After leaving the refugee centre, Magda drives farther into the city to a run down community centre with splotchy paint covering graffiti instead of murals on the outer walls. The sign is rusty, the paint flaking, but Loki can read that it says "Sylvia Rivera Safe Haven".

"What sort of place is this?"

"A transgender resource centre, but it is more of a safe haven than anything else. We do refer people to services when they need it, try to help with housing, food, clothing, but the connections our people make to one another are the most valuable thing we create."

"Who was Sylvia Rivera?"

"A revolutionary. She is said to have started the queer rights movement- the transgender woman who threw the first stiletto heel at the police after they raided a gay bar decades ago. Or perhaps it was a brick. She was subversive in every way she could be, making sure that those who would rather we disappear saw her clearly. She was everything people feared and she paved the way for our lives to exist in the open. And so we named this centre in her honour, as we are the ones still feared and still pushed to the fringe."

Magda parks the car in a fenced lot behind the building. There are security cameras everywhere and they sign in before heading to a dimly lit lounge where a few other volunteers are making photocopies of a flier and brewing coffee.

Magda finds her name tag on the cork board and makes one for Loki, "Things are a bit different here. We have some activities, and some support groups, but it is not so extensive as at the refugee centre. People come and go more quickly, and many of our clients are homeless or addicted to a variety of substances. Life is more gritty here."

"Ah. What ought I expect?"

"That the people we serve love and hurt no differently than anyone else."

One of the other volunteers, an older woman in a bright floral print skirt, interrupts their conversation, "Now Maggie, darling, here you bring us this delightful young man, but don't introduce him? Where are your manners, child?" Her gentle chiding is playful, and she lightly clucks her tongue in reproach.

"Erie, this is Loki. Loki, Erie. She is one of the founders of this centre."

"Well I wouldn't say a founder. I just happened to have a building I needed to find a use for, and there were people who had a use and no building. We made miracles together to get this place off the ground."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Erie."

"Same here, same here. You said you're name's Loki?"

"Yes."

"Good, I heard right. Not a usual name. How do you know Maggie?"

"I met her through her friend, Wanda."

"She's a sweet girl. A little strange, but who wouldn't be, with all she's been through? She's stopped by a few times, comes to the big charity ball around the holidays." There is a string of profanity from the direction of the copy machine, "Ooop, gotta go before Ripley threatens to burn the copier."

"Too late, Erie, I'm ready to set the thing on fire. Or go all Office Space on it. Anybody got a baseball bat?"

"Only copier we have, kid. Hold your temper."

"But it's a really shitty copier."

"Still, a shitty copier's better than no copier."

Ripley sighs, "Just get it going again. The AIDS fair's tonight and I've got a lot of canvassing to do."

Erie sets to work tinkering with the copy machine, a process which involves opening and slamming a lot of panels and drawers, slapping it repeatedly on the side, and unplugging it at least twice. Eventually, it starts spitting out copies again.

Magda takes Loki's hand, "Come. I want you to meet some of the people who drop by every day." She leads him to a large room where a few square tables are set with board games. Four people play cards in a corner. Two young women are doing makeup on a couch. One young man sketches, and a pair of androgynous individuals look on. Magda slides into a seat and gestures for Loki to do the same. She begins to set pieces out on the checked board, "In a few moments, Alexi will drift over. He is sketching. He is fascinated by chess and plays quite well."

"I have never played this game."

"I will teach you. And then I will leave you to learn from Alexi while I visit with a few young people."

"Oh."

"You will like Alexi. Trust me. I think you two will find yourselves to be quite good friends in a short while."

Magda's plan works. She walks Loki through the ways the pieces move and before she has finished, Alexi is hovering over his shoulder. Before long, he slides a chair beside Loki and watches the game. Then Magda leaves and he drops into her seat.

"Hello."

"Hello."

"You were at the refugee centre with Magda, too, weren't you? You made friends with Padma."

"Yes. You were there as well?"

"Yeah. That was sweet of you. She's a good kid."

"She braids very well. She has impressive attention to detail."

"So what's your deal? I heard you were some kind of exile from space. Thor's adopted brother?"

"Yes, though how I ended up here is not the most uplifting story and I would like to end this day on a high note."

"Duly noted. But why are you here?"

Loki pauses, his bishop hovering over the board, "Because I am sometimes Lady Loki, princess of Asgard, rather than Lord Loki, prince of Asgard."

"Only sometimes?"

"Yes."

"Huh. I would have thought you were always Lady and Lord, but just one or the other needed to be expressed. They're both part of you, aren't they? And aren't they always both there, even if they don't want to be on the surface?"

"I suppose. I have never considered such."

"You aren't very talkative."

"I am trying to remember how this horse piece moves."

"In the L."

"Thank you."

"So...keep talking. Tell me about yourself."

"Wanda says that I am gender fluid. It is not a term we have in Asgard. But I like the imagery it invokes of flowing between Sister and Brother."

"It is pretty nifty. I'm just regular old transgender. FTM."

"Excuse me? I do not understand FTM."

"Oh. Female to male. I didn't do the surgeries, though. I just don't know if I can do something that big yet. But I'm saving my pennies in case I do. And if I don't, hell, I have a retirement fund."

"Ah. You will have to forgive me, but so much is so very new. Why would you not wish to change your body?"

"Just in case there's a reason down the road that I need my parts like they are. I don't know. Maybe I'll adopt a kid and the baby will need to nurse and the mom won't be able to. I could use my breasts then, induce lactation, and still be dad, just a different kind of dad. Or maybe I'll get really brave and want to bear a kid of my own. And I don't know if I want to remove both he parts and the possibility, you know?"

"No, actually, I do not know. But I accept this."

"You're cute. What don't you get about it?"

"I could once shapeshift into whichever body I wished, male or female. The body was quite important. I wish I still could. So that clouds my understanding."

Alexi tips over Loki's king, "Gotcha. To me, the body is only part of it. I'm OK with looking like a guy, living like a guy, and feeling like a guy, and still having my lady bits. Some people aren't. That's cool, too."

"And some of us wish to live in between."

"Yeah, well, we haven't figured out the science on that one yet. So you've got to do what you can with the clothes and meds."

"Perhaps the next time you see me, I will be Lady Loki."

"Maybe. But right now, I just checkmated you."

Loki tips over his king, "That you did. Another game?"

"You want to play until you beat me."

"Of course. It is not only my brother who refuses to lose."

Alexi grins and resets the board, "Good."

In the car on the way home, Loki is still happy. First Padma, then Alexi. Two very good reasons to smile. He is lost in thoughts even as Magda parks the car in front of her flat. She walks him to his front door.

"Will you feel safe by yourself tonight?"

"Yes. Thank you, Magda, for everything. And for a delightful day."

"I am glad you believe it was time well spent."

As he steps through the front door, he flips a little card between his fingers, "Oh, it most certainly was. Tomorrow, you must teach me to make a telephone call. Alexi said I must call and gave me these numbers."

"Did he ask you on a date?"

"He said to call him so that we might dine together."

"That is a date."

"I had a wonderful time talking while playing chess. I think a date would be fun."

Magda hugs him and kisses his cheeks, "Dream sweetly, my dear. Tomorrow we learn to use the telephone."