Hope you don't mind it so far... If you didn't, I hope you still won't by the end of this chapter. I cringed and backspaced quite a bit while writing it, but I'm hoping that's just because of natural self-criticism when creating something. Still had fun though.
RoseRed, thank you for your encouragement! Very glad you like it :)
"I've had next to zero human experience with weddings, Thor, but I get the feeling this reception is pretty… grandiose."
Jane's honey-brown eyes were huge as she drank in the vast ballroom that was filling with the orchestra's bright music. Over a dozen long banquet tables lined the glossy floors, and each one was lined with feasting guests. Everyone was bubbling with chatter after the tranquil formality of the ceremony, like a dam had cracked open. Even the crystal chalices dotting the tables seemed to glitter with more spirit than usual.
He was seated at a high table at the front of the open chamber, close by Jane's side and their bridesmaids and groomsmen around them. It made Thor think of the tiered shape of Asgard's palace. The night sky poured its lights between the marble pillars and through the wisps of iridescent curtains.
This was a somewhat elevated – and much more sophisticated – version of the countless banquets and balls his family had hosted before. But Thor supposed it must be infinitely more extravagant than many average Earth parties. Jane was engrossed by what she saw on ground level, rather than the multihued layers of stars just beyond the chamber's reach.
"Well, Volstagg seems to like it," Thor replied. Jane snorted. On the high table or not, the red-bearded man could be seen and heard by everyone. Volstagg was nearly bursting with joy at the food before them. The platters were heaped in a way that was both mountainous and graceful, full of woven loaves of bread, cheeses, jams, meats, little savoury cakes and candied fruit. The bottles of wine and ale had been uniformly placed along the table when the banquet had started. They seemed to have crept closer and closer across the white tablecloth to where the Warriors Three were seated.
Jane was now watching a clutch of women hurl their wineglasses to the ground, shouting for another round of drinks. "So since I'm technically a princess now, I don't have to clean any of this up, do I?"
Thor stared at her. He said seriously, "Jane, as royalty, it's part of your duty to show Asgard you are unafraid to, as people of Earth say, 'get your hands dirty'…"
Jane balked. "Thor, I wasn't saying I would be – "
He laughed. "Do not worry, Jane, we have staff for this."
She smacked his arm. "Good. I'll never become a spoilt little princess, but you know I can barely keep my own things tidy. I don't stand a chance against a thousand drunk Asgardians." She fixed him with a glare of mock austerity. "And you better not turn out to be one of those husbands who expects his wife to tidy up after him after a long day of charging battlefields and Avenging and slaying beasts or whatever – "
He grinned. "Jane, you have my word."
He studied her face from his angle while they ate, watching the glow from the candles and moons paint her with warmth and silver. When Thor had finally seen her enter the last bend in the aisle, he had almost laughed aloud as he noticed her sneaking glances at the constellations above. She had approached him slowly, in a white gown that made her look like she belonged to somewhere beyond both Asgard and Earth. When she had met his eyes, she had smiled what he knew was likely her first real smile that day. She did not glance at the sky even once after that. His heart swelled.
He was glad Jane had not been told to cover her face with a veil. He would not trade the memory of that smile or that look for the whole realm.
The openness of their ballroom meant no echoes would accumulate, but everyone's voices were a still bright roar, overlying the orchestra and peppered with laughs. Amidst the din, Thor could pick out Frigga and Odin's quieter voices to the high table's right, with Selvig's and Jane's mother's. The fathers and mothers of the groom and bride had their own table, close to Thor and Jane's. That was probably a wise decision – Thor knew Jane got much of her strength from her mother and Erik, but he did not know how well those two would fare in the sea of revelers before them.
Thor sighed contentedly. Jane's warm hand covered the back of his, and squeezed gently. All seemed well.
"I suppose it's my turn now."
These were the first words Loki had spoken to Thor since the reception had started. He had been seated on Thor's immediate left, wordlessly picking at his plate of food. He feasted more with his eyes on the surrounding festivities, their parents – mainly Frigga – talking at the nearby table, and on the distant skies.
Darcy had just finished her Maid of Honour's speech. Erik's had left a peculiar shine in Jane's eyes, despite his slight nervousness about speaking for such a massive, otherworldly audience. Dvalin had just announced the Best Man's speech to their animated guests. Thor dearly hoped Loki had been sincere in his promise to not humiliate him. He had racked his head for all the endeavors he had shared with Loki that were worthy of a SIlvertongue's memorable speech. Then he had switched to recalling Loki's versions of each memory. His stomach now bubbled in his boots.
"On my own pitiful death, remember, Brother?" Loki smirked at him like he had read Thor's mind. "And I have no plans to die today."
The chamber fell almost quiet as Loki rose from his seat.
"I suppose, firstly, I should thank you all for being here. But it is undoubtedly more valid to thank you for attending the ceremony itself, since the drinks were unavailable to you back then."
A few people snickered, while someone sluggishly toppled off their chair, sparking more laughter. Loki raised his eyes to the ceiling as if to say Exactly my point. He continued through a customary list of thanks; Frigga, Odin, Jane's mother, Selvig, Jane's bridesmaids and the palace staff were all mentioned.
"The groom asked me earlier to compliment everyone on how good-looking you all are tonight too, especially him," Loki said. "So… "
"Anyway," Loki continued. Thor realised in his anticipation he was beginning to partially hide his face from the guests with his hand. Jane was hiding a smile. "I wanted to thank him for choosing me as the Best Man for tonight. Particularly as he thinks he's better than me at everything on most other nights." Sif made an odd noise in her throat. But so far, this was not so bad.
"Now, before I begin regaling you with stories about Thor, I just have to tell you that I promised him there would be nothing at all embarrassing in my speech."
More relief seeped into Thor's stomach, untangling it from its nervous knots. "What?" Fandral said loudly in disbelief. Half the audience tittered while the other half made small sounds of disappointment.
"And I now have to apologise to Thor, because," Loki looked down at him. "Well, I'm sorry, Brother, but you should know that I was lying to you when I said that."
Someone in the lower tables cheered, while Hogun murmured to Sif, "For once I'm glad he is a liar."
Thor did not know how Loki succeeded in cramming so many memories so smoothly into the next four minutes. He delivered the anecdotes with relish, seeming unable to help the cursory glances at Thor as if to ask And do you remember that time? It was the closest Thor had ever felt to being struck by his lightning – burnt to cinders, wishing that at least it were not partially due to his own doings. Eventually, he even tried to tune it out. He tried tuning out Loki's retelling of the time Thor lost a wager with him and had to fly undressed through Niflheim ("He was just fortunate I chose the Realm of Fog as the venue for this… Ah, sorry, Mother, I think we forgot to tell you about that – "). And Loki's description of Thor's first journey to Muspelheim, the Realm of Fire – Thor had in fact become intoxicated in Midgard and had flown headfirst into the belly of a volcano ("When he awoke in the Healing Room, I told him and the Allfather we had returned from a scuffle in Muspelheim, to explain his burns. I thought Thor's pride would suffer less that way")
"That was our real first quest in Muspelheim?" Thor stared up at Loki.
"It's rude to interrupt a speech, Brother," Loki hissed back. "And I did tell you I wanted this to be a surprise for you."
Thor tried not to acknowledge too much that Loki's versions of each story were – possibly, only – closer to the truth than his own.
"Hey…" Jane leaned closer to whisper in Thor's ear. Her cheeks were stretched by a massive grin she could not seem to wipe off. "Loki lies most of the time, right?" Her voice was offhand.
"Most certainly." Thor scowled.
"So none of those stories are totally true?" She waited with an expectant smile. Thor must have hesitated a moment too long – her smile grew into a poorly hushed giggle.
"This is worse than the first time Loki 'cut' my hair for our wedding." He muttered to her.
"Nothing could have been worse than that," Jane snickered.
"Do not let him hear that!" Thor shushed her. She laughed again, in time with their guests below.
Loki looked at them. "It wasn't me, I swear it."
Frigga placed a hand on her hip and tilted her head to the side. "How a son of mine causes more trouble than Lyngbakr *, I will never know." There was no trace of a smile on her typically warm face.
Thor sat stock still, staring at his roughly bald-headed reflection in his bedchamber mirror. He was currently too horrified to be furious. That would come later, and Loki would have to outrun lightning.
Though Thor was far from amused, he supposed he could see why his insane brother might find it a good joke to betray Thor's tenuous trust in him and shear off most of Thor's hair two days before the wedding. Then the bedchamber door swung open, revealing Jane. Any chance of finding amusement in Thor's lack of hair abruptly vapourised.
"Um," Jane began. She rounded on Loki with the slowness of a cobra preparing to strike. "What – ?"
"Don't panic! It's only an illusion!"
At least Loki had some limits, or just could not be bothered evading a lightning storm and Jane's temper. A halo of pallid light shone in his palm and at the ends of Thor's shorn hair, before there was a shimmer and a twist of the air. When that faded, Thor's reflection suddenly looked much the same as it used to. "Ta-da!"
Perhaps it was fortunate Thor had not overcome his initial shock upon seeing his post-haircut reflection. Otherwise, he might not have a Best Man.
Odin just shook his head and walked out of the chamber.
Loki was saying, "I know Jane will make a wonderful princess. It's nice to have one in the family who isn't unrefined, rowdy and only a false princess because she lost Mjolnir to a Frost Giant warlord."
Thor saw Darcy's eyes light up. She whispered to the bridesmaid beside her, "I think I've read about that in a library book somewhere!" and Thor wondered how well the thick cloth serviettes would serve as a gag.
"However… " Loki stepped sideways indiscernibly, away from Thor as if anticipating the thoughts on silencing him. "Though I lied to Thor earlier about the contents of this speech, I will make good on another promise of mine to him. That he will not regret this speech being heard. Despite what he thinks of it thus far."
Loki looked down at Thor. Thor smiled in return and mouthed I will kill you. Loki just winked.
"The way I would describe Thor differs greatly from a description given by his other friends." Loki continued. "As his brother, I saw traits no one else had to endure quite so sorely – his stubbornness, his arrogance, his blind foolishness that got us into trouble more times than I can count."
"Five thousand two hundred and eleven times," Loki suddenly muttered under his breath, so furtively Thor was sure he meant only Thor to hear. Everyone else might have thought Loki paused for theatrics' sake.
"But then I was also honoured with virtues that no one in Yggdrasil truly deserves, and that everyone in Yggdrasil really needs."
Loki's voice changed slightly. It was warmer. Randomly, Thor recalled once a cheery nobleman had cooingly asked Loki his favourite time of the day, when his little brother was not yet old enough to properly speak and young enough that everything he did was deemed endearing. Loki had replied in a voice so small and warm Thor had not realised at first that Loki was not talking to him, but to a stranger.
("When Tor plays with me," Loki had said)
"Within Thor," Loki said, "there is compassion, and strength, and a light that refuses to stop shining. Anyone whom it falls on is very privileged."
Thor could imagine right then that Loki was not delivering a pre-written speech to a half-drunk audience of a thousand strangers.
"Jane, be prepared to spend your life highly privileged, in ways that your new title of royalty cannot grant."
Jane's expression was as soft as Loki's words. Thor was suddenly glad his own speech was not meant until later. He could not quite seem to find his tongue.
"Yggdrasil is very big place, but I sincerely doubt you could have found anyone better to spend your life with if you explored every galaxy you've ever studied. I know that I never did."
"And," Loki's smile and tone grew lighter "after he met you, Thor has become even better. His humility and new thoughtfulness greet all who meet him."
"On good terms," Loki tacked onto the end.
"He is even… more refined – he showcases our Allfather's fortitude as well as our queen's grace. The next time he loses Mjolnir, he may not even need to wear a veil and high heels again."
Fandral took the opportunity to whistle. Thor reached around Loki's back to absently clip Fandral's ear. But his attention was locked on Loki, especially as Loki said:
"But most of all, he is completely happy."
The curious emotion in Loki's voice was back. Thor thought he could have been sad, but no one could be sad on this occasion. And Loki had said earlier that he was nothing but happy for him.
"Jane, you make my brother happy like no one else can. For that alone, I cannot repay you."
Loki lifted his still-full wineglass. The light winked off of it, reflected in the soft green of his eyes. There was a lump in Thor's throat that he could not seem to swallow past.
"Honoured guests, and Fandral, please raise your glasses with me – " hundreds of chalices were glinting rosily " – to our beloved prince and his Princess Jane."
Thor snuck a glance to their parents' high table. Frigga's eyes were shining like Jane's had after Erik's affectionate words.
Loki sat back down slowly. Everyone else was suddenly returning to the previous merriment with verve. Thor waited for Loki to look at him.
"So… do you mind that speech being heard or not?" Loki asked curiously.
Thor said, "You really were not lying when you said I would not regret it." Loki gave him his barely-there smile, faint and contented.
Thor abruptly slapped a hard hand onto Loki's shoulder. "But you are still a worm for the stories you included earlier." Loki let out his wolf laugh whilst Thor shook him.
"So that was really what happened the first time we went to the Realm of Fire?" Thor returned to the subject. He was still in disbelief that the tale of his valiant first battle against Muspelheim's creatures of flame was merely fabrication.
"Truly," Loki dipped his head. Mirth kindled the green in his eyes at Thor's expression. "Why are you discomfited about that one? It was your first fight with a volcano, and I'm quite sure you still won. Solid volcanic rock is apparently no match for the likes of your head."
"And," Loki added, "while you were drunk, you also tried to wrestle a large shark in the surrounding waters. I think we were somewhere that was frequented by humans because, after you were done, a large ship drifted past and some passengers waved at you. Which would have been fine, but you then got it into your head that you should try board their vessel. I stopped you before you succeeded, which wasn't challenging as you could barely swim straight."
Thor digested this. "Your speech lacked not, Loki, but why leave those details out?"
"I want to save those little particulars for your anniversary celebration."
"…Ah."
Loki shook his head, taking a sip of wine. "Fear not, Thor, I may end up never recounting them. You realise there are bound to be much stupider acts you will commit in the coming years?"
* Lyngbakr is a legendary Midgardian sea monster of Norse mythology (according to Wikipedia)