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Sylvie is, in fact, great at baking and thank you very much.
When she spent almost one entire year working at McDonald’s and living a normal life, she was living alone. She was trying to compensate for all the time she lost running, which meant doing everything normal people would do. And that included cooking and baking for herself. First of all, the stipend from McDonald’s was not amazing. She could always enchant someone into giving her free pre-made and ready food without necessarily having to pay for it, but it felt wrong. She was not running anymore. And there is something about a homecooked meal that always made her feel better. So, she tried. She bought those cooking books, colourful cupcake stamps and every possible colour of the rainbow for the frosting. However, cooking is not her forte. That much was clear after her third attempt at making something more difficult than pasta. Baking, though, was easy. And especially, it was fun. Because even if she screwed everything up – and she did the first times, most of the time – she could always eat it anyway, despite not being perfect. Of course one time she accidentally confused the salt with the sugar, but it was the container’s fault, not hers.
And she always had people ready to try something sweet at McDonald’s. And she was overjoyed in sharing food with others, probably because she had to steal it or rely on the kindness of strangers for too much time. She liked to give it back. It felt like the right thing to do, and it also helped to have someone else’s opinion.
Nonetheless, the days working at McDonald’s and Broxton are long gone. After the TVA, after rescuing Loki from his tree-situation and saving the multiverse, once again, by stabilizing it and removing Kang from the chess table, Loki and her could finally… live. Thor offered them a place in New Asgard, and they tried to stay within the city for the first few weeks, but there were too many people around. They were both still trying to figure out themselves, their relationship, and how to move forward. And it’s not easy. Ironically, everything is easier when you’re on the run when you don’t have time to stop and think about your actions for more than a split second. Because everything was moving so fast, they both needed to do the same. She moved from one mission to another – destroying the TVA, killing He-Who-Remains, and ultimately saving Loki. At the same time, Loki was dealing with centuries, if not millennials, of being alone. Of being tied up to the timelines and feeling completely powerless and alone. This stuff is not exactly easy on the mind, for either of them. Once they had the opportunity to relax and discover themselves, and each other, they realised being around people all the time wasn’t the best idea. Not immediately. They didn’t move far, anyway. Just at the end of New Asgard, one lonely cottage in the woods in Norway, where they have to walk for thirty minutes to get to the city centre, or bike fifteen – Sylvie’s favourite pastime since she learned how -, or use the TemPads they both still have. But the other methods are nicer. They make her feel normal, and the time spent from one place to another is time for thinking, which is something she never had the luxury to do.
Anyway, they have been living in their bubble in the woods for the past ten months, and today is Love’s birthday. She loves Love. Like, way too much for her own good. She was extremely scared at the beginning, about all the stuff she was feeling. Loving her isn’t easy, and she knows she didn’t exactly make it easy for Loki. She knew she loved him. And that scared her to death. It still does. To this day, she always waits for him to fall asleep, she needs to make sure he’s there before closing her eyes. And then, Thor came. And she started to love him too, like the brother she never had. He helped with Kang and the multiverse, but she didn’t meet Love until the situation was calmer. And from the moment she met her, she tried to be the best aunt in the world. It was awkward at first, but there was an immediate connection with the child – to be fair, she does have a very cool machete, very cool superpowers and a very cool haircut, so it only makes sense Love likes her. But today is her birthday – at least Thor has decided it’s her birthday – and Love asked her to make her favourite cookies for her and her friends. And she couldn’t say no, of course. Despite having to spend the entire day in the kitchen.
She had to make so many batches that she had to send Loki to the store to get more powdered sugar for the icing. Or so she said. Basically, he was distracting her. A couple of the cookies broke because she was paying more attention to him than what she was decorating. Not that it’s his fault, but he’s pretty. Beautiful. Perfect. And he was standing around doing absolutely nothing right other than being absolutely adorable, so she had to send him on an errand that would occupy at least an hour. Plus, she also got the chance to fix the wrapping paper of the gift – Loki wrapped it, she wanted to put more bows and decorations but he said one was enough. The moment he left, she added three bows on top. To be fair, it was fine. She’s just being a bit obsessive about this birthday party. She’s making insanely sweet buttery cookies, with different shapes, little human figures, animal figures, unicorns – Love loves unicorns -, hearts, stars. She decorated them with bright and pastel colours, edible glitter all over them. She has already cleaned up everything so she’s just finishing putting the chilled and ready cookies in three giant green and white striped boxes she bought a few days before.
She hears the door open and despite having her back to it, she doesn’t immediately turn to see who it is. She knows. The smell of cookies lingers in the house, the kitchen is still warm from the oven and Sylvie’s nose has just gotten used to it. She also removed her sweater, standing in the room with only an oversized t-shirt. Loki doesn’t announce himself, he just comes up behind her and abandons the powdered sugar on the counter, while the other arm circles her waist. He puts his chin on her head, looking at the finished result. And she doesn’t need to turn around to see he’s… confused. And then he sees the present on the kitchen table.
“Sylvie.”
“Mh?” She feigns innocence while she turns around, and he moves the other hand on her waist as well.
“Did you send me all the way to the store for powdered sugar just so you could add three more bows?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” One of her eyebrows shoots up, shaking her head a little bit. But she’s trying really hard not to smile.
“Liar.” He shifts a little bit, and their eyes find each other. He’s amused, and he presses his hands on her a little bit more, like he’s ready for her to run away and protect the present. And, to be fair, she’s thinking about it.
But at the end, she wrinkles her nose in a little satisfied smirk. “You were also distracting me. I just wanted to finish without you hovering over me.”
“I was distracting you? What was I doing?”
“I broke three cookies because you couldn’t keep your hands off me.” And when she says that, she places her hands on top of his, locking their fingers together. But she also nods to the touch, just to prove her point.
“You made at least two hundred cookies. This kitchen had you for the entire day.” His complaints just make her smile wider now, and she can’t control it.
“Are you jealous of the kitchen?”
“You never make all this effort for me. Only for Love.” They both know it’s not true, but they’re playing. And she’s enjoying it. She melts into his touch, while he pouts a little bit.
Sylvie leans forward, intending to steal a quick kiss. Loki immediately tries to deepen it but she just turns her face. “Sylvie.” He calls her again, still complaining, a little bit offended, and she could die. At this moment, she could die and she would still be so happy.
“I just need to keep the title of being Love’s favourite relative.” She smirks, again.
“Now, wait just a moment –“ And his mood changes instantly, like when he wants to prove he’s right. But Sylvie doesn’t let him finish.
“And I actually made something for you.” The words come out a little bit more shily and faster than she anticipated and she scrunches her nose, again. Loki doesn’t ask her anything, just lets her have enough space to move around when her body requests it. She doesn’t need to go far away, and one hand is still on her waist.
Sylvie just moves to the counter on the other side, where she previously baked a box of lemon cookies, which are Loki’s favourite. Completely different recipe from all the others she made today. And also the reason she needed at least an hour of peace from him. Since they were the last made, they’re still a bit hot.
“You probably won’t eat the ones I made for the party. And they’re going to have so many sweet things.” Loki is not exactly a fan of over-sugary desserts, unlike her. “For example, I asked Thor and what he was planning and he’s getting a heart-shaped red velvet cake with chocolate chips in it, and they’re serving hot chocolate as a drink. Which is a lot.” Not for her, but she can realise it’s a lot. “So you can bring a couple of these and don’t feel left out.” He’s still not talking, Sylvie just hears and feels his breath close to her ear. She was half-turned toward the counter but now she fully moves her body so she’s looking at him again. “Loki?” A little hint of confusion and panic in her voice.
“This is probably the nicest thing you’ve done for me.” He blurts out, almost shocked. The panic releases from her face, and her lips turn up in a little, shy, smile.
“I literally saved you from being a tree at the end of time.” It wasn’t only her, but she took the merit for that. “And I can think of at least six other nicer things I have done for you in the past forty-eight hours.” Another smirk, this time more provocative, and she doesn’t really need to explain what she means by that.
Loki returns the same look, but he doesn’t last long. “I know you did.” He leans down, still trapping her between his body and the kitchen counter, while he leaves a quick kiss on the side of her neck. “I just meant…” He hesitates, and he doesn’t look at her, just keeps moving his lips to her neck, her collarbone, and her shoulder. He moves the fabric of the oversized t-shirt away, his fingers brushing it slightly so his lips have more access.
“Loki..” Her hand searches for his face, so she can move it up to look at her instead of kissing her body – she knows exactly where he wants to go, and she will gladly let him once he talks to her. “What did you mean?” The softness in her tone doesn’t scare her anymore, but it’s still extremely unnatural.
“I don’t know. You thought about me. You promised to Love those cookies for her and all of her friends, which are a lot, and you still found the time to make those for me.” He follows her hand, which is still cradling his cheek, and his face is up while he talks, looking at her. His eyes are focused on her, and he’s looking at her like she’s the most splendid thing in the world, like he can’t look away, and he’s smiling just a bit. A tender, gentle, smile. Once again, she’s going to die. Which is why she suddenly feels a bit self-conscious.
“They’re... they’re just cookies.”
“I know.” His lips find her left cheek, now. “But you made them specifically for me.” Her other hand goes up to his hair, touching it almost slightly, curling her fingers through them.
“It’s not a problem. I mean, you know I like baking. Not a big deal. You deserve to enjoy something instead of pretending, or not eating the entire night, you know?” Again, the words come out a little bit faster than she would have liked. He nods slightly.
And then, in a very swift movement, he picks her up and both her hands lock behind his neck, keeping him close. She squeals in surprise while he puts her on the counter, her feet not touching the ground anymore. Her legs open just a bit, to allow him to fit right in, their chests extremely close now and his lips find hers, once again.
This time, she doesn’t move away from the kiss. It’s soft, gentle. One of his hands is resting on her knee, trailing up and down, caressing her slightly, while she keeps hers behind his neck, tugging his hair and just keeping him closer. Despite where this could go, and it will go there, the kiss remains very sweet for now. Both their eyes are still closed, and Loki is the first to open them, catching a little bit of breath. He’s still close, she can feel his breath on her mouth, and she just puts her forehead against his, with a tentative smile. He hasn’t answered before.
“You’re amazing. You’re…” He trails her cheek with his fingertips. “Despite everything, despite what I put you through and me being a daily idiot, you still thought about me.”
“Loki I will always think about you.” She exhales a little bit, and she’s not annoyed, but she really wants to pass this message across. “You’re always the first person I turn to when something funny happens, the only one I constantly worry about because he has shit plans and the last time he was left alone he turned himself into a tree -” There’s no amusement in her voice, but she still smiles, a little bit sadly. “And I will always look for you. You’re not getting rid of me.” It should be a threat, but the whole speech is too soft to pretend to intimidate him right now. “And I want you to be happy and enjoy… things. And the birthday party is going to be a lot for both of us, there’s no reason you can’t enjoy the dessert.”
Sylvie’s still looking at him, moving her head to the right just a little bit, so she can look better at him. “You know I want all of those things for you too, right?” She nods. But Loki continues talking, the adoration in his voice. “I want you to have everything.”
“I know. You did. You gave me everything.” And despite knowing this, she’s sad about it. Knowing the sacrifice Loki had to endure for her, for the entire multiverse. The timelines are okay. Loki is here. But the time spent apart, everything that happened in between, from the miscommunication and the constant fighting, just makes her a bit scared. Scared to lose him again. “Just..”
“Don’t turn myself into a tree again?” He teases a bit. “Noted.”
This topic comes up a lot between them. Right now is mostly by making jokes about it, but it’s not easy.
“Yeah, idiot.” She relaxes, her body still plastered to him. “And maybe you can try one of the other cookies. Just to make me happy.” Her smile grows on her face.
Loki moves one hand to open the box next to her, the one that smells like lemon. “Okay. But I already know which one I prefer. These are a normal colour, you know? Not purple. Food is not supposed to be purple or shiny, Syl.” He puts half in his mouth, while she leans forward to catch the other half and steals it from him while biting a little bit of his fingers as well.
She’s holding her laughter, again.
“Don’t steal my food,” Loki mumbles with his mouth full.
“You always say I can!”
And it’s true. No denying this.
“Fine. Come here.” But instead of kissing her, his fingers tickle her waist. She squirms a little bit on the spot but doesn’t actually try to get away. He’s also laughing now, and she loves how perfect the moment is.
Sylvie kisses his entire face now. Forehead, nose, cheeks, ears. And then she just hides her face in the crook of his neck, between the shoulder blade. The way they fit together is so, unbelievably, perfect. She still laughs a little bit against his clothes but then he stops the tickling and breathes in. So close to him, she can breathe his entire being, and there’s a little hint of lemon there, because of her cookies. Loki also rests his head on hers, and his arms slide behind her back, holding her close in a tight hug.
“I love you.”
“Remind me to make you cookies more often.” She’s still hiding her face, but he can feel the smile on her lips.
“Thank you. If I didn’t say it.”
“I think it was implied in all the nice compliments.” And since it’s Sylvie, she bites a little bit of his skin against the neck. He nips at her back. When she turns her face up, “My pleasure.” Looking straight into his eyes.
“How much time do you need to get ready?” He asks a few seconds later, his hand going back to her thigh.
“Mh, I don’t know. For what?”
“I could be persuaded to eat more icing.” He says, his eyes darkening a bit and Sylvie’s grin just grows wider.
“I mean, the party is at seven. And the kitchen is already cleaned. And we have a very useful thing called magic that lets us get ready in seconds..”
Loki’s lips are already on hers, more hungrily.
“Couch.” It’s the only thing she can squeeze in to say between their kisses – because she’s not cleaning the kitchen again, thank you very much - and Loki picks her up again, both their bodies eager.
And Sylvie couldn’t be happier.