Thanks so much for reading! Please keep reviewing. If you have anything you as a reader would like to see, or if there is anything I can do better, please let me know. I can't read minds.

This chapter was super hard to write, by the way. I changed it about twenty times. I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I only own original characters, the rest belongs to Marvel.

Chapter 8 – Camouflage

Kiera was not very good at keeping secrets. It was very difficult for her to conceal the fact that she had a thing for Loki, especially with having lessons with him several times every week. Every now and then, she thought it would be best if she told him how she felt, but she squashed those insane ideas very quickly every time. Why would he like someone like her as anything more than a good friend? He was worshiped by some as a god and she was a mortal from Midgard. He was a prince and she was a servant girl taken in out of pity. It would never work.

Still, there was that moment in her room. Loki had initiated the embrace when he had never so much as touched her before that. When she looked into his eyes, she thought she had seen something…It must have just been her imagination. She had played the scene over and over in her head so many times, overanalyzing every detail. It was nothing. She was sure of it.

But Jadef had been right. Cheesy as it still sounded, love was the emotion that controlled Kiera's power. She and Jadef proceeded with the plan, giving it one more week before suddenly 'discovering' how to control the fire. She had practiced several times within the confines of her room, making sure it would work. Sometimes she concentrated hard on the dim memory of her parents, but most of the time she focused on Loki, how his eyes made her knees feel weak, how his arm had felt when he held her that day that felt like it had been a thousand years in the past. By the time she had reached the point in her lessons when she was ready to try using her magic in public, she had at least perfected setting her hands on fire.

"Okay, Kiera," Jadef said, giving her a pointed look. "Let's try a new emotion today."

"Alright. What do you suggest?" Kiera replied, knowing what was coming.

"Let's try…joy." Jadef winked.

Could he be any more obvious? Kiera thought. She shook her head and closed her eyes, concentrating hard. She worried that now that she had to perform on command, in front of Jadef, in front of Loki, that she would mess up.

No, focus, Kiera. She took a deep breath, calling upon the usual tricks. The way Loki's arm had felt around her back, the way his fingers combed soothingly through her hair, the way his eyes pierced into hers…

Heat. Tingling. Yes.

"Kiera!" Loki exclaimed.

"Kiera, open your eyes."

Kiera looked down at her hands, feigning surprise. She did not have to fake the delight she felt.

"Look, I'm doing it! Finally! I did it!"

Kiera jumped up in the air, feeling giddy and not caring how silly she probably looked. She threw her hands into the air and the tingling stopped. Jadef clapped his hands, impressed. Laughing, Loki ran to her and swept her into a twirling embrace.

When Kiera's feet returned to the ground, she looked up at Loki, his hands still planted on her waist. Their eyes met for a split second before they too quickly leaped apart, Kiera's face flushing.

Jadef cast a sly glance in her direction, but said nothing.

As the years passed, Kiera finally began learning other skills. First she learned to control her burning hands by morphing the flames into small fireballs that she could hold in the palm of her hand. She learned how to throw the fireballs at the targets in the courtyard which she became very good at, causing Jadef to fashion a new type of target out of a nonflammable material. She could now project flames at will so they landed where she commanded. She even learned how to light and dim the torches throughout the palace at will, which was useful. Her favorite skill was shooting large jets of flames out of her hands, but practice of this skill was limited due to the dangerous nature of spraying flames throughout a populated courtyard. But her talents were now known throughout all of Asgard, even earning praise from Thor, Sif, and the Warriors Three.

Focusing on learning these skills distracted her from Loki. It had been very awkward for Kiera the weeks following her encounter with Loki in her room, and it took a while for her to be able to look him in the eye again, even when going about their usual antics throughout the palace. She found that whenever she made eye contact with him she would feel the familiar drop in her stomach and have to work very hard to stop the flames from reaching her hands.

At the same time, it was becoming increasingly difficult for her to stop thinking about him. As the years went by, if it were possible, he had become even more attractive. He had let his jet black hair grow longer so it brushed his shoulders. He had remained slender but he was more toned now, and he had grown even taller. But his eyes stayed constant, never losing the power they had over her.

She had hoped her little crush would go away, but instead it only got worse and worse. However, her ability to conceal her crush and act naturally around Loki got better, especially as she learned to control her power. As time passed and Thor's coronation as king loomed closer, Kiera found it easier and easier to talk with Loki again.

"Kiera," he said one day on their way back to their rooms. "Do you think Thor will make a good ruler?"

This seemed a very loaded question to be asked so out of the blue. "Well, Thor is strong and confident, brave, bold…"

"…arrogant, stupid…"

"…powerful, courageous…"

"…rash, egotistical…"

"Hey, I thought you wanted my opinion!"

Loki sighed, running a hand through his hair in frustration. Kiera had to fight very hard not to let on that she found this action to be very attractive.

"Forget I said anything," Loki said. "I should not speak of my brother this way. He is to be king regardless of what I think."

"Why are you suddenly so concerned with Thor becoming king? Isn't it a little late for that?"

"I had hoped that Father would see for himself that Thor was not fit to rule. He is so blinded by favoritism that he cannot see that Thor would be the worst ruler Asgard has ever seen."

Kiera could hear the resentment in his voice. "Maybe it won't be as bad as you think."

"How could it not be? You have heard him talk about Jotunheim, have you not? He would break the peace with them faster than you can say 'Frost Giant.' He seeks war out because he thinks himself invincible. He will turn the whole of the Nine Realms against us within his first week on the throne."

They walked on in silence. Kiera could not help agreeing with Loki ever so slightly. Thor was bold, courageous and powerful and nobody could argue with that. But he was also overconfident and did not think before he acted. "Well, is there anything I can do to help?"

"Nothing comes to mind."

They stopped outside Loki's room. "Well, if you think of anything that would make you feel better about all of this, you know where to find me."

"Sure. I will see you tomorrow."

As Loki retreated into his room, Kiera set off to find Niva. The palace needed to be ready in a week for the coronation and there was much work to be done.

Kiera stumbled out of the study, carrying a stack of books Jadef wanted her to read in her free time. Not that she was going to have much of that with Thor's coronation the following day. She and the other servants had loads of work to do to prepare the palace for the grand affair.

Loki caught up to her. "May I take those for you?" he said, holding out his hands.

This was uncharacteristically gentleman-like for Loki. "Okay, thanks." She placed the books in his hands. However, instead of taking the books, the hands flickered and disappeared, sending the stack of books tumbling to the floor.

"Loki, you jerk!" Kiera said, searching for the real Loki. He had recently perfected making copies of himself and found no greater pleasure than tormenting her with their use.

Loki laughed and emerged from behind a pillar. "I am truly sorry, I could not resist."

"You are not sorry," said Kiera, stooping to pick up the books, stacking them in a neat pile once again.

"Kiera, I have been thinking," Loki said, bending to help her pick up the books.

"Wow, how thrilling," Kiera replied sarcastically.

"Ha ha, very funny."

"Okay, enlighten me, your highness. What have you been thinking about?"

Loki paused. He cleared his throat and said, "I was thinking that it would be fun to go visit Midgard."

Kiera nearly dropped the books again. "You want to go to Midgard? Why would you want to do that? It's not very exciting. Compared to this place, there is nothing to see there that would interest you."

"That is exactly my point. I have rarely seen anything outside of Asgard." He paused for a moment as if considering something, but shook his head and continued. "My father took me to visit Nornheim once when I was a young boy, but that hardly counts."

"And why, of all places, did you pick Midgard as your first choice of realms to visit?"

"First of all, Midgard is a very non-threatening realm that could be explored without getting into too much trouble before coronation. And secondly, I thought you would make a fantastic tour guide."

Kiera raised a skeptical eyebrow. "You want me to come with you?"

"Well, yes. I had hoped you would come with me."

"Loki, I never want to go back to Midgard."

He looked extremely puzzled. "Why not? There is nothing there that could harm you."

"I guess I just don't have very…fond memories of Midgard. I'd like to just stay here. Plus there's tons to do before the Coronation. I'm pretty sure the other servants would notice if I was absent." Kiera's head swam with all of the things that could go wrong. She shuddered at the thought of running into Mr. Wilson, unlikely as it was.

"I am truly sorry. I had hoped that a trip to Midgard could simply be a way to do something a little different from studying. A vacation, if you will. We would not go back to where you are from. As I understand, Midgard is a large realm. We could go anywhere you wanted."

Kiera furrowed her brow. She still was not happy at the prospect of going to Midgard, but she started to warm up to the idea. She took a deep breath. "Oh, alright. I'll go with you. Do you have anything in mind?"

"I have heard there is a new city in Midgard's United American States called 'York' that is supposed to be a very exciting place for visitors."

Kiera to raised her eyebrow in confusion before understanding what he meant. Then she spontaneously burst into fits of laughter. She clutched her stomach and collapsed into the opposite wall to hold herself upright.

"When you are quite finished laughing at me…" Loki said.

"I'm so sorry – it's just – you said - " Kiera struggled to catch her breath.

"And what exactly did I say that you suddenly find so amusing?"

"New – city – called York!" She slid down to the floor, tears streaming down her face from laughing so hard.

"And what about it? I thought it could be a fun place to visit."

"Loki, it's called 'New York City,' but that doesn't mean it's a new city!"

"Well, excuse me for not knowing this information. You were the one, may I remind you, who thought a Skrull was a type of meat."

They locked eyes for a moment before they both burst into a new attack of laughter.

"Okay," Kiera said after their laughing had subsided and they continued walking. "We'll go to Midgard. But you can't wear that."

Loki looked down at his armor, green and black with gold embellishments. "And why not?"

"Loki, nobody dresses even remotely close to that in Midgard. You'd look so out of place."

"What do you recommend I wear instead?"

"Do you have any…normal pants?"

Loki furrowed his brow, confused. "These are normal pants."

"Not in Midgard, they're not." She stopped to think for a moment. "I need to see your closet."

"What?"

"So I can see what you have to wear that is even close to something that would pass as normal."

"What does it matter what I dress like?"

Kiera gave him a look. "Do you want to be stared at all day long by people who think you just walked out of Comic Con?" She realized he had no idea what Comic Con was, but proceeded anyway. "Midgardians don't wear armor," she said, gesturing to Loki's arm and shoulder guards. "You just don't want to admit that for once I'm the expert at something."

"Fine," he said, opening the door to his room and allowing her to step inside.

"Now, let's see here…" Kiera opened the door to Loki's closet. "Is everything you own green?"

"Green is a very noble color, and I would thank you not to mock my choice in garments."

"No, don't get me wrong, I like green, but this seems a bit excessive."

"Just get on with it."

Kiera pushed aside garment after garment. All of his clothing was so overtly…Asgardian. "There's got to be something in here that will work. Don't you have anything plainer?"

It was silent as Kiera examined every garment in Loki's closet. Finally, she had assembled a small pile of clothing on Loki's bed, laying it out and studying it before deciding it would do. "I think this will be okay," she said, gesturing to the black riding pants and simple green shirt that could almost pass for a t-shirt were it not for the asymmetrical neckline and gold stitching on the sleeves.

Loki nodded and proceeded to remove the outer layer of his armor.

Kiera's eyes widened. "Um, what are you doing?"

"I am putting on these clothes that you have so painstakingly chosen," he said matter-of-factly, tugging his shirt over his head. As he bent over to grab the new shirt Kiera could not help but notice how nice his back looked.

"Right now?" Kiera said, trying and failing to look away from his bare chest.

Loki looked at her as if she were stupid. "Yes, right now. We only have a few more hours before nightfall and I want to see as much of the New City of York as I can." He put on the green shirt, much to Kiera's disappointment. He began undoing the fastenings on his pants before stopping and thinking better of it. "Um, Kiera, would you mind…"

Kiera's cheeks flushed with embarrassment and she turned away. "Uh, I uh, should go change too. I'll, um, meet you back here in five minutes." She left in a hurry, trying to ignore how fast her heart was beating.

Don't think about his abs, don't think about his abs…

She reached her room in record time and dug around her bureau until she found the old jeans and t-shirt she had been wearing when Heimdall had transported her to Asgard. She immediately discarded the t-shirt which she knew just by looking at would no longer fit, opting instead for a plain turquoise shirt that lacked any overtly alien adornments. Praying they still fit, she shed her Asgardian slacks and pulled on the jeans. They were a little snugger than they had been, but fit nonetheless. She had outgrown her converse several years ago, so the boots would have to do, and they did conceal the fact that her jeans were several inches too short. Content with her selections, she examined herself in the mirror.

Very Midgardian, she thought to herself in satisfaction. It occurred to her that jeans now felt foreign to her and she smiled at the realization.

She walked the corridor back to Loki's room and knocked on the door. Seconds later, Loki opened it and she stepped inside.

"Well, how do I look?" he said, turning dramatically in a circle so she could see the full effect.

You look hot. "You look great."

"Excellent," he said. "Now let us go to Midgard."

2013 EDIT: Quick age check. They're about 24 now.