shamechamber | ( sylvie and loki psls, spoilers for the show )

[ Time is incredibly relative when you’re not beholden to it.

Sylvie isn’t sure if it’s been 6 weeks, 6 months, or 6 years since she left Loki behind in the Citadel; carrying her cracked and crumbled heart and purpose in her arms, and He Who Remains’ tempad on her wrist, into a completely new world. What she does know is that the sting of the thought of him has dulled enough that it is just an ache. A healed but new scar that the nerves aren’t sure what to do with when touched. She hasn’t encountered the TVA except in passing; and she wonders if it’s because she’s ahead of them on this hunt or behind. He Who Remains, or, Nathaniel Richards as she had found out he was actually called, had as many incarnations as his battle worn dictator version had claimed. A billion boogeymen. An Alias called Kang. Perhaps a more true name; Sylvie wasn’t one to judge shifting one’s title if convenient. But each variant seemed to like to call himself something else; and it made it relatively hard to determine which would be a danger to the multiverse and which would not.

The longer she chases Kangs at length the easier it is to find him; despite their differences all the Variants have similarities. The framework of their personas. From which they either converged or differed. This one seemed particularly different, because despite having chased him for a solid week now Sylvie doesn't seem any closer to capturing him. Slippery eel.

Sylvie collapses against a half shorn wall, rubble all about this once-was-a-town now turned shell of one. ]

Damn it!

[ the one good thing about not being known in the tva is that it leaves loki free to deftly move things around. the process of resetting and brainwashing has stopped. of course, loki still had the conundrum of figuring out where the variants should go or not, but plenty were content to stay in the tva and work towards maintain all time. always.

it has messes. it's certainly more disorganized than it was before. but it feels fresh. new. things are out in the open and the fear of reprisal no longer lurks in people's hearts. he who remains may be millions, but loki has his own army now.

and that's how he arrived, surveying the town and spotting — ]

Sylvie.

[ There's a particular energy that she can feel when a time door opens close by, almost like static that lifts the hairs on her arms even under her armor. Sylvie stiffens, digging her heels into the dirt as she looks around just in time to see Loki. Loki. Loki stepping out of that time door. He looks almost identical to what he had when she had last left him; though less battered by their stacked struggles over those few days they had been together.

Sylvie almost runs, there's that kind of panic that hits her heart, but instead she finds herself frozen until he turns and-- says her name and she stands quickly as if jolted into motion, her cloak swirling around her. She's thankful for it, her fists balled at her hips. ]

Loki. [ There's a beat, a moment of tightness in her throat. ] Fancy seeing you here.

[ he cocks an eyebrow at her. his feelings remain mixed. tangled. but it's easier to breathe, each day. ]

I believe that is my line. What are you doing here?

[ He seems just as surprised to see her as he him, so there’s some comfort in that. Not having mobilized the TVA against her that is. Sylvie half heartedly throws her hands up and shrugs. ]

Same thing as you are I bet. But you’re too late. The slippery bastard got away.

[ ah. loki makes a note of the timeline. it's disappointing, but it is only a setback. ]

We'll catch him.

[ he eyes the structure mournfully. ]

And undo the damage.

Most of this was like this when I got here.

[ It may not have been a dig at her but it certainly felt like it, even if she knows she’s being sensitive. Having played their departure from each-other over and over in her head for what felt like years before she had finally started letting it go had left certain things more tender than others. Let her imagination run on what he was doing out there on his unwanted TVA throne. ]

You’ve really embraced the stuffy bureaucrat role then.

[ he gives her a long look like he sees right through her. his journey wasn't as arduous as hers not would loki ever claim it to be. but it shed a snake's skin. what he is now may not be good or better, but he will not fall into pits of his own making. ]

They're variants. We're all the same. The least I can do is show them what possibility looks like.

[ Sylvie straightens, refusing to be chastised by his look. She's grown too since they've last seen each other but it's clear they still don't see eye to eye on the path for the multiverse.

The bite leaves her voice, and she shakes her head. ]

The possibility of what? Going back to a world with no free will? Where everything is scripted simply to keep us safe. This...This may be messy Loki but it's real. Even the bad parts.

[ loki turns to the walls. runs his finger through the scorch marks. feels the soot cake his fingers. he hated dirt. he still does. now it just makes feel unfamiliar. a new creature. ]

Who gets to shoulder that mess? Who gets to live the bad parts?

If it was mine, then it would be different. But it's not.

Everyone and no-one. That's how a multiverse works.

[ She licks her lips, turning from him to straighten her clothing. It doesn't need straightening, but it gives her something to do. ]

There was plenty of approved bad parts of the sacred timeline, and those persons never got any reprieve. Trust me, I would know. [ She takes a deep breath. ] Anyway, you can leave this one to me. There are plenty of him to go around.

[ There's a quiet whirling sound in the distance that she almost doesn't hear, and it makes her ears itch. ]

[ loki gives a little snort. trust is not high on his list when it comes to sylvie. not anymore. he rubs the soot between the fingers. a thousand apocalypes, a thousand lamentis. ]

No. I think I will stay and make sure it's done.

[ Was he always this insufferable? Sylvie rolls her eyes, once again thinking about how sheltered he really was. It was a similar thought to when they had first met, this Loki with his supposed struggles. One end of the world and clearly he thinks he's seen them all, knows them all. Death and destruction were so ground into her that it was a part of her DNA. For all the horrors this endless sea of possibilities held, it held just as many, if not more happinesses. Ones she could finally access too. Ones where those people on that train were all saved and the ark took off, where the moon never was destroyed at all. A thousand Lamentis, and then a thousand more where they survived, or thrived.

She wouldn't take that back. ]

Suit yourself.

[ She goes to walk past him when that whirling gets louder, and she frowns, pausing mid stride. ]

Do you hear that?

[ loki cocks his head. ]

It sounds like a machine.

[ It's barely a second after he says it that one spike whistles past them into a building behind them, and Sylvie grabs him by the front of his shirt and all but throws him to the ground behind that sliver of building as nearly a thousand more come whistling past. No larger than a sparrow each, the shards seem to absolutely cover the town in seconds; the shadow of the wreckage Sylvie had been sitting against, and now was on her belly behind, barely holding up under the barraige. ]

What the hell was that?

[ The whirling continues, now starting to echo louder throughout the town. ]

[ loki splutters, before eyeing the direction of the shards. ]

A weapon. Perhaps he's still here.

Or he didn't want to be followed out.

[ There's a pulse of energy that rips through the air, and then silence; but Sylvie doesn't get up right away, almost waiting for something else. Was it just a booby trap or? ]

[ he nods, acknowledging the possibility. ]

We have to find out what it is.

[ Sylvie nods back, taking a breath and rolling on her back. She reaches for the disk on her wrist, intending to summon that same material He-who-remains had once turned into little pictorials; but she more utilitarianly used to create a sword. ]

Right. We'll go on three then.

[ She drags a finger across the disk-and nothing happens. What? she tries again, to no avail. ]

Loki. Is your tempad working?

[ loki frowns, pulling it out of his pocket. nothing. the screen was blank. ]

That's odd. I charged it before coming here.

This thing doesn't need charging. And it's not working either.

[ Sylvie sits up, tapping the disk rapidly before grunting in frustration. ]

Whatever that energy was I think it fried these things.

[ well, that's frustrating. he dusts down his pants. ]

Then I suppose we'll have to find the source of the disturbance.

[ She looks over at him again, lips pressed into a thin line. We. The last thing she wants right now is to go on some mission with him right now but it looks like she doesn't have much choice in the matter. The comment about paving the path for her flickers in the back of her mind. Another Variant, another manipulation.

Sylvie sighs, standing and tugging her cloak a little closer. ]

I suppose... we do. I imagine heading the direction those things came from is a good start.

[ he blinks, only now noticing the inflection there. ah, he had said that, hadn't he? well, it's unsurprising and he doesn't feel bad about it. because his feelings hadn't changed, but he had. and he has to accommodate more than himself these days. ]

Indeed.

Well come on.

[ She says after a moment, pointing with her head before she starts walking briskly in that direction. The spikes cover most of the walls, catching the setting sun and sending glimmers all over the stone and ash and rubble. It'd almost be pretty if it wasn't trapping her here to salt her wounds and actively try and kill them. ]

Thread 1: A Not So Swift Reunion

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