* Music above! ;) And thank you for reading*

The glass building towered above them, its doors revolving tirelessly around the people walking in and out. A light summer breeze was blowing.

Kyra tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. She pulled her shoulder bag close. Today she was wearing a cinnamon chiffon blouse and jeans. A general feeling of nervousness lurked around her, and it must have shown because the velvet voice next to her said,

"Your lack of confidence wounds me, mortal. Have you forgotten that lies and trickery are the tools of my trade?"

Kyra looked over. Loki was wearing a dark green formal shirt and black dress pants, but he'd rolled up the long sleeves to his elbow and was looking pretty darn good. His black hair, slicked back from his forehead and tucked behind his ears, was a strange style that worked very well for him. Kyra doubted that any other man would have been able to pull it off.

"One question though," she asked. "Why do you want to come work at Tidbits again?"

Loki tucked a hand into his pocket.

"I cannot possibly be mouldering away in that little hut of yours for one month, can I? Besides, interaction with as many mortals as possible will look kindly in my favor when I report back to Father. You spoke of your job as mainly dealing with people did you not?"

"That's......really all we do," she admitted.

"Wonderful! Though I do not look forward to it, it will be of use."

Kyra bit her lip. "Just.....act normal okay?" She paused. "And stop with the whole - formal language thing! Act like a mortal!"

"Ahhh now that is one prank I do not think I can pull off." He gave a trickster's smile and crossed the street.

Kyra watched him go. "Oh boy," she sighed before following him.

In the Tidbits office Loki stood with hands behind his back, smiling charmingly as the five journalists stared back at him.

"Um. Hi guys....this is, uh, my boyfriend." Kyra swallowed. She should really have thought of a nice little back story for Loki before coming over. Now she would have to generate something on the spot.

"He...uh, wanted to get some working experience since he's going to be - inheriting a successful business soon, so he decided to do a one-month stint here."

Dang. Did that sound lame? I hope it doesn't sound lame.

Sherria pushed herself to the front and gave Loki a slow once-over, from his black shoes to his black hair.

It was evident that she liked what she saw, because she beamed her most dazzling smile at him, fluttered her eyelashes and asked in a voice of syrup,

"What's your name again?"

Rats. A name. A mortal name. Name name name name name.....

Loki smiled and said, "It is Lo - "

Is he seriously going to tell them his real name?!

"Lancelot!" Kyra blurted out before Loki could finish.

The room stared at her.

"But you can call him Lance," she finished meekly.

"Lancelot?"

Kyra bit her lip. Loki watched her with a raised eyebrow.

"Well uh....you guys must have heard of King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table right? Apparently his" - here she gestured at Loki - "grandfather.....on the mother's side......is the great-great-great-great cousin of the original Sir Lancelot, and so he named his first grandson, which is this Lancelot, after that Lancelot."

Sherria frowned. "Cousin?"

"Second cousin actually," interjected Loki smoothly. "Three times removed."

"Oh yes, Kyra did mention once that you were of a wealthy background." Richard laughed heartily. "She never said you had traces of royal blood though!"

Loki gave a disarming smile. "Well, I am considered to be the prince of the family."

Sherria spoke up. "So your full name is......?"

"I think I'll let Kyra finish the introductions," Loki deflected. "She seems to be doing it spectacularly well so far."

Aw great, now I need a goddarn surname!

"Um, well. Right. His full name is Lancelot...." Her eyes darted around wildly as she searched for something - anything! - that could give her inspiration.

They landed on Cecilia's laptop, that was showing Adele's official music video.

"......Vevo...." She trailed off.

"Vevo?"

Loki struggled to keep a straight face.

Damn, that won't fly, Kyra thought.

"Did I say Vevo?" she asked brightly. "I meant - Vivaldi. Yeap. Lancelot Vivaldi."

"Vivaldi? Isn't that that famous music composer......" frowned Cecilia.

"Ah yes. On my father's side you know. An uncle this time." Loki added.

Damn he catches on fast.

"Yeap!" Kyra nodded vigorously, displaying a wide, wide smile. "......Also three times removed!"

Loki tut-tutted in disagreement. "Wasn't it four, dear?" he teased on purpose.

She could just see the laughter dancing in his eyes.

"I wouldn't know......dear," she shot back, "it's your family tree, not mine!"

Sherria continued digging.

"Kyra said your family runs a business. What sort of business?"

Loki thought. What types of businesses do mortals have?

He only knew one.

"Transportation," he declared. "Like.....cars."

"Your father works in car manufacturing?"

"......Not cars. Ship manufacturing."

Ships?  Kyra thought.

"Ships?" Sherria frowned. 

"Big ships," Loki clarified. "For the royalty."

"Like the British royal family," Kyra jumped in."You know, all the HMS-es."

"Let us not forget the Navy. Sea defence I believe."

"They build yachts too. And ocean liners."

"Luxury ocean liners."

"Right. Luxury ocean liners."

"He sounds like a very busy man," Richard remarked.

"Oh believe me, he is." Loki smiled.

"Well Lance, Tidbits is more than happy to welcome you aboard! Though journalism is quite a far stretch from......ship manufacturing, but more hands make for lighter work eh?" Richard gestured at the office. "We don't have an empty cubicle next to your girlfriend I'm afraid, but there is one opposite her. Next to Sherria."

"That's me." Sherria stuck her hand out daintily and batted her baby blues.

Kyra rolled her eyes. She knew how the cogs of Sherria's brain work. Handsome + rich + status = must have man! 

The rest of the employees introduced themselves, and as everyone filed away to their work stations Loki leaned over and whispered,

"Those were brilliant improvisations by the way."

"Shut up," she hissed. "You're not exactly an expert yourself. Ships?"

He shrugged. "I was thinking about Asgard transportation."

"What is Asgard transportation?"

"Ships. Flying ones naturally."

Loki headed over to his cubicle and set down his things. Instantly Sherria began pawing over him. Kyra made for her own cubicle. 

I am not jealous. I. Am. Not. Jealous.

The steady hum of work soon began. There was an article Kyra had to type out by this evening and she focused herself on that. Or at least, she tried to. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Sherria hovering and fawning and cooing non-stop, and as the minutes ticked by her fingers hit the keyboard with far more force than was necessary.

Seriously? He's my boyfriend. MINE. Didn't I make that obvious? And what was up with him? Isn't he supposed to pretend to be my lover? Even though we're not really in a relationship the whole thing is going to fall apart if he starts flirting with another girl!

She took a gulp of water from her cup then slammed it down on the table, hard.

Eric peeked out over the cubicle divider. 

"......Are you o - " He didn't get to finish.

"I. Am. Fine. Perfectly fine." She cut in, placing heavy emphasis on the last word.

Loki heard the loud bang and glanced, just briefly. The corners of his lips quirked upwards. He returned his attention to the laptop in front of him.

The mortal had taught him how to utilize this marvel yesterday night, or at least the basics. Now this Sherria maiden was teaching him the basics of this trade called journalism - how to create interesting "headlines" and source for material online, how to piece the information together and make connections.

"So first you Google for recent hit searches......" She leaned over to type, and the distance she placed between the two of them seemed a little too close than necessary. 

There was a certain scent wafting off of her too, a strong floral fragrance. What was it the mortals called? Ah, perfume. This maiden had put on quite a liberal dose of it. For some reason she was rather fond of body painting - there was paint on her nails, on her lips, a dash on her cheeks.....To Loki she looked like a heavily coloured doll the likes of which a five-year-old child with minimal muscle control might have drawn.

Sherria caught sight of Loki inspecting her manicure and she preened at the attention. Seeing this as an opportunity she spoke.

"So Lance, how is dating Kyra like? Don't you find it....rather dull?"

Loki thought of the drunken singing and the vomiting, being pulled into her bed then attacked next morning, being taken on a trolley ride around the supermarket and the introduction to all the mortals' new-fangled technology. 

Dull? Hardly.

Sherria took the silence as permission to continue.

"I mean, Kyra isn't the kind of person who's likely to try new things. She's always so - so safe. Wearing the same office wear, doing the same things....an endless cycle of repetition." 

Her voice turned low and sultry. "Unlike me of course. My life is constant excitement. I like doing new things. Lots of new things. I like doing things that raises the heartbeat and pumps up the adrenaline and whips up butterflies in the stomach.....things that make you feel amazing, things that makes you go short of breath......"

Loki wandered what was wrong with her eyes. She kept fluttering them. 

"That sounds extremely alarming." His voice was calm and even. "Are you at high risk of having sudden death?" 

Sherria blinked. The sexiness fell away immediately. "What?"

"You spoke of raised heartbeats and shortness of breath. I may be no doctor, but all those resemble the symptoms of a heart attack. Perhaps you should consult the nearest clinic." He smiled politely at her and reached for his cup of water.

Sherria stared, her mouth slightly ajar. Was this guy dense or playing hard to get?

"Well - no - I mean, what I'm saying is, you look so handsome and charming, and you have high status! So I was wondering what made you settle with Kyra. I bet you're a total ladies man aren't you? How many ex-girlfriends do you have? 10? 20? Does Kyra know?"

At the mention of the word "girlfriend" and its accompanying numbers, Loki choked. He coughed and gave a snort of laughter. Back in Asgard, the man with all the ladies' attention was his brother, Thor. He had always been the one that watched from the side, sometimes stepping in to resolve the mess left behind, or being the courier that send messages between his brother and his dalliances. All this while he had been wandering why in Bor's name was this golden-haired maiden coming on so strongly? Now he knew. 

It seems that maidens of different realms have different preferences when it comes to their choice of husbands, he thought, hiding his laughter. Perhaps there is some hope for Herrick after all.

In the cubicle opposite, Kyra heard the laughter. She seethed. Reaching for the cup she went to take a gulp - only to find that it was empty. She stood up.

Eric looked over. "Whe - where are you going Miss Pierce?"

Kyra shot a steely glare over at the duo opposite and spoke loudly. "I'm getting myself a really really big glass of iced, freezing, cold water." 

Loki glimpsed her leaving in a huff. She kept her nose tilted high as she walked past his desk. Sherria saw it and again grasped the opportunity. 

"See? The way she walks is just so unfriendly! She doesn't really get much attention from men, to be honest. Did she tell you?" Sherria lowered her voice to a conspiratorial hush. "Her last boyfriend was in the uni! Can you imagine that? She's been out of the dating world for four years! Not like me of course. My last boyfriend was - oh, two weeks ago. But I'm single now. Sexy, free and available......."

Loki frowned and turned fully to her. "So you receive many attention from men? How many lovers have you had?"

Sherria's eyes lit up. Bingo. Ha! Kyra, you're so going to get dumped!

"Oh well....let me see." She made a big show of frowning and thinking, as if her boyfriends had been so many she couldn't remember the number. "Maybe about eighteen? Nineteen?"

Loki's eyes widened and his face morphed into one of utmost shock and pity.

"You have loved nineteen times and yet not been able to retain a man long enough for him to become your husband?  Truly, I was not aware of such people who are so unlucky in love." He put on his most sympathetic and encouraging expression. "But fear not! Although success might never come, continue to persevere! I am sure that you will find a man who will see past all this"  - and he gestured to Sherria's entire figure, from top to toe - "and spot the tiny flame of goodness that burns hidden within."

He stood up, holding his cup in hand, smiling wide. "Now. If you'll excuse me, I have need of replenishing my drink."

He walked around her and out of the cubicle, clucking his tongue sorrowfully. "Nineteen times indeed......"

Sherria just sat there, flabbergasted and outraged.

Kyra banged her cup noisily against the sink as she washed it, her movements fast and jerky.

"Laughing and smiling like a complete fool," she muttered, scrubbing the sponge furiously across the ceramic surface. "Apparently even gods turn into idiots in the face of women......"

There was movement and she noticed Loki entering. She clamped up immediately, and her speed of washing increased. 

Loki made his way across the kitchenette and to the water dispenser, his movements easygoing and unperturbed. He seemed completely oblivious to the waves of anger that rolled off of Kyra and on to him.

Commence silence.

Kyra was the one that broke it first. She rapped the cup down on the stainless sink and snapped out, 

"By the way, have you forgotten that the two of us are acting as a couple? We don't exactly look like one if you flirt with every Jane that walks past!"

Loki inhaled through his teeth. "Flirt......that is yet another foreign word. Ah. Is it the Midgard term for courting?"

Kyra refused to be thrown off track. "Flirting - courting - whatever! Just do it after this one month!" She narrowed her eyes and pointed at him with a threatening finger. "If this fails and I get exposed by Sherria, I'm going to make sure you fail with that mighty King Obeen of yours."

"Odin," Loki corrected.

She threw up her hands in frustration. "Ah whatever! Just don't get us exposed by your endless flirting - courting!"

Loki put his cup down and leaned against the table, arms folded across his chest. He met Kyra's eyes steadily and phrased his words in a manner that left no doubt.

"I have no intention of courting that golden-haired maiden now, nor do I have any intention of courting her after this one month. I do not find her attractive. So you have no need for concern."

Somewhat mollified and flustered by his sudden serious tone, Kyra floundered for a moment.

"....Concern? What concern? Do I look concerned? I do not. Nope! Na-uh! I'm just worried that we'll get exposed. Do I care if you court her after this? Nope! I don't care if you court her next month or next year or - "

Without warning, Loki moved. Smooth and silent. One step forward, one hand on her shoulder, pulling her close.

Kyra's words grounded to a halt as Loki planted a light, gentle kiss on her forehead.

Heart skipped a beat.