Summer School Distractions (Elsa/Loki AU)

“I do not understand how you mortals can endure seasons like this,” the young prince grumbled, covering his green eyes with one hand as he shifted his position to find the shadiest spot beneath the tree. “Asgard does not have such extremes.”

“Yes, I know, everything is better in Asgard,” Elsa said dryly.

“How are you able to concentrate?” Loki asked. Elsa had been reading for an hour in her school's arboretum, lying on her stomach in the grass and propped up on her forearms. Over time, her head sank lower and lower, until her nose was almost touching the spine.

“It's easier when there is no talking,” the princess answered.

Loki took the hint, but did not heed it. “I thought summer was a time of idleness in your part of the world—particularly for royalty.”

The remark did its job by annoying Elsa enough that she looked away from the book to glare at him. Loki knew very well that Elsa had to study. At the suggestion of her father, she had remained at boarding school for the summer holidays. The king had not been satisfied with the quality of the curriculum that year, and wanted his daughter and heir to be better prepared for statesmanship. As a result, Elsa was compelled to attend private tutoring on politics, economics, history, speechmaking, law and justice, and all manner of dull subjects rendered even more dull by the summer climate.

The sun, the balmy breeze, and the scent of summer blossoms were distracting enough. A visit from her Asgardian friend made it all the more difficult for Elsa to concentrate. Elsa wanted nothing more than to cast her books aside and curl up beside him under the open blue sky and heavy sunshine, or the shade of the trees, but she had her own duties to fulfill. What was worse, Loki knew the effect his presence had on the young princess, and relished it.

“You know why I'm here,” she told Loki. “I'm not supposed to be idle.”

“Would you like me to leave?” Loki asked, giving her a wide-eyed look of innocence that fooled her not at all. “I did come all this way.”

Elsa smirked. They both knew that coming “all this way” involved five minutes of magical transportation from Loki's realm to hers. It took almost no effort on his part.

“You are welcome to stay,” Elsa said, “if you'll stay quiet. Let me read, and you can just…keep trying to stay cool.”

“Impossible,” Loki said, leaning back again. “If I had wanted to be this uncomfortable, I would have gone to Muspelheim, the realm of fire.”

Elsa turned to give him another exasperated look, but his eyes were closed now. She grinned as an idea came to her. She waved a hand and pointed a finger just above Loki. With a faint poof, a cloud appeared above him, gently shedding snowflakes over his reclining form. It took a few minutes for him to notice, when the cool flakes tickled his face. He opened his eyes, saw the small flurry, and gave Elsa a wry expression.

“Not quite what I had in mind,” he said.

“What did you have in mind?” she asked.

Suddenly, something cold brushed the back of Elsa's neck, and she shrieked in surprise. She twisted to look behind her, just in time to see a second Loki step back, laughing. She turned to smack the original that was still lounging nearby, but her hand went through his arm as he dissolved right in front of her. The snow was falling over nothing now. Elsa rolled her eyes; she had seen this trick of his before. She looked back at the duplicate Loki—now the only Loki—and waved her hand again to bring the flurry back above his head.

“Now, now, your highness,” Loki said, brushing snowflakes off of his shoulder. “I thought you had to study?”

“It's impossible with you around.”

“Oh, very well,” Loki said, heaving a deep sigh as though mortally offended. “I will leave you to your duties.” He turned away to amble down the slope of grass, toward a pond.

Elsa watched him with suspicion, wondering what he was plotting, then began to giggle. He did look ridiculous with the snow-cloud hovering over his head. She removed it with another wave of her hand. He was further away now, but close enough for her to see him look up, then turn back to wave at her.

She returned the gesture, silently hoping that he was not disappearing for good. She did want to visit with him, after all, but her father had harped on and on about how her education and her future as queen had to come first. With a shrug, she settled back onto the grass to resume her reading.

Shortly after, however, she was distracted by a buzzing around her head. Elsa raised a hand to swat at a mosquito, but the sound persisted. She looked around, finally seeing a large dragonfly hovering nearby. It came closer and then settled on her book. Elsa held her breath so as not to disturb it; she had always liked dragonflies. When she noticed the sleek, black body and the green-and-gold wings, however, her curiosity dissolved and she pursed her lips.

“Loki,” she said to the dragonfly, “you couldn't leave me alone for five minutes?”

The dragonfly continued to sit on the page, quite still except for the occasional twitch of a leg or wing.

“Well, if you insist on being so difficult…”

Elsa clapped her hands. When she brought them apart again, she was holding a large box of thin, crystal-clear ice. Quickly as she could, she tipped the box over onto the dragonfly, trapping it. The insect buzzed and flew around, knocking itself a few times against the clear walls of its prison, but it was trapped. Pleased with herself, Elsa retrieved her book and began to read it once again, this time in perfect peace.

At last Elsa thought she had earned a break from her homework. She picked up the frozen trap and released the dragonfly. It buzzed angrily and circled her head a few times, but she only laughed and waited for Loki's true form to return. Instead, the winged creature flew away, toward the pond. As she watched, the insect buzzed among the tall grasses near the water—and then vanished into the mouth of a big bullfrog.

“Loki!” Elsa shrieked, scrambling to her feet and running down to the water's edge. She heard a heavy ker-plunk! as the frog retreated into the pond. “No!”

She stood still, heart pounding, gasping for breath. What now? Maybe it wasn't Loki, she thought.

Elsa searched the nearby trees, and even circled the whole pond, calling his name a few times. There was no sign of him. She came across one of the groundskeepers, who gave her a curious look, but she dared not ask him if he had seen an unusual dragonfly or a dark-haired prince wandering around.

“Loki…I'm sorry,” she said, coming back to the pond, even though there was no one to hear her.

“I suppose I will forgive you this time.”

At the sound of his voice, Elsa gasped and turned around, but there was nothing. She looked down at the ground and saw a large, green-and-yellow mottled frog peering up at her.

“Wait…” she said.

Before she could finish whatever she was going to say—and she was not even sure what that was—the frog vanished, and in the same instant was replaced by the tall Asgardian, dressed in black leather and green cloth, though his clothing and his hair were unusually damp.

“That was you!” she exclaimed. Loki's smirk made Elsa undecided about whether she wanted to kiss him or slap him.

“Perhaps you will treat your visitors to a warmer welcome next time,” he said imperiously.

“I thought you didn't like it warm,” Elsa said, smacking him on the arm. This time, he did not vanish, and her hand made impact.

Loki smiled and took a step closer, bringing that arm around her waist and drawing her closer. Elsa was already red-faced, but now her cheeks were positively aflame.

“I suppose it depends on the source,” he murmured.