"Excuse me," Loki said to Anna, throwing the sliding door to the balcony open and slamming it shut behind him.

"Brother," Thor nodded, his smile fading at Loki's obvious rage. "You look well."

"Ever heard of the front door?" Loki snapped, gesturing towards the front of the house.

"I did not know you would have company," Thor said, looking beyond Loki to the woman staring behind the glass. She smiled and waved. Thor waved politely back.

"She has no idea, about anything," Loki warned, his tone murderous. "I'd like to keep it that way."

"Heimdall sent me there," Thor said quickly, pointing to a knoll below the balcony, completely out of sight. "I am certain she saw nothing."

"Why have you come," Loki asked suspiciously, not wanting to dance around the situation for even a moment. "To gloat?"

"I was planning on visiting Jane. The Bifrost was not beyond repair after all."

"Yes, was that much not obvious to you when I was cast out?"

"You know well why you were," Thor sighed. "And as someone who has been, I came to give you a bit of advice."

"Oh, pray tell," Loki insisted sarcastically, not at all wanting the counsel of the mighty Thor.

"Do not underestimate these people, Loki. Treat them and their realm with respect."

"Luke ," he whispered through clenched teeth, nodding in the direction of the house. He knew Anna was well out of ear-shot, but he wished to exercise caution all the same.

"Luke?" Thor repeated, taking a moment before understanding what Loki was trying to get at. "Ah, yes. Luke."

Loki rolled his eyes.

"Are you not going to introduce me then?"

"No. I'm not. Get out."

"Hi," Anna said, smiling as she opened the door, carrying several mugs on a tray. "Tea?"

Loki swallowed as he watched her place the beverages on a patio table, grateful for her ignorance of his ridiculous situation.

"Anna, this is - Henry," he said, recalling the name from a famous midgardian play he had seen in the early 17th century. "My older yet not so much wiser brother."

"Lady Anna," Thor said, bowing his head.

Lady Anna. These men were a trip. They talked the same, their manners were the same, but truthfully, the two were like night and day. Thor reminded Anna of the sun - bright, cheerful, conventionally handsome. Loki was very much the night - dark and mysterious with an attractiveness and allure that was unrivaled. If you hadn't known the two were related, the notion would seem ridiculous. Still, the familial tension was painfully obvious.

"Hi Henry," she smiled, handing him a warm cup. "I hope you like Earl Grey."

"I'm afraid I'm not acquainted with him," Thor replied, shrugging as he took a sip of the tea.

Anna laughed, clearly taking his response as a joke. Loki wanted to crawl under a rock.

"Your father owns such beautiful house," she continued, trying to lighten the situation with small talk. "Will you be staying?"

"No," Loki replied quickly, crossing his arms across his chest. "He was just leaving, actually."

"If you're worried about bedrooms, I can take the couch."

"My girlfriend and I live in Tromsø. I'm not terribly far," Thor replied, grateful for her generosity. "I simply came to see if - Luke - needed my help."

"But he doesn't," Loki assured, taking an obnoxiously loud sip from his mug.

"Tromsø," Anna replied dreamily. "I love Tromsø."

"It is rather nice," Thor agreed. "Pleasant scenery. Good coffee shops. I have had a rather difficult time finding pop-tarts, however."

Anna laughed again. "Well, I think they have some strawberry ones at our market in the town center, if you're desperate."

"That is excellent information. I thank you."

"Anna, will you excuse us," Loki said suddenly, icily. The possibility of her fawning over Thor was suddenly too much for him to bear. "There are private matters I need to discuss with my brother."

"Oh," Anna said, suddenly realizing how intrusive she had been. "Sure. I'll just be unpacking inside if you need me. It was nice to meet you, Henry."

"It was very nice to meet you, Anna," Thor said with a small smile. "I hope we meet again."

Anna nodded and turned to go back in.

"She is kind," Thor said quietly.

"She is nothing more than the help," Loki insisted, shoving his hands into his pockets. He glanced back at Anna through the windows and a strong pang of guilt surged through him. He did not think of her that way. It was cruel to say - even for him.

"Loki-"

"You aren't welcome here."

"Yes, well, I am here. And Earth is under my protection."

"Your precious Earth," Loki sneered, shaking his head. "These mortals aren't fit to shine my boots."

"Perhaps it is unwise to keep midgardians as company, if you think so poorly of them."

"We're done here," Loki said, turning around to walk back into the house. Enough was enough.

"Brother -"

"That I am not," he warned, turning around once more to point his finger at Thor. "I may have failed to finish what we started on the Bifrost. But if you come here again, I will be more than happy to pick up where we left off."

"Loki, I had no idea. About you -"

"Being a frost giant? The monsters we were taught to fear and despise as children? Yes, it's a shame. Neither did I."

"I do not think of the frost giants as monsters. I only wish you felt the same."

"Goodbye, Henry," Loki said, smiling sarcastically back at Thor. "Do send mother my regards."

Thor sighed as he watched his brother stalk back into the house without a second glance back. He turned and walked back down to the knoll, making sure he was completely out of sight before he spoke his next words.

"Heimdall," he said quietly, feeling defeated. "When you are ready."

Loki and Anna both retreated to their rooms for the entirety of the afternoon. Anna had taken a long bath and proceeded to fall asleep the moment her head hit the pillows. Loki, still unable to sleep, decided it would be wise to conjure a luggage and clothing to fill his drawers, making it apparent that they had been delivered. He eventually drew his own bath and soaked for a long time, staring pensively out a large window at the snow-laden mountainscape.

Still seething about Thor's unwelcome visit, Loki reflected on their exchange. What in the nine realms was he doing letting some random mortal share his living space? After everything that had just happened - discovering his true parentage, Odin falling into the Odinsleep, becoming king in Thor's absence and sending the Destroyer to Earth, killing Laufey, attempting to destroy Jotunheim once and for all... and now his own exile. He had no business keeping the company of a mortal and he knew it. Not now, not ever.

Truthfully, he despised them. Midgardians ravaged their hapless realm, waged fruitless wars in the name of a work of fiction, glorified material possessions and left the old ways behind. Once worshiped as gods, the Aesir were now nothing more than mythologies. And what was the definition of a myth? A widely held but false belief or idea. No. Loki had no time for petty, benighted mortals.

But Anna... Anna believed. And it plagued him. Perhaps that was why he felt a protectiveness, an inexplicable sense of obligation to her. Perhaps that was what moved him to act in such an irrational manner by asking her to stay. Loki closed his eyes and splashed his face with the water, trying to will himself to come to grips with the situation. He wasn't looking forward to his time on this realm, but he had been looking forward to the solitude of it all. Maybe it was best that Anna filled her hours with cooking and cleaning. He had always lived in close quarters with maids on Asgard. This way, he could simply view her as his servant. Maybe then he could focus. Maybe then he wouldn't notice her smile so much.

After his bath, Loki dressed himself in a dark green, short-sleeved henley and grey sweatpants, proud of the midgardian wardrobe he managed to create for himself. He wandered out into the dark living room, lit only by a roaring fire and several small candles on the coffee table. Anna kneeled before them, fiddling with what looked like different colored rocks. Her hair was up in a messy bun and she wore red and white flannel pajama bottoms with a fitted white tank top and fur-lined moccasin slippers. Loki found himself staring, unsure of how anyone could make such a ridiculous style of clothing look attractive. But she did.

He coughed to make his presence known, immediately forcing himself from his dangerous thoughts.

"Hey," Anna smiled, sitting up a little straighter as he walked into the room. She found herself in continuous awe of ridiculously good-looking man standing before her, his shirt tight against his torso revealing prominent muscle lines, his dark, wet locks falling in a disarray across his bright blue eyes - a stark contrast to his flawless porcelain skin. She'd never thought of another man as beautiful, but that's exactly what he was. Breathtaking, really.

"I thought you were sleeping," she swallowed, trying to get a proper hold of herself. "Looks like your luggage came. Did Henry leave?"

"It did. And yes, he left. What's all this?" Loki asked as he walked over, looking curiously down at the array of rocks and candles on the table.

"It's, uh, my traveling altar. I ask so much from the gods sometimes. This is sort of how I say thanks."

"I see."

"This one is for Thor. Azurite," she said, holding up a crystal laden with various shades of blue. "I believe he's kind, but arrogant at times. So I use this to pray for him."

Loki took the stone she offered to curiously examine it, pleased with her opinion of him. Oh, my dear. How right you are...

"Odin gets this one. Clear quartz," she said, thrusting a larger one into Loki's hands. "For healing."

"Healing?"

"I don't think he's well. He has a lot on his plate."

Loki's brow furrowed. Indeed, Odin was not well. It was something most of Asgard knew, what with his tendency to take naps at the most inconvenient of times. But it was curious that she knew.

"You seem confident in your assumptions."

"I am," she shrugged casually, pulling a small, light pink stone from her bag. "Ah. This one is for my personal favorite."

"Who?" he said, with genuine intrigue. Oh, how he'd love to tell her of his own opinions of them all...

She placed the stone in his hand, her fingertips lingering a bit too long on his palm. He shifted. There it was again. That brilliant smile.

"Loki."

Every breath left his body the moment his name unexpectedly escaped her perfect lips. He tried to ignore the pounding in his chest as she looked up into his eyes with nothing but pure wonder and adoration, but it was overwhelming. By all means he should be flattered for he was never anyone's favorite. But this - this he felt unworthy of.

"Luke, are you alright?"

"What is it?" he said finally, placing the stone quickly back on the table, as if it were burning him.

"Rose quartz," she said, the uneasiness in his voice not escaping her. "For heartbreak."

"Heartbreak?" he scoffed, a little too quickly, a little too incredulously.

"Yes."

"And how exactly do you know these things?"

"I - I can't explain it. I just feel it."

"You just feel it?" he replied as he narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms tightly over his chest, his tone obnoxiously accusatory.

"Yes," she said firmly, not at all wanting to have to explain herself on the subject. Too many times had she been both physically and mentally persecuted for her for her beliefs. Too many times had Bjorn wrecked her altars, thrown her crystals and her candles in the trash, calling her every bad name in existence. She felt Loki's presence with everything in her. And she was exhausted from hiding it, of running from it.

"I see. And is he not the god of mischief? Of chaos, tricks and lies? Perhaps he's fooling you."

"He's just misunderstood," she said, taken aback by his knowledge of Loki as most people she encountered didn't seem to know much about him. "We all lie. We all trick. We all need chaos. We aren't meant to be stagnant."

"Perhaps you're projecting. Perhaps in your grief you've latched on to a fantasy, someone who you believe you can identify with. Someone who will... save you."

"That's reaching."

"Is it?" he snapped, narrowing his eyes down at her at his as his voice grew louder. "Forgive me, but you seem to be steady on a course of ill-luck. Perhaps you've favored the wrong god."

"That's not fair," she said angrily, not at all appreciating his disrespect. "I have a roof over my head. Food. A stranger I just happened to come across who is providing me those things."

"And was it Loki who brought you those things?"

"Yes," she asserted, her voice unwavering. "I believe it was. When I was sitting on that bench this morning I had no idea what I would do, where I would go. I held this stone in my pocket and I prayed. I felt his pain, and he felt mine. And immediately, there you were. Someone kind. Someone generous."

"You make strong assumptions about me," he said, standing to walk towards the windows, shoving his hands in his pockets as he watched the snow fall heavily in the soft orange glow of the outdoor lights. "I am neither of those things."

"Well, I beg to differ," she replied, shaking her head as she went to stand beside him. "You said it yourself back at the cafe. I know you. I don't, of course. But I know that you're good and that your heart is-"

"Very much in tact."

"Right," Anna said, curiously looking up at him to find his eyes burning into hers in the glow of the firelight. There was a vulnerability in them, a disturbance, a vexation. She felt herself inexplicably wanting to touch him, to comfort him. Something she had said clearly resonated, clearly hurt him, and she was regretful of that fact.

Loki looked down at her, wanting to snap, wanting to let loose. Heartbreak? The girl didn't know the meaning of the word. But in her eyes was where he found the calm, the solace he so desperately needed. Who was he to make her feel small about what she believed in? He knew the truth, of course. That she worshiped a nobody - a desperate, lost soul. It was a lie he loathed. It didn't feel right.

"Luke. If this is too much, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed that this was okay to do here. I thought you were out for the night. I thought -"

"In the future I'll thank you to keep this," he said, gesturing back to her altar. "Confined to your chambers."

"I understand," she said, relieved that he didn't seem to be getting any angrier. It was important for her to pray, to be close to her gods. But she was also a guest in his space and the living room might not have been the best choice, even if she thought he was out for the night. She didn't appreciate him coming for her beliefs, but she had been naive to assume he would be tolerant of them. Many, many people were not.

Loki nodded and sighed, his expression gradually changing from one of anger to that of pure exhaustion. As angry as he was, with his family, his situation, himself, he knew none of it was her doing. If anything, she had mostly kept his mind off of his troubles, and for that alone he was grateful.

"You must be starving," she said suddenly, the notion just dawning on her. "I don't think I've seen you eat all day."

"I'm fine," he said quietly, running his hair through his locks exasperatedly.

"It's been a long day, for both of us. Maybe you're just hangry."

"Hangry?"

"Angry because you're hungry," she chuckled. "You haven't heard that before?"

"I am not hangry."

"Come on," she said, gesturing towards the kitchen as she pulled her hair down from her bun. "I'll go to the market in the morning. But with what we have now I think I can make a pretty mean grilled cheese."

Loki hesitantly followed her. He sat down on a stool at the island, completely mystified by this short, petite thing rifling through a mess of pots and pans before him. This day had certainly been a strange one. He knew well that he would never deserve this girl's attention, her thoughts, her prayers, her anything. But he knew then, looking at her laughing with a piece of butter caught in her long, fiery locks, that if she wished for his protection or his help... she would have it.

She would undoubtedly have it.