The Variant's Shadow - LokixOC - ONGOING

* Ophelia's choice *

📍ASGARD - SACRED TIMELINE

“Asgard ?” Loki asked as soon as the Time Door closed behind them. 

Ophelia shrugged. “Each time I’ve been to Earth, I ended up being attacked, injured, or almost died. Maybe I’ll have better luck here.” She looked at him and smiled. “And you haven’t been here in a while,” she said, hoping that it would put him in the best dispositions to do what she told him to. 

He looked around with a smile. It had indeed been a very long time, even if his last memories of the place weren’t the best. When he looked back at her however, Loki frowned. “I think we should get somewhere safe.”

“Why ? No one knows me.”

“But they know me,” he argued. “And another me might be closer than we think.”

Ophelia’s eyes widened. “Lead the way,” she immediately replied. 

With everything that had happened since he’d been brought to the TVA, she’d almost forgotten that Loki was still a prince here. As she was following him, she began wondering what would happen if they caused the Timeline to branch. What version of the TVA would show up and take care of them ? She’d spent centuries learning about Time, and now everything had changed. 

Loki stopped when they reached the top of a tower and led her to the edge of the balcony. After a few seconds, he crossed his arms and frowned at her. “I have seen you in awe at every little thing around you,” he said. “I have heard you talk at length about the wonders of fake ID papers, Ophelia. Now that you’re in the objectively most beautiful place in the Universe, you’re barely looking around you. What’s happening ?”

Without thinking, and certain that it wasn’t a lie, she pointed at the balcony. “I’m afraid of heights.”

“It’s fine,” Loki replied. “They’ve all been enchanted by now.”

“By now ?”

He nodded. “Thor tried to jump once.”

Ophelia stared at him in shock. “Why ? Can he fly ?”

“No, but I convinced him he could.” It didn’t make her feel any better. Loki quickly noticed it and stopped smiling. “We were kids.”

“He could’ve died.”

“It was a joke.”

“Loki,” she sighed, “we’ll really have to talk about your definition of what’s funny or not.” Like turning up with a useless Throughput Multiplier and turning himself into a tree, Ophelia thought. She was still waiting for the funny part of it all. She took a step away from the balcony and looked at him. “Why are you trying to build a Throughput Multiplier ?”

“OB and Timely didn’t- Ophelia, are you certain you don’t want to take a look around ?”

“It’s all very beautiful,” she said, forcing herself to smile. “But I haven’t locked myself 400 years in the past to talk about how many tons of gold have been used to build this place.”

“You’ve noticed,” he said with a proud smile. He only stopped when she rolled her eyes, waiting for him to focus. “Haven’t I told you in the future ?”

He had a point there. Somehow, Ophelia didn’t want to tell him the truth yet. She needed to understand everything first. She needed him to fill in the blanks, and then she’d tell him about the tree and He Who Remains, and maybe about the things he’d accused her of. The problem was, Loki wasn’t a complete idiot and he’d already noticed that something was wrong with her. 

“Don’t take it the wrong way,” she carefully started, “but you were gone 400 years, Loki. You came back after 4 centuries, acting like a mad man. You had a Throughput Multiplier, you knew everything. You were very weird.” And yet, in the light of everything she’d been told lately, Loki’s weirdness seemed almost normal now. “From where I stand, building that thing drove you insane and I’m here to stop you,” she finished, rather proud of herself.