Part One - A New Beginning (Loki x Reader)

Chapter Thirty-Two - Promised Dance

     "Oh yeah. I forgot that part." I laugh.

     "Besides, it made you move faster did it not? My work is done."

     I look in front of us and see that we are really close to the castle entrance.

     "I didn't even see that until you just said that."

     Loki smiles. "That was the point. Though perhaps next time we run we should avoid doing so when you are in a dress. That was hardly fair and you could get in trouble for getting it dirty."

     I nod. "Deal. Now let's eat before I stop moving right here," I say and start walking again.

     Loki frowns. "Are your legs hurting?"

     "No, but they're really hot and if I sit down I won't move for a while. It would be better if I did that when I'm sitting at the table eating dinner."

     "Fair point."

     We walk into the hall and I gasp. There's blue stuff that looks like really long curtains hung up from the ceiling. It all starts in the middle and goes out and comes down in front of the big pillars around the room. The tables have food but they also have leaves, flowers, candles, and tiny pumpkins decorating the table. The tables have red covers on them and plates are set on the tables. I hear music playing but I can't see where it's coming from because I'm too short to see.

     I follow Loki towards the front of one of the tables near the middle and I see Lady Sif and Lady Dagny already there with an empty spot between them. I frown because there's no other open spot for Loki.

     "What about you, Loki?"

     "I have to sit at the main table with my family until Thor leaves the table to talk to his friends or something. I will come down once he does."

     I smile at him. "Did you ask them to save me a seat?"

     Loki nods. "Of course, Kyrie. I will be back after." I pout at him and he groans. "Do not make your sad face, Kyrie. You know I have to sit up there sometimes."

     I pretend to think. "Fine, but you need to dance with me after to make up for it."

     "If you want." Loki sighs. "You did that on purpose."

     I smile at him again. "Yep. But you already said yes so there."

     I sit down and Loki shakes his head at me before walking up to his seat. Lady Sif and Lady Dagny giggle and I look back and forth between them.

     "What's so funny?"

     "Loki does not really dance almost at all. We are just surprised he agreed to dance with you," says Lady Dagny.

     "You must really be his best friend, little Valkyrie. I doubt he would say yes to anyone else other than his mother," says Lady Sif.

     I smile and begin to fill my plate with food feeling pretty special about myself. I look around and finally spot the people playing music in the middle of the room up against a wall.

     "Don't they get to eat too?" I ask and I start eating.

     "They ate before us actually," says Lady Dagny.

     "Oh. Well, that's good. Do they decorate like this only for birthdays?" I ask.

     Lady Sif shakes her head. "They will do something similar for Loki's birthday but with different colors. And the hall gets decorated for all the holidays. Usually, the hall gets decorated three days before Thor's birthday for the start of Vetrnaetr and gets taken down the morning after the last day of Vetrnaetr. Since this birthday is Thor officially becoming a man in the eyes of tradition, they did things a bit differently this time."

     "So it will be decorated all through Jól too?" I ask.

     "Well, it is decorated some starting a week after Loki's birthday. But it gets a bit more decoration on Alfarblót and even more festive decoration at the start of Jól. When Jól ends, the minimal winter decoration that went up after Loki's birthday stays up until Dísablót when more decorations are put up again. Queen Frigga believes that the decoration helps keep spirits up during the coldest months," says Lady Dagny.

     I nod. "That makes sense. It helps give people comfort. My mom did the same thing at our house when we decorated for Alfarblót. But everything is much prettier and big in here. Will Prince Thor get birthday gifts from everyone? I didn't make him anything."

     "After he is done eating, Prince Thor will go sit at that big chair in the corner. Those who have birthday gifts for him will line up to present the gifts while the rest of us finish eating. People will also be able to start dancing once he sits on the chair. Oh, look! There he goes to sit," says Lady Dagny.

     Lady Sif rolls her eyes. "I swear he just eats faster as he grows. I am surprised he has not choked more often."

     We laugh and I finish the last few bites of my food. Lady Dagny and Lady Sif's eyes get big as they look at my empty plate.

     I laugh. "I was really hungry and you two talked more than I did this time to explain things."

     Loki sits across from me in a seat that someone just left open. His eyes see my plate and they also get big.

     "What?! I was really hungry, I'm not that slow."

     Lady Sif and Lady Dagny laugh and Loki looks like he's trying not to laugh. He clears his throat.

     "I came to join you. Are you still hungry?"

     I shake my head. "Not anymore. The food is going to be out for a while before dessert gets served so we can come back for more."

     Loki raises an eyebrow at me. "Where are we going?"

     I smile widely at him. "You promised to dance with me."

Author's Note

There were quite a few holidays mentioned in this chapter, so for those of you that don't know what they all are, here you go.

- Winter Nights or Vetrnaetr (October 31st): The end of the harvest season, which meant that it was time to use the meat of the farm animals and start hunting. It's also a night to reflect and honour ancestors, as well as the goddess Hela. The veil between the worlds is thinner during this night, so it's also a good time to do some divination for the year ahead

- Alfarblót: the first day of Winter. It celebrates the last harvest of the year and it's also associated with the goddess Freya. This festivity was celebrated in the privacy of each home, as opposed to the others and it was led by the women of the house

- Jól or Yule (December 20th-January 1st): the most important of all Norse holidays, it has a duration of 12 nights, starting on December the 20th. The darkest time of the year symbolizes the beginning and end of all things and it is when the gods and goddesses are the closest to Midgard. The dead return to Earth to share feasts with the living, but other magical creatures run freely at this time too, so be aware

- Dísablót (February 2nd): a celebration of new beginnings and preparation of the land for planting. This festival honoured all the female figures: the disir (the female spirits of protection and fertility), goddesses, ancestors and other female figures of the Norse lore