"My lady, how about this one?" Piper, my new maid, asks eagerly. She holds up a poofy pink dress. I guess it's pretty, but I wrinkle my nose.
"Piper, it's a little... much. I don't really like big ball gowns." I never have. Even at prom, my dresses were not floofy. "I'm sorry."
"No apologies are necessary, but we must finish up. You need to meet the queen soon." Thor had told me earlier that it was Frigga who would escort me to the party. "Take a look yourself."
I sift through the wardrobe, looking for anything that catches my eye. I almost miss it, but my hand brushes something soft. "Oh," I whisper, not daring to take my eyes off of it. The dress is simplistic and innocent, light yellow. Strapless. Its skirt falls to the ground, but it's flowy and so so beautiful. It reminds me the tiniest bit of my little light. "This one."
"That's a very good choice, my lady. Let's get you dressed."
Soon she has me in the gown and touches up my makeup. My hair is half-down, braided out of my face except for a few loose tendrils. A thin golden necklace adorned with a few circular charms is the only jewelry I wear. A knock sounds at the door. I slip on the gold heels and go to get it.
"My dear, you look lovely," Frigga says warmly. "Radiant. Like the sun."
I curtsy. "Thank you, Your Majesty. You look beautiful, too." She wears a satin dress, light blue, and probably looks better than I do.
"Thank you. Shall we go?"
"Yes. Oh- wait!" I poke my head back in the door. "Piper, thank you." She nods, evidently pleased but trying to hide it. "I'll see you later."
"That was a very sweet thing to do," Frigga says, leading me down the hallways. "Not everyone would have thought to thank the one who helps."
"Well, she helped me. My brother always told me to thank people, no matter what." Bruce. What I wouldn't give for five minutes of conversation with him.
"You have a brother? Older or younger?"
"Older by thirteen years, but I'm adopted anyway," I tell her. Frigga's eyes soften at this, like she's remembering another time and someone else. "We're pretty close."
"I've noticed that you get along very well with my son," she states, turning to me. I feel like blushing all of a sudden. "You two are good friends, am I correct?"
"Yes. He was kind to me at the Tower and we've bonded ever since." I leave out the part where he turned blue and tried to kill me. She doesn't need to know that. I think her unconditional love might not appreciate it.
Frigga is silent for a moment. "Thank you," she breathes. I look at her, confused.
"Why?"
"My son is lonely. He always has been an outsider. For a long time, I was afraid he had lost his abilities to trust others. You have proved there is most certainly an exception to that. My husband believes that Loki, the older version of him, is dead. But I disagree. He comes back to life when he sees you."
I don't know what to say. I'm speechless, and touched. Loki's mother has been paying attention. "I'm thankful for him, too. He makes me feel a little less alone." I recall the night I discovered my abilities, how I ran out crying, and how he held me, saying we were both messes.
"I'm glad." We reach a big door. "Now, when we go in, they will announce us. We will walk down a staircase. After that, I will proceed to join the Allfather and you will sit with Loki and Thor. Are you ready?" I nod, and she pushes the door open.
The room is filled with people all sitting at long tables, nobles and warriors mostly. At least I think that's what they are. All heads turn to face us. I search for familiar ones, and I find one.
Loki can't seem to take his eyes off of me.
"Lady Eliza of Asgard and the Allmother, Queen Frigga of Asgard." It's weird, being announced 'of Asgard.' We walk down the stairs just like Frigga told me and I don't trip. Yay me. I sit in between Loki and Sif, grateful to be out of the spotlight. It's really not my style.
"You look beautiful, my little sol." I startle, having not expected that.
"You don't clean up bad yourself," I tease. He smirks, but the fancy version of his usual black and leather does look very, very good.
"There are a lot of people here," I observe, taking a sip of my drink. It's something lemony and sweet.
"Indeed there are. Too many. I've never been fond of crowds."
"Me either, but it could be fun." Loki gives me a sarcastic face. "Probably not, but you never know!"
We all dig into the meal the minute the Allfather sits down. Vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, bread, desserts- it's all there and it's all amazing. Conversations subdue for a while as we all just eat. Everyone seems lighter and happier tonight, and while I do talk with everyone, I mostly speak to Loki. The third course is being set out when he asks me what happens in the next Star Wars.
"Oh, Return of the Jedi? Well, Luke goes back to see Yoda, but he dies. Obi Wan visits Luke as a ghost and tells him that he needs to face Vader and that Leia is actually his twin sister. The group ends up on this forest planet called Endor that's infested with these teddy bear things called Ewoks. Luke hands himself over to Vader, there's a big fight, the Emperor starts to electrocute Luke to death but Vader ends up saving his son and dying because of voltage. There's a funeral and then a party with the Ewoks. Oh, and Han and Leia get together." I look at Loki, who seems to be trying not to laugh again. "You get all that?"
He does laugh this time. "Yes. That was a very long explanation, but thank you."
"I didn't know you were paying attention during those." He smirks. "What's so funny?"
"I had a bet with Thor that the princess was his sister. I'll have to collect my winnings later. However, since we will be here for a long time yet, would you like to dance?" His question throws me off guard. I would like to, I really would, but I think I might look absolutely stupid. Watching all of the Asgardians who know what they're doing right now makes me sick. "Come on, it's not too difficult to pick up," he says.
I bite my lip. "I don't know..."
"Eliza, you will be perfectly fine. I promise."
He grins, and my worries melt away. "Fine. But if I mess up, it's on you." He offers a hand, and I take it, allowing myself to feel what he is. It's excitement. He gives me a look that says he knows I'm in his head, but it's not mad. More of an eye roll moment.
Loki leads me out into the group of dancers, ignoring the fact that over half of the sitting guests are watching us curiously. "The movements are simple and repetitive. Just follow my lead."
"Loki, people are staring at us." It's selfish, but I really want to switch emotions with him. I'm not quite sure how, but he said Empaths are able to do it. I won't though. That's not fair.
"Of course they are," he says, spinning me with the music. "I am a handsome criminal prince, and you are a mysterious lady of Midgard. We make quite a pair, you and I."
"I think we do."
"Yes. And might I say that you are very graceful in those shoes? I thought you would be tripping, to be honest."
I snort. "I'm a SHIELD agent, and I learned from Natasha Romanoff. I can kick someone's butt in stilettos."
"I don't doubt it." We stay in silence for a few minutes.
"I like this dance." It's relatively simple but super fun, with lots of twirls and dips and changing hands. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Frigga smiling at us.
Loki laughs. "You do? Here, quick put your hands on my shoulders." I do as he says and am halfway through the word why when he puts his hands at my waist and lifts me, spinning. My eyes go wide.
"Holy crap, Loki!" I'm shocked, but I'm laughing and he's laughing and the whole situation is so funny that we can't stop. "You could have warned me!"
"If I told you, you might have said no," he replies, a look of mischief sparkling in his eyes. "But you must admit it was fun."
"It was," I agree. The dance comes to an end, and Loki seems to remember something.
"Meet me outside of the hall in five minutes." A kiss on the hand, and he's gone, weaving his way through the crowds. Whatever he's doing, he wants to be discreet, so I don't immediately run after him. I make my way back over to the banquet table to say goodbye to Thor.
"My lady, that was very good," he praises, dipping his head. "My brother does love to dance."
"All I did was listen to Loki," I say, giggling. "It was fun, though. I'm going to call it a night."
"Are you sure? The feast will go on for hours still." Sif looks confused.
Hours? "Um, yes. I'm not used to all of this excitement, I think a book and a relaxing night might do me good." She nods.
"Well, it was a pleasure meeting you, Lady Eliza. Good night."
"You too. Night, Thor." I move up the stairs as quickly as possible, ready to see whatever Loki has in store for us.
So I just saw Far From Home, and it was absolutely amazing. Anyway, this was chapter 15, I hope you enjoy it! I've been coming up with plans for the future chapters that I'm excited to share with you! The next thing I will be posting is the playlist to go with this book. Hope you're having a great day!
By the way, here is Eliza's look for the feast. Obviously her hair would be brown and a little longer, but that's the general idea. The dress is based off of one worn by Taylor Swift, but imagine it being floor length ;)