Chapter 2:

Jerking upright, Loki buried his face in his hands that slipped against his sweaty skin. He rubbed the crease between his eyes before lifting his head to the faint glow of sunlight that danced across the floor of his bedchambers. Crawling out from beneath damp sheets, he nearly tripped on the blankets he had thrown to the floor in his fitful sleep. He threw open the curtains of the window and squinted into the light of the morning, feeling fatigued from his dreams that left him tossing and turning.

She was at the center of every one of them, a silhouette in the dancing flames that licked his fingers when he reached out to touch her. But every time he thought he was close enough, he'd wake in a panic with no closure to the questions throbbing in his mind. How smooth was her skin after she bathed in oils? What taste would her lips leave once he stole a kiss? How would she hold him if he made love to her? What secret desires plagued her dreams at night?

Washing his face off with what water had been left in the basin by his desk, he resigned himself to another day of roaming the palace halls regretting how he had thrown himself at Sigyn six months ago. She was never the same after that, careful in being alone with him or his brother. She occupied herself with diplomatic meetings of the nine realms and sparring his father's soldiers. She made her stand that they were friends only, behaving as stubbornly masculine as she could.

He tied his robe loosely while slinking out of his room. If he was lucky, Thor was still asleep and he could enjoy breakfast in the silence without trying to fend off his brother consuming all that would be laid out. Rubbing his still drooping eyes, he let out a yell as something rammed its head into his stomach and sent him sprawling across the tile floors. A wet tongue slobbered on his cheek until he pushed his black furred assailant off himself, shaking his head when the wolf sat back on his haunches and pawed at his hand. Sparing the creature a scratch behind the ears, Loki smiled when he saw Sigyn's armor clad body race out from around the corner with another wolf on her heels.

"Bad Sköll!" She stood with her hands on her hips while the wolf lowered his head and whined, "You can't go running off like that!"

Loki stood up, adjusting his robe that had fallen open, though noticing her eyes fell to his bare chest for a moment, "Who are your furry companions?"

"Well, they're supposed to be mine." She snapped her fingers so both wolves were at her sides, "Sköll has green eyes and Hati has red eyes. They are my father's and are meant to listen to me, though Sköll seems obstinate."

"Or he just likes me better." Loki beckoned for Sköll to come a little closer, smiling when his hand was nudged by a cold wet nose, "Is this some rite of passage in your family?"

"Would have been had my mother given birth to a son. I think my father believes they'll serve as protectors for me."

"Well, I've seen you brandish a spear. I don't think you need much protecting." Loki cleared his throat, fidgeting with the tie of his robe as he felt the hallway become suffocating. When was the last time they were alone in such close quarters? He wanted to strip her of her armor and wash away the grime from her hours of training. He wanted to uncover the full curves of her hips and bosom that she fought to hide beneath masculine clothing, "What brings you to the palace so early in the morning?"

Sigyn flushed as he circled around her, shrugging her shoulders and shifting her feet to avoid bumping into him, "Thor asked me to spar with him."

He turned his back to hide the grimace that stretched across his face at the sound of his brother's name, "I didn't realize Thor preferred to get out of his bed by dawn."

"I suppose he had a good enough reason to be awake."

Loki shrugged, "I'd say you're a decent reason to wake up every morning."

Sigyn's face beamed red and she sidestepped Loki to allow herself more distance in the hallway. Hati pushed his head beneath her hand as if to comfort her conflicting thoughts, "What do you mean?"

"Do you really not know?"

"Loki, I don't want to start this again."

"Start what again?" He laughed while leaning against the railing of the stairway, his robe undone and slipping aside to tempt a glance from her. Pleased to see her scoff through her blush when he caught her staring at the lines of his hips that trailed beneath his pants, he stretched his arms above his head in a mock yawn so she could see his abdomen flex, "My, my, Sigyn, is your face always that red after sparring?"

She wrinkled her nose, "You're becoming as irritating as Thor."

"Oh I doubt that." He stepped closer to her, arms trapping her against the railing as she went to move past him, "You didn't even give me a chance."

"That was six months ago, Loki. I have no interest in getting into another tangle with you or your brother-"

"Another tangle? I wasn't aware we'd even had one."

She scowled, hands reaching up to push him back but withdrawing at the notion of touching his bare chest, "I meant tangle as in dancing or whatever happened in the hallway."

"That was hardly anything." He glanced over his shoulder when he heard Hati growl, watching the wolf sink low to the ground as if prepared to attack, "You could have let me kiss you at least."

"I don't think then was a good time for such a thing."

"Didn't want to spoil how Thor made you feel?"

"It's not like that." She shoved him aside to keep Hati from sinking his teeth into him. Snapping her fingers, both wolves strode to her side, "You have stalled me long enough. I have business to attend to."

Loki laughed, unintentionally snorting at the haughty air she wrapped around herself as a shield. He sketched a mocking bow to her, "My humblest apologies, Lady Sigyn, for delaying you."

She offered him no other words, just a flustered glance as she scurried down the stairway to wherever she was meant to go.

Deciding breakfast was no longer appetizing, Loki stomped back to his room all the more determined to shatter Sigyn's stubbornness.

. . . .

Plucking book after book off the shelves in a vain effort to find something she hadn't read, Sigyn looked around for a ladder of some sort so she could peruse the higher tiers of the bookcases. Glancing over her shoulder, she stifled her giggling as she caught sight of her two wolves basking in the sunlight peering in from the towering windows. Sköll's chin was propped up on Hati's stomach as his brother was laying on his side. She blew them both a kiss when they stirred and acknowledged her with one eye lazily fluttering open.

"Need assistance reaching a book?"

She muttered a couple curses under her breath when she blushed at the sound of his voice, deep and resonating off the library walls. Her wolves picked their heads up, but went back to sleep with the assurance she was in no danger, "I just need to find a ladder is all." She glanced at Thor as he stood beside her and lifted a book off the shelf above her fingertips. He handed it to her, but she didn't want to give him any satisfaction that he had found something she hadn't read, "I don't think this is what I'm looking for."

Thor chuckled, "How high must I climb to please you?"

"I suppose if you could reach the top of the bookcase…" She pretended to point out a book, "…that might elicit a reward for your chivalry."

"Before I risk breaking my neck, what reward are you considering?"

"Me taking it easy on you when we spar tomorrow morning."

He bellowed with laughter, "Hardly a worthy prize!" Leaning against the bookcase, he crossed his arms over his chest, "If I were Loki given such a task I suppose you'd be more willing to-"

Sigyn shoved him aside, face flushed scarlet, "What is with the two of you? I'd be no more inclined to kiss either of you should Ragnarök fall upon us tomorrow!"

His eyes were wide as he opened his mouth to reply, but couldn't find a suitable answer. Her haughty little temper could just fly off the handle whenever he tried being flirtatious with her. Where was the girl that so eagerly welcomed his kiss six months ago? He grabbed her wrist as she tried stomping past him, "Sigyn, I meant no disrespect."

"I'm not a prize to be won!" She wrenched her arm away, stumbling back a couple steps and bumping into Hati who had strode to her side, "Why can't we just go back to when we were friends?"

"It's not that we aren't!" Thor rubbed the crease between his eyes, "But it's hard to only see you as a friend."

"I'm the same girl! I have attended diplomatic meetings of the nine realms, I have sparred half the AllFather's army, I have read most of this library all so that I will be named Lord General after my father."

He shook his head with a laugh that made her clench her hands into fists, "Perhaps you ought to look in a mirror sometime?"

"Meaning?"

"You aren't a girl anymore, Sigyn." He heard Hati growl and put his hands up as a sign of peace, "You've grown to be quite lovely, and I apologize for my advances since I've begun to notice."

She sighed and patted Hati's snout to quiet his snarling, "I'm trying to hide the changes in my body…"

"Even in a warrior's regalia you're splendid!" Flinching when Hati barred his teeth at him, he took a step backward, "Your beauty would be fit for the next Asgardian king."

"That's what I'm afraid of." He lifted a brow while she slumped down to the ground with her back against the bookcase, Hati and Sköll resting their heads on her outstretched legs, "I'd rather limp into the throne room caked in the blood of my enemies while the poets sing of my deeds than be seated beside the King of Asgard draped in cloth spun from gold with a crown of rubies on my head."

Thor caught himself imagining her in a dress fitted to her curves with a plunging neckline, but pushed the thought aside while sitting down next to her, "You truly would reject being a queen?"

"Yes."

"Then I suppose my courting of you would be unwelcomed?"

She snorted with laughter at the thought of his attempts to woo her further, "Not unwelcomed per say." She leaned her head on his shoulder, staring off at the frescoed walls painted in reds, blues, greens, purples, and yellows, "It just wouldn't get you anywhere…"

He smiled to himself as she shut her eyes and slouched further against him. Hati, unpleased with being squished between them, crawled forward and slipped around to Thor's right. Watching the wolf closely, Thor gave him scratch behind his ears when he laid down beside him. Leaning his head back, he closed his eyes as well and with the sun washing over his face as it set, he fell asleep soundly.

By the time Sigyn came to, the library was lit by candles and the sun had vanished from the windows. Lifting her head, she covered her mouth to silence her laughter when she saw Thor slouched next to her. He was snoring slightly and Hati had moved to lay his head on his lap. Her legs felt stiff as she stood and nearly tumbled against the bookcase. Snapping her fingers to bring Hati and Sköll to heel at her side, she blushed as Thor let out a yawn and slowly opened his eyes.

"Leaving without a goodbye?" He grimaced while standing, stretching his arms above his head, "You're as bad as the barmaids at the tavern-" He paused as she gave him a glare, one eyebrow raised, "Um…never mind…"

"A bit experienced, are we, Thor?"

"Not exactly." He rubbed the back of his neck and stared off to his left to avoid looking at her smirk, "It's only been trivial trysts, nothing meaningful or long lasting."

She crossed her arms over her chest, "So the Mighty Thor is still a virgin?" His face turned beet red while he sputtered incoherent words that were drowned out by her howling laughter. She was bent over clutching her stomach, "You boast such bravado I assumed you've had many women!"

Regaining his composure, he drew himself to his full height, "Perhaps I desire my first to be someone with minimal experience?"

Laughter catching in her throat, Sigyn bit her bottom lip until the words came to her, "I suppose that is an admirable sentiment." She gestured with a tilt of her head for Thor to follow her, walking out of the library and into the dark halls of the palace, "I get nervous just thinking about it."

"As do I." He glanced over her, but her eyes were focused ahead of her, "And yet it's a natural sacrament between a man and a woman that I find myself dwelling on."

"You don't suppose Loki has engaged in…" She chose not to finish her sentence when she saw his brother saunter around the corner with a smirk stretched wide across his face.

"Why don't you just ask him?" Loki jeered, holding onto the railing and dangling his feet above the main floors below, "Or would you prefer to gossip about my sexual trysts?"

Thor rolled his eyes, "I know better than to think you've done anything more than chase a lovely woman."

Sigyn chuckled, earning a glare from Loki. She leaned her back against the railing where he sat and crossed her arms over her chest, "I could agree that Loki is more virtuous than you, Thor."

"More virtuous?" Thor seemed to find that an insult, "He wouldn't know what to do if a woman undressed in front of him."

Sigyn's face beamed red as she recalled the way he pushed her against the wall, hand covering her mouth while he spoke of his demanding nature. She had a feeling he wasn't entirely inept, or at least he had intentions that were impure. She wondered if he had acted on them with any other girl, and she began to feel envy's sting at the thought of him kissing someone else.

"Sigyn, my darling, where has your mind drifted off to?" Loki hummed, brushing a hand across her flushed cheeks. She immediately smacked his hand away, "Do share who you were thinking of!"

She shook her head and hissed, "I certainly wasn't thinking of either of you."

Thor swung his arm around her shoulders "You don't have to lie because my brother is the jealous type! I'm sure he'd understand if you were considering what is beneath my armor."

"Shove off." She nudged him aside, "I have no interest in seeing you naked."

Loki snickered, "So you were imagining what would have happened if you'd stayed with me a bit longer this morning?"

"Stayed with him-?"

"He means talking to him in the hallway." Sigyn glared at Loki, who winked at her, "You may want to consider building more muscle, Loki. You're a bit skinny."

"Skinny?" He growled through the word, "I'm toned, there's a difference."

Thor slapped him on the back, almost sending him over the railing, which he clung to with white knuckles, "Don't take it to heart. Some women like femininely framed men."

"At least I'm not overcompensating for what's in my pants."

"What did you say?"

Sigyn stepped between them, a hand placed on both their shoulders to stall their coming to blows, "Now, now, Boys, you're both pretty." She laughed at their perturbed expressions, "I don't think discussing your manhood is needed while I'm still here."

"Oh, I think it's necessary if we're competing for your favor," Loki sneered.

Sigyn rolled her eyes while they began arguing again, tuning out their pointless jabs at one another and why they were better suited for her. But their squabbling reminded her of their younger years where sexuality was a taboo word and the closest they got to one another was wrestling in the garden. There wasn't time for reading into things or flirting with one another. There was only running away from the palace guards when they broke something or lying to their fathers if they were peeking through the treasures of the Trophy Room.

At least now she felt like they were back to stupid arguments and pointless competitions. She missed those moments, even when Thor and Loki would just go at it. Still standing between them, she reached out and hooked an arm around each of their shoulders then dragged them into an awkward hug. Loki was nearly yanked off the railing with his head bouncing off Thor's. They both grumbled under their breaths while Sigyn squeezed them tightly.

"Um…Sigyn, what are you doing?" Loki muttered.

She let them both go, a smile cracking across her face, "You two can be so irritating."

"Which is why you hugged us?" Thor quipped.

"I just miss the days when we would talk about pointless things, and you two would argue over your pride." She shrugged, "And even though you've put me in the middle of this, you're still my closest friends." Beckoning for her wolves to follow her as she began walking towards the staircase, she gave them one last glance, "So try not to forget that in your quest to outperform each other."

Once she was out of earshot, Loki hopped off the railing to stand beside Thor, "I advise you, my dear brother, to disembark from this quest to court Sigyn."

"Why is that?" Thor retorted, brows knitted together.

"You don't know how to handle her flippant temper."

"I am more than capable of handling a woman like her."

Loki rolled his eyes, "Trust me, Thor, she requires deft fingers to unravel her and a wicked tongue to silence her." He mused on his brother's narrow eyed glare, "Neither of which you have."

"You would harm her with your tricks and lies." Thor nudged him aside, "And trust that if you hurt her, you'll answer to me."