As soon as I make my exclamation, no sooner than two seconds later Thor bursts in the room, sputtering and fuming. "LOKI!" He marches up to us, glaring dangerously at his brother, who looks at him coolly.
"Yes brother?"
Two of Thor's friends slip in and close the door softly, since it had been flung wide open. One of them I recognize as Hogun, his hand tightly gripping a weapon. The other is a woman with stark black hair, clad in silver armor. Frigga rises and walks over to them, talking quietly. I turn my attention back to Loki and Thor.
Thor seems to have forgotten about the presence of others in the room, including his mother, who is now looking over at him with an eyebrow raised. "WHAT ON ASGARD DID YOU DO?"
I have to chuckle at his expression, and his angry gaze flicks over to me. Caught momentarily, I meet his gaze, struggling to keep my expression neutral. He sighs, and looks back over at his brother, now calmer. "Seriously, Loki, what did you do?"
"What happened?" Loki asks, smiling smugly, because he knows he's just annoying his brother further.
"WHAT HAPPENED?!" Thor roars, angry again. "ALL OF THE PILLOWS HAVE DISAPPEARED!" He leans forward and grips the front of Loki's outfit, pulling him up off the couch. I can only stare, my mouth agape. How strong is he? "And I am sure you had something to do with it." He says softer, right in Loki's face.
Loki shrugs as best as he can. "You could be correct brother." He meets Thor's gaze. "However, I am sure not many people noticed the missing pillows." He smirks. "I'm certainly surprised you did."
Enraged by the insult, Thor moves as to throw Loki across the room, but luckily Frigga interferes, walking up and gently pushing the two apart.
"That's enough." She says sternly, glaring at the two. She looks over at Thor. "It is not Loki's fault." I tense, expecting her to rat me out, but she doesn't. Instead she waves her hand dismissively. "What does it matter anyways, when in a few hours all of the pillows will be replaced?"
Thor grumbles something under his breath.
"What was that, dear?" Frigga asks, her tone sharp.
He meets her gaze. "Nothing Mother." He looks around at each of us. "Sorry to bother you." He turns around and walks out, shutting the door behind him.
The warriors, however, do stay. They make their way over to us, bowing their heads to the queen. The woman eyes me with suspicion, then turns to Loki, smiling. "You know you just woke him up from a nap."
Loki chuckles. "That's what I figured." His gaze lands on me, and he straightens up. "Sif, I would like you to meet Cameron." He says, gesturing over to me. I smile meekly at the warrior. "Cameron, this is Lady Sif."
I stand up and hold out my hand. "Nice to meet you."
Lady Sif glares at my hand, then turns to the queen, promptly ignoring me. "Is there a place we could discuss some important matters?" She glances over at me. "In private?"
Well then. I can see when I'm not wanted. After meeting Loki's gaze, silently telling him what I'm going to do, I walk down the step and out of the room. Once outside, I lean against the wall, my eyes closed. I feel like I can breathe again. No more pressure to do something that I'm not entirely sure how to do, no more watching eyes of people I don't really know.. it's just me. Stuck in my head, up in Asgard. For a moment, there is nothing else. Then the moment passes.
"Cameron, was it?" A male voice asks next to me. I open my eyes to see Hogun leaning against the wall with me, his hands busy winding a piece of rope around some wood. I stare at his hands a moment, slightly mesmerized. His movements are slow, but precise. It's like he's done it a million times.
I snap out of it and meet his gaze. I smile. "Yes, sorry. I am Cameron."
"You're from Midgard, aren't you?" He asks, his words quick.
I flinch. Does everyone know? I thought it was supposed to be a secret! I nod once.
"You're a servant as well?"
My head snaps up, my gaze firmly locking with his. Now that is supposed to be a secret, at least from some people. "How do you know?" I ask, my tone suspicious.
His eyes flick down to the wood in his hands, and he wraps a few more rings of rope around it before answering. He meets my gaze again. "You're wearing white." He says it simply, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.
"Lots of Midgardians wear white." I argue, trying to get him to think I'm not a servant. I don't want him to tell Thor, because Thor will definitely tell Odin. Things would go downhill from there.
He shrugs, as if he didn't care either way. "Very well then. But if you were a servant, you'd better get going. There's lots of pillows to make."
I open my mouth to argue something, insist that I'm not a servant, when I see Dessa race around the corner.
Her eyes light up when they see me. "There you are! Margaret and I have been looking for you everywhere!" She marches over to me, grabbing my arm. "We need to go."
"I..." I glance over at Hogun, who is looking at his piece of wood again, his face expressionless. I turn back to Dessa. "Fine, let's go."
She smiles in relief and lets go of my arm, running down the hallway. I quickly run after her, not noticing that now, Hogun is smiling.
I have work to do.