Author's notes:This chapter went through so many transformations, it's absurd. But here we are, at long last! And there is a character who's mentioned, but not by name... can you guess who it is?

lxxxi.

Loki still found it peculiar that he, as a Frost Giant, was unaffected by the cold, but the moment his bare toes came in contact with the floor each morning, it was enough to make his hair stand on end. It was ridiculously contradictory. Another thing that was ridiculous was the small, green-furred creature curled up on top of his feet.

"You know, you have that bedbox for a reason," Loki pointed out, sitting up to frown down at the cat who had turned his appendages into a personal pillow. "So you don't sleep on my bed."

"It's comfier up here." The cat didn't bother opening its eyes, the corners of its lips curling up in a smile that was both content and mischievous.

Loki's eyes narrowed. While he had always prided himself on the sharpness of his mind, playing games with the cat immediately after waking wasn't always the best idea. The Trickster gave the feline a skeptical look. "How are bony feet more comfortable than a cushioned bed?"

The cat opened one eye, the pupil dilating as it adjusted to the change of lighting, and looked up at Loki. He could hear a snicker in his head. "Don't try to rationalize my behavior, Loki. You'll only give yourself a headache."

Loki pointed his index finger at it, and a shot of green knocked the cat off the bed. It tumbled briefly before landing gently on its paws, remaining unperturbed since it ended up on a rug rather than the icy floor. Loki muttered expletives as he realized that the cat had moved his slippers again, and yipped his way across the floor in order to get them.

The cat watched in amusement as the prince secured his slippers and quickly sought out a dressing gown. They were up particularly early this morning, so likely he would sleep out to the smaller feasting hall and secure some food before returning here to eat at his leisure. Still, Loki wasn't averse to changing up his routine. "So… breakfast?" the cat queried.

"The usual," Loki replied, tying the sash around his waist. He glanced back down at the cat, a familiar glint in his eye. "Then we had some projects to work on."

"Really?" The cat's ear perked up expectantly as it realized what Loki was talking about. "Back to attempted homicide again? Gee, now I'm feeling nostalgic."

"You shouldn't get so excited about such things," Loki reprimanded, glancing over as the cat sprang up and took the place on his shoulder that it had become strangely fond of. The cat only chuckled in response, tail curling around the back of Loki's neck.

lxxxii.

"You're gonna get in trouuuuuublllllle," the cat sang.

"If this works…" Loki paused and laughed briefly. "Well, to put it as Darcy would: so worth it." He sealed the door into the Weapons' Vault and trotted up the aisle with the cat tucked under his arm. His hope was that the Destroyer wouldn't come popping out as a greeting. That really would spoil everything.

Of course, it would appear once Loki truly got started, but he had planned for that. The Trickster reached the pedestal at the end of the short hall through the center of the Weapons' Vault, and took a moment to regard the object placed there. Since he had confiscated the Casket of Ancient Winters three times now, the protective spells around the weapon had been increased significantly. However, Loki was Loki.

.

By the time the back wall opened and the Destroyer came striding out, Loki was already seated with his back propped against the Casket's pedestal. An open book was in one hand, a detailed history of people who had never existed in this reality but certainly in some other. He lifted his other hand, waving a casual greeting to the massive automaton.

Thor and Odin arrived a few moments later. Odin seemed bewildered by his younger son's presence in the Vault, since all he seemed to be doing was reading a book. Yet, the spells around the Casket had been disturbed.

Thor sighed, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. "Don't tell me you put your cat in there."

"Not his cat! Why is that so hard?"

Loki shrugged. Odin was reminded uncomfortably of the sorcerer's adolescent days, when he had gone through that boredom phase. The boredom phase had been something of a horror for everyone—except Loki, of course.

"I just had a few more to go through," Thor's younger brother explained, his tones light. He lifted a hand, rapping a knuckle against the Casket. It was odd to see the skin turn blue every time it made contact. "Hey, pest. How are you doing in there?"

"They call it the Casket of Ancient Winters for a reason. The weather in here has awful fashion sense."

Loki chuckled. "Really now? Well, let's find something a little more fashionable, then." He rose up to his feet, tucking his book away and opening the Casket to pull the cat out. Once he broke the initial coat of ice, it was simply a matter of shaking its pelt out. Loki placed a light shield for himself while the cat saw to that.

"Ice sticks sound rather delicious right now," the cat decided. "Did you know that on Midgard they call them popsicles?"

"Popsicles?" Loki quirked an eyebrow, sidestepping Thor while the cat walked between Asgard's current and future rulers. "Are they supposed to some relative to Poptarts?"

"Beats me. Oh, and don't forget that I get coconut. Love me some coconut."

Loki's lip curled in disgust. "You're vile."

Thor and Odin watched the pair as they went up the stairs, passing the guards without obstruction as they left the Weapons' Vault. Thor shook his head. "Every time I think that I have Loki figured out, I realize again that I don't."

Odin snorted. "A personality such as Loki's surpasses comprehension, my son."

lxxxiii.

Loki brushed the flour off his hands. Or at least, he brushed some of it off. Flour had a way of filling every line and wrinkle in his skin. Rather annoying, but at least it wasn't something unsanitary, like dirt. Or ash. Ugh.

He had decided to take a more creative route with his weapon of choice. Recently he had discovered that he was in possession of a surplus of nightshade, and there were multiple ways to incorporate fruit into recipes. Jane had often declared the irresistibleness of cookies, and Thor had vouched most emphatically. So Loki had undergone a process to dehydrate his nightshade, rather like the process of turning grapes into raisons, and now here he was.

He was finally done putting all the ingredients together and cleaning up the signs of his work, and now all that was left was to wait for the cookies to finish baking. The Trickster frowned briefly as he realized that he would need something else to pass the time.

Hm, if he was remembering the time differentials between Asgard and Midgard correctly, now was the time Darcy was usually available to call on Skype. Setting a timer for the cookies, he went to retrieve his laptop. It had taken him a little while to figure out the systems, but Darcy had proven helpful. She had proven helpful in many areas, in fact. Loki would have to find a way to repay her for that.

Loki didn't take his usual chair, since the cat had claimed it. The feline was sound asleep, sprawling partially on its back as it snored lightly. The culprit behind its slumbering state was, of course, sunlight. It was almost as if the cat couldn't maintain consciousness whenever sunlight struck it. A strange creature, this one.

The Trickster settled himself comfortably in a different chair, commanding his laptop to awaken. The boot-up process Midgardians used was much too primitive, and time-consuming. Loki's laptop came to full alertness in a handful of seconds, and he waved a finger in command to unlock.

The Internet link took only a moment to establish. Loki remembered that Darcy had been baffled by how good the connection on Asgard was. She had also said something about trying out television here sometime. Loki opened the Skype application and called.

Darcy's face appeared after a few moments. She had been dragged along by Jane to an important convention, since her friend had required a companion in order to come. It was late where the Midgardian was, and she was bundled in a sweater with a steaming mug of coffee in hand. "Hey, Loki."

"Darcy," Loki replied, nodding back. "How are you?"

Darcy contorted her features into an expression of exaggerated distress. "I swear there is so much science going on here, my brain is going to explode." She wiggled her fingers as though to demonstrate. "Into a little cloud of formulas."

"Try to contain yourself," Loki advised. He glanced over at the chair to his right, where the cat was still snoozing. "The cat would be rather disappointed if your brain exploded."

"Oh yeah, how's Danny doing?" Darcy asked, using her nickname for the cat. Loki still wasn't sure what had prompted her to start using it, but it bothered him for some reason. He never let on, of course. "Still alive?"

"Disappointingly so, yes."

Darcy smirked over the rim of her mug. "You should know by now that you're not fooling anyone with that act, Loki," she said. When the Asgardian glared and prepared to retort, she changed the subject. "Hey, I've been thinking of taking you up on that offer."

Offer? Loki's brow crinkled for a moment as he wondered when it was that he had offered something to Darcy, and then he remembered the cat's threat of live eels in order to persuade him to extend an invitation for Darcy to visit Asgard again. Loki hadn't made any other offers to Darcy, so this had to be the one she was referring to.

The prince would have said something about loathing the prospect of another visit from the Midgardian, but in truth he was somewhat pleased with the idea. She was exceedingly quirky, and Asgard suffered a sore lack in that department.

"When?" he asked.

Darcy took another swallow of her coffee before answering. "Sometime soon, I'm thinking. What does next week look like for you?"

Loki didn't need to check his calendar. "Dull, dull, dull."

"Then it's a plan!" Darcy decided. She grinned maniacally. "Sweet. Whoops, gotta go. My date's here."

Loki raised his eyebrows. "You're going to a date dressed like that?" he questioned.

"Nah, the date's here. We're gonna watch cheesy horror movies and eat pizza. He has great taste." Darcy smiled mysteriously. "You know him, actually. Anyway, gotta go! See you next week!"

She disconnected. Loki checked his email (what poorly disguised spam) before telling the laptop to go to rest. The oven chimed to signal the baking of the cookies had finished, and as Loki removed them to cool, the cat finally awoke.

"Oh look, death cookies all for meeeeee."

lxxxiv.

"YES." The cat's statement was both emphatic and gleeful. "The slingshot's back!"

"It is indeed," Loki replied. He patted the side of the giant construction. "Now get in."

"Where are we aiming for this time? The mountains? Heimdall's observatory? Just not the ocean again, Frost Midget. Hunting eels for your sheets is such a pain."

"I was thinking of a place a little warmer than that," Loki replied. He calibrated the slingshot, aiming its projectile—the cat—towards the sun.

"'Warmer' seems to be an accurate description." The cat seemed almost impressed, curling its tail around its paws as it looked upward. "The Casket of Ancient Winters yesterday, and the Sun of Asgard today. You're certainly covering both ends of the spectrum."

Loki completed preparations and took a moment to check on the cat. "Any last words?" he inquired.

"Yeehaw?"

Loki snorted and sent the cat hurtling for the sun. The Trickster stood back and watched it go, until even he couldn't see it, and then calmly began dismantling the slingshot. He paused, squinting as he realized that it seemed to be growing brighter. And hotter.

"UM, GRANDFATHER?"

Loki jumped at the bone-rattling volume of the voice behind him, and quickly covered his ears before turning back around. A massive, white-furred wolf was standing before him, stardust tangled in its thick winter coat. The cat was hanging from its mouth with a keenly disturbed expression.

Skoll tilted his head curiously. "ARE WE PLAYING FETCH?"

Loki winced again, gesturing irritably to the wolf. "Keep it down, Skoll, for the Norns' sakes!"

"Oh. Sorry."

"Loki, your family is utterly ridiculous." The cat seemed exasperated. Loki would have been more amused if he hadn't felt the same way. He stepped forward and extracted the feline from his grandson's maw.

"You don't know the half of it," he muttered. "And no, Skoll, not fetch. I believe you have a sun to catch."

Skoll grinned ecstatically, his tongue lolling out to the side. "I bit the fender the other day. It was glorious."

"I'm certain it was," Loki replied, patting the wolf's head. Most people were alarmed by the fact that Skoll's shoulders were on the same level as an Asgardian's, but Loki was unbothered. He and Skoll talked for a while more, and then the wolf went back to chasing the sun.

The cat watched him go, shaking its head. "Utterly ridiculous," it said again.

"Watch yourself, cat," Loki cautioned. "One of these days your words will catch up to you." He turned and walked away, carrying the dismantled slingshot equipment, and the cat snorted doubtfully before following after.

lxxxv.

"Norns, Norns, Norns, LOKI WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"Over—MMPH!" Loki tumbled backwards as the cat came flying seemingly from nowhere and collided with his face. The Trickster frantically trying to peel it off, but the feline secured its claws into his chest and refused to move any further. Its eyes were impossibly wide.

"You horrid creature, did you scry into the future?"

"Eh?" Loki blinked down at the cat in befuddlement. He tried to sit up but the cat only dug its claws in deeper, so he decided to remain horizontal for the time being. "Many skills I have, cat, but seeing into the future is still an ability I do not possess. Why do you ask?"

"It came true," the cat said, and hissed. "My brother's here."