word count -> 1.4k

plot summary -> there's a special occasion to celebrate on asgard

a/n -> contrary to popular belief i can still remember how to write and yes i am still posting first drafts because that's how we roll. anon ! hi, please forgive me for taking so long to get round to writing this, i hope it's worth the wait<3

ask -> heyho! could you possibly write a loki oneshot where loki and the reader (among other people) are attending a ball on asgard in its golden age (aka frigga and odin are still alive, asgard's intact, etc), and there's a lot of ball related and royal and fluffy stuff? i'll leave the background story and context up to you. thank you so much in advance!

'What are you thinking about?'

You had been lost in your thoughts, moving through the steps of the dance so familiar to you it now feels as natural as breathing, your gaze caught up somewhere between Loki's shoulder and the far walls of the ballroom you're dancing in. Blinking, you look up at the man whose chest you're pressed up against. His face has become so familiar to you that you almost forget to be taken aback by how handsome he is, but then he raises an eyebrow and offers you a tiny, private smile and something crumbles and falls away inside of you and you remember.

The steps of the dance require that you step away from him in order for him to be able to spin you beneath his arm, so it's a few seconds before you are back in his arms and able to reply.

'I can't remember.'

'I don't believe you,' he murmurs, and you smile, looking away. The ballroom of Asgard's palace is dripping with even more splendour than usual this evening; it almost aches to look at it. Even the Asgardian people look expensive, and you still can't help but feel like an imposter at the centre of all this grandeur, despite the fact that you know you look as though you fit right in.

You're in the process of drawing your face back into a contented, relaxed expression which you know Loki will see right through when Sif and Fandral pass by you on the dancefloor. You make eye contact for only a second; Fandral winks and Sif pulls a face and then they're gone, but suddenly the smile on your face comes naturally again.

Loki is watching you, you can feel his gaze on you like something physical and so look back at him. His expression is unguarded, relaxed. Content. After such a long time of seeing an absolute lack of anything from his expression and behind his eyes, it's a wonderful sight that is becoming less and less rare. You still remind yourself to enjoy it, though.

His fingers gently press your side where his hand rests on your waist, and you realise he's expecting a response. 'Honestly, I can't,' you tell him truthfully.

'Your mind is moving too fast even for me this evening.'

'Are you telling me you can't keep up?' you tease, and amusement flashes across his features, a brightness behind his eyes and an upward tilt at the corner of his lips.

'With you? Never.'

You're right up against each other, but somehow it isn't nearly close enough as he smiles down at you and runs a thumb over your fingers which are enclosed in his leading hand. As you turn with him on the ballroom floor you catch a glimpse of Odin and Frigga sat together on their thrones at the head of the room. Odin's gaze extends somewhere across the room; you don't need to look to know he's watching Thor, but Frigga's eyes rest much closer to you, on her youngest son. As you look to her, her eyes flick to your face instead, her expression kind and serene.

'Your mother is watching us,' you mutter, smiling before looking away as you turn yet again.

'She always is,' Loki replies, and you can hear the matching smile in his voice without having to look at him. The song draws to an end and you're forced to step back from him, dipping into a curtsey as everyone breaks into polite applause.

'Another?' you suggest, but Loki shakes his head and draws you away from the dancing.

'I'm tired. Maybe later,' he tells you, plucking two glasses from a passing waiter with flutes on a tray and handing one to you, turning to watch as the next song begins and the dancing starts again. You search the room for Valkyrie and eventually spot her hovering next to her bride, clad in a light blue suit and looking nothing short of radiant despite the scowl on her face.

'Hold on,' you say to Loki, and start making your way slowly across the ballroom towards her.

'Don't leave me,' Loki hisses, catching hold of your arm as you start moving away. Valkyrie sees you making your way towards her and immediately moves to meet you half way, grasping your other arm as she reaches you.

'This is tedious,' she tells you desperately before you've even had chance to speak.

'You're not having fun?' you ask, realising as the words leave your mouth that it had been a stupid question. The look on Valkyrie's face confirms this.

'Loki, I need your help,' she says, and Loki freezes, halfway through a gulp of his drink, still absentmindedly holding on to your arm. He swallows, lowering his glass slowly, almost suspiciously. 'It's my wedding day,' Valkyrie adds, almost threateningly.

'What do you need?' Loki asks, passing you his half empty glass. Valkyrie throws her hands up in despair. 'I don't know. Some excitement. Chaos. Aren't you supposed to be good at that?'

At the mention of chaos something subtle ignites behind Loki's eyes, and he shifts almost imperceptibly by your side. 'I am,' he replies, and then vanishes, his hand sliding from your arm.

'Do you have any idea what destruction you might have just caused?' you ask Valkyrie, who at least looks a lot happier now.

'Yes,' she grins, grabbing the glasses from your hands and pulling you on to the dancefloor where the music is now a lot livelier. You dance, and drink, and then dance some more, all the while wondering where Loki had disappeared to and what he might be up to, hoping that it's nothing too dramatic.

At some point Odin and Frigga leave, and the music becomes livelier still and the lights seem to dim as it grows dark outside. The room is a lot louder all of a sudden, and you realise that you might be drunk as you twirl ever faster around the room with your friends. When yet another song ends and you stand catching your breath you catch sight of Loki stood across the room, leaning against the tall stone wall and looking ridiculously, effortlessly attractive, his gaze fixed on you.

You start making your way towards him, but you barely get three steps before Thor materialises in front of you and pulls you in the opposite direction in order for you to dance with him. Then there's Fandral, and Valkyrie ('this is more like it') again, and friends and strangers until it all becomes one big loud, happy blur.

The next thing you know you're back in Loki's arms at the side of the ballroom which opens out to the gardens, your back against his chest and his hands cupping a glass of something in front of you.

'What's this? Shots?' you ask hopefully, trying to remember how you came to be in this position. You can barely hear your own voice over the sound of the music and the voices of everyone packed on the dancefloor. You doubt Asgard's palace has ever seen such a party. Loki's chest shakes with laughter behind you. 'No, water,' he says in your ear.

'Boring,' you mouth, but drink some anyway before wriggling in his embrace until you've turned to face him. He's got that mischievous glint in his eye and is looking at you in a way which makes you slightly weak in the knees. 'What did you do?' you ask him, and he just leans down to kiss you which you know means something you wouldn't approve of so I'm going to distract you and find that you're absolutely okay with it.

'No further questions,' you mumble as he pulls back slightly, resting his forehead against yours in a rare, rare show of public affection and smiling faintly.

'You look... devastatingly beautiful tonight. More so than usual,' he tells you in a voice low, and despite the fact you've heard these words and many more like them cross his lips before, they still make you blush and look towards the floor, a smile creeping across your lips. Usually you've got an answer for everything, but tonight when you feel so beautifully delirious and the warm air is soaked with something that feels a little bit like magic you feel content to give in to a quiet, happy, 'thank you.'

As you turn again and Loki pulls you back against him, catching your breath in the high-ceilinged ballroom and looking around at the scenes which you know are going to be immortalised as treasured memories even by morning, you're still not quite convinced you haven't died and reached some form of heaven.