Loki had planned to show Sylvie the sunrise. By the time they wake up, it's long past.

It's Sylvie's sleepy squirming that wakes him up. He peers down at her, and he smiles at the sight of her resting on his chest. She looks so peaceful right now. It's a wonderful sight to see. The only thing better than this is seeing her happy, but that doesn't seem to be so rare a sight now. This, on the other hand, is, and he revels in it.

He doesn't want to wake her if she's still sleeping, but just to test the waters, he whispers, "Sylvie?"

Sylvie hums quietly. If she's awake, she's not very. He knew that already, though; she wouldn't still be lying across him like this if she was.

"Are you awake?" he asks quietly. He knows the answer to some extent, but whether she's awake enough to do anything or whether she's just going to go back to sleep is another question.

"No," she mumbles.

Loki chuckles quietly. "Okay." They can go back to sleep. It's been a chaotic unspecified-unit-of-time, and he's more than happy to sleep it off.

But then she shifts again, her head moving off his chest only to fall back down on his arm beside him. She opens her eyes, squinting groggily at the sun. "How long were we asleep?" she mumbles.

"Longer than you've slept in centuries, I'm sure," Loki says.

Sylvie rubs her eyes lazily with her hands. "That doesn't take much," she admits.

Loki looks up at the sky through the trees. It's bright and blue, not a cloud in sight. He'd like to think that's the sign of a good day, but he's long since learned not to expect good things. It makes it all the more painful when they don't happen.

After a short while of silence, Sylvie says a timid, "Loki?"

Loki looks at her again, and wow, her face is really close to his. Why does that bother him so much? And why is he not so sure "bother" is the right word?

"What is it?" Loki asks.

"You know how I said I wanted to leave in the morning?"

Loki's heart drops, but he fights to maintain a neutral expression. "I do."

"I think I want to give it another day," Sylvie says.

A wave of relief washes over him, and he grins. "You're not going to regret it," he tells her. "There's so much more I haven't shown you. We haven't even watched the fireworks yet!"

Sylvie's eyes light up. "I forgot we talked about that."

"We should do it tonight," Loki says. "I'm sure Mother will agree — especially if you ask. I think she'll probably do just about anything you ask, really."

Sylvie smiles, a faint blush creeping up on her. "I don't know about that."

"I do," Loki says. "She loves you, and I think she really wants you to feel at home here."

Sylvie rolls onto her back and looks up at the sky. "I think I will," she says. "It was fine yesterday; it was just at night, it..." She trails off uncomfortably.

Loki lets out. Long breath. "It's different; I know," he says. "But anywhere we go, we're going to have pajamas and beds. You'll get used to it — and my door is always open until you do."

Sylvie smiles gratefully. "Thank you."

Loki smiles back. He really does want her to feel comfortable here. Of course he does; all he's ever wanted was for her to be okay. He'll leave Asgard if he has to, but he really thinks the best place for himself and his friends—

Wait.

Friends.

Plural.

He bolts upright. Shit.

"What?" Sylvie asks quickly. "What is it?"

"Mobius!"

Sylvie's eyes go wide. "Shit!"

Loki scrambles to his feet, and, in his rush to get going, he doesn't even think as he offers a hand down to her. She takes his hand – a sharp contrast from their time on Lamentid – and lets him pull her to her feet. "Let's go find Mobius."

So they're off. It's weird, coming from this part of the lake instead of the area he's grown so accustomed to over the centuries, but it's not much weirder than the fact that he's here with a friend. His mother excluded, Sylvie's probably the first person he's ever shown his lake to. He's surprised he doesn't feel more uncomfortable about it, but then again, some things are meant to be shared. He just never found the right person to share it with until now.

Sylvie looks up at him. "Do you think we're going to see the other us?"

Loki makes a face. "I hope not." He's really sick of himself. Why this other him is such an asshole, he does not know, but it does make him feel marginally better about himself. He may not be perfect, but at least he's not... him.

"Do you know why he's like that?" Sylvie asks. "Does it have to do with your dozens of crimes against humanity and the crown that you won't tell me about?"

Loki rolls his eyes. "I did not commit dozens of crimes against humanity and the crown." (He might have. He's never counted.)

"Are you sure?" Sylvie asks. "Because it kind of sounds like you did."

"I committed a few crimes against humanity and the crown," Loki says defensively. "And that was a long time ago."

"Isn't this, like, two days after your Nexus event?" Sylvie reminds him.

"But I was in the TVA for a long time," Loki says.

"Technically, the TVA is outside of time," Sylvie says. "You were there for no time."

"Okay, you know what? You're not helping," Loki pouts.

Sylvie just smiles.

Smug bastard.

It's not long after that when they reach the spot the other Loki had been resting last night – the spot that TVA Loki wanted to use. It's empty, fortunately, and with any luck, it will be empty the next time they want to go there. Avengers Loki can't be everywhere they want to be at the exact moment they want to be there. That's just not possible.

Or so he thinks, until he finds Mobius.

The person he wanted to be with.

And Avengers Loki is already with him.

Seriously, how does this other Loki do it?

"Mobius!" Sylvie waves him over.

Mobius's face lights up at the sight of his friends, and his trek through the woods grows a little bit quicker. Avengers Loki, meanwhile, stops in his tracks and crosses his arms, leaning against the tree next to him as he watches.

"Hey, guys!" Mobius calls out as he closes the distance between them. "How'd you get all the way out here?"

"We came out last night," Loki tells him. "We were going to go back to the Palace this morning. I promise we didn't mean to leave you."

Mobius waves that off. "Don't worry about it," he says. "I got to hang out with Thor and his friends and the other you, so my morning's been great."

"That sounds miserable," Loki deadpans – though he will admit, hanging out with Thor can be fun. At least one of the things Mobius did this morning sounds decently okay.

Mobius shakes his head to himself, amused. He glances over his shoulder, presumably towards the other Loki, but he's already walking away. When Mobius looks back at his friends, his smile isn't quite as big and bright as it had been before.

"Where's he off to?" Sylvie wonders aloud.

"Back to the library, probably," Mobius says. He doesn't seem too thrilled about it.

"Good riddance," Loki mutters. He really cannot stand that guy. Why Mobius puts up with him, he can't even imagine. "Have you had breakfast yet?"

Mobius shakes his head. "I've been looking for you since I got up."

"Good," Sylvie says, "because I'm starved."

"Really?" Mobius says. "I'm still pretty full from last night." He pats his stomach. "I think I ate too much at that party."

"I'm hungry, too," Loki admits. "Do you want to come with us for breakfast? You don't have to eat; I just don't know if wandering around Asgard alone is a good idea."

"Probably not," Mobius admits. "I'll go with you. 've got nowhere else to be."

Teasingly, Loki adds, "Unless you'd rather spend the time with the other Loki."

Mobius chuckles, shaking his head to himself. "If I keep bothering the other Loki, I think he's going to stab me," he jokes. "I would much rather go get breakfast with you guys."

"Yes, stay with the nice Lokis," Loki agrees. "The ones who will not stab you. Probably."

Sylvie rolls her eyes at that, but there's a slight smile on her face, so she can't mind being lumped in with the Lokis too much.

With that settled, the three of them are off to the Palace for some breakfast. Hopefully they'll still have breakfast there by the time they arrive. He's not sure how late they slept, but after the hell they've been through recently, he wouldn't be too surprised if they overslept.

But that's alright. This wouldn't be the first lazy day he's spent in bed. He'll find them something to eat either way – bread rolls at the very least, just to keep them satiated until lunch.

The first minute or so of the walk is silent. It's a comfortable silence, though, fitting out here amongst the trees. The rustling of leaves and the soft chirping of the birds are welcome sounds after so long in the TVA, and, before that, so long spent lost among the stars. In hindsight, there really was no better place to spend his first night home than by his favorite lake.

To break the silence, Mobius says to Sylvie, "I like your dress."

Sylvie looks down at her nightgown, then hugs her arms to herself as though she could possibly hide it. "I forgot I was wearing this stupid thing," she mutters.

Loki frowns. Usually, he would have at least one change of clothes with him. He likes to be prepared, and his magic makes that easy. It figures the one time he doesn't is the one time he could use them.

Fortunately, Mobius is every bit the gentleman Loki wishes he could be, and he takes off his jacket and hands it to her. "Is that better?"

Sylvie takes it from him, but she hesitates. "This is from the TVA?"

Mobius cracks a smile at that, amused. "Is that a problem?"

Sylvie makes a face. "So I can either look like a fairy princess or a stuffy, lifeless TVA agent." She shakes her head to herself, but she puts it on anyway.

Loki can't help but smile at the sight before him. He didn't think it was possible for her to look any cuter than she did in that nightgown, but somehow, this boring, ugly, beige jacket has proved him wrong. It's nearly a dress on her, and her hands are nearly hidden, tucked comfortably within the sleeves. He didn't think Sylvie was all that much smaller than Mobius is. It seems he was mistaken.

Sylvie narrows her eyes. "Stop looking at me like that."

Loki blinks a few times, wiping his grin off his face the best he can. "Looking at you like what?"

"Like I'm some kind of circus freak," she says.

Loki frowns at that. "I don't think you're—"

"I know I look stupid," she says. "I just want to go back to my room and change."

Loki nods reluctantly. "Alright," he says. "We can do that."

"And then breakfast?" Mobius asks.

Loki gives him a weird look. "You said you didn't want breakfast."

"I still want to see what breakfast is like," Mobius says as though it's obvious.

"Oh, Asgardian breakfasts never came up in all your research?" Loki asks teasingly.

"No, y'know, I can't say it did," Mobius says.

"Well, I'll have to educate you, then," Loki says. He'll be more than happy to force Mobius to like all of his favorite Asgardian foods.

"By all means," Mobius says with a smile. "I love to learn."