Loki x Reader: Into the MCU

Chapter 39: When in Rome

"Y-yes, I mean I---I'd very much like her to be here. I didn't think I'd---I just thought she wouldn't be---"

"Many mistakes I have made in my life, son. Not treating Ms. Foster the way she deserved upon her first visit is one of them. Go. Ask if she will do us the honor of attending."

Thor's shock morphed into a smile, the idea filling him with visible delight.

"Thank you, father," he said, placing a hand lovingly on his shoulder. 

"Now go," Odin said, after smiling back, "I know you visit her, but you've been entirely too preoccupied as of late. You're eager to see her again, so go get her."

  Thor thanked him once more, before rising and practically running from the room. You smiled at his happiness, glancing to see Loki poorly hiding his own gladness at Thor's joy. He looked back down at his plate, the expression of slight awkwardness returning. Evidently, he didn't always know how to feel about Thor or his father, or at least still tried to fight his instinctive emotions.

"And you, my boy?" Odin asked, Loki looking across at him with noticeable surprise. You weren't sure if it was the question that yielded such a reaction, or the soft tone Odin took with him. Something as simple as Odin referring to him as his boy wasn't a shock to you, who knew they were once at least content as father and son. But you had to remember the events of the last four or five years. They had had a rather large falling out. Words and mistakes on both ends could not easily be forgotten, so it could very well have been Odin's casual approach that still caught his son off guard.

"Oh, well, you know," Loki cleared his throat, "I always find someone for these sorts of things. Like Thor said, there are many acquaintances in court I could bring along. They'd hardly refuse a chance to be in the public's eye I'm sure," he snickered.

"If that is what you wish," Odin nodded, "Though I had hoped you'd bring a friend to at least enjoy yourself. This is the first we have had the motivation to hold the festival in the last few years, and the first we shall all be in front of the entire populace as a family since Thor's failed coronation."

"Not all of us," Loki said in bitter grief.

You didn't know what to say to that, so you gave him a comforting smile when his eyes darted your way.

"Yes," Odin replied softly, his own face holding it's deal of pain, "Which is what makes this celebration more important than it has ever been. She'd have wanted us to have it. She'd have wanted you to enjoy yourself, which is why I was hoping you'd be accompanied by more than a silly girl seeking the attention of both a prince and the public."

You'd be lying if you said him asking you didn't pop into your head. You didn't know what they were talking about, not entirely at least, but you'd pieced together that the princes are usually accompanied by a female companion during the parade. It sounded like it could be a friend or girlfriend, so you, not knowing of anyone else Loki was close with, couldn't ignore the fact that that left yourself as a candidate. Quickly assuring your brain that it wouldn't happen calmed your nerves, as you certainly weren't ready to be seen, by the whole of Asgard, attending an organized celebration as, essentially, Loki's date. Even if it was just as friends, you would still be his plus one to a public function.

"If she were here, she certainly wouldn't be shocked by my escorting a random woman in the parade. I'm afraid some things do not change with the passage of time."

As sad as that statement was, you breathed a bit easier.

"Hmm," Odin hummed, a note of irritation to his expression, "Very well."

"I have events to organize and a pupil to train," Loki told his father, hand held out to you for that last part, "I shall see you later this evening." He stood up, beckoning for you to do the same.