A/N: Written for day 4 of Sifki Week: powerless. Title taken from "Slow Burn" by Kacey Musgraves. This takes place in the alternate timeline that was created when 2014-Thanos got snapped away, with the belief that the Asgardians made it safely to Earth after Ragnarok - and Loki and Sif are now living in an apartment in NYC. Thank you for reading!

She is alone in their apartment when the entire city goes black.

Immediately sitting up on the couch, she frowns, making her way to the sliding glass doors that lead out to the balcony. The oppressive heat that had kept her inside all day washes over her as soon as she steps outside. Squinting through the darkness, she can just make out the shape of Stark's tower. It, too, is dark.

Her frown deepens. Ever since Stark converted New York City electricity to run on his arc reactor technology, power outages have been incredibly rare occurrences – and even then, the man's tower itself has never lost power, emerging unscathed from any kind of weather.

Something must be wrong.

She curses under her breath as she turns to go back inside, already reaching for her blade, which rests on the side table by the door. A prickling awareness along the back of her neck, though, makes her pause. It is a familiar sensation – one that she has learned to both adore and dread in the centuries since she first came to live in the palace of Asgard as a child.

Loki.

Sif sighs. "This is your doing, then?"

Distant laughter, as if she is hearing it from under water; then, a rip in the space before her. He stumbles forward into their living room, the portal behind him closing on the angry shouts of all six Avengers.

Loki collapses on the couch, breathless from a combination of running and laughing. "Of course," he says, grinning up at her. "That was the most fun I have had in ages."

Sif rolls her eyes, but she cannot keep the smirk off her own face. Loki's joy has always been contagious. It has been too many years since she has seen him this happy – this carefree. With the knowledge that Thanos is gone from the universe for good, he has finally been able to put his old demons to rest. And, apparently, return to making as much mischief as he can.

"You've just brought the wrath of Earth's Mightiest Heroes down upon your head," she replies. "I hope it was worth it."

His eyes glint in the darkness. "Oh, yes. More than worth it, my lady." He reaches for her hand, bringing it to his lips for a kiss.

"And what about your own fate, my prince?" Sif raises an eyebrow in question. "How do you plan on surviving the heat until Stark restores power to the city?"

Loki opens his mouth, clearly intent on a reply, before realization swiftly crosses his features. Although he does not say it, he knows exactly what she meant. How will a frost giant be comfortable in the height of Midgard's summer without air conditioning?

He glances down at his armor, brows furrowed. "I…may have forgotten to plan for every eventuality," he admits.

Sif laughs, giving his hand a squeeze. "Luckily for you," she says, pulling him to his feet, "you share quarters with someone who knows how to save you from yourself." She tugs him forward, leading him back towards their bedroom. "Even if your rescue comes in the form of what you have called 'a ridiculous Midgardian tradition.'"

"Sif," he cautions, "you did not."

She grins. "I most certainly did."

"We are not going down there."

"Yes, we are."

Loki groans. "Sif. There is no possible way that a stagnant body of water, filled with Midgardian children on a daily basis, can be free of bacteria. I am getting a disease just imagining it."

She opens their closet, rifling through the mess on her side until she finds the hidden package. Inside are two swimsuits – a russet one-piece for her, and a pair of dark green shorts for him. She tosses the shorts at his face; he catches them with one hand. "I thought you were unaffected by the petty germs of this world."

"Just because I – "

A pounding on their front door breaks him off mid-sentence.

"Loki!" Thor shouts. "Open this door immediately, or we will force our way inside!"

Stark speaks next, his repulsors loud as they power up. "Come on out, Reindeer Games! We just wanna talk!"

Loki grabs Sif around the waist. One moment, she is stifling her laughter against his chest so that their visitors do not hear her; the next, with a flash of green light, she is standing beside the pool on the ground floor of their apartment building.

Loki grins at her. "I suppose there are more life-threatening things than a pool, aren't there?"

Sif laughs. "I suppose there are." Wrapping her arms around his neck, she kisses him.

Then she pushes him into the pool.

P. S. I'm now officially a part of the AO3 world! All stories will be cross-posted there, under the same username (LRRH17).