"So, what do I get when I win?" Sylvie waggled her eyebrows in Loki's direction before squaring up to her golf ball on the first hole.

Mini golf was definitely not Loki's first choice for their next outing, but because Sylvie had been so sad after seeing Thomas in Central Park, he thought it would be the gentlemanly thing to do to let her pick where they went. The weather was nice, though, and you really couldn't beat the cool breeze off the Hudson River and great view of the skyline. Plus, a little friendly competition never hurt anyone.

"How do you know I'm not some sort of mini golf prodigy?" Loki asked as Sylvie made a decent putt that set her up nicely for par.

"Are you?" Sylvie easily sank her ball on her second putt.

"That's not the point," Loki said. "We just started and, who knows, I might be good at this? I think I partook in some putt-putt once for a classmate's birthday party when I was eight or so." His first putt rolled behind a decorative rock just off the green. "I have a strong learning curve. You'll see."

"Whatever you say," Sylvie called out. "But you're buying drinks when I win."


"May I have an Old Fashioned, please? And one slice each of the banoffee and peanut butter chocolate pies please. Thanks," Loki said to the waitress with a smile.

"And may I have the Bubby's Punch, please? Thank you." Sylvie handed both her and Loki's menus to the waitress before addressing the smug man sitting across from her. "I can't believe you won."

"Honestly, neither can I," Loki admitted. "The drinks are still on me, though. And the pie. We're sharing that, by the way. I can't eat two pieces by myself, but I wanted both flavors. And, since I am the victor, I feel you kind of have to go along with what I want. Because I won."

Sylvie rolled her eyes but couldn't help but smile. "You didn't win a lot as a kid, did you? You have an older brother, right?"

Loki's smile faded a bit, but he still nodded. "Yep. Older brother. Older adopted brother, it turns out. That was quite the shock, recently."

"Wait, your brother was adopted?" Loki shook his head. "Oh shit, you're adopted." Loki nodded slowly. "And you only just found out?!" Loki kept nodding. "Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? How do you feel about that?"

Loki shrugged and shook his head. "Like my whole life has been a lie?"

Sylvie frowned. "Do you know who your biological parents are?"

"Were," Loki corrected her. "They, uh… they died when I was only a few months old. Best friends of my mum and dad. I mean, my adopted mum and dad. My mum and dad? The people who raised me."

"Your parents," Sylvie said gently. "Loki, they're your parents. You've been with them pretty much your whole life and they took care of you. It's okay to think of them as your own. Because they kind of are."

"But don't you think they could have told me sooner that I wasn't their kid?" Sylvie gave him a pointed look that said you were their kid. "You know what I mean. I'm in my thirties, Sylvie. It feels a bit late for that kind of breaking news."

The waitress came back with their drinks and slices of pie. Both Sylvie and Loki gave her grateful smiles (even if Loki's was a bit forced) and thanked her.

Sylvie picked up a fork and stabbed the end of the peanut butter chocolate pie. "Was this your 'stuff'?"

Loki looked at her, confused. "I beg your pardon?"

She put the forkful of pie in her mouth and almost moaned at how delicious it tasted. "That first day we met. Mobius said you had stuff you didn't want to talk about. Was this your 'stuff'?"

Loki grabbed the other fork, speared a chunk of the banoffee pie, and shoved it in his mouth. "Maybe," he said behind a hand he used to cover his mouth while he chewed.

"Are you telling me this because I told you about Thomas?"

Loki swallowed and took a sip of his drink, savoring the burn in the back of his throat. "Maybe."

"You don't have to do this, you know," Sylvie said quietly.

"Do what?" Loki asked.

"Make yourself bleed."

Loki looked at the table. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Look, I don't know what you and Mobius were supposed to be talking about during your little meet ups or whatever, but don't feel obligated to tell me stuff just because I told you some shitty stuff about me." Sylvie chugged her entire drink and put the empty glass on the table as Loki watched in shock. "Thanks for the drink. I'll text you, okay?"

Sylvie grabbed her purse and made a beeline for the exit leaving Loki alone at their table. He glanced around the restaurant and other patrons were staring at him. He wondered what they were thinking.

He wanted to leave, but his legs felt like lead, so he stayed at the table, sipping his drink and eating forkfuls of the pies until everything was gone. Loki felt sick when he got back to his apartment later, but he couldn't tell if it was from the rich desserts or because of how Sylvie left so suddenly.