Loki's Last Chance: The Chosing of a King

Party

Loki POV

Walking in to the room behind the red-head, I could not help but smirk. Natasha's idea to surprise Mari by allowing me to go to the party was unexpected, but nice. Apparently I had convinced them that I was not planning anything and they believed Mari was keeping me in check. The other women had secretly bought me a costume while out shopping, and brought it to me after everyone else had gone to the room.

It was a three piece suit, coat-tails and all, with a long black and red cape. Natasha combed my hair back and then gave me a white half mask to put on. They said it is the outfit of some character from a famous musical, but I really had no clue.

As soon as I saw Maria, though, my heart did a little flutter. She was in a lovely night black and blood red gown with a lace-up back. The hoop skirt barely touching the floor and trimmed with black lace, floated and swayed with her every movement. It showed off her curves in the best ways and the neckline was not so low that it became outragous and unbecoming. Her hair was pulled back above the ears and curled into delicate waves and ringlets. Mari wore a black mask that was tied with a black ribbon into a bow. The mask was an interkit patern of swirls, so you could see her skin between the gaps. Underneath, her eyelashes where expertly curled and painted with maskara and eyeliner. Lips bright red with the perfect shade of lipstick.

Mari's face was slack and eyes full of confusion as I strode up to her. Suddenly comprehension came to her eyes as she knew what was happening; her brows furrowed and mouth became a hard line.

"What do you think you're doing?!" She gave me hard wack on the chest with the back of her hand.

"I was invited. The women set me up with the costume. Like it?" I smiled, as she was clearly a bit distracted by it.

"My love for musicals, and Phantom of the Opera specificaly, has nothing to do with this." Mari was trying hard not to smile.

Mari POV

So I was caught off guard by the outfit. You would not believe how attractive he looked as Eric, and that's coming from an asexual.

Loki took my hand, brought it to his lips, and kissed my knuckles.

"Would you care to dance, my fair lady?" He asked, a mischievious grin upon his face.

The song had just changed to a instramental piece with a waltz pattern, which I found very odd for the playlist that had been playing. But in the back of my mind I was happy it was something I actually could dance to. I may know how to do all forms of dance, but that does not mean I can.

I gave a small curtsy, still trying hard not to smile too wide. Loki guided me to the centre of the room and let go of my hand. He bowed and I curtsied again. He elegantly closed the space between us, placing a palm on my hip. I slipped my hand into his other one, placed the other lightly on his shoulder and we began to move about the make-shift dancefloor. Loki gave me a sweet smile, so I gave him a stern look. I did not need the Avengers getting any ideas.

"I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news," Loki began. "But I opened the mindlink with Thor and we where conversing..."

"That doesn't sound like a bad thing." I commented.

"No, but this may be. He was saying that it does not look good that I am not there for the voting."

As we twirled, I took a look at the rest of the room. Every man but one looked unhappy with the idea that Loki was no longer in his cage. The girls and Barton where all watching, smiling, and tittering away like we were their new OTP.

"So we have to go back." I concluded, blushing under my mask at their stares.

"Well, Thor is coming tomorrow to talk about it and possibly take us home. So we shall see." Loki hedged, dipping me lightly. "Speaking of Thor, how do you feel about his lady friend?"

"She's sweet, but there is no real future for them." I glanced at Jane as we turned.

"That is what I tried to tell Thor. He will never be ready to say goodbye."

"I'll talk to him, but he is stubborn. If he really loves her, there is nothing we can say." My heart did a little dip thinking about my own experience with loving a human.

"Too bad. It's just more heartache he doesn't need." Loki replied softly into my ear.

His warm breath on my ear and the underlying message sent a shiver down my spine.

"Coming from the guy who caused a lot of that heartache." I rolled my eyes.

As the music reached a close, we parted, Loki bowed and I curtsied in turn.

I glanced around the room, planning my escape to the snack table. Instead I found Jane motioning for me to come over. 

"Why don't you go apologize to Barton. He has been holding a grudge for the mind control thing, despight his excitement at our dancing." I suggested.

"Sure. Maybe I'll even offer to be a target for his next archery practice." He grinned.

"Ha, ha, ha. Just do it." I rolled my eyes, smiling back.

As I walked over to Jane, I could't help but chuckle at Loki's joke.

"What's up?" Jane was looking at Loki, eyebrows scrunched together.

"I thought he was dead. I saw him die. It's weird watching him walk around."

"I know the feeling."

"So what happened?"

"Faked it with his magic, then took Odin's place when he died pretending to be him. We only learned of this a couple weeks ago." I shrugged, she didn't need to know the details.

"Huh... can I punch him for putting Thor through all that?" 

"You have my blessing as long as you do it after the party." I smiled, remembering her hit Loki the first time.

 We stood there watching him for another moment as he talked to Barton. It looked like he was apologizing for the mind control, but I knew he would not tell them that he, too, was under the power of the tesseract at that time. 

Loki POV 

"I'm gonna take you up on that offer." Barton replied with a laugh, responding to my target practice offer.

"Any time." I nodded.

"So you and Mari?" he implied, nudging me with his elbow.

"I can not imagine what you are implying." I hedged looking over at Mari, remembering how she did not want our relationship to be known in Midgard.

"The way you look at each other says it all. You two may not know it yet, but that is some Disney shit right there. And the way you guys danced was frickin magical." 

I did not entirely understand what he said; I recognized Maria's movie company name, but not the connotation implied. 

"I do not understand what you are trying to get across." I admitted, seeing Mari look over at me, I turned away.

"Forget I said anything." He smiled knowingly.