You woke up to find that Loki wasn't in the bed. The sun was up, so you knew that he wasn't just on a midnight stroll somewhere. Had something happened? These were supposedly dangerous times on Asgard.

You had just reached for your dagger sheath when he came back in the room. "Good, you're awake!" he greeted you with a child-like grin. He was carrying some kind of tray with him. You sat up against the pillows to see what he was up to, confused as you tried to get your mind off potential danger. He set the tray on the bed in front of you. There was a plate on it with a huge stack of pancakes, a single rose in an adorable vase, a breakfast juice, and silver wear.

"You brought me breakfast in bed," you grinned up at him. That was adorable. Thor had warned you that Loki would do some 'romantic nonsense' this morning. You should've believed him.

"I did," he agreed, sitting on the other side of the breakfast tray from you, looking adorably apprehensive.

"Did you already eat?" you asked, offering him a fork.

"I have not," he hesitated, but took the fork from you. You sighed and dug into the pancakes. He wouldn't start eating them until you had. Overprotective trickster

"These are delicious," you told him after the first bite.

He grinned a Cheshire cat grin at you, clearly pleased with himself. "I am glad my lady approves," he replied.

"You made them?" you asked, surprised. Loki didn't cook.

He nodded and his grin only grew. "I spent an entire year making Thor eat pancakes until I got them right. They are not exactly a common food here," he explained, grinning at the memory of forcing Thor to eat his cooking.

"Poor Thor. How many times did you poison him?" you asked and stuck your tongue out at Loki, letting him know you were only teasing, though the question was legitimate.

Loki laughed. At least he was amused. "Only twice. Moron still kept trying them after that, for some reason," Loki was still laughing. You weren't surprised that Thor kept trying the pancakes. He'd do anything to make his brother happy. You devoured your pancakes in peace. "I have a fun morning planned for us, though we both have work to do this afternoon," Loki told you once the pancakes were gone.

"What work do we have to do?" you asked. You weren't expecting any work.

Loki rolled his eyes. "That is for later, dove. Fun now," he replied and you couldn't help laughing at him. He used magic to vanish the breakfast things, though the rose reappeared on your beside table. You both climbed out of bed and he summoned clothes for you both.

You found yourself dressed in riding leathers. "We're going riding?" you asked stupidly, though it was obvious.

"To get where we're going today," he replied. He wasn't giving anything more away than what he had to. Annoying trickster boyfriend. You made your way down to the stables where his stallion was already saddled. The sweet little mare you had ridden last time you were here was saddled too. You went to her and petted her nose in greeting, cooing at her. She was so sweet and gentle. Loki gave you a leg up into the saddle, which you appreciated. You hadn't been riding in awhile and had only gone a couple times the last time you were here.

You rode for a long while, chatting while the horses strolled along. It was fun, but you were also impatient to find out what your actual activity for the day was.

You ended up at a pond, or small lake maybe. You didn't know enough to make the distinction. It was gorgeous either way. You dismounted and Loki picketed the horses nearby. "This place is gorgeous!" you told him as you walked to a spot where Loki had a picnic blanket set out near the shore.

"Not nearly as gorgeous as you," Loki replied as he bent down to kiss you. You stood up on your toes to meet him halfway. "The picnic is not the only surprise about this place," he told you with his mischievous smile. He stepped back and stripped off his shirt.

You took a moment to appreciate the view.

It was quite the nice view of perfect abs.

"You're not going in there?" you pointed at the lake. "It's still spring," you reminded him. He'd freeze in that water. He laughed.

"We are going in there," he replied with a grin.

"No way!" you shrieked and giggled when he swept you up into his arms before you could run for safety. "Loki! We'll freeze!" you repeated. "If you ever want kisses again, you better not throw me in there," you warned when he got too close to the edge of the water. He laughed and walked calmly into the water. You blushed when you realized he had vanished his pants. At least he was wearing either swim trunks or underpants. It was hard to tell from the angle of being in his arms. He used more magic and you were in a swimsuit. "Seriously, Loki? We're going to freeze. Or at least I am. Just because you're a frost giant doesn't mean all of us can survive the cold,"

You flinched when the water touched you, expecting it to be ice cold. But it wasn't. It wasn't as hot as a hot spring, but it was plenty warm enough to swim in. You laughed in delight and Loki chuckled. "Do you know how to swim?" he asked. You nodded and he set you down in the water. You grinned at him and splashed him in the face with water before diving under. You heard him laugh before he came to try to find you.

You played in the water for a long time, having a splash war and generally being small children. There was a floating barge-like structure in the middle of the pond that you took turns diving and jumping off of. You were both tired and laughing when you made your way back to the shore. After a quick use of magic on Loki's part, you were back in real clothes and dry and curled up on the picnic blanket to have lunch.

You unfortunately had to go back to the palace after that. You both apparently had work to do. "Now, will you tell me what work we have to do?" you demanded when you had nearly reached the palace. You really wanted to know what you were going to be up to that afternoon. You wanted some warning and Loki wasn't giving you anything.

"No," he replied pleasantly. Too pleasantly.

"You've been hanging out with Thor too long," you grumbled at him, which just made him laugh.

The servants took your horses and Loki used more magic for yet another fashion change as he led you to a small practice court in the palace grounds. You were both in what you assumed were Asgardian workout clothes. "This is your job for the next couple hours," he told you and gestured to the female warriors who were stretching nearby. "I have to practice too, so don't grumble at me," he added.

You sighed heavily. "Fine, I haven't been able to practice properly for the last year anyway." You'd still managed to practice, but no one else had the same skill with daggers as Loki did, so you hadn't been able to learn anything new. You made your way shyly over to the group of women. Their leader saw your approach, and you watched her assess you. You tried to stand tall and proud like a princess was supposed to be, but you knew you were failing. You were shy and not a trained warrior like they were.

"Welcome, Princess. We are glad you have chosen to train with us," the leader bid you.

You felt yourself relax as you thanked her. "I pray you do not mind the intrusion. I am only a beginner," you reminded them in careful Asgardian. Your abilities were nothing to brag about, especially in front of them.

One of them scoffed. "You've had Loki training you for over a year. I think that hardly qualifies as a beginner, dear princess." You laughed at that, glad the formality portion of this exercise seemed to be at an end. You got started on dagger work and you realized that you weren't as out of practice as you thought. You really hadn't been out of practice, just hadn't been learning anything new. They taught you a few new tricks and you did fairly decently during the sparring exercises as well.

After that, you had healing lessons with Frigga in the healing wing. You couldn't actually aid her without your own powers, but she did teach you some of the finer points of determining how much magic needed to go into various types of injuries. She was smiling fondly the entire time, and you could tell she was remembering teaching Loki about healing many years ago.

You and Loki promised Thor you'd stay in your suite that night. You were both exhausted from your big day and needed the sleep. Thor looked relieved that he might actually have a nice quiet evening and be allowed to sleep through it. "A whole night where I do not have to deal with your mischief, Brother? Whatever shall I do with myself?" he laughed. You laughed at him and his misfortune.

You and Loki were still laughing and joking about leaving the suite just to annoy Thor when you curled up in bed that night. You felt his magic when he kissed you goodnight. "You know I dislike that spell," you mumbled to him as you were already falling asleep. You had been expecting it, though, so you weren't surprised that he was spelling you to sleep.

"I know, darling, but I don't want to risk Balder attacking you again, especially not so soon. I love you," he whispered the last words as you fell into a dreamless sleep.