Almost unheard of, ANOTHER CHAPTER directly after the last one!! Oh emm gee!!

And thanks to everyone that commented/favorited/added to their story alert. :'D I feel so loved!

Nakitakunaruno, Dakishimetainoni

Chapter Four

A pair of drowsy scarlet eyes drifted toward the clock. 7:03. Lovely. How long had she been out? An hour? No, probably more around forty-five minutes or so. She arrived at six, but did spend some time snooping around, after all. Hmm. Come to think of it, what had she found when she was doing her investigative journalism? It was something good. Oh yeah, those chocolates.

The memories came flooding back and Skadi shifted uncomfortably with the recollection. Oh yeah. Technically she'd lost. That was no good… She'd have to brush up on her strategy. In other words, she needed blackmail. Blackmail always meant instant win. Yes, yes.

With an enormous yawn she sat up straighter, stretching leisurely. She licked her dry lips and could still taste a hint of the chocolate on them. Ahh, yeah, that was really good. Almost worth passing out.

Skadi suddenly realized that she'd been tented with a huge blanket. Come to think of it, she had been oddly warm for being… on the floor of the kitchen.

On the floor of the kitchen?!

"That Heimdall! Has the human world robbed him of his sense of chivalry?!" Skadi griped, hoisting herself off the floor and pulling the sizeable comforter up around her shoulders. She stumbled a little, as she discovered that her legs had fallen asleep. Well, only half of one leg, but still. "That's no good…" she muttered in vague annoyance, stumbling into the living room despite her debilitation. Her keen crimson eyes spotted a note on the table that wasn't there before.

"Skadi, went out. Obviously. Freyr should be there before you wake up, but in case he isn't, thought you should know." The girl paused, looking blankly at the note in her small porcelain-doll hands. "In other words, you don't want me to worry. Aww." Skadi smiled wryly and flipped the note over, scribbling something with the pen that was left nearby.

She then made a beeline for the sofa and collapsed onto it, pulling the large, well-stuffed comforter securely around her. Kogata, who had apparently been exploring Freyr's room, strolled in and thought it appropriate to accompany the goddess. The small feline jumped onto the couch with no difficulty and curled up cozily in the niche behind the girl's partially folded knees.

Heimdall-

Wasn't it sweet of you to put a blanket over me.

The purple-haired boy scowled and crushed the note in his hand, tossing it into the nearest trash can. It bounced off the rim and ended up on the floor; oh well, Freyr would pick it up later. He knew the note was Skadi's way of passive-aggressively making fun of him. She was always pulling stunts like that. His displeased burgundy eye glared over at the sleeping girl on the couch who looked quite content with herself... Nothing but trouble.

"For all your so-called kitchen expertise, you really suck at sweeping, Freyr," a frowning Skadi chastised, waving a finger at the much taller and older-looking man. The brown-haired god could only nod halfheartedly and keep shuffling the broom back and forth, looking fairly fed up with Skadi's criticism.

"You ought to sweep the kitchen and bathroom floors once each day, or did I teach you nothing? Otherwise dirt and dust accumulates before you know it! …And by the way, have a chocolate-covered cherry." Skadi pushed the sweets forward as if offering them out of the goodness of her heart, making sure that the name Sharpie-d onto the box wasn't visible.

"Hey, when does Heimdall usually wake up, anyway? It's already eight." the blond-haired girl woke up early that particular day, having gone to bed at seven and been coaxed back into consciousness by the sunlight at six-thirty the next morning.

Then, for lack of something to do, she decided to go antagonize Freyr. It had occupied her until this point.

"This slothful behavior just won't do," she muttered without waiting for a response from her kitchen compadre, thus giving herself the excuse to go annoy Heimdall again. She was big on justification for her less-than-moral intentions.

Freyr let her go, deciding that he would rather see his former stepmother in the line of fire than himself.

The goddess stealthily crept along the short hallway to Heimdall's room, preparing fully to enjoy this as much as possible. As of yet her tactic was unplanned. The time for ice had passed, as she should have gotten that half a hallway ago was she going to use it. A siren was also out of the question. The resources for that were missing in action. Anything similar? A particularly obnoxious alarm clock, perhaps? Somehow that just didn't do this mission justice. She needed something bigger, something… loud.

Wait.

"What's this?" Skadi whispered to herself, not hearing her own voice in her strain to keep quiet. She heard… music. From his room. Was he already awake?! Damn him!

Cautiously, to confirm her suspicions, she drew closer to his door. It was slightly ajar, such that she could push it open a couple of inches and not draw much, if any, attention to herself. Perfect. She did just that, and saw… no one. What the hell? She hadn't seen him yet that morning. And if he'd left, he wouldn't leave the music on. The electricity bills were already bad enough, she could see that from the mail she may or may not have peeked at. So what--

"Skadi!"

The girl jumped violently for the second time in two days, pulling the door shut on a trail of her blonde hair as she jumped abruptly back from the suspicious-looking scene. A yelp escaped her vocal cords, despite her best efforts. She opened the door again and retrieved the lock of her hair (that was still miraculously attached to her head).

"Heimdall!" she responded, mimicking his tone of voice as she rubbed the sore spot on her head. "What?! Why's everything got to be a federal case with you?" She demanded, going on the offensive. "All I was going to do was wake you up, but I see you've… already…" Again she started with a strong voice but tapered off toward the end, noticing just what exactly she'd gotten herself into. She looked away, actively avoiding any and all eye contact, suddenly finding the eggshell color on the walls to be just beautiful. And that painting was great, too. A real work of art.

"Well, move! You're in my way!" Heimdall demanded, storming past the girl. "And stay away from my room!" he ordered after slamming the door, obviously taking a similarly embarrassed manner as Skadi.

"Well fine!" said goddess yelled back, scowling. Heimdall could hear her stomp off as he opened his dresser, looking for some clothes. He rolled his eye as he pulled out a shirt, holding the towel on his waist with the other hand. If she was going to act like that every time he took a shower, he'd have to wait until she'd gone to sleep for the night before he could wash up. What was she thinking, anyway?! It wasn't like… Oh. Well, he supposed she did live here now.

"What?! Keep sweeping!" Skadi ordered in a tone that clearly implied 'moron', scowling through her scarlet-tinged face at Freyr. He resumed his task, mumbling something that Skadi didn't catch. She was much too preoccupied with the morning's antics for that. Plus, she had yet to pick up any of her own clothing or personal care products for the human world. Packing was something she'd neglected to do in her rush to Midgard, so that was her day's mission.

If she finished quickly, she concluded that she could have time to stalk Loki a bit before returning to her newest abode.