Very Much Alive

'Wait, wasn't it the Cowardly Lion?'

'Oh yeah, I think it was!'

'Are you two done?” Jordan glared at the two men who grinned at her unrepentantly. “Because this is serious, okay?'

'Of course it's serious. And we're serious that you are in no way to put yourself in danger.” Kir's tone had gone from cheerfully playful to full of command in the space of a heartbeat. He looked at her like he expected her compliance on every level, and for a moment she saw the man who was truly meant to lead the gods.

The look of love and pride on Logan's face nearly brought tears to her eyes. His absolute faith and devotion to his lover was written all over his face.

Now I know they're telling the truth. No way could anyone, even Loki, fake that look.

She felt a momentary twinge of regret for what could have been with either of these men before she forced it down. Neither one was for her; they were for each other.

And then Kir ruined the moment. “Duh.'

Jordan frowned. “Duh?'

Kir grinned as Logan collapsed with an exasperated sigh. “Duh. You find yourself in a position where you could get hurt you move. Val won't hold back from killing you, you know. Not if Grimm orders it.'

Jordan rolled her eyes. “Yes, Mom.'

'Do you carry a gun?'

Jordan snapped her fingers. “Damn. Left it at home with my fedora and trench coat.'

'I'll take that as a no.'

'You can take it any way you like.” She tried to ignore the sudden heat in Kir's eyes, focusing on the problem at hand.

'How come Grimm hasn't just waltzed in here and blown both your heads off while you sleep?'

Loki grinned. “Simple. The wards.'

'Wards?'

Logan wiggled his fingers at her. “Magic. Oooh.'

She quickly ran through the miniscule amount of magical knowledge she had. Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings were about the extent of it. “What are wards?'

'Magical runes Logan puts up to prevent anyone from entering our home uninvited. They also protect us from magical prying eyes. They don't last forever, but they do the job long enough for us to realize our time is probably up and we should move on.'

'Oh.'

'Too much information?'

She frowned. “No, just wondering why they haven't figured out ways to counteract them before.'

'They have.” Logan smirked. “Then I change them.'

'Change them? Isn't that supposed to be a bad thing? Didn't I read in some book somewhere that making up a new spell is, like, dangerous? On the level of oops I melted the world? '

'Not if you know what you're doing.'

Kir smiled. “You need to remember something; Logan wasn't born Vanir or Aesir. He was born a Jotun.'

'A what-un?'

'Jotun. A race of magical beings mistakenly called giants. To them, magic is an innate ability, not

something you learn like a human wizard would have to. It has limits, of course, like the toll it takes on Logan's energy to do anything really complicated, but it gets the job done.'

'Really? Wow.” She filed that phrase like a human wizard away for later examination. She'd get more info on that at a better time. “Is there some way we can use Logan's magic to get your point across?”

Before they could speak she winced. “No, wait, never mind. They'll all chalk it up to trickery again.'

'Exactly.'

She began to pace, her mind whirling a mile a minute. Plans were made and quickly discarded as she realized that most of what they could do would be viewed as just more of the same deceit they'd come to expect from Loki.

'What kind of powers do you have? I know all about the Human Torch here, but what can you do?

Other than the bending knife trick?” She stared at Kir, eyes narrowed in thought.

He grinned. “Look out the window.'

She turned and saw clouds begin to roll in on a perfectly sunny day. Dark clouds, fat with rain that began falling gently on the city below. “Rain. Huh. Anything else?” Thunder cracked, a shaft of lightning striking down somewhere outside the city. “Oh.” She turned back to Kir, who had his head in his hands and was looking down at the floor. Huh. Maybe it gives him a headache. “I thought thunder and lightning were Thor's gig?'

Kir looked up. There was no trace of pain on his face. “It is, but as a God of Spring, I'm in charge of, um, April showers. You know, sudden thunderstorms? Thor's lightning is a lot more directed, more like a Zeus kind of thing.'

'Huh.” She looked outside; it was kind of pretty. She'd always liked thunderstorms. She flopped back down on the ottoman next to Kir and sighed, propping her chin on her hand, elbow on her knee. She looked over their heads and caught a glimpse of the laptop they'd set up on the glass dining room table.

Why it was there instead of in the posh den she'd spied on the way in, she didn't know, but the sight gave her an idea of how to blend Kir's powers and Logan's in such a way that the Aesir couldn't ignore the message.

An evil grin crossed her face as she looked at the two very hot, very supernatural, very photogenic , men. “Have either of you heard of YouTube?'

Kir closed the door behind himself and Logan after having seen Jordan onto the elevator. He sighed and closed his eyes tightly, completely mortified.

Fuck. Logan saw my reaction to Jordan.

The knowing gleam in his lover's eyes did not bode well for the coming conversation.

So it was with some surprise he felt Logan gently push his hand into his hair, pulling Kir's mouth to his own. The kiss was a languid stroking of tongues, not the usual kiss Logan gave. Logan usually preferred hot, heavy kisses, full of passion and the promise of sex. This one was the kind of kiss Kir preferred.

Soft, sweet, and full of the love they both felt.

'I love you, you know that, right?'

Kir focused on Logan's face. “No more than I love you.'

'We need to talk.'

Kir closed his eyes again, not wanting to see the pain in Logan's.

'Hey.'

He sighed and moved past Logan's body and into the living room. Dejected, he sat on the sofa, his head in his hands. “I'm so sorry.'

'For what? The fact that you're attracted to Jordan?'

Kir groaned.

'Kir.” He looked up, surprised to see the understanding on Logan's face. “Me, too.'

He felt a surprising flash of jealousy at that, but wasn't sure if it was for Logan or Jordan. Not good ... or very good? “You want her, too?'

'Don't sound so surprised. She's a hell of a woman.'

Kir found himself nodding his agreement. “She took everything we threw at her in stride.'

'If I was her I would have kicked our asses out of my office, gone and had a few drinks, then convinced myself it never happened right after I called to have the carpet replaced.'

'So what do we do about it?'

They stared into each other's faces, reading the promises they'd long ago made to each other and the new, sudden want they both felt. No matter how startlingly strong, there was no way Kir would act on it if it meant losing Logan.