Hey, guys! Thanks to those of you who are sticking with this story. I feel really honored to know people like it and want to hear more. Please review it! I sound like a broken record but I really truly want to know what you think, even if you are less than thrilled with something. Or think it stinks. Whatever. Just let me know so I can get better at this whole writing thing.

Also, I wanted to try a little of Loki's perspective on things, so there is a moment toward the end of this chapter is from his POV. Let me know if you like it or if you think it's terrible. This chapter is the longest yet, by the way, so be prepared.

Unfortunately, I start my student teaching next week, so the chapter updates will most likely not happen as often. Your patience is greatly appreciated!

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

Chapter 9 – The New City of York

Kiera followed Loki out of the palace. She tried to ignore all of the people staring them in their ridiculous-looking garb.

She became confused when Loki did not continue walking toward the bridge. "Um, Loki, where are we going?"

"The stables of course. Why, how were you thinking of getting across the bridge?"

"…Walking?"

Loki raised an eyebrow at her. "Have you seen how long the bridge is?"

"Well, yeah, but it's not that bad to walk it."

Loki laughed. "It will be much faster to ride."

They walked into the stables. Loki walked up to one of the stalls and gently coaxed out a dark chestnut colored horse. "Now, which horse are you most comfortable riding?"

"Uh..."

Loki began fitting a saddle onto his horse. "Which one?" he repeated.

"Um, Loki, I've never ridden a horse before."

"Never? How long have you lived here again?"

"I'm sorry."

"No, there is no need to apologize, I am just shocked that you have gone this long without learning how to ride. I would have expected someone to teach you by now." He gracefully hoisted himself on the back of his horse and held out a hand to her. "You can ride with me then."

Kiera stared up at him. "You have got to be kidding me."

"What is wrong? There is nothing to be afraid of."

"How in the world am I supposed to get up there?"

Loki began to laugh.

"Why are you laughing at me?"

"I am laughing because you have been here so long that I have forgotten how…Midgardian you are."

"Well, you just wait until we get to Earth. You won't think my being so Midgardian is such a bad thing. Now help me get on this stupid horse!"

Loki drew his hand back and scowled playfully at her. "He does not like it when you call him stupid."

"Just help me get on the horse, Loki!"

"Fine, fine." Loki stretched his hand out to her again. "Now, place your foot in the saddle right there…"

Kiera took his hand and placed her foot where he told her to. A shiver went down her spine that she thought probably had nothing to do with the temperature of his skin.

"Now, hoist yourself over the saddle behind me. On the count of three, then. One, two, three!"

She hoisted herself up over the horse's back and promptly began sliding off the other side. Loki reached back and steadied her just in time.

"Are you ready, Kiera?"

"Um, I think so."

"Alright then, off to Midgard!" Suddenly the horse took off out of the stable and onto the street leading toward the bridge. Kiera instinctively clung onto Loki for dear life, convinced she was going to fly off the beast at any second.

"Loki, is there any way we could slow down?" Kiera yelled over the noise of the wind rushing in her ears.

"No," he replied, laughing as the horse galloped faster and faster. They were crossing the bridge now, and Kiera shut her eyes, praying the horse would not tumble off the bridge. Finally, they slowed and the horse came to a stop.

There was a pause. "Kiera, if we are ever to get to Midgard I will need you to let go of me."

Kiera felt as though she were glued to his back.

"Kiera, the horse has stopped moving, you can dismount now."

"I…can't…move…"

Sighing in exasperation, Loki wrenched her arms from around his waist. He then swiveled, picked her up, and dropped her on the bridge unceremoniously before jumping down after her.

Kiera stood up. "That was not very nice."

"I told you to get off the horse."

"Well, you didn't have to throw me off."

Loki only laughed. "Heimdall," he called over his shoulder. "We request passage to Midgard."

Heimdall was in his usual spot. "It is the eve before Thor's coronation. Are you certain a voyage to Midgard is wise?"

"I assure you, good Heimdall, we will be back before nightfall. We would like to visit the great New City of York."

Heimdall gave Loki a suspicious look.

"I have no responsibilities for the coronation and Kiera is finished with her duties for the day," Loki said smoothly. Kiera cringed slightly at the lie – she had plenty to do around the palace.

With one more pointed look at Loki Heimdall deposited his staff into the opening in the middle of the golden, circular room. The room began to spin, faster and faster, until with a loud bang a vortex-like passage appeared in front of them.

Suddenly Kiera was thrown into a panic. The last time she had traveled via the Bifrost she had not enjoyed it very much. Loki, as if sensing her discomfort, reached down and took her hand. With a great jolt, the two of them hurtled through space. Kiera gripped Loki's hand for dear life, awed and terrified by the speed at which they were traveling. Finally, Kiera's feet felt solid ground.

Kiera looked around. They were standing on a path surrounded by trees and flowers.

"This looks nothing like a grand city," Loki said, confused.

"No, I think we're in Central Park." Loki still looked puzzled. "It's this giant park right in the middle of New York City. See, there aren't many plants or trees or anything green for that matter in the city, so they just shoved it all into one giant park."

"So, this is not the city then?"

Kiera gave him a look. "Wow, who's the novice now?"

"Please do not question my intelligence. I am merely in an unfamiliar realm. And I am famished."

"I've been told there are hot dog stands on just about every corner."

Loki's mouth dropped open. His face was that of pure disgust. "Humans eat dogs?"

"No no no, they're not actual dogs. They're more like…well…hmmm…You know, to be honest, I'm not sure what they're made of. But definitely not dogs."

"Then why in the name of Valhalla are they called 'hot dogs?' "

"That is a very good question. Now let's try one."

They followed the winding paths for a while before they reached the outskirts of the park and began to walk down a busy street.

"Oh, hey, look! We found Broadway!" Kiera exclaimed. Loki's face suggested he was unimpressed by this announcement. Still, Kiera was excited about the prospect of exploring the city. In the distance she definitely saw the Empire State building, and she thought she could make out Stark Tower even further away.

"Well, at least this looks more like a city. I thought you told me Midgard was not very shiny."

"Not compared to Asgard."

"This is true, but for mortals these structures are actually quite nice," he said, gazing up at the skyscrapers.

"This city is huge! What if we get lost and Heimdall can't get us back?"

"The worst thing that could happen is that we miss coronation tomorrow which would be such a shame," Loki said sarcastically. "Oh, look, that sign on top of the metal box over there says 'hot dogs.' "

"But we can't miss coronation tomorrow or your mother would kill us both. And if I'm not there to help with the preparations Niva will have my he – LOKI LOOK OUT!"

She grabbed his arm and pulled back hard to get him out of the way of a taxi that had sped around the corner. It honked deafeningly and slammed on the brakes. The driver of the cab leaned his head out the window. "Hey, get out of the road, idiot!"

"How dare you insult the son of Odin, you fat ugly - "

"Just keep walking," Kiera said, swiftly steering him toward the crosswalk. "If you talk to people like that you're going to get yourself shot."

"I will not be spoken to thus. I am a god, and I will be - "

"Loki, your ego's showing."

"The next one of those great metal horses that tries to trample me will be sorry they ever crossed my path!"

"Dude, people are staring at us…"

"As a son of Odin these weaklings should be honored to move out of my way!"

"QUIT SOUNDING LIKE THOR!"

That shut him up very quickly. His manner dropped from superiority to humility in a matter of seconds.

Kiera stared at him, hurt. "Don't forget I'm one of them," she said, stepping in between the lines of the crosswalk.

Loki stood still for a moment processing what just happened before following her across the busy street.

"Kiera, I am exceedingly sorry for what I said."

She did not look at him. "It's okay," she said shortly.

"No it is not, and I will make it up to you…by purchasing one of these 'hot dogs' for you."

Kiera suddenly looked at him, her eyes wide. "Loki, we don't have any money!"

"Not to worry. I will be back in a moment." Kiera watched as he disappeared behind the hot dog stand, emerging a few seconds later with a hot dog in each of his hands.

"And this is the part where we walk away as if nothing happened," he said, smiling broadly.

"Wait, did you steal these?"

"They do not call me the god of mischief for nothing."

" 'God of mischief?' That's your title?"

"Oh, surely you could figure that out."

"I mean, it makes sense, I'm just saying that it's a weird thing to actually be given a title for."

Loki laughed and took a bite of his hot dog. "This is a lot tastier than I expected for something so vile-looking."

Kiera felt momentarily guilty for eating a stolen hot dog. Finally, hunger overcame her and she bit into her hot dog. It had been so long since she had had Midgardian food.

"Oh, this is the theater district!" Kiera said, pointing at the countless signs advertising shows of all types. She recognized a few of them. "I always said I wanted to go see Phantom of the Opera on Broadway."

"Tell me about this 'Phantom of the Opera.' "

"Well, it's about this girl named Christine and she has this beautiful singing voice, and she's in love with her childhood sweetheart, Raoul. Except there's this man that calls himself a phantom that haunts the opera house and essentially stalks Christine for most of the musical and she has to decide which man she likes better. And it's a musical, so everybody sings."

Loki furrowed his eyebrows. "Why would she wish to spend her life with a man who stalks her?"

"You know, my description of Phantom of the Opera really stunk. I should work on that," she said, turning a corner.

"Ooohh…"

Thousands of people milled about in a swarm in front of them. Hundreds of flashing billboards and signs flickered overhead. The buildings gleamed in the lights and spectacle of it all. Even Loki was impressed.

"Welcome to Times Square," Kiera said, staring in awe.

The rest of their time in Midgard was spent ducking in and out of stores in the giant marketplace known as 'Times Square.' Loki was overwhelmed by the sheer vastness of it and the amount of people filling the streets. Kiera proved an excellent tour guide, pointing out the famous landmarks she had only read about in books and were completely foreign to him. She had not even been angry when he had accidentally spilled the entire contents of a large tube of candies with the letter M on them on the floor of the store of Hershey causing them to have to run outside and disappear into the crowd.

As the sun began to set, Loki and Kiera stopped to rest. They sat on a bench on the edge of Central Park, facing the sunset in the Western sky.

"You know?" said Kiera, "this is easily the most fun I've ever had on Earth."

"Yes, today was 'awesome.' "

"You sound really stupid saying that."

"Well, you always speak that way, so what does that say about you?"

She punched him in the shoulder as hard as she could, which was not saying much. He laughed at her attempt to hurt him. Kiera stuck her tongue out at him and gazed back over the water.

He had noticed that Kiera was attractive back when he had first met her. She had a nice figure, long flowing blonde hair, and a pretty smile. But why had it taken him this long to notice just how beautiful she was? Suddenly, he could not take his eyes off of her. He marveled at how her hair flowed gracefully behind her in the breeze, reflecting the pink of the sunset. As she reached up to tuck a lock of it behind her ear, Loki was mesmerized by how small her hand was and how smooth her skin looked to the touch. Then his eyes were drawn to her mouth. Her lips were stretched into a carefree smile and he suddenly had the desire to find out what it felt like to kiss those lips.

Then she turned and looked at him. He was slightly embarrassed that she had caught him staring at her, but he could not look away. Her eyes were perfect – a soft yet striking shade of gold. They held each other's gaze for a long time, neither of them saying a word.

The sun set lower in over New York's extraordinary skyline. "I suppose we should travel back to Asgard," Loki said reluctantly. "We will need a good night's rest before tomorrow's activities."

"You're right. How do we get back exactly?"

"We will find an unoccupied place in the park and ask Heimdall to open the Bifrost. That way hopefully no Midgardians will see us."

"Won't they notice a giant vortex opening up in the sky?"

Loki chuckled. "Well, I noticed that most of them were much too occupied by their telephonic communication devices to be bothered to look up at the sky."

Kiera laughed. "Okay." She stood up, and he watched her take one last look at the buildings of the New City of York. They began to walk further into the park, looking for a place void of humans.

"Thank you," Loki said.

"For what?"

"For accompanying me to Midgard. I know you are not fond of this realm, but I am glad you chose to come nonetheless."

"It was fun. Thanks for the invite."

Finally, they reached an empty area of the park. "Are you ready, Kiera?"

Kiera took one last look around the park as if savoring her last moments in Midgard. "Yes."

"Hiemdall! Open the Bifrost, please!" Loki called, and at once, the clouds above were a swirling mass. They turned an ominous shade of dark grey, writhing mightily. Finally, they were sucked into the Bifrost and hurtling back to Asgard.

"How was your voyage?" Heimdall said when they emerged back in Asgard.

Kiera and Loki both smiled and walked back to the horse. Heimdall already knew how their voyage went.

Loki helped Kiera back onto his horse and they rode back to the stables. She was less petrified than during their previous ride, though she still had Loki in a vice-like grip the entire time. They dismounted the horse and Loki guided him back to his stall.

The walk back to the palace was strange and silent. Neither of them said a word until they reached Loki's room.

"I really did have a wonderful time. Your realm is actually quite beautiful."

Kiera smiled. "Thank you. I had a great time too. Next time we should check out Paris, or the Grand Canyon or something."

There was an awkward silence. Finally, Loki turned and opened his door. "It is very late. We should get our rest."

Kiera nodded. "Yeah, we should. I'm not looking forward to meeting up with Niva after ditching work all day." She paused. "Um, goodnight then."

She looked at her feet. There was so much she wanted to say. For the first time since that moment in her room years ago she had seen something in his eyes that had suggested he felt something for her. He had definitely been looking at her when they were in Central Park. But there was no reason for him to look at her like that. She dismissed the ridiculous notion once again that he could ever think of her as anything more than a friend.

Which is why she was extremely surprised when in one swift motion he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulled her toward him and kissed her.

At first she was too shocked to respond. Then she closed her eyes and kissed him back, allowing her body to sink in against his. Without a conscious thought, she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, twisting a lock of his black hair with her finger. This action caused him to kiss her more fiercely. Soon, she felt his tongue exploring her mouth and she felt her knees become weak with delirium.

Loki reached behind her, smoothly closing his door and turning the key. Then his hand moved to the back of her neck. Though his skin was cold, she felt a light warmth spreading throughout her entire body as he pressed her up against the wall. His body was flush with hers, but she did not mind in the slightest. As his lips moved from Kiera's mouth slowly and deftly down her neck she tried and failed to think of a time when anything felt this good.

Suddenly, Loki pulled away. "Do you smell that?"

Kiera sniffed. Something was definitely burning. Oh no.

Kiera's eyes darted around the room and her heart sank. She had been so consumed in the kiss that she had completely lost control of her power and had set the drapes covering Loki's window on fire.

"Shoot!" she said, rushing to the window. She grabbed a pillow on the way and began to beat the flames out. Loki was right behind her using the other side of the curtains to smother them.

Breathing heavily, Loki turned to look at Kiera. He smiled mischievously. "Now, how did that happen?"

Kiera flushed with embarrassment. "No idea."

"Do you know what I think? I think you lied about the emotion that controls your power."

Kiera blushed. "Why would I do that?"

"I can think of a reason." And he leaned in to kiss her again.

2013 EDIT: I still really like the way this chapter ends. Added some detail to it, but didn't change much of this one.