After breakfast, Natasha and Jane made their way into Frigga's office, noticing the tall woman staring out the window at the sunlit city below.
"You wanted to see us, Ma'am?" Natasha asks, being braver one of the two.
"Yes, as you know we're throwing a party tonight, for Christmas and our return to Asgard." Frigga replied, stepping away from the window and sitting in her plush desk chair, motioning for the two teens to sit in two leather chairs on the opposite side of the desk.
"Yes we are aware. Thor said that he and Loki don't like to go." Jane replied, curious to Frigga's answer.
"Yes, I am aware that Thor and Loki both try to leave the party early, but this year I want them to stay, Odin has an important announcement." Frigga answered, leaving the details of the announcement vague purposely.
"Ok, what does that have to do with us?" Natasha asks, hoping to receive some clarity on the situation.
"I want you girls to attend." Frigga answered bluntly, shocking the two girls.
"But we don't have anything to wear." Jane replied, fear in her voice of embarrassing her boyfriend.
"Are you sure that's a good idea? We don't know anything about Asgardian culture or customs. And Jane's right, we have nothing to wear." Natasha objected as well.
"Well then it's a good thing I bought the dresses than." Frigga said, standing up and going into the large wooden wardrobe on the far side of the room, and pulling out two dresses protected by clear plastic. They were the two dresses from the mall that the girl's had tried on.
"No, Frigga-Ma'am, we can't accept these." Natasha replied quickly, standing up to try and stop the only female Odinson.
"None sense, you girls looked stunning in the dresses, and you're right, neither of you packed clothes for a formal gala. So I insist, take the dresses; it would mean a lot to me." Frigga insisted, handing the red dress to Jane and the green towards Natasha.
"Thank you. It really isn't necessary, but thank." Natasha replied, looking down at her beautiful emerald dress. Natasha had never felt the love of a mother till now, and Frigga noticed the flash of hurt in Natasha's eyes as she continued to admire her dress.
"Thank you, Miss Frigga. They're beautiful." Jane replied, removing the plastic on hers to feel the scarlet red material underneath.
After saying their thank you, Jane and Natasha walked upstairs to shower and change to help Frigga prepare for the party. They left the dresses in Frigga's office wardrobe, saying they didn't have room in their closets and drawers upstairs. Jane had packed plenty of layers.
"I'll hope in the shower first if you don't mind." Natasha announced, grabbing a clean towel and some change of clothes. Jane didn't object, instead she switched on her laptop and began to video chat Selvig.
Once both teen girls were dressed for the day, they walked down the stairs to help Frigga decorate the main foyer, kitchen, living room, dinning room, and grand ballroom.
"Hello girls; Jane could you please take that box and decorate the table? And Natasha could you please take that box and start on the ballroom?" Frigga asked, pointing towards said boxes as the girl did as they were told.
As Natasha walked into the grand ballroom she noticed a large Christmas tree standing by the large fireplace at the far end of the room. The ceiling had various Norse gods decorating it, with a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The walls were all gold, with large pillars and large windows facing the mountains, city, and the valley on the opposite side of Asgard.
"Wow, I didn't know this was here." Natasha said to herself in a whisper, the room seemed something out of a fairytale.
"Isn't it grand? My parents often have parties here." Loki's soothing voice came from behind Natasha. She turned around to see her boyfriend in a dark green t-shirt with black leather pants that hug his long legs and a pair of combat boots.
"Leather pants? Really?" Natasha asked, gesturing towards his choice of pants and nearly dropping the box she held.
"Here let me get that." Loki commanded, taking the box out of Natasha's hands and walking towards a large table that had been set by the Christmas tree. Natasha noticed the tree was bare and figured the box must be decorations and ornaments. She was proven right when Loki opened the box and began pulling out various ornaments, ribbons, bows, and various tree decorating objects.
"Frigga wants me to decorate the tree?" Natasha asks, staring at the various ornaments Loki began lying out on the table.
"No, she wants us to decorate the tree." Loki corrected, enunciating us. Natasha smiled as he leaned into his much shorter girlfriend and kissed her nose lovingly. "We're a team now, we'll do it together." Loki continued, placing butterfly kisses on Natasha's cheeks, forehead, and nose, covering every area of her face except her lips.
"Than we should get started." Natasha breathed heavily, kissing her boyfriend's lips before turning towards the decorations and began to place them on the tree. Loki smirked at his girlfriend's attempt to tease him.
After a few hours and a couple hundred boxes later the tree was completely decorated, Natasha and Loki stood back to admire their work. It was completely outdone with lights, ornaments, small bows, and various other traditional Asgardian decorations. There were even some small homemade objects that Loki and Thor made as children.
"Oh my, it looks amazing. Thank you Natasha and Loki." Frigga smiled, gasping at the beautiful sight. There was even a star on top of the tree, Natasha's idea, and a few ribbons wrapped around to make it look more festive.
"It's my pleasure." Natasha replied, wrapping her small arms Loki's torso as he holds her close.
"You both should go get changed, the party starts in an hour." Frigga said, leaving towards the exit with Loki and Natasha following. "Jane's already changing, she's in my study. You can join her if you wish." Frigga offered, walking towards the study with Natasha in tow. Loki had left them to go change in his own room.
"Actually I think I'll change in our bedroom if you don't mind." Natasha replied, grabbing the green dress and walking upstairs. Frigga nodded as she left and began to help Jane curl her long brown hair.
Once upstairs Natasha took another quick shower, blow dried her red locks and began working on her makeup when Frigga walked into the room carrying a box of unknowns with her.
"I bought you some matching shoes, Jane told me your size like you told me hers." Frigga called from the bedroom towards the bathroom, placing the box on the bed next to the dress and laying out some jewelry she had also bought to match the emerald dress.
"Thank you. I mean it, this really means a lot to me." Natasha said, emerging from the bathroom with her hair and makeup down wearing only a white bathrobe.
"It's my pleasure. I am sorry to hear of your father's passing and your mother's abandonment. Please whatever you need remember I'll be here for you, no matter what comes between you and my son." Frigga stated quietly towards the much shorter redhead. Natasha nodded, knowing Frigga she'd mean well on her word.
"Thank you." Natasha replied, the two women looking at each other with a new found of respect and understanding.
"The party's already started, Loki, Jane, and Thor are already downstairs. I'll meet you down there." Frigga said, turning towards the door.
"I'll be down shortly." Natasha called after her retreating figure, watching the blonde woman disappear once the door closed.
After Natasha quickly changed into the green silky dress and grabbed the shoes she began looking through the various jewelry and accessories Frigga left for her. She chose not to wear any necklaces and instead decided on a silver diamond bracelet for her right hand, pair of tear drops diamond earrings and a sparkly hair clip to pull back her fire red hair. After checking herself in the mirror one last time, she began her short walk towards the stairs.
The party was already in full swing downstairs; throughout the main floor people were laughing, singing, dancing and dinning as the highest social members of Asgard partied through the night. Loki was actually quit bored without his girlfriend to keep his mind off the various snobs of Asgard, the nickname Thor and he came up with as children. Speaking of the blonde; his brother was currently dancing to a lively Jazz song with Jane, easily swinging her around the dance floor. Although his size and strength would make him seem slow and clumsy, he was actually quit light on his feet. The two Odin's sons had to take dance lessons has children, growing up in a society that partied for nearly every occasion dancing was a requirement that their mother made sure to fulfill.
Now standing in the middle of a sea of people, drinking, drunk, or high off of laughter and fun, Loki felt very out of placed. He hated parties, hated the high elites of Asgard and their snobbish ways. Their children were no better than their parents and often tried to best Loki at various sports or combat athletic activities. Loki often lost in that category, but when it came to school or other intellectual matters Loki had them beat.
Completely bored out of his mind, Loki left the ballroom and made his way towards the foyer, Natasha should be almost dressed by now, and Loki really didn't want to spend another moment by himself with a crowd of uptight, wealthy, snobby rich Asgardians.
The moment those thoughts entered the mischievous teen's mind he glanced up towards the top of the landing of the stairs and his breath hitched in his throat. There stood Natasha dressed in a beautiful silk emerald green gown, smiling the warmest, loving smile towards her boyfriend, the only face she recognized in the crowd, and made her decent towards the people below. Many other Asgardians noticed the redhead's grand entrance and curious whispers and murmurs were heard throughout the crowd near the stairs.
"Wow, you look amazing." Loki breathed in awe at the sight of his girlfriend. This was one of the few times he had seen her dressed up to the nines, and it took his breath away. The only other time being her father's funeral, there she had worn a long black dress with a black veil covering half her face, tears had stained her face, and her usually bright eyes were distant and sad. The image made Loki's heart break just remembering how broken the teen girl had been at the loss of her last family member.
"Thanks Loki, you don't look half bad yourself." Natasha praised, eyeing her boyfriend appreciatively and settling with kissing him full on the lips, unknowingly snapping him out of his trance.
Loki wore a green long sleeve shirt with a gold breastplate over it. A matching green cape that reached the floor, and a pair of leather pants finished his traditional Asgardian-Norse look. He had on black leather boats that his pants tucked into, and he wore various gold and leather accessories with his traditional look. His hair was slicked back like usual, and it appeared he cut it some before the party. He had a cleanly shaved face with no more little stubs and he smelled like cologne and his natural masculine scent.
"Shall we?" Loki asked, offering his arm towards his girlfriend, which she gladly accepted. Something neither teen noticed at the moment were the two greens complimented each other yet was different enough to seem unique. Natasha's a bright emerald matching Loki's eyes, and Loki's a dark forest green matching the tint of green in Natasha's blue eyes.
"Wow Tasha you look great!" Jane complimented her best friend at seeing the couple enter the grand ballroom, all decorated thanks to the two teens.
"Thanks Jane, you look amazing yourself." Natasha complimented back, letting go of Loki's arm to hug her friend. It wasn't a lie Jane looked fantastic, just like the redhead.
Jane's red dress matched Thor's red traditional Asgardian-Norse attire perfectly. The reds were exactly the same with Thor's long red camp reaching the floor and his dark silver breastplate opposite of Loki's gold. He wore a red shirt instead of green, and had the same leather pants as Loki with black leather boots. Jane's beautiful 50s style dress reached below her knees.
"Shall we dance?" Thor asked, looking towards his brunette girlfriend and the two leaving to once more move to the music of a traditional waltz.
"Would you like to dance?" Loki asked, glancing down at his girlfriend after watching Thor and Jane dance.
"Sure, why not. Can you dance?" Natasha asks, raising an eyebrow at her boyfriend while he leads her towards the center of the room.
"I am full of surprises my dear." Loki replies vaguely in her ear, beginning to move with the music, leading Natasha perfectly in sync with each other and the music.
Once the song was finished the two met with Thor and Jane in the kitchen, the least crowded room, and began sipping on punch and water.
"Brother I do believe it is near mid-night is it not?" Thor asks his younger brother, taking a sip of some of Natasha's red punch.
"Yes I believe it is." Loki replied, placing a childish smile on his lips before leaving with Thor upstairs.
"We'll be back, stay here." Loki commended the two girls, leaving without hearing their response. Jane and Natasha just stood there waiting for their significant other's return.
"How do you like the party so far Tasha?" Jane asks her best friend, setting her cup down and walking closer to her friend.
"It's ok, I'm not into the whole upper class party thing though. What about you?" Natasha asks, still sitting on the island sipping punch. Jane jumped on the counter across from her friend.
"I agree. I'm more of a small town kind of girl. Back in New Mexico I never had even seen these kinds of dresses before I moved to New York." Jane replied, thinking back to her younger years. Natasha agreed, she hadn't attended many formal balls as a child either, her father was gone and her mother left so early.
"I agree; it's nothing like I'm used to." Natasha replied, looking out the window at the falling snow.
Soon the two brothers were back, each with their arms behind their back, obviously hiding something.
"What are you two up to?" Natasha asked, eyeing Loki with curiosity in her features.
"Natasha, I have something to give you; a Christmas present." Loki said bluntly, taking Natasha's hands and leading her towards the back deck that over looked the glimmering town below.
It was cold outside, with the snow falling; Loki instantly noticed Natasha's Goosebumps and small shivers although she tried to hide it, so he removed the cape fastened to his gold chest plate and draped the long warm garment over his girlfriend's pale shoulders. Natasha nodded in thanks.
"I know we haven't been together for very long, and that we have a high possibility of never making it past a high school relationship; however with all that aside I want to confess something." Loki began looking off towards Asgard and back towards Natasha. She nodded for him to continue. "I am not of Asgardian decent. I am not Norse/Australian like my family. I am of Jotunheim decent. They are English and are often rivals to Asgard in many things. I am the son of the mayor of Jotunheim, Laufey Laufeyson. My father didn't want me as a child, so he abandoned me, left me to die in the freezing February weather. Odin found me when I was a baby and took me as his own. I only discovered it before our move to New York." Loki continued, pausing and taking a deep breath.
"Why does that matter? So what you're adopted. I don't care if Odin and Frigga or even Thor is blood related to you. If you haven't a lot of people are adopted Loki, it doesn't matter." Natasha replied firmly, walking over to her boyfriend and resting a hand on his shoulder. "I still love you, no matter who your father is." Natasha concluded, kissing Loki passionately on the lips. He smiled into the kiss, glad of her acceptance and making everything else he was going to say seem pointless.
"I am so glade to hear you say that." He replied, smiling after they pulled apart. "Which is why I wanted to give you this." He continued, holding up the small box in his hand. It was Tiffany blue with the white ribbon wrapped around. "Merry Christmas." He whispered in her ear as she took the box from his hand and began to open it.
Inside revealed a traditional Tiffany and Company gold necklace with a heart pendent. It read "Please return to Tiffany & Co. New York 750" Along the heart side boarding the edge was emeralds instead of the usual diamonds. It had a matching 16" gold chain to wear it on.
"Thank you Loki, it's absolutely gorgeous!" Natasha awed at the sight, she had never received anything so lovely in her life. The emeralds on the necklace reminded her so much of Loki's eyes, it must have cost a fortune to have them replace the usual diamonds.
"May I?" Loki asked, taking the necklace out of its box and motioning towards Natasha's neck. She nodded happily moving some of her short hair out of the way as he locked the clasp together. "Beautiful." Loki whispered in her ear, kissing her neck slightly.
"Wait. I need to give you my gift." Natasha sighed out in between moans; she needed to give it to him before they got carried away. The party was dying down, only close friends were left and most of them were talking with Frigga and Odin. Natasha noticed then that Sif and the Warriors Three had attended, she hadn't seen them earlier.
"Ok, what is it?" Loki asked, pulling away slightly so he could see her face.
"C'mon I'll show you." Natasha replied, pulling him inside, his cape still wrapped around her shoulders. Underneath the tree were many beautifully wrapped presents presented for the Odinson family and their guests. "Here." Natasha said, grabbing a box wrapped in a red and black wrapping addressed to Loki.
Loki grabbed the box from her hands and sat down on the floor Buddha style, sitting with his back towards the fire. He easily unwrapped the beautiful wrapped gift and began to open the box. Inside he found several items; the first was a large picture frame of Natasha and him a random picture he hadn't realized was taken. They were sitting at their usual table at school with the trees in the background and they were smiling warmly and lovingly at each other. The second item was a beautiful silky green scarf with an elegant design to it. The third object was two silver dog tags attached to a long silver chain. On the first dog tag was a red hourglass looking symbol that resembled the Black Widow's, Natasha's favorite animal, and on the back had the traditional Norse symbol for the god Loki, the second one had Loki & Natasha inscribed on it and on the back was their anniversary September 7, 2012. Loki smiled loving at the gift his girlfriend spent much time creating for him.
"It's perfect." He replied, letting Natasha place the necklace around his neck. The two shared a warm, loving smile; forgetting that they had an audience.
Ok chapter 11 officially finished! Sorry I said I'd have it done over the weekend, but I guess Monday somewhat counts since it's president's day? Well I hope you liked it! I made it extra long just for you guys! Thanks so much for everyone who's red, reviewed, favored, and followed all my stories! It means a lot! Reviews, followers and favorites are what keep me going and motivated! You guys rock! Thanks again! Hope you guys have an awesome three-day weekend! Love you all! SO blessed!
-Love you don't go changin