Sigyn had been deep in a dreamless, contented sleep; and she'd been there for some time. It had been the type of sleep that, if uninterrupted, she would wake from in the morning and feel utterly refreshed. The key word there, of course, was had. Because she woke to a familiar hand on her shoulder that shook her lightly until she was pulled from sleep. The intrusion to her would-be-satisfying sleep meant that she was scowling before her eyes opened.

"Loki, I swear, if you don't have a good reason for waking me up, then I am going to make your life miserable for the next twenty four hours."

"You can try," he replied.

She could just hear the amusement in his voice; a tone that only irritated her right then. Why did he find waking her up so funny? Was it because she hated getting up? Sigyn didn't know what it was that gave Loki his enjoyment, but it was certainly not valid when she was sleeping, or at least she didn't think so anyway. That thought was only confirmed when she opened her eyes to find that it was not yet morning that she was awakening to.

Sigyn buried her head into her pillow again, blocking out the still-dark waking world, and said, "It's still dark, Loki. One thing, if this marriage is going to work, then you need to let me sleep until morning."

She buried herself further into her pillow. She'd known that tricks were part of marrying Loki; but being woken up in the middle of the night was never on the cards. Sigyn was not a morning person in the slightest; but she hated being woken from sleep before she had to be. It was something that had always irritated her.

"What about on special occasions?" she heard him enquire.

Sigyn spoke into her pillow, her voice muffled as she grumbled her reply, "Is it a special occasion?"

"It could be if you get up."

Grudgingly, she pulled herself out of her pillow. Rolling over, she sat up and gave him a look that clearly showed just how unimpressed she was- even in the dark.

"What?"

"Time to get dressed, love," was all Loki said.

Sigyn grumbled to herself for a moment, mumbling curses under her breath.

"What was that?"

She sighed and after a moment, repeated her last sentiment in a far less colourful way than she had originally phrased it.

"Can't you just... I don't know, magic me into some clothes and save me the trouble?"

Loki raised his brows at her, a smirk crossing his lips. He considered her suggestion for a second before waving a hand. Of course, all of these gestures where only silhouettes in the dark from Sigyn's point of view. That was until her silk nightdress disappeared, leaving her naked but for the sheet covering her, when all of those things came sharply into focus.

She clutched the sheet close to her as she exclaimed, "Loki!"

He smirked at her attempt at reprimanding him.

"I've done half of the work for you. All you have to do now is dress."

She stared at him in disbelief as she muttered, "You are unbelievable."

"I know. Now, if you wouldn't mind-"

"Yes, I know, get dressed."

She frowned for a second, pausing as she was about to get up, and her eyes flickered back to Loki's still form beside her for the tiniest of moments. He did not see the look, but he didn't miss the reluctance in her movements.

"Still so nervous around me, little Sigyn," he observed.

"Not necessarily nervous; I was just pondering on the fact that you just stripped me of my clothing so that I have to walk across the room naked."

"So suspicious," Loki said, shaking his head.

"I'm right though, aren't I?"

He shrugged, though she could hardly see it.

"You know, sometimes I get the feeling that you just enjoy making me feel awkward- and that you enjoy being a bit of a pervert."

Still holding the sheet to her, Sigyn swung her legs out of their bed, her feet brushing the cold floor. But just before she could get out of bed, Loki caught her, wrapping his arms around her. His bare torso pressed against her back as he held her there in an unyielding embrace.

"Whatever gave you that impression?"

"Oh, I don't know," she started sarcastically.

But she stopped talking when he shifted her long curls over one shoulder to place a kiss at the base of her neck.

"Go," he said, releasing her so that she might get up.

At that, Sigyn sighed and stood up. She let the sheet drop from her grip; she would have taken it, but she had a feeling Loki would have made that enterprise one far more work than it was worth. She tried to walk toward her wardrobe in the dark, but only found out how bad an idea that had been when she stubbed her toe on part of the bed that she hadn't even realised that she was near.

"Ow... A little light might be nice," she commented.

Loki waved a hand and a few candles lit themselves, casting an orangey light over the room and everything in it. It took a few moments for everything to come into focus, as the sudden light, though only dim, felt blinding in contrast to the previous darkness. With her back to her husband as she then stood, Sigyn turned her head and saw him staring. Staring; and smirking as he did.

"How did I know you'd be looking at me?" she said

He shrugged his shoulders and reasoned, "As your husband, it is my right."

"Hm, well... My husband or not, I'm watching you."

She'd meant it as a joking threat, but Loki was quick to twist her words back around to her.

"And I you, love."

She rolled her eyes. Yes, he is watching me, she thought, unsurprised. She didn't mind; she just found it... interesting to see the amusement he gained from doing things like this in an unusual way. Pushing passed those thoughts though, Sigyn went over to the large wardrobe that held every dress she had been given after marrying Loki.

Her mother-in-law had insisted that she have an entire wardrobe change since she would now be around the Court and the palace and would have to dress appropriately. At the time, Sigyn wasn't quite sure if she was supposed to be grateful or insulted.

She pulled open the wardrobe door and blinked as the candle light flooded inside to illuminate its contents. She had been expecting to see any number of dresses and other such clothes in front of her; but as she stared into the wardrobe now, she found that it was empty. Sigyn spun around, covering her chest with folded arms and frowning at Loki.

"What have you done with my clothes?"

He just grinned at her.

"Seriously, Loki?"

"Are you missing something, love?" he asked, feigning ignorance.

She raised her eyebrows, shooting him an unimpressed look.

"First you wake me up in the middle of the night and tell me that I have to get dressed with no explanation whatsoever, and then you steal all my clothes. It is far too earl- midnight; it's far too midnight for games, Loki."

"I suppose you are right, love; perhaps you should come back to bed then."

She started to walk back toward him, but stopped in her tracks, a frown creasing her expression.

"Wait a second; my mind's clearly been running slowly because, oh, I don't know, it's unnatural to be awake at this time of night. The fact that you're not dressed, and that you stole all my clothes after insisting that I get out of bed, naked might I add, to dress, is nagging at me. Tell me this, husband, you've not just been lying to me to get me in this position, have you?"

Loki's grin only widened at her realisation.

She rolled her eyes as she said, "Really?"

"You've got to admit, it worked," he smirked.

Sigyn paused for a second before carefully asking, "So now that you've got me here, naked and awake, what was it that you thought would happen next?"

Loki's brows raised but he said nothing as he could tell she wasn't finished.

"After you'd thoroughly annoyed me, in waking me up at an unreasonable hour too."

"Well, now that you mention it, there was something-" he started.

But Sigyn didn't let him finish, as she interrupted him with, "Well, if that something involves me leaving the room to go and read right now, then you were spot on."

And she left the room before he could say anything else in response. Taking one of the lit candles, she closed the door to their bedroom behind her as she went into the largest of their rooms. Walking across the room, she pulled a blanket that was draped across the back of a sofa and wrapped it around herself before doing anything else.

Sigyn then lit a few candles that stood on a small table beside one the large sofas and picked up the book she'd left beside them. She sat down on one of the sofas, and stretched her legs out- teaching Loki a lesson didn't have to mean that she was uncomfortable.

She read for a long time, and she couldn't help but wonder if ensuring that Loki's lie backfired on him had actually worked. He's left me out here for a lot longer than I thought he would... she thought. But her waiting paid off eventually, as Loki appeared in front of her, pushing her book down with a finger.

"Come back to bed, love," he said softly.

"Not going to happen," Sigyn replied, without even looking up at him.

"And why is that?"

She sighed, her silver eyes flashing up to find his face, annoyance still glistening through them.

"Remember what I said; if you woke me up without a good reason then I was going to make your life a misery. I think this is an appropriate way to start," she said calmly.

Loki's lips twitched and his eyes found the floor for the tiniest of moments. She made no move as he leaned into her, placing his hands on the sofa either side of her. But somehow, she couldn't ignore that his lips were so close to her ear, his breath tickling her skin.

"Perhaps I can make it up to you," he whispered intimately, sending a shiver up her spine.

Author's Note: Just a little middle of the night lying that almost didn't go Loki's way ;) But, of course, everything goes his way in the end. It is Loki, after all.

I've just made plans to watch Avengers for the sixth time tomorrow... I think I have a problem... But on the other hand, HIDDLES! :D

Oh yeah, and watch this (remove spaces): www .youtube watch ?v=kx_gYSCRP pw&feature= youtube_gdata_player

You won't regret it. I swear, I almost died.

Kit xx