Psych the Avengers Out

Brain Freeze

After about ten or so attempts at the Song of Sigyn, Jay was growing tired. She'd progressed but the steps were so intricate and precise that she kept stumbling and the more exhausted she got the harder it became to get the steps right so she decided to call it quits and head back. Her feet had started to blister so she left her shoes off and pocketed the iPod and headed back towards the citadel. The sun was setting anyways and she knew she really couldn't put this off any longer.

But when she got to the courtyard, she couldn't help but stop. She really didn't want to go back in there and face angry Avengers and delusional gods and uptight royals. So she left her shoes on the edge of a fountain and plugged the iPod into a pair of portable speakers she didn't use earlier and decided to allow herself just one more dance. She tied her hair back high off her head into a mess of curls and loops and pulled off her light jacket so she's just in her big t-shirt and baggy pants. She rolls up one of the legs of the pants and positions herself. When the music begins, she whirls and loses herself one last time in the movement of her own body.

About halfway through the song, someone yells, "Move it!" and her head whips around to look over her shoulder. The glimpse is brief but she sees Asgardian guards surrounding a man with dark raven hair. They lock eyes and she breathes in sharply as a sudden understanding hits her. The trickster god smirks at her and she doesn't dare blink until he's past the doorway.

She doesn't know how long she stands there, rigid as a gargoyle. "Jay?" someone says and she sees that Thor has filled out the doorway and is looking at her with a quizzical expression on his face as if he's thinking about questioning her sanity. She shakes herself, both mentally and physically. "It's time," Thor says and she wants to tease him about how ominous he sounds but then her stomach drops as she realizes he has every right to be. She gives a shaky nod and grabs her shoes by the laces and the iPod and walks towards him. She supposes he's her escort. She wishes it was to a ball instead of to a possible....well, let's not be that extreme, she tells herself. But as she follows Thor in, the grave look in his eyes tells her he's thinking the same thing.

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With Thor off retrieving Jay, there is nothing else to do but wait. The throne room is eerily quiet, Odin sitting on his throne with Frigga standing in the shadows by his side. The Avengers are spread out around the dais, Tony lounging against a pillar, Steve with his arms crossed next to him. Banner is examining the artwork on the walls for a lack of anything better to do and Natasha and Clint are conversing quietly off to the side. The silence is making them all edgy and Rogers can see that in a matter of minutes, Tony is going to start something and it's only going to make it worse.

It's then that the doors at the end of the hall open. Everyone is suddenly more alert, postures straightening. The Asgardian guards are all they can see at first but it's unmistakable that they are the escorts. Rogers sees Clint's eyes tighten and Natasha's hand is hovering above her pistol. Banner looks slightly green, but not in the insane rage monster way. At least not yet. Rogers doesn't want to take bets on when that could change. Stark is the only one who doesn't show any outward sign of emotion. On the dais, Odin is leaning forward in an angry sort of expectation and Frigga is holding her arms tightly around herself, reminding him of Jay.

It does not bode well that the Trickster God can do this all to them with just his presence.

It is clear by his posture that Loki is in his element, reveling in the discomfort he is causing. His walk is even flippant and arrogant and his smirk never once drops from his face. His hands are chained in front of him as are his ankles. The long chains that connect these to his waist rattle with each step and Rogers can't help but wonder if Loki is making them sound louder on purpose. His swagger is setting Steve on edge. This doesn't look like a repentant man.