Loki noted that Sig's eyes and skin stopped shining as she walked off the dance floor. She hadn't even realized she had been shining in the first place. Loki thought her beautiful, thought her shining even moreso.

Frigga was waiting for the pair, sitting at the head table, where she'd been watching them dance. "Ready to talk, darlings?" she asked them when they approached.

Loki inclined his head. "Would you wish to go somewhere more private to talk, Mother?" he asked politely, especially polite when the court was nearby. He couldn't tell his mother that they needed to talk elsewhere, that would be rude, but he could make the suggestion.

She nodded and stood gracefully. "We can discuss matters in my sitting room," she told them warmly and led the way with the air of no-nonsense. It was just like Frigga. She chatted with them about light things as the three of them walked, namely how lovely Sig and Loki had been dancing together.

When they arrived, one of Frigga's handmaids served them all tea before they were left alone. "What was it you wished to discuss, darlings?" Frigga asked once they were alone and away from prying ears.

Loki looked over to Sigyn to explain. This was her story, after all, and she was more knowledgeable about the subject than he was.

Sig sighed and steeled herself, taking a fortifying sip of tea before she carefully explained the doorways to underhill to Frigga. She told her how she'd closed the one in the royal forest, the one she'd been taken through as a child. She paused again before she told Frigga that there were more scattered around Asgard and how they could only be opened or closed with fae magic. And not just fae magic, but blood magic. She spoke for what felt like too long explaining everything before she could finally stop. She stared at the cup of tea cradled in her hands while Frigga digested her words.

Frigga was a queen and wasn't held incapacitated by surprise. She jumped right into figuring out how to correct the situation. "What assistance do you require of me?" she asked, focusing her words to Loki when she realized that Sig had gotten shy from talking for so long.

"It would be best if we had powerful magicians keep an eye on the doorways. They may not be able to see them but they can sense the shift in magical energy. There could possibly be other attempts to kidnap more Asgardian children," Loki suggested. That was the first step, protect the children.

Frigga looked understandably concerned at that. "Is there no other way to close them? I would rather not have out people in danger..." she didn't approve of blood magic. She never had and never would, but if it was the only way to keep the children safe, she would make an exception.

Sigyn and Loki both shook their heads. "Only fae magic can close them. Their magic differs greatly from ours and is extremely powerful," Loki explained so Sig didn't have to.

Frigga looked between them and asked the question they were both dreading before Loki could stop her. This wasn't what he wanted. Not at all. This wasn't what any of them wanted. "I do not ask lightly and I do not ask for myself, but for the sake of the children. Would you be willing to close these portals to keep the children safe?" Frigga asked Sigyn gently. Frigga knew what it would cost to ask, what her request entailed.

"Mother-" Loki protested quickly before Sig could automatically agree to make Mama Frigga happy. "I have seen what this spell does. It takes a lot of energy and power to close the gates. It would severely drain her at best," he said nervously. He didn't want to put Sig through that

That made Frigga fret. She didn't like the idea of the doorways remaining open. She didn't like that her people could be in danger, especially if there was a solution. But she didn't want to put Sig in danger either.

"Is there a map of Asgard handy?" Sig asked them softly. "I can pinpoint the locations of the doors and we can at least see what we're working with..." she suggested. It wouldn't hurt to at least have an idea of how bad the situation was.

Loki summoned a map and spread it out on the table. Sig nodded her thanks and pulled a pouch of fairy dust from her dimensional pocket and sprinkled it over the map with a touch of power. Pinpoints of light shone on the map with the locations of all of the doors. There were far fewer here than there were on Midgard. It was difficult to make doorways into Asgard without Heimdall noticing and took quite a lot of power to do so. All there of them evaluated the portals and how close they were to cities and towns. In the end there were five right outside of crowded populated areas. Five that needed to be closed quickly. There were others of course, many others. But they were far enough away from the populated areas to not be of immediate concern, since Heimdall could watch over them if he knew where they were.

"Asgard is better protected than most of the other realms," Sigyn explained when she noted Loki's surprise. He still looked concerned, especially after she added: "I can do it..." when Frigga looked at her expectantly to see if it were possible to close the doorways. Loki knew how taxing the doorways would be on her.

"I'm still not sure this is such a good idea..." Loki protested carefully. He didn't want to upset his mother, but he didn't want anything to happen to Sig either. They both looked concerned, though Frigga was torn between concern for Sigyn and for the children who were in danger while the doorways remained open. The fae were known for their love of stealing children. "This will be severely taxing on you, darling. I saw how much energy it took to close that one door. Five will weaken you severely. I do not wish for you to be put into danger just because you had to close these doors," Loki told Sig, worry dripping from his silver tongue.

She nodded her agreement. "It will be taxing. And I won't be able to defend myself while I'm closing them or for probably a couple of days after. So this task would require a guard as escort and travel arrangements," she didn't know how to teleport, and she wouldn't waste the power for it even if she did.

"I will be going with you. I will not let you do this alone," Loki told her firmly, his tone leaving no room for arguments.

She nodded again. "I expected nothing less," she replied warmly. Her best friend, her soulbond was concerned for her. That was also usual. She had already assumed he was going on this quest with her.

"Take your brother, Sif, and the warriors three with you as well," Frigga 'suggested'. Her suggestion was in that mom tone of a direct order. She wanted the doorways closed but didn't want either Sig nor Loki in undo danger either.

Loki nodded, though he wanted to deal with the morons about as much as Sig did. He'd do whatever he needed to in order to keep her safe.

/Does that mean we need to camp with the morons?/ Sig whined at him. She didn't think Loki would be able to teleport the group of them all over the realm. So they'd be riding. Which meant camping.

/Probably/ he didn't sound pleased by that prospect either.

/Joy.../ she replied with as much sarcasm in her tone as she could muster.

Frigga promised to have the warriors three and Sif told that they were heading out first thing in the morning. She also promised to have all their provisions packed and ready for them for when they headed out. A suitable mount for Sigyn would also be chosen. Sigyn and Loki both nodded their acceptance of the plans. "Thank you, Mother," Loki said politely

Frigga nodded and turned to Sig and Sig knew that she was about to thank her for taking on this quest. /You should stop her before she can finish that sentence/ she told Loki quickly. This was too big of a favor for her to thank a fae for, even if Sig would never do anything with it. It still grated against centuries of instincts.

Loki put his hand up to stop Frigga from speaking. "Apologies, Mother. Sigyn warned me that it's actually bad to thank a fae," he explained and went into the explanation behind it. Frigga raised an eyebrow, but nodded in acceptance.

/Not that I would... but it's a really bad habit to get into when fae are around.../ Sig told Loki shyly and hoped Frigga wouldn't think less of her, or think that she'd actually hurt her.

/I understand. It's always good to be wary/

Frigga suggested that Sig and Loki get some rest before their quest. They both understood that she was telling them to go away so she could have the preparations made for them.

Loki chuckled and kissed Frigga's cheek before offering Sig his arm to escort her from the room. "I'm sorry, Sigyn. If there was a way I could help you close these gates, I would," he told her softly, pain in his voice.

"It's alright. I knew it was going to come to me closing them," she reminded him as they walked back to her own rooms. "There's not that many to close immediately, so it's really not a big deal..." she tried to convince herself of that.

"Blood magic always takes a toll," Loki replied, unconvinced by her words. "Five doorways will drain you immensely,"

"I'm not saying it won't," she agreed. "But it would be worse if there were more doorways. Besides, there's no denying your mother," she reminded him, teasing a little "So it was really best to just agree to it and not spend all night arguing. This way we can get some sleep before we head out,"

"True. My mother is not someone we can argue with. Though the fact we are stuck with the morons will not be very fun,"

"That will not, maybe I'll just get them drunk off fae wine again... at least while they're not actively guarding us,"

They made it back to the hallway where both of their suites were. They were right across the hall from each other. She wondered briefly if he was going to invite her to spend the rest of the evening, at least until bed, in his company. He seemed to enjoy or at least tolerate her company.

He gave her a warm smile. "Would you like to join me in my chambers for a cup of tea before bed, darling?" he asked just as warmly. He didn't seem to want to be alone right them either. A cup of tea could turn to many and was an excuse to spend time together. Without the expectation of sex, which they weren't quite ready for yet.

Sig nodded and gave him a warm smile in return. She curled up on one end of his sitting room couch in comfortable pajamas that she'd magicked on. Loki sat on the other end and the pair chatted for hours, sipping on tea, catching up on their lives. It felt so normal and just like old times. They talked until they both get tired of talking and summoned books to enjoy the quiet solitude together.

She didn't notice when the book got heavy in her hands. When her eyes wouldn't stay open. When her head rested against the back of the couch.

She knew she was comfortable with Loki.

She hadn't realized she trusted him enough to fall asleep in his presence.

It brought a fond warm smile to her face that she was truly safe here with her best friend.

With her soulbond.