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When Sylvie yawned for the third time in the last fifteen minutes, she decided she couldn’t fight the tug of sleep any longer. She sat up from where she lay on Thor and Jane’s couch, because while it was really comfy, she rather sleep in the guest bedroom than have Loki wake her up to a weird crick in her neck this furniture could possibly give her.
She and Loki were over at his brother’s home for their weekly Friday get-together dinner — they took turns hosting — and it was nearing 11:30. Under normal circumstances, the couple would be in their own New Asgard residence by now, but it had snow-stormed the past few hours, and of course Loki had forgotten to grab the TemPad on their way out the door. Luckily for him, he was spared the consequence of Sylvie’s annoyance when Thor told them they could simply spend the night.
Jane had gone to bed a while ago — she was helping Valkyrie with some construction plans early in the morning that needed to get done despite the inclement weather — and Love had gone to bed as well. (Begrudgingly, since she wanted to stay up and hang out with her cool, magic-wielding Aunt Sylvie and Uncle Loki.) Now it was just Loki, Thor, and Sylvie still awake.
Sylvie watched from her spot on the cushions as Loki and Thor were clearing the mess in the kitchen from earlier when Love wanted to make booby trap glitter bombs, and smiled to herself as she realized that Loki wasn’t using his magic to quickly clean up because he was enjoying the time spent with his brother. Part of her didn't want to interrupt their moment, but sneaking past Loki, who'd been casting watchful glances her way every now and then from the other room, was near impossible. And if she did exit unannounced, she could count on hearing him call out for her with thinly concealed concern until she made her whereabouts known. He was...still a bit protective of her that way. (To his face she acted like it was a big burden, but she secretly loved it. Nobody had cared about her like that in such a long time. Not until Loki.)
“Hey, I’m headed to bed.”
Loki turned immediately from where he was wiping down one of the cabinets, looking concerned. “Sorry, darling, did we wake you up?”
Sylvie smiled and shook her head. They’d been talking in low voices as to not disturb her. “No, I’m just sleepy.“ She couldn’t help the giggle that escaped as Loki tossed the cloth aside and grabbed her into a hug to plant kisses all over her face.
“Well goodnight then, my love.” He cupped her cheek with one hand and kissed her on the lips. “I’ll be in shortly.”
“Okay,” she replied, breathless from just that one kiss, happiness running through her veins at the way he ruffled her hair and broke from their embrace with his fingers trailing down her arm in order to make their touch last for even just a moment longer, as if he wasn’t going to crawl into bed and hold her shortly.
“Goodnight, Thor.” She didn’t miss the way the other god was smiling as he witnessed their exchange, and he nodded in parting.
After Sylvie slipped under the quilt of the guest bedroom bed and reached to turn off the light was when she realized she’d left her glass of water on the coffee table. For a moment, she just lay there, contemplating on whether or not she wanted to bother getting up. Then she decided that if she didn’t grab it, chances were that she’d wake up thirsty in the middle of the night. Sighing, she parted ways with the covers and headed back out to the living room.
She wasn’t necessarily trying to be quiet, but she’d always been light on her feet, a habit built from needing to be quick and inconspicuous most of her life on the run. And that was probably why neither Odinson sibling realized she was right around the hallway corner. What Sylvie heard from Thor quipped her curiosity enough to slow her tracks.
“I was watching you with Sylvie tonight. Love looks good on you, brother.” There was a smile in the older god’s voice, and maybe a hint of teasing peppered in as well, but there was no question in the statement.
Loki let out a soft chuckle, and Sylvie thought it was maybe the only response to Thor’s observation Loki would give. And she wouldn’t have minded. The laugh was kind and vocalized in agreement. But what he said next made her heart skip a beat. (Several, actually.)
“It’s because she’s the light of my life. Reshaped my entire view on how to live, for good. I can’t imagine being without her…breathing without her…belonging anywhere where she is not.
“I once mocked you falling in love, called you weak and assumed you foolish for using your heart over your mind to make decisions. Now I see that it’s not love that makes us vulnerable, for I’ve never felt so brave than I have when I’m with her. She’s changed me for the better, Thor. Truly, she has.”
Sylvie thought the floor was shifting beneath her feet, but then she realized it was just from the lack of oxygen due to forgetting how to breathe.
“I once asked her that maybe we could figure it out — life, that is — together, and even though we are now, I can’t help but want more. More with her. As much as my heart will allow before it bursts with unmeasurable joy, because oh, does she make me the happiest being in all the multiverse.”
In. Out. In. Out.
“I want it all with her, because she is my everything.”
Tears rushed to Sylvie’s eyes and she let them fall because she didn’t have a choice, and she had to press a hand over her mouth to hide the pressing sob of overwhelming emotion that had risen to a crescendo in her chest. Sure, she and Loki told one another on a daily basis that they loved each other, sometimes by actions, sometimes by words, so none of this should have moved Sylvie the way it currently was, right? But hearing him talk so freely about his adoration for her to Thor? It was more than simply pure and genuine. It was a special moment between siblings, between brothers who were still playing catch-up from all the years apart, who were working on their less-than-perfect relationship, and Sylvie knew this must be an act of vulnerability for Loki, to share whispers of his soul like this.
“I’ve found my person.” Loki’s voice was unlike anything Sylvie had heard before in all her thousands of years alive: It was warm and soft like vanilla, the sensation as soothing as a hearth for a weary traveler or nourishment for a hungry body. “It was a million chances to one, but she’s here, just down that hallway, and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her. When I made the decision to sit at the end of time to keep the timelines alive, it was for the multiverse, yes, but it was firstly for her, my whole world. I told her I just wanted her to be okay, and that’s never changed.”
“Who are you and what did you do with my brother?” Thor asked, surprise disguised in the shape of teasing, but Sylvie could hear the welcome for his brother’s new change in his voice. She could sense his pride and happiness for his sibling.
Sylvie waited for Loki’s response, but silence met her ears. Somehow, though, she knew he was smiling, and that was a thousand beautiful words by itself.
After a moment, though, the god of mischief let out a sigh. There was a weight to it, as if he had been holding back and was now contemplating speaking on its behalf.
“I have to confess something else-”
Sylvie didn’t know if it was fear or curiosity at this that made her straighten and listen more attentively. She knew it was silly to believe for a moment that it could be the former, especially after hearing all that Loki had just said, but after a lifetime of living in fear instilled by the TVA, it was a difficult emotion to completely rule out, no matter the situation.
Loki finished his thought. “I want to marry her. And this will sound crazy, and you can laugh, but when when I picture future life with Sylvie, I want children too.”
Sylvie nearly fell over. Her knees wanted to buckle so badly. She placed a hand on the wall to not only steady herself, but also as an act of assurance that she wasn’t dreaming. The wall was solid under her palm, confirming that this was real. She sucked in a deep breath as quietly as possible, waiting for the horror to come of being legally bonded to one person and responsible for her own flesh and blood. But it didn’t. She expected to feel at least dismayed by even the mere idea of being a wife, of being mother, for never before had she thought she possessed a marital or maternal bone in her body. Instead, she caught herself smiling at the thought of calling herself Loki’s spouse, and butterflies fluttered in her stomach when she pictured herself holding a baby. Their baby.
The prospect and proposal of marriage and motherhood scared her, but not as much as it excited her.
It wasn’t until that moment that she truly realized she wanted everything Loki did as well, and suddenly it was a lot to take in. Too much to take in, in the best way possible, but still enough to make her tiptoe back to the bedroom where she could attempt to process all that she’d heard in private.
Sylvie wanted to stay and continue to listen to the brothers’ conversation, she really did. But she was a little afraid that hearing any more adoration for her and wishes concerning the future from Loki’s lips would make her melt into a puddle on the spot. It certainly felt like the possibility grew the longer she stood there. So instead, she made it back to the bedroom and leaned against the quietly shut door, breathing out everything her lungs had to offer in one breath. She then paced the space between the end of the bed and door, silently freaking out in girlish giddiness as she replayed his words and felt them etch their way into her soul.
When she heard footsteps approaching, she quickly scrambled back into bed, clicked off the lamp, slammed her eyes shut, and stilled her breathing.
At first, she didn’t really know why she was trying to keep it a secret that she’d heard everything he said, for it wasn’t as if her eavesdropping would have negated the sincerity of his words, nor would it have any impact on how he treated her going forward. But then as she felt the bed dip under his weight and his arms wrap around her, followed by the tender, familiar press of lips on her temple, it dawned on her: that was every inch of his heart out there speaking, something precious to him, and while she was at the forefront of it, he’d share it with her when he was ready.
Before she could stop them, she felt her lips twitch up at the memory of his adorably flustered self back in the timekeepers’ chamber. He could get shy around her, even now after all they’d been through, so it really was for the best that she didn’t put him on the spot about what transpired in the kitchen moments ago.
She fell asleep in his arms that night like she always did, this time with an extra layer of newfound love warming her as the snow and wind howled outside, and as two pairs of breaths fell into harmony, the last thought Sylvie had before slept swept her away was that she was equally as lucky to have Loki as he'd insisted tonight he was to have her.
Little did she or Loki know she'd be telling this story to their daughter in just a few short years.