The Myriad Misadventures of a Midgardian Queen-In-Training || Loki x Reader

Chapter 14

You're late. The first event of the whole goddamn competition, and you're running late. If it gets you disqualified, great, but what if it gets you vaporized, or vanished (or something)? With those lovely images in mind, you race down the hall, sliding to a stop just outside the ballroom doors.

The music floats through the door, along with enough chatter for you to estimate how full the ballroom actually is - too full for comfort. But you're dressed, and you're here - and, besides, you didn't run down however many flights of stairs to get here just to turn around and run.

So you breathe.

And you step forward.

And you place a hand on each of the doors, pushing gently until they open in front of you.

Immediately, your stomach drops. There are even more people than you'd expected, all in opulent animal costumes - a menagerie of guests. By the bottom of the staircase, a woman in a snakeskin ensemble clinks glasses with a man dressed as a mouse; the dance floor is teeming with feathered headdresses and fur coats, hair teased and makeup applied with a heavy hand.

The herald mistakes your intimidation for fear of tardiness. "Don't worry, milady, you've arrived just in time. May I have your name?" You tilt your head at him questioningly. "To announce."

"In a moment." You want to take a second to scan the scene. Everyone is masked except for the other Chosen girls: there's Rosa by the punch bowl, in her sexed-up bunny getup, though you can't help but notice she has more skin on display than fabric. Rhea looks serenely, but alert, dressed as a cat; Irina, of course, chose a horse, her hair braided on the sides so that the back is loose in a mohawk-esque "mane." Juliette is a koi fish, you think, the myriad of brightly colored fabrics setting off her fiery locks to perfection. Lexie is a wolf, Sapphire a fox (or maybe Sapphire's a wolf, and Lexie's a fox - it's hard to tell from here), and Li appears to be a panther, sleekly magnificent in a black-and-gold ensemble, all chatting on some of the couches in the back.

Everyone looks so much older in person than in their pictures; not old old, but mature. Sexy. Like they know what they're doing. You're left standing there in the doorway in your soft browns and tans, feeling young and foolish and very, very small.

"And what are you?"

Of course. You attempt to conceal your discomfort at his proximity - he's barely two inches away. "A deer...my lord."

It comes out as more of a question - getting used to court-speak is going to take more than a few days - but Walden laughs it off. "How charming."

"Thank you. Your costume..." He is, in fact, costume-less, clad only in his typical uniform. "That is to say, you look very...nice?" Maybe if I'm nice, he'll leave me alone?

"Thank you, thank you. You know, Lady (Y/N) - no need to look so shocked, it wasn't hard to recognize you at all - for the past few days, I have been unable to dismiss you from my mind."

"Oh?" Don'tpanicdon'tpanicdon'tpanic

He leans in, his lips brushing your ear. It's too public a setting for you to defend yourself - you can't do anything but stand there, paralyzed. "In fact - "

"Miss, your name?"

Thank God. "Um, (Y/N). Of America. I mean, the United States of America."

He nods, turning to announce it to the room. Before you emerge from the shadows, Walden leans in one more time. "Be sure to save at least one dance for me."

You pretend not to hear him, smiling as brightly as you can as you make your way down the stairs. Most, if not all, of the heads in the room turn to watch your descent. To your relief, the staircase is short, and your moment in the spotlight ends quickly, too quickly for your nerves to really kick in.