"Loki, where are we going?" Maeve mumbled sleepily. The prince only grabbed her hand and dragged her down the hallways, still dark in the early hours of morning.

"It's a surprise," he said, grinning. The two of them traveled outside to the stables, where Loki led Twilight out. Maeve could mount a horse just fine but allowed him to assist her before he smoothly mounted behind her.

"It's still dark out here!"

"Fantastic observation, Maeve. You truly have brilliant eyesight."

"I'm serious- where are we going?"

"You'll see." He clicked his tongue and the horse trotted off into the early morning mist.

Instead of taking them into the village, Loki steered Twilight into the woods. The late-summer air hung around them in a humid fog. The prince glanced around at their surroundings nervously. The weather certainly didn't look promising, which could potentially ruin his plan.

"So," he said, just to keep the conversation moving, "tell me something about yourself I don't know."

"Hm, lets see... I don't like chocolate."

"What do you mean?"

She shrugged. "I think it's disgusting."

"Are you being serious?"

"Yes."

"I guess that's it, then." He sighed dramatically. "I can't marry you, Maeve. I'm sorry."

She giggled. "That's not really your choice."

"I'll find a way to get out of it."

"Oh? Like what?"

He pretended to think about it. "I'll run away to Midgard and disguise myself as a lowly human. Better to suffer on Earth than marry a woman who doesn't like chocolate."

"Be serious!"

"You don't believe me?" There was a moment of silence, then he spoke again. "I'm always serious. Turn around."

Maeve did as he said and gasped. Sitting behind her was a young man with red hair and black glasses. He wore a shirt bearing the words 'Star Wars', though Maeve didn't know what it meant.

"Loki!"

"I don't know who you're talking about," he said in a perfect American accent. "I'm Joe Smith, from Arkansas. I like playing video games in my parents' basement because I flunked out of design school. Life is rad."

Maeve still hadn't stopped laughing. She laughed so hard that she almost fell off of the horse. Loki (or Joe, depending how she looked at it) held her so she didn't slip.

"You are too much," she said, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes. "I don't know the last time I laughed that hard."

Everything, she realized, was a bit brighter with Loki at her side. The sunrise more vivid, the flowers more fragrant. The world lit up when he looked at her.

"You have a pretty laugh. You should laugh more often." He morphed back into his Asgardian form and led the horse down a rocky path. "I'm glad I amuse you."

"You do. Trust me." She winked at him. He fought off an embarrassed but pleased expression. "What's something I don't know about you?"

"I got stuck as a cat for a month when I was young."

"Really?"

He chuckled to himself as he recalled the memory. "Mother was teaching me how to morph to different forms. I successfully transformed into this teeny fluffy black cat, but I couldn't figure out how to then myself back. I had to ride around in Mother's purse for an entire month until we found a spell to turn me back."

"I accidentally tied myself up in vines once. Asmund had to cut me out of them."

"I locked myself in a room with magic and couldn't open it again."

"I set off Mother's allergies with flowers for her birthday."

"Oh, so the asters weren't the first time you got someone sick, hm?"

"Well, Mother was an accident. I meant it with you."

"Of course you did."

Maeve leaned back to be closer to him. He kept one hand on the reins and absentmindedly stroked her hair.

After a little while of comfortable silence, the horse slowed to a stop. Loki tied Twilight to a branch before offering Maeve his hand.

"This way." He led her through the trees. "I used to come out here a lot, you know. I liked taking walks in the forest to clear my mind. It's relaxing."

"Me too." Maeve ran her hand down the bark of an ash tree, giving the leaves a brighter green pigment. "I always find myself here."

"It's nice to get away," Loki admitted. There was a dip in the ground, so he went first before putting his hands around her waist and helping her down. "Everyone's so loud. It's loud here, too, in a way. But it's different."

Maeve knew exactly what he meant. A butterfly fluttered idly through the fog, its pink wings as a stark contrast to the surrounding gray. Birds chirped and wind rustled through the branches. The forest wasn't loud. It was alive.

"Do you believe in fate?" She asked.

"I don't know."

"What about soulmates?"

He considered this, trying to ignore her small hand in his while he thought. "Maybe. But I think the odds are one in a million. To somehow happen across the love of your life at the exact right time seems a little unlikely."

Maeve nodded. Loki snuck a glance at her. Her blonde curls had become frizzy due to the humidity and her lace up boots were caked in soil. She didn't care about getting her hands dirty, and she never took anything at face-value. Maybe the universe had finally done something right for him.

"You okay?" She asked, squeezing his hand.

He nodded. "Just lost in thought, flower."

"I like that nickname."

"It suits you." He smiled softly at her. "Right up here."

The pair stepped out from underneath the canopy of trees and to the edge of the cliff. Loki's face fell when all he saw in the distance was fog and clouds.

"Um... tell me what I'm supposed to be looking at," she said.

He sighed. "You're supposed to be looking at the sunrise, but the weather has apparently not decided to cooperate."

"That's okay. I can imagine it, and we can come back another day."

"Yes, but I dragged you out of bed to see this, and we walked a long way for nothing."

"It wasn't for nothing." She moved to stand in front of him and put her hands on his cheeks, forcing him to look at her. "I had fun."

"So did I."

"Then what does it matter?"

He smiled and she gave him a hug. With her in his arms, a sense of protectiveness settled over him. For a moment, everything seemed to fall perfectly into place.

Then it started to rain. The heavens drenched the couple, who immediately ran for shelter under the trees.

"I'm so sorry!" Loki exclaimed guiltily. He pulled off his cloak and fastened it around her in an attempt to shield her from the rain. Thunder clapped in the sky, and he flinched, a motion he attempted to hide but Maeve still noticed.

"You don't need to apologize. There's nothing to be sorry about."

The prince shook his head, letting his hands fall to his sides. "I just... I had this plan. I wanted to take you out here and watch the sunrise, and it would have been perfect, but looking back, it was stupid."

"It's not stupid. It's sweet." Maeve smiled up at Loki. "How did it end?"

"What?"

"Your plan. Did it end like this?" She put her hands on Loki's cheeks and standing on her tiptoes, kissed him.

The kiss was soft and short, lasting only a few seconds. When she pulled away, Loki took a minute to catch his breath from this unexpected turn of events. He knew how he felt about Maeve, but had never expected her to return his affection. Next to Thor, who could fall in love with him?

"It did." The rain began to fall harder and Loki raised his hand to create a shield over them, but she stopped him.

"Don't. I like the rain."

"All right, darling."

He leaned in again, and for the second time, their lips met. His hands settled on her hips and hers found a place behind his neck as the rain fell.