Asgard

Sylvie lifted her TemPad, cycling through the coordinates until she found Asgard. She knew the setting better than some of these other destinations at any rate.

Someone to distract anyone she wanted to enchant, draw attention away – failing that, someone who’d distract the TVA. Not someone she felt sympathy for, just because she was someone else the TVA’s timeline seemed to hate, or because she’d had a similar, embarrassing past. No. Just practical matters.

She didn’t feel lonely. Just because she’d been on the run for so long.

Sylvie cleared her throat as she found the coordinates for the portal. She tapped the TemPad to open a wide orange doorway; Ava did a double take.

“You really weren’t kidding,” Ava said.

“Before I change my mind,” Sylvie said.

Ava reached the door of her glass box; she pressed a hand to it, and it clicked, sliding open. She stepped out hesitantly.

“These people you mentioned, the ones that are keeping control of the timeline,” Ava said, “Will they show up?”

“Probably,” Sylvie said. “If we change anything, they detect it and appear. So long as we keep out of the way, we should have enough time.”

“And if someone does show up?” Ava said.

“If you aren’t close by, I’m leaving you behind,” Sylvie said. “Come on.”

She stepped through the portal.

Asgard was warmer than whatever piece of Midgard she’d been on. That was one of the worst parts of travelling by portal; the air was so different wherever she went, she was always so aware of the changes when she wore as little as this. As soon as she’d adapted to the cool in one place, stopped feeling it against her skin, she was somewhere else and hyperaware of how much of her was exposed again.

She felt Ava behind her, and was uncomfortably reminded of just how tight her stolen panties were; Sylvie turned sideways, crossing her arms again.

“You need to go first,” Ava said. “You know the way.”

Right. Sylvie’s cheeks flamed, as much from revealing that she was embarrassed as much as her exposure. Well, that and the fact she was on more familiar ground again.

This corner of Asgard was usually quiet. It did take care of medical treatment, but the issues it dealt with were more obscure these days. The Bifrost no longer malfunctioned, and had failsafes if it did, and a number of the similar conditions simply no longer happened.

It was worth keeping the machines and chambers on the off-chance, but there wasn’t much that would see them have company. Thankfully. Sylvie had been sure to aim for a point late in Asgard’s history for that very reason.

At the same time, that meant she was used to this place. It was a good hiding place for a budding, mischievous goddess. She’d snuck around the ornate hallways, the marble floors, the carved pillars – features so ostentatious they only served as a reminder of her lack of, well, much of anything.

“We should be alone,” Sylvie said. “Not much call for a Chamber of Binding these days.”

Sylvie walked quickly. The marble was cold against her bare feet, even if the air was warm. Cheeks flushed, she reached a doorway, nudging it open.

There were a few bits and pieces around the room. A flat stone bed, a sarcophagus, and a neatly carved metal archway.

“None of this looks exactly scientific,” Ava said.

“Your chamber didn’t look exactly magic,” Sylvie shot back. She walked over to the archway; the controls were intuitive enough. That was the advantage of magic.

“Is that it?” Ava said.

Sylvie gestured impatiently.

Why was she doing this? She grimaced. Every second she was here was another chance for the TVA to catch her, especially if they knew to watch her home. If they even knew she was the one responsible for the anomalies.

Though, she reflected, Asgard would be a decent source of clothes. The locals were stronger minded than most humans, but their outfits were more resilient than those of Midgard. They’d last her longer. A good couple of decades more at least.

Speaking of…

“You’d better take that off,” Sylvie said, as Ava stepped into the archway. “You said it wasn’t safe for anyone without your condition. When this cures you…”

“Oh. Right,” Ava said.

She hesitated. Then, reluctantly, she loosened the fastenings of her white suit. It came away piece by piece, first the outer layers, and then she slid down the zip of the innermost; Ava hesitated again then.

“Come on,” Sylvie said, impatiently.

Ava took a deep breath, and slid it down, revealing an expanse of pale brown skin, marred but nevertheless beautiful. The suit fell away all at once, with nothing beneath, revealing breasts that had been well-hidden, and darker brown nipples, and a remarkably well-groomed, bare spot between her legs.

Sylvie quirked an eyebrow. Ava followed her gaze, and her cheeks darkened, flustered.

“There’s not much to do in the box, okay!” Ava said. “Can we get on with this?”

She stepped back into the chamber, kicking her specialized suit out the way. She blurred a moment, wincing, and lifted her arms to hide behind them, crossing one over her breasts and holding the other between her legs. Otherwise she stood up straight, under the archway.

Sylvie took another moment to take in the view and question her decisions, before activating the Chamber of Binding. The air crackled, and it hummed briefly, the air either side of the arch thrumming with energy. Ava frowned, but a warmth filled the Chamber.

It only lasted a second, a pale orange light giving way to yellow, before it faded entirely and the machine went silent.

Ava still stood there, nude, eyes closed. She wasn’t blurring any more. Sylvie opted not to say anything, waiting for Ava to notice; it was the better part of a minute before she opened an eye.

“It… doesn’t hurt,” Ava said.

“Well, obviously,” Sylvie said.

“No. I mean. Nothing hurts,” Ava said.

Her eyes went wide; an uncharacteristic smile spread halfway across her face, and she stepped out from under the archway, halfway to hugging Sylvie before she remembered her nudity and yelped, arms returning to their position over her.

For her part, Sylvie had stepped back, not quite up to such displays of affection, both with a Midgardian and in her current situation.

And before she could say anything, they heard a murmur. Sylvie’s eyes went wide, suddenly fidgeting; Ava looked at her in significantly more of a panic.

“You said no one came here!” Ava said.

“There shouldn’t be,” Sylvie said, reddening.

Ava hurried behind the archway, struggling to conceal herself. Sylvie hesitated. As much as she still didn’t want to be seen like this, it was inevitable while she was searching for clothes, and this was an opportunity.

Sylvie looked around the room, finding something that both offered cover, and was nearer the door. She settled on something that looked more like a bed, waist-heigh and a solid block; she hurried over to it and crouched, ducking low, her face burning, the instant the door opened.

“This room may offer you some help,” a woman’s voice. Faintly familiar to Sylvie.

Sylvie stayed low, long legs bent, crouching so that she almost sat on the backs of her bare feet; her palms were pressed to the stone block in front of her, to keep her balance. Her bra, constrictive as it was given the difference in endowment between herself and its past owner, felt on the verge of bursting with how her heart pounded just then.

The moment either of them were seen, the TVA would be drawn closer. At the same time, whoever the newcomer was, was almost certainly wearing something – and more than that, it sounded like she wasn’t alone. Two sets of clothes, and two of them.

Though she didn’t know if she could enchant two Asgardians so quickly.

“What is all this?” another woman’s voice said. “I know being human in Asgard is frowned upon, but this stuff is really incredible.”

Sylvie, despite her blush, smiled. Okay, that was more promising – a human and an Asgardian. More doable.

She risked peeking up over the block; by the sounds of their voices, they’d moved past her. Sure enough, their backs were to her, as the flushed blonde’s face peered over her cover. A brunette, slimly built, likely the human given her manner of dress. The other was a clear warrior, her hair black; now she was familiar to Sylvie. She’d glimpsed Asgard a few times over the years, kept tabs on her old life; that was Sif.

Formidable, certainly. Though, Sylvie reflected, not someone she was all that unhappy about seeing stripped.

So long as she waited for the right moment…

“Wait, what’s that?” the human said.

She pointed to the white outfit Ava had sloughed off. Sylvie winced; well, there went the possibility for waiting. That meant variance had started, which meant it wouldn’t be long before they had more company.

Sylvie carefully stood, tip-toeing, both of her hands outstretched despite her nerves.

Then a glimpse of Ava’s side came into view, a streak of brown flesh just past the archway; Sif moved forwards, drawing her sword, the rustle of her armour letting Sylvie move a bit faster.

“Hold! Who’s there? Identify yourself!” Sif said.

There was a yelp from Ava as the warrior shot through the archway, getting a rather full-frontal view of the nude woman. At the moment, Sylvie pressed her hand to the back of the human’s head, weaving a hasty enchantment.

Something roiled, pushing back, though only against Sylvie’s hand; the spell worked its way into the human’s head, as knowledge flooded into Sylvie through the connection. Her mind was, thankfully, weak enough that the momentary touch was all she needed; the command had been sent.

Jane Foster. Here on Asgard due to contact with the Aether, of all things; that explained what had pushed back at her hand, and why she was headed for such esoteric treatment.

Sylvie kept moving; out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the glassy-eyed Jane pull off her shirt, and start to undo her pants, stripping as quickly and efficiently as possible. Just then, she reached Sif, the warrior distracted by the state of the intruding Ava.

“What are you doing?” Ava said, trembling behind her arms.

Sylvie focused. Sif’s mind was stronger than Jane, but once she found the right scenario in her memories…

Fire! There was fire; she could smell burning, and see licks of flame coming out from her under-layer, beneath her armor. She didn’t stop to think about how it could have happened – stranger things had happened, and a warrior didn’t survive by ignoring her instincts.

She unclasped her armor, and the smoke shot out from beneath; she hastily tore at the under-layer, snapping the fastenings in her haste to remove it.

It wasn’t yet hot enough to seriously hurt an Asgardian like her, but if it burned for too long…

Life was more important than modesty. She vaguely noticed, out of the corner of her eye, a blonde watching her; Sif crossed an arm over her generous chest as she flung her undergarments to the floor, and tore off the last layer around her crotch.

Only then did the fire near-immediately flicker out, the smoke that had at least covered her a little vanished completely, leaving the warrior’s toned, curvy figure suddenly utterly exposed.

Only then did she catch sight of another figure, half-hidden. Green robes, dark hair, and the appetite for this kind of mischief. Sif growled, and…

And faltered, no longer finding herself in the Palace victim to one of Loki’s myriad pranks, the worm, but rather in an admittedly more secluded chamber. It was a second before she realized that, wherever she was, she’d still torn her clothes off.

“Grab them!” Sylvie shouted, already moving back from Sif; she crouched, scooping up Jane’s discarded outfit in one hand, and opening a portal with her TemPad with the other.

Ava darted past the momentarily disoriented Sif, grabbing what she could of the armor and torn fabric, before growing closer. She and Sylvie made it through the portal just a second before the TVA team showed up.

Sif was bright red, in equal parts anger and embarrassment, her breasts spilling out over her arm and her core bared, while Jane was hunched over, using both arms to try and cover up, a squeak escaping her lips as she just became aware of her predicament.

“Okay. This is getting ridiculous now,” the lead TVA agent said.