Winter had fallen, snow covering most surfaces in sight. I was on the sofa in the boy's apartment, sitting cross-legged and trying to sketch on a spare piece of paper Steve lent me. By all accounts it was horrible, but I was thoroughly enjoying myself all the same. Steve walked over to me, glancing over my shoulder before letting out a chuckle. I stuck my tongue out at him, and he dropped onto the couch himself.

"You feeling better?" I asked, setting down the pencil as Steve wrinkled his nose. He had been bedridden the last week, after catching some illness that was worsened as his asthma flared up. He pushed through it, but I could tell the strain that had settled over both him and Bucky as the week pushed on.

"I'm fine. Always am."

"Alright," I said softly, nodding a bit as his jaw tightened, clearly not wanting to settle on the subject. Lucky for me, there was a knock at the door, and I stood up to answer it.

It took me a second to register that I recognized who was in front of me, shoulders dusted with snow and a huge smile on his face.

"Loki?" I breathed, feeling my eyes light up and my heart lift in my chest.

"Hi, Asariel," he answered, voice soft.

I glanced behind me, confirming that Steve was paying no attention before stepping outside and closing the door. Then, I threw my arms around his neck, laughing happily as he hugged me back.

"It's good to see you," he grinned, pulling back to study me. "I have to say, if I didn't know better I would think you were human. You blend right in!"

"You didn't do so bad yourself," I teased, chuckling as a blush settles over his features. Indeed, he had made sure to blend in, though I couldn't tell if it was just an illusion or not. White buttoned shirt, a black coat, and a hint of green that was his scarf. "How'd you find me?"

"Heimdall helped me out. Made me promise not to make a scene, though," he shrugged, his skinny face clearly delighted. "Anyway, I wanted to see you! Thor would have come, but I'm pretty sure he's off drinking or whatever he does anymore."

I shook my head, corners of my mouth curled upwards. "How is he? How's Asgard?"

Loki shrugged again, putting his hands in his pockets. "Good, and good. Thor is now quite the hero, though. Odin gave him Mjolnir."

I raised an eyebrow. "Impressive, honestly. And Heimdall?"

"Misses you every day, as do I. But he's okay," he answered, leaning against the small banister on my left. "But honestly, you have an accent now. Do I sound strange to you?"

"You sound like you," I assured him, and he made a show of acting relieved, wiping his forehead with a sigh. But something was bothering me, which I couldn't place right away. His shoulders had a stiffness to them, and though he was smiling and joking, it felt like part of it was forced. "Why are you here?"

The smile slipped off his face slightly, and he gave a lopsided shrug. "It's a bit of a story. Odin... well, my father has banned any traveling to this realm. He won't explain why. He's never liked others coming here, not since the Frost Giant invasion way back when. He has said that only in cases of war or banishment will Midgard be open to Asgardians again."

I felt my face fall, my eyebrows drawing together as my chest tightened. "He... what? Why?" Loki shook his head.

"I wish I could say."

A thought came to me, dark and oppressive, worming into my head. "What about me? Will I... will I ever be able to come back to Asgard? See my family?"

If possible, Loki's face darkened more, and he shook his head. "He has never liked the Legends. To my knowledge, he believes you forsook Asgard when you left with Alpha. He banished all who left to any realm, including you. If he knew about me... I'm not sure what he would do, honestly."

I felt something drop to the pit of my stomach, a horrible burning creeping up my throat. Tears had sprung to my eyes, though I blinked them away hurriedly, taking a shaky breath. "So this is a goodbye, then?"

"Hey," he muttered gently, reaching out to grasp my hands. "Not a goodbye. You know as well as I do we can still talk, anytime you'd like. I just wanted to see you."

I nodded, closing my eyes. I loved Earth, loved being here and watching it grow. But, despite having lived here the majority of my life, I always thought of Asgard as home. A constant safety, where I might have returned to if my task here came to an end. Now, it seemed unreachable.

"This place seems... lovely," Loki suddenly muttered, a forced sort of contemplation on his face as he glanced around. A laugh bubbled out of my chest, so violently it was obvious I want expecting it. His mouth twitched upwards in response.

"Okay Mr. Prince-of-Asgard, some people live normal lives."

"Well, I think a normal life here is very different from my normal life," Loki teased, seeming to try to sink back into that eased atmosphere that had so violently left. "Something tells me things like sword training aren't that common."

"You're not wrong." I hesitated, absentmindedly chewing my lip as I thought. "If you wanted, I could show you a bit of normal life? While you're here, at least. I mean, it won't be much, especially since it's the winter, so most of the best activities are probably off the table, but—"

"Asariel," Loki cut me off, shaking his head with a laugh. "That's the reason I came here. To spend time with you, especially because we haven't ever had the chance."

I smiled bashfully before crossing my arms, holding them close to my body. "Okay, I'm going to run inside, get some proper clothes on. Give me five minutes, tops."

"I can come inside, if you want—"

"No!" I blurted out, hand flying out to block him from moving. Loki raised an eyebrow, tilting his head to the side. "No, it's kind of a mess in there, you really don't want to see that," I laughed nervously, trying to cover up my outburst. "I promise it won't take long."

"If you insist," Loki said, clearly bemused.

I opened the door and slid inside, quickly closing it before holding back a groan.

"Who's that?" Steve muttered, clearly only paying little attention as he sat hunched over the same failed piece of artwork I had previously been working on.

"No one," I responded quickly, shaking my head. "An old friend," I amended, after he rolled his eyes at me. "Haven't seen him in years, we're gonna catch up."

At that, he perked up, chin tilting towards me. "Want some company?"

I felt building panic I couldn't quite explain building in the pit of my stomach. I knew nothing would happen if the two of them met, Loki knew better than to give away my secret. But there was still the ever looming presence of that secret, and Loki being there would only be a constant nagging reminder that Steve had no idea who I really was.

"Thanks, Steve, but no. Partly because I'm kinda worried about how cold it is, and you're still getting through your cold..."

Steve's face fell, and he muttered something under his breath that sounded something like, "It's not my fault it messes with my lungs."

"I'll make dinner tonight?"

Now, Steve cracked a smile, which he quickly tried to stifle. "Bucky's a better cook than you."

"Take it or leave it," I called to him over my shoulder, shrugging on the coat I had worn over to their place and pulling on my shoes. I turned to the mirror on the wall, combing through my hair with my fingers to try to tame it before braiding it. I absentmindedly glanced at the drawing before sighing dramatically. "That's totally not fair, by the way," I grumbled, tapping the paper that had been vastly improved, if only with a few alterations.

"Yeah, yeah, go have fun," Steve chuckled, lightly elbowing my ribs as I made a face at him.

I slipped back outside, immediately bouncing forward to stand next to Loki with a grin. Already, the cold began to creep back in, harsher against the relative warmth of the apartment. Despite that, he immediately took off the scarf wrapped around his neck, instead looping it around my own.

"Lead the way," he smiled, holding out an arm. I looped mine in his, a smile of my own dominating my face, and the two of us began to walk towards the city.

~*~

"They don't even have magic," Loki muttered, eyes wide as we looked up at the Empire State Building.

"You'd be less impressed if you saw the mess of traffic it made," I joked, staring fondly at the building. "They finished it a couple years ago."

"Who were you talking to inside your home?" Loki asked, a sudden jerk away from the previous topic. I sat with my mouth opened dumbly, blinking as he chuckled. "I could hear you, I was only just outside."

"Oh," I mumbled, hands tugging at the ends of the emerald scarf.

"I'm guessing whoever it was, he doesn't know you're... not from around here?"

"No," I sighed, starting to walk slowly once more. Loki followed my lead, walking close to me so our shoulders kept bumping into each other. "I have no idea how I would. Besides, I'm probably only going to stick around for a few more years, and then I'll never see them again."

"Oh, there's two?" Loki raised his eyebrows, mouth still curled into a smirk. I rammed into his side, hard, and he stumbled off the sidewalk with a laugh. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but they are your friends?"

"Yeah?"

"Then why are you so afraid of telling them?"

I sighed, fiddling with a strand of my hair as we walked. "Because... I don't to lose them. And I'm afraid if I tell them the truth, they wouldn't believe me, or they would be angry I didn't tell them, or something worse. I've lived a pretty small life here, Loki. I kind of want to keep it that way."

Loki nodded, eyes downcast. He glanced at me, a warmth in his eyes that seemed to soften the edges of the conversation. "Well, you seem to like them. Just don't go replacing me, and I believe everything will work out the way it's supposed to."

I nodded, trying to settle the nausea that had planted in my stomach. "How did my father react to the news?" I asked, once again changing the topic. I expected Loki to continue to try to joke and laugh, but he was clearly far more invested in the situation than I had first realized, instead scowling at the ground.

"More or less the same as myself. He was angry. I believe he threatened treason if Odin weren't to let you come home. Luckily for me, I already have some treason under my belt, being in contact with the Legends as I am. That's partly why he allowed me to come, purely to spite my father."

"Partly?"

Loki nodded, eyes still clouded. "Yes. And partly because he misses you, though I doubt that alone would have led him to going against my father's orders."

I smiled, glancing at the ground. "That does sound like Heimdall."

We walked in silence for several more minutes, snow continuing to fall softly, leaving white powdering both of our shoulder and hair.

"Do you know how strange it is for me to talk about both my life here and in Asgard in one conversation?" I asked, turning to my companion with a grin. "I've never truly done that. It's kind of nice."

"I only wish you could have come home one last time," Loki admitted, shrugging lightly. "Midgard was never meant to be something permanent for you."

"Well..." I started slowly, glancing over my shoulder to the sprawling city we already passed by. "It's not so bad. And in many ways, it is my home now. I think you would like it here, if you ever wanted to commit treason and visit again," I teased, and Loki rolled his eyes with a smirk.

"I remember why I didn't speak with you often," he muttered, keeping on an air of annoyance before the both of us completely broke down into laughter.

~*~

As the day turned to dusk, and eventually a cold night, our walk through the city wound to a stop. Despite my coat, I was beginning to shiver, my cheeks and nose burning a bright red, and Loki offered to walk me home.

"I think I'd be walking you," I reminded him, and he shrugged.

"It's the thought that counts."

Indeed, after weaving our way back through the streets of Brooklyn, the two of us found ourselves outside the apartment. We were both clearly hesitant to say goodbye, awkwardly standing there and shuffling our feet before Loki spoke.

"Be sure to talk with me. Every couple months, at least."

I smiled, reaching out and squeezing his hand. "Deal." I paused, chewing on the inside of my cheek absentmindedly. "Tell my father I love him. And miss him. Thor too, while you're at it."

Loki smiled warmly, giving a brief nod. "Of course. Though I doubt either of them need me to tell them so."

I smiled brightly before standing on tiptoe, pulling him down into a hug. "Thank you," I murmured, and he hugged me tightly. "For everything."

"This isn't goodbye," he reminded me, pulling back slightly and setting his hands on my shoulders. "I do intend on seeing you again. Although, is there a better place for me to call for the Bifrost? I'm afraid I frightened a few people half to death earlier," he admitted, shrugging bashfully as I made an incredulous face at him.

"There's an old alley, just down that way," I said, stepping back and pointing down the road. "It's late enough, I doubt many people will be walking this way."

"Thank you, Asariel."

"Oh!" I exclaimed, hands flying to the scarf around my neck. "Your scarf!"

"No, no, keep it," he insisted, shaking his head firmly. "It suits you. Not to mention, it's a little reminder of yours truly."

We gave each other another quick hug. "I'll talk to you soon," I promised, as Loki began to walk away.

"I expect nothing less," he teased, and before long, he had disappeared from my sight. I waited a few moments longer, until I heard a familiar cracking sound, a pillar of light shooting down before retreating back to the clouds in an instant. I smiled softly to myself before turning to the stairs, a slow gait to my steps that seemed to try to soak in the day in as much time as possible.

I approached the door to the apartment, where I was greeted by frenzied yells and the distinct sound of something breaking. I frowned, but curiosity got the better of me, and I slowly pushed the door open.

Steve and Bucky were staring at the now broken lamp on the floor, Bucky standing on the couch and Steve on the ground below him. They both turned to me with guilty expressions, and my eyes traveled from the pillow clenched in Steve's hand to the other strewn across the broken glass on the floor, and finally settling on the empty-handed Bucky. He grinned at me, holding up his hands in surrender.

"Tough day at work?" He offered, and Steve stifled a giggle. "We wanted to work off some stress."

I shook my head, though I couldn't fight the smile spreading across my face. I slipped off my shoes and coat before carefully stepping over to the bed and picking up a pillow of my own.

"No touching the ground, and Buck, you're buying the new lamp!" I called, and as Steve scrambled up onto the arm of the couch and Bucky began to complain loudly, I realized that despite the life I had left behind, the one I had now was far from inferior.