Author's notes: I have pretty much no tolerance for the cold, but golly do I love winter. And tomorrow is Christmaaaaaassssss

So much sweet in this chapter oh gosh I can't take it.

lxxxxvi.

"Going out, Loki?"

"You know I often do." Loki poked through his saddlebags on last time, making certain he had everything he wanted. Forvitni kept still excepting his head—the stallion kept turning it this way and that, nostrils flared wide as he scented the snow beyond the stable doors. The cat was walking from one side of the stables to the other, seeming to find amusement in placing his paws in a straight line, one after the other.

"Aren't you dressed a little too lightly for that?" Frigga questioned. She was wearing a thick overcoat, creamy white weaves. "This is the coldest winter we've had in centuries."

"I noticed that when I woke up with my fur frozen through," the cat remarked. He shivered. "Last time I take a bath before going to bed."

Loki shook his head lightly at the cat's commentary and spoke in response to Frigga, intending to reassure her. "It's alright, Mother, I'm a Frost—" The prince's words became muffled, and he blinked in surprise at the soft, red-and-black scarf that had looped around his neck and halfway up his head. The end of it hung over his face. Loki shook his head to make it fall out of the way, and Frigga giggled before lowering the hand she had used to drop the scarf whimsically into place.

"I know red isn't your favorite color," she said, offering an apologetic smile. "Green is scarce this winter, for some reason."

"I don't mind," Loki said quietly. He seemed to have misplaced his talent for witty retorts. After rearranging the scarf into the style he preferred, he tucked the loose ends underneath his buttoned coat, where Forvitni's curious teeth couldn't reach. "Not… not terribly, anyway. Thank you, Mother."

Frigga smiled, and provoked more surprise from Loki when she tweaked his nose. That was something she hadn't done for a long time. "Now, why do you only call me that when we're alone?" Her eyes softened when Loki didn't reply. "Enjoy your ride, my son." She knelt to pet the cat, who pranced over to receive the attention. "I'm glad to see you and the cat are spending more time together. It was rather stressful when your relationship was murder-based."

"Ah, memories." The cat smiled fondly as he rubbed against Frigga's legs.

Loki chuckled. "Oh, I still throw him into the occasional tree," he informed his mother.

"Yesterday you buried me in a snowdrift. Yeck, that was wet."

Frigga laughed. Although she couldn't hear all of the conversation, she could hear enough. The queen gave Loki one of her looks, amused yet piercing. "Him, Loki? There was a time when all you referred to the cat as was it."

The cat sat down, angling his head up to give Loki a faked look of disapproval. "Yes, I remember," he agreed. "Dehumanizing, that was, Frost Midget."

Frigga watched the exchanged glances and listened to Loki's side of the verbal sparring session for a while before scratching the cat behind his ears one last time and standing up. She thought to herself that she was glad these sessions of banter had become more lightheartedly. "I have a feeling that you two will always have… a rather interesting relationship," she said. Loki and the cat gave her curious looks, wondering what had prompted the remark from her. The queen only waved off their queries before saying a last farewell to them both.

After she had gone, Forvitni stamped his front hooves and snorted impatiently. Loki could hear both the cat's laugh and his amused meow as he came up from his sitting position and leaped atop the horse's saddle. Loki waited until he was secure before putting his boot in the stirrup and swinging on top. Forvitni was eagerly chomping at his bit as they left the stable, excited to see where Loki was going to take them.

"Which direction today, Loki?" the cat queried. He looked over his shoulder. "Loki?"

Loki didn't seem to hear the cat. His gloved fingers kept going up to the scarf snugly tied around his throat. The cat hooked his paw around one side of the reins and turned Forvitni north. The horse immediately galloped forward, and Loki finally snapped out of his daze to take the reins. They continued in the direction the cat had chosen, but at less risk of Forvitni doing whatever he pleased.

Loki met the cat's querying gaze for only a second before looking away, paying attention to the snowdrifts they passed. "I was thinking."

"Obviously not about where we're going," the cat remarked. His ears twitched curiously. "So what were you thinking about?"

"Only…" Loki tugged at the folds of the scarf again, rubbing the red-and-black knit between his finger and thumb. "Mother hasn't knitted a scarf for me since I was a boy. And obviously, that was a very long time ago. I had noticed yesterday that my favorite as a lad had become too small to wear." He was quiet for a moment, fingers tightening on the reins. "It was red-and-black."

The cat looked away. Loki wasn't sure why. "Mothers."

"Aye," Loki agreed, blinking rapidly. The cold was making his eyes water. "Mothers."

lxxxxvii.

It wasn't Loki's intent, but they were out long after nightfall. He and the cat had found a small village up on the foothills of the near northern mountains. Loki was dragged into a wild snowball fight by the children—it had started as a two-sided battle, but with the addition of the mischievous prince, it wasn't long before everything devolved into a wild, fun-filled, free-for-all. The cat stayed out of things, what with his dislike of being wet.

Now it was four hours after nightfall , Loki was on foot leading the horse, and all three of them were soaking wet and cold. The palace gate came into view at last, and they made their way to the stables. Loki expected the cat to make a beeline for the generously heated palace interior, but he stayed as Loki took care of Forvitni.

They were both sneezing as they came back into the palace. Loki wrung some more melted snow from his hair. The cat shook himself out several times. "I'll put the kettle on," Loki decided.

"Even better," said Frigga, and Loki and the cat both jumped, wondering how long she had been waiting. "The stew's still hot. Change into some dry clothes and come over to the small dining hall."

Loki always felt terribly awkward when Frigga did stuff like this for him. "You don't have to—"

"I already have," Frigga replied. She chuckled as she passed, tweaking Loki's nose again. The prince and the cat exchanged bemused looks.

.

Loki had always preferred the private dining hall to the main one. The table was small and to itself, with a fire roaring on the hearth. When he didn't take meals to his room, Loki most often ate here.

He had changed into some dry, woolen clothes, frowning when he realized that he was too cold for a heat spell. The cat was still dripping, so Loki had grabbed a towel, wrapped him up, and rubbed vigorously. The result was a mostly dry ball of exasperated fluff.

Loki snickered as he recalled, setting two bowls beside the pot of stew that was indeed still hot and ladling out large portions for both himself and the cat. He joined the cat by the fire, folding his legs before setting the cat's steaming bowl just in front of his nose. Bright blue eyes snapped open, and the cat sniffed appreciatively before setting into his meal.

He paused at one point, licking stew off his lips as he looked over at Loki. "Wearing a wet scarf sort of defeats the purpose of drying off, you know," he pointed out.

"I don't mind." Loki smiled slightly as his hand went up to the loosely wrapped material. "Not terribly, anyway."

lxxxxviii.

Loki remembered that when he was still very young, windstorms would often wake him in the middle of the night. He had learned long ago to ignore it, so he was surprised to find himself forced awake by the howling wind.

The slight shift in his body alerted the cat, too, and he drew his head up from where it had been propped against Loki's feet. His ears swiveled about, whiskers trembling. "That's a big blizzard."

Loki nodded agreement. "Much bigger than there has been in my time. There isn't any cause for alarm, however—the protective barriers around the palace and other buildings in the city prevent any danger of a breach."

C-R-A-C-K!

Loki vaulted out of bed as he felt the palace shake. The glass of his windows shattered and snow came blowing in. The cat jumped up to all four paws and sprang back, back arched as his fur spiked out. He glared over at Loki. "You just had to say it."

"This can't be the only breach," Loki replied. He turned on the lights, rummaging around in search of his boots. "People could be trapped…"

"We could be trapped. Let's get going, Frost Midget."

Loki found the boots and quickly pulled them on, as well as a light coat. The cat jumped up onto his shoulder, and Loki constructed a light in the palm of his hand, using the greenish luminescence to guide their way through as they sought out others.

He found giant piles of snow blocking three of the hallways. Loki would have done something to fix the wide rifts in the walls, but metal-shifting magic was something he was unfamiliar with. He kept changing direction.

It was starting to seem like there was no one besides him and the cat in this section of the palace, when he found Frigga and Odin down the last corridor. They were standing at the edge of a mound of snow that went all the way up to the ceiling. Odin was clearly having difficulty remaining still, watching his wife as he waited. Frigga had her palm pressed against the snow, the golden light wreathed around her hand suggesting that she was looking for someone. Had somebody been trapped underneath all that snow? If they weren't extracted soon, they would suffocate.

Frigga moved her hand, tapping a particular patch of snow for emphasis and leaving a rune behind to mark the place. "He's right here," she told Odin.

"Who is?" Loki asked. Apparently the king and queen of Asgard hadn't noticed him coming in. Their surprised expressions as they looked to him certainly indicated as much. The cat held onto Loki's shoulder a little more securely than was necessary. There was a lot more snow in this hallway than in the others.

Frigga sighed with relief. "Loki, thank the Norns you're safe." She stepped to the side and gestured to where she had left the rune marking the snow. Loki recognized it as belonging to his brother. "Thor is trapped underneath all this snow. I'd pull him out myself, but really it's a two-person job…"

"You mean it's a job requiring a Jotun," Loki answered dryly, lifting an eyebrow. Frigga and Odin both hesitated, perhaps expecting another angry outburst from Loki in regards to his origins, but Loki only walked over to where Thor had been buried by the snow. "You need me to lift the snow so that you can extract Thor, correct?"

Frigga and Odin exchanged startled looks. Loki wasn't often so cooperative, especially since the revelation of him being a Frost Giant. "Yes," Frigga confirmed.

"Hey, teamwork." The cat somehow imitated the sound of an applauding audience into Loki's head. "I hadn't realized that you all were capable of working together."

"Of course we are," said Loki. He took the cat off his shoulder and set him down on the floor, ignoring his indignant squawk at being placed directly in a puddle. The sorcerer positioned himself. "Ready when you are."

Frigga was ready. Odin stepped back, picking up the partially soaked and fully miserable cat on his way. Exchanging a brief nod, Loki and Frigga went to work. It was Loki who had to take action first, pushing bare hands into the snow and reaching, separating the chill of the snow from the heat of Thor's body and lifting.

It was a lot harder than he had expected it to be. The prince's teeth ground into each other, and Frigga's expression turned worried as she watched sweat roll down her son's face. Finally a division appeared in the mound of snow, widening as Loki continued to lift, and Thor finally came into view. He was unconscious, so Frigga had to use a different means to extract him. She called to Mjolnir, attached to Thor's belt, and the hammer pulled the Thunderer behind.

Thor was safe. Loki let his arms go slack, the snow crashing back down and producing a sound something like muffled thunder. Frigga managed to wake Thor, and he had to sit and cough snow for a few minutes while his mother and brother placed hands upon his shoulders and spread warmth through his limbs. Frigga noticed the tremor in Loki's arms, and knew that it had more to do with it than just magical effort.

"What is it with you getting stuck in snowdrifts, anyway?" Loki muttered irately. "I'm the Frost Giant here, Thor, not the other way around."

"Sorry," said Thor. He sneezed. Loki shook his head.

"Well, what now?" the cat asked. He was giving Thor a sulky glare from where he was nestled in the crook of Odin's arm—after all, he was still soaked, and it was entirely due to Thor. Needless to say, he was not pleased.

"We're the only ones trapped in this section of the palace," Frigga said. "There are minor injuries throughout the palace, but nothing serious. The dwarves have promised to arrive with the dawn, so we should try to get some sleep in the meantime."

"But our rooms are on the other side of that," Thor reminded them, pointing to the mountain of snow as he sneezed again.

"Loki's isn't."

They all turned to him. The younger prince sighed. "For Hati's sake… oh, very well. Come along."

lxxxxix.

Since there wasn't enough space in the bedroom, Loki pulled blankets, pillows, and rugs out into the main chamber. He found himself thinking of what Darcy referred to as 'slumber parties.' Having taken care of that, he mentally reviewed where everyone else was.

Odin was coaxing up a fire. Thor and Frigga were looking for more wood. Loki had a feeling some bed frames were going to be sacrificed tonight. Loki paused for a moment, watching as Odin whispered to the coal and flames crackled brightly in response. While many of his magic skills he had learned from his mother, it was his father who had taught him to understand flame.

Odin's head turned sharply as he realized that he was no longer alone, and Loki made it seem that he had just arrived. "It's a stubborn one tonight," he said of the fire.

"No." Odin looked back over to the flames as they started to fade again. "Just reluctant. You never did like it when fire refused to follow your will, Loki."

"It was so much harder to learn than water," Loki recalled. He frowned. "Why did you even bother teaching me? You knew full well that I was a Frost Giant. Why teach a Jotun magic that is specific to the Æsir?"

"Because you're my son," Odin replied simply. "And you wanted to learn."

Loki opened his mouth to deliver a sharp answer, reminding Odin that he was not in fact his son, but he stopped when Odin's stomach growled very loudly. There was an echo, and Loki looked over at Thor as he and Frigga came in. "You two? I was the one out all day, what are you hungry for?"

"They were both in a diplomatic meeting from this afternoon until a few minutes before the breach," Frigga explained. "You know how Alfheim representatives are."

Loki did know. He sighed, turning away from the fireplace, and paused when the cat stuck a paw on his foot. "Don't you dare give them the stew."

"We can make more tomorrow."

The cat yowled in dismay, and kept it up as he followed Loki out of the room.

ll.

Odin had finally gotten the fire going by the time Loki returned with two steaming bowls of stew. "This is all I have at present, I'm afraid," he told them.

"It is more than sufficient," Thor assured his brother. He certainly was a terrible liar, but at least he meant well. The elder prince smiled up at Loki. "Thank you, brother."

"It's nothing."

"Oh, it's something, alright," the cat said grumpily. Thor gave him a confused look as the feline started glaring at him again.

"This reminds me of that winter in Svartalfheim," Odin mused. "In the days before I was king, when I was but a youth. There was no Bifrost then, and Heimdall, Frigga, and I were stranded on a mountain slope."

Loki's eyebrows lifted. "You haven't mentioned this one before."

"It was a long time ago. You probably wouldn't find it interesting."

Frigga nudged her husband. "If you don't tell them, I will."

"You know the law of tales, Father," Thor said sternly. Loki tried not to chuckle at the graveness upon his older brother's face, and instead took on a similar expression. "Once you start a tale, you must finish it."

Odin smiled slightly. "If you insist." His eyes had a mischievous spark, and he indicated that his audience should get comfortable. Loki sat down next to Thor and the cat claimed his Frost Midget's lap. Frigga stayed where she was, at her husband's side with an amused smile curving her lips upward.

Odin launched into his tale with an enthusiasm Thor and Loki did not often see. Their father had a way with storytelling. It wasn't the sort he did when exchanging tales with old friends in the feasting hall. No, this was less boastful and more grand. It brought to Loki's mind the days of his and Thor's childhood.

Frigga didn't understand why anyone would say there was no resemblance between Loki and his family. Perhaps he didn't have the same golden locks and blue eyes that they did, but Loki showed his resemblance in other ways. He shared Thor's flair for the dramatic. He possessed the same skill for magic as his mother. Many thought he had gotten his storytelling cadence from Frigga as well, but in truth, it had come from his father.

Frigga wondered if Loki even realized he was smiling. He and Thor both remained fixed on Odin as he moved from one tale to the next, but despite their best efforts they dropped off to sleep, Thor tipping backwards and Loki using his chest as a pillow. The cat happily claimed two pairs of feet.

Frigga pulled blankets up around Loki's shoulders while Odin did the same for Thor. "I haven't seen them like this since they were boys," Frigga said, her voice hushed as she reminisced.

"Loki, no doubt, will be embarrassed to wake up in such a position," Odin chuckled. He smiled down at his younger son, whose sharp features had been softened by sleep. "Or so he would have us believe."

"Always one for opposites, our Loki." Frigga pulled back some hair that had fallen in front of Loki's nose. She looked up to Odin, who was now standing next to her, and reached up to take his hand. "I've missed this," she confessed.

"Aye," Odin agreed quietly. "So have I."