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if she would still be staying in Asgard for a long time. So much has changed since he had taken her. Did the scepter even matter anymore? Could she trust him?

All her questions were interrupted by the door opening.

"Milady, your breakfast." The same guard came in.

"What is your name? I'm sorry, I've never asked." Alex said, stepping out of bed.

"Rowan, milady."

"Nice to meet you, Rowan. And please, for the love of God, call me Alex."

He only smiled.

Rowan left the room, leaving Alex alone to eat. She did so quickly, and mindlessly got dressed. She wore the same leather pants, white tunic, and lace-up boots as always. Her routine had gotten more settling as she grew more comfortable with Loki.

She had barely finished getting dressed when Loki came in. He was wearing leather pants as well, paired with a long sleeved black shirt.

"Are you ready?" He asked.

"Am I ever?"

He chuckled, holding his hand out toward the door. She walked out of it, and they walked side by side in silence.

She knew, in the back of her mind, she was going to have to tell him how she felt. But, how would she knew he felt the same way? Maybe, it was smarter to just withhold that information. How did she know he wasn't still tricking her? There were many consequences to her telling him of her feelings, and she wasn't sure the good outweighed the bad.

"Stop thinking so hard, I can practically hear how loud your brain is."

If only you knew, she thought.

Loki had seen her nose scrunch out of the corner of his eye. He was aching to know what it was that she thought so hard about all the time. He turned his head, looking her up and down slowly. He had never really thought to look at her, to really look at her. He couldn't deny she was beautiful, not even when he first laid his eyes on her in Stark Tower. But, now, when she was determined, walking confident and ready, that hit him differently.

They reached the gardens, and the day was absolutely beautiful. The sun was shining brightly, reaching its highest point of the day.

"Alright. You've recently found a development in your power, and you need to use that. If someone is advancing on you, don't be afraid to freeze them."

"All that is dandy, Loki, but what the hell am I supposed to do when I fall asleep in the middle of a fight?"

"You need to fight that. You did the other day,"

"Yeah, with your magical vine thing in my system!"

"Have more confidence in yourself." He spoke. "If you really try, you may be able to stay awake,"

"Fine."

He reached over, taking her hand. At first, she was confused, looking up at him. But, she knew better by the smug look on his face. He suddenly twisted her arm, and she was stuck.

"Oh, we're starting already?" She asked innocently.

She brought her ankle to his, sweeping his foot. He fell to the ground, chuckling. She cracked her knuckles, ready for him to retaliate. He stood up, and threw a punch at her. She attempted to catch his fist, but failed, allowing him to punch through her hand. It stung, but she shook it out.

She threw the punch this time, but he dodged it. She tried to grab onto him to drain his energy, but he duplicated himself. She looked between the two of them, and huffed.

"How am I supposed to know which is which?"

"The more handsome one,"

She rolled her eyes, lunging toward one of them. Luckily, she picked the real one. She tried to kick his ankle again, but he grabbed a hold of her. Using her wrists, he flipped her over him. She landed on the ground with a loud thud, and groaned in pain.

"Need a break?"

"No," She pushed herself up, clenching her fists. She looked at him with determined eyes, and he felt himself begin to freeze. She smirked, walking toward him.

She circled him, looking him up and down as if he was prey. His eyes followed her for as long as they could, but he was unable to turn his head. Her hand lightly ran across his shoulders as she decided how to knock him over. Even though he was frozen, Loki could feel every soft touch.

"Alexandra, are you trying to seduce me?"

"Depends. Are you seducible?"

He laughed. "Very much so."

"Then no." She simply nudged his shoulder, and he fell over.

Loki's face was in the dirt, and his voice was muffled. As he began to feel movement, she grew tired. She fought it as hard as she could, thinking about anything but sleep.

"Are you growing tired?"

"No." She lied.

"Then let us continue."

His fists were ready for her to strike, and she did, fighting off her sleep. She successfully hit him, gaining her energy back. She grinned at her victory, and kept advancing on him. He blocked her punches, and tried to sweep her feet. She pushed him away, but he stayed close. He twisted her body around, pulling her back against him. She had no time to blush since he now held her in a choke hold.

"Give up," His voice whispered in her ear.

She struggled for a moment, but began to lose her breath. She tapped his arm, and he let her go. She caught her breath, putting her hands on her knees.

"That was a good fight. You're getting better,"

"Break," She spoke, sitting down on a nearby bench.

He joined her sitting next to her with a small amount of space between them. She was still breathing loudly, looking around the garden. Was now a good time to talk? Probably not, as she sounded like an angry gorilla at the moment.

"I was sad when you died." Was all she said. She instantly regretted it, probably sounding incredibly childish.

He laughed.

"Why are you laughing?" She scoffed, hiding her smile.

"It's just so dramatic how mortals show emotions, and being sad is such a boring one."

"Oh, I'm sorry, is reigning terror on New York a better way to show emotion?"

"Yes," He mused. "You should try it sometime,"

"When I go back, I will."

The second her words came out, they both fell silent. Her returning to Earth was an awkward subject because of its logistics. If she returned to Earth, does that mean he obtained the scepter? Went back to his inevitable ways? Or, did he bring her back because he set her free? Did he come with her? She had so many thoughts enveloping her mind.

"Back to training?" He offered.

"Why is it all work? Don't you ever play games?" She whined.

"You want to play a game? Let's play a game."

She grimaced. "Why does it sound so scary when you say it?"

He only grinned, gesturing for her to follow him. She complied, and he brought her to a more private part of the garden. He waved his hands, and a couple things appeared in front of them. Two mallets, and a ball.

"Uh, what are those for?"

Some small hoops appeared at different areas of the ground.

"The object, is to get them through the hoop. You need to concentrate, hard, on getting the ball through it."

She took one look at Loki holding the mallet and broke out into laughter.

"What?" Loki furrowed his eyebrows.

She couldn't stop laughing, though, and clutched her stomach. Tears began to form in her eyes, and Loki grew impatient.

"What in the nine realms are you laughing at?"

"You literally," She breathed. "Just explained the game of croquet."

"What? No, it's not called that."

She was on the ground now. "Y-Yes it is,"

"Would you shut up?" He snapped.

She finally stopped laughing, catching her breath. "Oh my, that was so funny."

"I don't get what's funny."

"Croquet, it's a game--never mind. Explain again?"

He sighed. "The ball is enchanted. It'll do a number of things if you don't concentrate hard enough. My mother and I were the only ones who could play since no one else had any abilities,"

She felt bad for laughing. He didn't know any better, croquet was an Earth thing. The thought of it almost made her laugh again, but she fought it.

"Alright, well, let's do it."

He handed her a mallet, and allowed her to go first. The first couple tries, she didn't focus hard enough. Then, she began to hit it through every time.

She realized she could mess with Loki, and didn't think twice about doing it. Every time he shot, she froze his ball. Technically, she thought, this was training since she was practicing not growing tired. And it was funny watching him get really frustrated.

"How are you so good at this? It's a game of skill!"

"The gods are on my side." She said nonchalantly.

"No, I'm a god. You're a cheater."

She chuckled, setting down the mallet.

"Fine, but you should be proud I was cheating."

"Honestly, I'm impressed you thought of it."

It had grown dark since they'd been out in the garden, like time was slipping away from them. She had been so focused on what they were doing, she didn't even notice. They started to talk about random things, like Alex's time in college or Loki's training to be a king with Thor.

The night sky had completely taken over the sun, and the stars were out. They sat side by side on the grass, their conversation never-ending.

"Shooting star, make a wish." She suddenly said.

"It's actually a comet," Loki corrected. "But I'll still make one."

She wanted to know what he wished for, but knew better than to ask. He, too, wondered what she wished. The pair sat there, a silence falling over them.

She began to accept staying in Asgard, thinking it may not be so bad. If they could keep helping each other, they would both become strong in ways they didn't think possible. That would only work if they could open up to each other, which was proving to be hard.

When Alex watched Loki die, it taught her that there will be a time when it's too late. Him coming back gave her a second chance.

And she would use that second chance tomorrow to tell him.

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𝚑𝚎𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚘𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚠?

𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚟𝚘𝚝𝚎 :)