Author's note: Hey guys, not entirely sure why I'm updating early again when I probably shouldn't be but it's Saturday night (or actually Sunday morning for me now) and I'm feeling spontaneous XD I think I'm going to catch up with where I'm up to posting on AO3 on here, so that I'm posting the same chapter every week rather than two different ones, just to change it up and encourage me to hurry up and write hehe. Anyways I'm really tired and rambling, hope you enjoy this chapter <3
...
Loki's POV
The next two hours were terrible.
The food was nice enough, but Loki had spent the majority of the dinner trying not to listen to Fandral flirt with you. He couldn't say that he blamed him, you looked (without meaning to sound awfully cliché) like some sort of princess in that dress. His mother kept looking at him pointedly and then down the table at you, which was horribly embarrassing. She'd made her feelings about his reluctance to tell you how he felt very clear during her talk earlier today, and to his immense annoyance her lecture had actually made a lot of sense. He knew that she was expecting him to talk to you tonight, and he had no excuse. Soulmates. The word still sounded stupid and made up, but Frigga had seemed determined to push the idea that you and he had some sort of special bond. The thought wasn't entirely awful, Loki supposed.
Thor seemed in an exceptionally good mood sat opposite him, but that was probably because you'd all been to the tavern before the meal. He was glad you'd been sensible enough not to get overly drunk, although looking around it seemed as though not many people wouldn't be drunk soon enough. He was planning on staying sober however, he didn't want any more slip ups like earlier when he'd accidentally let you know he thought you looked 'exquisite'. Which, for the record, you did, but he hadn't meant for you to hear it. He didn't know how you'd taken it, being unable to see your face, but you'd remained silent since then. Whether that was a good or bad thing remained to be seen.
"Loki?" Thor was saying.
His head snapped up as he realised that everyone was standing up to allow the tables to be cleared for dancing, and he quickly vacated his seat, glaring at Thor when he correctly guessed what (or, who) he had been thinking about.
While the servants and maids worked quickly to remove the tables and chairs to make space for dancing, Loki moved away from Thor and Odin (who kept shooting him disdainful looks) to stand next to his mother.
She looks lovely in your colour.
He couldn't get over how weird it felt having another person's voice in his head. A person that wasn't you. His mother was right though, green suited you down to the ground.
She does.
Fandral was now leading you away from the hall and down the steps which led to outside. You were casting an alarmed look back at Lady Sif, who simply laughed and waved you away. Loki watched this with a deadpan expression, trying not to worry. Fandral was all talk and no show, he wouldn't try anything... would he?
He's teaching her to dance.
That is none my concern.
He had been right. He couldn't lie to his mother.
Your POV
After everyone was done eating, the tables and chairs were cleared to make room for dancing. This was the part you'd been dreading.
"Why do you look so nervous?" Fandral asked, noticing your stiff posture.
"I don't dance. I mean I do, but I assume that dancing here isn't the same as the sort of dancing I've done on Earth." you confided. He was actually really nice, despite your first impressions of him being a massive flirt. And he was a massive flirt, but there was more to him than that, as you'd found out after spending two hours with him over dinner.
"I can teach you, it's not hard. Come with me." he told you, holding out his hand. You took it and allowed yourself to be led away down the steps of the hall to outside on the grass, casting a slightly alarmed look back to Sif, who simply laughed and waved. Out of the corner of your eye you saw Loki stood next to Frigga at the far end of the room. If you were being totally honest with yourself you were a tiny bit disappointed, having half hoped that someone else would offer to teach you how to dance...
Outside it was cool; the sun was low in the sky and the sound of insects was loud in the air. They sounded like crickets; were there crickets on Asgard?
"So, there are two different types of dance that you need to know. One is just a casual dance and one is a group dance." Fandral explained.
"A group dance?!" you repeated fearfully. He laughed.
"Don't worry, it's really easy. I'll show you the casual one first." he reassured you.
He really was ridiculously good looking; you found yourself staring at him as he taught you the basic steps. Thankfully, he had been right: it was easy, and before long he had you dancing in circles on the grass with him, one hand holding his and one hand on his shoulder.
"You're a quick learner! Now for the group dance, it's more of the same really..." he said, once again going through the basic steps with you. This one was slightly harder to practice as it involved turning to your left at the end where you would end up dancing with someone else.
"You've got it." Fandral told you happily after about five minutes of practicing the same steps over and over again. You sighed in relief, glad that you weren't going to look like a fool in front of everyone. Well, less of a fool anyway.
"You're a good dancer." he complimented you, leading you back up the steps to the hall. A few people were already dancing; you didn't know if you could cope with that just yet. You needed to have at least another drink before that happened.
"Thank you for teaching me." you smiled, and he bowed deeply.
"It was my pleasure."
You spotted Thor, Sif and Volstagg stood together nearby watching your exchange in amusement and you made your way over to them, swiping a wine glass from a passing servant as you did.
"Having fun?" Thor asked, his eyes sparkling and his cheeks red.
"Yeah, Fandral taught me how to dance." you told him, grinning at how happy and at home he looked.
"Come on then." Thor said, handing Volstagg his drink and holding out a hand to you.
"Oh, no Thor, maybe in a minute - hey!" you protested as Volstagg plucked your drink from your hand and Thor dragged you to the middle of the dance floor.
"This is not gentlemanly." you reprimanded him, as he mock bowed to you, making you laugh. You curtseyed sarcastically (if you can curtsey sarcastically?) and then he offered you his hand again, which you took, and started to dance. It was actually quite nice once you got used to it; you became more confident as you moved around the dancefloor with Thor, who was an exceptionally good dancer. Lots of people followed suit once you and Thor began to dance, and before long you were in the midst of a flurry of swirling dresses and tailcoats. Thor laughed aloud at the expression on your face which was one of pure joy: this was amazing! You were sad when the song ended; there was a polite round of applause and then a new, slower song began to play.
"May I?" a voice requested from behind you, and you turned to see a man you had never seen before holding out an arm.
"You may." Thor answered for you with a grin, and he raised his eyebrows at you before you reluctantly let go of him and accepted the stranger's arm. Thor turned away and was instantly met with about five other women waiting to dance with him.
The man's name was Sven, and he was also a very good dancer. You tried to pay attention to him, but you kept accidentally catching sight of Loki still stood where you'd seen him earlier, not dancing and looking pretty bored. After a while you caught sight of a group of girls clustered against the wall near to him, and one was pushed forward away from the group and towards Loki, giggling. You didn't need to read any minds to know what was going on there. The girl looked older than you by a few (Earth) years, and was extremely pretty. Prettier than you by a long way. And now she was walking towards Loki.
"Are you alright?" Sven asked you. Oops. You'd forgotten you were dancing with someone.
"Yes, sorry." you replied, vowing that you wouldn't look at Loki again. That lasted all of fifteen seconds; when you glanced back he was walking towards the dancefloor with that girl on his arm, and she was looking gleefully back at her friends. You allowed a gigantic wave of jealously to crash over you before reprimanding yourself. He was perfectly entitled to dance with whoever he liked. It was of no interest to you.
The song ended and you tried to escape, not feeling like dancing much anymore, but then Hogun was asking you to dance and you couldn't refuse, so ended up dancing some more, and then some more with Volstagg. By the time that song had finished you were smiling again, Volstagg wasn't the best dancer and made no secret of it; it was a laugh trying to avoid getting your toes trodden on and steer him in the right direction.
"I think I'll leave the dancing to Fandral." he grinned at the end and you readily agreed, thankful to follow him away from the dance floor towards where the drinks were being served. He'd managed to distract you from watching Loki dance with that girl, and then another, and another... okay so maybe he hadn't totally distracted you, but at least you'd had fun.
You barely had time to finish the new drink which you had picked up before suddenly Odin and Frigga were making their way towards the dancing crowd, which apparently signalled the start of the group dance. Fandral was by your side in an instant.
"Shall we?"
He led you to the middle of the dancefloor where you did not look at Loki, who was now back with that girl from earlier. You ignored the almost overwhelming need to read her mind and listened to Fandral, who was whispering the steps through to you again. The music started; the men bowed and the women curtseyed, and then you were dancing again.
"How long does this last for?" you whispered to Fandral, and he pulled a face.
"About ten or fifteen minutes I suppose. You usually dance with everyone at least once." he replied.
You grimaced. As much fun as this was you were starting to get tired. Oh well, ten minutes more wasn't anything you couldn't handle. Especially with the promise of getting to dance with Loki in that next ten minutes. You were pleased to see a few people getting the steps wrong in the first few seconds of the dance as you glided along seamlessly with Fandral. Without meaning to sound cocky, you really were quite good at this.
"Ready?" Fandral asked, spinning you around alongside all the other women and preparing to pass you along.
"We'll find out soon." you grinned.
"See you later then." he laughed, and you let go of him and spun to the left, finding yourself face to face with Volstagg again.
"I'll apologise in advance." he chuckled, and you laughed as you set off dancing again. You pushed your tiredness aside as you danced, concentrating on not getting the steps wrong. It started to feel like clockwork after a while however, allowing you to relax a little and make small talk with the people you danced with. After a while you came face to face with Thor, who smiled broadly at you.
"Are you having fun?" he asked you again.
"Yeah! I'm tired though." you confided in a low voice, as if you'd get into trouble if someone overheard you.
"It'll be over soon enough." Thor told you.
"But it's not even dark yet!" you exclaimed, catching a glimpse of the sun still visible, if low, in the sky.
"This isn't one of Stark's all-night parties Lady Y/N." Thor chuckled.
"I guess not." you grinned, catching Fandral's eye as he swept past, throwing you a wink.
"He's become very fond of you. Try and let him down gently won't you?" Thor teased, seeing the exchange and smiling.
"We're leaving tomorrow, I don't think he seriously thought we could be a 'thing'." you told him.
"Besides the fact that you so clearly have your sights set on someone else." Thor grinned.
There was no time to argue, because then he was spinning you around and you were turning to dance with someone else, throwing Thor a rueful look over your shoulder as you did so. He beamed back at you, now dancing with his mother who also threw you a smile, and then you turned to realise that you were dancing with Sven.
"Hello again." he smiled.
You made small talk with him while you danced, and then spun into the next person's hold. Odin looked just about as pleased to see you as you felt to see him. You danced in silence for the most of your time together, you trying to avoid eye contact while he seemed to be scrutinising you with his one uncovered eye.
"You dance well." he told you suddenly; you looked at him in surprise as he spun you around slowly.
"Thank you." you smiled politely, thinly veiling your shock.
You were relieved to be rid of him as you span to your left, hoping that your next partner was a slightly better dancer than Odin. Your wish was well and truly granted. Loki smiled as you spun around to face him, and you smiled back, falling into step with him easily, acutely aware of his hand suddenly resting on your waist.
"Hello." he murmured; your smile widened unwittingly.
"Hi." you replied. He was an amazing dancer. Obviously.
"How was that?" he asked.
"How was what?" you replied, having to concentrate twice as hard on talking when your faces were this close together.
"Dancing with Odin." he said, nodding at him over the top of your head.
"Slow." you said, and Loki grinned at you. You loved it when you could make him smile; it was a rare privilege.
"He told me I danced well." you continued, with the tiniest hint of pride.
"Did he?" Loki asked, sounding surprised.
"What's that supposed to mean?" you teased, raising an eyebrow.
"Nothing. You're an excellent dancer."
"I had a good teacher." you smiled.
Loki didn't reply to that; you danced in silence for a few seconds.
"You're tired." he said suddenly, a statement rather than a question.
You didn't ask how he knew this.
"A bit." you shrugged, as if it wasn't that bad. It was, and although you were having a great time you'd had a long day and wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and sleep. Then he was spinning you around and you reluctantly let go of him and turned to the left to find yourself face to face with Hogun.
Do you want to go somewhere quieter?
Don't overthink it. Don't.
Yes.
After this is over then. Wait for me in the corridor where we came in.
"What's so funny?" Hogun asked you, with a hint of a smile.
"Nothing." you replied, smiling broadly. "I'm just in a good mood."