#Mobius would say ‘let’s go Loki’ and they’d open their eyes and leave with him

[lokiusly]

Mobius would drag Odin to filth

[lokimobius]

🖤 please 😭

I wrote most of this on the bus to and from work today lmao! I did want to make this more angsty but I couldn't bring myself to do that.

I hope you enjoy, anon! 🥹

🖤 kissing while crying / goodbye kiss / desperation

They stood at the cliff edge and watched as the tide crashed against it. It was a long way down. Except, it wasn’t. They’d just spent the last few minutes throwing rocks off the edge, testing out a hypothesis. The rocks should have fallen right into the ocean, rippling the water as they broke the surface. But they didn’t. Instead, they disappeared into nothingness, as if pulled into an alternate dimension.   

Much to Mobius’ protest, Loki was stooped down by the edge of the cliff, watching intently as the last rock fell. “It has to be through there,” he said as he stood up and brushed the dust on his hands off onto his trousers.  

Mobius instinctively moved closer to him, his hand reaching closer to his arm, just in case. “Ok, let’s say, just theoretically, that it is through there. How are we going to reach it?”   

Loki looked at him sheepishly, and, oh no, he did not like that look. Loki was about to suggest something stupid. He took a breath and opened his mouth to talk, but Mobius covered it with his hand.  

“Whatever you’re about to say, don’t.”

Loki removed Mobius' hand from his mouth and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“I’ll probably survive.” The corners of his mouth quirked up a little bit. “I have a good track record.”

Mobius’ hands flew to his hips, and he stared at Loki incredulously. “Don’t joke about this, Loki. Just because you’ve survived this long by throwing yourself in the face of danger does not mean I’m letting you do it again.”

“I’m the best chance that we have at finishing this mission safely.”

 “And that’s a chance I’m unwilling to take.”

“Mobius–”

“Sorry. No.” He glared at Loki, holding up his hand, palm outstretched towards Loki’s face, cutting off whatever he was about to say. Mobius didn't want to hear it.  “Come up with something else.”

He paced back and forth, searching his brain for any kind of option that didn’t involve Loki leaving. However, he knew that there wasn’t anyone else more well-equipped to handle this situation than Loki. His heart lurched at the thought.

“Someone else can go.” He offered weakly.

“Mobius, the Aether is protected by dark magic.” He gave him a withering look. “This portal could lead anywhere. You’d be willing to risk another’s life by putting them in such danger?”

“I am not putting your life at risk.” He snapped. “End of discussion.”

He could not believe that Loki was being this reckless with his life. He turned away from his partner as tears formed in his eyes.

“Mobius, whatever has gotten into you? I know we tend to clash when coming up with ideas, but it’s unlike you to be so adamant.”

Mobius sighed as he looked up at the purple sky, blinking away the tears that threatened to spill. Green and blue clouds swirled above them, tinging the world with an uneasy hue.

It hadn’t been long since they’d saved Loki from the end of time. He thought that they’d at least be able to spend a bit more time together before he started throwing himself into danger again.

In this timeline, Kang followed the path that Thanos had taken in Loki’s original timeline. The mission was simple: find all of the infinity stones before Kang could; otherwise, he’d be able to traverse the multiverse at his own will.

Luckily for them, they’d managed to find most of them fairly easily. It was only the Reality Stone that remained. Which, inconveniently, was hidden away behind a portal, out of reach for mere mortals such as himself.

He knew that Loki was right. He was the best chance that they had, and he probably would be fine. But he was so scared of losing him again. Not after last time. Not after he didn’t know if Loki would ever come back from the tree. 

The memory of Loki alone at the end of time flashed in his mind. His heart had already been broken once; he couldn’t go through it again. Not when he finally had a purpose—a reason to live for the first time in his long, long life.

Loki was at his side in an instant. He held Mobius’ face in his hands carefully. “Mobius...”

“You’ll come back, right?” He pleaded, his voice shaking. “Promise me you’ll come back.” He gripped the lapel of Loki’s coat so forcefully that his knuckles turned white. He didn’t want to let go. He couldn’t.

“Of course. I swear to you, Mobius, I will always come back to you.”   

Loki leant close and kissed away Mobius’ tears as they fell down his cheeks. His lips were light on his skin, so tender that Mobius wanted to melt.

He turned his head to the side and bumped his nose with Loki’s before covering his lips with his. The kiss was soft and slow, one that made Mobius wish he had the power to pause time.

He pressed harder and licked at Loki’s bottom lip in hopes that deepening the kiss would convince Loki to come back to the TVA with him. But Loki pulled back slightly, smiling against his lips.

The kiss returned to softness, it lacked the heat and lust that Mobius had tried to inject into it, but it was still full of love and trust.

It felt like a promise.

Loki pulled away and ran a hand through Mobius’ hair in an attempt to soothe him further. 

“I’ll complete the mission successfully and be back before dinner.” He said softly as he continued to caress Mobius’ face. He had a determined look on his face, but his eyes were soft and warm. The smile that he gave Mobius then was one of his favourites; it was so fond, and his eyes crinkled adorably. It was the smile that was reserved just for him.

“I’ll even do all the paperwork by myself for all the trouble I put you through,” He added with a quick peck.

Mobius laughed and shook his head, releasing his grip on his partner. “If you miss dinner, I will hunt you down personally.”

"Yes, sir.” Loki saluted him with a wink.

Loki moved towards the cliff edge, his back to the abyss behind him. He didn’t look scared at all. In fact, his eyes sparkled, and he smiled at Mobius once more.

He bowed and took Mobius’ hand in his, pressing a kiss to his knuckles.

“See you at home.”

His eyes met Mobius’ as he jumped backwards off the cliff, disappearing into the portal far below.

“Mischievous scamp,” Mobius said to the now empty space in front of him. He took out his TemPad and opened a door back to the TVA, ready to wait anxiously for Loki’s return.

[chrisbitchtree]

Everyone Say Thank You to Daddy Wade!

When Mobius's admittedly pathetic attempts at flirting fail, he resorts to letting Wade trick Loki into making a move!

Lokius - NSFW - 4.5k

***

With one last glance at Loki, Mobius turned the corner onto Wade’s street, picking up his pace, eager to escape the late November cold. It looked like it’d been raining, but it seemed to have stopped, leaving only a bunch of puddles and grey clouds behind. Mobius was thankful, since he couldn’t find his umbrella before leaving, and Loki had started to complain that Mobius was taking too long and was going to make him late to meet up with Thor.

That was one of Mobius’s favourite things about the new chapter of the TVA. The fact that with the newfound freedom to use his magic (by his own decree, his first, as co-director of the TVA with Mobius), he’d been able to use it to locate and reconcile with his brother. It had taken time, a whole lot of it, but now Loki and Thor were closer than they’d ever been before. Just thinking about it brought a smile to Mobius’s face.

Now that the two were thicker than thieves, they were spending a lot of time together, both alone, and frequently with Mobius and Thor’s boyfriend recently turned fiancé, Bruce. Loki had been shocked when Thor had announced that he was dating The Hulk of all people, telling Mobius privately that he couldn’t understand what the two saw in each other, but Mobius thought their relationship was sweet. They really seemed to balance each other out. Just like Mobius and Loki.

Not that Mobius and Loki were a couple, much to Mobius’s dismay. He wanted the man with every fibre of his being, wanted to kiss him and hold him, fuck him, court him, marry him. Not even his desire to own a jet ski outweighed how much he wanted Loki.

He’d tried his best to make his feelings known to the god, but he was a terrible flirt, so usually his come-ons either went unnoticed, or were brushed off as a joke. Mobius sighed, shoving his hands deeper in his pockets and walking the last couple blocks to Wade’s apartment.

Mobius has never actually intended to befriend Wade Wilson, and on paper, they were a bad match. Wade was rude and gross, his home and his life a mess, and the way he flirted with anything on two legs, and honestly, more than once that Mobius had seen, things on four legs, but somehow their friendship worked. They’d met at a party at Thor and Bruce’s, and had gotten to talking, finding common ground in their love of power ballads, video games, and surprisingly enough, tea, and had been meeting up to hang out when they could find the time since.

So, when Loki had told Mobius he was heading to New York to go suit shopping for Thor’s wedding, where Loki would serve as best man, Mobius had decided to tag along and go visit Wade, who’d told Mobius he had a new rooibos tea he wanted him to try.

He rang the buzzer for Wade’s apartment in his new building, and after a minute, the speaker crackled to life.

“What the hell do you want? If you’re selling something, we don’t want it. Unless it’s girl scout cookies, and only if it’s thin mints.”

Mobius smiled at the sound of Blind Al’s voice. “Hi, Al. It’s Mobius. Can I come in? Wade’s expecting me.”

She didn’t reply, but she did buzz him in, so that was something.

As he waited for the elevator, a flyer tacked to the bulletin board next to it caught eye. It advertised the knitting circle that Wade had talked about starting and had apparently finally gotten around to. It was supposed to be for residents only, but he’d invited Mobius, telling him he should bring Loki along. The flyer stated that the first meeting was in two weeks. He opened his phone and as he rode the elevator, he entered the details in his calendar, wondering what it would take to actually get Loki to come with him.

The elevator opened on the 10th floor and Mobius stepped out, knocking on the first door on the right.

“I’m finishing up on the shitter, but it’s open!” shouted Wade, much to the dismay of both Mobius and the woman fumbling with her keys and a bag of groceries three doors down. She gave him a startled look that he pretended not to see, quickly stepping through the door and shutting it behind him.

“There’s my favourite silver fox!” Wade grinned, stepping out of the bathroom and grabbing Mobius’s shoulder’s giving him a big, smacking kiss on the cheek as Mobius slid his coat off his shoulders.

“Wade,” Mobius replied, ducking his head. Feeling a blush beginning to creep its way onto his face, Mobius busied himself with grabbing a hanger from the hall closet and hanging up his coat and scarf. Before he’d made friends with Wade, no one had ever really flirted with Mobius, and all this positive attention still made him slightly uneasy.

Wade would wink, or pinch Mobius’s ass, he’d tell him how hot his moustache, or greying hair, or belly were, but he also knew that Wade was like that with everyone, so even if it did make him blush, he was fine with it, because he knew it was probably just a reflex for the other man at this point. See human, spew flirty comments.

“Make yourself at home, Moby. Preferably in my bed. I’m just putting the water on for the tea. I’ll be back in a minute.” Wade called, as he walked down the short hallway to the kitchen.

Mobius ignored the comment about Wade’s bed and settled into the couch, next to Blind Al, who had a book balanced in her lap as she ran the fingers of one hand over the braille and held a bottle of beer with the other.

They sat in silence as her fingers glided over the bumps so fast that Mobius wasn’t sure how she could even be absorbing the words, until Wade’s shouting broke through.

“Do you want a cup of tea, Al?”

“Do you think this one would taste good with PBR?”

There was a beat of silence, and Al returned to her reading before Wade replied. “I’m not sure. No, time like the present to find out though!”

With that, he re-entered the living room with a tray containing a teapot, three mugs with spoons, cream and sugar, and a platter of assorted cookies, biscuits, and jams. For a guy who Mobius had once seen with his own eyes eat, according to Wade himself, three-day old pizza from a box on his living room floor, he sure put together a nice tea party spread.

Wade set the tray down on the coffee table before turning on his Switch and grabbing the controllers. He walked back over to the couch, wedging himself into the frankly too small space between Mobius and Al, and started to pour the tea into the trio of cups. He slid the can of PBR out of Al’s hand and poured the remainder into her mug along with the tea before handing it back to her and grabbing a biscuit that he proceeded to slather in jam.

“This is awful, Wade,” Al said, a look of disgust on her face, but it didn’t stop her from taking another sip.

Mobius tried a sip of his. He personally thought it was delicious, but he also hadn’t cut his with cheap beer. Grabbing a chocolate dipped cookie, he settled back into the cushions as Wade started up Animal Crossing.

When Loki had once asked what kind of video games he and Wade played together, he mentioned GTA and Call of Duty, but the truth was that while yes, they had played both of those, they spent most of their time together working on Wade’s Animal Crossing island, taking turns planting flowers, redesigning his home, fishing, and trying to get rid of his most hated villagers. It was their (and Al’s) little secret.

They spent the better part of an hour and a half sipping their tea, picking at the cookies, and selling crops at Nook’s Cranny, and were headed to the Able Sisters’ so Mobius could give Wade his opinion on some items that were new to the shop, when Wade brought up his favourite topic of conversation, Mobius and Loki’s relationship, or lack thereof.

“You know that pathetic little meow meow has the hots for you, Moby.”

Now, Mobius knew he could play ignorant, pretend he had no clue what Wade was talking about, but that would only buy him an extra minute or two, so he took the bait.

“Shut up, Wade. We’ve been through this. He’s not into me.”

Wade laughed. “Then why the fuck does everything about him scream otherwise?”

Mobius tried to protest again, but Wade cut him off. “We’ve been through this a million times, so I’ll just cut to the chase this time. The way he clings to you like he’s scared that you’ll disappear. The way that as far as he’s concerned, everyone else ceases to exist the second you walk into a room. That weird, overly large smile that he only whips out for you. The “fuck me” eyes he’s always giving you. The fact that he never laughs at my jokes, but when you say something mildly funny, he acts like it’s the most hilarious thing he’s ever heard. Any of that ring a bell?”

Mobius shook his head. “Have you ever considered that he doesn’t laugh at your jokes because they’re not funny, Wade?” That wasn’t true, and Wade knew it, but he still needed to take the other man down a peg sometimes.

 Wade clutched at his chest, over his heart. “Oh, how you wound me, Moby. And yet, daddy Wade is still willing to help you get yo man.”

“I’ve told you before. I’m not calling you daddy Wade.”

“Fine then, what about daddy Deadpool?”

“Still no.”

“Can I call daddy Moby?”

Mobius sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, trying to shoo away the headache currently brewing behind his eyes. He had no clue why he kept this friendship with Wade up. No, that wasn’t true. He did know. It was the massive collection of teas, and the fact that under his incredibly weird exterior, he actually had a heart of gold and would do anything to help his friends.

“Is daddy Moby staying for dinner? I hope so because I already took out porkchops to defrost.”

Mobius shook his head. “Sorry, but I can’t. Loki wants to make me some kind of pasta dish for dinner.”

“And you say that man doesn’t love you. Cooking for someone is the surest sign of true love!”

“Wade,” Al said, setting down her book. “Don’t forget your matchmaking plan. We worked hard on this. It can’t go to waste.”

Oh, great, apparently Wade was discussing his pathetic, non-existent love life even when Mobius wasn’t around.

“Right!” Wade replied, throwing an arm over Mobius’s shoulder. “So, hottie long legs is the jealous type, right?”

Mobius couldn’t deny that. Loki had a jealous streak three thousand miles long. “Yes? Where is this going?”

“Well, what Al and I were thinking was we just have to get your pal Loki to catch me flirting with you. He won’t be able to resist staking his claim like a cat pissing to mark its territory. Mobius had his doubts, but really, what could it hurt to try?

“Sure,” he said, hesitantly.

They were just finishing up at the Able Sisters’ when Mobius’s phone started to ring. Loki. He accepted the call, and barely had a chance to say hello before Wade was yanking the phone out of his hand.

“Hello, Mr. Laufeyson, Al and I are holding Moby hostage. If you want him back, you’ll have to come get him.”

Mobius could hear shouting from the other end of the line but couldn’t make out Loki’s words.

“Perfect,” Wade replied once there was silence. “Now we wait.”

***

Loki dug his nails into the palms of his hands, stopping just short of having a full on freakout on a street corner in Queens, as he waited for the light to change so he could cross. Before splitting up, the two had decided that they would meet at Thor and Bruce’s since they’d arrived much closer to Mobius’s destination. It had only seemed fair.

But now, Wade Wilson was insisting that Loki fetch Mobius at his apartment, and it’s not like Loki had much choice in the matter, since Mobius had the Tempad. He huffed and grumbled under his breath as he walked to the entrance of Wade’s building. He called Mobius again, and Wade picked up this time.

“Hello,” Loki greeted the other man curtly. “May you please release Mobius so we can return home?”

“Sorry, no can do, Amigo,” Wade replied. “You want him, you’re gonna have to come get him. I’ll buzz you up.”

Resisting the urge to stamp his foot like a child, Loki threw the door open as the buzzer sounded, almost pulling it off it’s hinges, and not caring one single bit.

He tapped his foot in the elevator, ignoring the glances from the woman and her two children who were occupying the space with him. Finally, after what seemed like eons, the elevator dinged, and the doors slid open. He rapped loudly on Wade’s door, and soon heard a reply from within.”

“Come in! It’s open!”

Loki pushed through the door, taking in the small space before him. He’d only been once before, and it didn’t look any less like a bomb had gone off in the room than the last time. He’d once asked Mobius what he saw in the other man, and he’d shrugged, telling Loki he was kind and funny, and had good taste in tea. Loki was hilarious, and could be kind if he wanted to, and he personally thought that most tea tasted like leaf juice, but he could get used to it if it meant keeping Mobius to himself.

He zoned back in, his eyes landing first on Wade’s creepy roommate the ridiculously, if aptly named “Blind Al”, and then beyond her, Wade, with Mobius on his other side. There was a loveseat to the right. Why wasn’t one of them sitting on that. And wait, was that Wade’s arm around Mobius’s shoulder? And his other hand on Mobius’s thigh? What on earth was happening here? Why was that human pile of trash flirting with Mobius?

Loki couldn’t have that. Mobius was his. But he wasn’t, not really. Because Loki had been too much of a fool, too wrapped up in his own feelings about not being good enough for Mobius to stake his claim. What if it was too late?

No one seemed to be paying any mind to Loki, Al running her fingers over the pages of a large book, and Wade speaking to Mobius in low tones, whispering in his ear. Loki cleared his throat, and Mobius and Wade turned their heads slowly towards him, as if they’d just realized that he was there.

“Oh hey, baby cakes, come in, make yourself at home. There’s room for a fourth here on the couch, if you want to join us?” There was most certainly not enough room, and Loki was about to say as much when something inside him snapped. He could not lose his precious Mobius to Wade Wilson, of all people.

He stalked over to the couch and yanked Wade’s hand off Mobius’s thigh, his arm from around his shoulder. He then took Mobius’s hand and pulled him free of the saggy cushions.

Mobius moved towards the front door of the apartment, but Loki redirected him, guiding him, with a hand on his back, down the short hallway. One of these doors had to have a bedroom behind it. After two false starts with a linen closet and a bathroom, Loki finally found a bed behind the third door, and shoved Mobius into the room, losing the door behind them.

Turning, he walked towards Mobius, until there was only an inch between their faces. Mobius stared at him as Loki slid one hand into the back of his silver hair, and settled the other onto his hip, and pulled him in for a kiss. It was short and chaste, just their lips briefly pressed together, but it was the best first kiss that Loki had ever had.

Pulling back, Mobius looked at Loki with wide eyes. “What the hell are you doing?”

Loki bridged the gap again, and his face just a quarter inch away from Mobius’s, he whispered “What I should have done a hell of a long time ago.” And with that, he pulled Mobius in for another kiss. Where the last kiss had been brief, just a peck, this kiss was anything but. It took them a moment to get it right, their noses bumping as they met head-on, but then Mobius tilted his head just a little, and everything slotted into place.

Mobius fisted his hands in the front of Loki’s shirt, pulling him impossibly closer as Loki sucked on Mobius’s bottom lip and tugged on his hair. Mobius moaned softly, licking at the seam of Loki’s mouth, seeking entrance that Loki willingly gave. They stayed like that, pressed tight together, for an indeterminate amount of time, before they finally had to come up for air.

In the end, they never even made it to the bed. They panted into the small space between their mouths, and Loki turned them, so Mobius’s back was up against the door. Loki was glad the other man was wearing a button down as he made quick work of the first few buttons, just enough to gain access to the juncture between Mobius’s neck and shoulder. He sucked and bit and nipped and licked all over every inch of skin that he had access to, leaving quickly purpling marks in his wake. Good. He wanted Mobius to think of this every time he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror over the next few days.

Satisfied with his handiwork, Loki continued open the buttons of Mobius’s shirt, stopping first to suck on his nipples, one by one, deeply pleased with the increasingly loud whines that Mobius was emitting. At some point, he’d weaved his hands into Loki’s curls, and Loki could feel his already half hard cock jump in his slacks when Mobius tugged sharply.

He continued to work on Mobius’s pecs, rolling and pinching his nipples between his fingers as he bent down and sunk his teeth into the soft meat of Mobius’s belly, brain practically melting out of his ears as it quivered under his touch. It was something Loki had wanting since he’d met the man, and it felt like heaven on earth to nuzzle his face against the hair there.

His lips followed the trail of hair to the top of Mobius’s jeans, and he slid down to his knees, and he tilted his head up, meeting Mobius’s molten gaze and giving him a questing look as he slipped his fingers just below the waistline. He stood back up and pressed his lips hot to Mobius’s neck. “Can I? Can I please make you feel good, Mobius?”

He took the answering groan as an affirmative and made quick work of the button and fly on Mobius’s pants, not even bothering to pull them down, instead plunging his hand inside. There as barely enough room, but Loki made it work, circling Mobious’s cock with his fist. He thumbed at the head, already wet with precum, using the slick to ease the way.

Mobius moaned, his eyes squeezing shut momentarily, as if he was overwhelmed by the pleasure, as Loki stroked him fast and hard.

“Is that good?” he asked, continuing his ministrations.

Mobius, who by now had worked open most of the buttons on Loki’s shirt and was sucking marks of his own into Loki’s collarbone, pulled off, panting. “Yes, fuck Loki, it’s so fucking good. You’re so fucking good. I can’t believe this is happening.”

Loki chuckled softly, stroking faster. “You’d better believe it, because it is.” He could feel everything he’d wanted to tell Mobius the whole time they’d known each other about to spill out. He knew the middle of a hand job wasn’t exactly the best time for heartfelt conversation, but he couldn’t hold back. “You’re everything I’ve ever wanted, Mobius. You’re so beautiful. So kind and smart and patient, so sweet to me, believing in me when no one else did.” Mobius was bucking into his fist, his breath becoming shallower, and Loki knew he should focus his attention on making the man come, but he couldn’t stop now. “I love you, Mobius.”

With that, Mobius was groaning loudly, his head banging on the bedroom door as he came, spilling hot into Loki’s fist. He kept his head tilted back, eyelashes fluttering as he caught his breath, coming down from his high. Maybe, if Loki was lucky, Mobius’s orgasm was so good that he hadn’t even paid attention to what Loki was babbling on about.

“Do think they heard us?” Mobius asked, sounding abashed.

“Who cares,” Loki replied. “Those perverts are probably out there getting off to this.”

Mobius laughed but didn’t disagree. He pulled Loki to him, wrapping his arms around his back and nibbling on his ear lobe. “I love you too, pussycat, for the record. I think a part of me always has.”

Pussycat. Oh gods, Loki was weak for this man. It was a good thing that Mobius was holding Loki to him, because Loki suddenly felt as if his legs were about to give out under him.

“Can I return the favour?” Mobius asked as his hands roamed over Loki’s exposed chest, his eyes reverent.

Loki nodded, unable to form coherent thoughts, let alone words. He expected Mobius to slip his hand into his pants, but instead, he slipped down onto his knees, mouthing at Loki’s cloth covered cock, his breath hot against the fabric.

“Oh Mobius,” Loki breathed, his voice coming out like a whine. “You don’t have to.”

Mobius chuckled. “I’m well aware that I don’t have to, Loki. Have you ever considered that I want to? More than anything?”

Well then. Loki certainly wasn’t going to stop him if it was what he truly wanted. “Be my guest.”

With that, Mobius was quickly divested Loki of his pants briefs and mouthed at the flushed head of his cock. He ran his tongue along the dripping slit, and Loki gasped, sinking his hands into Mobius’s hair, and tugging hard. Mobius groaned at that, taking more of Loki into his mouth as his hands roamed up the back of Loki’s thighs before settling on his ass, which he squeezed, kneading the cheeks in the palm of his hands.

Loki loosened his grip on Mobius’s hair and used his hand to gently guide the man’s head as he took Loki all the way in, until his nose was nestled in the hair at the base of his cock. He bobbed his head a few times, and Loki could feel the coil of heat in his stomach tightening. He could tell this was going to be over embarrassingly fast, but he couldn’t bring himself to care when it felt so fucking good.

Loki tugged on Mobius’s hair in warning, but the other man only took him all the way back in, hollowing out his cheeks like he was trying to suck Loki’s soul out through his cock. He came close, Loki seeing white, going breathless as he came with a loud cry own Mobius’s throat.

In a moment, Mobius was back on his feet, and Loki pulled him into a kiss, licking into his mouth, not caring that he could taste himself on Mobius’s tongue. They stood there, trading lazy kisses, until Mobius finally pulled away.

“I think we should maybe go now, kitten. We’ve been locked in here long enough, and I’d like to get the walk of shame over and done with.”

Reluctantly, Loki agreed, and they got dressed, doing their best to smooth out the wrinkles in their clothes and flatten their hair.

They slipped out the bedroom door quietly, hoping that maybe they could leave the apartment undetected, but no such luck. Wade, who was laying on the couch, reading a magazine, let out a loud wolf whistle. “Hey cuties, glad to see you finally got into each other’s pants. I really fooled you there, didn’t I, Loki? I should receive an Oscar for my acting. Then I’ll be one letter closer to an EGOT. Or at least I’ll have one letter towards an EGOT. Actually, no letters, because I wasn’t acting. You’re hot hot hot, Mobius. It’s not hard to flirt with you at all! Do you two want to give daddy Wade a kiss as a thank you?”

Loki rolled his eyes, taking Mobius’s hand in his own. He had no clue what the man was on about, but he certainly didn’t want to kiss him, that he was sure of. “Thank you, Wade, but no thank you. I believe we’ll only be kissing each other from here on out.”

“Fine,” Wade replied, sticking his tongue out like a child. “I don’t want you anyway. I’ve moved on to daddy Wolvie.” At that, Wolverine appeared, inexplicably wearing a frilly pink apron over his clothes.

Loki’s cheeks burned with shame. It was one thing for Wade and Al to hear them, but quite another for Wolverine to hear. He was a real, distinguished man.

“Hi Mobius, Loki.” He greeted them. “Had fun, I hear?” He winked, and Loki had to turn, no longer able to look him in the eye.

“Uh, I didn’t realize you were having other guests, Wade.” Mobius said, reaching into the hall closet for his coat.

“Well,” Wade replied, not taking his eyes off his magazine, which Loki could now see was pornographic in nature. “When you ditched me for dinner, I had to make other plans. Couldn’t let those pork chops go to waste! How about you take a quick break from making my dinner and come give daddy Wade a kiss, Wolvie?”

“Never going to happen, Wade.”

“But it could!”

“But it won’t! Also, stop trying to make “daddy Wade” happen. It’s not going to happen.”

“If I stop, will you give me a little sugar, sugar?”

Wolverine rolled his eyes. “Maybe. If you’re a good boy for daddy Wolvie.”

Loki and Mobius took that as their cue to leave, and hand in hand, they slipped out the door, ready to head back home, far, far away from here.

[monicashipslokius]

“Kneel.”

Loki looks at them, these simple mortal beings. So primitive. Like ants, running loose, lost without a queen. But they needn’t fear any longer. Loki is here, and will be their leader now. They will find purpose - glorious purpose - under their rule.

“Kneel!” Loki says again, louder, and finally they fall into line. One after the next, down to their knees, to praise -

“Um. Excuse me. Uh, sorry. This is awkward.” A man steps away from the rest. He’s wearing a dreary brown suit with a tie that needs fixing. Gray hair. Mustache. A typical, everyday Midgardian.

Loki should silence him at once. And yet - they still their hand. There’s something oddly... compelling about this fumbling oaf. Perhaps it’s the way he’s looking at Loki. Not with fear, but with interest. Curiosity. Almost a quiet understanding.

No one ever looks at Loki like that.

The man rubs the back of his neck. “It’s just that. Well. I think I might be your soulmate?”

Someone in the crowd shushes him.

Another asks, “Are you crazy?”

A woman hisses, “Mobius. There’s no way -”

The man - Mobius - glances back at her and shrugs. “So they’re ambitious.”

“They’re going to kill you.”

“Nah.” Mobius turns back to Loki. “Just a little pussycat.”

He starts forward, gently moving through the kneeling crowd, whispering, “Excuse me, pardon me, coming through,” on his way to the front.

Loki tracks his every step, watchful for any sign of trickery, but they can detect no magic on this mortal. The absolute gall of this man, to approach Loki - child of Asgard, god of mischief - as if they are equals.

Loki shouldn’t just silence him, they should scorch him from the whole of the realms.

But then Mobius smiles at Loki, a big, wide thing that twists Loki up inside. Perhaps they will wait to destroy him, if only for a moment, if only to hear him out. Loki considers themself a fair god, after all.

Listening. Then destruction.

“Speak, mortal,” Loki commands. “If that is what you desire. But know your life hangs on your words.”

Mobius looks at Loki, watching for a moment, smile never dimming. “Oh, yeah. You’re definitely the one.”

“I am all things,” Loki says, ever magnanimous.

Mobius points at them. “You’re my soulmate.”

Loki frowns. “I am not.” Then they frown harder. They know lies well, and that  felt like a big one.

But that couldn’t be.

“I have no soulmate,” Loki says, ignoring the familiar sting that comes with the words. Words repeated again and again, as all the seers in Asgard looked into their future and saw them standing alone.

Mobius’s smile softens. “Are you sure about that?”

No. Not really. How many years have passed since Loki last had the seers check? Is it possible... perhaps Mobius had been born in that time? He is but a mortal. How old could he be? 40 years? 50? The blink of an eye.

Mobius holds out a hand. “Wouldn’t you like to check?” That suit truly is ridiculous, outdated and well-worn. If they are soulmates, Loki will take him to Asgard at once and buy him -

Loki forces an abrupt stop to their own thoughts. This is deception, meant to shake them from their true purpose.

“Once I discover you are deceiving me, I will purge you from existence.”

“Okay, sure. Whatever you want.” Mobius waves his hand impatiently. “Isn’t worth trying? Then, you know, purge from existence and all that...”

“Mobius,” the same woman whisper-yells from the crowd.

Mobius rolls his eyes. “Work friend. She’s very protective.”

“She has reason to be,” Loki says, looking at that offered hand. At the long, steady fingers, the delicate wrist. Mortals are such fragile things. Beings to be conquered. Not loved.

And yet.

Loki lifts a hand. They rub their thumb and forefinger together. They will attempt a small touch for curiosity’s sake. Then, the promised destruction.

“Aren’t you afraid?” Loki asks.

“No. Excited, maybe. Not everyday you meet your soulmate.”

“You keep saying that.”

“I’m feeling confident.”

Loki swallows hard. Then they reach out. They don’t take Mobius’s hand, not fully. They merely brush the pad of one finger to the edge of his thumb.

It is enough.

Visions flood through their mind. Mobius laughing. Mobius taking Loki’s hand, pressing his lips to their knuckles, one after the next. Mobius leaning in and kissing them on their lips. Mobius pressing Loki against a wall, and Loki letting themself be pressed.

“I love you,” Mobius says under cover of darkness, in the light of day, out in the ocean on the back of some type of motorized water vehicle. “I love you,” again and again, filling the dark depths of Loki’s heart until it overflows, bursting with happiness. With immeasurable love.

Loki snaps back to the present and slowly, so slowly, withdraws their hand.

Mobius’s smile could light the whole city. “I knew it was you.”

Loki opens their mouth to speak, but what comes out is a gasped breath, very near a sob. The love from the vision has vanished, but the phantom feel of it has Loki wanting.

Deception. Has to be. But they are immune to enchantment. And there’s no magic on this man.

To be loved like that. To be held and... cherished. Even now, Mobius looks at them like they hold of all of his hopes and dreams. Loki wonders how they are looking back.

“It’s okay.” Mobius holds up both hands now, like placating a wounded animal. “I know it’s overwhelming.” Mobius takes a small step forward. Loki does too. Mobius is right there. A promise of a life Loki never thought they’d have - right there.

“Mobius,” Loki says, and the name is perfect on their tongue. They could say it a hundred times more, a thousand. They are desperate to. “Mobius.”

“I’m right here.” Mobius steps closer. Loki reaches and grabs his forearm, bunching a handful of that ugly sleeve into their fist. “I’ve got you.”

“You cannot imagine how long -”

“Step away from him,” comes a new, authoritative voice. This one, like Mobius, lacks fear, but unlike Mobius, is decidedly not Loki’s soulmate.

“We’re kind of in the middle of something,” Mobius says over his shoulder, to Captain America. “Could you give us a minute?”

Captain America does not give them a minute. “Release the citizen, Loki.”

“Wow, you are really misreading the situation,” Mobius says.

In the sky, a flying vehicle arms its weapons. Every nerve in Loki’s body stands on end, seeing Mobius in the way of it.

Loki yanks Mobius forward, closer to him, then behind him, shielding him with their body.

“Loki!” Mobius starts.

But its too late. Captain America is moving closer. Loki blocks some of his blows, misses a few others. He’s strong, but not on the level of a god. Not usually. But Loki keeps leaving themself open to protect the vulnerable mortal behind them. Loki doesn’t think Captain America would hurt Mobius, but the risk is too great. The cost is too high for Loki to guess wrong.

The sudden arrival of Tony Stark only makes matters more difficult.

When Loki raises their hands in defeat, Mobius storms around them.

“Mobius,” Loki says in alarm. Mobius is now in the way of far too many weapons. Does he not understand how fragile he is? Or how important?

“I got this, Loki,” Mobius tells them. To the others, “Now everybody hold on a minute.”

“Please move yourself to safety, citizen,” Captain America says.

“I’m perfectly safe right here.”

“Standing right there is how you get a knife in the back,” Tony Stark says.

“Loki won’t hurt me.”

“He must be brainwashed,” Captain America says.

Mobius huffs out a frustrated breath. “You aren’t listening. Loki is my soulmate.”

Tony Stark looks at Captain America. “Definitely brainwashed.” He clears his throat. “But I’ll bite. Who exactly are you?”

“Mobius M. Mobius.”

“Uh, huh. So your parents hated you,” Tony Stark says. Before Mobius can answer, Tony asks, “And what do you do, Mobius M. Mobius?”

“I’m a data analyst for a corporate conglomerate.”

“Right,” Tony Stark says. “Loki of Asgard forever bound to Mobius M. Mobius, the data analyst. Sounds fake, but okay.”

Mobius’s shoulders sink. “You don’t have to be rude about it.”

Annoyance flares hot under Loki’s skin. Mobius is perfect and how dare these simpletons insinuate otherwise. How dare they make him feel anything less than he is.

Loki takes a strong step forward, but Mobius catches sight of them first and places a hand on their chest, stilling them. Loki holds, only for Mobius’s sake.

“It’s no big deal,” Mobius says.

“They cannot speak to you like that. You are the soulmate of a god.”

“I’m not thrilled about it either. Data analysis is a respectable line of work. I’ve saved my company hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

Loki nods along, hoping they look impressed enough to spare Mobius’s feelings, when truly they have no idea what he is talking about. But whatever restores Mobius’s confidence is what they will do.

“Huh,” says Tony Stark. “Pencil pusher just stopped the god of mischief with a touch. You see that?”

“I saw it,” says Captain America. “I don’t think they’re lying.”

Mobius presses his lips together in a hard line before taking a breath and saying, “Loki, you have magic, right? Can you like...” He holds up his hands and waggles his fingers. “Magic us out of here. I think it’s getting a little crowded. Some conversations are supposed to be private.”

Loki likes the idea of... talking, but they had a plan when they came here today.

Loki looks at the scepter. At the people, no longer kneeling. At Captain America and Tony Stark, arguing about Mobius. And then, finally, they look at Mobius himself, with his calm, steady presence, ever-soft smile, and ill-fitting suit.

Loki meant to conquer all of Midgard. And this, being captured, was part of the plan. But. Perhaps. What’s waiting another day? Or two.

They very well can’t let Mobius be captured. To think of it, most of their plans might need changing now.

“Hold onto me,” Loki says.

“Happily.” Mobius goes easily into their arms.

And Loki holds tight as they magic away.

[cianmars]

They were roommates... (A Lokius Fic)

So I made this a lil while ago, it gets updated every few days

Loki has to stay somewhere in the TVA and if he was working for them then its a little mean to leave him in a cell... or at least that was Mobius' argument, so he took one for the team and has Loki move in with him... A purely selfless act....

AKA Loki learns to be a good person, an okay roomie, and a not so good at being a menace to society (unless society bugs him)

AO3

Loki hadn’t recovered from seeing the projection of his mother being murdered in front of his eyes, because of him, for very obvious reasons…. But he had started to come to terms with it, with everything.

That of course didn’t mean that he wasn’t looking for a way, any way, out; but it did mean that he had agreed to work with the TVA, well not with them, but with Mobius, even if the man (was he a man? Man was just short for human, was he human?) was infuriating, in every Gods damned way.

A whistle and a tilt of the agent’s head was what woke Loki from where he was dozing at the same table he had been sitting at since he had brought in, some unspecified time ago, Loki had opened his mouth to tell him that Gods did not appreciated being whistled at like a dog but Mobius was already off, walking out of the room.

Gods did not chase after anyone, let alone men who were holding him prisoner, Gods did not chase…

“Gods don’t chase,” he told the man, practically bouncing as he caught up to the fast walking man (seriously how did he walk so fast?), his head following everyone who passed them as they walked by, and trying to see what propaganda they had tacked to their modern walls.

“And yet, here you are,” Mobius replied in that calm yet amused tone he always used for Loki.

Loki glared, but Mobius wasn’t looking at him so he rushed past him, turning back to face the man walking backwards without breaking pace, trying to focus on him not on everything they were passing, he hadn’t been this way before, had they? A hundred questions bounced around his mind, most of them were ‘why the fuck is a talking duck being led by four armed guards?’ and ‘can I go talk to the duck?’.

A hand on his upper arm stopped all the thoughts in his head and he had to stop himself from coming to a full stop, or tripping, that would be embarrassing.

“Careful, Loki, you’re gonna bump into someone,” Mobius slowed his pace as he pulled Loki to walk at his side, “You can keep bouncing around like Tigger from beside me.”

Loki was not blushing; not at how flustered the touch made him, not at the mixed soft and amused tone which Loki swore was just for him (he wasn’t possessive he was just right), not from the chastisement, no he was not blushing, the TVA clearly just had a heating issue which seemed to be largely affecting just his cheeks, they couldn’t even heat a building correctly. Typical.

Loki cleared his throat, unrelated to his blushing, “Casey doesn’t know what a fish is but you know what that hyperactive big cat is?”

“Like I said Loki, you’re a pussycat.”

“Remind me to introduce you to a real hungry tiger one time,” Loki muttered, cheeks still pink, he kept an eye onto the admittedly comfortable slip on canvas shoes as they slapped against the floor.

“What was that, darling?”

This bastard was doing this on purpose, he had to be… unless he wasn’t, then he’d have to explain why in general people who were practically strangers didn’t call each other ‘darling’, but that did come with the increased risk of him either never calling him it again… or calling him it again, and they’d both know it was on purpose. He’s a bastard. Loki plastered a cheery smile onto his face, looking up at Mobius with a look of innocence they both knew was fake, “Nothing!” his smile turned genuine hearing Mobius laugh.

They were in a golden doored elevator when Loki found his voice again, “Where are we going?”

“I seem to remember some God of comedy telling me that he didn’t talk much…”

“It’s the god of mischief, or tricks, not comedy,” Loki cut in, narrowing his eyes when he saw a barely concealed smirk on his face, “But of course, you knew that as you know ‘everything’ about me. Where are we going?”

“Why don’t you tell me?”

“How can I tell you if I don't know?”

“You’re pretty,” Mobius leant forward past Loki and pressed his hand to the black screen on the elevator pad, pausing his speech for a second too long as he did so, “smart, why don’t you try to figure it out?”

Loki was frozen as Mobius’s arm brushed against his own as he leant back and stood beside Loki, he could smell the sandalwood from his aftershave as he moved. “You’ve found The Variant, the less amazing, less talented version of me?”

“The Variant is pretty talented too, Loki.”

“Not as talented as me,” Loki pouted, not pouted, Gods did not pout (as his father so often talk him), but his lips were pressed together and slightly stuck out. This was just ridiculous, he wasn’t pouting and he wasn’t jealous, because what would he even be jealous of? Some less awesome version of himself gaining Mobius’ praises?

“Agreed.”

Loki’s head snapped to the man who was studying his watch intently, a little too intently, if Loki wasn’t imagining it.

Mobius cleared his throat, looking back up at Loki, a mild smile on his face, “We haven’t found The Variant, yet. Any more guesses?”

Loki let out a frustrated noise, “This isn’t fair, you have more information where we’re going, I haven’t been given any clues!”

“Take a breath.” Mobius told him with an amused smile and a glint in his eyes, “Why’s it so hard for you to say I don’t know?”

“I don’t know.”

“Nice, very funny,”

Coming from anyone else it would have annoyed Loki, but it sounded both fond and amused from Mobius, he needed to get out of the TVA it was making him… he didn’t know, but it wasn’t what he was used to, and that made him nervous, which typically made him feel stabby.  “So you’re not going to tell me? It’s taking forever, for a place which dictates how everyone else should spend their time you’d think that you would actually develop a elevator which doesn’t waste all of your time.”

“Time works differently here in the TVA, Loki, I’ve already told you; anyway no need to whine, we’re here now.” The elevator stopped and the doors opened and Mobius strode out and headed left.

“I wasn’t whining,” Loki whined to the empty elevator, before bounding after him.

“What’s this?” Loki bounced on the balls of his feet as Mobius stood in front of a door, as it scanned him.

“Do you ever stand still?”

Loki thought for a second, he shook his head, then ran his hand through his hair to place it back into its original place, “Most people ask me if I ever shut up.”

Mobius looked away from the door to Loki with that ever present smile, “I already know the answer to that one,” he winked then pushed the door open and walked inside.

Loki took a few more seconds to follow him than he perhaps would have had Mobius not winked at him.

When he finally did walk in he was met with… an apartment, fairly lifeless, the style of the rest of the TVA continued inside of the place, a small kitchen, a living area with a screen which looked like a television but he dare not ask in case that bloody cartoon clock began to play, there were a couple of doors leading off to one side and a couple more leading off on the other side.

“I don’t understand.”

“What don’t you understand?”

“Don’t use that patronising tone on me, I'm not a child.”

Mobius sighed, “I wasn’t using a patronising tone on you, Loki, I was asking you what you don’t understand, which is okay.”

Loki gritted his teeth and began to move around the room, strolling to the kitchen, he wasn’t sure if it was to stop himself from snapping again, or, gods forbid, from apologising. “So?” He turned back to see Mobius watching him with his hands tucked into his pockets.

“So…? Use your words, Loki.”

Loki could see the glint in his eyes across the room, that time he had meant to “What’s the test? Has the variant been here? Or is there some sort of set of clues? Or…, I swear if there’s a training video or propaganda video I shall launch myself out of the windows.”

“Nah, we’ll start on the training and propaganda in a day or two, not right this second, and those aren’t windows.”

Loki turned to look at the windows, “What are you talking about, of course it’s… oh simulated glass panes… I must have sustained a concussion from The Hulk, I’m never usually this slow.”

“Of course…” he said in a way which made it clear that he did not believe it, “We can get you checked out at the medbay tomorrow, if you like, being here might be affecting your healing capacity. This isn’t some form of test, it’s an apartment, my apartment.”

“It’s…” Loki looked around again with fresh eyes, it was still fairly lifeless, but there was a bright yellow mug on the draining board with that bloody clock on it, and a Coca Cola red pen on the table closest to him, a few certificates with ‘Mobius M. Mobius’ on all of them, along with some books which didn’t seem to be propaganda for the TVA… interesting… “It’s very…,” he tried to think of a compliment but gave up quickly, so instead gave a shrug, “it’s smaller than my childhood nursery was.”

Mobius gave a laugh, “I’m sure it is.”

“Well it’s very… it’s certainly an apartment… Why precisely are we here?”

“It was agreed by Judge Renslayer that if you would be working with us you deserved to be housed somewhere which isn’t a cell, of course you can’t go anywhere without me, and this apartment is fully secure.”

“You’re not worried that I’ll slit your sleep in your sleep?”

“It would mean I don’t have to get around to all of the paperwork on my desk.”

Loki frowned, why did this man never take his threats seriously? “If I’m staying here where will you be staying?”

“There’s two bedroom’s Loki, you’ll be staying in the guest bedroom.”

“A guest bedroom? Why do you have a guest bedroom? Are you allowed guests at the TVA headquarters? Do you have guests? Like your mother? Do you have a mother? Do all of the apartments have guest bedrooms? Are you agents allowed to get married and have kids? I don’t see why else you’d need two-.”

“Loki, can we stay on topic, please?”

“Sorry,” Loki swallowed, looking around once more, then back at Mobius, “I… I suppose it’s better than a cell.” The best thing about the cell had been Mobius’s visits, because Loki enjoyed annoying him, and nothing more.

“Marginally,” Mobius chuckled. “Is that a yes? Cause if not I should get you down to a proper cell before dinner time.”

“I… I suppose.”

“You don’t sound very enthusiastic, the cells really aren’t that bad, if you’d be more comfortable in your own space then I can take you there.”

Loki rolled his eyes, dropping into a rather uncomfortable armchair, he almost regretted his dramatics, almost . “I’m staying… But if you try to indoctrinate me into your cult with more of those videos I’ll skin you alive.”

“That’s the spirit.”

Loki was certain that he was going to kill either himself or Mobius by the end of the week.

[delyth88]

Loki episode 5 rewatch

It’s been a busy week so it wasn’t until yesterday that I had a chance to watch Episode 5 again. And I was a little worried I might not like it as much as I did on first watch, but thankfully I did still find a lot to like about this episode.

Spoilers below...

Firstly, I think it’s taken this long, but I’ve finally gotten used to this new variant of our Loki. To this overly emotive, sweetly stupid at times, often bewildered version of the character.  Let me be clear, he is absolutely not being presented in the same was at the first three films, Infinity War, or even Ragnarok. But I’m finding him easier to watch now that I have no hopes or expectations that he will be the Loki I was hoping we’d get to see again.  Sure, I’m sad they didn’t give us a continuation of the Loki we’re grown to love, but this guy seems to be starting to find his feet, and I’m curious to see what his potential is now.

I was again struck by the increased sense of purpose (no pun intended) of this episode.  It seems to be going places more so than previous episodes were. And again I loved the opening sequence and the music as we travel through the TVA and then out into the Void. It did make me wonder whether the destroyed city was actually a version of the timeline where Loki/Thanos win the Battle of New York, and that’s as far as the significance of that set goes.  My hunch is that we won’t see that long shot of Loki from the trailers in post-apocalyptic New York. They opted for the mirror of the Avengers scene instead as the way Loki finds himself in this place.

I laughed at Loki’s little rant this time too. Particularly the line “plus an alligator, that I’m heartbroken to report I didn’t even find all that strange!”.  In fact there were a few moment when I felt we were getting a little bit of Loki’s old humour. Such as, his “Delightful.” In response to kid Loki talking about cannibalistic pirates, “This is a nightmare.” and “Don’t die isn’t a plan, it’s a general demand of living”.

I do wonder though if this is just about comparison with the other Lokis?  Like they’re all so very much more on the extreme end of comical that it makes our Loki seem the straight guy in comparison? *shrug*

After several days I am still taken by Old Loki and his story.  And on watching it again I was able to appreciate the little moments leading up to his fighting Alioth. He gives the impression of being just so Over It and his crazy comics outfit also directs the audience away from how much he actually cares.  For example he is really quite upset at Lokis in general and presumably also himself after the betrayal by Boastful Loki. He says “We cannot change. We’re broken. Every version of us. Forever.”

And he seems quite affected by Mobius’ offhand comment that “it’s never too late to change”.

And then that look back towards Loki and Sylvie as Alioth approaches.

Gah! This is the kind of thing I wanted for our Loki.  I don’t have the right words to describe it, but it’s partly the back story, partly the change of heart, partly the stakes, the emotional depth. I’m really quite sad that we won’t see more of him.  :( 

@scintillatingshortgirl19​ you asked me what I thought of Loki’s response when Sylvie asks, “How do I know that in the final moments you won’t betray me?”

“Listen Sylvie, I…” Loki pauses and takes a deep breath “I betrayed everyone who ever loved me.  My father, my brother, my home.  I know what I did, and I know why I did it. And that’s not who I am anymore. Okay? I won’t let you down.”

To be honest on my first watch I think I just let it slide over me as yet another one of those lines where they keep telling us what we’re supposed to think of Loki (whether it’s true or not).  I think Episode 4 might have broken me – I didn’t even blink an eyelid.  I think I’ve just heard so many people saying things that I think are absolutely wrong about Loki that I’m just… used to it now?  I dunno. Maybe it was just my mood, or the fact that there were enough other things I enjoyed in the episode that I could ignore it.

But since you pointed it out I’ve been thinking about it and after my rewatch I kinda think Loki has been a little bit influenced by recent events and conversations.  He’s just watched with embarrassment several different versions of himself strike bargains and then betray each other, in such an extreme example of this behaviour that it seemed absurdly comic. Boastful Loki even says “I betrayed you, and now I’m king.” And as they leave the Loki fight behind Old Loki says “We lie and we cheat! We cut the throats of every person who trusts us! And for what! Power!”  So I can kinda see why betrayal is on his mind.  

And perhaps this is something he’s been thinking about for a while now.  Since he tried to strike a bargain with Sylvie before he even really knew her. Old Loki ask if Loki trusts Sylvie and he says” “She’s the only one [of the Loki variants] I do trust! “

But I guess the way I interpreted it is not just literal betrayal like he just watched with the other Loki variants, but also letting people down. Letting himself down. In this context betraying his father would be the events of Thor 1 where he betrays his father’s trust by letting the frost giants into the weapons vault (I think he’s talking about Odin here, not Laufey), and then by not being able to be a good king in the eyes of his father or even his own standards while Odin was in the Odinsleep.  I don’t think he would be thinking of the moment where he lets Laufey into Odin’s chamber because he always intended to betray Laufey and save Odin. Although maybe he feels guilt for that too, in terms of lying to his father.  In regards to his brother, I’d consider any of the times Loki is acting against his brother’s interests, in a serious way such as the times that he was evading and fighting against Thor in Avengers, or when he sent the Destroyer in Thor 1 as betrayals of a sort, and the frost giants at the coronation again. And in regards to his ‘home’ I assume from his perspective this is again about the coronation and the events that led to the destruction of the Bifrost and as far as he’s aware war with Jotunhiem.  Perhaps he’s thinking of the moment when Odin says to Thor “... you are unworthy of the loved ones you have betrayed!” Potentially he’s also thinking of Ragnarok and his actions in causing it after what he read in his file in the TVA. Personally I think he knows it was necessary but still feels a ton of guilt about being the one to actually do it. In this case it’s a betrayal in action but not in heart.

So I think he’s kinda focusing on the guilt he feels. And I think this is why he feels it could extend to Frigga, although he doesn’t mention it I think we as the audience are meant to assume it.  But again, this is in terms of the guilt he feels at a future version of himself inadvertently causing Frigga’s death – as he’s heard this story second-hand from Mobius. You know how if you start feeling bad about something it’s very easy to expand that to a whole bunch of other things you’ve done?  These are the times he feels guilty for his actions in hindsight.

I also think he’s kinda lumping a bunch of things together under the umbrella of the wording of the question that Sylvie has asked.  I think if she’d used a different word he would have echoed that back to her too.

I also think he starts of with “Listen Sylvie, I..” because he was about to defend himself, refuse to acknowledge that he would do such a thing and minimise it, by saying some version of “I would never do that”.  But he catches himself and takes the opposite approach of laying all his faults out plain. Admitting in a slightly exaggerated way that he has betrayed people in the past and he knows it, which he considers is more likely to be believed, and that he won’t betray Sylvie because he’s changed since then.

So I don’t know if I really have a conclusion to draw from this, but I think Loki is exaggerating out of guilt. 

But this is also one of those lines that where the character is telling us not showing us.  Which seems to have started in Ragnarok and is being continued in this series. It’s frustrating, I don’t like it, but it seems this is what they do now.  :/

***

So, it’s taken me a whole ‘nother day to get to finish writing this, and I’ve realised that this is the first episode in a while that has been on my mind since I watched it.  I’m actually invested again! Which I was very much not after Episode 4.

This episode had another piece of Loki’s story, in the form of Old Loki, and that was wonderful, and tragic.  And we’re starting to get somewhere with the plot now.  

And unlike in previous episodes where it looked like they’d left hints of things to come but that turned out not to be the case, I actually feel like we might get payoff for all those comments about Loki’s magic.  Probably not in a way I’d prefer, but at this point I’ll take any sort of change that gives Loki a bit more control over his life.

I’m also feeling again like this story matters.  With episodes 3 and 4 I wasn’t really feeling it.  I hope I’m not too disappointed. lol

I still don’t like the romance, but having resigned myself to the fact this is what they’re doing last week I was better able to watch this.  The fact that Sylvie is as utterly incompetent at personal relationships as our Loki does make it more tolerable to me, and if I take it as some weird AU (which lets be fair is exactly what this is) it is kinda cute. In a way I like that they’re both late 30s/early 40s in appearance, not teens or twenty-somethings. It adds this extra layer to their awkwardness and I think brings home how weird tit is that these thousand year old beings don’t know how to be friends if you can do the mental jumps required to believe this in the first place. I still want it to be platonic or at least not taken any further.  I will gag if they kiss in the finale. 

[wolvesandpetals]

Playing house: Final chapter (Loki x Sylvie, Rated: T)

Masterlist of my Sylki fanfiction here.

Sylvie wakes up the next day to the sunlight well past morning. When her eyes adjust to the sudden blinding light, she notices Loki staring at her, wearing the same clothes that he was in last night.

That's right, last night he confessed he does not want to leave, that he likes it here. She wonders if that is the real reason he has been insisting that she plays along with this charade.

[[MORE]]

Rage from the previous night starts to bubble at the pit of her stomach again, threatening to rise up. She closes her eyes, trying to push it down.

"Good morning", Loki says merrily, unaware of her internal struggle. "Thank you for bringing me back to the room last night. I don't recall much after my seventh glass, to be honest."

Sylvie opens her eyes to glare at him. Does he really not remember, or is he trying to get out of trouble by pretending not to?

She cannot tell. She just doesn't know anymore.

"I was thinking, maybe we can start our tour at the-"

"No." She cuts him off sharply. She sits up then, rubbing her temples as the hangover headache starts. Along with it, begins the surge of her anger. She feels like screaming to the heavens above and the hells below.

"No?" Loki asks, confused. "Sylvie, we have the whole day. We can-"

"No we can't!" She finally snaps. "I can't. I don't want to. I don't want to be a bloody tourist in bloody LA!" Her fingers curl into a fist, until she throws her hands up in the air. "I don't want to walk around Santa Monica Pier pretending to be your bloody wife! You know why? Because I've been here. I've lived in the pier during the tornado of 4055. I've watched the city die. I was only a hundred years old at the time." Her voice breaks a little, but the anger helps her push away the painful memory and the emotions it brings. "You know why I had to do that? Because of the TVA. They stole my life. They made me suffer. All I want to do now is take them down and make sure nobody else suffers like me."

Loki has been listening quietly, letting her get everything off her chest. He has spent his whole life doing what is right for him, never what is just right. But this time, he is willing to do right by her. "I get it, Sylvie. I promise we will-"

"Stop lying to me!" She screams. Her eyes turn cold, and she maintains eye contact as she makes her accusations known. "You like this!"

"W-what?"

"You confessed last night." She tells him so that he can no longer try to deny it. "You've got your family again. You've got your father's approval. You don't have to work a day in your life. You love this timeline."

"That's not...." He begins, but decides to abandon his protests. If they are being honest with each other now, then fine, he will speak his mind too. "So maybe I do love it here. Yes. I love this life. I love that my parents are alive and my brother doesn't hate me. I love that I have a home, and I'm happy." He places a hand over his heart, feeling it beating so fast that a mere mortal might have passed out. He focuses on it, willing it to lend him strength for the confession he's about to make. "But that doesn't mean I won't help you get out of here." A teardrop slips out of his left eye, and he hastens to wipe it away. "Sylvie, I... I have been a selfish man. I've always taken all I've wanted... But for you, I'd give it all up in a heartbeat." He places his hands on her shoulders, never breaking eye contact. Her rage has vanished now, her features soft and vulnerable, and all he wants is to make sure she's okay. "I promise you I will get us out of here, even if it means never seeing my family again. I've lost them once already. Doesn't matter if I lose them again." He lets go of her and steps back then, his familiar defense mechanisms snapping into place, the walls around his heart going up.

"Loki... I-" she tries.

But he doesn't think he can do this right now. "I need some air." And with that, he's out of the hotel room, the door wide open and still swinging the faintest bit from the pressure of his hand.

---

Sylvie spends the next four hours scared out of her mind, wondering whether he is coming back. He will return, she keeps telling herself. And even if he doesn't, it's not like she's ever had a... partner. She doesn't need one. Partners will only slow her down. She's better off-

Oh, hell with it! She cannot lie to herself anymore. She knows what the truth is. She knows she is not moving an inch from the room until he comes back. She has tried calling him a dozen times, but he never picks up. She did think about looking for him, but what if he returned to find her gone?

No. It's best to stay put. She's good at waiting, she has waited her whole life to bring her grand plan into fruition, after all. She can wait for him right here as long as she needs to.

---

Five hours later, the lock in the door turns. Sylvie reaches for the dagger hidden in her jeans, but relaxes when the door opens to reveal Loki. Their eyes search each other's to try to understand what kind of mood the other is in. Loki sees worry in Sylvie's eyes, along with fear, while Sylvie finds resolve in Loki's. Resolve for what? She wonders. What is his glorious purpose now?

He reaches inside his pocket to pull something out, then places it gently on the bed beside her. "I got you this. I thought it... I thought it'd look good with... well, with everything."

She picks it up to see it's a little necklace, with a green gem as a pendant. "Thank you." She says sincerely, clutching the object tightly in her hand. "I'm sorry for-"

He doesn't let her finish. "We have a flight to catch." She can tell that he's not angry anymore, just incredibly exhausted, and she decides to drop the matter for the time being. He reaches for their luggage, and she quickly places the necklace in the pocket of her jeans, deciding to wear it for the first time during some special occasion. Loki holds the door open for her. "Come on."

---

The flight back home is silent, but comfortable. There is so much they should talk about, but they have never been good at communication. Instead, she places her head on his shoulder, and he places his arm around her, and just like that, they know everything is alright.

They both feel incredibly jetlagged when they are finally "home", but the familiar place does give them relief.

"So it seems we can leave this town", Loki finally says, vocalizing what they learnt from the trip. He takes a seat next to Sylvie on the sofa, and sighs. "But we can't leave this reality."

Sylvie nods, wondering what their next move should be. If they can't leave, maybe they can lure the TVA to them?

A plan begins to form in her head.

She kisses him.

Loki feels his eyes go wide in shock for a few seconds at the sudden reaction, before he closes them and kisses her back. Slowly, he wraps his arms around her, pulling her closes. He can feel her nibbling his lower lip, and he uses the opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth, making her moan. After a while, they break apart for need of air, but he doesn't let her go. "Wow, that was... Wow."

She is smiling, breathless, but she is looking around them expectantly.

"Sylvie?" Loki asks, trepidation creeping into his mind. "What is it?"

"I... I thought that..." She sighs. There is no easy way to say this, and this will hurt him. "Back at Lamentis, when we touched, the TVA showed up. I thought that if we..." She looks away, blushing.

"Maybe they'd show up again." He finishes. "I guess we are not a Nexus event in this timeline." The happiness he felt just a while ago disappears. He felt like for once in his life, he finally got something he wanted. But he didn't. It was a trick. Just like this whole world is. He cannot fight back the bitter taste in his mouth. "Sorry to disappoint you."

"I'm not disappointed." Sylvie reassures immediately. She grabs his hand and gives it a squeeze. Her smile melts away the tension from his body, and they both inch closer again.

So maybe she did kiss him to bring in the TVA.

Or maybe it was an excuse to do something she has wanted to do for too long. Maybe she wants this.

Yes, she wants this.

The happy feeling is back in his heart, though the emotional rollercoaster still feels raw, and he prays it won't go downhill again.

As if on cue, a giant glowing door appears, and in walks Mobius.

Loki and Sylvie move apart at once, putting a respectable amount of distance between them, which is unusual for two beings who love scandalizing others. Their shocks mirror each others'. It is Sylvie who voices it out loud first. "Wait, it worked?"

"What worked?" Mobius asks, confused.

"Nothing." Loki supplies quickly. "How did you find us?"

"There's a variant of a powerful witch in this town. Agatha Harkness. She was posing as your neighbor, Agnes."

"Agnes is a witch?" She is shocked. But she shouldn't be. The hints were always there. Thor said they have lived in this house for years, yet Agnes- Agatha knew they had just moved in. Sylvie was so distracted by everything else, so consumed by the urge to find the enemy behind the scenes, that she missed the one right in front of her. This is new for her, she never lets her guard down. Never.

Loki shoots her a sympathetic look, as if reading her mind. It's not like Agatha ever presented herself as a threat to them. Anyone else in their shoes would miss it too.

"Her speciality is feeding on others' powers." Mobius explains, trying to be as brief as possible. "She wasn't supposed to be in your town. She kept herself disguised from our eyes. The TVA found her today. And she lead me right to you."

"Oh. So that's the Nexus event you were chasing." Loki concludes.

"Yeah." Mobius confirms, and gestures at the yellow glowing door. "Now come on."

Loki steps towards it, without hesitation. Before he walks in, he turns back to see Sylvie frozen in her place.

Sylvie feels like her legs have taken roots. When she first got here, all she could think about was getting out. Every moment felt like hell while she was trapped against her will. Over time, she has started to think of it as her home. She cannot imagine waking up without the yellow wallpaper to greet her every morning, or the little red extension chord attached to the distant wall socket that she uses to charge her phone every night, or the neighbor's tuxedo cat that pays her a visit each night, curling up against her legs with its tail high up like a salute. She touches the wall, mirroring her action from when she first got here, but her emotions are very different now. Her home is about to be taken from her for the second time in her life. Her spot, the place where she can sit down with her legs spread out and kick some ass at Fortnite, will no longer exist. There will be no walks in the garden at the end of the day while throwing dirty looks at the neighbor's extravagant pool, no lawn to be mowed, no hedges to be trimmed. In a few moments, every domestic comfort she has known will be forever gone.

"Sylvie?"He walks over to her, placing his hands on her shoulders, his concern hard to miss. "What's wrong?"

"I..." She doesn't think she's ready to say it yet, and chooses the flip the script on him. "But your parents..."

"Would want me to do the right thing. They are annoyingly righteous." He says with the tiniest hints of a smile. His parents are gone. He wants them back, but he knows the price will be too high. All he can do now is go on, and hopefully do some things here and there that will make them proud. He knows he has to live on his own terms, not on the terms of the dead, but there must be actions he can take to honor their memory.

"But this house..." Sylvie looks around, her heart breaking. "I don't... I don't know if I should..."

"Sylvie", he squeezes her shoulders, making her look at his eyes once more. "When we've beaten the ones at the end, we can have a life like this again."

"We can't. Not on the same timeline." She says sadly. One touch, and it's a Nexus event. There is no place for two Lokis on the same timeline. There's no place for her happiness.

And that's just it, isn't it? That's the biggest thing she's losing, the biggest reason she doesn't want to leave - Loki.

"This isn't about you", she had told him when they first met. But now, everything is all about him.

"We can... stay at the TVA." He says cautiously. He doesn't know the logistics of it yet, but he knows they will find a way. The Ones at the time of time are the ones who decided two Lokis cannot exist on the Sacred Timeline. There must be a way to change that when they are defeated. "We'll figure it out when we get to that. I promise."

Sylvie believes him. She has to. What choice does she have anyway? They ended up here because of someone else's will. Who is to say she won't blink and find herself in some other place, away from him?

No. Her best bet is getting out of here with him, and finding a place for them that they choose, that they can keep.

Sylvie nods. She reaches inside her pocket, and takes something out. Loki realises it's the necklace he bought her at LA. That's the only thing she intends to take from this place. No words are needed anyway. Now he knows exactly how he feels. A huge smile spreads across his face. He did get what he wanted, after her.

"Can I keep this?" She asks Mobius.

"Sure." He says softly.

Loki looks at Sylvie and smiles. She smiles back, reaching for his hand. Her journey began when she was dragged through the door centuries back. Now she's about to walk through the door and end it all.

Time to face the ones- or one, him or her, whoever or whatever it is- at the end of time.

(The end.)

[forasecondtherewedwon]

If You’re a Robot and You Know It, Clap Your Hands

Fandom: Loki Characters: Sylvie, Ravonna, B-15, Mobius Rating: G Word Count: 1774

Summary: Sylvie faces off against Ravonna while Mobius hangs out in post-prune purgatory with... himself?

“You’re more stoic than he was,” Ravonna noted, nodding at the empty air between them where Loki had lately stood.

Why the taunting, Sylvie wondered. Who was there left for Ravonna to impress? Her subordinates were all dead or unconscious, Loki was gone, the animatronic lizards who were not in fact ruling rigidly over time sat slumped in their seats. There was only Sylvie. Even when she had been a child, thin arm in the grip of a stone-faced woman in black armour like the shell of a beetle, Sylvie had not felt so alone with Ravonna as she did in this moment. It made her very angry. She would much rather have been alone with herself.

“How do you know how stoic Loki looked?” Sylvie spat. “You pruned him in the back!”

Ravonna tilted her head, glowing baton still raised.

“I don’t mean in the face of his own erasure from existence, I mean watching someone he cared about disappear.”

Sylvie’s expression had been hard—more than once, to get by, she’d imagined herself protected by that beetle armour from her childhood, closing her vulnerable parts away behind a scowl—but it slackened slightly in confusion.

“Agent Mobius,” Ravonna explained impatiently. There was a twitch of her eyelid that Sylvie caught and homed in on.

“They were friends,” she said slowly. Then, she stared hard into the Judge’s eyes. “You were friends. You and Mobius. You killed him?”

“I didn’t! I—”

“You had someone else do it?” Sylvie narrowed her eyes scornfully.

With an irritated groan, Ravonna lunged for her, but Sylvie hopped backwards over the head of the fake Time Keeper. She looked down and Ravonna followed her gaze, distracted from her attack by the sight of rubbery faux-flesh and protruding, crackling wires.

“And this?” Sylvie asked quietly, trying not to spook the woman with the weapon. “Did you have a hand in this deception? I never sensed it in you.”

Ravonna scoffed and looked away from the head on the floor.

“You were a child.”

“I was a Loki,” Sylvie snapped back.

Saying that name—the name she’d rejected but never forgotten, the name that had also been his—jolted her into action once more. She wedged the toe of her boot beneath the Time Keeper’s decapitated head and flipped it up, striking Ravonna in the stomach. The Judge folded forward and defensively swept the baton in a wide arc. Sylvie stepped out of the weapon’s path, not anticipating the way Ravonna swung her arm quickly back to hit her with the non-pruning end of the rod; she hadn’t been a Hunter in who knew how long, but she clearly hadn’t lost her skill with the tools of the trade.

The blunt end thudded into Sylvie’s ribs.

She was knocked back, but when Ravonna advanced, Sylvie’s hand shot up to grab the baton, hauling the Judge forward. Unbalanced, Ravonna was no challenge to send sprawling at the foot of the stairs leading up to the Time Keepers’ dais. She landed awkwardly. Sylvie breathed hard as she wrenched the baton completely free of Ravonna’s hold and went to retrieve her sword as well.

As she then moved to assess B-15, who was rising shakily to her knees, Sylvie never put her back to Ravonna. Pruned in the back. What a Loki death.

“You alright?” she asked B-15 softly.

The Hunter grunted and allowed Sylvie to support her into standing.

“Better if I knew where to go from here.”

“Let me worry about that,” Sylvie said.

Ravonna struggled to her own feet and Sylvie held the baton at arm’s length between them, keeping the Judge at a distance while B-15 opened the door behind them.

“Ah ah ah,” Sylvie warned archly, chin and eyebrows raised in impish caution. “You stay here and play with your robots.”

“This is temporary,” Ravonna said as Sylvie edged back through the open door.

Sylvie performed her signature cocked head and smirk.

“Isn’t everything?”

The second they were out of the Time Keepers’ chamber, B-15 slammed the doors and leaned into them, as if Ravonna would imminently begin trying to break them down from the inside. Which Sylvie supposed she might. She really almost admired Ravonna—or would have if the Judge hadn’t ruined her entire life.

She stared at the door handles, then at each of the weapons she held in her hands. Sword or baton, sword or baton? With a deep breath, Sylvie jammed the blade of her sword through the handles to bar the door, electing to keep the baton close. Though it was a less familiar weapon, she was nothing if not highly adaptable. Besides, touching the glowing end of the rod to a person was certainly more efficient than dispatching them with a blade. She wasn’t sure how many TVA workers they would encounter before they were out of here. This place and this time. Keeping the baton was the right choice.

She stole a last glance at the sword. Another little piece of herself left behind.

At the sound of reinforcements headed towards them, she and B-15 hurried away from the chamber.

“She used to be a Hunter,” B-15 said, shaking her head as they strode down the corridor, “like me.”

“I suppose she might have been like you at some point,” Sylvie said. She was interpreting the words a little differently. “I wonder when she stopped.”

“Do you?”

“Not really. I can trust you but not her.” Sylvie shrugged as she walked. “That’s about all I need to know.”

“Do you trust me?”

“I have to.”

“Same for me. Though I can’t say my faith in allies hasn’t been shaken recently,” B-15 said sarcastically. “The Time Keepers aren’t real, Ravonna’s been helping to cover up the truth, and I wasn’t even created here! I probably had to go through that degrading process of having my clothes zapped off!”

“Probably. I didn’t think you’d want to see that as a prioritized memory,” Sylvie said, half-apologetic. While they’d stood in the torrential rain outside Roxxcart, she’d allowed a highlight reel of memories to flash through the Hunter’s mind.

“You know, I always found it kind of strange that one of the few tests we run in this department is to judge whether or not someone is secretly a robot. I guess whoever designed the Time Keepers got paranoid.”

“Whoever that person is, paranoia is the least of their worries.”

“True,” B-15 agreed as she produced a TemPad. “Now, they’re going to have to deal with us.”

“If they’re still out there somewhere and not dead like Loki and Mobius,” Sylvie said bitterly. She flipped the TemPad open and programmed their destination.

“Maybe they aren’t dead. We’ve been misled about everything else. Maybe everyone who’s ever been pruned just ends up someplace… else.”

“It’s no place I’ve ever been.”

“Yet,” B-15 said.

The Time Door appeared before them. Pounding footsteps raced against Sylvie’s accelerating heartbeat as she prepared to step through and leave this place behind. They had to go now, her and her one ally. She couldn’t get above one ally these days. It was better than none.

“Yet,” Sylvie agreed.

—

Meanwhile in Jet Ski Land…

“That’s why I always felt such an affinity for that Earth actor,” Mobius said. “I am Owen Wilson. Or was.”

He dug his bare toes deeper into the slightly rocky beach and watched the slow wash of trash along the shore. It was almost nice here, but not quite. Not a place to stay. Everything inside him had already been screaming that. A lifelong (in this life, anyway) bureaucrat, he’d never felt such restlessness.

“Am… was… what does it matter?” the man next to him asked rhetorically.

He was also Mobius. No, Mobius was him. No, that wasn’t right, they were both Owen Wilson. Variants of him. But this man had shaggy blond hair where Mobius had been grey for as long as he could remember. Also, he appeared to be the only Owen Wilson in sight who had a mustache and he was a little proud of that. Probably stupidly, but it was helping him hold on to his sense of identity in the presence of so many hims.

They were on the beach around him, sitting in the dunes behind him, swimming in the water in front of him. One of the Owens was freaking parasailing through the air up above while another Owen drove the boat that towed him.

“How long have you guys been here?” Mobius asked in awe.

“You know, it’s hard to say,” Owen said, folding his arms thoughtfully. “It’s tough to figure out exactly how time flows here. A little like what you were describing, with your experience at the TVA.”

“Have you gotten to know everybody?”

“Oh yeah, they’re good guys. And all of us Owens are naturally social.”

“What about that one?” Mobius asked, pointing. He could hear the raw admiration in his own voice as the geriatric Owen he’d indicated revved his jet ski, bouncing over the low swells of the turquoise water.

“One of our actors. He was in the middle of filming a movie in Indonesia before he ended up here. Played an international, jet ski-riding spy in sort of a buddy comedy. Eighty-three years old and still a star.”

“What? That sounds incredible! What the heck happened?”

“Well,” Owen told him with a grimace, “the tsunami of 2051.”

“Right,” Mobius said, recalling the list of 21st-century apocalyptic events he and Loki had so recently sifted through together.

“He wasn’t supposed to survive the wave. The film crew had tethered him to the jet ski for safety while they were shooting and, as far as Owen can guess, that should’ve been enough to kill him. That’s what the TVA was counting on. They had to bring him in when he didn’t drown.”

“What a story though! That old Owen is one tough nut!”

“I know!” Owen gushed proudly.

Mobius shook his head in amazement, scanning the water. His gaze landed on something he couldn’t immediately understand.

“And what’s that?” he asked.

“That’s jet-ski Owen.”

“I thought the old guy was jet-ski Owen.”

“Nah, that one’s Owen on a jet ski. This one’s Owen as a jet ski.”

The riderless craft surged across the water until the speed had its front end lifting high off the surface. With a glorious final burst, it escaped the water entirely, executing a barrel roll in midair before touching down once more.

Mobius felt the praise leave his own lips and heard it echoed up and down the beach by all other versions of Owen Wilson in attendance: “Wow.”

[sserpente]

Pastel Blue (Chapter 5)

Synopsis: After his lucky escape, the Tesseract takes Loki on new adventures–but unfortunately, his journeys through space do not go unnoticed and he soon ends up on TVA’s radar. Working for them, albeit reluctantly, he keeps finding himself in the company of a young woman, Jess, who works in the linguistics department and who has a truly strange effect on him. Smitten by her confidence and smugness, he seeks her presence like a bee hunting for honey and lets her wreak havoc in his heart without really knowing why. But he is determined to find out. He means to escape this godforsaken place anyway.  

Find all chapters on my masterlist! (Unfortunately, Tumblr will not display my recent posts if I add a link.)

It almost felt like no time at all. Had one whole week really passed already since Loki had accommodated himself in her unit? In the books, the characters who had to share a room usually fell in love by the end of the story or, even better, they had some mind-blowing sex and then ended up together, and yet all she had done was play with her vibrator like it would be taken away from her the next morning for good.

But unlike any of the mischief and the chaos she had expected, Loki was a rather pleasant roommate. He was respectful, calm, tidy… and she doubted he had ever entered her room without her permission. Unless, of course, he had done so in her absence.

Jess gnashed her teeth, her eyes fixed on her brown hair in the mirror. Ariana had found this lovely youth magazine in the nineties yesterday, one that had already been thrown in the bin. The only reason she had taken it was because the cover showed a blue phone booth with Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor on the cover. Jess had spent all morning skimming through it, reading the headline article as well as chuckling about the gossip and the ads—even though some of them were rather sexist.

At some point, she found a double page on fancy hairstyles for women and now struggled to copy one of the elegant braids to spice up her own hair. Thus far, she had been failing miserably, flinching with a grunt when Loki opened the bathroom door. He tilted his head upon seeing her sitting on the edge of her bathtub with her tongue sticking out a little and her fingers entangled in her brown hair.

“Yes?”

“I meant to get washed but clearly, you are occupied in here.”

Jess huffed, flinging the hair tie into the sink. “I’ve been trying to braid my hair. Like this, look!” She pointed at the magazine. The woman in the picture looked like it had taken her five minutes to create this look, and they’d had the audacity to rate this style ‘quick and easy’.

Loki chuckled. “You look like a scarecrow.”

“Why, thank you.” She rolled her eyes. “You can take your shower, I give up on this.” She said.

His sigh surprised her. “Allow me.”

“What?” Jess’ reply was all but a chirp but Loki had already approached her and fetched the hair tie from the sink. The braid was indeed a simple one, and as he stood behind her to part her hair for her, he had to refrain from letting her know just how soft it felt.

He had often braided his mother’s hair as a child. It was an activity that had calmed him down whenever Thor and his friends had made fun of how fond he was of books and preferred to use his mind and tricks rather than raw strength in play fights. The hand movements he was so familiar with that he had no need to look. Instead, he met Jess’ eyes in the mirror. She swallowed, and for a brief moment, he found himself remembering the whimpers coming from her bedroom at night.

Quickly, he averted his gaze again, parting her hair to reveal the earrings dangling down her earlobes. They shimmered in the artificial light of the bathroom. He had never seen her without them, come to think of it.

“They are moonstones.” She said when she noticed his glance. His finger brushed against her left earring once more, making it swing a little. “M got them for me on my birthday. The stone is said to soothe emotional instability and stress, and to stabilise emotions.” After all, her own parents were unlikely to buy her birthday presents anymore. “He asked me to always wear them… that they would protect me from evil.”

Loki hummed. He was familiar with the healing properties of moonstones. They were rather common on Asgard too. Only it made him wonder why Mobius would be so keen on her keeping them on at all times.

“Do you truly believe that?”

She shrugged. “I choose to.”

His fingertips brushed against the soft skin of her neck and he sucked in a deep breath. Jess’ lips parted. She was indeed a beautiful woman, was she not? Loki pondered if she was aware of just how alluring she was. How delectable she sounded when she came undone, believing so naïvely that he was unable to hear the fun she had with herself.

Lust flared up in his blue eyes, his fingers caressing her neck once more, and him braiding her hair all of a sudden turning into a subtle excuse to touch her over and over, to explore what their physical connection meant to him. Then it hit him. The inexplicable tension between them was indeed sexual too.

It was perfect, was it not? If Jess desired him, in whatever way she imagined to… then perhaps he could make use of her attraction, especially as this meant that he too would get to blatantly act on those carnal needs simmering right beneath the surface of his very core. He could not possibly trust her beyond that.

“There.” He announced, finishing up the braid by tying the loose ends together with her hair tie. She looked exactly like the model in the magazine now—only Loki had done an even better job. Jess swallowed once more, wishing, subconsciously, that he would touch her one last time. When he stepped away from her instead, she came to suppress a disappointed whimper.

“M is, um… you’ll be sent to a different unit next week.” She said, breaking the oddly peaceful but palpable silence between them.

“Am I?”

“Yeah. Reese recovered well, I mean, that’s what M told me. He will take over after the party.”

“What party?”

Jess stood, clutching the sink behind her for support—Loki did not fail to notice how flustered she was now, almost as if him braiding her hair had intensified whatever it was she felt for him. It had been a long time since he had last had to think this way upon meeting someone of the opposite sex, let alone a mortal woman.

“Dave is celebrating his anniversary this weekend. It’s a big deal here at the TVA, much more important than birthdays. M didn’t tell you about it, then.” She concluded.

Loki shook his head slowly and decided to give her a smirk. Her reaction, blood biting at her cheeks, pleased him. “I’d dare say I am not invited to your silly festivities.”

“M is thinking about it. About inviting you, I mean. And I guess you could… use a break from all… this. Besides, apart from security, everyone will be drunk by midnight. Lots of snacking and dancing…”

Loki rolled his eyes. He had already hated these kinds of parties back on Asgard. Fandral would shamelessly flirt with three women at once, Volstagg would stuff himself into a coma and Thor would brag with his hammer on the dance floor, making the women believe they could lift it as they danced with him.

If anything, however, this absurd anniversary was the perfect opportunity for him to let his charm play and gain her trust. Jess sighed, prompting him to look up and meet her eyes. She stood, approaching him with the hint of a smile both scornful and compassionate at the same time… and then wrapped her arms around him.

Loki tensed up, his arms hanging by his side motionlessly. Physical affection was the last thing he had expected in a place like this, even from Jess. Perhaps, gaining her trust would be easier than he thought it would be, and still, part of him was unable to deny how much he enjoyed knowing that someone at least pretended to care, as peculiar as she was. Her touch felt like someone had set his entire body ablaze.

“Listen, I know you’ve been through shit and I know you hate everyone right now, including me. M may or may not have red on his ledger but you’re a part of the team now. You’re one of us. If we don’t stand up for each other, then who will?”

“I never agreed on becoming a part of the team.” Loki responded darkly.

Jess moved away from him a little, her smile faltering. “Me neither.”

~*~

“You’ll have to explain that to me one more time. When your father, I mean, Odin, fell into the Odinsleep—whatever the hell that means—your mother gave you the throne?”

Loki hummed. That was the part of the story Thor had left out upon telling S.H.I.E.L.D. and all the other silly secret organisations run by mortals how dangerous and menacing his adoptive brother was.

Jess was flicking through one of the thickest books he had ever seen. It was a collection of astronomical anomalies written down in a language not even Loki could decipher and it was so big she had to stand upright rather than sit at her desk to read the top of the pages. She gazed at him from the corner of her eyes.

“Thor was no longer on Asgard and Mother refused to leave Odin’s side. I was the only one left fit to rule—only Thor’s idiotic friends did not accept me as their king.”

“Let me guess… they pretended you were the villain so you became the villain?” Nibbling on her candy necklace, she bit off a pearl with a loud crack. Loki flinched a little. It was short of a miracle she had not chipped any of her teeth yet.

“I saw my chance,” he said. “So I took it. I never saw myself as the villain. And I never lied. I was the rightful king of Asgard.”

Jess bent over to read the small print. She was still wearing the plait Loki had braided into her hair. It swayed from side to side a bit as it fell over her shoulder, revealing her neck. Her scent was almost unnerving—unnerving in a most ferocious and desirable way. Intoxicating. He had sensed it when she had hugged him already and now, part of him was greedy to press her close to him once more and feel her body against his. He suppressed a growl. He should be enjoying his quest to tiptoe nearer and nearer to getting this ridiculous collar off his neck and make this mortal woman swoon over him—not the other way around. He was the one in control. He had to be.

So he stepped closer, his tread so quiet Jess never heard him approach her.

“So you came to like it. The power of the throne?” She said without looking up. Loki nodded, oblivious to the fact she could not see him. She cursed under her breath when his arm brushed against hers, eliciting a barely noticeable smirk from him. It was amusing how quickly he could read her reactions to him now.

The Trickster swallowed. “I meant to prove myself to the man who never saw me as a potential heir in the first place.”

“How did Thanos find you?” Jess choked out when he moved in closer, demanding all of her attention to himself. It almost scared him how fast she forgot about the massive book on her desk, her eyes fixed on his face as if it bore the answer to all of her questions. Loki’s expression hardened nonetheless, regardless of how much the urge to taste her lips rose within him.

“How much do you know?”

“I know what M told me… that you were his ally and he helped you take over Earth in exchange for the Tesseract.”

Loki narrowed his eyes at her. “Then you know nothing.” Her glance found his lips now too. He was standing close enough for his warm breath to ghost over her mouth, her heart beating more rapidly with every passing second.

Fuck. Her office was being monitored. Sucking in a deep breath, she moved away from him and closed the thick book on her desk shut. “It’s late. We should head to the party.” She cleared her throat. “You can, um… wait for me here so I can get changed. Give me five.”

Loki nodded, taken by surprise until he noticed her glancing at the chunky surveillance camera in the corner of the room. Ah… there it was. The fear or shame or both to be caught being involved with him. Loki gnashed his teeth when she rushed past him, fleeing from the scene. That, at least, was something he was familiar with.

He remained in the office, almost as if glued to the spot, for a while longer before he made his way towards the cafeteria where the festivities would take place. Jess would catch up—besides, so he had to admit, he was indeed looking forward to seeing their faces when he joined the ridiculous little party and what it might give him to work with.

“Really, that’s all? That’s almost a little disappointing.” He heard Dave say in the distance, presumably a few yards away from him, his voice ricocheting through the dark hallway.

Loki stopped dead in his tracks. As silent as a mouse, he leaned against the wall, melted into it almost, and slowed down his breathing.

“Yes…” Another voice that Loki identified as Mobius’, replied. “We did take a risk with them but I must admit, I too almost expected a little… more. I thought one of them might… feel something, you know—a connection or recognition, maybe.” Loki could hear his suit ruffle as he shrugged. “Well, timelines can be unpredictable. We do know that better than anyone else.”

Connection. Recognition? For some peculiar reason, he was certain the pair were speaking about him. Him and… Jess? Who else could they possibly mean? His gut feeling, however, told him that he should, seidr or not, get rid of the security footage in Jess’ office as soon as possible. Whatever it was Mobius wanted to see unfolding between them, he was not going to grant him the satisfaction of presenting it to him on a silver platter.

Fortunately enough, they were too far away to hear him, he realised that once more when Jess’ footsteps echoed through the hallway. He knew it was her without even looking behind himself and yet, found his heart skipping a beat when she touched his arm.

“Ready? You know they might give you suspicious looks as soon as you… what are you doing?”

Loki gave her a disarming smile. “Nothing. Shall we?”

~*~

A/N: Put your swords up, put ‘em up; it’s going down.

[justjessame]

Glorious, Before the Burden - The Comfort ~ 5

Odin was grief stricken and angry.  For once, at least in my recent memory, neither was focused upon me.  His knees met the marble beside me, his arms pulled Frigga’s head from mine and his gaze met mine.  Pain rushed through me, but I relinquished my hold, knowing that at least in this - his affection for her was equal to, if not more than, mine.  

Thor was holding Jane, and I knew as surely as I knew my own name, that Odin’s ire would be directed at the Midgardian and his son soon enough.  They’d brought the Dark Elf’s aggression and thirst for the Aether home to roost.  This, the queen’s death at their hands while she played guardian over both Jane and the Aether, would be a final pin in Odin’s distaste for the pairing.  How pitiful and terrible.  I almost thought my own banishment and supposed suicide was merciful in comparison.  

Preparing the dead for their final trip - Valhalla awaits after all - is one of the hardest parts of grief.  When Odin insisted Loki was dead and I assured him he was NOT, we dared not go through the playact - not that I assumed they would have done it for someone so many insisted was a traitor.  I had to wonder, as I watched Frigga, my queen and mother, draped in silks and set off along with all those who died at the hands of the Dark Elves and in collateral damage from the invasion, had I been given such a funeral?  

Odin, standing tall at my right, Thor as tall at my left, I watched as the archers lit the pyres and the sky was aflame.  A warm hand touching my right hand made me flinch, so unprepared for the touch, but then Odin’s voice joined it.

“If you would, Lady Sigyn,” my jaw clenched, as he continued, his voice quiet and soft.  “A moment alone, please?”  

Alone? Without witnesses, of course.  A tilt of my head was the only answer I felt capable of giving.  My eyes were dry, tears burned out and I yearned to go to Loki, to tell him and comfort him, but a moment with Odin I’d allow.  

The throne room was in shambles.  Dark Elves destruction all around and Odin seemed at a loss of whether he should sit or stand.  Rudderless without Frigga near.  

I chose not to kneel.  I’d been banished, and felt that freed me from fealty to his leadership.  

“Sigyn,” he stared down at me, voice still quiet and I wondered if he was feeling as lost and broken as I felt when I woke up in Midgard alone and confused.  “You must hate me so -”

I shook my head, I didn’t hate him.  I felt sorry for him.  “No, I don’t.”  His eye widened.  “You just lost the love of your life, mine is simply locked away.  I still have hope.”  

He huffed out a breath and sat hard on the throne.  “Yes, I suppose that does make you come out ahead.”  He looked far older than he ever had to me.  “Did she tell you why?”  My arms were crossed over my chest as I waited for him to expound on his question.  “Frigga, I mean, did she tell you the reasons for -” he gestured at me, as if all of me was a reason to be had.  

“Do you mean, did she give me a reason for banishing me and telling my husband and everyone here that I committed suicide?”  Odin’s eye closed as if he needed strength to deal with me, strange since he’d asked for the audience, not me.  “Yes, in part.  Something about Loki making a deal with a terrible being and THIS being a way to keep him safe.”  The amount of sarcasm and disbelief coloring my tone would have choked a lesser being.  “I have doubts.”  

“The young always doubt their elders,” he sighed, opening his eye to study me.  “You love him still.”  Not a question, he’d stopped questioning how I felt about Loki finally.  A harsh laugh and he sighed again.  “You remind me of -”  His eye went tight and my eyes burned again.

“I’ll always love him.”  I reminded him.  “I should go check on him.”  He shook his head and I wanted to throw something.  “I’m not going to release him, Odin.”  I bit my lip and wanted to scream.  “He’s alone and his MOTHER just died.”  

“I know, Sigyn, I know.” Odin looked down and I waited.  “He’s been told.”  By a guard, I wanted to argue.  “I can’t let you -”

“That’s where you have it wrong,” he looked up at me and I wasn’t sure what he was seeing, but it stopped him from opening his mouth and giving another edict.  “You won’t be LETTING me do anything from here on out.  I will be visiting my husband.  I won’t go into the cell, but he will have me as a visitor.”  Turning on my heel I walked away from Asgard’s king, leaving him to grieve alone, much as he left me to grieve alone on Midgard.

I had to sidestep several guards and cleaning crews - the cells had been partially destroyed along with the throne room and a greater portion of Asgard then Odin cared to speak about - wearing my regular clothing, my gowns and my hair in my normal way felt both freeing and strange after so much time in Midgard.  Although not as odd as seeing my people stare and gasp as if they were bearing witness to a ghost haunting the very halls.  

Loki was sitting with his back against the far wall, the entirety of his cell destroyed within, but the integrity of the cell itself was perfect.  He didn’t see me, not at first, and I took a moment to appreciate the reversal from when I was a child in the gardens to our current state.  Barefoot, hair down and wild, he looked as if he’d finally allowed his inner turmoil and madness to have free and full reign.  His grief coupled with the reality of not making peace with her before she died had done this.  

“Sigyn?” His tear stained, red rimmed blue eyes locked on me - where I was standing on the other side of his cage - and he sounded unsure.  Was I real or was I simply another vision?  

“Yes, my love?”  I drew closer, touching the surface of his cell, letting my hand press against it, letting him see the golden ripple to prove I was real.  

His gasp followed by a sob cut through me.  “Oh my,” he didn’t stand, choosing to crawl across the floor, our faces were almost level that way - when he made it to where I stood.  “You’ve come home.”  

I nodded, no longer trusting my voice.  He lined up our hands and I blinked away my tears, not wanting this to be a tear filled time, even with Frigga’s death - oh no Frigga’s death.  

“I was with her,” somehow I managed to say the words and his eyes grew tighter.  “I was.” I nodded and when his first tear fell so did mine.  “I’m so sorry, Loki.”  

“Don’t, love, don’t.”  He shook his head.  “At least she had you with her,” he was clutching at whatever threads he could.  “The daughter she always wanted.”  

“The son she must have dreamt to life,” I whispered.  

I didn’t stay as long as I wanted, simply because being on the wrong side of the cell didn’t make either of us happier.  And Loki actually forbade me from coming INSIDE the cell with him.  Having me closer, he promised, helped.  

“I could be closer,” I tempted, but he shook his head.  

“I won’t have you a prisoner too, Sigyn.”  His red rimmed eyes pleading for me to understand.  “Go, please?”  

Promising to come back, vowing that I would regardless of Odin or anyone else, I left.  As I ascended the stairs, I wondered if our rooms had made it out of the invasion intact.  

I should have known, perhaps it was being home surrounded by the comforts of Asgard and the familiarity of the walls that I’d known from such a young age that had allowed me to forget just who I shared those walls with, but I should have known that Odin’s distrust of Jane and the fact that her body was currently nothing more than a warm a living container for the Aether - awaiting the Dark Elves’ next attempt at taking it by force - would lead to Thor attempting to free her from her own prison.  And who better to aid him in this, than his adopted brother and my own heart, Loki?  

How had I not known it? How had my own powers of premonition failed me so?  Simply put, I couldn’t control that power, I couldn’t aim it at what I wanted to see and force it to show me what would be coming.  I was powerless and rudderless, much as Odin was without Frigga, and as such, didn’t see Thor freeing Loki to aid him in his madness.  

That was a failure in my powers, but in my own knowledge of MY FAMILY?  That just couldn’t be forgiven, not only by Odin - who looked at me with pity this time, not suspicion - but by myself.  How could I have missed the reality of it? Thor, as desperate for Jane’s freedom from both Odin’s heavy boot and the draining power of the Aether would have gone to ANYONE for aid, and Loki was NOT as troubling to ask for help as so many would assume - even if Volstagg, Sif, and Fandral all made pains to make it sound so.  I would have laughed, if I wasn’t scared to my very marrow by the idea of the three of them alone and facing the monsters that I saw behind my closed eyelids - not simply the Dark Elves, but that thing that had faced Frigga.  

“Leave us,” Odin entoned, anger radiating off him in waves.  He was on his throne, the debris still littering the throne room, but nowhere near the top of the list of problems facing my king.  I knew when he said ‘us’ he meant the two of us - our remaining family.  I was leaning against one of the remaining pillars, close to the throne, and praying for strength.  “Do you see ANYTHING, Sigyn?”  He was pleading for hope, that the two of us - our duo - wouldn’t be all that remained for the rest of his reign.  

My eyes went shut and I tried with every ounce of my being to try to follow them - Thor, Jane, and the one who should have been easy to follow MY LOKI.  Taking a deep breath, I centered myself and tried to find HIM.  Instead of finding the one I so desperately wanted to see, I found another - the one I’d left with Sylvie, in his own desperation, wandering stacks much like in a library or bookstore, searching for SOMETHING and I tried to brush him away - NOT NOW.  But I couldn’t, and I nearly screamed when he found Agent Mobius, even as I felt the wave of relief flow over him, but it left just as quickly - Mobius didn’t recognize him, had no idea of his name or who he was.  

Shaking off the vision, I growled at my frustration.  Why was this so damn difficult?  “Nothing,” I opened my eyes.  “I cannot find them, Odin.”  Why was it that I GLOWED, but I saw nothing when I searched for Loki?  How was that fair?  

My king studied me and I could have sworn that his lip twitched.  “When your parents first brought you here,” a nod and he went on.  “You were tinier than I expected, I asked Frigga if she’d been wrong about your birth.”  My lips curled at the idea of him daring that - and he laughed, a sound that I hadn’t heard in so long from him that it startled us both.  “It went over quite well.”  He sighed and sat back in his throne.  “So small, yet -�� his gaze fixed on a sight that seemed farther away than where I stood.  “Like a flame, you burned so bright, Sigyn.”  My smile dropped.  “She didn’t tell you?”  She had, I just assumed it was Loki who saw it - ONLY Loki.  “I knew you were powerful, so did she.”  

“He thought you took him as a souvenir.”  I swallowed down the dryness in my mouth.  “Loki,” Shaking my head, I took another deep breath.  “You make it sound as if I was simply another one.”  

Odin let out a long breath of his own.  “I haven’t been the best parent,” he conceded, and I chose to remain silent.  “I should never have explained taking him in the way I did.” He was still staring off in the same way, and I wished I could see what he did.  “Seeing an infant, left to die, Sigyn -” he swallowed something as hard as I had.  “I hope you never have to see something so cruel, I truly do.  I couldn’t have left him there, no matter the reasoning.”  He looked down at his hands.  “When I touched him, he changed, his naturally blue skin, red eyes - they changed.  I didn’t do that, he did.”  I felt the tear roll down my face, but didn’t move to brush it away.  “When I tucked him against my chest and brought him home, Frigga met me and one look at him and she was in love.”  His smile was soft, the memory like new.  “He was hers from the first look, first touch.”  

“She told me,” I was surprised by how strong my voice sounded, even as my tears were running down my face.  “Before Loki and I first -” Brushing away my tears, I shook my head.  “She told me how my future husband’s family would cherish and honor my honesty.”  Our gazes met and he waited.  “Instead, I was punished for it.  Was it because you chose not to exercise it with Loki about his parentage, Odin?”  

He shook his head, and I wished we could continue speaking - we’re interrupted by a guard informing us that they’ve learned where Thor, Jane, and Loki had disappeared to.