/Careful with her, Oaf. She was raped recently and since you have abducted us, I have not been able to take her to a soul healer yet/ Loki warned as you were walking. You had the feeling that he was trying to spare you by speaking telepathically, but you overheard what he was saying. Something with the soulbond had caused you to be able to hear him.  You felt yourself blushing that he was even making the warning to his brother. Surely, Thor wasn't going to hurt you.  You knew Thor and lived with him whenever he visited Midgard.

In one fluid movement, Thor turned to face Loki and a glare. He had set you on your feet, holding you protectively against his side. You squeaked in surprise as he did. It had just happened so fast.  Thor wasn't usually fast.

"It wasn't me!" Loki told them both, sounding indignant that they'd even thought he'd be capable of such a thing. Sif was looking at him now too, her sword drawn. She was the goddess of war after all. "Gods, how little do you think of me?" He glared at Thor.

Thor gave him an apologetic look.  "Apologies, Brother. You know as well as I that the question had to be asked," Thor finally said, apparently trusting Loki's outrage.

Loki nodded, reluctantly accepting the apology. "Now may I have my beloved back?" Loki grumbled at them, trying to pull himself out of Sif's grip, to no avail.  She'd grabbed him and drawn her sword to keep him away from you.

"No, you may not," Thor replied pleasantly. For such a large, muscled, man, he moved extremely fast. He had let you go and in the next instant had not only rushed over to Loki, but had folded his brother over his shoulder.

"Thor!" Loki yelled indignantly. He hit Thor's back much harder than you had in that position. You and Sif couldn't do anything but laugh at Loki's misfortune.

Thor chuckled. "Come, little brother. Our friends await!" Thor announced and set off again. Sif linked her arm with yours and you followed behind the brothers. Loki pounded on Thor's back with no effect. He finally sighed and allowed the indignity. You and Sif were still laughing at their antics.

Thor turned and threw open the doors to one of the smaller feast halls. "This is where the younger members of the court tend to gather," Sif explained to you as Thor proceeded into the room, standing tall and proud as usual. There were cheers from inside.

"Friends! My brother has returned!" Thor announced, setting Loki back on his feet and holding Loki by the shoulders so he couldn't run off. It was such a practiced movement that it was clearly a common one. There were more cheers at that. Thor waved to you and Sif half dragged you into the room with her. Everyone in the room stood when you entered and you felt yourself turn red in embarrassment at all the attention.

"Lady Sif," came the respectful, much tamer greeting to Sif. She dipped her head in acknowledgment of their greeting.

"Friends, Prince Loki's soulbond, Lady Y/N, has come to visit as well," Sif dragged you forward and pushed you next to Loki where you'd be presented to all of their friends. "She is not used to your rowdy ways, so be nice to her." There was a threat in her words and you could tell that none of them would argue with her.

You were given places of honor in the middle of the table, surrounded by their friends. They were a rowdy bunch, but they were fun. Thor set a giant mug of beer down in front of both yourself and Loki. Loki picked yours up and handed it back to Thor. "She is 18, Oaf," he explained. Thor considered that for a moment, and then set two giant mugs of beer in front of you.

"She is still growing!" he announced and went to go sit with his wife.

You just laughed as Loki vanished the beer. "He means well..." Loki said with a sigh of exasperation. You giggled.

"He does," you agreed. Loki summoned a non-alcoholic fruit drink for you. You mostly sat and listened to the conversations around you, trying to get to know all of these people. You also ate way too much food as the plates were passed around. Loki insisted you had to try each of the delicacies. "It's looking at me," you complained about one fish dish.

"Of course, darling, that is how you know it is fresh," he replied and put the dish on your plate anyway. You sighed and gave it a try, despite the fact that it was looking at you. It was one of the most delicious things you had ever eaten, just like everything else they had there.

"Move the tables!" one of the rowdy men called once everyone had eaten. Loki swept you up from your chair quickly before you could get trampled by all of the men shoving the tables aside.

"What are they doing?" you asked Loki as you held on tightly to his arm.

"They are going to dance. They think it is entertaining," Loki rolled his eyes. You looked up at him confused.

"You like dancing," you reminded him, wondering what was different.

"Not this kind," he grumbled. You saw what he meant quickly. These were rowdy dances, just like the men, more of a square or contra dance than anything elegant that Loki would enjoy.

"Come, Sister!" Thor called. He took your arm and dragged you out onto the floor.

"I don't know how!" you protested. He shook off your protests and soon you were spinning and dancing our way across the floor with everyone else. They weren't offended if someone was clumsy or didn't know the steps. They were all patient and kind as you were passed from partner to partner through the dance.

You finally ended back in Loki's arms, laughing. "Come along, darling, it is time to escape this madness," he told you and you slipped out of the room while Thor and the others were still laughing and dancing.

He led you through the quiet halls up to the library where you could relax in the quiet, surrounded by the books. It was nice to actually be able to peruse the books today. Last time you had been there, you hadn't been able to read them. It was nice that you had gotten the ability to understand Loki's native language as part of the soulbond. You ended up curled on one of the couches by a fire enjoying a quiet afternoon with the books after you had found a copy of Loki's favorite tales about Hiccup the Viking. He grinned when he saw what you had chosen. "You remembered," he commented, obviously pleased.

"Of course I did," you replied with a smile.

That evening, you had to go to a formal dinner with Loki's family. It was a much more quiet affair than brunch had been. Odin didn't seem pleased with either Loki or you, but Frigga seemed overjoyed at how happy Loki seemed.

You and Loki went for a walk just outside the city so you could see the stars and he could tell you  all the constellations that were so very different from the ones back home.

It was late when you finally walked back into the palace. Loki walked you to the suite that was your the last time we had visited, but it was locked. It wasn't terribly long afterwards with Frigga came to find you. "Mother, what is going on?" Loki asked her. "Was my lady assigned a different suite this visit for some reason?"

Frigga inclined her head. "Your father was quite insistent..." she replied. Loki's eyes grew wide and you heard him growl.

"What's wrong?" you asked him, placing your hand on his arm to calm him.

His expression lightened when he looked at you and you saw the Frigga was even more pleased. "Father has decided that since we are soulbound you are to stay in your suite," he explained. "I will fight him on it," he told you, taking a step to go track down his dad. You tightened your grip on his arm.

"It'll be fine," you told him firmly. "It's not worth getting into an argument over,"

He sighed, but finally relented. "Very well, darling," he kissed the top of your head. "Thank you for letting us know, Mother," he told Frigga. He kissed her cheek goodnight and the two of you returned to Loki's suite. "I am perfectly happy sleeping on the couch," Loki announced the second you were safely in his rooms.

"I know you are," you told him. "But there's no need. We're in each other's rooms half the time anyway because of nightmares," you reminded him.

"I know. I am just upset with Father for forcing this on you. I know for a fact that Thor passed along the information I shared with him earlier. Father wants to prove that this is a sham of a soulbond, and he thinks this is a way to do it," he told you as he paced. You grabbed his arm as he walked past you.

"Loki, it's fine. I promise. I trust you. We're just going to sleep, just like any other night. Except tonight you'll pretend that one of the books on your bookshelf is extremely interesting while I find something to wear that resembles pajamas," you told him with a smile. He chuckled and leaned down to kiss you.

"What on Midgard did I ever do to deserve you?" he asked with a laugh. He did help you look through the closet and dresser. Yo found that the servants had moved things around and had left clothes for you .

"Is this really common bedwear?" you asked him as you held up the flimsy nightgown to inspect it. He chuckled, but you saw his blush. He at least had the grace to go pretend his bookshelf was extremely interesting while you slipped into the dress. It had spaghetti straps and went down to your knees. It was a luxuriously silky material and you weren't sure it actually hid anything...

You went to find him once you were dressed and touched his arm. He turned to face you and blushed nearly purple. "Ravishing as ever, darling," he told you. You felt yourself blushing this time. He kissed you and led you back to the bedroom. He shouldn't have worried about having to share the bed tonight. His bed was so big that two other people could be in it and you still might not have all touched. "I love you, darling," he told you as the lights dimmed in the room.

"I love you too," you replied sleepily. It had been a big day and his bed was so comfortable, that you were asleep almost instantly.