Gifted

Chapter 21

"Darling, wake up," Loki bid you early the next morning.

"Loki, it's early," you grumbled at him and tried to snuggle closer against him to go back to sleep.

"I know it is, but I have a surprise for you," he told you softly. You opened your eyes at that.

"A good surprise?" you asked him warily. One never knew with a silver-tongued Trickster boyfriend.

"I certainly think so, though you will probably grumble at me for not telling you I was doing this sooner," he admitted.

You sat up at that. It was too early for such flowery language. Or whatever he was up to. "Loki, what'd you do?" you asked him, truly concerned with how excited he was looking over this plan at whatever gods' cursed hour this was.

Loki grinned his Cheshire cat grin at you in reply. That wasn't reassuring. "You'll see," he replied.

You sighed. That meant this was either going to be really fun, or really terrible. There was no middle ground. "Tell me it'll be fun at least," you begged, unsure that you could handle a terrible day.

"It will be fun," he agreed, but you caught the tone of mischief in his voice and the glint in his eyes. You resigned yourself to a day he thought was fun and you would hate.

At least you could wear a simple dress that morning. He had set one out for you. You still couldn't wait to get your magic back so you could dress yourself with magic. You hated relying on him and being without your powers again. There was a knock on the suite door just as you had finished tying your hair into a simple knot at the back of your head, leaving the one strand of raven hair loose to frame your face. "That's for you," Loki told you, indicating the suite door.

You gave him a look, but went to go answer it. Frigga, Sif, and Astrid, one of the warrior women who had become your friend, were waiting outside for you. "Happy birthday!" they bid you brightly. You looked over your shoulder at Loki. Your birthday wasn't for another couple of weeks, which he damn well knew.

"Loki told us that the calendars do not quite add up right between Midgard and here," Frigga explained at your obviously confused expression. "He chose today as the closest logical day to celebrate your birthday. It also appears that he did not tell you," she added with a smile.

"Trickster, you are a creature made entirely of silliness," you told Loki as he came up next to you.

"Mischief and chaos," he corrected with a fond smile at the old tease.

"I'm not seeing a difference," you told him and stuck your tongue out at him.

He chuckled and leaned down to kiss your cheek. "I will see you later, darling. The girls insisted on stealing you away for something feminine this morning," Loki told you with a smile.

"You can join us!" Astrid laughed at him. "I've seen you at balls before," she continued laughing. Even Sif laughed at that and Frigga smiled. Loki used to shapeshift into a female and go to balls that way just for laughs. Or because she felt like it since Loki was genderfluid.

"I will let you ladies have your fun today," he replied with an elegant bow.

Sif and Astrid took your arms and the four of you left the royal wing together. You ended up in a section of the palace you had never been to, near the healing wing. You found out that it was a full-service spa. The morning was spent with pampering and girl talk. Frigga even told you embarrassing stories of Thor and Loki from when they were kids and Astrid told stories about her boyfriend in the royal guard. They were talking of having the soulbond ceremony after the traditional year of courtship. Naturally, you had to ask all about him. You hadn't done this kind of girls' outing before, but it was so natural and fun that the awkwardness quickly dissipated.