Thor looked at the poster plastered on the shop door. The Asgardian Ball… The biggest party of the whole year and thanks to his recent stunt at his school he couldn't find any girl willing to go with him. And he was a prince, which was saying something. He saw his brother, sitting at a table in the square, reading a book on astronomy. He came over and sat next to his brother.
"What are you doing?" Thor asked, looking over the binding of the book to peek inside. Loki quickly shut it, nearly taking Thor's nose off.
"That's none of your business…" he said standing, "And if you have to know, I was studying for my magic test tomorrow."
"But doesn't that say Astrology?" Thor grabbed the book from Loki, opening it up and holding it upside down. He was never one for reading. A piece of paper flew out from in between the pages and onto the ground. Thor dropped the book and quickly snatched it up before Loki could. It was a picture of a girl from their class named Helen that was pencil sketched. It was pretty impressive for a 16 year old. "Helen? Why are you drawing her?" Thor asked examining it.
"Also none of your business." Loki said grabbing it back. "Let's go home. Come on."
"Uhm, okay, but brother, do you know anybody that could go to the dance with me? I mean after-"
"After you barged into the girl's bathroom? I can't imagine anyone that would go with you."
Thor pouted and wrinkled his brow as he thought about what to do. Loki rolled his eyes at him; thank goodness it was only a short walk back to the palace. He couldn't stand being around such stupidity. Soon they were back in the palace and Thor went out to hunt with his friends. Loki stayed back, going out to the stables. He saw Sleipnir, only a young foal at the time, standing inside of his pen. Loki smiled, walking over to the horse and letting him nuzzle him.
"Oh Sleipnir, what'll I do? Father is closer than ever to letting Thor be king, and he can't even read a book properly." The horse whinnied and Loki unlatched the door, putting a bridle on him and leading Sleipnir out. "Let's go for a walk." It'd been about a month since Loki had given birth to the colt as a mare. It was little things like that that proved he could save the kingdom from any turmoil that lay about. He'd sacrifice his life if he had to, but it did no good to impress his father. It was obvious where his love lie.

Thor was sitting with Sif, Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg on the edge of the river banks, "I'll never get a date." He pouted.
"What about you, Sif?" Hogun asked, looking over at her, "You could always go with Thor."
"Sif, would you? Would you really?" Thor clasped his hands together giving her the puppy dog eyes.
"After yesterday you're lucky I even sit near you… Anyways I'm already going with someone." She crossed her arms.
"Who?" the prince, Hogun and Volstagg asked in unison.
"Me." Said Fandral, giving his friends a grin of pride.
"You?" Volstagg gasped, "Why you're as skinny as a rail and about as pretty as a frost giant."
"Look who's talking…" Fandral shot back.
"Oh shut up you two! We need to focus here!" Thor interjected. "I must find a date for the ball. Do you all have dates already?"
They all nodded. Of course... thought Thor, he was the only one left of them to get a date. Except for maybe Loki, who usually didn't attend this sort of thing. He looked in the river at his reflection before he saw Loki's behind him. Thor turned around.
"When did you get here?" Thor asked.
"Just a moment ago, Father wants you home. Hurry up; I have to study for my test." Loki scowled.
"Lighten up, brother! What's one night of disobeying father and skipping studying going to do?" Thor laughed.
Sif smiled, "He's right you know, every once in awhile you need a break Loki."¬¬¬¬
Loki sighed, "Tonight is not the night, come on Thor, and we have to get back."
Sif shook her head as she watched the duo leave, "He sure is strict. We should show him how to loosen up sometime."
"You're hilarious Sif, he's been like that ever since he turned 12, and I don't think it's changing either."
"Yes, I believe he is a lost cause." Hogun agreed.

"Brother, will you read to me tonight?" Thor asked yawning and getting into bed.
"Thor, aren't you a little old for this?" Loki asked, "And anyway all I have is my magic text book."
"Read that to me." Thor smiled watching Loki slip into his own bed next to Thor's.
"Fine," Loki huffed, "What do you want to hear, I don't want to read the whole thing."
"Start from page… how about page…" he paused to think of a number, "1-0-6?"
Loki flipped the pages leaning closer to the lamp on his nightstand, "Shape shifting spells are some of the hardest spells to master. You must always remember specifics when casting the spells, because even one over looked detail can mean a disaster on your hands. With these spells you can transform into an existing person, one entirely of your own imagination, or an animal."
Thor had started to fall asleep already till he heard that, "Hey, brother?"
Loki set down the book, "Yeah?"
"Could you be my date to the Asgardian Ball?"
"W-what?!"
"I mean, you could transform into a girl using one of those shape shifting spells right? And it's not like you have a date."
Loki frowned, "Don't be ridiculous, Thor."
"I'm not! Oh brother, please? Please, please, please? I'll do your chores and homework for a year! Please, Loki, if I don't have a date my whole life will be ruined!" Thor whined.
"Don't you think you're exaggerating just a little? And anyways, why would I want you screwing up all my homework?"
"What if I gave you enough coins to buy that saddle for Sleipnir you've been wanting on top of doing your chores?" When Loki's expression softened he knew he'd won.
"Well, fine, but you have to gather all the materials for the potion. And don't tell anyone I'm doing this either…" he gave in.
Thor jumped up from his bed and squeezed his brother tight, "Oh thank you, thank you! Thank you Loki! Just give me a list and I'll get all the stuff!"
"Thor I can't breathe, get off me." He pushed Thor away, "Now go to bed already, okay?"
"Of course brother, whatever you say." Thor grinned and went back to his own bed, curling up in the blankets and smiling. Now that he had a date, and could sleep in peace.
The next morning was a Saturday, which meant Thor was in luck. He found himself busy doing Loki's and his own chores, looking for different items on a list of the things that Loki needed, and searching around the house for all the stashes of coins he'd saved up and hidden so he could go buy the saddle for Sleipnir. By the time he was finished Thor was exhausted. He still had several more things to get on the list including a corset, an ebony hair from a lady, and an emerald. He could always ask Sif for a corset but there were two problems with that. A. Did she wear one? And B. She'd ask what it was for. That'd be a long story, and breaking his agreement with Loki.
In the meantime Loki was working away with all the green velvet he'd purchased. He was stitching together a dress for the ball, if he was going to be a girl he'd have to convince everyone that he, just like every other girl at the ball, had put a great deal of time and effort into his dress. He left no detail over looked, for he wanted to make sure no one figured out it was him. He sighed as he finished up sewing the skirt, which had small gold disks bordering the edge. He smirked, pleased with his work and put it in a cloth bag, hiding it beneath his bed. Loki heard footsteps from down the hallway and quickly hid his supplies, opening the door to see who it was. A thin, attractive girl with long brunette hair walked up to his door.
"Helen?" Loki looked surprised.
"Oh, I uhm, hope I'm not intruding on anything." She spoke softly.
"No, of course not, come in." he moved out of her way and sat down on the edge of his bed.
"Well, the Asgardian Ball is coming up and I was wondering if you had a date yet…"
Loki frowned, feeling a stabbing pain in his chest, "I'm so sorry Helen, I can't…"
"Oh it's okay! I mean, I expected you're already going with someone." As she said it was okay her face betrayed her words, looking disappointed.
"It's not that, I just have to stay home that night, I have a lot of studying to catch up on. Anyway, Thor just got a date, and I'm sure he'd prefer me not tagging along with him the whole night."
"Oh, Thor got a date too? Who is she?"
"Uh, it's Lilia I think, she's from a different school, though I'm not positive which one." He spat the words out quickly.
"I see, well, maybe next time then. I have to go, goodbye." She waved bye and left in somewhat of a hurry. When he was sure she was gone Loki slammed the door shut and slid down the door, sitting on the floor.

"Damn… Thor, this better be worth it." He let out a long groan. He wouldn't back down on a promise though.
A few hours later Thor returned home with the last few ingredients for Loki's potion, "Brother, I'm back!" he bounded into the room with a sack full of all the things Loki had asked for. Loki had been out on the balcony, coming in when he saw Thor. He took the bag and made the 'follow me' signal to Thor. Thor followed him down to the kitchen where he instructed Thor to grab the biggest pot he could find and put it on the fire. Loki poured in the ingredients and some water along with his own hair, stirring it and muttering something before tossing in a piece of paper. A small puff of smoke came out from the pot and Loki stuck a bottle into it, taking some of the liquid into the bottle.
"So, do you, uh, have to drink that?" Thor asked looking at the bubbling beverage.
"Yes." Loki felt he was about to gag, "Tomorrow anyway."
"Thank you again brother, that new saddle for Sleipnir is in the stable." Thor smiled as he watched his brother run out to the stables. Thor picked up the bottle and looked at it, bringing it back upstairs tomorrow night was the ball, and he wasn't going to be dateless. He was going to ask Loki if there were any time limits or restrictions but oh well, he'd ask later.

Thor sat outside the ballroom with a rose in his hand; he nervously awaited "Lilia's" arrival. Loki was five minutes late… maybe something had gone wrong… maybe he'd have to go on a date with a mutant… or worse not have a date. Then from the corner of his eye he saw a beautiful girl, that could've been Helen's long lost twin except for the long black hair and blue eyes… and her breasts were considerably bigger than Helen's. The girl was walking toward him, in her revealing green silk dress. Thor felt light headed just looking at her. She walked straight to Thor, looking quite irritated.
"Brother?" Thor asked, his jaw dropping.
"Lilia tonight, don't slip up." Loki scowled putting a hand over Thor's mouth.
"Brother," Thor whispered, "You have really outdone yourself, although you look a lot like Helen, don't you?"
"I threw the picture of Helen I drew in the mixture just to be sure I'd look like a girl, now come on, and let's go in." Loki took Thor's arm and put on a smile as they walked inside. The music nearly stopped as Thor helped "Lilia" down the stairs into the ballroom. Thor grinned proudly as they walked down to where his friends were. He nudged his brother.
"They're all looking." He laughed.
"Hopefully they can't tell it's me…"
"Don't be ridiculous, they're staring at how beautiful you are." Thor led him to mingle with his friends and Loki found himself blushing.
"Whoa, Thor, where did you find this pretty little lady?" Volstagg chuckled, taking Loki's hand and kissing it. "We all thought you'd show up with Loki as a date."
"You're too kind," Loki forced a smile.
"Lilia this is Sif, Volstagg, Hogun, and Fandral. Everybody, this is Lilia."
Sif walked away from Fandral and smiled, shaking Loki's hand, "So where are you from Lilia? Want to go get some punch for the boys with me?"
"Sure, I'm from the northern part of town, but I was away visiting Migrad." The lies slipped off his tongue with ease, he could tell Thor was impressed. He and Sif talked as he approached the punch bowl and out of the corner of his eye saw someone slip something in the punch. He took a couple of chalices anyways and walked back to the group, handing Thor his glass.
"Lilia, dear, they don't believe me when I said I've kissed you!" Thor said as he took the cup. "They think I'm too much of a brute to get a girl like you."
"Oh he's no brute, gentlemen." Loki said taking in some air before he nervously stood on his tiptoes giving Thor a long and passionate kiss that lasted for at least a minute. Thor couldn't help but be surprised, but tried to make it look natural as he watched his friend's shocked faces. Where did Loki learn how to kiss so well? He wondered as his brother pulled away.
Volstagg erupted into applause, "Bravo, Thor! You've done well."
Fandral smiled, "Indeed, will we be seeing more of you in the future Lady Lilia?" Sif rolled her eyes.
"Uh, you just might be." Loki found himself saying, although this was the last time he planned on doing it.
"We should hang out sometime." Sif patted her on the back, "You seem like a pretty cool girl."
"Thanks, I think I'll do that sometime."
"Would you care to dance my lady?" Thor said bowing and taking Loki's hand.
"Sure." was all that came out in response as they waltzed out onto the dance floor. Thor led his brother through the dance, making them look like they were gliding across ice. "You're putting on quite the show considering you're never going to see Lilia again after tonight."
"And that's coming from the man who kissed me so passionately only a few moments earlier." Thor grinned.
"Don't get so full of yourself; it was just an added favor for that saddle… Sleip really liked it." Loki looked away, something inside him felt very warm deep in his cold body.
Late into the night Thor began to get tipsy, and Loki was getting restless. Whoever spiked the punch was going to pay dearly for this. He didn't need his brother acting any stupider than he already was. Loki leaned against the wall looking on at Helen. He'd wanted to go with her so badly, but now he was starting to think it was for the better that he didn't. At least then she wouldn't have to see how socially awkward he was. And right now, he was actually enjoying himself, being able to hang out with Thor and his friends like any normal teenager.
Thor grabbed Loki, pulling him to his feet and holding his waist, "Kiss me again Lilia."
"Thor, you're drunk, aren't you?" Loki pulled away, backing up.
"Of course not!" he chirped, "Now how about that kiss, dear?" he pressed Loki against the wall, kissing him deeply, closing his eyes, like he was kissing a real girl. Then the clock chimed. Ding-one, ding-two, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding… twelve. Loki was changing back.
"Thor!" he whispered hurriedly, hitting Thor's arm, "Let go!" But Thor continued to kiss away, peppering his neck with light kisses. Loki's face was flushed pink as he started to see people turning toward them. He swallowed, trying to push Thor away before his friends saw, but it was too late. People had begun to laugh and make a spectacle out of it, making fun of the princes. When he saw Helen looking too he worked up the strength to push Thor away, and he ran out, feeling his face beginning to get hot as tears welled up in his eyes. Why hadn't he paid more attention to the time? Why had he lost himself in the moment? He asked himself this as he ran back to the palace, shutting himself away on the balcony.
He couldn't even go see Sleipnir like this. Loki scrubbed the lip paint from his lips and sat in the corner of the balcony, leaning against the bars. Why had he agreed to this? No good could have ever come from it… Except for that warm feeling that was slowly fading in Loki's chest. Even that was going. He'd only aided in disgracing the family name by making it seem like he and Thor were incestuous brothers out to deceive everyone. He began to cry, letting the warm tears stream down his face in abundance, as he buried his face into his knees. He heard someone trying to unlock the balcony door, but having no success they seemed to leave. He didn't bother looking to see who it was.
A few minutes later he heard something rustling in the bushes and vines below. Loki sighed, it was probably a squirrel. Or so he Thought till Thor leapt over the railing and onto the balcony. Loki quickly tried to wipe his tears away with his shawl as he looked up at his brother.
"What do you want?" he asked, still clearly crying.
"I'm sorry." Thor said calmly, sitting in front on his brother.
"I'm the one who should be sorry, it I had just said no, none of this would've happened." Thor watched his brother as he spoke.
"If it is any consolation, brother, I think you look beautiful still." Thor took his younger brother in his arms, hugging him tight.
"Don't be silly Thor-" he stopped in the middle of his sentence as Thor tilted Loki's head up and gave him a kiss equally as strong as the one he'd received at the ball. Loki's eyes widened, but he closed him as he felt the familiar warmth growing inside him again.
"I really am sorry Loki, it is my fault you were humiliated in front of all those people…"
Loki started to cry again, but this time he was smiling, "You- you actually said my name." he hugged Thor, "I don't care about that anymore, I just…"
Thor held Loki to him, "I love you."
"I love you too." He cherished the warmth his brother gave him as he looked up at Thor, pretending to gaze at the starry night above them.