Loki was reading some documents in his room when Thor burst in.

"Brother!" he bellowed. "I've been looking for you!"

Loki barely jumped at the intrusion. Years of being startled by Thor had left him quite ready for it lately.

"Well, you've found me," he said, not even looking up from his reading. "With what can I help you?"

"I need a favor."

Loki sat up a bit and looked to his brother, suddenly intrigued. "I'll certainly try."

"It's a return favor, actually. I need you to stand with me at my wedding."

"You're asking me to be your Best Man?"

"Of course! No one else I'd even consider asking! So, will you?"

"Yes, I would be honored to stand with you! When did you ask her?"

"Earlier this afternoon. She asked me to join her for a picnic. I thought that would be perfect."

Loki smiled and leaned back in his seat. "And you call me the hopeless romantic. Oh, I can't wait to watch you deal with all of this! When is the blessed event?"

"I don't know yet. Jane wants to do all the planning herself. We'll decide on date soon."

"Will you wed on Asgard as well?"

Thor's expression changed a bit. "We will, but not right away."

Loki noticed his brother's mood shift. He scrunched his eyebrows in question. "And why is that?"

"Father doesn't exactly approve of our union. Both because she is Midgardian, and because he thinks she talked me out of the throne. Which leads me to my second favor."

Loki tried very hard to focus on Thor's question and not the notion that Odin was still fussy that Thor wouldn't be king. "And what's that?"

"We'll likely get married here in about a year. But Asgard… we're thinking about 5 years."

"Five years? Oh, because Odin won't marry you."

"Yes. I know it's a lot to ask. But will you do it? Will you marry us?"

"Of course I will! It would be my privilege to do so!"

Thor beamed. "Thank you, brother! We'll obviously give you time to settle in as King before our ceremony. But we'll have plenty of time to discuss that. Right now, I'm just thrilled that you'll be my Best Man!"

Loki kept to himself that he wasn't sure what would bring him more joy: being his brother's Best Man or doing something that would directly change something Odin was against. Both made him extremely happy.

"I am thrilled to fill that role as well. If you need anything, do not hesitate to ask. Weddings can be stressful, but my advice to you is to let Tony or Mother plan the whole thing," he added with a laugh.

Thor laughed with him. "Yes, I suppose you did have a bit of an easy way of arranging the day. But I do not have the luxury of Tony Stark being my father-in-law. So, I shall let my betrothed handle things the way she would like."

"A wise decision."

"But for now, we should celebrate!"

Loki paled. "Celebrate how?"

"Drinking, of course!"

"Of course," Loki muttered. "Shall we gather the others?"

"Naturally! Assemble the team! We shall go out and toast to my happy marriage!"

Loki pinched the bridge of his nose. "Very well. I suppose as the Best Man it's my duty to get this organized. Tell Jane that we will convene in 1 hour."

"Wonderful! Thank you, Loki!"

"You're very welcome, brother. Please don't, as Tony says, pre-game."

Thor scoffed. "You're no fun."

"So you've told me."

"Besides…" Thor whispered loudly. "I already have…"

"That is not a surprise, brother. Now go. I apparently have some planning to do."

Thor clapped him on the shoulder and began to leave the room. Asta walked in as he was leaving.

"Søster!" he yelled as he picked her up and spun around before placing her feet back on the ground. "It's a beautiful day! Takk igjen, bror!" (Sister! and Thank you again, brother!)

And with that, he left a very confused Asta in the doorway.

Loki sighed. He truly was happy for his brother, but the thought of Odin's disapproval still nagged in the back of his head. He would have to discuss that with Asta later.

Asta broke him from his thoughts then. "Um, what was that about? It's actually getting quite cloudy outside. And why was he speaking Asgardian?"

"He's a little drunk. Enough that he didn't think to tell you himself. He's engaged."

She clapped excitedly. "Oh! Jane said yes!"

"Yes, and now we're stuck with another night of drinking and a wildly inebriated Thor. And vetting the bartenders better. But in the meantime, FRIDAY, please connect me to Tony."

"Right away."

The AI connected them via intercom.

"What's up, Reindeer Games?" Tony's voice filled the room.

"Yes, I'm in need of your assistance. Thor has just become engaged and we'll need a venue to celebrate."

"Whoa! Galileo said yes to Point Break? That's great! Let me make a call and we'll be ready to go in an hour. You round up the others."

"Right then. Thank you, Tony."

"Any time!"

After Tony disconnected the call, Loki asked FRIDAY to relay the message to the others in the tower. He dropped onto the bed and rubbed his forehead. Asta sat on his lap.

"What troubles you, my love?" she asked.

"It's nothing that cannot wait until later."

"If it's bothering you, I'd like to know now."

Loki sighed. "Well, as you could see, Thor is slightly intoxicated already, so his inside voice is missing, as are his inside thoughts. So, he mentioned to me that there will only be a Midgardian ceremony for now, as Odin will not marry them."

"Why not?" Then realization hit her. "Oh, is it because she's from Earth?"

"Well, partially. But also because Odin is now convinced that Jane talked Thor out of taking the throne. So, I shall perform their ceremony once I have become king."

Asta sighed. Odin really was a piece of work. "Well, I have 2, no 3, responses to that. As a past noble, a future queen, and a present wife."

"All right then. Give me them in that order, I suppose."

"As a noble, I recognize that Odin has a definite problem with change. For centuries, he's had one idea of what was going to happen. Thor would take the throne and that was that. Now that's changed and he can't handle it. This reaction isn't surprising."

Loki rocked his head side to side in a sort of agreement. "And as the future queen?"

"His opinion won't matter in a few years. Only yours will. And with Thor officially abdicating, whatever you decide is what Odin will have to get used to. Your pronouncement will be law. And I'm guessing that gives you a bit of glee?"

He smiled. "This is true. And as my beautiful wife?"

Asta shrugged her shoulders. "Fuck him, we don't like him anyway," she said with a wink.

Loki barked out a surprised laugh at that. "Now that is the answer I think we should go with, my darling. In fact, that might become the Laufeyson family creed!"

"Shall I have it framed?"

"Without a doubt!" He paused and smiled at her. "My love, thank you for making me feel better about this."

"You are more than welcome. Look, in all seriousness, it's not like we're surprised that Odin is still sulking about Thor not becoming king. But it is still true that it matters not. Thor has chosen not to take the throne and under Asgardian law, it falls to the next in line. That's you and Odin is just angry that it's his own fault that he's got himself into this mess. Maybe he does regret taking you, but the deed is done. You were raised as an Asgardian royal. Everyone considers you a royal. And now he's stuck with you. And with me for that matter. And Frigga and Thor love us, so who cares what Odin thinks. He's not Asgard's future. You are."

"My perfect bride, how did I become so lucky to have you on my side?" he asked before kissing her gently.

"Not luck, destiny. We were just always meant to be. And I shall always be on your side. Now, let's get ready for the engagement party. What shall we wear tonight?" She stood and went to the walk-in closet. "Ooh, I've been wanting to wear this one!" She held up a dark green silk dress.

"My temptress. You'll outshine the bride-to-be." He paused dramatically and smirked. "Wear it."

She rolled her eyes before sitting to fix her hair and makeup. "I don't think I'll outshine Jane. I'm sure she's positively glowing now that Thor has finally proposed."

He pressed a kiss to her neck. "Ah, but you'll be the only star in my eyes tonight."

"Silver tongue," she replied.

"Later, love. I'll put my silver tongue to any use you require," he growled before heading into the closet to find something to wear. "Shall we match, my precious?"

Asta sighed at his ability to change his tone so quickly. "That green button down looks amazing on you," she replied to catch her bearings.

Loki changed in the closet. He winked as he exited. "Yes, I believe this shall work. Should I wear a tie?"

"My love, this isn't exactly a formal event."

"But I was going to wear the gold one, to match this." He materialized a golden hair barrette in the shape of crossing daggers.

"Loki, I don't really think daggers are appropriate for an engagement party."

He huffed. "Fine." And he changed it into a snake in a figure eight. "The infinity symbol for Thor and Jane's unending love. The serpent for my own twist."

Asta carefully placed the hair clip on her half up-do. "That will work." She kissed him quickly. "Thank you, troublemaker."

She finished her makeup and got dressed as fast as she could. "Well, what do you think?" she asked as she did a little turn.

"My darling, perfection as usual. Are you ready then?"

"I believe so. Let's go round up the others and go celebrate."

Loki offered his arm to her and she gratefully accepted, letting him lead her out to the others.