Unbroken

Chapter 47

The next day, Thor started training Loki in the ways of combat. He was a little awkward going in, but it ended up being a lot easier than he was expecting. He watched the way the other soldiers trained and was expecting to be put in an arena to fight an opponent, but Thor explained that he had to take a few weeks to learn form before he could actually fight an opponent.
Over the following week or so, Loki became more comfortable with the idea of attending the celebration, he had pushed himself to talk to people around the palace a little bit, and he was getting more used to normal interaction with others. It was becoming much easier now that he got it through his head that he wasn't in danger of being beaten. now the only reason it was difficult was because he had no idea how to carry out a normal conversation, and it made the situation difficult at times. 
But he had been able to learn to start conversation, and he had also taken Trinity's advice and stopped overthinking things. He could recognize when people were joking, and he was starting to be able to smile a bit.
"Loki, come on and join us" Loki was walking through the lounge to get to his room, and he saw Thor and the warriors all sitting around talking. It was Fandral who had called him over. Loki was only going to his room to read a bit, (which he very much enjoyed now that he could read without tripping over the words) but he decided that he could spend some time with Thor and his friends, so he came over and took a seat in one of the chairs.
"So, Thor was telling us that you've decided to come to the party" Fandral said, taking some of his drink. Loki nodded a bit.
"Yes, yes I decided to attend" he told him. Fandral grinned a little bit and jokingly bumped Loki's shoulder with his fist.
"Good to hear it. You bringing a date?" Fandral asked with a bit of a a laugh, it was obviously intended as a joke, so Loki smirked a little bit and didn't take it too seriously.
"No I don't think I will" he said, filling an empty cup for himself and taking a drink. Fandral continued to tease though.
"Oh come on, there has to be someone you want to bring. You can't go alone"
he said, he was still speaking in a lighthearted manner, but he was also serious in suggesting that Loki should bring someone. Loki was about to simply say that he didn't have anyone to bring, but he knew that wasn't true. He had gone back and forth in his mind about asking Trinity to attend with him. He wasn't afraid to ask her, his problem was that he knew how these parties went, he knew that dancing was a big part of it, and he didn't know how to dance.
Loki knew Fandral would continue to tease, so he decided to make his own joke to shut him up.
"Well even if there was someone I wanted to go with, I wouldn't be able to. You've managed to reach your arm around every available woman in Asgard, leaving none left for the rest of us" Loki retorted, which not only made everyone else start laughing, but it took Fandral completely by surprise and left him without words. Sure, Loki had started to take jokes, but Fandral wasn't expecting him to start delivering them as well. Fandral looked annoyed at his lack of ability to respond, and Loki was starting to understand the appeal of witty humor.
Fandral wanted to shift the joke back onto loki, so he decided to do the petty thing.
"Hey, is that Trinity?" He asked, looking past Loki's shoulder. Loki turned his head without thinking, and too late, realized that Trinity wasn't there at all, and Fandral had tricked him into exposing that he cared about her presence.
"Very funny" Loki said as he turned back around to see Fandral grinning and chuckling. He didn't know how Fandral knew to say that though.
"Who's Trinity?" Volstagg asked. Not knowing who They were talking about, but becoming interested when he saw how much Loki wanted to not continue talking about it.
"She's that healer, the one who took care of Loki's head injury when he got lost in the forest" Fandral said "and they've been spending time together lately" he added with a smirk, nudging Loki's arm again.
"No we haven't" Loki said "we had lunch together once, and that was only because she wanted to show me around the gardens" he added, Thor was impressed that Loki was able to not sound defensive. In fact, his tone made it sound like what he was saying to totally true, and Fandral was the crazy one.
"And is that why you so quickly turned around to see her?" Fandral challenged. Loki looked a little tweaked and uncomfortable.
"If I'm honest, will you leave me alone about it?" Loki asked, talking to Fandral, but the question was directed at the whole group who had all become interested in Loki's business.
"Yes" Fandral agreed.
"Alright. I have actually been considering asking her to attend with me, but I've decided against it. I'd make a bad date"  he confessed, which satisfied everyone but Thor.
"Why would you make a bad date?" He asked.
"Because... I can't dance" Loki said, he had found that being forthcoming was a lot easier than beating around the bush once he got over his fear of being vulnerable.
"So what? You don't have to dance" Thor told him.
"Everyone will be dancing, how do you think she'd feel if she was the only woman without a partner?" Loki said back.
"Well... maybe someone can teach you" Thor suggested. But Loki shook his head.
"No, it's not that big of a deal" he said "I'll be fine on my own" he added, making his tone sound like he didn't really care, but in reality, he did. He wanted to ask Trinity to go with him, but he was still figuring this out. he'd be lost already, he wouldn't  know what he was doing, if he added a date to that mix it would just amplify his lack of understanding.
Loki sat quietly while the others continued to have conversation and makes jokes, he thought about what Thor said, learning to dance should be easy enough right?
And he was sure frigga would be willing to teach him.
after a little while he quietly got up and snuck out of the room without anyone noticing, then went in the direction of Frigga's chambers.
Once he got there he felt foolish, it was frustrating that he needed to be taught this many things at his age, Thor probably knew all of this stuff by the time he could walk.
Before Loki got to knock, the door opened and there was Frigga. She looked surprised.
"Loki, are you alright?" She asked, he kept to himself mostly, so she was worried that something had happened that brought him here.
"Yes, yes I'm fine I just... I was going to ask a favor... but I'm not sure now" he told her. She smiled kindly at him.
"Come on in. Tell me what you need" she said as she got out of his way. Loki walked into the room and Frigga closed the door behind him.
"What's on your mind sweetie?" She asked, she never really stopped calling him that, but he didn't mind very much. He was quiet for a few moments, and then he cleared his throat.
"I was... I was wondering if you'd be willing to.... teach me to dance" he said, his hesitation coming only from the fact that he felt like a moron in asking. Frigga looked surprised, but not in a bad way, she just wasn't expecting him to say that.
"Oh... of course I'll teach you. What brings this up?" She asked him, which is what he was hoping she wouldn't ask.
"I'd like to ask someone to be my.... date. For the celebration. And I would like to know how to dance before I ask her" he admitted. A smiled crept onto Friggas face, but she tried to keep it contained so he didn't regret telling her.
"Well I'd be happy to teach you, and there's still a few weeks, you have time to learn. You should ask your lady soon though before someone else invites her" she advised. Loki just nodded a bit.
"Thank you. And I will" he said. Frigga smiled warmly.
"Good. Come with me, we can start your lessons right away" she said as she walked past him to leave the room. He wasn't expecting her to start with him right then, but he was glad she did. The sooner he could ask Trinity, the better.