Second Chances

Chapter 11

"I don't think that's true," Loki protests.

"I know you don't," Sylvie says. She didn't expect him to. He's so oblivious, he's already talking about asking him permission to see Frigga tomorrow. He's a fool – but then, that's usually one of the things she likes about him. He's a fool, but he's her favorite fool.

Loki scoffs. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"How long have you known him?" Sylvie asks.

"I don't know; time works differently in the TVA."

Sylvie rolls her eyes. "Not long," she answers for him. "You've known him probably a week – just long enough for him to save you from your unfortunate doom, bribe you into being his friend with the promise of freedom, and then run away together."

"I think you're underselling our friendship a bit," Loki remarks.

"No, I know that you're friends," Sylvie says. "I've seen you together. I know that you care about each other. But you've only known him a matter of days. I've known him – known of him – for centuries. He'd been hunting me down for centuries, and who knows how long he was working for the TVA before that? This is what he does. He's given a path for people to follow, and he expects them to follow it. You cannot expect that to change overnight."

Loki's frown only deepens. "I thought you liked Mobius."

"I do like him," Sylvie says. She doesn't know him all that well, but she really does like him. "And I believe that deep down, he is a good person, but he's also from the TVA. You can't teach an old dog new tricks. You certainly can't expect them to learn them this fast."

Loki folds his arms over his chest, lowering his head and letting out a deep sigh. Sylvie cocks an eyebrow. What is this supposed to mean? What is he thinking? What is he not saying?

Finally, Loki raises his gaze to meet hers and just says, "The garden."

Sylvie stares at him.

"I've never shown you the garden," he says. "That's what we should do tonight."

He's obviously just trying to get out of this conversation. A part of her feels she shouldn't let him. It's unfair. It sets a dangerous precedent – that they never need to talk; that they can shove these things aside and ignore them when they don't want to talk their way through them.

But the garden does sound nice, so...

She gives him a small smile. "I'd like that," she says. Just this once. He can cut their conversation short just this one time.

He gives her a small smile in return. "Come with me." He gestures for her to follow, then heads back the way they came.

Sylvie doesn't hesitate to follow him. She's never been big into gardens. She's stolen food from plenty of them, but she's never stuck around long enough in the same place to really pay them any mind beyond searching for something that looks edible. This will either be a nice change where she can learn to enjoy the view, or a very boring field trip she'll only pretend to enjoy for Loki's sake.

It's quiet as they walk, and Sylvie can't tell if it's because of their fight with Mobius, because of what she said about Mobius, or just because there's nothing to talk about. She hopes it's the last one. She definitely hopes it's not the second one. She doesn't want to be the reason he's upset.

After a minute or two of this, she decides to do something very out-of-character and very difficult for her: talk about feelings. "Mobius really likes you," she tells him. "Everything is going to be fine in the morning."