I'll Follow You To...

Remember tomorrow

At the kid's command, the group by the river had grown considerably (though not without some face saving reluctance). The crowd, clothed in green and horns of various styles and materials, milled about on the edge of the fog. The eyes of Alioth watched them curiously, moving back and forth with seeming excitement.

The boastful one stood with his arms crossed, an angry scowl on his face.

"We shouldn't have brought this one," he pointed to the president who was glowering back at him.

"Alioth will probably eat us all for associating with him."

The president placed his remaining hand on his hip. "Alioth will recognize my greatness, but I wouldn't count on you and that absurdity you call a hammer making it out alive."

"Alioth isn't eating any of us, " Sylvie countered with a firm tone. "We've been in Alioth's dreams and it's completely head over heels with every one of your ridiculous selves for reasons that I cannot fathom."

Loki coughed beside her, drawing her attention. She sighed and rolled her eyes, but shot him an affectionate half-smile anyway. She couldn't say she hadn't told herself the same about him at several points since they'd met, or wondered why he was so determined to follow her own ridiculous self. 

The president examined his sleeve nonchalantly, "You still expect us to stand here and see how many of us Kang needs to slaughter before Alioth decides to stop him. How can you be sure one of them will come anyway?"

Loki scowled at the president, of all the Lokis he'd met this one caused him the most embarrassment, "We can't. We might get none, we might get all of them at once, but unless we want to be right back where we started, we have to try."

Sylvie sat down in the grass and slipped a power rod back in the time device, "There's a whole multiverse of Conquerors out there, one of them is coming here. "

She paused remembering something she had stashed away and forgotten about because the memories it triggered were too painful. She held her hand out above the grass and the flaming sword Lævateinn appeared tip down in the turf.

She stood and held it by the blade offering it to Loki.

"I think you dropped this," she said quietly.

He looked down at the handle for a minute before wrapping his fingers around it and lifting his eyes to hers with a mixture of joy and sadness.

"I guess I did."

He slid it gently out of her hand and gripped it with the blade pointing downward, then wrapped his arm around her back and placed his lips to her forehead.

When he pulled away slightly she looked up at him with glistening but determined eyes.

"I won't let him divide us again."

He lifted her hand and placed it flat against his chest, "You go, I go."  He breathed out a shaking breath, "This time I'll get it right."

They both closed the distance between them and blocked out everything as they each savoured the feel of their lips sliding over the other's, and the sensual dance of their tongues.

They broke apart only when they heard a shout from the crowd.

"He's here, it's time!"