"Ow!" Maisy yelped, sitting on something pointy. She jumped up off the couch and moved the pillow to see what she'd landed on, "Oh!"
"What?" Loki asked as he and Linn unpacked. Maisy had wanted to help unpack when they'd gotten back as well, but she'd been so shaky from confronting Tyr that Loki had insisted she sit down for a bit.
"Um, I forgot I made you another Christmas gift. Maybe I can give it to you for Yuletide instead?" She hid it under the pillow again when he came to look.
"Asgardian Yuletide already ended while we were away," he sneakily tried to take a look, but Maisy got in the way.
"Alright, then I'll save it for your birthday!" Maisy chirped and then frowned, "Oh my gosh, I don't know when your birthday is! I'm a terrible wife! When is your birthday?!"
"To be fair, the only reason I know your birthday is because I saw it on your driver's license. It isn't like we've discussed it before," he chuckled.
"My birfday is on April fifteen, if anyone was curious!" Linn piped up.
"Thank you! At least some people tell me when their birthdays are!" Maisy huffed, "Now what is yours, darling husband?"
"You won't be happy when you hear it," Loki warned.
"Why not?"
"It was December seventeenth on the Midgardian calendar."
"Are you serious?!" Maisy gaped at him, "That was literally the day we arrived on earth! I'm so sorry! I made you go somewhere you hated on your birthday!"
"As I said, you didn't know. It is not anything to work yourself up over," he remarked with a shrug, "Birthdays happen every year."
"Yeah, but, but, it's your birthday!"
"Maisy, I've literally had hundreds of birthdays. Just because you missed one-"
"Next year we are having a party!" Maisy declared, "And for now you can have this as your late birthday present!"
She removed the cushion and held out the long, golden scarf she'd been knitting before Thor had told them that they were going to Midgard for Christmas. She'd found the shimmery, soft yarn stuffed in a basket full of different colored strings in a hidden corner of the fabric storage room. Maisy and Linn snuck down there when they had free time and when they knew Madame Veru, the seamstress, would be away. The yarn looked metallic and like it might be uncomfortable, but when Maisy had picked it up she'd been amazed to find it was the softest yarn she'd ever touched in her life. She only wished her knitting skills were a bit better so that she could have made something more impressive than a scarf.
"Thank you," Loki smiled and wrapped the scarf around his neck, "You know I don't get cold, right?"
"I know," Maisy adjusted the scarf with a grin of her own, "But you just seem like a scarf guy. Imagine this with a black long sleeve shirt, some skinny jeans, black combat boots - with green laces, obviously - and your hair pulled back! You'd look so… uh…"
"So what?"
"Well, hot."
"Ooooh!" Linn teased from her spot by the wardrobe, "She finks you're hot!"
"Of course she does," Loki winked, "Everyone does."
"Fair enough," Linn nodded and got back to work.
"So next year," Maisy said, still playing with the ends of the scarf, "Since now you've actually told me when your birthday is, we can do something special."
"If you insist."
"I do! Why didn't you tell me it was your birthday?"
"As you said, it was the day we were leaving for Midgard. As you might recall, we had more pressing matters to deal with that morning."
Maisy winced and rubbed her wrists subconciosly. She'd forgotten the nightmare. She hadn't had anymore since the time she'd run in front of the bus. Still, there was always something dark looming in the corners of her mind, threatening her with bad dreams.
"Right," she stared at nothing for a minute and then shook her head, "But next year will be different! I promise!"
A note from the author: Sorry that this one is just a filler chapter! I wrote this one because I went back and read some of the earlier chapters and realized that in Chapter 12 Maisy is knitting and hides it under a pillow. When I wrote the Christmas chapter later I totally forgot that she was going to give him the scarf as a present and I pretty much forgot about the scarf's existence. So... now he gets a present! Yay!
Honestly, this chapter isn't worth posting, but whatever. Thanks for reading it anyway!
And special thanks to my reviewers:
ferbette: Honestly, the Norns must be so frustrated with the whole stupid family. XD Odin's letting Tyr start revolts in the street, Thor isn't even home most of the time, and Loki is... well in this fic he's actually doing okay for the time being. But we just know he's going to do something stupid soon.
XinterestingX: Haha! I'm glad you thought that was funny. I debated about whether or not to leave it in the story because I'm not usually one for jokes like that, but I left it in because I thought it was funny. XD
Ninja Squirrel: Glad to hear you like reading arguments! Cuz, uh, I just wrote a big one. I just wrote it so it's many chapters away yet, but... it's a big one. Hopefully it will be good to read!
You guys are the bomb diggity!