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“I look ridiculous.” you pouted as you looked in the mirror.
“You look amazing! Don’t be so hard on yourself.” Sif said from across the room, messing with her own dress.
You turned to her and sighed, “You can’t honestly tell me you like all this lace and frills. I know you too well for that.”
“I am definitely not a fan, I’d much prefer my training gear. But, it is just for one night.” At least she looked great in her dress, the rich magenta tone made her skin glow and complimented her dark hair.
“I’ve never liked these fancy gatherings. They always make me uneasy. Plus my mother keeps teasing me about finding a husband at the dance.” You rolled your eyes. “I’m barely an adult why would I care about marriage yet. And the last thing I want is some pompous man I’d meet at a royal ball.” As you spoke you tried to pin a little gold rose into your hair, failing miserably. It fell to the floor and you bent over to pick it up.
She chuckled, “or maybe you already have a particular man in mind.“
Missing her comment due to the rustling of your dress, you stood up, "What?”
“Oh nothing.” She stood up, walking over to you helping you pin the little rose in your hair. “We should get going, I bet the boys are all waiting for us.”
You nod and follow her out of her room. You must have been later than expected because the hallways were all empty and you could faintly hear the music echoing out from the ballroom on the floor beneath you. As you make your way down your nerves get stronger and stronger. You barely made it down the last few steps, needing Sif to drag you along with her.
As you reach the large doors to the ballroom there are a few people hanging around the door. There were also a few guards standing watch. You paused again looking at the door with hesitation.
“Are you sure I can’t just go to the library for the night?” You asked, one last attempt at running away.
“Not a chance!” A pleasant voice boomed from behind you. Turning you both smiled at Thor, all decked out in his royal armor. “You both look stunning.” He added holding out both of his arms in invitation.
“Of course we look great. But don’t you get used to it. This is a special occasion deal only.” Sif said as she wrapped an arm around Thor’s easily. You smiled and took the other arm a bit more delicately, looking back to the door with reservation.
Whether or not Thor noticed your unease or not, he pressed on unaffected. When you all reach the door two guards nodded and opened the large doors for you.
Loki filtered around the great hall making small talk with most of the guests. At first he loved the attention and the chance to soak up all the compliments from extended family he didn’t know and various nobles who pretended to know him. He took advantage of each moment to preen under the praise or tell his own exaggerated tale of excitement. Soon however, it all became tedious and he lost his interest.
He had been scanning the room for something more exciting, debating to himself if he could get away with sneaking something into Hogun’s drink that would turn his skin purple temporarily, when the large doors opened, ushering in his brother who was flanked by two beauties at his sides. At first he could care less, not surprised to see Sif beside him, but then he caught sight of the lady on his other side and was struck frozen on the spot.
You had always been eye catching to him, but it wasn’t like this. You were typically just a refreshing sight compared to the repetitive life he left like he was living sometimes. Something about you always lightened his mood. Tonight however, it felt quite the opposite. You stood there at the top of a small staircase by the ballroom door wearing a dark green silk dress with a fitted bodice adorned with small lace flowers attached by delicate silver and gold beads. Light sparkles off each one. Instead of feeling lighter, Loki felt weighed down. Unable to move his feet, doomed to just watch you descend the stairs with a starstruck expression.
As expected as soon as doors opened most of the guests turned to look at you all. It made you feel so tiny in comparison to Thor and Sif. Her confidence always radiated off of her and Thor, he had a larger than life presence as long as you’d known him. You felt that unease creep back into your mind until you spotted Loki not too far away. The sight of him was calming. You thanked Thor for the escort inside and allowed him to guide Sif over to his parents while you made a quick line to Loki.
“Hey you” you smiled up at him. You were suddenly a bit glad you allowed Sif to convince you to wear these absurd tall shoes, having less of a height difference between the two of you. You had caught up to his height once as a kid, for all of a couple months, before he hit another growth spurt and left you in the dust.
He looked a bit lost for a second before regaining himself and smirked at you. “And here I thought you wouldn’t show up. What was it that you called this? Oh yes, ‘An unnecessary display of our pretentious royalty’”
You slapped his chest lightly, “I never called anyone pretentious!” You huffed, “I only said I didn’t understand the point of a big fancy ball. And I still don’t by the way.”
“The point is my father likes fancy things sometimes, and more than that he likes how everyone else gets excited for it. Everyone except you apparently.” As Loki spoke he took a few steps away from the crowd best he could. You walked with him, never missing a beat. “Maybe I shouldn’t have invited you.”
His words might have seemed cold to anyone else, but one else was close enough to hear his teasing voice and see his playful smirk as he spoke to you. You both continued to walk the perimeter of the crowds, making sure to keep at least a few feet away from anyone if you could help it. Another example of how sweet he could be, knowing how you didn’t like the crowded atmosphere of these events.
“Well maybe you should have escorted me in like a true gentleman.” You retorted.
“And when have I ever been a gentleman?” He continued in the false mocking tone.
“To me? Always” you answered honestly without thinking.
Loki stopped moving for a moment just looking at you. He had been raised to be a gentlemen of course. And many people had commented on how he could embody that persona wonderfully. But the idea that you viewed him as such, was much more meaningful than he expected. Luckily he caught back up to you before you noticed his contemplation.
“Hey!” You suddenly burst, “Dance with me.”
He couldn’t help but laugh a little, “I know you’ve told me dozens of times that you cannot dance.”
“I am absolutely the worst dancer ever, that is true.” You agreed cheerfully. “But look at everyone out there, they all look stiff and in pain.” He glanced over to the six couples actually using the dance floor. You had a point. “You want me to be excited about this party? Then do something exciting with me!” You pushed, “Dance like a fool with me until we get kicked out for being too uncivilized.”
You stuck your tongue out at him and he couldn’t help but relent. Loki bent over slightly, bowing to you before offering you his hand. The most gentlemanly thing he could think of. “Well then, my lady, would you do me the honor of a dance?”
“I would love to, my prince.” You met his gesture with an exaggerated curtsy.
You made your way to the center of the room, focusing on Loki and not all the other people you were sure to be watching you. Once there you realized that your plan might have been too far fetched. You didn’t even know where to place your hands or how to initiate dancing with another person. Luckily, Loki wasted no time placing one of your hands on his shoulder as he took the other in his own. He then placed his remaining hand on your waist.
He led you in clumsy circles as you tried purposely to step on his feet. He growled playfully as he out stepped you every time. Loki spun you away from him never letting go of your hand. The rush of air past your face made you giggle. As you reached the furthest point of your spin you made an over exaggerated flourish with your other arm before being pulled back. You where anything but graceful as you spun back towards Loki, not quite being able to stop yourself at the appropriate time. You slammed into him, making him take a step back to brace the impact.
You laughed out loud as you take advantage of the hands that both were around your waist now to catch you. You arch your back and lean your head back, trusting Loki to not drop you. You kicked one leg behind you in another flourish. When you lean back up to face him, he’s beaming at you. “What was that?”
“I have no idea.” You answered still laughing.
With your new positions in order to continue staying together Loki held you closer than you thought was necessary, but oddly enough you didn’t mind. You placed an arm back on his shoulder and another on his upper arm as he kept both arms around you. You continued your clumsy spins, almost knocking into another couple.
Across the room Thor stopped talking to Sif as he noticed the laughter from the dance floor. “What are they doing?”
“Flirting obviously,” Sif answered nonchalantly.
“But they are not…they…they’re just friends.” Thor said cocking his head to the side.
“For now, but sooner or later at least one of them has to realize how obviously into each other they’ve been forever” She explained.
“Hopefully they do before the end of the year.” Fandral interjected, as he walked up to Sif and Thor. “If they get get together before the New Years Festival, Sif owes me one hundred gold.”
“You two are betting on my brother?!” Thor said eyes wide.
“We bet on everything.” She answered.
“Twenty gold says you will get your hair caught in your armor by the end of the month.” Fandral added looking at Thor.
Thor ignored them both after that, focusing on his brother dance like he hadn’t been taught over and over how to waltz eloquently. You kept laughing and you both were smiling wide like no one else was in the room with you.
At one point Loki dipped you down dramatically and when he pulled you back to him there was a moment that both of you paused your feet and simply looked at each other. No laughter between you. Thor could have sworn for a split second that Loki leaned his face down toward you and you sucked in a breath in anticipation. Thor found himself holding his breath also. Then nothing. You both went back to clumsy dancing until the band stopped playing to take a five minute break.
Thor found himself a little disappointed he didn’t notice it before. You two had always been a good match for each other in lessons or in training. Now he could see it was much more than that, or at least it could be.
Later that night you laid in your bed in the palace, replaying the night in your head. You hummed the song the band had played while you danced with Loki. You went from feeling happy and relaxed to a bit perplexed upon remembering a moment earlier. You stood there a bit swept up in the moment as he pulled you back to him after an over exaggerated dip. Something about the look in his eyes then struck you like the very first time you ever looked into his eyes so many years ago. That sparkle that made you blush for no reason other than the shining light behind them. You could have sworn he was going to kiss you for a moment. What intrigued you and confused you the most was that you were alright with that. In fact, you wanted him to. You really wanted him to. You wanted to kiss Loki for real. When did that happen? What did that mean?
You slept very little that night. You spent a long time replaying those events and what they meant to you over and over in your mind.
Little did you realize Loki had a similar night of little sleep across the palace in his own room.