The Blood Of A God || Loki Laufeyson

XI - L'appel du Vide

"Thor, this is Lady Seline, who I believe you have already met," Fandral said, a slight smirk coming onto his lips.

Thor nodded. "Yes, we met last night," he said, then smiled down at her.

He took her hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it, and she sent him a soft smile in return with her eyes squinted ever so slightly at the two men. They were up to something.

"Would you do me the honor of sharing the first dance with me, Lady Seline?"

"Of course, Prince Thor," she said, nodding to him.

Ariana grinned at Seline, then leaned forwards as the two of them started to walk away. "A certain god is as green with envy as the colour of his coat," she said, looking over to the other side of the ballroom.

Seline looked to where Ariana was gesturing to, and saw Loki standing there. A woman was standing beside him, one that Seline had seen before but had never spoken to. Loki had his arms crossed over his chest and was watching Seline and Thor with narrowed eyes, and it seemed that his jaw was clenched. Perhaps Ariana was right. Maybe he was jealous.

Prince Loki was strangely possessive, she knew that much. He thought of her as a possession, he thought of her as his.

But she would not be owned, even if she was his servant. He needed to realize that. Perhaps tonight, he would finally figure that out.

She saw him turn to the woman beside him, speaking to her, then held out his hand. The woman blushed and took it, and they walked to the dance floor as well.

Thor stood opposite from Seline, and before long, the woman that Loki was with was standing a few feet next to her. Loki stood over by Thor, looking directly at the woman and refusing to let his eyes meet with Thor or Seline's.

The dance was an old style of the waltz, one that, if Seline was correct, was at least a couple hundred years old. At least, it was on Midgard. Perhaps the Asgardians had known it longer.

The two partners would stand opposite to each other, then move forwards and put their hands close to each other. They would meet eyes and walk in a circle, then go back to their original spots. Then they would do the same with their opposite hand. Then, both hands. The entire time, they would not allow their bodies to touch. The dance was a way of showing that intimacy could be created without human touch. The two partners would yearn for each other, feel a need to touch one another, but would show restraint. Then, after they completed the third circle, they would go into the waltz. Before long, they would switch partners.

The music began, and the dancers all moved in sync. Seline put her right hand up, holding it an inch away from Thor's. He smiled at her when they circled, impressed at how well she seemed to be doing.

"Do they do this dance often in Midgard?" he asked her.

She shook her head. "Not this style, your highness."

"How did you come to learn it?" he asked, putting his left hand up as they repeated the previous action, but going in the opposite direction.

"When I learned of it, I took an interest in it. I took a few lessons, and I suppose that I learned it fairly easily." She was lying, of course. She was there when it was first practiced.

He nodded. "My brother is right," he stated, glancing over at Loki. She didn't look at him, but could now feel his eyes on her. "You are indeed a mystery."

They put both of their hands in front of each other and moved in a circle, then they bowed to each other once more. They both stood up straight, and she moved closer to him. Her hand went to his shoulder, and her other hand was held in his, while his hand went to her shoulder blade.

They swayed back and forth, moving in circles once again. The dance was odd that way, and in truth, she was surprised that all of the partners didn't get dizzy after a while.

Thor moved to spin Seline in a circle, and he smiled at her. "Enjoy your next partner, Lady Seline," he said, and let her go.

She hit a hard chest, not familiar with this part of the dance. Fandral and Thor had definitely been up to something. They wanted Loki jealous, and they wanted them to dance together. Well, both were accomplished.

Loki looked down at her, then swallowed. His hands moved off of her waist, which had been there to keep her steady, and he stood up straight. She moved a foot away from him, and they bowed to each other. Their right hands were nearly touching, and it wasn't until then that Seline truly understood the intimacy that was in this waltz.

She wanted to feel his hands on her again, she wanted to dance with him. She wanted nothing more than to touch him, but in this moment, all the dance allowed her to do was look at him. And when she did, she found herself lost in his bright green eyes.

Being a vampire, Seline did have a heartbeat, but a slow one. Even so, standing so close to him yet so far, she could feel it racing in her chest.

It appeared that he was having the same reaction, because didn't look away from her, not even for a second.

She cleared her throat, desperate to clear the silence. "Your brother and his friends seem intent on getting us together tonight."

He raised a brow. "And are you upset about it?"

She shook her head, raising her left hand. "No. I'm not."

"Strange," he stated. "Neither am I."

She couldn't help but smile at him.

As she continued to think of the urges, the need to be closer to him, she started to go deep into thought.

"What are you thinking of?" he asked her, as they now put both of their hands up.

"Are you familiar with the French term, 'L'appel du Vide'?"

He shook his head. "I have heard of the language, but not that specific term, no."

"It means 'the call of the void'," she said. "When you are on the top of a tall building, is there a small part of you that says to go the edge, and maybe even jump off?"

He nodded once. "Occasionally, yes."

They moved into the waltz part of the dance, and she almost sighed in relief when she felt his hands on her again.

"It is our mind's way of taking control of situations. In that situation, you always find that possibility appealing because it is the strongest decision you could make," she explained. "It has the most drastic result. There is a part of you in some situations that tells you to just do it, to forget everything and just do that one thing."

"And why are you thinking of such a thing?" he asked, curiosity in his tone as he held her slightly closer.

"Because it has to deal with restraint and temptation. I have felt temptation since I arrived in Asgard, and shown nothing but restraint."

She didn't realize how close they were until her chest was touching the armor over his.

"And do you feel it now?" he asked, looking down at her with his green eyes that she once again found herself getting lost in.

"Yes."

The music suddenly came to a stop, and the onlookers applauded the graceful movements of all of the dancers.

Loki watched her silently, and he saw the surprise suddenly appear in her eyes. She had been shocked at what she had just said to him.

She slowly removed her hands from his shoulder and from inside of his own closed hand. She was almost reluctant, and he took note of that.

"I think I might retire for the night, my lord. I hope you enjoy the rest of your evening."

He continued to watch her as she walked away, frozen in the middle of the dance floor until Thor and his friends came up to him, excited to know the details of what they had spoken about and why he was so shocked. But he was too amazed to even say a word to them until he saw her leave down the corridor.

Seline Volkov truly was extraordinary.