"Loki, wake up!" Maisy exclaimed, shaking her husband.
"Hmmph," he grunted in response, tiredly pulling the blankets up farther.
"Loki," she groaned, "C'mon, just for a second wake up!"
"Is someone threatening either of our lives?"
"No…"
"Is the palace under attack?"
"No."
"Is Linn in dire need of our help?"
"No-"
"Is it an emergency?"
"Well, no, but-"
"Then do not wake me," he pulled the blanket completely over his head and Maisy sighed. She walked back over to her side of the bed and took hold of the blanket he was using that early morning. She could understand his grogginess, as it was barely even light out and clouds in the sky made it seem even earlier than it was, but she was determined to show him what she'd discovered on their balcony. She yanked the blankets as hard as she could and, since Loki wasn't expecting it, he was left uncovered.
The sudden lack of warm fluffy blanket made him sit bolt upright and give Maisy a death glare that would have made anyone else wet their pants. Since she'd been expecting it, Maisy only feared for her life a little bit. She smiled sheepishly at him and he continued to glare.
"Return that to me this instant," he growled.
"You'll have to come get it!" She taunted, taking a step backward.
"I'm warning you."
"Come get it!" she sang, quickly backing over toward the balcony.
"What in Helheim do you think you're doing?!" He finally got out of bed and took menacing steps in her direction. When he was nearly on her, she opened the balcony door and stepped out, her grin growing wide.
"Ta-da!" She gestured around them, "It snowed!"
"Give me the blanket."
"Don't you even care that it snowed?" She took another step away from him, having put on her shoes before stealing the blanket. The powdery snow crunched merrily beneath her feet. She was fairly certain that her shirtless, shoeless husband would not follow her out into the cold, but she was wrong. He stepped, barefoot, on the snow like it was warm beach sand.
"The blanket."
"Oh my gosh, aren't your feet cold?" She exclaimed, her breath coming out in a cloud. She had to take a few more steps back to keep the blanket away from his long reach.
"Frost giant, remember?" He pointed at his feet, which had taken on a slight blue hue, "Now give me the blanket before I strangle you with it."
"You really aren't a morning person, are you?" She laughed, stepping back once more. This time, however, her foot hit an icy patch and she slipped backward. She was suddenly reminded that they were several hundred feet up and that the railing wasn't going to do her much good as she was falling over it. She wondered how long it would take before she hit the ground.
"Maisy!" Loki grabbed her arm right as she was about to go backward off the side of the building. With her free hand she desperately felt for the railing and used it to push herself back up into a safe position.
"Whoops," she whispered, glancing down at the world below as it began to wake up.
"You absolute dunce," Loki pulled her against his chest and then all but dragged her inside, "You could have died over some white fluff on the ground!"
"Sorry," she winced, "I was excited. I didn't know it snowed in Asgard!"
"Not very often and not very much, but we do get some," Loki replied, watching her carefully as if she was going to fall again, "Enough for Yuletide celebrations."
"That's like Christmas, right?"
"I believe so," he took her face in his hands, "Never go out onto the balcony again when it is slick like this."
"Sure thing," she put her hands over his, "But you gotta admit that it's exciting!"
"The snow?"
"Yeah!"
"Haven't you seen it before?"
"Well, yeah, I lived in New York for a while, but when I was growing up in California we didn't get much, if any. I love it! It's so…" she searched for the right word, pulling away to look at it again, "Romantic."
"If I weren't on bad - really bad - terms with the people I'd take you to see Jotunheim. Snow and ice all year round. Never ceasing."
"That doesn't sound like that much fun," Maisy said, still gazing at the powder outside, "The special thing about snow is that it's here and then it's gone, you know? If you have it all year round then it's not as exciting."
"Obviously," he rubbed his forehead tiredly and went back over to the bed, "Why'd you have to go and drop the blanket over the edge of the balcony?"
"Now that it's getting cold we should really ask Ola to bring us more blankets anyway," Maisy grinned at the thought of wrapping up in fluffy covers and maybe sipping cocoa by the fireplace that they never used. The mental image of Loki wrapped in a comforter made her smile even wider and she decided to get dressed and go find Ola or one of the other laundry maids immediately and request more blankets.
"Now?" Loki muttered against his pillow, already splayed across the bed.
"You're the one who made a big fuss about needing a blanket," she pointed out, pulling on a long sleeve shirt and her jeans. She looked sadly at her shoes and wished she had her pair of Uggs from earth. She settled for her green combat boots instead.
"But you don't need to go right now," he whined, "Just come back to bed. I can use you as a blanket. You're a veritable heater."
"Nope! I'm already awake and my heart's beating to fast from my latest near death experience. Gotta get going with the day!" She moved over to the bed and stooped to give him a quick kiss, "See you later!"
She left and Loki sighed, rolling over to look out at the balcony. He supposed that the snow was a little pretty. At least, as long as Maisy thought it was.
A note from the author: WINTER FLUFF WARNING, BE ADVISED, THE ROAD AHEAD WILL BE LADEN WITH WINTER FLUFF ALL OVER THE PLACE! Drive/read safely. ;)
And, before you ask... yes there will be a Christmas chapter! A few of them, actually. I know I'm kinda skipping over Halloween and Thanksgiving, but in the timeline of the story October has already passed (in fact that's the month the wedding ceremony took place in and To Have and To Hold starts in November). I'm considering doing a one shot posted separately where they have some "non canon" Halloween fun, but we'll see how I feel when we get closer to Halloween I guess.
Thanks so much for reading/following/favoriting! :)
And a special shout out thanks to my reviwers:
Guest: yay!
xlokiswolfx: that is definitely what Loki did as a child lol, I love that mental image. And I'm glad you like Linn and Bjorn! We'll get to see some more of their shenanigans later...
ferbette: *Loki reads your review* I AM NOT ADORABLE! I AM A KING! *Maisy glances over his shoulder* Aw, you totally are adorable, especially when you're angry. *Loki pouts*
Ninja Squirrel: I totally understand the communication withdrawals thing. Sometimes it feels like the only way I get to talk to anyone is on Fanfiction :P So thank you for sorta kinda chatting with me! And I'm glad my writing advice made sense. I'm no writing expert, but I do like sharing what's helpful for me when writing and hearing what helps other people. :) We're all in this together! *High School Musical music starts playing *
XinterestingX: I love that deleted scene! It shows their relationship as brothers so well! :)
It Me: I pronounce it May-zee, but if you've got the other way stuck in your head already that's fine too!
You guys are amazing, as always! :D