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“Loki, I can barely get my keys out of a pocket dimension. I have to get angry to get any of my spells to work. What makes you think I’m ready to shapeshift?” Sylvie threw her head back with a loud sigh while she stood in the middle of their living room floor.
“Shapeshifting isn’t the same as magic,” Loki explained while pushing their coffee table against the wall. “It doesn’t need high emotion to work. It’s simply existing .”
Sylvie eyed the living room now practically bare of their furniture all shoved off to the corner.
“Then why do I need so much room?” She then pointed to the candles he set up in the center of the room. “And why are we lighting candles?
Loki started lighting them one by one. “Because shapeshifting works best when all your senses are dulled. And the furniture.” He eyed their brand new sofa and recliner set. “Well… sometimes things could go wrong and we just paid off the furniture set-
“Are you joking?” Sylvie exclaimed. Her eyes were wide and she looked ready to dart out the front door like a frightened deer.
Loki put his hands on his hips. “Hey, I recently learned that when you no longer have disposable income and servants at your beck and call, suddenly the things you pay for are more valuable.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.” He countered with an amusing glint in his eyes. “I refuse to go back to eating our dinner on lawn chairs and a plastic folding table.” Sylvie’s worried crease on her forehead didn’t ease. He pulled her in his arms and pressed a kiss on her forehead. “You’ll be fine.”
Sylvie groaned. “I don’t want to be like The Alligator and be perpetually stuck in the body of a chicken.”
Loki furrowed his eyebrows. “I’m pretty sure The Alligator is that way for a different reason. Anyway, you won’t be stuck, I’ll be here to guide you. As long as we start simple, you shouldn’t have trouble changing back.”
“And if I don’t change back?”
Loki hummed a thoughtful tune.
“Well, I’m sure we could still make our marriage work.”
“You’re not funny.” Sylvie scowled.
“We could renew our vows as rooster and hen,” he teased.
Sylvie bit her lips holding back a laugh.
“You said you wanted to know what it was like,” he reminded her.
“I did.”
“I’ve seen you tackle a beast that lived in the clouds of a void. You can enchant the strongest of minds. This should be a piece of cake.”
“Enchantments are different. I don’t need the same level of concentration.”
“You’ll see. Once you learn how, you’ll realize there’s nothing to be afraid of.” Loki guided Sylvie by the hand to the center of the floor and the two sat down with their legs crossed facing one another so their knees were touching.
“Alright then.” Sylvie took a deep breath.
“Ready?”
Sylvie nodded.
Loki raised his hand and with a wave, all the lights in the house, apart from the candles, went out. Leaving the two in a dimly lit room.
“Almost like the first night we moved in,” Sylvie smirked.
“Eating takeout on the floor with an air mattress so generously lent from Jane with a single candle to light up the room.” Loki pursed his lips. “What a difference a couple of years and a savings account can do.”
Sylvie laughed. “It was the first night I was technically home . I never had any kind of place of my own, let alone my own house.”
Loki’s heart warmed at the way his wife’s eyes brightened. He remembered that night. He never held her in his arms and felt her so relaxed and at peace. It was like for the first time in her life she could rest.
“Me too.” He smiled with a gentle squeeze of her hands. “Now, close your eyes,” he instructed.
Sylvie obeyed and took in a deep breath. “We’ll start with something simple. Like… a goat.”
Sylvie wrinkled her nose. “A goat?”
“It doesn’t require a lot of work, just trust me. Picture a goat in your mind. Its size, its head, its hooves.”
“Its smell,” Sylvie added.
Loki smirked. “Think about the way it moves and simply… exists. Picture yourself existing as that goat and just let yourself be what feels right. You’re not becoming the goat, you are the goat. You’re simply showing that to everyone.”
“Okay, that doesn’t make any sense.”
“But it does,” Loki explained. “Think about how easy it is for you to become someone else when you enchant them. It’s the same feeling without using your magic.”
Sylvie hummed. “Okay.”
“Good. Now just relax and picture yourself in an empty space and become what you desire, and let go.”
Loki could see Sylvie relax her shoulders and the tension leave her body one by one. He remained still. Giving her complete silence and control. He was surprised at how easy it was for her to fall into this state of concentration. Perhaps her enchantment magic has prepared her for this sort of patience?
It only took twenty minutes to see a change begin to form. It was slow and gradual, but it looked like a ripple in the air started forming around Sylvie and encasing her body. Her breathing grew deeper and more shallow.
Loki blinked and the next thing he knew, Sylvie was gone. His heart dropped for a moment before he looked down and saw a brown spotted snake coiled on the ground and blinking up at him. It flicked out its tongue and stretched up so it was at eye level with Loki.
“Sylvie,” Loki said carefully.
Loki thought the snake was giggling at him. She was giggling at him.
“It worked!”
“But you’re not a goat,” Loki frowned.
“No, but I think this is better!”
Loki tilted his head and his jaw dropped. “You intended to be a snake?”
“It took me forever to transform into a goat. Something about it felt off . Maybe I didn’t like the thought of smelling like a barn turned me away. You said shapeshifting is like existing and letting the world see what you desire.”
“So you desired a snake?”
“I desired what felt right. Once I got past that block, transforming was as simple as breathing. I can’t explain it. A snake just felt like me .”
Loki leaned back and studied his wife up and down. He couldn’t believe what was in front. He wouldn’t say snakes were the most difficult but he recalled it took some practice before he learned how to completely transform his whole body like that.
“Sylvie, I-”
“What? Did I do it wrong?” She blinked.
“This is incredible,” he breathed. “You’re incredible. I’m so proud!” A wide grin spread across his face.
“Really?”
“Really,” he echoed. “You’re a natural.”
Sylvie tilted her head down like she was hiding a blush.
“Let’s try it out!”
“Huh?”
Sylvie looked at their front door and flicked out her tongue. “I want to see what I can do with this form.” Sylvie slithered past Loki and made her way over towards the door.
“Wait! Are you sure? Sylvie. Sylvie!”
Sylvie ignored Loki’s calls and climbed up and out through their mail slot. Loki followed after Sylvie and opened the front door.
“Sylvie!” By the time he reached the front porch, she was gone. Loki scanned their front yard but the tall grass and weeds made a perfect environment for a snake to hide in. “Sylvie wait!” He called a second time.
Her head popped up behind a sunflower. In the sunlight only then could he pick up the little detailing on her forehead that matched her favorite helmet she loves to wear. He wondered if she thought of that while transforming. “Come along, then, if you want to follow.” Sylvie said.
Loki’s heart warmed at her invitation and without a second thought allowed his body to transform into a sleek black snake. What’s the sense in letting her have all the fun?
“Very well,” Loki said and followed his wife behind. “Though, stay away from the river. Swimming as a snake isn’t as easy as it looks.”
“You’re not the greatest swimmer, my love,” Sylvie teased.
“I was wearing my armor! I was bound to sink in the lake.”
Sylvie chuckled and they slithered through the grass together.
“And keep low to the tall grass,” Loki explained. “Hawks do not have time to ask if you’re prey and will swipe you up when your back is turned.”
“I suppose you know that from experience, too?”
“My mother screamed when she saw her six year old son falling through the trees and into her rose bushes.”
“Bet you gave the hawk quite a fright,” she laughed.
“Wouldn’t be the first one frightened by my snake form.”
Loki followed Sylvie through the grass and watched her tour their yard with her new set of eyes. Occasionally she’d comment how weird the colors looked or the small creatures she would have never noticed without her new senses. He showed her how to climb a tree. It took her several attempts but once she learned how to use the grooves and ridges to leverage herself up, the two managed to coil themselves up on a branch.
“Our house looks taller from up here,” Sylvie noted.
“Might have something to do that we are now three inches tall.” Loki said.
“Oh, right.” Sylvie flicked her tail and watched it hang loosely over the branch.
“A snake used to be my favorite form,” he confessed.
“Why is that?”
“Don’t know. Might have been like you said. It felt like me . I always had a fascination with snakes. They’re small but the most fearsome creatures. Some can even kill large animals. Lots of animals are naturally afraid of anything that may look like a snake. Nobody asks why to fear a snake. They just know .”
“I don’t think I was ever afraid of snakes.”
“No, I don’t suppose you would be.” Loki inched a bit closer. “You had bigger things to fear.”
Sylvie nodded. “Maybe a part of you wanted what snakes had.”
“What do you mean?”
Sylvie hummed, “Hmm, maybe it was because snakes never have to prove themselves. Maybe you liked the idea of having people just know you are fierce and capable without relying on magic.”
Loki blinked. He wanted to counter her point, but how could he? She knew him too well. His life and childhood. She was right. There was always a part of him that felt the need to prove his worthiness. Thor had his thunder and hammer. Loki had…what? His wits. Magic. None of that earned him any respect on Asgard. If anything, it’s what gave him disrespect.
“Is that why you chose the snake?” Loki said.
“I don’t know,” Sylvie sighed. “I remember seeing a family of snakes in our garden the other day and wondered how nice it might be to live a simple life. Just hunt and rest with little predators to run from.”
“Sylvie, you know you can do that now.” Loki nudged his head so it bumped with Sylvie’s “We’ve stopped running years ago.”
“Sometimes I wonder if I’ll have to run again,” she confessed. “Everything we worked for. The house. The furniture. It could all be for nothing if the wrong variant showed up.”
“I don’t want you thinking like that.”
“But how can I not?”
Loki moved back an inch silent.
“I was so happy,” she said. “I had everything I needed. I never wanted for anything or spoke out of turn. I loved my family dearly. I was excited to grow up and be a princess my mother would be proud of and it got snatched from me like… like a hawk would snatch a snake,” she laughed.
“How long have you felt this way?”
Sylvie slowly lowered her head so it rested on the branch. “Since the day we moved in,” she said sadly. “I still have those dreams.”
Loki remembered. They’re farther and fewer between but he was no stranger to being awoken in the middle of the night to Sylvie clutching her pillow and quietly sobbing because she had to watch Kang drive a sword through Loki’s chest.
He had to be careful when moving on the branch, but Loki slowly inched himself closer and rested his head on top of Sylvie’s. He imagined pressing a kiss on top of her head like he always does, but it didn’t feel the same. Instead, he flicked out his tongue to the side of her face.
Sylvie flinched back, surprised. Then blinked.
“Did you just lick my face?”
“I kissed you,” he argued.
“It was a lick.”
“What would you call a kiss?”
Sylvie tilted her head. “Not with your tongue.”
“You try comforting someone when you don’t have arms to hug them.”
Sylvie gave a look. It was hard for Loki to tell given that snakes could emote very little, but he was pretty sure she was smiling because she leaned forward and nuzzled the side of Loki’s face with her nose.
“Like that . I used to see a lot of people across The Sacred Timeline kiss this way.”
Loki closed his eyes and returned the gesture. For some reason it felt more intimate than how he would usually kiss her.
“I wish I could tell you that would never happen to us and that you’re safe, but I don’t think that’s what you need to hear.” Loki said.
“No, I don’t think so either.”
“What if I tell you I’m here for you?” Loki nuzzled the side of Sylvie’s face once more. “And about the house and furniture. We don’t need any of those things to feel like we’re home. We have each other and could make any place our home. Just as Asgard had to make this place their home.” He turned his head and motioned to the small town behind the tree.
“I’d say I married a cheesy sap.”
“A cheesy sap that won’t ever leave your side,” he said while bumping his forehead with hers.
Sylvie pressed one more nuzzle to Loki’s face then said, “Now, how do I get down from here?”
“The easy way or the hard way?” He chuckled.
“What’s the easy way?”
“We change back, break the branch and catch ourselves when we fall off the tree.”
Sylvie looked down from where they were sitting. It wasn’t a high drop, but she wasn’t up for taking chances.
“Show me the hard way.”
Loki took the lead and coiled himself on the tree while slowly inching off. When he reached a safe distance he plopped himself in the grass and waited for Sylvie to follow. Sylvie took a bit longer, but managed to find decent spots to grip herself on.
“Are you hungry?” Loki said while leading Sylvie back inside.
“Yeah, actually. Didn’t think that would work up an appetite.”
“What are you up for?”
“Hmm,” she looked around. “How does a field mouse sound?”
“What?” Loki stopped and looked at his wife. “You’re joking.”
Sylvie’s eyes narrowed a bit when she laughed. “It’s not so bad and I bet I could catch them faster with these reflexes!”
“You’ve done it before?”
“Plenty of times on the run. They don’t taste that great but you make it work.”
Loki lowered his head and muttered, “My love, New Asgard finally got Doordash. I will never let you eat another mouse again now that I can get short ribs whenever I please.”
“Fine, but you’re putting the furniture back. I’m not sitting on the floor.”
“Deal.”
The two returned back inside and chose a place to order from. It was difficult to open the app with just a tail, and they may have given their deliverer a freight but with some teamwork they managed to have a quiet dinner by the fireplace on their new couch. While it would have been practical to simply transform back or use magic, something about this form just felt right to them and the two had an unspoken agreement to remain as snakes just a little bit longer.
Just to know what it was like.
Just because it simply felt right.