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1. Dancing
It wasn’t strange for Loki to be absent from events like these. The young prince was often a no-show for any event his presence wasn’t indefinitely required to show up for.
Everyone knew the prince did not enjoy these events, for it was always written on his face with a scowl, so he did not attend. Although this was true to an extent and while none of their friends seemed to notice, Hogun did.
Nobody seemed to notice that Loki’s eyes were the same no matter what form she had taken, or the fact that her hair was always that dark ebony shade. Hogun always knew when his dear friend Fandral was spending time with the dark-haired prince. Neither Thor, nor Sif, or Volstagg seemed to notice these small details for they weren’t such a noticeable thing unless you had a keen eye or were looking for them.
Hogun had found out about the secret relationship between the two a few months ago when the blonde had introduced his new paramour to their small group of friends.
The woman was slightly suspicious to Hogun, for he had sworn he’d seen the young maiden before and it wasn’t til’ the morning after, when he saw the trickster in the feasting hall, that he put two and two together.
It was no secret that the younger prince could shape-shift, often using the ability to play tricks on his brother and the warriors.
So while Loki didn’t particularly enjoy these events, he always showed up to them as a woman. This was mostly to make Fandral happy for he enjoyed these events a lot. Loki seemed to always enjoy himself in the end though.
Tonight was a celebration, a celebration for the peace between Vanaheim and Asgard being kept and for the peace now and many years in the future.
Loki’s presence was required in the beginning for formalities but when those were over he slipped out and was replaced with a female version of himself known to the other warriors as Lori. This version of Loki had beautiful, long, flowing hair and pale skin that was complemented with a green dress.
Now Loki has one arm linked with Fandral’s as they walk towards their friends.
“Fandral!” Thor cheers as he sees the man approach. The dashing warrior lets go of his date to give the elder prince a hug, with a smile. “Thor!” He exclaims, happy to see his friend as if he didn’t see him just the day before.
“It’s good to see you again, Lori,” Volstagg says to Loki, giving her a smile. She smiles back and greets all of the warriors. As the night goes on they drink and converse amongst one another until Fandral pulls Loki away to dance.
Hogun smiles as he watches the two dance. He understands why the two have chosen to keep this relationship hidden, but he truly does hope that one day the two can be open about each other, even if it’s just in the confines of their friend groups
The two glide across the dance floor gracefully, and with ease as if dancing with one another had been their only purpose in life, a purpose they practised every day. Except that was not the case, they just knew how to dance perfectly with one another.
2. Taverns
Fandral often had one lover on each arm, sometimes even more than one on each arm, but now that he had introduced Loki under a false name as his lover she was the only woman under his arm. In fact, she was hardly ever under his arm, often reading beside him when in taverns, listening to the loud conversations but hardly ever giving up her own input.
When drinking, the warriors often told stories of their mighty adventures, often exaggerating the quests to great lengths. This particular story that Thor tells now was of one adventure they would have surely not survived had it not been for the help of Loki.
Hogun watches as Thor completely removes his younger brother from the tale. The dark-haired warrior looks over to the woman to see if he can read her expression, looking for any hint of anger or disappointment. Just as he expected though, her face is devoid of any such reactions and instead is that of a small smile.
Hogun doesn’t help but notice Fandral does have a small look of annoyance but it’s hardly noticeable if you aren’t looking for it. Neither of the couple can speak up about this detail, for fear of risking their relationship.
The two lovers are the first to sneak away from the tavern, being able to leave quite easily due to the blonde’s reputation.
3. The Garden
The garden and training grounds are not far from each other, often times you’ll be able to see the garden from the training grounds or vice versa.
Sif and Thor had just finished sparing, the two deeming it a tie as they were both out of breath, covered in their own sweat.
“I see Fandral has found better company!” Thor says with a fond smile, looking at his friend from afar, watching as he talks with a young maiden, offering her a rose. That maiden was Loki unbeknownst to the rest of the warriors besides Hogun.
“How long do you think they’ll last?” Sir asks with a raised brow. Volstagg chuckles out a response, saying “Not much longer I presume.”
“Knowing him, Fandral will have tossed her away any due moment now, looking for another conquest to satisfy his boredom,” Thor says, making Hogun cringe, for if Thor knew that was his sister he was talking about, he would surely regret those daft words.
“Despicable.” Sif mumbles.
“I don’t know… she’s different,” Hogun says, defending his friend. Thor responds with a confused look and Volstagg shouts “Different how?!”
“Maybe one day you will know,” Hogun says cryptically, taking his leave.
“What’s that supposed to mean!?” Thor shouts as he runs after his grim friend leaving Volstagg and Sif at the training grounds.
Sif looks at Volstagg, quirking a brow. A silent request to spar with him. She is met with a grin as he pulls out a weapon made of wood.
4. The Meal
This time it was in the feasting hall. When Lori was there Loki never was, and when Loki was there, Lori wasn’t. Nobody ever picked up on this though, except for the Queen, the King and Hogun.
When Fandral’s date never appeared he would make up an excuse, like that she was off with her family but in all truthfulness, Thor had just bumped into Loki and forced the younger prince to take a break from his studies.
Today was one of those days when Thor had appeared in the feasting hall for dinner with an arm wrapped around his brother's neck, said brother was staring at the elder prince with an annoyed glare and if looks could kill, Thor would have dropped dead the moment he touched his brother.
The blonde let go of his brother and the younger prince immediately pats his clothes, straightening any wrinkles and getting any dust or dirt off that Thor might have spread. Loki then takes a seat at the end of the table.
“Where’s your date today, Fandral?” Volstagg asks loudly with a teasing smile. The blonde smiles and replies, being slightly dramatic, “Alas she is off having a meal with her friends.”
That wasn’t exactly a lie, but it wasn’t the truth either. The warriors were the closest to friends on Asgard Loki had but they were more Thors friends than Lokis, the only one Loki would truly call a friend would be Lady Amora.
Sif and Volstagg didn’t particularly like Loki but out of respect for his older brother, they tolerated the younger prince. Hogun really didn’t care for the trickster. He wouldn’t exactly call the man a friend but he doesn’t hate him either.
“Are you sure she’s not off meeting some other man?” Sif asked her friend
Fandral just laughs and responds with a smile “Quite sure!” And Hogun doesn’t miss the small glance the couple gives one another.
5. Training
The warriors trained almost every day, the only times they didn’t were when there was an event they had to attend to. Today was a normal day which means no events, which means training.
Hogun noticed how Loki would watch from the sidelines, watching Fandral as he fought with another warrior.
The dashing man would always go over to her whenever he took a small break, the other warriors paying no mind to the two, opting to spar with one another or watch from the sidelines.
Fandral was then pulled away from his conversation by Thor, loudly asking the other blonde to spar, so Fandral made his goodbyes and joined his friend leaving Loki to watch the two with a fond smile.
Hogun can’t help but notice how both Loki and Fandral look they’re happiest when in the presence of the other.
+1, The Discovery
Thor was the fourth one to join the warriors for their daily evening meal, Hogun, Volstagg, and Sif having already taken a seat and conversed over food.
Thor joins them and the evening goes by smoothly for a few moments before Volstagg asks “Where’s Fandral?”
“Probably off with his Paramour,” Sif replies with a dramatic eye roll.
“Actually not,” Thor says before taking a bite of his meal.
“What do you mean by that?” Sif asks with a confused expression for if Fandral wasn’t off with Lori, then why would he be late? Well… later than usual.
“I saw him enter my brother’s chambers a few minutes ago! I had no idea they were such good friends!” Thor says with a beaming smile.
Hogun smiles at how wrong the prince is, chopping Fandral and Loki's relationship into something as simple as ‘just friends’
As if perfect, or maybe horrible timing, Fandral walks into the room with Lori to the right of him.
“Hello Fandral! Where’s Lo— OW!” Thor begins to say something but is quickly interrupted by Sif hitting him on the back of his head, hard.
“Where were you Fandral?” Sif asks in place of Thor's question.
“Why I was with Lori all day.” Fandral replies, confused at the strange questioning, Lokis lips pressing into a thin line before contorting into a smile.
“But weren’t you just with my brother not moments before?” Thor asks and Hogun doesn’t miss how both Fandral and Loki tense at the question. Loki manages to put on a poker face a lot quicker than Fandral, his also being more convincing than his blonde lover.
“I have absolutely no idea what you could possibly be on about, Thor.” Fandral defends.
“But I saw you!” Thor accuses loudly.
“I don’t know who you saw but that certainly was not me,” Fandral responded, tone getting slightly more agitated. In response to his agitation, Loki rests a hand on the man’s back, calming him down slightly.
Thor opened his mouth again to argue back at his friend but Hogun stepped in, cutting him off by saying “How about we drop this for now, Thor?”
“I think that would be wise.” Volstagg agrees before shovelling more food into his mouth.
The rest of their meal would be spent almost normally if it wasn’t for the tension between Thor and Fandral.
Later that day when Fandral is a set from the group, Thor takes that as his chance to speak to the other warriors of the events that had transpired earlier within the feasting hall and even before that.
“Thor, are you absolutely sure that’s what you saw?” Sif asks the older prince.
“I know what I saw,” Thor replied sternly.
“But what possible reason would Fandral have to lie about that?” Volstagg asked.
“Maybe Loki has done something to him!” Sif accuses.
“I highly doubt it.” Hogun defends.
“And how would you know that, Hogun?” Sif replies slightly angry at the idea that Loki had done something to her friends
When she gets no response in return other than silence Volstagg speaks up asking the grim warrior “Do you know something about this?”
“I might.” He replies. At this point, Hogun thinks it would be better to tell his friends about the secret relationship between their friend and the younger prince opting for that option rather than keeping quiet and letting the warriors create a whole scene with the wrong idea.
Hogun knowing something that he doesn’t certainly gains Thor's attention. The look the older prince gives Hogun is one that tells the grim warrior to continue speaking his knowledge.
“Thor, you yourself here know better than anyone else that Loki is a shapeshifter.” He points out to his oblivious friend, hoping he will be able to piece things together.
“What does his shapeshifting have to do with anything?” Thor asks in confusion, causing Hogun to let out a disappointed sigh.
Looking at the other two warriors, Hogun notices they are both equally as confused as Thor is.
“Think of Loki and then think of Lori. What do they have in common? Both visually and personality-wise.”
“I suppose they have similar hair but Loris is much longer than Lokis.” Sif points out.
“They both have similar mannerisms as well!” Volstagg added causing Sif to let out a loud gasp, probably piecing everything together.
“They have the same eye colour too!” Thor shouts.
“Is Fandral cheating on Lori with Loki?!” Volstagg cries out.
“No, you idiot! Loki is Lori!” Sif shouts out.
“Does Fandral know?” Volstagg asks, worried for his friend.
“He definitely does,” Hogun replies calmly.
“But… why would they hide this from us?” Thor asks confused with a frown.
“Well, Asgard isn’t exactly the best when it comes to these types of relationships, Thor.” Volstagg reminds his friend, making the prince frown even more.
“How about this Thor.” Sif starts. “We can pay them a visit and let them know that we know and that they are safe to share this relationship with us.” She continues making the blonde prince smile brightly.
“That seems like an excellent idea!” He exclaims.