A.N.: hey guys, if any of you are on tumblr, come follow me at mrfeenysmustache! I'm only just starting to share FanFiction stuff there because I am old, uncool and behind the times, but I share a lot of fandom stuff and we could chat lmao alright enough of that, let's get to the good stuff.
Brimming with excitement, Kagome squirmed in her seat as Dala tried in vain to pin her hair back in a passable style, giggling at her lady's tendency to bounce like a child when she was excited about something.
"Lady Kagome, you really must hold still. Your hair will be mess otherwise!"
"Oh Dala I can't help it, it's my favorite holiday!"
Dala grinned and rolled her eyes. She could just guess why tonight was her favorite. Kagome noticed her smirk in the mirror and crossed her arms with a huff.
"Oh wipe that look off your face. That's not why I'm excited. The Feast of Tales is just so different from everything else! And it was my first celebration I ever attended as a brand new Asgardian. It's nostalgic, that's all!"
Cutting her a look through the mirror's reflection, Dala continued to pin back black, silken curls.
"Mmhmm. I absolutely believe that."
"Well what about you? Your dress is certainly extra sparkly tonight. Are you planning on seeing a certain someone? Hmm?"
Kagome smirked then, watching the red bloom across Dala's cheeks. They'd been talking of her crush on a member of the guard for a while now, and it seemed like he'd finally noticed her sweet lady's maid. She was so very pleased to see her friend getting some happiness.
"He wants me to meet him there."
"Oh Dala, that's wonderful! I'm so happy for you! You must tell me every last detail tomorrow! And let me fix your hair for you!! Oh please!"
Dala grimaced as she thought of all the other times Kagome had tried to fix her hair. Her lady had many talents but hair was.. not one of them.
"Oh, my lady, look at the time! I'm afraid we'll be late if we spend any more time at this vanity. My hair will have to do as it is."
Kagome narrowed her eyes at the nervous energy now radiating around her maid, but decided to drop it. She was right, it was best not to be late.
"Well alright then, next time. Let's go!"
She grabbed her hand and dashed out of her bedroom door, Dala sighing in relief as she allowed herself to be tugged along.
She was, shockingly, the first to arrive in the little alcove where the family waited to enter banquets and celebrations.
'I thought Dala said...'
She peeked out a nearby window and noticed that daylight was not quite done setting, and the Feast of Tales didn't start until the sky was dark. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped as she realized what had just happened.
"That little sneak! I can't believe she managed to lie to me!"
"Who managed to lie to you?"
A shiver ran down her spine as that voice washed over her, one that affected her more than she ever thought it would. Taking a moment to breath deep and still her heart, she turned slowly to discover Loki strolling up the hall to join her, aura bright with secrets and curiosity.
"Oh um... just my lady's maid Dala."
His brow lifted and a slow, devious smirk curled his mouth.
"Your little maid told you a successful lie yet I have never been able to sneak passed your defenses?"
Her breath caught for a moment at the way his eyes gleamed but she pushed passed it. She would not ramble like a fool in front of him at this point.
"I um... I just wasn't paying attention. I could tell she was nervous, but I thought it had to do with seeing the guy she likes tonight."
"And what, pray tell, did she lie to you about?"
She blushed, feeling a little silly about the whole thing.
"I wanted to fix her hair but... I'm not very good at it."
He laughed a full, genuine laugh of amusement. No deviousness, no satisfaction for a prank well pulled, just sheer amusement and his face lit up so well she was stunned again.
'Dear Kami, I have got to get myself under control around him.'
He grinned down at her with an unusual glimmer in his eye and she cleared her throat to push passed how tied up her tongue suddenly felt.
"So, do you know who you're picking for tonight's Story Teller?"
He turned and leaned against the window frame next to her, crossing his arms casually and staring up at the ceiling as if in thought.
"Oh, I have some ideas. Of course I won't be revealing them to you. You'll have to be as shocked as everyone else."
"Well I can't wait! This is my favorite holiday, you know?"
She's almost shocked by the soft sincerity in his aura, of the softness of his face when he stared down at her again, but she's mostly taken again by how utterly beautiful he is.
"Thank you Kagome. You look beautiful this evening."
Her mind screeches to crashing halt as the rest of the family arrives and she stumbles inside the banquet hall.
The Feast of Tales always took her breath away. It really was so very different from every other party they had, and though this was far from her first Feast of Tales, it still managed to leave her absolutely stunned every time.
She heard Fandral laughing at her from the corner table they were hunkered in, sharing bottles of wine and plates heaped with food.
"What is it now?"
"You're just sitting there looking utterly lovesick. It must be dreadful knowing you won't see get to see your handsome prince until nearly the end of the night!"
"Can it, jerk! That's not it and you know it!" She shouted over Fandral's cackling.
Sif rolled her eyes and leaned over into her side.
"Ignore him Kagome, he's always been a horrible tease. There's no need to be embarrassed about your feelings."
"Not you too! You're supposed to be on my side!"
Sif grinned, and Fandral erupted into another round of hysterics at her expense.
"Well you do spend a lot more time with him." Sif said.
"And you're always so blushy and giggly, you can't possibly have me still believe you aren't madly in love with him."
Kagome stuck her nose in the air with a 'hmmph,' done with Fandral and his incessant need to tease her about the younger prince of Asgard and what he perceived to be her feelings for him.
'Not that he's wrong, but I'm not telling him anything yet!'
"If it makes you feel better, I think he likes you too."
Her head snapped back around, face slack with shock, thoughts a jumbled mess.
"You... what?"
Fandral reclined in his chair with a victorious smirk, no doubt feeling like he'd gotten as good of a confession out of her as she'd give, but she ignored it in favor of the last thing he said.
"It's just that he treats you in a way he doesn't treat anyone else. Not since, what was her name? Sigyn? Until she ran off with that one guy."
"He's got... some kind of point, shocking as it is."
Kagome certainly trusted Syf's opinion over Fandral's but her heart had been down this road before, looking for signs that weren't there yet seeing them anyway, and she wasn't going to leap into that sort of thing again.
She sighed in relief when Thor, Hogun, and Voldstagg returned to the table with more platters piled with food.
"What did we miss?" Asked Thor, taking a seat next to Kagome and immediately tearing into a large chunk of meat.
"Nothing! You missed absolutely nothing!"
She hissed, cutting Fandral a dangerous look at his continued chuckling, then sighing in relief again as the lighting shifted and Loki took center stage.
"Oh thank Kami, time to start."
She dashed to the center of the room to join the gathering crown, all buzzing with anticipation at who the God of Stories would choose to tell the featured tale of the Feast of Tales.
Loki banged the end of his scepter the customary three times against the floor and then the blue flame capping it snuffed out and ignited the candles around the story stage. Then his eyes, endlessly glittering emeralds, scanned slowly across the crown once, twice, setting nerves on edge as the excited tension in the atmosphere sharpened.
Finally his gaze settled on his choice, and Kagome felt every cell in her body screech to a grinding halt when his scepter pointed... to her.
The crowd stepped back and she glanced around frantically, watching their retreat with a growing seed of panic taking root in her gut.
Her eyes flicked back to Loki's, and his stare was deep and unflinching. She pointed to herself, head tilted in question, and he gave her a shallow but resolute nod. She gulped and made her way numbly to the Story Stage, stepping up on the platform and then turning to the stage where he'd returned to the golden throne. Her breath came in quick shallow pants around the tight knot of fear in her chest. She'd never been a bad public speaker, had never had much of a problem having the attention of a room, and if she was going to tell any old story about anything then this would probably be a blast.
But she knew what he wanted. He'd pretty much told her outright those few weeks ago in the library.
He didn't want any story, he wanted her story.
'Memories are only stories we have lived ourselves, sharing the heavy ones can not weaken us, it simply lightens the load on our shoulders.'
His words of encouragement came back and she felt a measure of strength bleed back into her heart.
Very few here would know that the tale she spun was true, was hers. The others would be entertained and it would be forgotten after a long night of drinking.
She took another glance around and met Frigga's sweet, smiling face.
She'd been the last winner they'd had in probably a millennia, and she'd told a love story.
Her eyes fluttered closed and a pair of bright golden eyes burned as bright in her memory as they had in real life. Her heart skipped the barest of beats for her first love, now long gone and lost to her, probably finally joined with his love in the afterlife.
'Okay. I can do this. And if it's a love story he wants, it's a love story he'll get. One that ends in tragedy.'
She opened her eyes, her features now hard with determination and she was certain she saw satisfaction and- was that pride?- flashing in the depths of his emerald gaze.
She straightened her spine, took one last breath, and began.
"Once upon a time... there was... a boy. A sad, lonely, outcast boy..."
And so she finally relived those grueling days on the shard hunt, starting at the very beginning with Inuyasha and Kikyo, the first betrayal, the sealing sleep, and ending with her shattered hopes, a fearsome battle, and a cruel, manipulative jewel that tore her away from all she'd ever known. The room remained silent through her speech, and even after she was done, not a sound was heard through the entirety of the hall. She wiped at the tears tracking down her cheeks, tears she hadn't realized she'd been crying, and then found Loki's impenetrable stare again.
He stood, walked several paces to the end of the dias, and raised his scepter above his head. The blue flames around the stage snuffed out and lept to the scepter and then reignited with a bright, cheery yellow. A roaring applause ripped through the room and then Thor was lifting her from the stage, spinning her around, laughing and congratulating her. He sat her down and the crowd parted to allow Frigga through. She walked up with purpose and the sweetest, proudest expression. She cradled her face even as Kagome's confusion mounted.
"My girl, I'm so very proud of you. All you've been through, all you've overcome. If anyone deserves this tonight it is you."
Kagome felt another tear slip free and shook her head.
"I don't understand."
A servant walked up with a cushion holding a simple crown flickering with familiar blue flames and she felt like she finally understood.
"Wait... I won?!"
Frigga placed the crown on her head and she was swamped with friends, family and even strangers come to give her hugs, congratulations and slaps on the back.
Loki watched her from the dias, feeling an even deeper level of respect for the girl grow and warm him.
He'd known her story would be something interesting, but he hadn't known just how interesting. And she'd told it with such heart and soul he'd been loath to look away for even a moment.
An offhand comment Thor had made some months ago that he'd paid no mind to at the time came back to him.
'...don't be surprised if she sneaks up on you. Kagome can have that affect.'
His eyes widened marginally, and he noticed the softness in his heart when he looked at her.
'Damn him.' He'd been warned, he hadn't listened, and now, his heart was tied up somewhere he had never intended for it to go.
He watched her spin around to face him, watched her eyes light up, watched her face go soft with a sweet smile just for him, he thought of all the hints she'd been dropping whether she realized she was doing it or not, he thought... of her, her wit, her fire, her power, her sweetness.
'I suppose I... have grown soft on her. It could be worse.'
He stepped off the dias and strode towards her, relishing her deepening blush, her silent, secret prayer that she not make a fool of herself.
It was customary to personally greet his winners after all.
And most importantly, he had a priestess to catch, to maybe make his own.
She certainly looked good in a crown.