Christie's head had finally stopped hurting. Whatever method Loki had carried out on her had worked perfectly. She sat alone in her quarters that same evening, after taking a nap, to mull over the entirety of the morning's events.

It had happened out of nowhere and had caught her well off guard. Loki had kissed her. It was small, timid and gentle - but it was still a kiss. He didn't refer back to it, he didn't even speak to her once it was over. Christie didn't say anything either, she found that all words had completely left her vocabulary. So Loki simply walked her back to her quarters in silence.

The thoughts clouding her mind as she slept were simple. Christie had spent most of her childhood growing up without understanding how to register and recognise her own emotions. Her older sister, Ashley, took after their father - she was a beautiful mutant who could produce wonderful, magical things. She was someone that had everyone in awe with absolutely everything she did. She was sent off the Xavier's School for the Gifted with her father once she was old enough - and she soon became the family prodigy. Christie was the one who stayed at home with her mother, the two of them desperately attempting to live a 'normal life' in a little cottage out in the British countryside. When the family first split apart, both Christie and her mother made the conscious effort not to discuss the other two - but eventually her mother couldn't help it. Her husband and daughter being amazingly powerful mutants was something she found so incredible, so unique, that she simply had to tell people about it. It soon appeared as if she couldn't care less about the daughter that she was accidentally leaving out. Christie was never really noticed, nor did she feel loved - and nobody ever seemed to care.

So what better way to practice her invisibility than to become an assassin and end up working for S.H.I.E.L.D?

After Christie had returned back from the gardens, she decided to take an extremely deep nap..but it was the sudden sound of cheering from afar that had abruptly awoken her from her sleep. The cheers were roaringly loud as if the entirety of Asgard was taking part from wherever they stood. Christie sat herself up in her bed and peered out of her fogged circular window. She wiped the glass down with her sleeve, and pressed her warm forehead against it to see the whole city celebrating in the crowded town square. It was truly a beautiful sight. Crimson red and glittering gold flags and streamers were soaring through the air in mass celebration, and the hefty beat of drums were sounding off dramatically in the distance. She cracked the window open and gasped in sudden realisation of what must've happened. "Please, no," Christie murmured to herself as the chorused chants of 'HAIL THOR' slowly smothered her ears. "Oh sh*t, no no no! No, Thor - it wasn't meant to be you," she whispered hoarsely, shaking her head in disappointment. She could only imagine how Loki was feeling.

Then she didn't have to imagine anymore. Her bedroom door suddenly burst open and there stood Loki himself, looking handsomely smart in his deep green tunic attire - but utterly devastated. His shoulders were drooping and his hands were shaking, although clenched together in an attempt to keep himself calm.

"Oh god. Loki, I'm so sorry-" Christie started off with an apologetic sigh, leaping off of her bed and making a beeline down the little steps to where he was standing.

"Don't bother. I knew it…everyone knew it. It just aches to hear it in person," Loki whispered miserably, his mossy green eyes filling with hurt and then for a split second - hatred.

Bitterness.

Christie took a moment of thought before deciding to wrap her arms around Loki, giving him what was intended to be a comforting hug. Physical touch on her own accord? Now her heart was slamming. It felt a little uncomfortable because Loki had stiffened to her touch at first - but within a few seconds he had completely melted into her embrace and allowed himself to be held.

An interesting concept - and one that he didn't hate.

"I'm sorry," Christie was whispering into his ear sincerely, leaning her chin on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry that-"

"Why? It's not your fault…nothing that's happened has been your fault, Annerledes. You must never apologise for something you have not done, do you understand?" Loki tutted firmly. Christie said nothing. He cautiously lifted his hand to stroke her long, silvery-white hair with his right hand, and he rested his other hand on the small of her back. That felt about right - so he left it there. "Annerledes, do not pity me. I should have prepared myself better. This was always predicted. The serving girls…your friends, they were right." Christie felt totally helpless at that point. Loki was clearly hurting and she had no idea what to do - 'emotional comfort and availability' was pretty much the only thing she hadn't been trained for back in the assassin academies in France.

She knew that she had come too far to ruin the relationship that she was forming with him now, and the last thing she wanted to do was mess up the results of the mission. So regardless of what she was used to - now she had to be 'sweet', she had to be 'comforting' - she had to be 'empathetic'. What would she have liked to hear when she was a child seeking comfort? Well, her mother used to call her 'my princess' when she was hurting and that was a temporary fix. After all, being called royalty made her feel like royalty - so…

"Loki, listen to me. You're…you're better than this, okay? You don't need some weird random coronation ritual to prove your worth. You are always going to be a king to somebody. You're…you're always going to be a king to me - forget whatever that damn mayoyo does, or whatever the hell it's called," she told him softly, praying that her words would at least ease his pain a little. Loki let go of her for a brief moment and held her by her shoulders to look directly into her steely grey eyes.

"Ah, Annerledes. I…I don't know how my anger was managed before you landed on this forsaken world. But I can truly say that I am eternally grateful that you're here now," he murmured quietly, more to himself than to her. His eyes were trained on the ground, as if his own words were embarrassing him. He couldn't look up, so Christie decided to make the first move this time and lift his chin to kiss him gently. Their noses touched as their lips connected, and Christie was desperately attempting to ignore those same stupid butterflies that were now fluttering their way up her stomach.

Her words, her actions, those feelings - they were just all a part of the bigger mission, right?

Right?