Heading back towards her room, Kari was suddenly set upon and snatched up by a pair of strong arms twirling her around in a circle. She gasped, feet desperate to find purchase again and squealed until put down.
"Kari, my dear!" Fandral laughed, taking a step back but keeping his hands held to her shoulders. "I have been looking for you."
"Gran- Fandral?" She blinked, surprised and dizzy from all the spinning. So Heimdall hadn't just been trying to get rid of her, how exactly had he even known?
"Come with me, the others are waiting."
"What? Where are we going?" She looked horrified, Fandral about to respond with some glee filled answer but soon frowning into a concerned mask.
"What is this?" He ran calloused fingers, light and gentle along the hand shaped bruise. "Tell me all."
"It's nothing." She tried to pull away but his grip only tightened. "Honestly, it's nothing. Just a stupid accident. It's fine, sorted. Don't worry about it."
His eyes narrowed, fire filled then softened into a layer of sadness before bright and sparkly once more. The transformation was really quite something to witness, perhaps there was a deeper level to her grandfather behind his dashing façade. Without another word on the subject he began coaxing her back through the corridors of the palace with him, heading right towards a forbidden area which made her squirm.
"I can't go in there gramps." She tried to wriggle out of his clutches.
"I thought we agreed there would be no 'gramps'."
"Yes well. I can't go in there, that's one of the observation rooms."
"I am Fandral the dashing and you my kin. Where ever Thor so invites me, he invites you." Fandral laughed, pushing her inside the large immaculately decorated room.
"Fandralkin!" Oh god, it was Thor and he was happy to see her. "Where have you been hiding?"
"Kari! My name is-"
"I know your name." He was on his feet, pouring something into a large mug before handing it to her. "Here! Drink!"
She accepted the mug, if only because he had forced it into her hands and she lacked the choice. The rest of the warriors three and Lady Sif were about the room as well, watching her take a deep swig from her drink before laughing in unison as she coughed and spluttered at the alcoholic strength.
"Too strong for you, lass?" Volstagg hammered his thigh at the amusement.
"I begin to worry if this truly is your kin, Fandral." Thor jabbed the other blond playfully before slumping back into his chair.
"You forget you were too a child once, Thor." Fandral commented, giving his granddaughter a pat on the back for the attempt to drink at least.
"I say he is still such." Sif waded in, Volstagg now turning purple from loud bellowing mirth.
"Laugh all you can, Volstagg. At least I am no old man as you." Thor leaned over, grabbing the man in question in a headlock and proceeding to have a little wrestle.
Kari groaned, muttering something under her breath as she turned to place her mug down on a wooden table. This was exactly the same as all the behavior in the dining hall. Feeling eyes trained on her, she looked to her left noting for the first time a final figure in the room. Loki was there too, sitting on the edge of a balcony and watching her with a look of something unrecognizable – perhaps she was now graduated to an insignificant pebble caught between treads in his under shoes?
"Is this true, Kari?" Fandral asked, she having missed the entirety of the conversation going on between he and the others.
"Huh? Is what true?" She blinked, perplexed.
"It is as I say." Thor gesticulated. "We sparred, blade against blade. She would have made you proud, Fandral."
"Liar! I lost."
"The victory was in the trying." He turned his attention towards her grandfather. "No matter how many times she fell, she kept getting up. Such fierce bravery must be celebrated. By the end I had to forfeit or end her."
"Wait… wait! You're telling me I could have left at any point?" Kari was wide eyed, livid, embarrassed and mildly proud all in one go.
"Of course, I would not force you to fight against your will." He laughed, as if she were telling a strange joke.
"Well, you could have told me that!"
"Thor…" Sif gave him a chastising headshake.
"How was I too know?" Thor shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "The maid was more than able to rebuke I moments before we sparred."
"Yes well." Kari, flushing a light pink as she recalled just what he was speaking about, speedily trying to change the subject.
"Fandralkin put you to shame brother with her twist of words."
"Really?" Loki looked at his brother, unbelieving.
"Uh but enough about that-" Kari gave a huge waitress smile.
"I believe there is something in this story that are friend here is embarrassed to have told." Volstagg began chuckling at the increasing depth of her blush.
"I know not what that could be, Volstagg." Thor creased his brow thinking back on that day's events. "Though perhaps when she-"
"Here, have a drink." Kari pushed her mostly full mug into Thor's reactive hands.
"Ah, thank you Frandalkin, you are too kind." He knocked the beverage back draining the mug in one go. "We should spar again some time."
"Whatever you want." She watched him wiping his mouth dry across the back of his hand, silently praying he'd remain silent.
"You were telling us something, Thor?" Volstagg broke in again.
"I am afraid I have forgotten, my friend." Thor shrugged as if he truly could not remember.
"Stop being so cruel." Sif rolled her eyes at the rabble of men and indicated for Kari to join her towards the back of the room.
Eager to get away, she jumped at the offer and skittered over to sit on a selection of large cushions with the female warrior. The whole day was starting to give her a massive headache and the alcohol in her stomach felt like it was burning the lining away with some gusto. Sif gave her a long curious and knowing look before turning her attention to the gaggle of now arm wrestling boys across the room.
"You are in love. I can tell."
"I'm sorry what?" Kari gave her a wide-eyed look of 'please let me have misheard that'.
"Fear not, most whom meet the prince find themselves infatuated."
"The prince?" She was still lost. "Thor or Loki, are we talking about?"
"Loki?" Sif shot her a wide-eyed, stupefied, 'are you crazy girl' stare. "I am speaking of Thor."
"Oh." She nodded, now understanding what they were talking about. "Oh! No, no, no! Not me!" She really understood what they were talking about. "I promise you, I have absolutely no interest in that bimbo."
"Bimbo?"
"Uh… never mind." She giggled at Sif's lip-pursing expression.
"Then… you are interested in Loki?" The lady warrior gave her a pity filled expression.
"What? No, really I am not interested in either of the princes."
"But there is someone… Volstagg?" She tried again, grabbing at straws now.
"You seriously need to get out and meet other men, girl." Kari was the one to give her the pitiful look now. "There are plenty more fish in the sea besides what's in this room."
"You are no doubt right." Sif began to chuckle. "Then tell me of your love?"
"Uh… well… I wouldn't say he was my love. But… there is this guy I am sort of kind of um… interested in." Kari rolled onto her side, leaning in closer to the other woman so they could conspire without being heard. "Do you know Heimdall?"
"Heimdall? Yes I know him well."
"Oh, that's great. Do you know if he's seeing anyone?"
"I am not aware of anyone, no." Sif's face was a mirror of well practiced neutral. "You are interested in the guardian?"
"Hmmm, yeah. I was talking to him today and… he has really pretty eyes."
"Really pretty eyes?" She nodded, thinking about those words a little harder. "I have not heard those words used when describing my brother before."
"You hav- uh… your… your? Your brother?" Kari's whole body from ears to toes flashed bright red in an instant. "Oh god… please pretend you didn't hear any of that."
"You are embarrassed? You should not be." Sif chuckled at the flustered state of her companion. "It would be good to see my brother forget his duty to pursue other things for a while. Not many show interest."
"Er, that's er…" Kari began chewing her lips in alternating fashion. "I really wouldn't get your hopes up."
"Nonsense. You are young, attractive, you have captured Thor's attention." She indicated the god of thunder, currently tossing Fandral over his shoulder, with her elbow. "My brother would have to be stupid not to show some interest."
"He certainly didn't show much interest today. Barely got three words out of him."
"That is just his way. Keep trying, Fandralkin."
"Not you too. Kari, my name is Kari."
Embarrassment aside, the two women continued to chat longer on other subjects until rudely interrupted by Thor attempting to win a bet by lifting both the women above his head at once. He'd lost, obviously, because Sif didn't take too kindly to the manhandling and ended up getting into a fistfight with him. Kari had tried drinking some of the alcohol again, this time taking it slowly and managing to finish a whole mug as the others recounted tales of daring adventures for her pleasure. It wasn't so bad really, they were a fun lot when not poking at her but it still wasn't the same kind of fun as getting crazy at a nightclub. Yeah, she really missed earth still.
The gathering had gone on pretty late into the night, at some point she had finally fallen asleep from a mixture of exhaustion and drunken bliss and awoken against her grandfather's shoulder. Fandral was having a somewhat dull conversation with Hogun, the grumpy one of the warriors three, about dwarves and weapon smithing. It was a pretty one sided conversation with Hogun only grunting now and then at what Fandral was saying but the bit about dwarves sounded interesting. There were dwarves? Actual living breathing, 'hi-ho' dwarves in asgard? Why had she not seen them before?
Sif retired to bed first, followed by a laughing Volstagg and Thor until finally Fandral and Hogun were done speaking metallurgy. The two men rose, Fandral pausing to help his half asleep granddaughter to her feet with a stretch and yawn. The three were leaving when something made Kari and Fandral pause their escape.
"Kari?" Loki called out, striding from the balcony into the main room. "May I speak with you a moment?" He looked suddenly to her wary grandfather. "I promise, there is no trick in this."
"If you say, Loki." Fandral studied him, then looked down to Kari for her nod of agreement. "Very well. Behave yourself trickster."
Fandral took his time leaving the room with an added look back at the pair before finally exiting. Loki waited for the warrior's footsteps to fade in the corridor before he moved closer until barely a foot away from the apprehensive midgardian. There was a layer of silence, punctuated by their stares – green and blue meeting with a mutual mistrust and mystification.
"You told them not what I did?" He finally asked, gaze now following the outer line of bruising on her cheek before snapping back to her eyes.
"No." she whispered, looking to the side in hurt embarrassment before snapping back to green much as he had done.
"You could have." He paused. "You should have." He continued, a hand reaching out to greet the mark he had left on her skin. "May I?"
"What? Slap me again?"
"No." He chuckled; eyes alight with a genuine humor mixed with something else almost wild. "May I remove this stain?"
His hand began to spark and glow dimly as he neared her face, finally his palm sliding across the perfect copy with a gentle persuasion. His touch tingled, heating the skin and cooling the dull ache of the bruise, as their eyes remained locked. When he finally pulled away she almost wished that he hadn't, swallowing back the built up saliva in her mouth and palming the side of her face no longer feeling any pain.
"Gone." He smirked at her wonder.
"Thank you." She blinked in the realization that this was perhaps an apology of sorts. "While you're at it, fixing what you broke, could you please make my underwear the same size again?"
"Your… undergarments?" He gave her a perfect façade of mystified innocence. "I am afraid I know not what you speak of."
"Hmm, oh I think you do."
"I promise you, honestly, I know nothing of what may have transpired involving your personal garments."
"Liar."
"That is quite the accusation." His smile had returned. "Tell me, do you perchance know how my hair was altered recently?"
"No, I can't say that I do." Kari mimicked his earlier look of innocence – though in her opinion she did it better.
"Very well. I bid you good night, Fandralkin." Loki brushed past her, leaving her knowingly seething at her asgardian title.
That night, Kari went to bed mildly drunk and aggravated at the final note of the evening. The god of mischief never seemed to stop even when he sort of, kind of, seemed to be apologizing for something, maybe. She finally fell asleep - purring ball of fluff draped over her hip above blankets – and drifted into a truly pleasant dream about Heimdall. Except, something about the dream was a little confusing, the hue of his pretty eyes. Why had they been green?