki then put his other hand under her chin. Slowly, his hand moved to the back of her head and deepened their kiss even more.

Neither of them was thinking straight, they just kept kissing. But because of the lack of air they separated. And when they did they stared into each other's eyes again.

'Why does Loki have that look in his eyes? Is it because we…just…kissed?'

'She has some look in her eyes…What does it mean? If she is feeling the same way I am, then my eyes must be reflecting hers as well.'

"Um, Loki…I-I think we sh-should go back to the others before we catch a cold…it's getting kind of c-cold. And can y-you please, um, release me?"

Loki just stared at her in confusion. It wasn't anywhere near sun set, and the temperature hadn't even dropped yet. But as he looked around, he saw that the sun was already setting and that the wind was picking up a bit.

'Okay, we could not have been kissing THAT long…'

He then started thinking back to the way she had reacted to their kiss.

'Why was she acting so shy?'

They had just kissed each other…but then it hit him. It was just an accident. He had thought that she had done it herself, but all it was, was an accident mixed with lust. That's all he could think that could sum up all of the events that had occurred with her. Plain and simple.

Loki looked her in the eye and could see confusion, shyness, and little hints of lust, even though she hid it well. So he stepped back and retracted his arms from her body. Then he turned around and walked out of the river. When he got to the edge, he turned around and stared at her.

"Well, what are you staring at? Hurry up and get out of the river so we can get back to camp."

"…"

Fenris walked out of the river and joined Loki on the shore. She was reminded of the time on the airship. He had snapped at her just now the same way he had done back at the airship, and it made her feel miserable.

End Flashback

By now, all of them had gotten back to camp. While Iris and Chaos were talking about the old times, Loki and Fenris were sitting across from each other with only the fire they built separating them.

Loki's Mind

'Well, my teachers were indeed correct. Feelings and emotions do make you weak…And it hurts to even try and get over them. But why did it have to be this way? I finally understand what compassion and kindness is, and now I do not know whether or not I know the TRUE meanings of the words. I should go back to the Assassins Guild, re-train, straighten out my mind…but I truly want to understand these emotions and…I want to understand her as well…'

As Loki finished that thought, he looked across the fire to where Fenris was sitting. She had picked up her cold mask of indifference again. But Loki could still make out the sadness and confusion he felt around her being. And somehow, he felt as though it were his fault that she was feeling that way.

Fenris' Thoughts

'I just don't understand all of this. Because of the current, I was pushed towards him. But he should've pushed me back! He shouldn't have kissed me! I shouldn't have kissed him back! I-I just don't know how to deal with this or anything anymore…'

End Fenris' Thoughts

She felt hot tears stinging her eyes as she looked into the fire, and occasionally looking over to Loki. Soon Fenris fell into a deep sleep with Loki watching over her.

AN: Yeah I know a little too much kissing. But hey! 4 more days until both couples are officially together! I'm going make about that many more chapters and if you want to see what happens to them, then continue reading!

Loki: Must you talk so much to the readers? You are worse than Lidia -shiver-

Me: Hey! I resent that Icy, keep talkin' to me like that and I'll tell Fenris what happened when I let you borrow my laptop to go on the internet!

Loki: You wouldn't dare!

Me: Oh yes! And just to let you know, I took a picture of you red handed actually staring at the-AAAAAAAAAAAAAHH! Chaos! Iris! FEEEENRIIIIIS! Help ME-E! Loki has gone BALLISTIC and is trying to KI-ILL me!

Loki: Ignore the girl; if you do you may keep your moralities and limbs intact.