When Magda arrives with her games, Loki is setting up a tea service and coffee pot on the dining table. She sets the games on one of the chairs.

"What can I do to help?"

"Can you bring out the mugs?"

"Yes, my darling. You look lovely today. Is that the blouse Wanda found at the estate sale?"

"It is. And the skirt is one you gave me."

"They go together well."

"Thank you. I have never worn a floral print such as this."

Magda brings out the cups and sets them in the centre of the table, "Do you like it?"

"Very much. And the fabric is comfortable." Someone knocks, "That will be Wanda and Thor. Would you get the door?"

When they enter the dining room, Thor enthusiastically declares, "I come bearing salsa chips, pretzels, and the glory of cheese sticks!"

Loki shows him where to find serving dishes and Thor drops the bags on the counter and hugs Loki, "Hello, Sister! It is so good to see you, it has been far too long!"

She snuggles against him, "I have been right here, Brother. You can visit any time you like."

"Business both in Asgard and with the Avengers has been swift."

"It always will be, here or there. But do make time to stop by. I will miss you if you vanish entirely from my life."

"This from the you who tried to distance yourself from me so greatly."

"You said we were no longer brothers; I merely accepted your pronouncement."

"Then it was I who was the fool. But that is the past. Now is the time for celebration! Wanda tells me you had a date last night?"

Loki slips from his embrace and begins plating snacks, passing dishes to Magda for arrangement on the long narrow table that serves as the buffet, "Oh yes. A delightful one. And you will meet Alexi when he finishes his shift."

"I will be honoured to meet the one who has captured my Sister's heart. It is not every day I encounter someone who can still a soul so often in flight."

"I have not told him everything yet. So please, no revelations about my past. I have spoken of Asgard very little with Alexi. He knows I have something horrible to share, but he has been gracious enough to let me have two dates that have ended well without such unpleasantness."

"When do you plan to tell him?"

"Soon, Thor. Very soon."

Thor slowly folds the bags, carefully choosing his words, "The anniversary of our mother's death approaches. There will be a feast-"

"No, Thor. I cannot travel with you."

"I have Father's permission to bring you."

"No. And while I am grateful for what it must have taken you to receive said permission, I cannot attend. Give my regards to those we once called friends and light a candle for her in my stead."

He expected this resistence, but he does not like it, "Why do you persist in this stubbornness? She has done you no wrong."

"Exactly. That is why I will not attend. I will not cause strife with Odin by insisting on being in Asgard on the anniversary of her death. It would dishonour her to sow discord with my presence. And so I will stay here."

"You do not believe Father would hold his tongue?"

"Has he ever?"

He laughs, "Truer words have never been spoken. But enough of this. We have games, food, and, when the time comes, I will meet your beloved."

"Don't you dare call him that." The warning is playful, but it is still a warning.

"Fear not, Sister, I shall only call him by his name."

After a few hours of games, there is a knock on the door. While Loki answers, Magda opens the box of wine. Alexi is in a good mood even after a long day on his feet.

"Well don't you just look lovely today! You look good in a skirt."

"Thank you. You are looking dashing yourself. We are at the dining table. Come, I wish to introduce you to my brother."

"Oooo, the first test! I have to pass the brother inspection. I hope he's not cleaning a shotgun."

"You will have to explain that later."

"Yeah, I will."

Thor stands when they enter, "Alexi! It is good to meet you. Loki has spoken fondly of you."

"Alexi, this is Thor."

"Hey, Thor. It's nice to meet you." He turns to Loki, "Holy hell, he's taller in person than he looks on the TV."

Thor laughs, "I have noticed that Midgardian television rarely depicts me beside my more average height friends. Of course I do not look so tall beside Anthony in his suit, Bruce when he is green, or Steve with his shield. But beside Natasha, Wanda, or Clint? I appear much taller." He gestures to the chairs, "Would you care to take a seat? Magda was just teaching us one of Midgard's regional card games. Euchre, I think she called it."

"It is from the midwest. Michigan, mostly. Erie taught me. Settle in. We will finish this hand and I will sit out the next."

"Thanks, but you don't have to do that."

"Oh yes, I do- I am Loki's partner. We play across the table. So come sit beside me so you can learn. We cannot let Thor and Wanda win."

"Has anyone at this table other than you ever played this game?"

"Wanda."

"Oh good, I won't be too terrible."

They play games for hours. Magda retrieves another box of wine from her house. Loki starts supper and the kitchen is lively. She chases Thor out for not being helpful at least twice while he and Wanda are animatedly telling Alexi stories of their adventures.

After putting the rolls in the oven, Loki stretches and brushes her hair back from her face, "He seems to be getting along with everyone fine."

"Alexi? Yes. If by 'everyone' you mean Thor. We know him already."

"Yes."

"You were worried they would not like one another?"

"More-so that Thor would not behave himself. Or that Alexi would be too starstruck to see Thor as my brother, not just one of the famed Avengers."

"You have not yet told Alexi of your life in Asgard, have you?"

"No."

Magda sighs, "You and he are falling together beautifully. But you do need to talk. Before he learns any other way, be it from a slip of Thor's tongue or something goes wrong in Asgard and it seeks you out."

"I will."

She places a hand on Loki's shoulder, "Sooner, rather than later?"

"Yes. Just allow me to get through the anniversary of Frigga's death. Then we will talk."

"Of course."

"It should not feel like both an eternity and the blink of an eye, should it?"

"Grief touches us all differently. Is feels however it feels."

"Thank you, Magda."

"Shall I clear the table?"

"Yes. Supper will be ready soon."

Magda takes her time putting the games away and gathering the little plates and bowls from their snacking. Loki needs a moment alone and this is her way of giving it. A little break built into their plans. She deposits the dishes in the sink quietly, retrieves a box of tissue from the bathroom, and says nothing as Loki composes herself. Magda washes the dishes, sets the table, and stirs the curried vegetables.

"Are you ready for me to call the others to the table?"

Loki wipes her eyes, "Yes. Just allow me to escape to the bathroom first."

Magda brings the others to the table just as Loki slips back into the kitchen. She delivers steaming pans of rice, curried vegetables, and chicken to the table. The scents are tantalizing. The basket of rolls set in the centre completes the scene.

"I have rarely cooked before living here. But this is what Magda has taught me."

Thor and Alexi are both impressed by the meal. It tastes as good as it smells and there are no leftovers. When they finish, they drink wine and their games become progressively more silly as the night wears on. It is very late when Alexi leaves, kissing Loki's cheek after she walks him to the car. Magda and Wanda return next door and Thor settles into the guest room. Before he goes to bed, he stops by Loki's room. She sits at her dressing table brushing her hair. Her face washed clean of makeup, her clothes exchanged for a soft cotton robe, Loki is not much different from when they were younger.

"May I, Sister?"

"Yes, you may." Thor takes the brush and runs it through her waves.

"I have always loved your hair. When we were very young, I thought it odd that you were the dark haired one in a world of light haired people. I thought it meant you had been chosen for something special. Something grand. Something so very different than the fate expected of you. And when you cut Sif's hair and hers turned dark like yours, I though for certain that I had found the answer- someone had given you dwarvish hair. Mother rebuked me when I asked who had replaced your hair when you were so young. Of my theories, I think the first was the most accurate."

She leans back against Thor, the brush forgotten in favour of the quiet warmth of her brother's body, "Do you still believe such things, now that I am of Midgard?"

"Possibly more-so. You said you always felt under my shadow, and I do not see that Father would do better without Mother to temper him. Here, you are simply Loki. No one needs to know even that you are of Asgard. Your path is entirely your own. On that path you will do great things, my Sister."

"My life here will be so short. A blink, compared to that which I have already lived."

"Do you still feel the seconds ticking away? Can you feel your body dying?"

Loki closes her eyes as Thor rakes his fingers though the hair at her temples, "No."

"You are adapting. Learning. Becoming more of Midgard than of either Asgard or Jotunheim. Father told me this would happen."

"And why would he share this with you?"

"Because he does not want me to hurt too deeply when you forget me."

She sighs, "You are far more likely to forget me, in your life of quests and adventures, my remaining 70 years, at best, a mere fragment of a day to you."

Thor wraps his arms around her, his voice quiet, firm, assuring in her ear, "I will not forget you. This I promise. I will visit you whenever I can. I will bring you word of Asgard if you ask. And I will smuggle things here from your other life, if you wish."

"Thank you."

He releases her and returns to brushing her hair, "I enjoyed meeting Alexi today. He seems like a good man."

"I am fond of him."

"I can tell. You have always worn your heart on your sleeve. How did you meet him?"

"He drops in to the refugee centre and into the Silvia Rivera Safe Haven."

"The what?"

"The Safe Haven- it is a transgender resource centre. Magda spends many hours there."

"Transgender. That is what you are, correct?"

"Yes."

"Is Alexi?"

"Yes. But he is always he. Just as Magda is always she."

"Magda was ever not she?"

"Yes."

"I would have never known. There are so many varieties of Midgardian people. Father acts as though they are all the same, but I have seen otherwise. It is one of the things that makes this realm remarkable."

"And now I am one of them."

"Yes, you are."

"One of millions. You say I will do great things, but I cannot help but feel entirely insignificant."

"Great things do not have to shatter the world. They can reshape only a part of it and still be great."

"Wise words, Thor. Who taught you those? Jane? A hero does not often think in terms of a small scale."

Thor sets down the brush and sits on the edge of the bed as Loki drops the bathrobe and readies for bed, "No. Mother."

Loki smiles, "Then I suppose it must be true." Thor tucks her into bed, kisses her forehead, and turns out the light, much as he did when they were still children.