Two months.

That's how long Christie had been 'seeing' Loki for, and so far everything appeared to be going very smoothly, all things considering. Whether they were riding horses on the Asgardian shores, or having food together on the Palace Balconies, or visiting the storkatts - they spent most days together and were quite happy to be in each other's presence. Jennie, Renesme and Deliah were finally easing up to the idea. The more they saw Christie and Loki together, the less sceptical they appeared to be over his motives and the type of person he was altogether. Obviously the news had eventually spread to both Frigga and Odin, before finally reaching the rest of Asgard shortly after. Frigga was overjoyed of course; Odin slightly less so because frankly, he had more pressing things on his mind than who Loki decided to date, particularly because she was just a serving girl.

Hardly a reason to bring out the special confetti, was it?

Now that the majority of Asgard knew, everybody started to view Christie as somebody of high status, and the change was quite difficult to adjust to at first. Christie knew that dating a prince wasn't a norm, but she still wasn't expecting the change in attitude to happen so quickly. Frigga even suggested taking her serving role away from her, not comfortable with the juxtaposition - but Odin swiftly forbade it and stated that it could only happen if Loki were to propose to her.

Hilarious, because Christie highly doubted it would ever get that far. Two months isn't long enough to make that kind of judgement, and whilst Asgardians appeared to move rather fast, she was human and it wasn't happening. Not on her watch.

Aside from that, how was Christie feeling?

Well, she knew full well that at some point, she would have to at least check into Earth again, because Coulson tended to worry if she was away for too long. At this moment in time, there were no warning signs and everything was moving regularly (aside from the odd petty crimes). Being in a relationship in the name of a mission wasn't unheard of, she had done it once or twice before…but this felt completely different. It felt legitimate compared to the others. She felt as if she wasn't putting this on anymore, like it was no longer an act. At first it was uncomfortable being this free with someone, but Loki made her feel so relaxed that she just couldn't help but loosen up. Her genuine emotions were starting to leak through the cracks a bit at a time but, much to her surprise, she still had them all under control. She trusted him enough, he trusted her. Everything was steady.

For now.

The one day that everyone was rather anxiously awaiting was Thor's official coronation, due to take place in just a few days. The palace had already tripled the number of guards just in case anything was to go wrong, as there had been whispers of a terrorist attack or an assassination attempt. As for the assassin that was actually living amongst them - she had been cordially invited to stand beside Loki during the coronation, and she was extremely honoured by the request.

But Loki was still less than pleased that it was even happening in the first place.

"Everyone is making such a massive fuss over this stupid ceremony," he grumbled one evening, tilting his head up as he leant back on Christie's lap and stared up at the intricately patterned ceiling above them. She stroked his silky coal hair in comfort whilst tutting irritably at his words.

"Hey, we've spoken about this! It's clearly a huge day for Asgard and, more importantly, for Thor. Remember? Your brother, whom you love? You could at least try and be a little bit happy for him Loki," she hissed, tapping him lightly on the nose to remind him of their previously discussed words. They really had spoken about this time and time again, but she really didn't mind. She was just uncomfortable with the fact that this was making him so twitchy. Something about his recent attitude towards Thor started sparking off warning signals within her; but her concerns were so deeply buried in a nest of otherwise positive and blissful emotions that she could barely pull it out to really question it.

"I'm trying to be happy for him, Annerledes. I swear it…but I can never figure out what I was doing so wrong not to deserve it in the first place. Did we not both have the same upbringing? I can't help but question what the big difference between us is," he admitted with a slight flush of his cheeks, flickering his green eyes up to meet Christie's grey ones.

Oh, she understood that feeling alright.

"Mmmm I felt the same as you…technically I still do. I never understood why my older sister got all of the attention growing up - actually no, I did, but I hated the fact that my parents couldn't see the little girl living in her sisters shadows for the entirety of our childhood. They are still completely oblivious when it comes to how they made me feel," she muttered. She stopped speaking at that point. She hated this conversation. For a brief moment she didn't look like her usual self - in fact she looked broken as she stared off blankly into the distance. But then the familiar twinkle came back into her steely eyes and Loki was able to recognise her again.

Aside from that single hot tear rolling down her right cheek.

Loki leapt up at the sight of it and pulled Christie up too so that she was facing him at the same level - the best he could anyway, he was reasonably taller than her. "Oh, Annerledes," he whispered sympathetically, gently wiping the tear from her cheek with the pad of his thumb. "Don't ever let anyone make you feel inferior, least of all your own family."

"If your family don't believe in you then who can?" Christie sniffed, so embarrassed to be crying in front of him.

"Sometimes your family cannot give you the confidence you need," Loki muttered back bitterly. "Are…were you still in contact with them? I mean, before you landed here of course."

"No," Christie scoffed back, scrubbing her tears away again. "Certainly not. Worst thing is they didn't even attempt to keep up with me after I…." she trailed off into nothing again, quickly remembering her place. The pending phrase was '…moved to France to train to be an assassin' - but obviously she was never saying that. "…after I left home. Mum briefly checked in a few times every few months but nothing from my damn father. I bet they're all over my sister, though. She doesn't make a move without them knowing about it, and she's three years older for goodness sake." Loki gave her a grimace and nodded. Deep inside, he was still amazed that this beautiful girl not only landed in Asgard, and not only had time for him, but also shared so much in common with him.

"What was it about your sister that made them favour her, if you don't mind me asking?" he blinked curiously. "Was it just…random?"

"Oh, n-no. She…she had these special powers where rocks and fire and stuff can come straight out of her hands. She practically secretes it," Christie waved it off. Loki couldn't help but raise his eyebrows in amazing. He didn't know that humans on Earth held such power. "Yeah. She's pretty cool but you know, when her powers are the reason for your own downfall…you learn to resent them. Like, maybe if I was born with the same thing-"

"Alright stop. I know you may not believe it but you're absolutely perfect as you are. It's devastating that you think otherwise. And Annerledes, if anyone looks down on you, you simply stare them out with the most challenging of glares until they stop. Believe me, you're one of a kind and you can never be compared to anyone or anything, because nobody is in your league - understood?" Christie sniffed at his incredibly kind words and smiled thankfully, placing her hands over his which were now softly stroking either side of her face.

"Thank you," she whispered a little shakily.

"My pleasure," Loki mumbled, kissing Christie's forehead. "Never ever forget those words."

Well. Christie was stunned. As far as missions went - this was just perfect.

If only it could stay like that forever.

But life just wasn't that simple was it?