It had taken almost two weeks but he'd finally fallen into a routine. Self Defense class with Logan Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Tuesday he would sit and watch Kurt's fencing class. He considered asking to spar with him once or twice but hadn't worked up the nerve as of yet. After class, he and Kurt would have lunch together and talk, then return to the room where he held fencing class and Kurt would practice while they talked some more. Despite his theological views, they were becoming fast friends, even sitting together at the staff table at dinner time, their discussions often letting their food grow cold.

Evenings were hardest for him, not the early hours where he would find the students in the common room watching a movie or TV and he would occasionally stand at the back of the room and watch in fascination, and at other times, disgust at the shows they loved and followed. Kurt had patted him on the shoulder when he expressed his disdain for one show in particular. "Dey are called reality shows, and dey are anything but. Der children love dem though."

The hardest times were the late nights, the times when he had nothing to occupy his mind save the thoughts of Sarah. Thor had returned and told her where he was, as he said he would, and after feeling hurt and confused, he'd felt from her, acceptance, resignation. He made every effort not to let his mind stray to hers as he often found Thor trying to cheer her up, give her words of wisdom and he would fall into a fitful sleep, dreaming of Sarah, Thor poised above her in the heat of passion, wake up in a hard sweat, rage keeping his eyes open until dawn.

October started out cold and rainy, Kurt sat in one of the easy chairs in Loki's room, Loki on the couch opposite him. "I would ask for firewood to be brought up, Loki. Das is what der fireplace is for, is it not? It wards off der chill in my rooms."

"I do not mind the cold as much." He had been a bit colder than usual lately but was reluctant to give in and bring warmth into the rooms.

"Vich brings me to something that has been on my mind since vee met. You asked if I was Jotun, you mean from Jotunheim, ja?"

Loki looked up at Kurt, "Yes, how do you know of it?"

Kurt shrugged, "I read. I am a student of theology. I have studied mythology as well. Why did you ask if I vas Jotun?"

Loki sat back on the couch, considering his next action. "I was born on Jotunheim."

Kurt tapped the small bible in his lap, "Dat is what I hear."

Loki closed his eyes, allowing his temperature to drop, the warmth draining from his skin, could feel the change overtake him. He opened his eyes again and could see by Kurt's expression that he finally understood. Now it was Kurt's turn to sit forward. He took Loki's hand in his, "Cold,"

"Frost giant." Loki replied,

"Ja," Kurt nodded, "Your eyes, dey are red,"

Kurt touched his face, "Those markings, you make dem yourself?"

"No, I was born like this, your markings were made?"

Kurt smiled, "Ja, dey are angelic symbols. I vonder what meanings yours have."

Loki glanced again at the fireplace and all at once, wished he did have a fire to dispell the gloom of the weather. "I do not know what they mean. I have not the desire to find out."

"Why do you hide your true nature?" Kurt had set back in the chair and was staring out the window to his right at the rain soaked landscape.

"I am more comfortable in my Asgardian form, I was an abomination of my people, too small for a frost giant, a weakling." Loki had also set back in the chair, he closed his eyes.

"But you are not veak, far from it," Kurt paused, reconsidered his tack, "However, I vould hide myself if I had der ability. I understand, Loki." he chuckled, "Den ve are brothers under der skin, Ja?"

Loki looked over at Kurt and smiled, "Ja."

Logan and Ororo sat at one of the empty tables in the great hall. Ororo took a sip of her green tea, ran her finger along the rim of the old mug. She'd had it for years, a little china cup with yellow roses around the edge and a matching saucer. "So what's the verdict?"

Logan took a swig of the beer in his hand, "We've almost doubled the class size, we might have to split it into two classes. I don't think he can train them alone. He ain't state certified and it's one thing to know self defense, it's another thing to teach it. He'd have to take a written exam, demonstrate his knowledge of the subject. It'd just be easier to split the classes into different times."

Ororo clasped the cup between her hands, "Doubled the size of the class? How did that happen?" She hid a smile as she took another sip.

"Ya got me, everyone wants to see the new guy I guess. They'll get bored with him."

"Logan, I sense the green eyed monster is upon you."

Logan snorted, rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I'm envious of him, he's too thin, too tall, too serious."

"Handsome, charismatic, nice smile." Ororo added.

"Yeah all of that. Ya know it's nice to have you on my side."

"Oh Logan," She gave him a playful shove, "Is he living up to expectations, that's all I want to know."

Logan took another draught of beer, belched, "Yeah, he's doing fine, he knows how to pull punches, he sets up fine, he knows how to fall, to land. That is what you were asking about right?"

Ororo waggled her hand, "Sort of, is he mixing well with the students and the adults? Are they accepting him?"

Logan nodded, "Yeah, I'd like to go so far as to say he don't act a lot like who he says he is, I mean a god? I think he gives them a bad name."

Ororo laughed then, "Oh come on, if he was that bad, you'd have kicked him out of class the first week. There must be something you like about him."

"Well he brings the babes, I suppose. He's too quiet though, makes you think he's up to something."

"Right, forgot men and their one track mind. I see he's been hanging around Kurt a lot."

Logan reached down to the floor beside him and pulled another beer from the carton at his feet, popped the top off it, " Yeah, I just hope all that pious righteousness doesn't rub off on him. I'd like to hide his bible sometimes, he's a study in contradictions that one, goddamn, don't get me started."

"Slow down on the beer, we have that faculty meeting tonight. Why don't you go fetch Loki, he's your assistant."

Logan frowned, downed the beer in his hand in one swallow, reached down and picked up the carton, "It's a Friday, these meetings are throwing a wrench in the party works."

Ororo stood with him, "Oh you can spare an hour or two out of your Friday can't you? I'm going to get the handouts printed. I'll see you in about an hour?"

"Yeah, yeah."

Logan had gone to the kitchen and put the remaining four beers back in the staff refrigerator and was now on his way to Loki's room. As he made the top landing of the main stairs, he saw Grace talking to a small group of students, her voice sounded angry. "I just don't understand how you could go and do such a thing to poor Shayna. You are all of you supposed to present a united body of students, supporting each other, understanding each others special talents."

One young brunette with sunglasses on spoke up, "She was acting like she was better than all of us. Isn't that wrong too?"

"Two wrongs don't make a right," Logan said as he sidled up beside Grace, "Tell me this ain't about Loki."

The brunette looked at the other two students with her, "Well she said he was with her the whole class yesterday and we started picking on her because she's got a crush on him but she was all "he says i'm the best student and I learn quickly."

Grace shook her head, "You're going to apologize to Shayna, all of you tomorrow. Now you're to stay in your dorm rooms for the rest of the evening, no community room, no snack time. Go on."

The four students left grumbling down the hallway, Grace pushed her hair back from her face and sighed heavily, "Okay what did you need?"

"The faculty meeting is in about an hour, I just wanted to remind you. I gotta go find the god."

Grace gave a short laugh, "A crush, can you believe it? Shayna has a crush on him. He should probably have a talk with her."

They walked down the hall towards the second floor stairs, "What are ya trying to believe, the crush or Shayna?"

"The crush, she's almost fifteen. Isn't it time to grow up?"

Logan smiled to himself, only hesitating a second, "She's fifteen, she's not dead. Come on Gracie."

"What?"

They were standing at Loki's door and he knocked, "Well wouldn't you have a crush on him if you were fifteen?"

The door opened. Loki was standing there in jeans, his shirt unbuttoned, a book in his hand, "Logan, uh, Grace, sorry." He stepped away from the door, "Come on in." He tossed his book on the bed and started to button up his shirt.

"Well?" Logan elbowed her, relishing the look on her face at that moment, a mixture of embarrassment coupled with a good helping of murderous intent.

"Well what?" Loki turned to them.

"I was talking to Grace about crushes, seems Shayna has one on you and Grace thinks it's silly."

Loki canted his head to the right, "A crush, I have never heard of this thing you speak of. Explain to me please so that I may understand."

Grace's face had flushed bright red and Logan watched as she struggled to define the word in a way that wouldn't lead her into another tricky path.

"A crush is when a young girl, well I suppose the girl doesn't always have to be young, I mean."

Logan caught Loki's glance at him and shrugged, his face a mask of innocence.

"Grace isn't eloquent like you, Loki. She's trying to say that Shayna likes you."

Loki narrowed his eyes at Logan, "Still not following you."

"Jesus, she likes you a lot, like boyfriend and girlfriend." Grace cried, slapping her forehead.

"Yeah and I said to Grace, wouldn't she have a crush on you if she were fifteen? She didn't answer me yet but I'm sure she will."

She stared at Logan, "I don't get crushes. They're for teenagers."

"Right and that's what I said, if you were fifteen would you have a crush on Loki." Logan grinned at her.

"We have a faculty meeting in half an hour, Loki, you're to attend it. That's what Logan came here to tell you now I have to get downstairs and help Ororo...Miss Munroe...we'll talk about the crush thing later."

She turned around to see that Logan had slipped out the door while she was fumbling with her words. She brandished her pencil like a spear and stabbed the air a couple of times.

"Grace, are you well?" Loki had leaned around her and was staring at the pencil as she shoved it in the holder at the top of her clipboard.

"I want to kill him but it's against the law..." she muttered, heading for the door.

"You did not answer my question, what is a crush?"

Grace looked over her shoulder, "Yes I did, a crush is when someone likes someone else a lot. More than just friends, do you get it now?"

Loki nodded slowly at first then more vigorously, "I understand, and Logan was asking if you would have a crush on me were you young?"

Grace winced, "That's what he was asking." She was half in the hallway and in the room.

Loki was right behind her as they both stood in the hallway, "Would you?"

"Would I what?" Grace hoped that perhaps Loki would give up but he kept stride with her down the hallway.

"Would you have a crush on me?"

Grace couldn't help thinking that he was teasing her, she kept watching him from the corner of her vision, "I don't know, I'm not a teenager," She was starting to get a headache, any answer she would give him was going to sound wrong,

"I see, you do not like me then." Loki sounded disappointed and Grace realized that he still wasn't getting the interpretation.

"Yes I like you, as a friend, okay,"

"Forgive me, I have trouble with Midgardian words, perhaps I should carry a notebook as you carry that board and write down each new word."

Grace and Loki reached the great hall and stopped outside the doors, "Okay in the simplest terms I can manage, a crush is when someone is in love with you, but it's more like infatuation, it's not serious love like a relationship. Any better?"

Loki looked away then, "I sorely misunderstood you. I am sorry, I understand now."

Grace took a deep breath and blew it out, "Thank god, now I've got to go help Miss Munroe. I'll see you at the meeting."

She left Loki outside the great hall. He watched her walk away, feeling that now familiar pounding of his heart. He was rapidly becoming confused, he tried to turn his thoughts to Sarah and found it took more effort every time as her mind drifted away from his, the bond unable to be nurtured from such a distance. The longer he stayed here at the school, the farther away his previous life was fading. He needed to focus on the role he would soon fulfill, that of a father, though in what capacity he was unsure, and he had to see Sarah, or talk to her in the very least, but first and foremost, he had to stop thinking about Grace.

Kurt sat beside Loki, Logan on the other side of him, Grace across the table from him. He held onto the water bottle before him like a life raft, his eyes fixed to a point, mind far away.

Kurt glanced at him, "Loki, der meeting is about to start, why don't you join us?"

Loki turned to him, his reaction slow as if he'd heard him from a dream, "I am here."

Ororo was standing at the head of the long table talking about student activities for October.

"The first school dance of the year is next week, the sheet is going around the table to sign up as chaperones, if it comes back short, I'm going to start picking names. We also need people to help set up before hand. The calendar handout is pretty full as you'll notice. Along with the usual activities, football and soccer, reading club and so forth, we have fireside ghost story nights each Thursday in the common room. The drama club has been working on "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" for the past couple months and the play is going to be," She looked down at her sheet, "The week before Halloween. We also have the annual Halloween party, we're going to be carving pumpkins a few nights before and setting up the great hall with activities, a haunted hallway, and games, and that sheet is also going around for sign ups. Now don't forget, these children are far from home, they rely on us to be their family. Let's help them out, especially the new students. We've had the biggest enrollment jump this semester in five years. Twenty-five new students, I don't know whether we've simply started to expand through word of mouth or the genetic makeup of the world is changing but we have new lives to help mold."

Loki looked down at the sheet before him and then at Kurt, "What should I do?"

"Sign up for things. Be a chaperone at der dance and I vill join you. Vee shall keep dese kinder in line."

Loki sighed, took the pen being passed with the paper and signed his name. Kurt encouraged him to sign up for the Halloween party as well though at that point he turned to Kurt and said, "I do not know what this Halloween is about."

"I vill explain it to you after der meeting,"

As Ororo was speaking again, Loki stole a glance across the table at Grace who was watching Ororo, her gloved hands folded under her chin. She was chewing her bottom lip, a stray strand of hair had fallen down the side of her face in a curl against her strong jawline, her brown eyes catching the light from the overhead lamps, turning them dark gold. He was suddenly jarred by a poke in his side and he looked over at Logan.

"You payin' attention?" He whispered, "To the right woman I mean?"

"I am, for pity's sake." He turned to face Ororo for another couple minutes, then stole a sideways glance at Grace again and found her staring back at him. He gave her a shy smile and turned away again, not moving until the meeting was adjourned.

Loki stood up, stretched and felt Kurt's hand on his arm. "I am feeling peckish, come to der kitchen mitt me and I vill explain this Halloween."

Logan interjected himself between the two of them, "And he'd be the one to do it, Kurt wears his costume all year round, Ah hey, Jesus!"

Kurt nodded, "And that's for taking der Lord's name in vain too." he smiled at Loki, "Dis tail comes in pretty handy sometimes." he whipped it around again, narrowly missing Logan who made a grab at it.

"One of these days I'm going to catch it and cut it off, pal."

Kurt chuckled, "And von day you're going to get some manners, mein friend."

Kurt set the cake plate on the end of the large island where Loki was sitting. He handed him a plate and fork and began to slice into the black forest cake on top of the stand. "Halloween is a pagan holiday. It vas started with der ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off roaming spirits. Eventually it evolved into vat we have now, der children trick or treating, der wearing of costumes which came from superstition that the ghosts vould not recognize dem as people and thus leave dem be, der carving of Jack o' Lanterns from the tradition of spirit lights. On All Hallow's eve, dey vould place food on their doorsteps to appease der spirits and prevent dem from entering der house."

Kurt caught Loki's look of confusion and sighed, "It is easier to understand when you read about it. I vill find a book for you in der library tonight."

Loki took a forkful of cake, "There are many things I wish to learn. I appreciate your help, Kurt."

Kurt nodded, "My pleasure, mein friend. Bitte schoen."

They ate in silence for a few minutes then Kurt cleared his throat, "I see you staring at Miss Archer in der meeting. Dere is something going on between you?"

Loki started and sat up from the table, "Not at all, I was simply looking at her."

He cringed inwardly, it sounded so defensive.

Kurt nodded, "Forgive me, I did not mean to upset you." he picked up the napkin at the side of his plate and wiped his mouth with it, "She is very pretty though, Ja?" He waited, looked at Loki who was staring down at his plate, finally he answered himself, "Ja,"

Loki seemed ready to say something but his demeanor suddenly changed as quickly as the weather. He stood from the island, "Come show me that book you were talking about."