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

Chapter 46

You're so tired of balls.

When you were sixteen and sick to your stomach at the prospect of palace living, they were the part you feared most. No, really. Meeting and dating (or avoiding) Mr. Psycho-Alien-King was a daunting prospect, sure, but nothing struck fear into your heart quite so much as the prospect of organized social humiliation.

After the masquerade ball, you got a bit more into the spirit of it—nothing wrong with some dressing up and dancing. But the social aspects have since faded from terrifying to tedious. Just because you've managed to memorize all of Lady Amara's endless rules doesn't mean you enjoy putting them into practice, especially with a group of people whose idea of a banger is Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons." So you're really, really not looking forward to having to do that in your hometown.

But when you enter this ballroom, almost immediately everything is different. You reach out and grab Irina's arm, Rosa letting out a poorly-stifled snort as all four of you stop in your tracks.

Prom?

Is this what a prom is like? You have no way of knowing first-hand, but based on the various movies and television shows you'd caught over the first sixteen years of your life, this is pretty close to what you would have imagined. Recently released (and therefore unfamiliar to you) pop music, flashing lights of different colors, throngs of people in tuxes and short, tulle-heavy dresses...

You feel a tug at your arm, and let Irina tug you back out the doors into the lobby.

You all burst into fits of hysterical laughter.

"We have to change," Irina insists, tears in her eyes.

You stop giggling just long enough to choke out, "Into what?

While the four of you huddle by the elevators, Rosa's eyes light up. "Wait here." She runs to the front desk.

A few seconds later, there's a loud ping, and the bronze doors slide open. "Perez!" Irina calls. "Hurry up."

"Hold on!"

She makes it back just in time, collecting her skirts with one hand to squeeze into the elevator. When one of you asks, "What was that about?" she just shakes her head and smiles mysteriously. It isn't until all four of you are back in the room, with the door closed behind you, that she reveals what she had hidden in her other hand. "Ta-da!"

When you all only stare at her blankly, she rolls her eyes and demonstrates her purpose, using the object—a pair of scissors—to hack away at some of the tulle layered in the skirt of her gown.

"Are you crazy? Rhea blurts out. You and Irina turn to look at her, surprised; it's probably the most impassioned thing you've ever heard her say. "It's...it's just..."

"The People's Princess over there," Rosa says, jerking her head in your direction, "had a point before. Getting on a level with the public. Especially since we were one of them not so long ago." When Rhea still seems reluctant to agree, Rosa rolls her eyes again and huffs. "Fine. You keep the ball gown, then. But I want a party dress, so who's going to help me?"

**********************************************************************

It takes no small amount of snipping and tearing—there are truly a ridiculous number of layers to each of your skirts. But by the end of it, you, Irina, and Rosa have all reworked your gowns into some approximation of a knee-length homecoming dress. You even manage to coax Rhea into raising the hem of hers to her mid-calf. Rosa dips into the bathroom to readjust the bodice of her dress, and you find yourself digging through your suitcase to find your lipstick while the other two head down on their own.