We landed in the field not far from where I had found him many moons ago. As the dust settled we walked towards my brother's home. I glanced at Loki again. He met my gaze.
"Something wrong?" he asked.
"Only that—" I started then shook my head. "It's nothing." Out of the glory of Asgard he looked ridiculous. We walked further, neither one of us speaking. We were just coming into view of the house when Loki broke the silence.
"Is this better?" I looked at him in confusion only to find that he had changed his clothes. He now appeared to be wearing a leather vest, high fur boots, and a jewel encrusted belt. No longer looking like a god, he instead looked like a fair Norwegian Prince.
"Better." I said without as much as a smile. Yet he knew how I really felt and flashed me his little annoying smirk. Reaching the main doors of my brother's home Loki gave a sharp knock on the door.
"Coming!" called a voice from within. The door was opened my brother and his eyes fell on me. "LORAINNE!" He picked me up in a warm embrace. "I've missed you so much. Happy birthday! How have you been? I can't believe you are nineteen!"
"Come now, Jack." I laughed. "I can't answer every question at once." He set me down.
"Of course not." I turned to Loki. "My apologies. I am assuming you are her teacher," he said as he held out his hand.
"Indeed." Loki smiled and nodded a greeting. "You may call me Thomas." I glanced at him in surprise but my brother was too busy shaking hands to notice.
"Let me take you to the dining hall, you are just in time for dinner." He closed the great oak doors behind us. "It is only a small meal I'm afraid; we planned on a big supper this evening." We walked past the stone carved walls adorned with stuffed birds of prey.
"That's where you would've been," I whispered to Loki. There were also many paintings of ravens, our family bird. Finally we reached the doors of the dining hall, which were curiously closed. Jack opened the door for me and I stopped in my tracks.
"Surprise!" yelled the great mass of friends and fame before me. "Happy birthday, Lorainne!"
"How?" I was amazed. Standing in the great hall was my entire extended family and all my friends. I couldn't believe they had all managed to come; some people I hadn't seen in years. Then I noticed the decoration. At the back of the room was a large banner wishing me a happy birthday. Around the room were streamers adorning the walls and a large tiered cake could be seen in the centre of the table. "Wow." I looked over at Loki. "This was your doing wasn't it? You knew all along."
"Yes." He grinned. "It was the least I could do." He handed me a small present wrapped in green paper with a ribbon. "Happy birthday, Lorainne."