Transparent ❅ Loki

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"MOTHER!" Loki turned to where Frigga sat on the end of his bed. He was holding up the freshly woven tunic and surcoat prepared for the night's festivities. They were both white with gold thread. A drastic change from his usual ensemble of black and green. "Why must I wear this?" He was well past the age of wearing what his mother laid out.

Frigga gave a deep sigh, shaking her head. Boys were not supposed to be so particular about their clothes, at least her eldest son never was. "Why must you be so picky about your wardrobe, Loki?" The Queen asked, hands folded in her lap.

"Because, contrary to Thor," Loki quipped, not passing up the opportunity to point out his older brother's doltish ways, "I care about my image."

Annoyed with her son's impertinence, Frigga snapped her fingers. The tunic and coat vanished from Loki's grasp and appeared on his body in the wake of a golden-green glow. "There," Frigga remarked. Loki glowered at his mother, but she only gave him a smirk that mirrored his own as she left.

❅❅❅

Syn found him pacing back and forth before the doors of the great hall. His brows were in a deep furrow and his hands were clasped behind his back. Those were gestures that signaled his annoyance and anger. She found it odd that he was not wearing his usual colors but didn't feel the need to point it out.

The soft sound of her slippers on the stone floor broke his deep focus. Loki looked up, his eyes trailing up her form, from toe to head. He had been rendered speechless. "Loki?" Syn questioned, fearing that something was on her face, or maybe something had gone wrong with her gown or hair. A deep flush of color rushed to her cheeks.

"You're wearing green," he pointed out, mouth suddenly dry. Syn looked down at her dress and held out the emerald-colored skirt. "Mother insisted," she noted with a heavy sigh that spoke of her own disapproval.

Loki offered her the crook of his arm and found himself smiling at the sight of a gold and silver hair comb that held back silver hair. Together they entered the great hall.

After the seventh course of the feast, Odin rose from his seat and tapped his staff on the floor three times. Silence fell over all the tables. The Allfather looked toward his sons and wife. Frigga gave a quick nod and he returned his gaze to those gathered to celebrate the news he was soon to convey.

"Strong marriages are often the mark of strong alliances and stronger reigns, whether they be among the people or between realms." A murmur of agreement swept over the tables. Odin and Frigga's marriage had been a union between Asgard and Vanahim. Vili and Vör's between Asgard and Alfheim.

Odin's eye fell on Loki and, for a fleeting moment, Syn too. She shifted in her seat, uncomfortable with the implications behind the lingering pause in the announcement. "My son and Vili's daughter are both of age now and both have been gifted with their titles," he stated. It felt as if she had been punched in the gut. Her eyes flitted between Thor and Loki. "It seems fitting that Lies would be balanced by Truth."

Syn felt the blood drain from her face. She looked between her mother and father, but neither made a move to intervene, to say anything at all. Her eyes darted around at the people, many of which, had turned their gaze to either her or the young prince. She could not share their joy or mimic their excitement.

Loki felt a sense of panic in his gut. Thor clapped his brother on the shoulder before the full declaration had been made, taking no notice that he was paler than normal. "Therefore, on this evening, I announce the engagement of Loki Odinson and Syn Vilidóttir." There was applause and cheers and a toast but Syn felt like she was suffocating.

When the toast ended, Syn rose from her seat and quietly excused herself, fleeing from the great hall. The sudden news was overwhelming, and she felt a myriad of conflicting things. It was almost too much to bear.

Loki stood from the table and followed her into the gardens. He reached out and caught her wrist. "You're upset?" He asked, softly, worried that she was displeased that the engagement was to him and not Thor.

She could read his thoughts. "It's not you, Loki, I promise." For the first time that evening, she wore a smile, though fleeting. "It's how my parents and yours went about it. Being kept in the dark, being lied to." Syn sat on the edge of a fountain, head hanging forward in anguish. "I am the Goddess of Truth yet I could not see it." It made her feel undeserving of her title. And yet, she did not seem to realize no one had lied, they simply withheld the truth.

He sat next to her, green eyes tracing over the way her features looked in the starlight. "And some say I am a terrible liar for the God of Lies." Syn had been the first to tell him that. Loki hid his smile when she laughed.

Time passed and silence remained. Syn's head now rested on his shoulder. She was now able to differentiate what she had felt upon the initial announcement, though what seemed even odder was that the prospect of marrying Loki left her content. "We should go back," Loki breathed.

"No" —she shook her head— "let's stay here." It was a beautiful night. A cloudless sky with millions of stars hung overhead, painted in the colors of a nearby galaxy.

"Syn," Loki reprimanded, knowing their prolonged absence would spark talk.

She intertwined her hand with his. "I'm glad it's you," Syn admitted. If she had to marry out of duty, then marrying her best friend would not be so bad. Loki thought the same.

He pulled her off the fountain's edge. Some time ago, they could stand eye-to-eye, now he was a head taller. Loki's hand slipped free from hers; he tipped her chin up, only to find himself lost in the cold seas of her pale eyes.

"Lo-" his name disappeared when something cold and soft brushed over her lips. A chill spread over her body at the contact and then a warm feeling blossomed in her chest, painting her cheeks a pale pink. When he leaned down, she rose up, and their lips met in full.

❅❅❅

Loki found Thor sitting before long, clear pane of glass, looking out into the darkness. After the turmoil and strife that existed between them since the would-be coronation, Loki had accepted that Thor was, and would always be, his brother.

"Loki," Thor greeted, seeing Loki's fuzzy reflection in the glass. There was a certain glint within his brother's eyes that he had not seen in a century. He was up to something.

"As you are now king," Loki began, "is it not part of your duties to officiate marriages?" He and Syn had never had a chance to properly marry and it was his fault. That would soon be remedied.

Thor stood and rubbed at the broken skin beneath his new eye patch. It was a sudden question, but he smiled at the implication behind his brother's question. "It is," he answered. Loki nodded.

"It's about time," Thor called back with a chuckle as Loki retreated down the corridor to find Syn.