Loki hadn't spent this much time looking in his mirror for quite some time except to shave. There hadn't been a formal dinner in the palace for quite some time either, but he had seen the panic in Casey's eyes at the sight of the chaos earlier and he thought something a bit more structured would put her at ease. So he'd told the more disreputable of the court to get lost for the evening and invited back a few of the less snobby proper nobility. Then he'd ordered the staff to clean up the dining hall - it really was a pig stye - and told the kitchen workers to make something magnificent for dinner. The people of Asgard would probably think he'd gone crazy.
Staring at his reflection, he combed through his hair and tried on a few different outfits before settling on something regal, but not so fancy that it was intimidating. Still not satisfied with his appearance, but irritated by this fact, he turned away from the mirror and swagged out of his room and across the hall. Knocking firmly on the door he hoped that he could do a better job convincing Casey to stay than he had earlier.
He knew that she wanted to go. He also knew that he had absolutely no right to keep her in Asgard. She was right on many accounts about him being possessive, but he felt as though he couldn't help it. Growing up in Thor's shadow had made him hold tightly to whatever was his because he did not want it taken from him in the same way that his brother took all of the glory. Tonight, however, he was going to do his best to let Casey do whatever she liked. After all, she'd promised to stay the week and he'd promised to let her have some space.
Impatient to get the evening started, he knocked on the door again only to hear an angry maid yell at him to wait a moment because the lady was only half clothed. He heard Casey laugh and smirked.
"Is that so?" He called.
"Yes, and don't you dare think about coming in!" Casey hollered.
"Honestly! I used to change that boy's nappy's when his nanny was busy. If he doesn't listen to me when I say don't come in I might put him over my knee again!" The old maid said conspiratorially and Casey snorted with laughter.
"I can hear you."
"I know you can! Wait a few moments and I'll have the lady all ready to go."
"Very well!" He sighed and leaned against the wall, waiting to be allowed entry. He ended up waiting for approximately fifteen minutes and then the old maid poked her head out of the door and whistled at him.
"You've got yourself spiffied up, haven't you?" She commented.
"May I come in?"
"Yes, the lady is ready to see you now."
He stepped into the room and he had to fight his reflexes to keep his jaw from dropping. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't smother the impressed smile that lit up his face.
"Stop gawking at her and kiss her hand," The maid hissed at him, giving his arm a pinch. He couldn't turn his gaze away even to glare at the old woman as he took in Casey's appearance. Taking the maid's advice, he strode forward and gently took up her hand and kissed it.
"Well now I feel really fancy," Casey snickered, crossing her arms and looking him up and down, "You look nice."
He couldn't even think to thank her. His mind was in a muddle thinking of a word to describe her elegance. Her shoulder length curls had been pulled back into some sort of updo with a few black pearl pins holding it in place. Her dress was a dark ebony that twisted around her and draped from her in an elegant way that seemed to be defying the simple clothes she'd arrived in. There were purple accents all around the dress, flaring here and there with swirls and flame patterns.
"I love the dress, and I was told you picked it out," Casey commented swishing the skirt around playfully, "But I can't help but notice that there is not a stitch of green anywhere on it."
"Yes," He shrugged, "I thought you might like to enter unattached to any particular color of the kingdom. None of the noble houses have purple as their color."
Casey grinned widely at this, but her smile vanished and was replaced by a flicker of sadness in her eyes. It was gone faster than Loki could become suspicious and she was smiling once again. Sidling up next to him she chuckled.
"Hey, together we're Hulk colors!"
"Norns," Loki rolled his eyes, "I did not mean for that."
"Or we could be Barney!"
"Who is that?"
"Uh… Lord of the Dinosaurs," She said quickly.
"Very well, then we shall be Barney colors," Loki declared and Casey threw her head back with laughter. Loki had no idea what he'd said that was so funny, but it was good to see and hear her happy.
Offering his arm to her, he felt joy bubble in his stomach when she took it and they walked the halls of the palace together. Chatting about silly nothings all the way to the grand dining hall and having a good share of laughs, they stopped abruptly at the massive double doors. A herald opened the door for them and announced their presence to the gathered guests, who all stood at the arrival of the king and his companion.
Loki could feel Casey squirm uncomfortably at his side when met with the gazes of the curious nobility and well behaved rogues. He leaned in to whisper in her ear.
"Should we tell them all to piss off?"
She smothered a chuckle and stood up straighter. When they got to the head of the table Loki gracefully pulled her seat out for her, much to the amazement of the guests. The king wasn't supposed to do that for anyone. But he took pleasure in their shocked faces and grinned charmingly back at them before taking his own seat and signalling the beginning of the feast.
Dinner went relatively well, though Casey didn't say much throughout it. This was partly because she was busy stuffing food in her mouth. Stark more than likely had not been starving her, but she ate as if he had been. Loki noted that she seemed to eat like that all of the time and assumed it was a habit one picked up when one didn't know for certain when their next meal would be. It made him just about sick to think of all the banquets he'd had over the past year while she'd been surviving on whatever gruel Hydra fed her.
When the meal was over he escorted her to the corridor and began leading her to the library. She was still silent, apparently deep in thought. Loki didn't want to disrupt her considerations, but he felt that if he were really going to let her lead tonight then he was going to need to ask her what she wanted to do.
"I was thinking that I could introduce you to one of the greatest scholars that we have here at the palace. If you decided to stay then he could teach you whatever you wish to know about the universe."
"Sure, that'd be great," She muttered, absently swishing her skirt around, "I'd love to meet him."
"Are you sure? You sound distracted."
"Huh?" She snapped up, "Oh, sorry. I'm just thinking."
"May I inquire what your thoughts are toward?"
She smirked.
"You know exactly what's weighing on my mind, doofus. And I think we've talked the subject to death. Let's go meet this scholar dude."
"As you wish," He extended his arm to her and she accepted it, but the moment their arms were linked she grinned hugely at him and took off running, yanking him along behind her.
"Woo hoo!" She laughed, "This is great!"
"I don't see the novelty," He panted, taken off guard by the sudden running.
"Oh come on," She let go of his arm and twirled around, watching her skirt with fascination and laughing, "You've been in a cell before. You know how great it feels to be free."
"And here I thought you said Asgard is just another cage."
"But at least there's room to stretch your legs!"
They ran jovially all the way to the library where they doubled over panting. Casey's hair had come loose somewhere along the run and flopped in her face. Once they caught their breath they went in and met with the scholar. He was kind to Casey and explained some of what he was qualified to teach. She listened with rapt attention, but Loki couldn't help noticing there was still sadness in her eyes.
"Thank you so much," She said at the end of their discussion, as they were leaving the library, "I will take all of that under consideration."
"You are most welcome!" The scholar waved cheerfully, "I hope you decide to stay with us. It would be lovely to share some of our vast knowledge with the Midgardians."
"Goodnight!"
They left the library and went back to wandering the halls, chatting about all that she could learn from the scholar. Casey was less enthused about it than she had convinced the scholar she was it seemed.
"...and if you are still set on being a doctor our warriors could always use another healer."
"You know," She said, "I would love to learn from that guy. And I think he'd love to teach."
"Yes, it has been too long since he has had a pupil."
"He should go to Earth and teach. We're still miles behind you guys when it comes to knowing stuff about the universe."
"Midgard must learn at its own pace. I cannot upset the balance of the realms by allowing all of the worlds' knowledge to be revealed to them at once," He explained, "It would cause mass chaos. Regardless of what Thor and his Avenger friends think, Earth is not ready to be exposed to the other civilizations out there. And those civilizations do not need to learn of Earth's growing strength, lest they decide to challenge it."
"Yeah, yeah," Casey waved him off, "I was just saying it would be nice."
"So you would rather learn from the scholar if you could learn from him on Midgard?"
"I don't know. I'm still thinking about it all," She claimed, but her eyes said she'd already made a decision. Loki realized just how short a week was. It was going to take some serious convincing to get her to stay.
Casey could tell he wanted to show her around and show off the greatness of his kingdom. In a way she found it adorable that he was so eager to share his world with her. Of course, the desperate look in his eye told her he was more excited at the prospect of having her there.
He seemed to be trying to give her some space and freedom tonight with the purple dress and letting her choose what direction they went as they wandered the halls. He pointed out interesting murals and carvings to her and occasionally opened a door to show her unimaginable treasures, but he let her lead the way. She assumed he was doing his best to show her that he could let her do what she wanted.
Deciding to put this theory to the test so that she could get on with her plan for the evening, she yawned as convincingly as she could and stretched.
"That's neat," She yawned again, trying to look like she was trying hard to look interested in the art he just showed her. It was actually incredibly interesting and she would have liked to hear more about it, but she needed to get back to her room.
"Getting tired already?" He elbowed her, "How much sleep does your species need?"
"A lot, okay. We know that sleep is a wonderful thing," She grabbed his arm gently and leaned her head on his shoulder. Even though she was pretending to be sleepy she was glad of the closeness. When she thought of the fact that this might be the last time she saw Asgard and that she saw him without him being furious at her she snuggled closer and tried to imprint the feeling in her mind.
"Are you alright?" He had real concern in his voice - not just the kind where it sounded like he wanted to punch anything that was bothering her. It was nice to hear.
"Just tired," She felt a tear escape her eye and land on his jacket. Wiping her eyes, she looked up at him, "Mind showing me back to my room?"
He looked like he wanted to protest, and she wouldn't have minded so much, but she really needed to get a move on. He ran his fingers through her hair.
"Alright."
"Thanks. We can do more touring of the palace tomorrow if you really want."
"Ah, but this visit isn't about what I want, now is it? It's about learning what you want."
"Yeah, well, right now I want a pillow."
He chuckled.
"Come along then."
When they got to the doors to their respective rooms Loki let go of her arm and bowed to her with a wink.
"Sleep well," He smiled.
"What?" She had a peculiar quality to her voice, "No goodnight kiss?"
"Do you want one?"
There was something highly suspicious about this. Not that she wanted to kiss him, but how melancholy she looked. There was something wrong, but he didn't feel that he could pry without getting into an argument with her. So instead, he grabbed her waist and pulled her to him, kissing her soundly.
When they parted she smirked sadly at him.
"Goodnight, Casey. Sleep well."
"Goodb- goodnight, Loki. Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite."
"Asgard does not have bedbugs."
"It's just a saying, doofus."
"It's a gross one."
"Agreed," She gave him a final mournful look that he could only puzzle over and closed her door with a sigh. He stood in the hallway for a few moments, shook his head and went to his own room. Surely she was just thoughtful and not sad. What did she have to be sad about?
She was free of Hydra and SHIELD and the Avengers weren't here to accuse her of murder. He knew that she was somewhat upset that he brought her here against her will, but she'd seemed over it when they talked in her room earlier. And she'd been so joyful when she'd run through the halls with him. How could there be anything wrong? He told himself that he was simply over analysing things and that if there really was something the matter he could find out in the morning.
So he went to bed, spent and hour staring at the roof, and then finally fell asleep, dreaming of her sad eyes and of her running down the Rainbow Bridge to escape some horrendous monster with eyes the color of freshly spilled blood. The worst part of the dream was that he knew that he was that monster.
A/N: Thank you so much for reading! I'm still undecided about whether or not I am going to do a third part of the story or not, but I guess I'll have to decide soon because we are getting awfully close to the end of To Find a Trickster. I'll let you know soon and you let me know what your thoughts on this chapter are, okay? ;) Thanks again!