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The library had long since closed, but Kaylee was still there, glasses perched on her nose, a half-empty mug of tea cooling beside a fortress of books. The silence pressed soft against her, the kind she craved more than sleep.
“Tell me, dove,” a low voice broke the hush, “do all Midgardian librarians work themselves into an early grave, or is that honor exclusively yours?”
Kaylee startled, then scowled over the rim of her glasses. “You shouldn’t be here.”
Loki leaned lazily against the doorway, green eyes glinting in the lamplight, a smirk tugging at his mouth. “And yet, here I am.”
“Because you missed me,” she muttered, stacking a book a little too firmly.
His smirk widened. “Careful, Lore. You’ll give me ideas.”
Their banter carried them easily, the hour slipping unnoticed. Loki conjured a hovering star map above the desk, constellations burning gold. Kaylee reached out instinctively, her fingers brushing through the illusion.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered. “Is this… Asgard?”
For once, Loki’s smile faltered. “Yes. And no. A memory, perhaps. A shadow of what was.”
Kaylee’s chest tightened. She lowered her hand, voice gentler. “Do you miss it?”
He hesitated — rare for him. “Sometimes. But then I find myself here, and I realize not all exile is a curse.”
The quiet settled between them like a blanket. Kaylee closed her book. “I miss home, too,” she admitted softly. “But the library… it’s safe. Even when I feel like I don’t fit anywhere else.”
Loki studied her, expression unreadable. Then, slowly, he dismissed the star map and replaced it with a softer glow, a constellation she recognized from Earth. “Then let us say,” he murmured, “you are not the only one who feels out of place.”
They didn’t speak much after that. The silence wasn’t heavy anymore — it was easy. Comfortable. Kaylee’s head tilted against the back of the chair, eyelids drooping.
Loki didn’t move to leave. Instead, with the faintest flick of magic, the lamps dimmed to a warm glow. He sat beside her, watching the stars he had conjured for her alone.
When Kaylee finally drifted off, her head resting lightly against his shoulder, Loki only exhaled softly and let her sleep.
“Not all exile is a curse,” he repeated, more to himself than her.