One week had passed since Taylor and Loki had finally reconciled, and the two had been nearly inseparable; one was rarely seen without the other. Most everyone in the castle just assumed they were friends, for they never showed their feelings while in public. But Thor knew the truth, along with Sif and Frigga. No one that knew had a problem with it, but they were all very careful to keep the relationship from Odin. If he were to find out Taylor would most definitely be sent back to Earth, and Loki forbidden to ever see her again. Each night was usually spent in one or the other's room, never alone. It was, in a word, perfect. But all perfect things cannot last…

It was an unusually warm morning that day, and the warmth did not go unnoticed by Loki Odinson. He preferred the cold whether any day and awaking to a warm day was most unpleasing. He rolled on his side, tossing the covers to the side in an attempt to cool down, then rolled into the empty space where the curly haired blonde usually was. She had gotten up earlier than usual to shower before her early morning practice with Sif. Her absence did not go unnoticed, but Loki welcomed the cool sheets on the other side of the bed. But even with the added cool of the sheets, the god still could not cool off. He finally sat up and ran his hand through his slightly damp hair. Perhaps a cold bath would help, he mused on his way to the bathroom. He ran a cold bath and sank down into the water, closing his eyes as he tried to relax. He stayed in the bath until the water no longer helped, which was a good two hours. With an annoyed groan, Loki drained the water and magicked his usual clothes on. He didn't bother with breakfast since he was already late for the practice coronation, and teleported himself into the throne room. Odin glared at him as he walked over to his assigned place on the stairs.

"You are late," he stated as he watched his son move across the room.

"I know. I overslept, my apologies."

Odin kept his stone cold glare on Loki, then cleared his throat to let the other know it was time to start the fake ceremony.

The ceremony lasted longer than usual. One of the guards had 'accidentally' let Loki's son Sleipnir out, and he'd found his way into the throne room. Loki was more than happy to see him but Odin was not. He had the guards round up the 'creature', as he called him, and return him to the stables. The god watched sorrowfully as Sleipnir was led away, but he knew better than to protest it. The last time he did had ended badly, and Loki did not wish to be punished for caring for his child.

After the 'ceremony' ended Loki made his way to the pond that he always met Taylor at after their usual daily tasks were complete. It was a quiet and peaceful place, surrounding by small trees that contained flowers of the softest shade of pink in the spring. There was a bench by the pond, and that was where he found Taylor that afternoon, sketching away as usual. He softly cleared his throat to alert her of his presence.

The blonde smiled as she looked up from her sketchpad, her lower lip between her teeth. Her hair was down, and it cascaded over her shoulders like a waterfall made of gold. He was late yes, but she was just happy to see him.

"Hey, Loki. You're late, ya know."

"I am late yes," he said as he sat down beside her, giving her a small smile in return. "But there was an incident with one of the horses that caused the ceremony to last longer than expected."

"Suuuuure it did," she rolled her eyes and set her pad down, tucking a golden curl behind her ear. "Whatcha wanna do today?"

Loki grinned mischievously, "remember that prank I told you about?"

She nodded slowly, "yeah…"

"Today is the day I tell you of it."

She grinned excitedly and squirmed around on the bench as Loki began to explain his prank for the day of Thor's actual coronation. The prank was a risky one, and very dangerous. Letting Frost Giants into Asgard could be seen as treason if they were to escape with their prize, but Loki seemed to think that nothing could go wrong, so Taylor agreed to go along with it. She had her doubts of course, who wouldn't? But she also agreed that Thor was nowhere near ready to become king.

After fully explaining his plan, Loki waited for Taylor's protest, but got none. He knew she wasn't fond of Thor ever since the library incident, but he ever thought she'd actually LIKE his plan. After a quick sweep of their surrounings to ensure that they were alone, he pulled the Midgardian into his arms and kissed her softly.

"Are you sure it's a good plan, my dear? We could be in a lot of trouble if Father finds out it was I who let them in."

Taylor nodded and nuzzled Loki's neck as she rested her head there, softly breathing in his scent. "Yeah, I'm sure. And he won't find out if they're dead, Lo. He won't." 'Lo' was the nickname she'd taken to in the last few days, so Loki had to put up with it. At first it annoyed him, but it was actually starting to grow on him.

"All right, love… but if he does you know what will happen. "

"I know, I know. Stop remindin' me ok? Gosh…"

He softly ran his hand through her hair, the loose curls tangling around his long finger ever so often. "I don't mean to upset you. I just want you to be prepared is all. We can talk about something else if you like?"

"Can we just… go back inside? I suddenly have a craving for food." She chuckled and stood up, puling Loki along with her.

"A craving that must be satisfied!" He grinned. "Come. Let us go then." They began to walk back the castle when a loud clap of thunder rang out, causing Taylor to jump. "Thanks, Thor…" Loki mumbled before teleporting the two just inside the castle door as a downpour of rain began.

Taylor held her hand out with her palm out, watching as the raindrops landed in her hand, creating a small puddle. She loved the rain, found it mesmerizing in fact. Her head tilted to the left as her eyes glazed over. She was indeed mesmerized by the droplets bouncing off of her hand.

"Love?" Loki poked Taylor's arm in an attempt to wake her from her trance, but to no avail. He shook his head and walked over to a support pillar, leaning against with his eyes closed as he waited for her. "I guess you're not as hungry as you thought…"

After a few minutes, the blonde's began to sting from lack of moisture, so she blinked and they cleared up. Retracting her hand, she started to look around for Loki, who was still leaning against the pillar. She smiled and shook her head.

"Dance with me."

Loki opened one eye to see if she was speaking to him or if had just imagined it; he hadn't. His brows furrowed in confusion as he looked at her fully.

"…I'm sorry?"

"Dance with me, Loki. Please?" She batted her eyelashes playfully.

"..Right here? Right NOW?" He blinked a few times in disbelief.

The blonde nodded, "mmhmm."

"Uhm… all right…" Loki leaned away from the pillar and looked around to confirm that they were alone before walking over to Taylor. "You are certainly odd at times…"

"I know," she giggled and slipped her shoes off, stepping out from under the shelter into the empty yard outside, scrunching up her nose as the raindrops smacked her in the head, though a smile remained on her face.

The god stared at her in disbelief. What was she doing?!

"Uhm… Tay, what are you doing?"

"Waiting for you, silly. C'mon, Lo." She held up her hand and motioned him over.

"…In the RAIN?"

"No. In the sand," she rolled her eyes. "Of course in the rain. C'mon it's funnnnn." She twirled around once to prove her point.

"Uhm… Perhaps another time, my dear…"

"Lokiiiiiiiii…"

"No, no, no, no, no. Don't do that. You know I hate it." He crossed his arms.

Taylor stuck out her bottom lip and sniffled, "pwease?"

Loki sighed and hung his head in defeat as Taylor giggled happily.

"The things I do for you…" He mumbled as he reluctantly stepped out into the rain.

"Oh, you know you love it." The blonde grinned and spun around again, her wet curls throwing water on the god in front of her. "…Oops?" She chuckled and ran her hand through her curls, the purposely jumped in a puddle to splash him again.

"Hey!" He glared as she splashed him, but a grin had managed to creep its way onto his face. "That wasn't fair."

"All's fair in love and war." She said while tipping her head back.

"Is it now?" Loki smirked, "we'll see how much you cling to that statement after I've won." He quickly grabbed her and spun her squealing form around in the rain, laughing.

"LOKIIII!" Taylor squealed and laughed as he spun her around, flailing wildly. "Let me go!"

"Never!" The mischief god stopped spinning and gently set her down in front of her, keeping his arms firmly around her waist as he stared into her ocean tinted eyes. "I'll never let you go," he said in an almost whisper.

The sudden serious look in Loki's eyes worried her at first, but she smiled softly at his words, stretching up to rub her nose against his.

"Promise?" She whispered back to him.

"I promise, Taylor." He softly rubbed his thumb across her cheek as he now held her face in his hands.

Taylor closed her eyes for a split-second as a few butterflies decided to make themselves known in her stomach. She opened her eyes again, but only for a minute, as she pressed her lips against his.

Loki kissed her back, using the hand on her waist to pull her closer. But the very public place they were in hadn't been forgotten, and he gently broke the kiss, smiling softly down at her.

She almost pouted as he pulled away, but the sight of his emerald eyes staring directly into her ocean ones stopped her. Her clothes were soaked through now, and they cold, wet cloth on her skin caused her to shiver. This did not go unnoticed by Loki, and he cocked his head back towards the castle.

"Let's get you into some warmer clothes, all right?"

"Kay…" She nodded, and the two went back into the castle. Taylor stopped to grab her shoes then continued to pad down the hall to her room, leaving a trail of water in her wake.

Once she'd changed into dry clothes, one she'd referred to as 'lounge clothes, the blonde returned to Loki's room where she found a hot cup of tea waiting for her. She'd told Loki about tea once, so sometimes he'd fix it for her. Taking th hot cup from the dresser, she carefully sat down next to Loki.

"Hi.."

He looked up from his book as Taylor sat next to him, smiling brightly at her.

"Hello.. I see you found the tea."

"Yes I did," she smiled and sipped it carefully. "Thank you."

He nodded and returned to the book he was reading. The book was one that Taylor had recommended; Shakespeare. Loki had had the pleasure of personally knowing the man, so he of course had his many wonderful selections of books. This had only impressed the mortal woman more, so for the past week he'd been reading all the books by Shakespeare he had.

Hours passed and still the storm went on outside. The two really didn't mind though, as they were wrapped up in their own little world; Loki reading the book aloud while Taylor was snuggled next to him; it was perfect. But, as usual, not all perfect things can last forever.