When Sigyn woke the next morning, she had not expected anything special of the day. She and Loki had agreed that they would become better acquainted with each other for her sake; he already seemed to know so much about her. But she hadn't expected Loki to take that proposal so literally that, when she went downstairs to read, she found him sitting in her chair again, looking as awkward as he had the last time he'd been there.

She blinked at him and a smile crossed his face as she said, "Loki, I didn't expect-"

"I know," he interrupted quickly. "One thing you should know about me is that I don't tend to do things that are expected."

Sigyn stared. He's taking this seriously, she thought, a little confused. She hadn't expected him to be so forward in response to her request that she know him better. Then again, hadn't he just told her that he didn't do things that were expected of him?

"I thought we ought to get started on getting to know each other, as you wished," he added with a sideways smile.

She tilted her head to the side and stared at him.

"Since it's so important to you, that is."

Sigyn couldn't help but smile a little at that. He'd made his point; this was definitely mostly for her benefit rather than his. Loki stood from the chair she always claimed as her own and went to stand in front of her.

"So how am I supposed to start getting to know you?" she asked. "I get the feeling you're not the type to answer a lot of questions."

"No; I am not."

"So what then?"

"It's a surprise."

"A surprise?" she asked, doubt lining the edge of her voice.

He inclined his head to her.

"Why is it that I'm thinking I'm not going to like this?"

"Oh, you will like this surprise."

"How do you know?"

"Believe me, I know."

"Really? Because the last few surprises you gave me involved me half jumping out of my skin... And I've got to tell you, I wasn't too fond of that."

To that, he simply grinned.

"Trust me," Loki said, his eyes glinting.

When he held out a hand for her to take, she knew she had to take it. More than just her curiosity pushed her to it. She didn't think she could face the look in his eyes if she displayed another obvious lack of trust in him. Sigyn narrowed her own eyes slightly and thought, I guess I've got to start trusting him at some point...

She slowly placed her hand in his. As soon as she did, she felt his fingers close around hers and let him pull her closer to him, their bodies almost touching. She looked at him, uncomprehendingly. This wasn't what she'd meant by getting to know one another.

But she realised immediately that she was mistaken about what was happening when she felt a sudden whoosh of air from around her and a pull at her body from all around. Sigyn couldn't help but throw her free arm around Loki, clinging to him as the sensation made them disappear from the room. She closed her eyes, uncertain as to what was happening.

She stayed in that position for a few moments after the strange feeling subsided, not even opening her eyes. But when she did, she quickly looked up to find Loki smirking down at her. Sigyn let go of him immediately and took a few steps back, embarrassed by her own actions and how they could be construed. She looked away from Loki, almost certain that he only wore that knowing smirk to prolong her discomfort.

It was only then that she noticed the bright light around them. She looked around confused, only to find that they were no longer in her house, but a small meadow, surrounded by a wall of trees, instead. She could only stare at the sight; it was beautiful.

A stretch of healthy grass extended before them, so clean and fresh that it almost looked untouched. At its end ran a stream, a small trickle of water that made a tinkling noise as it flowed. But the most beautiful thing about the meadow were the golden flowers that were dotted around it, reflecting the sunlight like tiny jewels.

"Where are we?" she asked, still staring open-mouthed.

"Somewhere."

"Could you be more specific?"

"Somewhere that we will be able to go undisturbed," he replied, smirking slightly.

She shook her head at his enigmatic answer. That was typical. She should have known by now that she wouldn't get a straight answer out of him. Sigyn didn't hear him approach, but Loki was next to her again in a moment, one of those beautiful flowers in his hand. Her eyes followed his hand as he tucked it behind her ear, letting it adorn her beautiful curls.

She smiled at the gesture; it was so small, and yet so lovely. She surprised him then though, by swiftly taking a seat on the grass, leaving his hand still raised beside where her ear had been. He looked down at her for a moment, his eyebrows rising questioningly.

"Aren't you going to sit?" she asked, smiling a little at the way he was looking at her.

He stared at her for a long time before finally, and a little awkwardly, joining her. Loki sat beside her, watching her whilst she ran her fingers lightly over the lush grass, sighing contentedly. His eyes followed her movements yet he made no move himself. In fact, as Loki sat beside her, he could have been described as looking a little uncomfortable. He wasn't uncomfortable though, he just wasn't quite as relaxed as Sigyn was.

"This place is beautiful," she commented.

"It is."

"I'm confused about something though..."

He gave her a curious glance.

"I would like an honest answer too- for the sake of getting to know you, of course."

His lip twitched, as he answered, "Of course.

She was almost as good as him at convincing people to do things. Almost.

"How did you bring us here?"

"Magic," was his simple reply.

She nodded slowly, pausing as she ran her hand through tufts of grass.

"So do you just... use magic for whatever you want then?"

"For the most part," Loki answered. "Not for everything though; if I did that then we probably wouldn't be having this conversation."

At that, Sigyn looked down at her lap. Was that him basically admitting that he wants me? she thought blankly. A finger slid under her chin and lifted it, pulling her eyes up to look at him again.

"You asked for honesty," Loki said quietly.

She could feel heat spreading over her cheeks, almost as if she was blushing. I don't blush... she thought, but she couldn't cool her cheeks while looking at Loki like that.

"I did... But I have more that I want to know," she said, trying to change the subject so that she could at least look at him properly. "Tell me about yourself."

He sighed, letting his finger drop from her chin.

"What exactly do you want to know, little Sigyn?"

"You said we are similar, what did you mean by that?"

He blinked slowly, and then replied, "We are similar. Think back to when you saw me before we first spoke- and I know you saw me before you say otherwise."

She frowned a little, thinking about it. When she'd seen him before, Loki had always been alone. And he'd usually been reading in the library. But did that make them that familiar?

"So you like to read and you are not too fond of company; I guess we're similar in that sense," she said.

He nodded and went on to explain, "I am not fond of the company of others, and it's rather a mutual feeling on their part too. People don't tend to understand my ways; you seem to though."

"Believe me, I don't understand them," Sigyn smiled.

"Perhaps not; but you cope with them in the most beautiful of ways."

She looked at him, not knowing what to say to that. There was that word again; 'cope'. Why was that so important to him? He smiled a little at her speechlessness and reached a hand out to lightly touch her neck, just below her jaw.

"You must realise that another might have recoiled at the prospect of being courted by Prince Loki," he said, almost sneering at his own name.

"Why would they do that?" she frowned.

"Why do you not trust me?" Loki countered.

Sigyn faltered slightly, and his hand fell away from her.

"I don't automatically trust you, Loki, because I don't know you; I would be the same with anyone."

"Would you now?" he asked quietly, a tenseness returning to his voice.

"Yes, I would," she said, making sure to emphasise the point.

"So your reluctance has nothing to do with my brother?" his voice was filled with even more of that same measured and heavy edge.

Sigyn frowned at him, and bemusedly asked, "What has your brother got to do with anything?"

His lips pressed together for a moment and his eyes found the floor. When he looked back up at her, a strange glint, a pained glint in his eyes.

"I realise that I am no Thor-" he started but she cut him off.

"Wait a second, do you think that that's what I want you to be?"

"Like I said, another might recoil at the prospect of being courted by me," he said quietly.

"I wouldn't want to know the you that thinks he has to be his brother. You are two completely different people- I know, I've met both of you. And who am I sat here with?"

Loki said nothing.

"I want to know the real you, Loki, not your brother... Even if the real you likes making me jump a little bit too much."

He smirked, tension easing from his brow.

"You have no idea, little Sigyn."

Author's Note: Sooooo another day of two updates in one day. :) I just couldn't help myself. :) Plus, I've only got Chapter 18 left to write and then the whole thing'll be done, so I've been feeling a bit mean hanging on to already written chapters. :)

Kit xx