A familiar and muffled Beatles tune woke Susan up the next morning and if she hadn't been so confused she would have curled up in the huge bed and listened. As it was she sat up and looked around, trying to pinpoint exactly where Here Comes the Sun was emanating from. She got out of bed and poked around her room until she got to the wardrobe. Throwing the door open she found her still unpacked suitcase. Hastily unzipping it she dug through the clothes until she came to her iPod.

"Mom you are an angel!" She grinned, knowing her mother must have smuggled the device in with her other belongings. The song had been set as her alarm and she was almost brought to tears to hear the familiar and happy tune chirping before her. Now, even if her life was a horrific mess she'd at least have her own music.

"What is that noise?" A voice by the door asked. Susan spun, clutching her iPod, and spotted Eiliff.

"Uh, just music."

The guard took a step closer and stared at the music player. The song was drawing to a close and Susan tucked the little blue device back in her suitcase. She smoothed her skirt and noticed that she'd fallen asleep in the fancy dress Frigga had found her. Whoops.

"That was Midgardian music?" He asked.

"Yup. One of my favorite songs. What kind of music do you have here?"

"Mostly long boring ballads. I quite like the sound of that song you just had on. Are all of the songs on Midg- on Earth like that?"

"Some, but not all. We've got all kind of music: sad, happy, romantic, angry, silly. We've probably got a song for every emotion and then some," She regarded him carefully and picked the iPod up again, "Do you want to hear some?"

He blinked and nodded. Susan flipped through the list and finally came to one she thought he might like. Fireflies by Owl City streamed out and his mouth quirked up at the corner.

"What does this song mean? It sounds like nonsense."

"I'm not really sure. Bugs, I guess? Nah, probably something deep, but I don't know what." She shrugged as the song continued.

"If you do not understand it then why do you listen to it?"

"I like the tune and the lyrics are fun to sing. What's your favorite song?"

"I rarely listen to music. We do not have such devices to carry it with us, though I think it is a good idea. Perhaps you ought to lend it to one of the scientists here and they can make more," He gently touched the screen and looked at some of the titles, "However I think it would be quite noisy if everyone were to walk around playing their favorite songs."

"Oh!" Susan laughed, "That's what these are for," she pulled the earbuds out of her suitcase and plugged them in, "Now put this end in your ear."

"Interesting, I can still hear it but it would seem if I take it out the music has stopped."

"No, it's still going, you just can't hear it when the earbuds are out."

He quickly put them back in. "How wonderful. Would you let me borrow this sometime?"

"I don't think so, there is no way I'm going to risk losing it. Sorry." She took it back and hid it away in her suitcase again. She studied his face for a moment and realized that the man who had been hiding in the shadows the previous night with threats and glowing magic was the same as this curious young man. It was odd seeing a side of him that was not evil and conniving, but she supposed everyone had a good side. The thought briefly flashed through her head that perhaps her father had a good side as well, but the idea was dashed away.

"Thank you for sharing that bit of Earth culture with me, Sigrid," He nodded, "I've come to ask if you would like to have breakfast with me before I went to work."

"Well, I don't know… I should probably eat with Grandmother, Odin, and Thor. I don't know them very well yet and it would be nice to-"

"You misunderstand. I only ask as a formality, you have to come," He winked maliciously, "Think of your dear old mother!"

"Oh right. I almost forgot you were evil," She groaned, grabbing a pair of jeans and a blouse out of the bag and walking over to the restroom, "Give me a minute to get dressed."

"Hurry up, dear!" He called cheerfully.

"Yes, honey!" She snapped, slamming the door.

o*o*o*o

After a stern talking to and a few more lashes with the whip Loki had been left to his own devices in the cell. It was utterly dull. Frigga had sent him a few books so he had been reading through and trying to forget about the vile guard wooing his daughter. It was not an easy task. At one point he was trying so hard to forget about Eiliff that the book in his hands burst into flame from his pure concentration. He swore and threw the ruined book to the floor and stomped out the fire.

"Something on your mind Laufeyson?" An ever chipper voice asked.

"You realize that if I was not in here then it would be you on fire and not the book." Loki commented, sweeping the ashes under his cot with his boot.

"Sigrid and I had a nice time together this morning. Did you know she adores music? Over breakfast she confessed that she wanted to be part of something called Broadway."

If Loki hadn't been so furious he would have noticed that there was no scheming in the other man's eyes. No mischief or plots lay there. However, the fallen prince didn't notice because he was thinking about all of the ways he could kill this idiot.

"I know you feel as if you must get revenge on some person or another, and to do that you think you need to involve my daughter," He snarled, "But I'd appreciate it if you spent as little time with her as possible."

Eiliff cocked his head to the right. "I'm sure you'd like that. Too bad for you. Sigrid is an interesting girl. I quite enjoyed her company during breakfast," He snapped his fingers, "Que wall pounding… now."

Loki did indeed slam his fist into the force field. "You rat!"

"Oooh, that's inventive - not! Can't you think of any creative insults? I thought they called you Silvertongue."

"And they say my parents did a poor job of raising me," Loki said, glad to comply with the request of insults, "What did yours do, throw you to a herd of cows, sit back, and watch you eat dirt?"

Eiliff bristled and adjusted the sword on his belt. "Funny, I thought that's what your real parents did to you. Oh no, sorry, they just left you to die. You know, Laufey was a monster and all, but do we have any idea what your real mother was like? She must have really hated you to let the monster king throw you out."

"Perhaps they were blind to potential. You forget that I was chosen by the most powerful king in the realms after that."

"Everyone knows he did it so Thor would have a playmate and so that the Jotuns wouldn't attempt anything else."

Loki didn't let this worthless guard see that the comments stung. Instead they continued to hurl insults back and forth for the course of forty minutes before there was a small cough. Both men turned to see Sigrid holding two trays of food. She was blushing and trying to cover it up with a shy smile.

"You guys swear more than a pair of T-Rex at a vegan restaurant." The girl held the trays out and one began to tip precariously. Eiliff shot out a hand to steady it and then took it from her with an appreciative nod.

"What are you doing down here?" Loki asked, calming down a bit after the shouting match he'd just been involved in, "I would have thought Thor would know better to let you return to the dungeons."

"He doesn't know I'm here," She blushed again, "The only person who knows where I went is the guard who was going to bring you your lunch."

"I told you not to wander around by yourself."

"It's fine, Loki." She rolled her eyes as Eiliff magically transported the food tray into Loki's cell and took the other tray for himself. Sigrid sat down next to the guard on the steps up to the cell. The father didn't miss the obvious lack of distance between them.

"Since when are you two so close?" He sneered. The girl was quick to scooch away from Eiliff and turn her bright red face away. She began picking at the blue bird necklace she wore.

"What have you been up to since this morning?" Eiliff asked, mouth full.

"Don't worry," She groaned, "I did what you asked."

"And what was that?" Loki asked. He detested not knowing what was happening around him and since he'd been locked in this cell he'd never felt more ignorant.

"I'll give you a clue!" Eiliff chirped, but Sigrid beat him to it.

"I asked Odin for some lessons about Asgard's history," She shrugged, "He seemed excited that I asked, but said he doesn't think he'll have time."

"I'm sure if it was Thor's child he would have agreed immediately." Loki muttered bitterly.

Sigrid quirked a brow. "Thor doesn't have kids, does he?"

Eiliff ignored the trickster. "Keep asking. If Odin shows an interest in something state that you are eager to learn about it."

"He's gonna think I'm such a suck up." The girl rolled her eyes.

"You'll inflate his already enormous ego."

"Frigga offered to teach me magic," Sigird said, eyes lighting up, "She says I'll probably be a natural considering-"

"No," Eiliff stated, shoveling more food into his mouth, "Say no and if you've already agreed then tell her you've changed your mind."

Loki glared at the other man. He knew what the guard was thinking. If Sigrid learned magic she would have some form of defense. For Eiliff's plan to work the girl would have to feel small and frail. It was a detestable ploy. If she wanted to learn the arts then this oaf should not stop her.

"Oh c'mon!" She stood up and glared down at him, "That's not fair!"

"Agreed," Loki spat, "Let her learn."

"And have her become as powerful as you?" He smiled and shook his head, "Not likely. Besides, Frigga has always had a soft spot for you, Laufeyson. If Odin sees a similar relationship forming again he won't want anything to do with Sigrid."

"So you're planning on getting close to the king," Loki commented, smirking, "Pity Odin can't stand anyone who has anything to do with Jotuns. He'll never see her as anything more than a responsibility."

"Maybe you're right, but that's not going to stop me from trying."

"Ugh, you guys are so hard to be around with all of your plotting and planning. I'm sick of it," Sigrid brushed off her skirt, waved goodbye, and began to leave, "Have fun figuring out the rest of my life, I'm going to go hang out with Thor."

"Yes! Do that! Everyone knows the way to Odin's heart is through his favorite son!" Eiliff called happily.

"What in the realms are you going to do with that moron?" Loki asked.

"He said he was going to teach me how to fight. If I can't learn magic then I'm going to learn how to beat dudes up." She waved over her shoulder and continued to leave.

"No! Wait!" Eiliff exclaimed. He realized she was gone and sat down again with a swear, "That's not what I had in mind."

Loki laughed. "I can think of no one who has bested Thor in combat. She will learn well."

"Shut up." Eiliff muttered, irritated with this turn of events. Loki only laughed some more.

A/N: Not dead! He he he... yeah. For those of you who did not see it on my profile or other stories: I took a long break from Fanfiction to get caught up on school. I'm back now, but I'm also not currently really into this story. I know it's not very nice of me, but I'm probably only going to update this story when I feel like it and that may not be for a while. However, if I don't take this approach then we're going to end up with some really boring, poorly written content and I don't think you want that. So for now this is probably all you're going to get. Sorry! Thanks for reading!