At least the rest of her birthday was going pretty well. Kari was currently riding on Fandral's back as the warriors three were guiding her around the city; her feet having grown tired from a mixture of walking and drinking. The excitable men, and Hogun, had shown her around just about every tavern and place of fun filled interest they could find; including several they had not yet discovered. It was almost like being back on earth again, going on a mega bar crawl, except this one was during the afternoon and filled with bizarre medieval looking games. Whatever, she was having fun and had even taught the group a song – abba: take a chance on me – which they were currently performing a very interesting version of on there way back to the palace.
With dinner rapidly approaching, Kari had decided to have a power nap back in her room to try and sober up a little before more drinking later. The rest had been somewhat disturbed, not only by her snoring which kept shocking her awake at its loudest points but also the sickening sensation settling in her stomach as Loki's request moved back into the forefront of her mind. What was she going to do? What would Loki do if she did not do it? Why did he want to sedate his brother anyway? Fun? Really? What fun was there in drugging Thor? There had to be more to this than meets the eye or why else would the god of mischief be poking his nose into so pitiful a prank. She needed a bath and change of clothes to get the stench of sweaty men and sin off her.
When Fandral finally came to collect her he was obviously greatly distressed by her appearance. She was wearing one of the two party outfits she'd been able to pack before leaving earth for the last time and it was very short skirted and lacking in the back. She couldn't believe the words she was hearing from him, the kind an overprotective father might say to a fourteen-year-old girl on her way to school dressed like a hooker.
"You are not wearing that." His hands were on his hips, mouth a hard line, as he stared her down meaning business.
"Don't be such an old man." She rolled her eyes at him. "I haven't been able to wear something nice in months."
"Try wearing something nice that leaves room for the imagination." He closed her door as he went to wait outside.
Was he serious? The playboy of asgard wanted her to dress more conservatively? The situation just screamed of hypocritical thinking but what was she to do. Muttering and sighing back over to her wardrobe she started pulling out other items trying to find an ensemble that would meet both their high expectations finally deciding on a pairing between high waist denim shorts and her white blouse with blue flowery pattern coupled with her push-up bra to accentuate the cleavage on display. She had just shaved her legs so there was no way in hell he was going to make her cover those up but at least she was a lot more covered than she had been previously.
She exited her room pulling on a pair of red flats, vial stashed in a convenient lipstick pocket on her shorts, and gave her grandfather a determined look that simply stated this was the best he was getting. He was frowning considerably as he gave her a once over, obviously displeased about the amount of thigh on display but soon shrugged it off with a smile as he offered her his arm.
"If you are set upon by hordes of men I will simply say I told you so." He commented, a smug expression uplifting his moustache as if on some level proud his genetics had miraculously created a nice pair of legs.
"Not as if we're going to be sitting with anyone that isn't your friend, granddad." She chuckled. "Besides, haven't you all been to midgard heaps? Girls wear a lot less than this there."
"This is not midgard." Fandral pointed towards a gaggle of women as they passed, all of which were so heavily dressed all you could do was imagine.
Still, she was far too excited to have debbie-downer Fandral ruin the evening for her with his over exaggerated opinions on her attire. Grandfathers were supposed to say such crazy 'in my day' dribble about 'young people today' not understanding how to do anything as good as back then. As they entered the hall, however, the volume did lower ever so noticeably as eyes focused in on the pair walking towards the head of the table. Was it because of what she was wearing or because a midgardian server was about to eat at a table reserved for the most distinguished guests of the king?
"Fandralkin!" Thor had exclaimed the moment he noticed her looking nervous on her grandfather's arm. "Come, sit! The god of thunder welcomes you to our feast!"
He was certainly jovial, pushing the person next to him down the bench to make room for her and Fandral. As she sat, awkwardly having to pivot over the bench because of it's height that left her feet just barely touching the ground, she noticed for a moment Odin giving her a peculiar look further down the table before turning back to a man who was more a mess of hair than flesh and bone. Perhaps he hadn't been told she was dining with them? Or thought she had persuaded someone into inviting her.
"Seeing as it's my birthday, Thor, could you please stop calling me Fandralkin?" She gave the bimbo a slight smile; not missing the way Loki was pretending not to notice her existence opposite him in her peripheral.
"But Fandralkin is such nobler a name than, 'Kari'." His tone was of one that did not like the feel of her name on his tongue. "It is as if I am asking you too 'carry' some mundane item." He was perplexed; a sudden memory flashing in her head of the way Loki would simply say, "carry" before handing her something in the corridors.
"Fine, then Karian?" She tried for a compromise.
"If it is all the same to you, friend, I would prefer you remain as Fandralkin."
"Oh, you're all infuriating." Kari crossed her arms in a grump and turned to look at her grandfather besides her trying his best to hold back a laugh at her expense.
"Have a drink, my dear." Fandral signaled a server to come and fill their mugs. "Let Thor tease you not."
As the evening progressed the level of merriment too increased. Volstagg had humored her with an arm wrestle, which he had allowed her win at the last moment, much to everyone's entertainment and several embarrassing stories had surfaced about her grandfather and Thor chasing women in different realms. She was somewhat shocked to find out there were a lot more realms than she knew about, all with vast differences of environment and life forms. When dragons had been mentioned she was all over that like a bad rash.
"Real, honest, dragons?" Kari was wide-eyed and excited like a child at a toy store. "Are they like puff the magic dragon?"
"I am not aware of 'Puff the magic dragon'." Thor shrugged at the others who in turn looked confused. "Is this dragon a resident of midgard?"
"You seriously don't know who puff the magic dragon is?" She was stunned, shocked, her childhood had just been kicked in the nuts; she had to sing the song. "Puff the magic dragon lived by the sea and frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Hona Lee. Little Jackie Paper, loved that rascal puff, and brought him strings and ceiling wax and other fancy stuff."
The others had broken into a chorus of laughter; obviously dragons the asgardians knew were not the kind to let small children ride on their backs. Once the table hammering assault on her childhood had finally started to die down, Kari feeling rather upset at a mixture of their teasing and dragons not being nice magical creatures as she believed, Thor had begun poking her for the rest of the lyrics. As horrible as having your dreams shattered on your birthday was, hearing a band of drunken asgardians singing 'Puff the magic dragon' from start to finish three times really made up for it. Even Loki had deemed it amusing enough to join in on the last round but that may have also been his attempt to seem among the crowd as he kept flashing her looks of impatience – he really wanted her to drop the vial in his brothers drink.
Kari swallowed, her hand brushing over the vial several times and her face growing grim. She looked up at Thor, his smiling stupid face only making her skin turn greyer at the overwhelming guilt blossoming into life like a tree in the pits of her bowels. The god of thunder suddenly looked at her, concerned by her expression as she hurriedly looked away.
"What ails you, friend?" He asked, his tone quiet so as not to be easily overheard.
"Nothing." She lied, a too obvious lie that kept his attention hooked on her until she felt the need to add more. "Really, nothing. I just started thinking about, uh, dragons and it uh, reminded me that I'm not a child anymore."
"You need not worry, Fandralkin, your prime is still upon you and your heart is still so young."
"Yeah right." She rolled her eyes. "I'm nearly thirty. I'm supposed to have my life together by now."
"I am much older than you and most say I am little more than a child."
"That's because you are." She chuckled, he in turn laughing it off and slapping her across the shoulder into a friendly embrace.
"I see you are against me too." He raised his mug, downing the contents before flinging it across the room. "Another!" He bellowed as a server came rushing over with a new beverage.
"Such a waste." Kari shook her head at him, his smile ridiculously cheeky as he chuckled into his new drink.
Really, how was she supposed to drug the giant oath? He was too silly, childish and sweet. It was like plotting tricks on a puppy knowing all too well the big sad eyes of betrayal that would await when he discovered her involvement; knowing herself so well, she was acutely aware of how the guilt would rise until swallowing her whole. She really was not a good accomplice for a mischief-maker.
Fiddling with the vial again, she decided upon her next move with a strong fore knowledge that the result would be unpleasant. She looked over at Loki, busying himself with listening to another guest and bit her lip as she leaned a little further under the table and kicked him. His attention was immediate, green orbs consuming her in their wild nature but his expression so casual and in opposition to the depths within him. Their eyes were locked, an unspoken conversation that indicated a no go for his plans by the shake of her head. His brow twitched, a disappointed annoyance etched into his forehead just visible enough for her to distinguish but give others the impression he were bored. Oh, there was payback written in his eyes tonight but would he really dare do anything at the dinner table?
She looked away, leaning her chin on Fandral's shoulder and receiving a pat on the head in turn. She was sleepy, merrily drunk and oh so sigh full. Closing her eyes for a moment, she yawned and slipped into a moment of restful peace as the overly rich and fatty food digested in her stomach. It really was very nice, almost as good as late night curry on the way home from an evening of clubbing.
Enraptured in the moment, she hardly noticed the woman shrieking across the hall but instead was alerted to the sense something was wrong via her grandfathers stiffening body. Opening her eyes she gasped as the problem came into focus and sat bolt up right at the bewildered mess of dirty blond hair streaking through the dining room as if not knowing where he was.
"Who is this fool?" Thor was standing, amused by the naked nature of their guest.
"Griffin!" Kari was on her feet circling the table to reach her man-cat.
"Your cat?" Exclaimed a mystified Fandral followed by loud muttering along the dining table.
"Loki! What the hell?" She was torn between the two men though the cat one was soon at her side rubbing his cheek against her arm.
"I know not what-" He began but was quickly silenced as a loud 'thwack' reverberated through the room – she shouldn't have hit him.
"THAT IS ENOUGH!" Odin was furious, his voice was so loud for a moment she thought she might wet her pants but being the stubborn type…
"Why are you always such a dick?" She was shouting at Loki as he looked around the room as if to suggest she were mad. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Fandralkin, remove your pet from the dinner hall." Odin was talking again but more than a little ignored by the midgardian.
"Just stop it already! You can't even be nice on my goddamn birthday!" Oh god she was crying, she couldn't help it, Loki was probably laughing his ass off on the inside – even if he did pretend to be so cool and calm sipping his wine. "Turn him back and stop it!"
"As your king I hereby order yo-"
"You are not my king!" She bellowed back at the allfather before fully knowing what she was saying.
The whole room suddenly went very quiet as if people were pretending not to exist in case caught up in the storm that was about to hit. Odin was staring at her, the colour in her cheeks visibly draining from the one-eyed look of silent fury building within him. His next words were so low, almost whispered but carried by the room's acoustics to her ears.
"Ungrateful child." She blanched at his statement suddenly wanting to run very far away. "Guards, escort the midgardian to her room and make sure she stays there until further notice."
Wait, was he grounding her? This had to be a sick joke, the entire day a horrible joke. Maybe this was Loki's plan of mischief all along. He knew she wouldn't go through with it, couldn't go through with it; why else would he give her such a guilt ridden task?