Sylvie takes the alligator to the rooftop and finds someone
NOT LOKI there.
â
None really
Things hadn't been okay between the Lokis for a while. Between the Matrix, the dystopian nightmare that a lot of people lived in, the the alternative Derleth with vampires and werewolves and hunters, and people singing their guts out, this was the first week that Sylvie felt like spending time in the Loki Loft on top of Peaslee theater would be a good idea. Even if Ikol didn't make it, or Loki stayed away, she and the alligator could spend some time up here, playing phone games and looking for the monster behind the void.
One day, she'd find it and enchant the darn thing to see what she could figure out. (She really hated that the cursing filter even invaded her mind.)
She opened a portal to allow Alligator Loki through. He waddled through, heading straight for the paddling pool they set between some of the creature comforts up there. Sylvie followed right after. The alligator let out a low growl and snuffled in Sylvie's direction. That wasn't unusual when they were on the ground, but up here on the roof, that usually meant that someone was here.
Sylvie reached for her sword, pulling it from the sheath at her hip. Gods, it felt so good to have this thing again. She'd felt naked for months without it, and now that it was hers again, she felt⊠home. Honestly, it was the one thing she knew over the last thousand years, the one thing she could count on. Apocalypses were fleeting, but the sword stayed with her.
"Show yourself, or I'll make you."
As useful as they were in theory, maps really never showed the full story of an area, all of its more relevant features. Only really helped you if you knew what you were looking for in the first place, which she didnât. And while Ava had scoped out a bit of the strange campus to better orient herself, she was still mostly avoiding anywhere too many people were hanging out or she could easily be discovered. Including wherever she was meant to be sleeping.
Luckily the collar that had prevented her from using her powers was removed courtesy of Wanda, who also helped her get a change of clothing. But she had immediately taken that opportunity to disappear from the Avenger before she could ask too many questions, despite all the questions she herself still had.
She could figure things out fine on her own.
While looking for a better vantage point to assess strategic defenses and weaknesses of various locations (mostly to keep her mind focused on something other than spiraling into a panic) Ava managed to stumble across a cozy enough area at the top of the theater identified by the map as Peaslee. Secluded, quiet⊠and not having slept since she had arrived, Ava curled up in one of the chairs to drift off. Just for a moment.
She didnât know how long that moment lasted, before the sound of somebody else arriving startled her into vanishing from view. Ava watched with confusion mixed with amusement at the alligator waddling across like it owned the place, but judging by the pool set up, she supposed it must.
It was the woman she was more concerned with, already brandishing her weapon at the unknown threat that Ava realized she must have posed by invading anotherâs territory. She breathed out, steadied herself. No point in escalating a conflict in a place where she was still clearly at a disadvantage.
âMake me what?â she asked, flickering back into the visible spectrum still settled into the chair, though sitting up a bit straighter. âThat really canât do much against me,â she gestured to the sword.
How many times had she heard that a sword couldn't do much to a TVA agent? Still gutted them just the same, no matter how many times they tried to Time Twister their way around it. She always got them. Still, Sylvie sheathed it, as she recognized the woman as the new one on the network. The one who didn't know what her favorite food was.
(How did you not know that?)
Loki, the alligator, lunged toward Ava's foot, fully intended to get a bit of a meal before wading in his little pool. Sylvie's hand rose and a small bolt of green light shot out at it toward the reptile, shocking him just enough to throw him off his trajectory. Even if he couldn't hurt the woman for whatever reason, it was just plain rude.
So was invading a space that was clearly not yours.
"Who are you?"
She pulled her feet up under her protectively even when the threat of them getting chomped off was gone. âNobody,â Ava replied dismissively, gaze following the alligator to make sure it was okay from the hit it took. Some out of concern despite the animalâs attempt at her feet, some out of curiosity of the womanâs abilities and their lingering side effects. Though she had no doubt she could probably do more damage if she had wanted.
Definitely not somebody she wanted to get into a fight with. Ava didnât have the energy for one anyway. âGhost,â she finally offered, turning her attention back with an uneasy frown. âAnd I take it you claimed this spot, so,â she tentatively touched one boot to the ground, then the other, getting up reluctantly after finally having settled somewhere comfortable. âIâll get going.â
And then she vanished again, hoping to make a quick and painless retreat.
"Hey! Wait!"
Sylvie turned on her spot, searching for any sign of the woman who was just here. Watching her, she could see certain similarities to herself when she was younger. Trying not to be in the way, the exhausted way she said her name, the disheartened way she'd stood up. The woman was flat out tired.
"You don't have to go. You just surprised me. Me and the other Lokis made this place to get away from everything, and if you want, you can stay. I just â I'm not good with people. I spent a thousand years on the run from a fascist organization from the time I was eight. I don't exactly have what they call people skills."
Sylvie's shoulders slumped. She was probably talking to no one by now, and wasn't that just the way of things? She sighed, "I'm sorry."
Ava didnât expect to be called back, after so certain she was being run off. But she paused, remained unseen to at least give the other woman a chance to speak. Because she was curious, perhaps, if it was advice or a warning for a stray newcomer. Neither, it seemed. Simply a defense for whatever miscommunication just occurred, which was reasonable enough despite the claim of a thousand years.
But she expected the apology even less, reappearing barely a few inches from the other womanâs face, her own scrunched up with skepticism. âOther Lokis?â she was hardly an expert on the matter, on gods Norwegian or otherwise. Sheâd heard of Thor and his troublesome brother the same way most of Earth had, in news clips and accounts of their exploits.
âLike the Jolly Green Giant?â She probably found their exchange on the network far more entertaining than he had. âYou donât look like him.â A glance around, wondering just how many others there were.
Whatever this woman had, it wasn't magic, and Sylvie was startled to the point she nearly fell over as soon as she reappeared so close to her face. She let out a tiny cry of surprise as her arms flailed (but didn't fail) to keep her upright. A tiny hop backward completed the motion, to put some distance between them.
"Th-there's a multiverse," she stammered, frowning at the woman who kept surprising her. Sylvie. The one who had practiced looking over her shoulder and preparing for life on the run every day since she was eight. "There's four Lokis here. Me â but I go by Sylvie â Loki, Loki, and uh, the alligator." That would explain the tiny horns on his head, wouldn't it?
"He's a Loki too."
She laid a tentative hand on Sylvieâs shoulder to steady her, though didnât both apologizing for her own part in tipping her off balance, more focused on her explanation.
Ava had heard plenty about the concept of a multiverse before, listened to plenty of Billâs lectures on string theory and all the infinitely theoretical possibilities. After everything, she tried not to question the impossible as she was a product of it, knew sheâd only go mad if she attempted to reason against it all. But it still felt odd to be faced with the reality, not that there were multiple versions of somebody but that they all somehow occurred within this same plane and instance. She hoped there were no others of her, not here.
âA Loki too,â Ava seemed far more concerned with the alligator than anything, wondering what sort of universe the alligator must have come from. One where everyone was animals? Or just Loki. Or had he (she? Suppose she couldnât assume at this rate what with Sylvie) somehow got caught in this form and couldnât turn back. Or even preferred it this way. Was it rude to ask?
âThere other doppelgangers floating around?â she asked, supposed it would be good to know ahead of time.
Sylvie knew almost nothing about the alligator except that he'd been pruned like the lot of them and managed to survive in the Void at the End of the Time, the same way the other Lokis survived. Variant Loki was right; Lokis survive; that's what they do. The alligator knew it was being talked about and made a low growl.
"She's just curious, don't get up in arms."
Another growl.
"I'll get your wine in a moment."
Was that a snort? Maybe.
Sylvie looked down at Ava's hand before she took a step back and out of the woman's reach. Too close. She wasn't really interested in counting the flecks of color in the woman's eyes. Maybe after they'd gotten to know one another a bit, yeah? "Not really anymore. There was one woman who had a DoppelgÀnger, but they've both gone. It's just the Lokis now." She paused. "Your name is Ghost? Did you come up with that?"
She was used to it enough, being backed away from, that invisible physical barrier between her and other people. Ava knew she tended to be unsettling, and most of the time she leaned into it to further push others away. So she reminded herself of that, rather than allowing herself to feel hurt, and shoved her hands firmly in the front pocket of her sweatshirt. Glanced toward the exit again, an indecisive shift in her footing to stay in place.
âGone. Is that a regular occurrence? How do they leave?â Ava wondered quietly. Even if she was uncertain about this place, she knew what was waiting for her back at the Raft was nothing she was in any hurry to get back to.
She considered briefly to give her actual name, but instead shook her head. âNo, itâs not particularly creative, is it? But somebody thought they were quite clever, and thereâs worse things to be called. Captain America. Ant-Man. Dr. Weird.â Ava wrinkled her nose. âWhy Sylvie?â Seemed a rather ordinary name, all things considered.