"Loki! Get off me you absolute weirdo!" Christie couldn't help but giggle as Loki tickled her merciless one sunny afternoon, whilst blatantly ignoring her high pitched squeals of protest.

"What on earth is a 'weird-o'?" Loki chuckled back before placing a small kiss upon her lips and finally sitting up, giving her a chance to catch her breath.

"You!" Christie laughed back, making him laugh too. The vibe between them was electric and they couldn't keep their hands off each other, no matter how hard they tried.

It was like they were meant to be.

Was it love? How should she know?

Suddenly, there was a brisk knock at Christie's bedroom door, causing her to sit up straight and fix her hair before clearing her throat and calling out, "Yes?" In walked Frigga, dressed in a beautiful white summer dress, her lengthy locks cascading down her back for once instead of being pinned in her usual heavy bun. She appeared a little taken aback once seeing Christie and Loki sitting on a bed panting - but she masked it rather well.

"No, we were not doing that, Mother," Loki tutted, already reading her mind. Christie couldn't help but burst out laughing out of sheer embarrassment and Frigga giggled too, her cheeks going rosy with excitement for them both.

"Honestly, nothing would surprise me when it comes to you both. Although I must admit Annerledes - I am so pleased that you are here to show my son the adoration he truly deserves, I could only do it for so long. I can only hope he is giving you the same energy back," she beamed, as she shut the door behind her and slipped into the room properly. Christie ducked her head in a shy form of appreciation - she had so much respect for Frigga and she was the only woman that managed to make her feel shy in the entire universe.

"It's honestly my pleasure, m'lady," she hummed, feeling Loki's arm snake around her small waist and his lips lightly skim her bare shoulder. She turned to him with a small smirk. "To think this all started with that stupid headache. I still don't understand why that happened."

"It happened because you mentally shared his pain and his fear. It is rather common in Asgard," Frigga explained as she stepped over to the window to take a look outside. Christie raised both eyebrows and bit down on her lips.

So she certainly wasn't acting then. She must've had some sort of real connection with him.

"Yes. And actually, it didn't start there - it started when you first walked into the dining room to serve me my morning meal," Loki corrected Christie softly, before pressing his lips to the top of her head.

"Okay, despite you being a weirdo - admittedly, you can be so sweet sometimes," Christie swooned, looking him up and down in utter bliss. As in, real bliss…this wasn't forced. It didn't even feel like a necessity - this was genuine happiness and although it was foreign to her, she didn't hate it.

Frigga gave a content sigh as she smiled at them both and leaned against the padded window seat, glad to share this sweet moment with her son and his lover.

"Isn't love just wonderful…now, why did I come up here again? I tend to forget-"

"Mother…" Loki blinked with a frown.

"Oh! I remember - Annerledes, we need you to stay securely in the palace today, and if possible tomorrow," Frigga muttered, her face switching from pleased to quite stern in all of a few seconds. Christie's heart started hammering against her chest as she snapped her out of the happy awestruck state she was just in. This didn't sound good.

"Why? Is everything alright?" she heard Loki ask briskly. Christie immediately felt his muscles tense around her, so she placed her hands on top of his arms and gave them a little squeeze to calm him down.

"Well, we have word. Allegedly, Frost Giants are said to make an appearance at some point. Given the coronation, we can only presume it's today," Frigga explained calmly. But Loki's entire demeanour hardened and he released a shaky breath out, sending the alarm bells ringing through Christie's mind. "We just want you and the girls to be safe, Annerledes…just in case." Christie looked a little apprehensive, her eyes darting from Frigga back up to Loki and back again.

Frost Giants? That was a threat, alright.

"Yes my queen. Where's Loki going to go?" she asked quietly, glancing up at him again to see him looking straight ahead without even registering her.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm going to go and see what they want," he muttered back coldly. Christie wasn't a fan of his tone at all. Her face fell into an uncomfortable frown and clearly, Frigga wasn't a huge fan of his ideas either.

"That's not a very wise choice, my son. Feel free to ask them but I'd rather you not escalate anything. We don't even know what they want yet and as far as we know, they could be coming in peace. It would be cruel to assume," Frigga warned him, her face completely straight. Christie held her breath whilst Loki sucked on his teeth for a split second - before giving his mother a reluctant nod.

"Fine."

"Swear to me, Loki," Frigga spoke over him loudly.

"I swear it, Mother. You have my word - I shan't escalate anything," Loki solemnly promised with his hands risen. Frigga nodded, seemingly content with his words. "So…where will Annerledes stay in the interim?" Loki frowned, fidgeting a little. Frigga smiled at the clear concern that the two of them had for each other's safety. They had both asked about the other person before themselves and they probably hadn't even noticed.

"Annerledes will be perfectly safe, son. She and the other three girls will be with Sif," she told him graciously.

"Oh god," Christie couldn't help but grumble at the mention of her name. She hadn't seen her since the training grounds and she preferred it that way. "Please my Queen, may I stay somewhere else? Sif and I really don't get along, I personally can't stand her and I know she feels the same about me." Loki nodded over at his mother for support, remembering the tensions that arose from their first ever encounter.

"Oh, I am sorry my dear but it's already been sorted, sadly you won't be seeing Loki again until the coronation," Frigga winced apologetically. "Sif seemed more than willing to house you, though!" Christie released a shaky sigh through her nose and Loki rubbed her shoulders comfortingly to keep her calm this time.

"Don't fret, Annerledes. We will be back with one another before you know it," Loki hummed into her ear.

But it wasn't staying away from Loki that was the problem...it was keeping calm around Sif.