38: Lights, Camera, Action!

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Back when I'd first joined the force, I thought nothing  would   frighten me more than putting on a bulletproof vest to answer a  violent   call. Now, as I felt Sif zip up the back of my interview dress,  I  knew  that I'd been wrong. I'd take buckling on the vest again over   putting on  a ballgown.  It was a beautiful dress, gifted to me courtesy   of some  designer who's name I didn't know but the reflection I saw in   the mirror  unsettled me. My hair was pulled into a chignon, a  few  strands in  the front left to frame my face. Delicate pearls shaped  like  teardrops  hung from my ears and my lips were glossy pink. That  wasn't  bad on it's  own, but combined with the dramatic ballgown threw  me off.  The high  waist ended just underneath my bust line and flared  out into a  dramatic,  heavy skirt of the same material. While I   couldn't deny the  entire  ensemble looked amazing, the sight of it  threw me off. This was a look that belonged in Hollywood, not on me.

"You look amazing!" Sif said, squeezing my shoulder with her good hand. She'd changed already and wore blood red pantsuit and thin black heels. Her long hair slicked behind her ears and her lips painted a shade of red equal to her clothing. Only the cast and sling on her broken arm spoke of the tragedy that had befallen her and Asgard a few days prior.

"Thank you." I said, looking away from our reflections. "You okay?"

"I should be asking you that," Sif remarked, raising one eyebrow. "You look like you're about to faint. Is the dress too tight?"

"No," I assured her, realizing she very well might rip the thing off me if she felt it was needed. "This is just a lot, I mean," I picked up the heavy skirt for emphasis, "this isn't something I'd ever wear. This belongs to..." I tried to think of a way to say Hollywod in a way that would make sense to my Asgardian friend.

"A queen?" She offered and my heart skipped a beat as I realized she was right. The woman looking back at me in the mirror looked like a queen. Am I even ready for that? I wondered as I  stared back at   myself. Could I ever be ready for the responsibility of  leading an   entire nation? If I somehow won these trials and fell in  love with Thor   and he with me, would I be a good queen? "Calm down," my friend said and I wondered for a moment if perhaps she had an Affinity that let her read minds. "It suits you."

I was glad Sif was so sure but all I knew for certain was that I was never going to be a lover of ballgowns. I wasn't even sure I'd fit through the door with this skirt. "Thank you."

"You ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

Sif smiled beside me and pulled a lipstick tube from her pocket and touched up her makeup. "Don't worry," she told me as she capped her makeup and offered her good arm. "You'll get used to it."

I looped my arm through hers, barely. I feared any wrong step could aggravate her injuries. The combination of runes and normal medical care had wrought quite an improvement, but I knew she wasn't at her full capacity yet.

"Relax," Sif advised as we teleported. "You'll be great."

I was about to form a reply but as my feet touched down on a new floor I lost my voice. I was backstage for a TV show, no doubt about it; from the dim lighting around us, to the metal rafters holding gigantic lights, there was no mistaking that I was in a TV studio.

"Suzume!" At the sound of my name, I turned and saw Melinda approaching me. Even in the dim lighting, she glowed from the flame hues in her hair to the teal gown and diamond accessories she wore. "You look amazing!"

"Back at ya," I replied, more impressed by her whispering than her outfit. "Why are we whispering?"

"They can hear us out front and the host is introducing us." She jerked her head back and I saw Camilla who had previously been hidden to me thanks to the long black dress she wore. The strings of rhinestones draped across the open back of her gown had caught the light she turned to speak with Freya, altering me to her presence and the absence of two others.

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