The night of Tony's party...dance...event finally arrived. You still weren't quite sure how to classify it and it probably wouldn't have a real classification until much later that evening when everyone decided if it was more cotillion or more drunken drinking party. It was a toss-up with Tony.

You were excited for the event, especially after months of learning how to dance in preparation for the evening. It was going to be a crowded event, too. Tony was hosting it in the ballroom of the Avenger's tower. You hadn't even known there was a ballroom in the tower until a couple of weeks ago. One of the entire floors was a ballroom with a bar on one side and tables for food and socializing spread around the edge of the giant room.

Every celebrity, famous person, and socialite in the city (and some outside of the city) wanted an invite to this event. Some only wanted to see the inside of the tower, most wanted an opportunity to befriend, or "befriend" one of the Avengers.

The boys were already in the ballroom, greeting the first guests while you, Nat, Pepper, Maria Hill and a couple of the other girls of SHIELD were up in your suite getting ready. You had agreed to do their hair for the evening after Nat had found out about the hair spells Loki had taught you. It didn't take much magic and you were able to do their hair perfectly and used a bit of magic to make sure none of their hairdos came undone dancing during the evening.

You all had gorgeous updos, though you had left a couple of curls loose on yours to frame your face, and floor length gowns. Your gown was a halter gown, which fit perfectly, and was the exact shade of blue at your magic. You wore the bracelet from Loki and drop earrings as your only jewelry, besides the necklace you always wore, but as usual, the pendant on the necklace was out of sight. It was shy.

Once everyone was ready, and the group had double-checked everyone's dresses, hair, and makeup, you all piled into the elevator to head down to the ballroom. The doors of the elevator opened and you fought to keep your mouth from falling over at how gorgeous the room was. Pepper had done an excellent job having it decorated for the event.

The room was already crowded, though the event had barely begun. The attention from those nearby turned to your group as you all got off the elevator, but none of the boys were nearby that you could see. Pepper spotted Tony quickly, and the rest of the girls split off to go find friends or loved ones. You wandered into the crowd, looking for your wayward boyfriend.

You were kind of surprised that Loki wasn't waiting at the elevator for you. He'd been hesitant to come down without you. You spotted Thor quickly and went to say hi. "Lady Y/N!" he greeted you enthusiastically before he bowed over your hand to kiss your knuckles. It was strange to see him in a suit, but he looked good in it. "You look wonderful tonight,"

"Thanks, Thor. You look great tonight too. Any chance you've seen that brother of yours?" you asked.

"He said he was going to the bar to get a drink," Thor answered.

"I better go find him before he gets in trouble," you replied with a smile.

"That is very true. Good luck," he bid you. You made your way over toward the bar. You didn't get stopped as often as the rest of the Avengers, most people didn't recognize you yet, since you didn't go out on many missions and didn't get nearly as much screen time as the rest of the team.

You did laugh when you saw Peter there wearing a suit and his Spiderman mask. "Hi Spidey," you greeted him when you were close enough. He stuttered over a greeting and over telling you that you looked nice. Poor kid still wasn't over his crush. "You clean up nicely too," you added kindly before you continued on your way to the bar.

Loki was there talking to a woman in a...slutty... looking dress. You could tell from his demeanor that he was pissed, but he was trying to be polite. Whatever was going on wasn't good. You rushed over a little more quickly. You couldn't rush too quickly or you'd draw unwanted attention to yourself and the situation. You slowed enough to look casual when you reached them and went to Loki with a smile on your face. You had an idea what this was and why Loki was so pissed. You'd have to tread lightly not to anger him more. He smiled when he saw you, and the woman who was babbling at him unfortunately got the idea that he was smiling at her.

"I knew you'd warm up," she purred.

"Hello, love, sorry it took so long to get down here. You know how women are about getting ready," you greeted Loki with a smile. You saw the brief look of relief in his expression.

"You look ravishing this evening, darling," he replied and bowed over your hand to kiss your knuckles. The woman got the hint and rushed away before you could turn your attention to her.

"You look quite handsome tonight yourself," you told Loki as he rose again. He was wearing a perfectly tailored black suit with an emerald green tie. "Are you ok?" you asked when his gaze caught the woman again as he was picking his drink up from the counter. The glass exploded in his hand, crushed in his grip. "Loki!" you exclaimed. You took his hand and started pulling the shards of glass from it.

"I cannot believe how insulting some of these women are," he growled. "Insinuating that I should sleep with them, that I should give you up for someone...experienced." You flushed at that, knowing exactly what kind of experience they were flaunting, and you didn't have.

"Loki, it's ok. They're just stupid. We can't kill them because they're stupid. I know you're not interested in them. They'll mostly leave you alone now that I'm here. It's a game to them to be with someone famous. Besides, you're hot, of course they'd be interested."

"That's just it. They are only interested in me, in any of us for our bodies, of the fame of the heroes," he grumbled.

"But I'm not. I love all of you," you reminded him gently. He finally relaxed at that, starting to smile again. You still held his hand in yours, carefully removing the shards of glass. When you had gotten them all, you vanished the broken glass, healed his hand, and tied a blue handkerchief around his hand where the wound had been, making sure it stayed with magic.

He just looked at the handkerchief, but you saw the smirk in his expression. "You have already healed the wound, witchling," he commented dryly.

"Yes, but the handkerchief is part of the game," you explained with a grin. His eyes glittered with excitement at any hint of a game or mischief.

"What game is that?"

"The game is about who gets injured during a party. It's a standing tradition since the first one of Tony's gatherings I'd been invited to. Everyone who I have to heal gets a blue band-aid or equivalent. The team counts up the band-aids at the end of the night. The person with the most injuries owes me a present and has to clean up the mess the livingroom will inevitably become later," you explained. "You have the first blue band-aid of the night," you added with a grin. "You're not allowed to attack the others!" you added quickly before he could get the idea.

He pouted. "You're no fun," he grumbled. You laughed, glad he was feeling better.

Thor made his way over a moment later. "Brother, you have not yet found a drink to your taste?" he asked jovially. He was really asking why we were standing at the bar still.

"No, I have not," Loki replied.

"He also got the first injury of the night," you told Thor with a grin, holding up Loki's hand which still had the bright blue handkerchief around his palm. Thor boomed in laughter.

"I may get out of cleaning up tonight after all!" he said excitedly. Loki rolled his eyes extra dramatically.

"You're such a clumsy oaf, I think I am safe from cleaning," Loki replied.

"Be kind, Brother, or I will not share," Thor made a gesture to the bartender who pulled out a bottle of a golden liquor which looked surprisingly fancy and poured two glasses of the stuff.

"How did you get this here?" Loki asked, impressed as he accepted his glass.

"I brought it back from my last visit home for this event," Thor explained.

"What is it?" you asked curiously. Loki seemed to enjoy whatever it was and had a fond reminiscing expression as he sipped on his.

"It is Asgardian mead. Something from home I never thought I would taste again," his voice was soft, touched that Thor had brought this back to share with him.

"Can I have a taste?" you asked, a little hesitantly. You were only 18... Loki gave you a wary, slightly disapproving look. You rolled your eyes. "Even Cap's not enough of a prude to deny a taste," you reminded him. Cap was watching, even though he should've known you weren't going to try to get alcohol for yourself. Loki handed you his glass.

"A taste. Asgardian mead is delicious, but strong, especially if you are not used to it," he warned, the explanation softening how firm he was about 'a taste'. You saluted Cap with the glass, enjoying watching him glare and start stomping over. You took your sip and handed the glass back to Loki.

"That is delicious," you agreed with Loki's assessment. It was like sweet warm honey and would be very dangerous in more than small amounts. Cap relaxed when he realized that you had just wanted a taste of the mead and went back to the WWII guys he had been hanging out with.

You saw a familiar face in the crowd and leaned up to kiss Loki's cheek before you went over to greet him. Unfortunately, on your way over, some drunken asshole decided to grab your ass. "Anyone here could make you happier than the asshole who tried to take over the Earth," the guy hissed in your ear. You spun, grabbing his hand off of your ass when you did, and using a move from Nat, had his arm over your shoulder at the elbow joint, which you proceeded to kindly break for him.

"Hands off, asshole," you snarled at him. He yelled and whimpered in pain as you threw him over your shoulder, standing with your heeled shoe holding his neck to the floor once he was on the ground.

"Darling, would you like assistance?" Loki asked pleasantly. He knew perfectly well that you had defended your own honor.

"No, thanks, Loki. I think I've handled it," you replied, equally pleasantly. It didn't take long for security to come take the guy and tell him how very, very lucky he was that Loki hadn't gutted him for that move and how he should be happy to be in jail as opposed to whatever curse Loki would have come up with for him. He went quietly rather than face Loki's wrath.

"You ok?" Cap asked. You nodded.

"I can handle one creep. Nat made sure of that," you told him with a smile. The party was getting back to normal now that the creep was taken care of.

Loki offered you an arm to walk you over to Doctor Strange, who was the friend you had seen in the crowd in the first place. "Doctor," you greeted him. It was strange to see him in a suit instead of his usual robes and cape.

"Miss Y/N, Loki," he returned the greeting. For the first time since you met him, you saw his hands, his poor, shaking, horribly damaged hands. He always wore gloves every time you visited the sanctum.

"Doctor..." you said softly, your healer's instincts going haywire at the sight of his hands. "May I?" you asked, and yet didn't wait for his response before you took one of his hands in yours.

"Healers," he shook his head in exasperation, and apology to the guests he'd been talking to, who were now watching your antics with curiosity. You were still an unknown to most of the public. If they knew of you it was as a ward of the Avengers. Very few actually knew of your healing abilities or the rest of your magic.

"Witchling..." Loki warned softly. He knew perfectly well how healers got when they saw an injury.

"I know. I can't fix all of this damage in one go, or in the short time we have right this second, but..." you drew your healing magic and without thinking about the crowd around you, used your power on his hands, the blue glow of your magic surrounding your hands as you worked. "It won't last longer than tonight," you told him apologetically. He still looked shocked and amazed that his hands had stopped shaking.

"You can-?" he asked in disbelief staring in complete shock at his hands. "I've tried everything..."

"Except asking the healer," you reminded him gently. "It'll take a lot of work, and I can't guarantee I can get them back to 100%, not with how long it's been since the injury, and how bad the damage was... but I should be able to help. We'll discuss it next time I come visit?" you asked, finally realizing you were drawing too much attention to yourself.

He nodded. "Thank you for this, even for tonight," he said softly. You nodded and went to mingle with others before you had to admit you might've seen tears in his eyes.

Tony's voice came over the PA soon after. "I made a promise to Thor that I'd play this song for him. He threatened some very unpleasant things if I didn't. If you don't like the song, it's his fault," he announced, sounding put-upon, but you knew better.

You smiled and walked closer to the center of the room where Thor was getting into position for the dance with Nat, moving as if you just wanted to watch. She'd agreed to dance with him, since he'd taught her the moves too. The introduction to For the Dancing and the Dreaming started and you watched Thor and Nat bow/curtsy. You saw the wistful look in Loki's eyes. As soon as they moved, you grabbed Loki's hands and dragged him out onto the dance floor. "Witchling, this isn't like Earth dances-" he protested. As Thor and Nat were taking the opening position for the dance, you did too, turning to the side, offering your right forearm to Loki, almost like you were making a muscle. His eyes lit up in excitement and joy and mirrored your pose.

The lyrics started and so did the dance, starting with slow turns, forearms together, and would speed up into more complex moves as the dance went on. Loki sang the first verse, but he sang it in Asgardian. You knew the translation, but not the original words. His voice was soft, his singing voice warm and pleasant.

His eyes widened lit up again when you sang the reply: "And love me for eternity. My dearest one, my darling dear, your mighty words astound me but I've no need for mighty deeds, when I feel your arms around me." Thor was right, even in English the words had the intended effect of surprising and delighting Loki. You also vaguely noticed as you sang that the pendant on your necklace seemed to be producing heat in response.

You swung and spun and laughed together through the dance, singing the lyrics you had practiced and not missing a step, even through when he lifted you by the waist and spun you around. You had been practicing this for months to surprise him and it seemed you had done well at that.

When the song was over, there was loud applause from the crowd, which grew even louder when Loki and Thor at the same time bowed elegantly over your and Nat's hands to kiss your knuckles.

"And now for something American... or well at least Earthen," Tony announced, "then we can get this party started for real!"

A few bars of a waltz played, announcing what the dance would be before the song started properly. Loki moved to move off of the floor, assuming that you didn't know how as other couples took up the position for the waltz. Thank goodness for Thor and Nat's insistence you learned, Loki looked so sad that you wouldn't be participating.

You took Loki's left hand in your right and placed your other hand on his shoulder and gave him a grin. He placed his other hand on your waist. "You are full of surprises this evening, witchling," he told you with a smile. You didn't have time to reply as the dance started. Loki was an elegant graceful dancer and a practiced lead. You went through few moves for him to verify you did actually know the dance and then you two were spinning effortlessly around the dance floor. You weren't as skilled as he was, but he was a strong enough lead that he could compensate for your inexperience. You could see how much fun and enjoyment he was getting from the dancing and even more importantly from dancing with you. You couldn't help noticing the envious looks from others in the room as you twirled around the room, though your attention was mostly focused on your feet and on Loki. When the song ended, he pulled you into his arms to kiss you. You wrapped your arms around his neck, gladly returning the kiss. "That was quite impressive indeed, witchling," he said when the kiss finally ended.

"That's what all of those combat lessons were with Thor," you explained as you went to take his hand so you could get off the dance floor for at least a dance, especially since party music had started and you weren't comfortable trying to dance to party music.

You noticed that Loki couldn't take his gaze from your chest, which was odd for him, he usually didn't stare. You looked down to see what he was staring at, afraid that your halter dress had come undone or something. Instead you noticed that the pendant of your necklace was sitting at your collarbones where it was plainly visible. You could've sworn the chain was a lot longer earlier that evening...

Loki pulled you back into his arms, holding you tightly to him and leaning down to whisper in your ear. "Hide that. Now. Do not let Thor see it," he whispered urgently.

"What? Why?" you asked him after you had leaned up so your lips were against his ear where he could hear your whispered reply. You hadn't shown anyone the necklace, but it had never seemed like a big deal, it had seemed so very unimportant that no one had ever questioned it or asked to see it.

"I'll explain after the party. Please, darling, please trust me,"