"Where are we going?"

"I have no idea."

"How do you not know where we're going? You're literally in the lead."

"And I'm leading you around Asgard!"

Sylvie groans, exasperated. And here she was, thinking Loki was going to show her something that would be somewhat interesting. What a fool she was, thinking Loki had a plan. Loki never has a plan.

Loki looks over at her. "You've never met Heimdall, have you?"

"Probably not," Sylvie says. She met a few of Loki's friends at dinner, but she was so overwhelmed by everything, she hardly remembers who was there, and she certainly doesn't remember any names.

"I should introduce you," Loki says. He turns around and gestures for her to follow right back where they came. "You know how to ride a horse, I presume."

Sylvie scoffs. "Of course I know how to ride a horse."

Loki puts his hands up in a mock surrender. "I was just checking. I don't know if they have horses in apocalypse world."

"Why would they not have horses in apocalypse world?" Sylvie asks, incredulous. "Apocalypse world is just a normal world where there is an apocalypse. Did you think horses disappeared at the beginning of every apocalypse?"

"I don't know! I was just asking!"

Sylvie just looks at him, and slowly, her face creeps up into a smile. When he sees her smiling, he smiles, too. He's so ridiculous.

"Come on," Loki says. "Let's find a ride."

So that's what they do. The stable isn't very far away – for as long as they've been out walking, they haven't gotten very far from the palace – and as Loki heads in, Sylvie finds herself stopping in the doorway, looking around at all the horses peeking their horsey heads out of the stalls.

Asgard has some beautiful horses. They're all beautiful, which is almost suspicious. What do they do with the ugly horses? Do they kill them? Eat them? Are Asgardian horses just all beautiful by default?

She wonders which one she'll get to ride. What will it be like? An obedient horse? One who follows her every command before she's even made it? Perhaps a snacker who will grab the occasional leaf on the way down. She'd assume the palace has no disobedient horses, but if there is one, she'd like to take it. She herself was written off by the TVA for being disobedient. She'd like to give the horses the same second chance she's been given.

Loki opens the door to one of the stalls, and Sylvie takes a few steps closer, trying her best to see what this horse is like beyond its big head sticking up.

"We can't take Sleipnir," Loki says, "but I figured I'd introduce you while we're here."

Sylvie raises a brow. "You're introducing me to a horse?" Is Heimdall a horse, too? She likes horses, but she's really hoping this whole thing hasn't just been about horses.

"He's a special horse," Loki says, like that explains anything. To the horse, he coos, "C'mere, boy. Come see Sylvie."

She doesn't expect much. She can already see his face. He's pretty, but he's not all that interesting. She doesn't expect to change her mind.

As soon as Sleipnir is out in the open, she changes her mind.

"Uh, Loki?" she asks slowly. "Why does your horse have so many legs?"

"Nobody knows," Loki tells her. "But he's been Father's most trusted horse longer than I've been alive." He reaches up and scratches beneath his chin. "And he's my favorite – but don't tell the other horses."

Sylvie huffs a laugh. He is so ridiculous, with those ridiculous jokes and that ridiculous smile and the ridiculous twinkle in his eyes.

Loki waves her over. "Come say 'hi.' He's very friendly."

Sylvie shakes her head to herself, but she walks up and pets the horse anyway. He's taller up than he looks from a distance. She definitely could reach his chin, but she opts to scratch his side instead. His tail swooshes gently behind him, and he just seems so... tranquil. He doesn't strike her as a warrior's horse at all. He must be, if he's Odin's most trusted horse, but he doesn't seem like one.

"He's cute," Sylvie remarks, mostly because she doesn't know what else to say. He's a horse. He does horse things. She's not sure where to go from here.

"Isn't he?" Loki agrees. "I was obsessed with him when I was younger. Thor and his friends used to joke that Sleipnir was my child."

"I would be fascinated to know how you could possibly have an eight-legged horse for a child," Sylvie remarks.

"I think I could do it," Loki says. "Not that I would want to, but if I did, I could find a way."

Sylvie rolls her eyes lightheartedly. He is ridiculous.

"Alright," Loki coos, gently leading Sleipnir back to his stall. "We'll be back later." He reaches up and scratches the horse's cheek, then shuts the horse back up in his stall. He turns his attention back to the task at hand, looking around at all the other horses, a thoughtful look on his face. "I wonder..."

Sylvie gives him a minute or so, and when nothing happens, she says, "I'll take whatever horse you want me to. I'm sure I've ridden worse." He doesn't have to pick out the very best of the best. She's really not picky.

"I'm sure you have," Loki says, "but I'm looking for..." His eyes scan the stable, and they light up when they catch sight of a certain horse. "This one." He makes his way to a stall halfway across the stable, and as soon as he opens the door, a horse trots out. "This is Sophia."

Sylvie stares at him. "The horse's name is Sophia?"

Loki frowns. "What's wrong with Sophia?"

"Nothing's wrong with it," she says. "It just doesn't sound very... Asgard."

"It's Midgardian," Loki tells her. "She's named after a woman I met on Midgard."

For some reason that Sylvie will not admit to herself right now, she feels a pang of jealousy at that, but she still forces herself to smile and say, with forced cheerfulness, "Oh, that's sweet."

"I only met her once," Loki says. "I don't know why I named the horse after her. I hardly knew her." He shrugs. "Strange childhood antics."

Any jealousy she'd felt dissipates at that. So she was no one special. That makes her feel a little better – not that it matters, but... it does. In a weird way. She doesn't know why, but it does.

"Is there a reason you chose Sophia for today?" Sylvie asks him. Does it have to do with his woman he met once, presumably when this horse was a baby, a long time ago?

Loki shrugs, a somewhat sheepish smile on his face. "I've always thought she was the most beautiful horse in Asgard," he tells her. "It seems fitting that you have the chance to ride her."

Sylvie finds her face heating up, and she does her best to ignore it as she walks up to the horse. Sophia really is a gorgeous horse. Her fur is a pure white, untainted by even the slightest patch of color or the littlest bit of dirt. Her mane is braided down her neck, falling perfectly against her snow-white fur.

She reaches out, holding her hand in front of the horse's nose. The horse sniffs her once, twice, then reaches her head forward, nudging her hand gently with her nose. Sylvie smiles and rubs her hand against the horse's cheek, earning a content sigh in return.

"Do you want to go for a trip?" Sylvie asks softly.

Sophia reaches down and nuzzles her head, and Sylvie can't help but laugh. She feels like she's about to get eaten – and she can't even bring herself to care. If this is how she dies, so be it.

She cranes her neck and presses a kiss to the horse's chin. "Alright," she coos. "Let's go for a ride."

Sylvie would never go through the trouble of putting a saddle on a horse when she could just as easily ride one bareback, but Sophia's already wearing a saddle and there's no reason to take it off, so Sylvie just sticks her foot in the stirrup and hoists herself onto the horse's back. Thank the Norns the most beautiful horse in Asgard is also a relatively small one. She'd hate to have to climb onto a horse Sleipnir's size.

Loki trots up to her, sitting atop a horse that towers her own in height. His horse is all black, a sharp contrast to the horse she rides, but it seems fitting for him. He looks down at her, a soft smile on his face, and Sylvie smiles back. They should visit the stable more often. This was fun.

"Are you ready?" Loki asks.

"Lead the way," she replies.

Loki's horse takes the lead, and Sophia trots after him, following nearly side-by-side but holding back just enough that she can follow if Loki's horse changes directions. She wonders if Loki's horse knows where they're going. It almost seems like it, though maybe it's because they haven't made any real turns yet.

It's a shockingly smooth ride for a horse traveling at this speed. She can't tell if it's because she's not doing any of the work, because Asgardian horses are just that good, or if her infatuation with all things Asgard is convincing her this ride is any different than any other time she's ridden a horse, but it's nice.

"How far are we going?" Sylvie asks.

"To the end of the realm," Loki replies. "Heimdall controls the Bifrost. It's where you'll find him nearly every moment of every day."

"What's the Bifrost?"

Loki huffs. "I forgot you wouldn't know that," he says. "It's a bridge that connects Asgard to everywhere in all of the Nine Realms."

"Oh?" Aren't the other realms far away? That must be a long bridge. She can't imagine even a godly horse making that trip all at once. That's one of the nice things about Earth: they have cars to make long journeys for them. They should bring that technology to Asgard.

"I will admit," Loki says, "my relationship with Heimdall did not end on good terms, but I do intend to fix that."

Sylvie cocks an eyebrow. "Did anybody like you the last time you were here?"

Loki grimaces. "It's... complicated?"

Sylvie shakes her head to herself in amusement. "One day, I want to hear this story."

"One day, I'm sure you will," Loki says. "Hopefully from my mouth and no one else's."

"Well, now you're making me want to ask Thor," she says teasingly.

"No, don't ask Thor," Loki whines. "He wasn't even here. You would be hearing what happened third-hand. Wouldn't you rather hear it firsthand from me?"

"Not if you want me to hear it firsthand from you," Sylvie teases him.

Loki shakes his head. "The lack of faith you have in my storytelling abilities is very hurtful."

"I think your storytelling abilities would be too good," Sylvie tells him. "You lie too easily."

Loki scoffs, playfully indignant. "I have never lied to you."

"Oh, really?" Sylvie asks. "So our blanket in the Void, that wasn't a napkin?"

Loki sucks in a breath through his teeth. "Anyways!" He pointedly turns his gaze to where their horses are taking them. "The Bifrost! Is where we're going! Right now!"

Sylvie just laughs. He is absolutely ridiculous. She loves that about him.

The ride is full of lighthearted jokes and jabs – the kind she would have rolled her eyes at only days earlier, but the kind that truly light up her day now that there's no world-ending catastrophe that has her on edge every second of the day. She was a little skeptical of this at first, but now, she can't imagine deciding to spend the rest of their days anywhere else.

She might not really know where they're going, but she can tell they've almost made it when they reach the long, thin, largely transparent bridge extending from the edge of Asgard. Is this beautiful translucent rainbow bridge the Bifrost? Does it connect to all eight other realms?

As though reading her mind and deeming her wrong, Loki says, "This is the Rainbow Bridge. Himinbjorg is at the end of it; that's where the Bifrost originates, and where we'll find Heimdall."

Sylvie glances down at the Rainbow Bridge. It almost looks as though it's made of glass. She glances at Loki warily. "Can the horses cross it?"

Loki huffs. "Well, I am certainly not going to walk across the entire Rainbow Bridge if I don't have to," he tells her.

Sylvie is half-convinced these horses understand English, because Loki's horse begins to trot down the Rainbow Bridge, and Sophia trots along after him. It's weirdly terrifying, and she does her best not to look down at the ground lest she convince herself it's going to crack beneath the weight of herself and her horse.

The large, pointy, dome-shaped building must be Himinbjorg, she reasons, as Loki dismounts outside of it. Sylvie does the same, and she cups Sophia's face in her hand and rests her forehead against the horse's snout, a silent goodbye and a promise she'll return shortly.

By the time she's turned back around, there's a man standing in the doorway, and she almost has a heart attack. This man was not there two seconds ago.

The first thing she notices about this man is that he is ridiculously tall. Everybody in Asgard is ridiculously tall, but he's tall. And, worse than that, he's not even just tall and lanky like Loki is; beneath his golden armor, he looks absolutely ripped. Coupled with the emotionless expression on his face, he's certainly an intimidating presence, to say the least.

Loki doesn't seem all too bothered by that. He greets the man with a smile. "Hello, Heimdall."

Heimdall nods in acknowledgement. "Loki."

"I should probably start with an apology," Loki says. "The last time we saw each other, I was not thinking straight and I made some decisions that I have certainly come to regret, but I hope we can move past that."

Heimdall just looks at him for a moment; then, "Your apology to your parents was much better."

Loki opens his mouth to say something, then closes it again wordlessly, frowning. Sylvie glances between the two of them uncomfortably. This is... awkward.

Heimdall cracks the slightest of smiles. "Welcome home, my Prince."

That puts the smile back on Loki's face, and the tension in the air dissipates. Sylvie feels marginally better now. She's still not sure what's happening or who this is, but at least she doesn't feel like this Heimdall fellow is going to crush Loki to death between his fingers.

Heimdall turns to her, giving her a nod of greeting. "And welcome to you as well, my Princess."

Sylvie giggles – and then kicks herself for it because she does not giggle – and nods her head to him as well. "It's nice to meet you."

"You as well," Heimdall says. "I've wondered about you for a long time. I hope Asgard treats you better than the places you've been before."

Sylvie cocks her head to the side. What is he...?

"Have you seen her?" Loki asks. "Before we came?"

"Many times," Heimdall says. "I always wondered how one person could find themselves in all the worst moments in the Nine Realms."

"How do know that?" Sylvie asks cautiously. She mentioned it briefly, but he wasn't there. He shouldn't really know anything about it.

"I see everything within the Nine Realms," Heimdall tells her. "I've seen you appear and disappear in the blink of an eye. I've watched you grow older and younger and older again many times over the thousand years I've held this post. I'm pleased to finally meet you."

Sylvie furrows her brows. He can... see... everything... that she...

What the fuck?

This is so weird.

Loki frowns, his hand making its way up to rest gently on her back. "I know it sounds strange," he says, "but he protects the Nine Realms."

Sylvie looks up at him warily. She's not sure strange is the word she would use for this. It sounds creepy. It sounds invasive. He can see everything that everyone does, all of the time? He uses that knowledge to protect the Nine Realms? This all sounds awfully familiar.

She wants to think she's wrong. She wants to think that this is nothing like the TVA. She wants to think that this is different, that this is good. Heimdall is a good person. Heimdall is doing something good by being here, by doing this. But it just sounds so much like what the TVA does, and she's not sure she's comfortable with that.

Still, she swallows hard and forces a smile. "That's great." It's great that the Nine Realms are protected. It's great that Heimdall can see every single thing that happens in them. It's great that Asgard has the power to step in and stop anyone from doing anything they don't like. That's not terrifying at all.

Loki looks at her uncertainly, hand gently rubbing against her back, and though the concern in his gaze is touching, she doesn't expect him to understand. He's grown up with this. He's been conditioned to think this is normal, just like Mobius was conditioned to find the TVA's continued genocide normal. And maybe she is overreacting. Maybe this really is nothing. But it's more than enough to make her uncomfortable.

She clears her throat as though trying to reset herself, and asks them both, "So, what other parts of Asgard do we have left to explore?"

Loki and Heimdall look at each other, and Loki had all but admitted earlier that he has no idea where they should go next, so it's up to Heimdall to come up with something.

"You could show her the library," Heimdall suggests finally, "though that may be something Mobius would like to see as well."

There's something about the way he says it that makes her not want to go to the library right now. He's not wrong; it definitely does sound like the kind of thing Mobius would like – much more than Sylvie would like it, for sure; she's never been the kind to sit down with a book if she didn't need it to teach herself something.

Loki gives him a look she can't quite read – but one she's fairly certain is not a good one. "Yes, I do think Mobius would like to see the library," he agrees, "but Mobius, as I'm sure you're aware, is not here right now, so we're looking for something to do alone while we wait for him to come back." He gives Heimdall a very pointed look at that, before his attitude grows more casual again. "The library could be fun, though." He looks over at Sylvie. "Do you want to see the library?"

Sylvie grimaces at the question. "Heimdall's right; Mobius would want to see the library."

Loki waves a hand dismissively. "We can show Mobius around the library later," he says. "He'd want to look at different books than you, anyway."

"What books do you think I would want to look at?" she asks. The answer, of course, is none of them. If they're not going to teach her something useful, she doesn't want them.

"Oh, there's lots of them," Loki says. "I prefer the novels – though those are few and far between in Asgard; most of them are stolen from Midgard – but I think you would like the books about magic."

Sylvie raises her brows. "Books about magic?" That sounds stupid.

"Books to study from," Loki explains, like that makes it any better. "You can teach yourself the magic you never learned here."

Sylvie huffs. "You study magic?" she repeats, and she's not sure if she's more surprised or amused by the notion. He learns magic by reading? That's the most ridiculous thing she's ever heard.

Loki frowns, brows furrowing in confusion. "How did you learn your magic?"

"I taught myself," she answers. Plain and simple: she fucked around, and she found out.

"Without books?" Loki says incredulously. "You had nothing to teach you? You just did it?"

"Yes?" She stares at him. "You're telling me you read your way into sorcery?"

"Yes!" Loki exclaims. "You just, what, learned it through osmosis?"

"I learned it through practice," she corrects him. "I couldn't just touch a book and absorb its knowledge." She rolls her eyes at the thought. Of course that's how Loki learned magic. He's such a prince.

"I practiced, too!" Loki says. "I studied magic. Magic did not just appear when I touched a book. That is not at all how magic works!"

"No, it's not," Sylvie agrees. "Magic isn't meant to be stored in books at all."

"How–"

"Perhaps the library would be a good place to start," Heimdall interrupts, and when Sylvie glances up at him, he has the faintest hint of a smile on his lips. "It seems to me that you have a lot to teach each other."

Sylvie looks up at Loki thoughtfully. He might have a point. The magic she's taught herself and the magic Loki's books have somehow managed to teach him are very different. Maybe they could learn a thing or two from each other.

Loki looks over at her, an eyebrow raised. "How does that sound to you?"

Sylvie just shrugs. "I don't see anything better to do."

Loki grins. To the gatekeeper, he says, "Thank you, Heimdall. As always, your idea was brilliant."

Sylvie catches a glimpse of Heimdall's amused expression beneath his helmet before Loki hooks his arm in hers, something that is so incredibly ridiculous that only he would think to do it, and then they're off to the library for some magic fun.