Author's Note: I am so soooo sorry it has taken me so long to update! Thanksgiving hit and my family was in town so time was scarce! To make up for my absence this chapter is a little longer than the others…I think. Anyway, there are sexual innuendos in this chapter but beyond that there is nothing too shocking I hope. A big 'Thank you!' to zzSnowWhiteQueenzz for the amazingly thoughtful review! I completely understand your struggle, it is hard to write when you don't have feedback from your audience. I always make it a point to respond to any reviews because people have taken time out of their busy day to voice their opinions, and I want them to know how much I appreciate that! I am glad that you are enjoying the development of Loki and Sigyn so far, and I tend to think that Sigyn's romantic relationship with Loki will develop more from friendship and curiosity than a conflicting attraction. I suppose we will just have to see how they develop naturally as I continue writing though. Thank you again for your amazing review, it definitely forced me to think a bit more into the future of how I want to craft this story! I own nothing save Sigyn and her family.


Loki sat through dinner not really paying attention to the conversation that was taking place between Thor and his parents. He couldn't get Sigyn out of his mind. He hadn't planned any special apology when he went to see her this afternoon since his mother was making him do it, but Sigyn had seen straight through his intentions. Her argument, though valid, had stung Loki a little. Sigyn didn't seem to think he was capable of remorse, which wasn't true. He wasn't sorry he had tried to kiss her, but he did feel a slight twinge of guilt for the lack of respect he had shown her in his mother's sitting room. Loki picked at the food on his plate as he thought about their curious little exchange. The banter had seemed surprisingly un-spiteful considering their rocky first interactions. She had gotten a few good verbal jabs in, but Loki knew he had won the day with his remark about Sigyn wanting to be in his pants. Speaking of clothing, Loki brought his hand up to support his chin so that he could better smell Sigyn's perfume. The scent was strongest near his wrist, which made sense considering that was probably where Sigyn applied it the most.

"What do you think Loki?" Frigga asked, pulling Loki out of his thoughts.

"hmmm about what?" Loki asked.

Odin sent a questioning look to Frigga, Frigga sent Loki a perceptive look, and Thor just stared at Loki in disbelief.

"Have you not been paying attention Loki?" Thor asked.

"I think Loki's mind has been contemplating a more pleasant topic then sitting in on the next war council." Frigga remarked when Loki didn't respond.

All the eyes of his family were trained intently on him, and Loki began to feel a bit uncomfortable.

"Do these thoughts include a certain Lady who was sitting across from you last night?" Thor prodded.

Loki didn't grace Thor with an answer. Instead he pushed his plate away from him and stood from the table.

"It would probably be advisable that Thor and I sit in on the war council's meetings from now on since one of us will be leading them eventually." He remarked coolly. "If you will excuse me, I think I will retire now."

Odin nodded his head to signal to Loki that he had permission to leave, and Loki swiftly walked out of the dining hall. He conjured a random book and went to sit in a windowsill that looked out over the city. He read in peace till Thor finally found him.

"I believe you have a story to tell." Thor stated jovially.

Loki sighed and closed his book.

"Not really." He replied.

Thor clasped Loki around the shoulder and pulled him to his feet. Loki smiled at his brother's enthusiasm and began to walk with him down the corridor.

"Of course you do. It is not like you to enter into such a haze when there is conversation to be had." Thor noted. "Something was on your mind, and I trust mother's intuition that the diversion was a pleasant one. Did you and the Lady…" Thor stopped as he tried to remember Sigyn's name.

"Sigyn…" Loki finally supplied.

"Yes, did you and the Lady Sigyn enjoy your evening together?" Thor asked with a devious smile.

"It was interesting." Loki conceded.

"So she was not too timid for you?" The blonde prodded.

Loki chuckled. "No, not too timid."

Thor nodded in approval. "Good."

Loki smiled inwardly. Thor had no idea that Loki hadn't slept with her, so he thought he would play a little game. It was time to see what truths about his innocent interactions with Sigyn he could twist into something suggestive.

"Where to start?" He asked himself internally.

What was the first thing they had done? Danced. They had danced together, and Sigyn spent most of the time fighting him for the ability to lead.

"Surprisingly, she likes to try and lead." Loki remarked casually.

Thor looked at him with a surprised expression.

"Really? She did not strike me as the dominant type…" He remarked.

"Me neither," Loki agreed, "but she is actually rather aggressive." He replied while recalling her smarting slap.

Thor laughed. "A young Lady full of surprises, perhaps I should pursue her and see how accurate your assessment of her is."

A stab of jealousy hit Loki, but he smiled in spite of it. "I thought you preferred to be the one in charge." Loki pointed out.

Thor shrugged. "I do, and I am certain that in the end I still would be, but a little competition in the bedroom is not necessarily a bad thing." He reasoned.

"Well she is more than a little competitive." Loki warned.

"Did she victor over you?" Thor inquired with a suggestive grin.

Loki looked over at Thor and debated how to proceed. He had the perfect retort in mind, but it would force him to admit that Sigyn had beaten him at something. Admitting defeat was not really in Loki's nature, but admitting Sigyn's victory would ultimately give him victory over Thor in this little game. In the end beating Thor was more important than keeping Sigyn's triumph hidden, so Loki put on his most serious face and delivered the final blow.

"She did…"

oooh that stung…

"but in my defense Sigyn is an extremely good rider."

Loki continued walking down the hallway, but Thor seemed to be stuck in one spot. Loki didn't even have to look back to know that he had just stunned his older brother into speechlessness.

"Goodnight brother." Loki added while turning the corner to the hallway that led to his bedroom.

He didn't even try to smother his smirk as he continued walking. It was difficult to shock Thor with anything involving intercourse of a physical nature, so Loki was rather impressed with himself. Not only had he done it, but he had done it without even having done it. A few descriptions of he and Sigyn's interactions taken out of context, and he had been able to convince Thor that not only had he bedded her, but that their coupling had been a rather unconventional one.

Once inside the safety of his room, Loki sat down at his desk and began to work on that replication spell. As he studied he couldn't help but think of all the fun this particular spell was going to give him. Sending copies of himself around would open up many new and exciting opportunities to cause a little trouble. He would test it out on Thor first, and work his way from there. The hardest person to fool would be his mother, but if he could manage that he would consider the spell perfected. Loki studied the runes of the spell well into the night, and by the time dawn was breaking Loki had managed to create one copy of himself. It was far from perfect, and wouldn't be able to fool Thor, let alone his mother, but it was a start. With some practice he would be able to better the copy, and possibly learn to create more than one. The strain on his magic had exhausted him, but he managed to undress before slipping into bed and a deep dreamless sleep.

Pounding on his door the next morning woke Loki with a start.

"Brother you escaped training with us yesterday, but I will not let you skip again!" Thor yelled through the door.

Loki grabbed his head as the reverberations began to give him a headache.

"All right! All right! Would you desist pounding on my door!?" Loki yelled back.

"I will desist my pounding when you open it." Thor informed, and Loki literally rolled out of his bed while holding a pillow over his ears.

He stumbled to his closet and pulled out the first thing he thought he could train in. After slipping the outfit on he marched over to the door that Thor was still pounding on and slung it open.

"Was that really necessary?" He asked in frustration.

"You know it was. You merely would have gone back to sleep if I hadn't stayed and annoyed you." Thor pointed out as the two of them walked brusquely down the corridors to the training area.

Loki didn't reply since Thor was right, he would have gone right back to sleep.

"Did you get your beauty sleep?" Fandral teased as Thor and Loki approached.

Loki rolled his eyes good-humoredly as he replied. "Yes, thank you."

Sif looked up from stretching with a dramatic flip of her golden hair.

"Well it certainly doesn't appear to be working." She noted upon taking in Loki's pale complexion and tousled hair.

"Well warriors are not historically known for their perception of beauty." Loki countered.

It was a backhanded compliment of sorts, and Sif was well aware of it. She sent Loki an un-amused smile while Thor laughed and Fandral and Volstagg chuckled. The group soon found themselves under the instruction of the weapons master, but Loki couldn't help but look over at Sif every once in a while in annoyance. He wasn't sure what he had done to earn Lady Sif's scorn. He had never once spoken down to her or treated her with any less respect because she was a female warrior. In fact, there had been a time when Loki had been quite attracted to the older blonde girl. Naturally she had been attracted to Thor, but Thor had never had any real romantic interest in her other than as another girl who could warm his bed. Maybe Sif's dislike of him stemmed from the fact that Thor paid more attention to him than her, but Loki hardly felt that was fair. He couldn't help it that he was Thor's brother, so there was no need to take her frustration out on him.

Loki threw a dagger to take out his growing frustration, and watched as it landed in the middle of the mark. Knife throwing was the one art of combat that he was better than Thor at, not that it mattered. Loki knew that Thor didn't mean any harm when he laughed off his skills with a dagger or his magical inclinations, but deep down it hurt. Couldn't Thor give him even a slight sign of approval? Loki reclaimed his daggers and began his target practice once more. He caught Sif flipping her hair about again and huffed. For a girl who wanted to be taken as a serious warrior, she seemed to be awfully proud of her long blonde hair. Loki threw another dagger and smiled. Maybe it was time for a little prank…