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five-miles-over · 10 months

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For All Time, It Was Always You

Chapter 2: Mrs. Laufeyson

A/N: Thank you everyone for all of your positive comments! I really appreciate it, and hope you'll like this little continuation from the suburbs AU inspired partly by Wandavision.

Summary: After Loki leaves for work, you explore your new house and try to fit in with this world that feels too perfect to be real.

Pairing: Loki x Wife!Reader

Warnings: None really. Talk about 'traditional' gender roles. A surprise cameo. And silliness.

You waved goodbye, standing at the doorway as a black Chevrolet Bel Air departed from the house with Loki in the driver's seat. And like the doting wife that he thought you were, you blew a kiss in his direction.

When the car disappeared from your line of sight, you meandered into the sea green kitchen and filled a steel kettle with water, letting it sit on the stove the way a hen sat on her eggs. While the kettle grew hot, you searched the cabinets for tea bags,…and anything else that might help you understand this new, suburban world. A world in which you were the newlywed wife of a TVA employee who shared a name with the Norse God of Mischief.

Next to a box of Earl Grey Tea was an entire section of the cabinet dedicated to biscuits of various brands and flavors: chocolate Hobnobs, Jaffa cakes, McVitie's digestive biscuits, shortbread, Bourbon cookies, and Oreos. At least three, unopened tubes of Oreo cookies. Were all of these sweet treats for you, or for your - you couldn't believe you were actually using this word - husband?

With a shrug, you grabbed a tube of the Oreo cookies, ripped it open and started eating them one by one. Holding the blue wrapper in one hand, you continued searching through the other kitchen cabinets.

You found nothing but flour, brown sugar, white sugar, spices, marmite, extra virgin olive oil…, and two jars of strawberry jam from the same brand for some reason. And then, something next to a box of spaghetti caught your eye. A cookbook, with various pages dog-eared, titled Delicious Recipes For All Time, Always.

You blinked, carefully taking the book from the shelf. For All Time, Always? That's a weird title to call a cookbook…, a vague title as well. Inside the cover was a handwritten note, scribbled in blue pen.

The way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Congratulations on the wedding, Mrs. Laufeyson! Loki's a lucky guy.

-Mobius M. Mobius

So that's who Loki was talking about at breakfast. He mentioned cancelling plans with someone named 'Mobius'. Someone who was making him watch tedious videos at work today.

Jumping to the dog-eared pages of the cookbook, you came across various recipes: poached eggs, blueberry pancakes, macaroni and cheese, spaghetti bolognese, green bean casserole, Cumberbatch pie, curried chickpeas in coconut milk, angel food cake with strawberries and cream, chocolate mayonnaise cake…

Whiiiiiiieeee!

You whipped your head over your shoulder and immediately silenced the kettle's whistle, turning off the stove. Damnit, you went looking for tea bags and found yourself exploring everything except tea bags. Shaking your head, you shoved an Oreo into your mouth and opened the box of Earl Grey tea bags.

Then, you opened a cabinet filled with plates, bowls, and cups, grabbing a white ceramic mug for your tea bag. On the top shelf of the cabinet was a pastel blue gift box. While the tea bag steeped in hot water, you reached for the box using a chair as a makeshift stepping stool. Inside the gift box were two mugs labeled 'Mr.' and 'Mrs.' in gold calligraphy And like the cookbook, there was a handwritten note as well.

For all the mornings you'll have together. Congratulations to you both, Mr. and Mrs. Laufeyson! May the years ahead be filled with lasting love and happiness.

-Jeremy, Joyce, and Bill Hazeldine

With a gasp, you quickly closed the box and put it back on the shelf…only to open the box, taking another peek at the note. Mrs. Laufeyson...you underlined those words with your fingertip. Taking a deep breath, you put the box back on the shelf for good, promising to never use those mugs unless you were with Loki.

By this point, the tea was hot enough to be enjoyed but not scalding that it would burn your throat. You took a sip, relaxing in its warmth, holding the mug with both hands. "Mrs. Laufeyson", you repeated to yourself. You looked down at your left hand, the emerald ring still on your middle finger just the same way it was this morning.

After you finished drinking your tea and scarfing down the rest of the Oreo cookies in the container, you wandered into the living room. It was just across from the kitchen, a pastel yellow room with white bookshelves containing all kinds of hardcover and paper cover works. One would probably need an entire decade just to finish reading all the books kept inside the living room. You tilted your head and wondered which of the books were your husband's choice. But before you could sit down on one of the couches, you heard the doorbell ring.

"Who is it?" You asked, fixing your hair.

A light, female voice came from outside. "It's Joyce!" As you made your way to the front door, you caught a glimpse of yourself in mirror hanging in the hallway. Your hair was miraculously styled, and you were wearing a cute set of pajamas…It almost made you stand still for a moment just so you could admire how desirable you looked. No wonder your husband was so lovey-dovey this morning.

The doorbell rang again. Putting on your best smile, you dragged your feet towards the door and opened it.

Standing outside was a thin, middle-aged woman -presumably Joyce - with a bowl cut hairstyle, wearing a light blue shirt and straight-leg jeans. "Oh hello, dear. So good to see you again!" She gave you a warm smile and a hug, rocking you in her arms.

"Good to see you too, Joyce." You politely reciprocated her hug and let out a small laugh. "Thank you again for the mugs, they're lovely."

Joyce placed her hands on your arms for a moment, looking up at you. "I haven't seen you both since you came back from your honeymoon. Oh, look at you…" She marveled, "Married life seems to be treating you well."

"Thank you so much," you looked down, deciding to be as demure as possible, hoping they wouldn't ask too many questions about the honeymoon. "I…I couldn't be happier, Loki is so sweet to me." When your eyes met Joyce's, you touched the back of your neck. "I…He makes me feel like the luckiest lady in the world, Joyce."

Joyce quietly laughed with you. "You remember my son Bill, right?" Towering over Joyce was a lanky teenage boy with golden curls, blue eyes, and the face of an angel. He wore a grey t-shirt, worn-out jeans, and beat-up sneakers.

You reached out to shake his hand. "Of course I do," you lied. "Hi, Bill."

"Afternoon, Mrs. Laufeyson." Bill greeted you with a smile that could make London light up during a blackout. "Congratulations again."

"Thank you." You placed your left hand on your heart, showing off your wedding ring just a little. "How are you, Bill?"

"I'm alright, thank you." Bill nodded. "I've been working with the church, teaching Sunday school. Thought it'd be a nice way to spend my summer after my first year of college."

"That's very thoughtful of you."

"Thank you. I thought it would be good for my theology course to do something like that," Bill admitted before reaching into one of his jean pockets, procuring a small blue velvet box. "Actually, I have something for you, Mrs. Laufeyson."

You covered your mouth in disbelief. "Oh, Bill…"

"Please, take it." He extended the box to you. "I bought it for my former-girlfriend Jewel." Blinking, you gingerly accepted it, running your finger along the lid. "Former girlfriend…You broke up with her?"

Joyce intervened, "He had to do it, dear. She was nothing but trouble."

"I'm so sorry."

"No, I'm sorry." Bill shook his head. "I bought it for her a long time ago, but I suppose it was never meant to last. But, I really want to give it to someone. Please, consider it a belated wedding gift, Mrs. Laufeyson."

You smiled, opening the box to find a sterling silver bracelet. Simple, yet elegant. "Thank you, Bill. I'll treasure it. If you ever want to talk, or just stop by for some tea, the door will always be open for you."

"Thanks, Mrs. Laufeyson," he graciously said. "And I hope Jewel finds someone else who'll make her happy."

The three of you stood quietly outside your house before you spoke up. "Joyce, would you and Bill like to come inside for some tea?"

"Not today, dear. I'm so sorry, Bill's coming with me to do some errands. And I'm sure you might need to catch up on some sleep after such a busy honeymoon." Joyce teased you a little with the last bit. "Might only be a matter of time before you and Loki get a visit from the stork."

You laughed, looking down again. You remembered how Loki hugged you from behind this morning and teased you with the idea of "finishing what you started on the honeymoon". Almost instinctively, your free hand rested on your stomach.

"We should have dinner sometime, Loki and I would love to have you over, we can catch up," you blurted. Joyce enthusiastically agreed and said she and her husband would love that.

"Tomorrow night," Joyce promised. "Would seven-thirty be alright?"

"Absolutely!" You nodded, already imagining how to tell Loki when he came home from work. "I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"See you tomorrow." Joyce and Bill waved goodbye as they climbed into their car and drove off.

Something ached inside you as you watched them drive off, maybe because it reminded you of the way that Loki drove off this morning while you stood at the doorway waving goodbye. As you closed the door once again, you pondered over going out tomorrow, even if it was just something as small as a mid-morning stroll while Loki was out. But for now, there were other things that needed to be done.

Tagging: @anukulee @smolvenger @pineappleandro @lotsoflokilove23 @talklokitome @rumin8ting @12-pm-510 @painedfever @iambetterthanbefore @princess-ofthe-pages @thenotoriouserg @lokischambermaid @lokiismineforever @lokidbadguy @lokisgoodgirl @lokisprettygirl22 @holdmytesseract @wheredafandomat @wolfsmom1 @lovelysizzlingbluebird @evelyn-kingsley @muddyorbsblr @stupidthoughtsinwriting @icytrickster17 @thatdummy-girl @fantasyfan4life @huntress-artemiss @itsdoni @gruftiela @ellooo0ooo @ireallyneedtherapy @jennyggggrrr @turniptitaness @lokiforever

#loki #marvel loki #loki god of mischief #loki odinson #loki x reader #loki laufeyson #loki of asgard #mcu loki #loki x reader fluff #loki x reader fic

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themculibrary · 20 days

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Loki Needs A Hug Masterlist

A Place In Time (ao3) - SnakeCharmer2023 loki/mobius T, 7k

Summary: Loki knew what he'd signed up for, replacing the loom at the end of time and sitting alone on the throne.

But what if the end didn't have to be forever?

A fix-it fic after the ending of series 2, because my heart can't take it.

Beautiful Figments (ao3) - mudgems M, 104k

Summary: “Hold on,” Stark says, attempting flippancy but falling well short of the mark. “I’m confused.”

“I think that makes two of you,” Rhodes says under his breath, but his visible concern remains.

Vision is not confused. If anything, he thinks the situation is suddenly, painfully, clear. “You do not remember yourself, do you?” he asks gently, and Loki finally meets his eyes. The hollow fear Vision sees there is obvious, and he wonders why he did not notice it before.

Broken Beyond Repair (ao3) - kittyhazelnut T, 31k

Summary: Loki had committed treason on a level Asgard had never seen. He would not be welcome back to his home realm. He would remain at the mercy of those he tried to control: the humans, SHIELD, and, of course, HYDRA.

By the time the Avengers come knocking HYDRA's door, Loki's long gone in every sense but the physical. Fortunately, even in his silent, fearful state, he's managed to make some friends. Wanda and Pietro won't let anyone hurt him. The Avengers are nothing but a threat, and Ultron makes them a promise that they'll be free of those so-called heroes soon enough.

(Basically, it's an Age of Ultron au where Wanda and Pietro have adopted a very broken Loki and they're determined to keep him safe.)

Brother (ao3) - Lynsds T, 24k

Summary: Overwhelmed with grief after Loki's apparent suicide, Thor is overjoyed to hear that his brother may be alive, if not well, and invading Midgard. It's not Odin that sends him there, but Frigga, and in this world, Thor is ready to observe and to listen.

It's not just Loki who has a lot of healing to do. But they're not alone anymore, and where there's life, there's hope.

For Eternity (ao3) - himynameisv T, 2k

Summary: Sometime during his centuries of self-imposed time loops, Loki begins to hallucinate Thor.

This is perhaps not the best indication of his current mental status.

Free Fall (ao3) - Daffanddahlodil N/R, 14k

Summary: Loki tries to function after learning of his adoption, but he’s not doing as well as he’d hoped.

Here, Here, and Here (ao3) - AuroraWest M, 68k

Summary: Loki and Thor have returned to Earth after two and a half years in space, and Loki, even after a winter in New Asgard, isn't sure he'll ever feel at home.

It doesn't help that as the alien who invaded New York City in 2012, he's been placed on probation by the UN for six months. If he can go six months without leaving New Asgard and without causing any trouble, he'll be free to visit anywhere he pleases on Earth. It's only six months. He can handle it.

Except Loki is bored. And what harm would it do if he just broke his probation a tiny bit? What are they going to do—send him to prison?

Well, yes. Yes, as it turns out. That's exactly what they're going to do.

In The Dark Alone (ao3) - every_oak_tree G, 17k

Summary: It starts at the end, really, with Ragnarök, with Asgard's fall (but Loki's been falling for longer, hasn't he?). It starts with the Mad Titan and the Statesman's explosion. It starts with a dead brother, his broken body sprawled on a spaceship's floor, miles and miles away from a home that no longer exists.

___ Something stirs inside Loki. He acknowledges that this is what he wants—but not all he wants. A newfound anger makes its way into his heart, surrounding it with an impenetrable wall of ice. He will be stronger this time, ruthless and unforgiving. Because when the world has taken everything, when they have stripped you off your armour and left you for dead, you have nothing more to lose. He can do better—no, he will do better. There is no alternative. You either die a loser or live to see yourself become a winner.

___ Or: where Thor dies at the Stateman instead of Loki, but his death will not go unavenged.

Loved and Lost (ao3) - forever_whippoorwill loki/mobius G, 4k

Summary: Loki hadn't realized how much he had missed the man's comforting presence until he was here and he could see it. Let me sit here, Loki's bones begged, at the sight of Mobius just out in his yard, and watch the wind blow through your hair and ruffle it in all the ways I want to.

He was too tired to keep that thought from running through his mind.

Old Habits (ao3) - Yavvys G, 7k

Summary: Odin knows that Loki will not change - not a cycle, not a hundred cycles later. But still, weak hope and smoldering feelings pull him towards the new guise of his adopted son, and the All-Father goes to visit the reborn god.

Once More, With Feeling (ao3) - NovaWasTaken1 T, 25k

Summary: Loki survives Thanos' attack on the Statesman by the skin of his teeth, the Tesseract, and a suicidal plan to save Asgard or die trying.

This changes less than you might think.

rest your eyes, weary god (ao3) - panthor loki/mobius N/R, 3k

Summary: Something blooms in their chest with that touch, something they try their hardest to push back down. As they walk, Loki thinks about how kind Mobius has been to them tonight. Tender, even. Enough to where they let their guard down enough to sleep in front of him. As much as they hate to admit it, Mobius has shown them more humanity than almost anyone else in their life. Despite where he works, Loki can see the empathy radiating from Mobius.

Mobius is just a nice guy.

Stay With Me (ao3) - Bookwormgal T, 17k

Summary: Loki had lost almost everything important to him, one way or another. His place in the timeline, his family, his sense of identity, his purpose, Sylvie... Even his first true friend was snatched away, along with the familiar version of the TVA.

But part of what makes a Loki was that they never give up. He would claw his way back and reclaim some of what was taken from him. So he searched through countless versions of the TVA until he found his way back to the right one. The one that had the right Mobius.

And if fate wished to steal him away in a more permanent way, it would have to fight Loki for him. He refused to lose anything else.

Toil and trouble (ao3) - AnsibleMechanic T, 44k

Summary: “When he made it back to Asgard and managed to outwit Odin himself, he only thought of ensuring his own freedom and survival. When Thor refused the throne (his brother chose the worst time to grow wiser), Loki was still delirious in his glee of finally making the biggest, funniest joke in all the realms – the lying Jotun trickster on the throne, and not a soul suspects it!”

Loki didn’t just eat grapes and watched amateur theatre in his dad’s robes for five years. Everything from TR canon is thrown to the wolves, and we have Loki having mental health consequences of his actions in various locations, with some inter-realm politics thrown in, with eventual relocation to the Avengers Tower (in true 2012 fashion) for more angsting and agonising. Hopefully with some friends we found along the way.

to see the world (as you do) (ao3) - T, 16k

Summary: When Odin finds a newborn babe in the war-torn wasteland that is Jotunheim, he takes it home; Frigga is the one to insist they must treat it as their own, and Odin loves her, so he obliges.

And then she dies, and Odin has no time for a child that only reminds him of the very thing he lost - he barely has time for his own young, grieving son.

So he locks it in the Vault, and calls it a trophy from the frozen realm.

All Loki knew for a long, long time were there four walls that held them, and the distorted view into the room beyond - filled with trinkets they couldn't name.

There were flashes of something else, of a woman who held them close and hummed lullabies, of a boy with hair like the sun, and a bright blue sky - but the memories were insubstantial and fleeting, slipping through their fingers like smoke.

You Screamed For So Long We Forgot To Care Anymore (ao3) - GalaxyThreads T, 126k

Summary: Five months after Thor drags his half-dead brother to Earth to plead asylum, things take a turn for the worse. With the older Asgardian out of commission and a sizeable threat overshadowing them, Clint becomes aware of two facts: One: Loki was tortured, mind-controlled, and manipulated into attacking Earth. Two: Loki knows none of this. (gen, no smut)

#themculibrary #masterlists #marvel #mcu #loki #loki needs a hug #loki needs a hug masterlist

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alexthenbee · 4 months

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Hi Tumblr! I wrote a fanfic for Lokius to help our shipping hearts. Spoilers for the season 2 finale

"No!" Shouts Mobius as Loki opens the door to the Loom. He's not sure what he's about to do, but that soft smile Loki sends him can't be a good sign.

"I did it for you, for all of us," Loki explains and turns towards the opening door. He steps out and Mobius runs upstairs to watch through the window. Mobius watches as Loki struggles to reach the destination of the Temporal Loom. With each step, memories come flooding back to the human. He was the first one to see something in Loki. The first one to believe Loki can be more than an evil God of mischief. He recalls all the little stuff. Eating pie together. Doing paperwork together. Riding a two person bike to catch the bad guy. All the little taps they gave each other. This, and this, and this the memories keep flooding Mobius.

Loki reaches the end of the walkway. He has changed. While Mobius was recalling their memories with each step, Loki changed costumes with each step. He's now wearing a fancy green suit with a golden horned helmet. Loki reaches up and uses his magic to destroy the Temporal Loom. Everyone around Mobius goes silent. It's all destroyed... or is it? Lokie grabs at the strands of timeliness. Using magic he fixes them. He carries the timeliness with him. He accepts the burden of holding the timeliness forever. This is his glorious purpose. Heavy is the head that wears the crown.

Mobius watches Loki walk away until he couldn't see him anymore.

Afterwards, Mobius couldn't find a reason to stay at the TVA. It used to be the only home he's ever known. Then he met Loki. Perhaps home isn't a place, but it's a person. Maybe Loki was his person. But now Loki is stuck with the burden of keeping the multiverse safe. Mobius is content with just letting time pass.

That is, until he heard a familiar sound of a particular God's magic. In confusion he turned around. "Loki? Is that you?" He asks the raven haired God.

"Sort of," chuckles Loki. "I used my magic to make a clone and I put him in this timeline. I can watch all the timelines, but just watching isn't as exciting."

"I bet. Do you ever get lonely? Watching everyone from afar?"

"I suppose so... but somebody has to take care of the timeliness. I made this decision. I have to deal with the consequences."

Mobius smiles, "Wow. Look at how much you've changed. The Loki that I first met would have been more reluctant to accept such a responsibility. I lo- I'm proud of you."

Loki's breath hitches when Mobius stuttered. He wonders what Mobius would have said. Perhaps it is best to leave it unsaid though. "Thanks, Mobius. So how is the world? What have you been up to?"

"Same old. I finally bought a jetski. It's fantastic! I took it out on the lake and I had a ton of fun." Mobius doesn't say that he felt like he was missing something on his ride.

"That's great! I'm happy to hear you had fun."

"Yeah. Hey um... I was wondering if I could maybe help out somehow. Or just sit around with you and keep you company."

"Mobius, that's a kind offer. But I have to say no. I don't want you to be forced to help me with this burden. I have to do it on my own."

"See that's where I think you're wrong. You don't have to carry that burden alone. And I wouldn't be forced to do it. I'm offering and making a decision just as you did."

Loki stays silent for a moment thinking. "Fine. But if you want to leave just let me know."

The gray haired man smiles, "sure thing."

Mobius goes to Loki. He looks at the timelines in awe. It resembles yggdrasil, the tree of life in Norse mythology. He walks towards the tree and sees Loki on his throne. In green mist a second throne appears on Loki's right. "Wow. Loki this is amazing!"

The God chuckles, "thanks Mobius. I took inspiration from home."

"I can see this," Mobius smiles and sits in the throne designated for him.

The two sit in comfortable silence for a moment. Mobius grabs some timlines from Loki's hand and holds them for him. Then Loki speaks up. "Earlier you said you were proud of me. But you were going to say something else. What was it?"

"Oh. You caught onto that? I forget how observant you are," Mobius chuckles. Loki smiles softly but waits for Mobius to answer the question. "I love you, Loki. I always have."

Loki looks affectionately at the silver haired man. "Really? Even when I first arrived at the TVA? Or when I was a villain?"

"Yes. Even then. I knew that you had potential to become a kind God. I've always had faith in you."

"Thanks, Mobius. You have no idea how much that means to me. I love you as well."

"For all time," Mobius smirks. He will love Loki until the Earth stops spinning and the timelines cease to exist.

"Always," Loki smirks back. He'll always love Mobius. In any other timeline they would meet and fall in love, he was sure of it. Their love is ineffable. Something that is certain in every universe.

The two men smile at each other. They hold hands and stare out at the beautiful, vast universe. Maybe this glorious purpose doesn't have to be fulfilled alone after all.

#loki #loki series #lokius #loki spoilers #mcu #mobius #fanfic

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dewdropreader · 6 months

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"Do you have a better plan?" sylkius (i envison a kissing-based plan, if that helps)

I wasn’t planning on this veering suggestive but you mentioned kissing based plans and I decided to practice some kiss stuff! Hope you enjoy! Thank you for the prompt!

“Well, this is painfully boring,” Loki sighs.

“Oh toughen up, we’ll only be here for around 12 hours, that’s nothing,” Sylvie tsks.

“I’m plenty tough, thanks, but I’m also plenty bored. I need something to entertain me. It’s only been two hours, and I’m already restless.”

“I should have brought board games… Get it, because you’re bored?” Mobius says, mouth forming a goofy grin.

Loki tries to bite back his reaction but can’t help but smile, he’s always weak to Mobius’ jokes and attempts to tease, no matter how cheesy.

“I’m not sure any board games could keep any of us entertained for this long,” Loki sighs dramatically, clearly trying for said entertainment on his own by putting on a show of sorts, one of his favorite methods. He drapes himself across both of them, laying primarily in Mobius’ lap but letting one of his long arms dangle across Sylvie’s lap as well, his fingers dancing lightly against her leg.

“Hmm, do you have a better plan?” Sylvie challenges, her eyebrow raised, looking down at him in his damsel-like pose.

“Well, we’re just all crowded in a room together… nothing to do but allow the tempad to track data and wait for an emergency call if one ever even comes…” Mobius looks up in thought, a smile playing on his lips, much less goofy and innocent than before. “I have a few ideas, but frankly I’m surprised Loki wasn’t the first to suggest any of them.”

Loki sits up and sits on his knees in front of Mobius, eye to eye with him. “Maybe I just wanted to hear you make such a suggestion,” he purrs.

Mobius quirks a brow but can’t help smiling. “Yeah?”

“Most definitely,” Loki replies, leaning in and taking Mobius’ face in both hands, planting a long, deep kiss to his lips, only pausing to adjust when he has to come up for air. “Is that what you had in mind?”

“It’s certainly a start,” Mobius grins. “What do you think, Syl?” He asks, looking at her sideways even while the flush crawls up his skin as he catches his breath.

Sylvie just grins wickedly and scoots closer to both of them, her lips wasting no time in finding the spots that want them most. First Mobius’ neck, in the tender spot above his collarbones, then on the sharp edge of Loki’s jaw. She isn’t surprised to hear the content sighs that slip out of each of them as she joins in with these simple motions, though she never tires of the feeling of being so wanted.

“On second thought, I think we will have a very entertaining remaining ten hours, my loves,” Loki whispers, and nobody can disagree.

#loki #sylkius #Lokius #sylki #fanfiction #loki tv #fanfic #mobius m mobius #loki series #loki laufeyson #sylkius fics #ficlet #fic prompt #fic prompt response #prompt fill

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valkyrieandstrangeridingaragorn · 1 year

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I was going over some quotes for a discussion else where and it's more clear than ever how no-sense Mobius motivation to bring Loki in to help ends up being. Because I don't understand what he expected Loki to do or what he actually wants from him

Two things about this. First off it's laughable in a way how they try to make out Loki stalling for time as some sort of bad conniving thing. Like, how dare he try to get out of being murdered as if that's not something any other character would try.

Secondly, this is stuff Mobius should know just by watching his life. Talking to him face to face doesn't provide new insight that Loki plots, plans and talks his way out things.

What I really get from this is a sense of performative charity from mobius. Like, what he really wants is the credit for helping rather than actually being motivated by kindness for kindness sake. Because Mobius quickly looses his patience and temper when things don't go his way.

Yeah, to some degree I guess he might view Loki as someone who could be good if given the chance, but the problem is not only does Mobius at best have a very warped sense of right and good he seems to just expect Loki to change right away.

"I was nice to you why are you doing what I want?"

Loki actions were because he was disrespected and felt dismissed so why would the expert think mocking and threatening Loki would make him want to stick around?

This is the craziest thing. What does Mobius expect Loki to do? Point at a map and find the variant immediately? They take him to the renfair Loki gives some input and sure it wasn't helpful, but at the same time what else was Loki supposed to do? He told tva what he would have done if was him.

It confuses me a bit. They say Loki is the variant they have pruned the most and the powers are quite similar but their appearance might be different from one variant to another, but isn't the TVA capable of chasing the temporal aura or whatever they call it? Isn't that how they know it's a Loki doing this and not just any other variant?

I don't know what they were expecting Loki to do either. If they're so familiar with his life and his variants, they would know more than he does. They're all the same, right? But if they weren't... then what is 616 Loki going to say about a Loki from another universe?

That 'stalling for time' shtick is ridiculous, it reminds me a bit of Natasha's "thank you for your cooperation" in The Avengers. It doesn't really change anything and it's not like knowing Banner might turn into the Hulk is a huge revelation. It seems lazy writing to me, like they want the audience to believe they have figured out something big but when you think about it… it's nothing. Loki was simply messing with them, it's not a big deal.

Mobius tells Renslayer he thinks Loki might be able to change but that line is despicable for two reasons: 1) why does he have to change? because who or what he is turns out to be something the TVA doesn't like? But Ravonna quite literally says during that conversation that the Time Keepers decree what role everyone plays in the Sacred Timeline. If they don't like it they have the Time Keepers to blame; 2) Mobius says that line because Waldron wants the audience to believe he's a good guy but he's not talking with Loki's best interests at heart, he's saying he wants him to change so that he can be useful to him and the TVA. This is proven the moment Loki makes decisions of his own and Mobius immediately turns against him - let's not forget the reward for trying to escape the TVA is physical assault… and that time cell is Mobius' idea, nobody else's.

First Mobius says he wants Loki to talk and when he finally does Mobius chastises him for talking too much. Mobius says working with him helps him find the variant but when they work together he doesn't like it either and he criticizes him anyway. He claims he wants Loki to change but when he exercises his free will he gets mad at him and has him beaten up repeatedly. He tells Loki off for "working" for the TVA only for his own interests instead of a higher calling as if the TVA hadn't kidnapped and threatened with killing him several times...

None of it makes any sense except everything Mobius says he says because the plot requires it. There's no cohesion at all and the characterization is all over the place. Typical Waldron.

Personally, the only line that I think is honest and true to Mobius' character is: "I just want to catch this guy and I'll tell you whatever I need to tell you."

#anti mobius #loki negativity

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canonicallysoulmates · 2 years

Text

So there I was casually scrolling, minding my business when I came upon a reaction to something Tom Hiddleston said in a recent interview. Some of y'all already know where this is going yes I am talking about what's being passed around as the "siblings comment" regarding Loki and Sylvie. Now because I know how fandom is, and how antis are, I decided to go ahead and look up the moment myself to see what was actually said and the context. After watching it, I was slightly confused as to some of the reactions I had seen but I was like whatever and planned to continue on with my day because the quote is really not that big a deal.

Plans obviously changed. Two reasons why: the first is that it's been a whole year but some still don't know how to stay in their fucking lane, the second being that I saw some fellow shippers point out that the antis are gonna take this and run with it and use it as fuel to attack us which is true, they're already doing it.

So I'm gonna address this, the first thing I'm gonna get out of the way is that Tom is allowed his opinion and feelings regarding the Loki and Sylvie relationship regardless of wether or not those opinions and feelings are positive towards my ship. I, as a fan, am also allowed my opinions and feelings regarding the Loki and Sylvie relationship regardless of wether or not those opinions and feeling match Tom's. Sorry to dissapoint some of you but this sylki shipper is not crying into her pillow over his comment. I love and respect the man but I do not need his approval or validation of my ships.

That out of the way let's get into his comment which was actually not a negative one. The way I saw this being portrait by some painted it as if he had said that they were siblings and he had had a problem with the romance aspect of things but what he actually said is that what he and Sophia really enjoyed about Loki and Sylvie's relationship was the exploration of their mutual curiosity in each other and what qualities they share and don't, that it was fun for them to create that dynamic. This is when he says that "it's almost like long-lost siblings or something", almost like does not mean that they are or even that he thinks they are he was just looking for a comparision that matches with the explanation he was giving of a relationship where two people who are so alike yet so different meeting for the first time and being infinitely curious about each other thus "almost like" followed by "or something".

We need to bring back the trope of childhood best friends who say they are only platonic/family-like until they drift apart and reconnect years later and end up falling in love cause some are failing to understand how one can go from only platonic feelings to romantic feelings.

Anyways afterwards he proceeds to give some praise to Sophia for her work as Sylvie, and says that Loki and Sylvie's dynamic (as well as the Loki and Mobius one) were central to the whole show. Timestamp for those who want to hear what he said themselves: here. I would highly reccomend it.

I did not just watch that moment though I watched the whole interview as well as another one that I came accross while looking for this one and I'm glad I did because some of the reactions that I saw of this project their hatred and dislike of Kate Herron unto Tom, once again, babying him trying to make it seem like he hated it and it's all her fault, and he had no input in the show and wasn't listened to at any point. Even though in this very interview he mentions that Kate was very helpful to him getting back into the mindset of Avengers!Loki after so many years. x And in a previous interview he said Kate had the most wonderful take on what the series is about saying that when he heard her answer to him asking what she thought it was about he thought "she gets it!" x

In that previous interview he also mentions how the "Loki 101" came to be because he kept being asked by various department heads for his input and opinion so he went to Kate and assembled everyone in a room for a couple hours so he could explain and talk about the character and how he has developed him through all these years. x I would reccomend checking out both interviews they're pretty good and you can tell how much love and thought he puts into Loki and how much work he has put into the series.

Can't wrap this up without mentioning Crimson Peak because some y'all really think this man would be pressed over a romantic relationship between "almost like siblings" when he worked in a movie where his character fucks his own sister.

In conclusion, antis are annoying, and context is always key.

#sylki #pro sylki #loki x sylvie #well context and comprehension skills #now i'm gonna go eat pizza and deal with the 50 other things i was supposed to be doing but put in the back burner for this #mine #non spn

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mimisempai · 2 years

Text

The President and the Clerk -1

Summary:

Casey lives his life between the new TVA and his surprising friendship with Loki. But the return of the Lokis from the Void will turn his life upside down. There isn't enough housing for all the variants and Casey is forced to take in a reluctant president.

Notes:

Well, here we are, the fanfic about President Loki and Casey that almost nobody asked for…

Rating G

On AO3

Casey, focused on his task, had not seen Loki come into the open space.

"Hey Nemo! How would you like to come out of your fishbowl and have a cup of coffee with me to catch up."

Casey looked up and grumbled, "Now that I know what a fish is, I don't really appreciate you calling me that."

Loki looked at him mischievously and retorted, "Then get out of your fishbowl and see some of the world."

Casey stood up and replied as they headed to the TVA cafeteria, "See some of the world? Look at me Loki, I'm just a pen pusher, I'm nothing like you heroes who get to save the universe or the multiverse for what I know."

Loki turned to him and there was no longer anything mocking in his attitude as he replied, "But Casey, you have something of a hero about you."

Casey burst out laughing, "But of course...a hero! I know you're just messing with me!"

Loki stopped him, "I'm serious, you're the first person at the TVA who has spoken to me normally, without wielding power."

"Well at the same time it's normal, you threatened to eviscerate me like a fish, something I didn't even know."

"Casey, you're not an idiot, you knew perfectly well that I wasn't capable of hurting you within the TVA. You could have turned me in immediately, but you didn't."

Casey shrugged, "Even when you threatened me, you didn't really seem like a bad guy. And when you had the thing there, the Tesseract in your hands, you looked so sad, I figured there was no need to add to it."

Loki put his hands on his shoulders and shook him, "That's right! To me, at that moment, you did something heroic."

Casey shrugged and simply said, clearly not believing a word of it, "If you say so."

Putting aside that ridiculous idea, he continued, "Seriously Loki, since the changes here, there isn't a day that I don't have to go to my computer and look up a new word. I am so ignorant, how would you like me to get by if I went to see the world as you so beautifully put it ?"

Casey knew his place at the TVA and always had. There was nothing extraordinary about him. He was just a clerk who was dedicated and did his job well. The changes hadn't made much difference to him. Except that before he didn't know he was working for the bad guys and now he was consciously working for the good ones.

The thought of being taken from a life he didn't remember by the TVA didn't bother him more than that. He was sure that in his previous life he must have been the same dull, ordinary person. At least here he had a real friend.

A friend who was looking at him right now with a little too much compassion for his liking so he changed the subject and asked Loki, "I noticed there was a lot of movement this morning at the TVA, what happened?"

Loki replied after taking a sip of his coffee, "We started repatriating people who were sent to the Void."

Casey chuckled, "You mean you brought all those Lokis back here?"

Loki rolled his eyes, "Yes and to be honest most of them are really unbearable."

Casey coughed into his coffee, "Takes one to know one."

Loki ported, "Hey, I heard that."

Casey impassively continued, "And they all live here?"

Loki nodded, "That's the only problem, it's a bit complicated and there are a few Loki's that don't have a place to stay yet. Besides, there are two of them who are going to live with us. With Mobius and me."

As he said this, Casey found that Loki had a peculiar smile on his face, as if he held a secret happiness, and he couldn't help but ask, "Which ones?"

Casey had had his hands on most of the files of the variants that had come through the TVA and had read most of them, so he knew a few.

Loki's smile widened, "The kid and the alligator."

"You look happy about that," Casey said softly.

Loki nodded vigorously, "Mobius and I have talked about this a lot, and we'd like to try to give the boy a family life, God knows how long he's lived there. And... it may be silly, but I'd like to be able to allow him to be happy. To grow up happy."

Casey placed his hand on Loki's forearm, "Hey Loki, that's not silly, if anything, credit where it is due !"

Casey was happy for his friend.

Sincerely happy. He still wondered how their first contact had led to such a friendship, but he was glad to see that it was genuinely real.

Casey was truly glad to see Loki happy with Mobius. The only thing was that it made him even more aware of his own loneliness. Especially when he came home at night to his empty apartment.

But this was not the time to think about it.

He asked Loki in a light tone, "And why the alligator?"

Loki shrugged, "Apparently they are inseparable. And honestly I like the little rascal. I told you about how he ate the hand of-"

Casey interrupted, "Yes, yes at least a thousand times." then realizing something he asked, "By the way, when you brought the... how should I say... Lokis back with Mobius, did you actually bring the President back?"

Loki was surprised at Casey's question, first of all they had never talked about this Loki specifically, only to tell the story of the alligator eating his arm with delight and most of all he had never seen his friend so flustered, even when he had threatened him.

Loki shook his head, "No, not yet, is part of the ones we're bringing back tomorrow and we don't know where to house him yet."

Casey felt a little sad for this particular Loki. He had read about his nexus event at the time of the old TVA and in light of what he now knew, he found his fate to be extremely cruel.

During a political debate, this Loki disguised as a reporter had saved the population from an attack organized by Hydra. Immediately afterwards, when asked by a reporter about his choice between the two candidates, he replied that both candidates were indirect and liars, adding that if he were president, he would lie directly to America's face.

That's how he finally found himself campaigning.

The only obstacle in his path was a reporter, Nisa, who as a little girl had been a victim of the New York attack and was determined to bring him down. Loki finally lost the election on purpose and confessed that he had created an entire political campaign just to support Nisa's future career as a voice against corrupt politics to redeem himself in some way.

Unfortunately the TVA could not accept it, a Loki in tune with himself went against their plan for him.

The Lokis were destined to be evil so that the others could be the best they could be. Being the best version of themselves didn't fit into the TVA's grand schemes.

So the TVA took this Loki from his timeline and made him a variant. Worse, without even a trial he was sent directly to the Void.

No wonder he did everything he could to get out of it. Even if his choices had been rather foolish.

Not everyone was lucky enough to have a Mobius in their path like his friend.

Casey realized how much the TVA had ruined lives and felt ashamed that he had once been their instrument in this, even if it had been on a small scale.

"Casey! Hey Casey!"

Loki snapped his fingers in front of him and brought him out of his reverie.

"I have an idea!" exclaimed Loki when he was sure he had Casey's attention.

Casey still wondered what trick Loki would pull out of his sleeve, so he didn't expect the words that followed.

"What if President Loki comes to live with you?"

Casey shook his head, "What?"

"What if President Loki came to live with you?"

"I had it right the first time, my question was rhetorical. Seriously Loki, put yourself in President Loki's shoes for a moment. You come in here, and you're forced to live in the apartment of someone who at one point you would have considered to be an insect. Don't deny it, you've changed but we know that before, you wouldn't have given me a glance. "

Loki shrugged, "Are you forgetting whose house I spent my first night in?"

Casey rolled his eyes, "But the chemistry between you and Mobius was undeniable from day one. I may be an ignoramus, but even I saw that. Me and President Loki living together? Impossible!"

Loki shook his head, "Yes it is! I swear, I'm sure it could work out well."

Casey shook his head and tried to ignore the little voice inside him telling him to accept. Hadn't he complained inwardly just before about his loneliness? What had Loki told him before? To get out of his fishbowl and see some of the world?

But that would mean going from the fishbowl to the ocean in this case.

Yet the little voice inside Casey was getting stronger and stronger.

Loki sensed this and looked pleading, "Caseyyyy, pleaaaase!"

Seeing his still hesitant look, Loki looked serious again, "I'm not asking you to be his best friend, just to take him in for a while. Just until we find him something to do and a place to live."

Casey sighed because he knew he had lost, "Okay... that's fine. I accept."

"Excellent!"

Casey would have called the situation many adjectives like unlikely or scary but certainly not excellent.

In any case he was good for an express cleaning session when he got home tonight.

He spent the rest of the day in a daze, too preoccupied with what would happen the next day.

Before going home, he made a detour to the archives, and took the time to re-read the file on his future resident.

There were two new pages concerning the events that had taken place on the Void, from his Loki army to his coup against the kid Loki, to the betrayal of said army and finally to the loss of his hand.

Whatever he did, no man deserved this.

He looked around and sure that no one saw him, he put the picture of President Loki's file in his pocket before putting his file away and going home.

As planned, he cleaned up, prepared what was necessary for his future resident and went to bed, exhausted.

He ignored the feeling in his stomach as he entered his bedroom and realized the obvious, that he and President Loki would have to sleep in the same bed.

The god was big so there was no way he was going to sleep on his ridiculously small couch and Casey wasn't about to give up the comfort of his bed so easily either.

He wasn't sure what to make of this sudden realization, so he brushed it from his mind. President Loki, whoever he was, was a Loki, and therefore unpredictable.

Welcome chaos, Casey thought before falling asleep with a new feeling in his heart.

Anticipation.

Main Post

_________

Still not beta'd

Still not my native language

Still hoping you'll enjoy this story 🥰

Still thanking you for bearing with me 😝

#Casey x President Loki #Casey #President Loki #Lokius #Loki #Mobius m mobius #kid loki #alligator loki #croki #Crack Treated Seriously #Crack Relationships #one bed trope #living together #domestic fluff #getting together #enemies to friends to lovers

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leos-regression-cove · 2 years

Text

The New Sibling

21: Rinse and Repeat

Synopsis: While the toys are in the wash, Sylvie takes out and repairs Loki's old ride-on toy for the boys' enjoyment.

Word count: 2,193

Stand Alone?: 2/2

Warnings: reference to breastfeeding, mention of diapers/diaper changes, character getting hurt/mild injury, mentioned toy repair/temporary mutilation, kind of gross mealtime scene towards the end (toddler typical messiness),

Notes: I didn't know it would take me this long to find an upload spot for this chapter but I feel like since this it's a direct sequel, I should finally upload it.

Read it on AO3!

Upon coming home, Sylvie set the boys up in their shared room with an open toybox and snuck off for another bathroom break, thinking that maybe she could leave them alone for a few seconds, obviously not having learned her lesson last time. This time however, it seemed that the consequences were much less severe, and instead of fighting or getting hurt, she found the two littles sitting right in front of the washing machine, watching the toys go around through the little glass window at the front.

“Oh, what are you sweet things doing out here?”

Loki pointed at the washing machine and sucked on his pacifier.

“They’re being washed so mummy can make them look like new again,” she explained.

Loki nodded then pointed again.

“I just explained that to you,” she told him.

“No, dive ‘t.”

“‘Drive it’? Loki, it’s not a car,” she laughed. “Do you want to drive something? We can go drive your cart, that might need some fixing up, too.”

“‘Go dive,” he grinned, bouncing to his feet and tip tapping his toes to show how excited he was.

“Well what’re we going to do with little Mobius then? What’s he going to do while you're driving?”

“Mobius run over,” he said while waddling away to the garage.

“Well that’s not very nice,” Sylvie said, almost trying to stop herself from chuckling as she helped Mobius up and brought him out behind him so they could take a look at the “cart” in question.

It wasn’t really a “cart” but one of those plastic toddler ride-on toys. It was cheap and the batteries had died in it ages ago, prompting Loki to lose interest and for Thor and Sylvie to consistently forget about fixing it or cleaning the cobwebs off it even though every time they walked into the garage they said “oh I have batteries for that inside” and then promptly went inside and forgot.

This time Sylvie really was going to get it running, shake the spiders out of it and everything. She might as well. with all the toy mends she was doing today.

Loki looked at the spiderwebs surrounding every crevice or slightly concavity on the toy apprehensively, a little unsure about them while Sylvie brushed the entire surface off with a fluffy duster, covering it in webs and dust. Then she took a cleaning wipe to it, and before the toddlers, who were exploring the gym equipment that they usually didn't get to play with, even noticed she was doing anything, it looked like new.

She switched out the batteries before setting the toy down and beckoning the boys outside to the driveway where they could play with it.

Loki took the first turn sitting on top of the cart, using his feet to slowly make it crawl along the cement as he steered it around and pressed buttons that lit up or made little noises.

“Are we going to let Mobius have a turn, too?” Sylvie asked after a few minutes.

Loki looked back and scowled at her before he noticed the baby that she was obviously holding back.

He looked so excited kicking his legs and cooing while pointing at, nearly grabbing for, the toy.

Loki’s expression softened slightly, but he retained a reluctance to the idea.

“You can both play on it,” Sylvie offered, “Mobius is small! You could push him like mumma pushes the stroller?”

Loki continued to consider if he’d be open to that idea, propelling himself in slow little bursts forward with both feet instead of in slow more walking-like motions.

“It’ll only be a few minutes, you’ll get it back.”

Slowly, she lifted Loki off and let him help the younger little up.

“Thor’s going to like hearing about how nicely you’re sharing,” she said, even though much of the sharing was not Loki’s preference.

Mobius’ feet hardly touched the ground unlike Loki, who had to bend his knees on the toy.

The smaller little tried to move, but had a hard time, so he sort of just pressed the buttons around him, and unsurely twisted around to look around the handles were-- where the ride-on toy became a push toy.

When Loki noticed his difficulty, he stood up from Sylvie’s arms and grabbed the handles to push the toy, which felt remarkably like a shopping cart.

He walked at first, watching as Mobius got used to the feeling of suddenly moving.

The little bent his knees so he wasn’t close enough to the ground to drag his feet, and bent over the wheel, moving it gently, as he steered for Loki.

To Loki’s surprise, Mobius looked almost like he wanted to go faster, so he sped up a little bit, almost into a run until Sylvie stopped them and informed the boys that they were being too rough and unsafe.

She then showed Loki how to properly push him, requesting that he be a little gentler.

A request that Loki ignored as he continued to run around, inevitably tripping and dramatically falling flat onto his face.

“And, that’s why we never take this thing out…” Sylvie recalled as she went to the clumsy boy’s side, and pet his back before trying to have him roll over and sit up.

“‘Oh-ki?” Mobius asked, struggling and tripping while getting off the toy.

“You silly boys!” Sylvie tutted, trying not to laugh at them while she picked Loki up lovingly and dragged him out of the road, beckoning Mobius with her.

She sat down on the sidewalk curb as Loki nestled into her bosom, sucking his thumb and letting his lower body rest on the pavement as she stroked his hair. When she finally got him to look up, she noticed a scrape on his cheek and pet it.

Mobius had toddled close at this point and was awkwardly sitting next to Sylvie, by Loki’s head. “‘Oh-ki,” he said softly.

“Loki’s sad,” Sylvie told him. “He got hurt. Can you see that? It’s a little scrape.”

Mobius frowned as he looked at Loki’s pink, teary face.

“‘Oh-ki sah.”

“He is. And that’s a new word for you, isn’t it?”

Mobius did not think of what she had asked him, far too concerned about the crying toddler with the asphalt scrape on his cheek to care.

“‘Oh-ki no sad,” he tried, being careful about his pronunciation as he stroked Loki’s inky hair. “‘Oh-ki happy?” he requested, before looking up at Sylvie with a trembling lip.

“Aw, baby, I know,” she sympathetically told him.

Mobius repeated these phrases a couple times while Sylvie helped Loki stand up and brought the boys inside.

After she cleaned up Loki’s face, while Mobius curiously explored the bathroom around him, she took the fabric skins of their toys out of the washer, inspected the results of her work so far, and piled them into a stack to be hung out on the line to dry, even if that image would be rather gruesome.

A long hang on the line and some restuffing the next morning did the trick for the stuffed animals. At least four of the five plushes had survived well enough, and luckily, the lamb was one of them, which was restuffed with beans and a lavender sack to be just as gracefully lumpy as when Sylvie had first bought it.

She handed the toy to Mobius, tucking it underneath his arm during his nap the next day, but instead of snuggling the top of his soft, wooly sheep into his nose, he just sort of limply held it, as if he couldn’t feel it there.

She tried not to take it personally, but couldn’t help but feel at least a little bit down when he didn’t immediately carry it with him to get his nappy changed.

That was fine, but then, when he went to play with Loki, he also didn’t take it.

“Mobius, did you see I fixed your lamb up for you?” she asked, showing the fixed toy to him.

He looked up at her from his stacking toy and hesitantly took it from her hands, pressed it to his nose, and then set it back down.

“I did stuff it with lavender, Mobius.” Sylvie defended herself as if he were a rational adult and not a toddler. “You saw me stuff it, I don’t know why it smells any different.” She crossed her arms with a huff.

Loki watched the two of them with interest, looking up from his picture books.

Mobius folded his arms back at her. He hadn’t been upset at all before, merely uninterested. But if she was going to be mean about it, then so was he.

“Thor and I spoil you both,” she complained. “Brat boys the both of you.”

Mobius stuck out his tongue, making Loki giggle.

“Maybe I’ll just take this back then,” she pettily added, taking the toy out of the play pen and carrying it back to her room.

Now, with such a lovely mend job and with all the time she had spent on it, there was no way she was just going to throw it out, but it could at least sit in her room for a few days.

Sylvie took the plush sheep down later that night after she put the boys to bed and really studied it, looking into its beady eyes and adjusting the gingham ribbon bow around its neck, trying to figure out where she had went wrong, or moreover, why Mobius had suddenly grown out of it, when it was so obvious that he was, in fact, still a baby.

She fell asleep with it pressed to her chest as she thought about the day she had brought him home from the adoption center and his immediate fascination with the toy. Maybe, she hoped, something about it would bring her the same comfort it had previously brought him.

After a few nights of this, she kept the sheep with her, tucked into her arms as she got up in the morning, apparently late, as neither little was in his crib. They were up “helping” Thor prepare lunches by running around the kitchen until Thor picked them up and set them, giggling, into their highchairs for breakfast.

“Uh-oh, I don’t think we have a third highchair,” Thor joked when he saw Sylvie come in clutching the sheep to her chest.

Loki snickered at the thought-- the best a toddler could snicker.

Meanwhile, Sylvie brought the stuffed animal up and had it kiss Mobius on the cheek.

He stopped eating his mashed sweet potatoes and looked over at the sheep, and then at Sylvie.

She couldn’t help but notice how he had gotten it into his mustache, eating with his hands, copying Loki, who had a more manageable meal of dry Cheerios and a banana.

Mobius suddenly reached up and grabbed the sheep, ripping it from her hands and getting orange, sticky, mess all over it as he buried his nose in its wool.

He then set it down next to him, squishing it in the right hand nook of his chair.

Thor smiled as he took the orange streaked bowl away from the little, “looks like he just needed a break,” he mentioned.

“You messy little weevil!” Sylvie commented adoringly as she cleaned up his fingers with a wet wipe after Loki had been sent with his brother to go get ready for the day.

The little smiled as she got the corner of his mouth.

“Now I’ll have to wash your sweet little lambie again!” she added, slightly hurt sounding as she took it from him and set it by the sink.. But the truth was she didn’t have the energy for that, instead opting to clean it up much in the same way that she cleaned up Mobius with a wet rag simply wiping off the surface.

Later, she sat with him on the couch, cradling his head and cooing at him, rubbing his belly and watching as he kicked or babbled in his cute baby talk, only occasionally getting out the rare word or the occasional loving “mama” in between giggles as he tried to set her fingers in his mouth and such, leading to her raspberrying him and making him laugh even more before burying his face in her chest.

“Sorry, Mobius,” she told him with a smile, running her fingers through his hair. “Mummy’s not making any right now. It’s going to be another few weeks till she can feed you herself.” She spoke in the third person.

She sat him up in her lap, putting his head over her shoulder and bouncing her knee. “I can make you a bottle, do you want that, my sweet little pumpkin?”

He gave his answer by burying his face into her shoulder.

“Aw, baby,” she smiled. “Did you just want me?” She pet his back lovingly and leaned forward to pick up the little sheep thrown on the ground by accident, handing it to him.

He set it in between his nose and her shoulder like a pillow.

“Does it smell like mumma?” she asked jokingly.

He nodded.

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mischief-lies-and-stories · 6 months

Text

Loki Series Theories 10/?

I'm full of them this week. This is yet another backstory of a variant I don't think we'll ever see again, but it's something that's bothered me since we heard his backstory.

Theory: Classic Loki had two nexus events.

So I've always been bothered by the fact that, assuming Loki isn't supposed to fake his death at the hands of Thanos, why wasn't Classic Loki's nexus event the fact that he didn't actually die in Infinity War? Why wasn't he taken into the TVA then and there? (Or, if the agents don't want to walk into arm's reach of the Mad fucking Titan, why didn't they just follow him to that remote planet and take him in there?)

But he isn't taken in. He fucks off to some remote planet for thousands of years and doesn't get picked up until he tries to leave. Which like, sure, technically no one knows he's alive, but I'm not convinced the TVA doesn't have contingencies for the Butterfly Effect. He's alive somewhere, so he has an impact on the timeline, however small at first.

Unless faking his death was a nexus event. Unless someone took the alert and covered it up, and somehow managed to pull off a massive cover up once the branch should have become visible on the Sacred Timeline. (Though perhaps the size of the branch is relative to its impact on how much it changes the Sacred Timeline. If Loki is hiding on a planet where no other sentient life lives and everyone he knows thinks he's dead, how obvious is a branch off the main timeline if the initial alert was silenced? It really just depends on how easily it is to fool the TVA's equipment, and since most of it seems to have been built circa 1978, I'd say pretty easily (I don't actually know but I'm going with that).)

Unless someone pulled up the alert, saw it was Loki, and, since they've taken a liking to this variant in whom they specialize, thought 'Let's just see how this goes.' And when that person saw Loki just hid out on a planet, he deleted the alert and lied to everyone at the TVA who asked. "Nexus event? What nexus event? I didn't hear anything." Someone like Mobius.

He doesn't get found out until Loki tries to leave the planet, Classic Loki's second nexus event. But they can't prune Mobius. He can't go to the void (where only Lokis go?); he knows too much about the TVA, maybe more than he knows by the time of the show. So instead they wipe his memories.

And I really like to think that every time he's gotten his memories wiped (aside from when he was first taken to become an agent), it's because he decided to help a Loki.

#loki #loki tv show #loki theories #loki season 1 spoilers #classic loki #mobius m mobius #i'm gonna need a loki backstory theory tag

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pennylaneforthoughts · 3 years

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After some thinking, a conversation with my sister-in-law with a psych degree, and a couple of sessions with my godsend of a therapist, I think I've finally put my finger on the thing about Mobius that Loki (and a lot of the fandom tbh) so quickly latched onto like a man dying of thirst at the first sign of water:

Unconditional positive regard.

This concept is at the core of client-centered psychology and basically is a stance that a therapist will take in relation to their client, where they simply accept and support their client as a person, regardless of what they do or say.

My therapist uses this framework with me, and when the Loki series came out, I immediately saw Mobius and was like "holy crap, this man has the exact same energy as Sami what???" And I couldn't for the life of me figure out why until I was talking about it with my sister-in-law and she mentioned unconditional positive regard. And then it clicked.

Mobius radiates unconditional positive regard from the minute he meets Loki in episode 1, and arguably even from the first time we even see him onscreen. He approaches everyone he interacts with using a basic framework of "I see you and care about you as a person, and nothing you do or say can change that," so we immediately get the impression that this man is soft, kind, and shaped like a friend. However, it's most obvious and pointed in his interactions with Loki.

While yes, Mobius' primary objective in episode 1 is to interrogate Loki, it's important to note that it's not an interrogation where Mobius is trying to find proof of guilt for a crime like we'd see in a typical detective procedural. Rather, Mobius is trying to see if this variant of Loki is self aware enough to be able to help him in his hunt for Sylvie. It's fundamentally a test to find out Loki's current place in his emotional and psychological development. It is not maliciously intended, and it is not designed to harm Loki. On the contrary, the intent is clearly to help Loki begin to come to terms with the reality of who he is and the choices he has made.

In fact, the whole time this is happening, Mobius very purposefully strives to foster an environment where Loki knows that A.) Mobius sees him. Truly sees and knows him. B.) Despite knowing what Loki is and what he's done, Mobius loves him and regards him positively, and C.) nothing Loki can do or say will change that positive regard.

Loki, however, is super not used to receiving unconditional positive regard. He has no idea how to respond to it. He feels like it's a trick, like there's another shoe just waiting to drop. I related to him hardcore in this scene because that's exactly how I felt when my therapist presented me with unconditional positive regard for the first time. It's confusing and strange and difficult to believe at first. Especially because it sets the stage for honest self reflection and personal growth that can be incredibly painful.

Loki is not a perfectly innocent person. He has done a lot of really bad things and hurt a lot of people in his life. He has a lot of very deep seated trauma that has informed these actions, but he still made those choices and he needs to take responsibility for them. This is not a fun process. Mobius knows this is actually a really awful, sucky process. But he also knows that change and growth requires two things: acknowledgement that a change needs to be made and the expectation that change can and will occur when properly cultivated. Mobius clearly laying out the reality of Loki's actions and who he is in the Sacred Timeline is the first part of that equation, and his unflappable, unconditional positive regard towards Loki as a person despite knowing that reality cultivates an environment for the second part to flourish.

"By definition, it is essential in any helping relationship to have an anticipation for change. In the counseling relationship, that anticipation presents as Hope—an optimism that something good and positive will develop to bring about constructive change in the client's personality. Thus, unconditional positive regard means that the therapist has and shows overall acceptance of the client by setting aside their own personal opinions and biases. The main factor in unconditional positive regard is the ability to isolate behaviors from the person who displays them." (source)

Mobius is not Loki's therapist, but he does take on a therapeutic role in Loki's life. He shows Loki that he is fully aware of all of Loki's faults and mistakes. He's seen them over and over again and knows them by heart because it's his job. And in the face of all of that he looks at Loki and says that he doesn't see him as a villain. That he likes him anyway and believes that Loki has the potential to help him and what he believes is the cause of good. (Yes the TVA is corrupt, but neither of them know that at this point, and the fact that both Mobius and Loki believe this to be the side of good to varying degrees is important here)

Mobius maintains this regard throughout the series and his subsequent interactions with Loki and when talking about Loki to Ravonna and others, and it's a big part of why Loki so quickly trusts and feels comfortable around Mobius. I know some people say it's unrealistic how fast it was, but it made a lot of sense just based on my experience. I mean, after one (1) session with my therapist, I was 100% ride or die for him, and it was kind of absurd. But the feeling of being seen like that is so potent when you're starved for it, that extreme reactions to it make a lot of sense. And if anyone's starved for unconditional positive regard, it's Loki.

Mobius is only human though, and he's not perfect at this. Over the course of the series, it's clear that Mobius has emotionally invested a lot in his Loki, and he struggles to maintain a professional distance, though he usually is able to keep his head enough to give Loki that positive regard he needs. The only time we see this regard slip is in episode 4 when Mobius is feeling betrayed and jealous. In these moments, Mobius is unable to step back from his feelings enough to get into a headspace where he can separate Loki's actions from who he is. He calls Loki an asshole and a bad friend, and it comes from a place of hurt and jealousy. It's also what drives Loki into a defensive mode we haven't seen since episode 1. He's no longer receiving that unconditional positive regard from Mobius and he feels betrayed. He worries that maybe it was all an act in the first place and Mobius never really cared for him at all. For the first time, Loki feels like Mobius doesn't see the best in him anymore and it hurts.

Mobius' unconditional positive regard was genuine, though, and this is reinforced in the subsequent scenes where we see him act on his instinctual desire to assume the best of Loki and investigate his claims. We see it again when he returns to Loki and he reaffirms both his desire to trust Loki and his belief that Loki can be "whoever, whatever he wants to be, even someone good." At this point, Loki is able to accept it and no longer pushes back against Mobius' belief in Loki's goodness and that he "has within himself vast resources for self-understanding, for altering his self-concept, attitudes, and self-directed behavior." He's grown and begun to see himself in a more realistic and positive light and it's a direct result of the time Mobius has spent cultivating that relationship based on unconditional positive regard.

That's why their relationship feels so comfortable and satisfying. Unconditional positive regard isn't only a therapy principle. It's something everyone craves in a relationship. To be seen as you are, flaws and mistakes and quirks and all is terrifying and mortifying, but when that person then just smiles and says I love you anyway because you are not your mistakes and you are not your flaws and nothing you can ever do or say can change how I feel about you, the relief and joy and comfort is more than worth the discomfort. So I think the idea that Mobius can look at someone as deeply flawed, broken, and jaded as Loki and love him exactly as he is right there and then, eyes wide open and smiling, believing that beneath it all Loki has the potential to be good, gives us hope that someone could do the same for us. I know that's what Lokius does for me, at least. Mobius represents to me the ideal of unconditional positive regard, and having an image of what that looks like in the character of Mobius gives us the opportunity to apply it to ourselves when we may not get it elsewhere in our lives. And I, for one, think that's very sexy of him.

#lokius #wowki #loki #mobius #loki x mobius #mobius my beloved #He is my comfort character and this is why #Also this is low key homework from my therapist bc my attachment to this man has become a literal tool in my therapist's belt #And it's both excellent and embarrassing lmaoooooo

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dendrite-blues · 3 years

Photo

For a relatively short exchange, this scene is jam packed with characterization for Loki.

It’s also our first reliable look into what Loki was like before Thor 1. Not as described by others, but first hand and from his own mouth. I think that deserves a closer look, to see what we can learn about Loki and how he thinks.

This scene is significant because it tells us what Loki’s personality is like when he’s not running for his life. It tells us who he was before his trauma and what his core beliefs are underneath those layers of humor and bravado.

Better yet, since he’s alone we can assume that every line in this scene is presumably true, or at least Loki believes it to be true since he has no audience but himself.

The dialogue centers mostly around the statement “You deserve to be alone, and you always will be.” I’m not going to focus too much on the “alone” motif since I already dedicated an entire meta post to it.

What I think is more interesting about this scene is actually the looping, and the stages Loki goes through in trying to deal with it. There’s a lot of really interesting character traits on display in that progression.

Loop 1: A Warm Bath and Glass of Wine

The first loop entails Sif lecturing Loki about cutting her hair, kicking him in the balls, and storming away. Loki kneels on the floor and he gives us this great line:

“A bad memory prison? How quaint. Some punishment. I remember exactly what I did after that. I went and had a nice, hot bath and a glass of wine, and I never thought about it again. Because it was just a bit of fun.”

So we can take this to be Loki’s default reaction to pain and criticism. When put into an unexpected conflict without any forethought or outside influence, this is what he says/does.

1) Downplay the damage/threat. How quaint. 2) Dispel/soothe the emotion. Nice hot bath. 3) Minimize the impact. Never thought about it again. 4) Deflect responsibility. Just a bit of fun.

Keep those in mind as we move forward, since we’ll be using them to make sense of what else Loki says in this scene.

Loops 2 and 3: Okay, Sif, Hang On

This bit is about Loki realizing just how bad his predicament is.

L: Okay. Okay, Sif. Hang on. S: No, you hear this. You deserve to be alone... And I always will be. L: Alright, I get it. Listen. You are a reconstruction of a past event created by the organization that controls all of time. So you need to trust me and you need to help me escape. Yeah? S: Pathetic. (she kicks him again) L: (winces and groans)

As we all would expect from him, Loki’s first impulse is to try and talk his way out of it. What he says to achieve that goal is pretty revealing though. Because he doesn’t try to ease Sif’s upset by apologizing or explaining or offering to magic her hair back.

Any of these would have been more likely to save his nads in the given circumstance, right? The present threat is Sif, and she’s mad about what Loki did to her hair. But Loki doesn’t really see that. Rather, he treats her as a means to an end.

“So you need to trust me and you need to help me escape. Yeah?”

To me, that choice reveals something of a blind spot Loki has to the feelings of others. Even if he doesn’t actively like hurting people, he does prioritize their problems below his, and quite shamelessly. And at least on his first impulse, he doesn’t seem to feel much remorse or empathy for them.

Usually in fanon we attribute this callousness to his trauma. He’s learned that no one can be trusted and no one cares, and so he doesn’t allow himself to care for others.

But between his Loop 1 sentiment of “It was just a bit of fun” for an event which caused real hurt to Sif, and his Loop 2/3 behavior of “you, stop being mad and help ME” I think it’s reasonable to say that selfishness/low empathy are traits Loki possessed pre-trauma.

Loop 4-????: Happens Off Screen

It’s unclear how many times Loki loops while the camera is following Mobius, but the implication is clear that it was been many, many repetitions. Somewhere in this his denial and deflection must break, because we come back to a much humbler, more pleading Loki.

The Final Loop: I Crave Attention

S: You conniving, craven... L: Sif. Sif. S: ...pathetic worm. L: Please, please, no more. Please, I beg you. I'm a horrible person. I get it. I really am. I cut off your hair because I thought it'd be funny. And it's not. Uh... I crave attention... because I'm... a narcissist. And I suppose it's... It's because I'm scared of being alone.

HOOO BOY, so this is quite a tough bit to analyze. There’s a lot of interpretations you could make, and a lot of topics to delve into. For the sake of focus, I’m going to ignore the narcissism question. That one really needs an entire post, and I want to focus on something else here.

That being, Loki’s way of processing conflict/punishment.

I’ve always found it strange how Loki takes such pride in being called a liar and cheat when he simultaneously has this chip on his shoulder about how nobody likes him.

Those two traits don’t seem to play well together, and I always scratched my head over how they coexist in his character. If he wants people to be nicer to him, maybe he should stop antagonizing them? Yeah?

Well, here we’re finally given a clear reason. Loki craves attention, he hates being alone. So how does he avoid it? Pranks and mischief.

Fair enough.

But then, if all his pranks lead to this outcome--outrage, retaliation, insult--why doesn’t he ever learn? How is it that after 1000 years of this behavior, he hasn’t found a better way to get the attention he craves?

Loop 1: Downplay, dispel, minimize, deflect. He accepts zero accountability for the impact of his actions, and doesn’t think at all about how they affect other people. Just a bit of fun. I had a hot bath and a glass of wine, and never thought about it again.

The only reason he reaches the level of self awareness on display in the Final Loop is because the looping forces him to contemplate his actions and the impulses within him that lead to that behavior.

This is projection on my part, but to me he acts as though this kind of deep reflection is a new thing for him. He sounds like someone sharing a revelation that he’s just had about himself. We’re being shown that Loki is a man of action. He will always move forward if he can, possibly because looking back to so painful that he can’t bring himself to do it.

Circling back around to the pride Loki has for his knavery, let’s suppose that he’s been on this negative reinforcement cycle since childhood. He’s always acted out to get attention, then received retaliation and insults for it, and then pushed the bad feelings out of his mind with creature comforts and mental gymnastics.

What happens over time, when you’re being constantly told that you’re a pain in the ass and no one likes you? Most of us would take it to heart, but Loki doesn’t. He has a big ego, big enough to resist that constant barrage of hate coming at him.

So how does he marry these two conflicting realities?

He turns it into an identity, the God of Mischief.

In his head, Loki excuses himself of blame by shifting the culpability to his moniker. It’s not that he’s immature and petty, he’s just a “trickster.” It’s in his nature to cause trouble, so he can’t help it. You wouldn’t dangle a steak in front of a tiger and blame the tiger for striking, would you? And if other people can’t take a “joke” then that’s not his fault, that’s on them for not having a sense of humor. It was just a bit of fun.

Here we see the union of these two halves of Loki, the lonely ice runt and the mischievous scamp. (And a little bit of the original Loki who Thor accused of being incapable of growth!)

By refusing to think about others, and excusing himself from responsibility, Loki successfully preserves his self worth and insulates himself to most of the negative emotions he experiences.

Pain, embarrassment, and grief aren’t pointless emotions though. They are vital feelings that serve to regulate our behavior, and that push us to conform to the ways of our social circles. Without them, we annoy and upset others. Be annoying for long enough and you will eventually find yourself, well, alone. As Loki is.

Thus “Mischief” is a self-defeating loop, and Loki is just as caught in it as the cell Mobius trapped him in.

In order to be free of both traps, Loki has to stop running. He has to take a deeper look at himself and realize how much he is getting in his own way. The entire scene is one big parallel between these two “loops.” Pretty neat, huh?

Sadly these kinds of thought loops are really difficult to break, they’re buried so deeply in our personalities and habits that we usually don’t notice them until life forces us to address them.

The cell is Loki’s wake up call, and thankfully he does seem to rise to the occasion. He tells Sif quite clearly what his problem is, and he does it with beautiful, painful honesty.

Which is why it’s so fucking awesome for Mobius to acknowledge that, and to finally give Loki a taste of positive attention.

You don’t deserve to be alone. I believe you can be anything, even something good. Whatever you two did, it was powerful enough to bring this whole place down.

It’s a beautiful scene. Well written, meticulously acted. The clarity of vision in the pacing and shot selection, it’s really something special.

#loki spoilers #loki #mcu #mobius #meta #discussion #discourse #scene study #long post #sif #time loop #tva #character study

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andsheloved · 2 years

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𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 ➺ 𝟏

pairing ~ loki x f!reader

word count ~ 7.6k

summary ~ throughout your day to day at the tva, you've only gotten glimpses of chaos, peeking through windows and time doors to get a taste of something new. that is until you get an up-close look at the new variant taking your workplace by storm. anarchy never looked so tempting.

chapter warnings ~ loki series, infinity war, the dark world, and endgame spoilers, minor jealous behavior, some loki series dialogue is used, minor angst, mobius and reader are besties, tva agent!reader, protective behavior, descriptions of death.

a/n ~ it's finally here!! this is, the largest fic i've ever written and it's only the first chapter :'), i'm actually really proud of how this came out, and i can't wait to see what you all think of it!! this is a long one so without further ado; part 1!!

It was never supposed to be real, just something to keep the other agents at bay while Loki danced around them for a while.

You never could have expected how your heart felt when you saw them together.

But you could have sworn you felt something shatter.

You could remember the day he was brought in so clearly. Time worked differently in your workplace, that you had known from the very day, a day you couldn't seem to recall, when you had first began working at the TVA. But all of the clocks in every corner of the universe seemed to absolutely stand still when variant LL1130 entered the court room.

The shuffling of polyester pant fabric and pacing foot steps bounced off of the walls of the small hallway as you trailed behind the man that was sprinting in front of you. Mobius had all but yanked your arm through the time door just seconds after the other agent had handed him the variant's file.

"We have to go." Was all that he had said to you, a gleeful, childish smile on his face as he hurried through the portal.

You had attempted to ask him questions while you two rushed down the winding corridors, though he didn't seem to even hear you as you spoke to him, or more so, spoke at him, only continuing to stare almost lovingly at the file he had been handed just moments ago.

You realized now that you should have known exactly who this was about with just how thrilled he was.

Just as he was about to tear the court's door off it's hinges from enthusiasm, you stopped him, gently grabbing his arm.

"Mobius." You exhaled, your voice thinner than usual as you tried to catch your breath from the impromptu marathon he had put you through. "What's going on?" You asked again for the umpteenth time.

He stood frozen for a moment, his face completely blank as he stared back at you. His mouth parted for a moment, a hushed "Oh" falling from his lips, the gears in his head seemingly finally clicking into place when you cocked an eyebrow at him. His lips suddenly turned, forming an uncharacteristically satisfied smirk as he pushed the file into your hands.

You snapped the manila folder open, your eyes flickering and bouncing around the page as you skimmed through.

"It's him." The smile in his voice was palpable, and you couldn't help but smile a bit yourself, his excitement was always contagious.

Mobius had been here longer than you, you never knew for certain how much longer, all that you really cared to know was how he had quickly taken you under his wing without so much as a thought from the moment you met.

You couldn't quite remember when you had gotten your job at the TVA, maybe it was because you were simply just thrown into the work so quickly. Files and paperwork being shoved into your hands and haphazardly tossed onto the ever-growing stack pushed to the corner of your desk faster than you could finish reading over them. Though even throughout all the chaos, you could always remember Mobius.

"You seem familiar" You recalled how soft his eyes were as he looked at you, his feet planted firmly in front of your desk for the first time of many. You were panicked enough already, and the last thing that you needed that day was someone else's misguided pity. However, this felt different, something in the way he spoke to you felt different, genuine, like something clicked in him the moment he spotted your flustered expression, as you frantically searched your desk for some lost file, that activated his innate need to protect everything on the timeline. He barely knew you, even that was an overstatement, he didn't know you at all, it had only been less than a few moments after you looked up at him confused, dazed, and wondering why this oddly folksy stranger had suddenly taken an interest in your frazzled state. "...I've traveled enough places and seen enough faces to know when to trust someone."

Ever since day one, even on the days that were filled with nothing but frenzies of papers and meetings and courtrooms, you would always know one thing to be true, and it was that if the TVA dealt with only one thing, they dealt in only absolute facts.

Between Red-lines and Nexus Events and case files, only things of absolute certainty passed through your workplace.

And if there was one fact that was of absolute principle to you, it was that you and Mobius were always by each other's side.

You weren't sure if you could really remember a moment that passed without him beside you every step of the way. Even when you were still a bumbling new agent struggling to figure out your own Tempad, he was always the first one to offer that you take a break and a Josta.

Over the course of your career, you had grown to cherish those spontaneous cafeteria breaks, when the two of you would just simply wax poetic about his inconsequentially profound metaphors of time and space, even though they really meant nothing within the walls of this place. You especially loved those rare occasions when a blanket of calm and quiet was finally placed over your small slice of the timeline, when only the sounds of your joint laughter echoed off the arid walls surrounding you both. Those memories would always bring a smile to your face, even the memories of the nights when you would just sit in silence across from each other, only hushed, exhausted sighs being the sole sounds exchanged between the two of you.

For people who had seen almost every moment in time, every invention, every war, every celebration. Sometimes, silence was enough.

Regardless of the many nights spent in quiet, you still had been no stranger to his rambles about Loki, the variant he had apparently become quite fond of during his time working at the TVA.

Loki and his many variations almost became just as much as friends to you as Mobius was. You supposed you knew them well enough, well, probably not not as well as Mobius, but well enough.

After a moment of enthused bickering, the both of you finally hastily tiptoed into the court room, clumsily shuffling into one of the benches like school children late for class.

Though his back was turned to the both of you, his distinct energy was already detectable. There was an indisputable air of despicable playfulness surrounding the man stood at the front of the room.

You shifted closer to Mobius, his face like an excited puppy as he watched the raven haired man in awe, even when he cursed and struggled against his restraints, his eyes to so wide and bright that you would've thought Mobius was watching some perfectly choreographed ballet performance.

"Is that him?" You whispered, smiling as you leaned into him.

Yes. Clearly it was him. But you wanted the confirmation of the expert, you know, just to make sure.

He quickly replied, not even bothering to turn to look at you, "Yeah."

You didn't know what you had expected, or more so, who you expected. You knew that variants differed all across the timeline, you often wondered if there were variants of yourself walking around somewhere in the universe, what did they look like? Were they some demented, grotesque monster, with horns and fangs, with nothing but a semblance of your face that resembled your own? Or did they look just like you?

Mobius had shown you what some of Loki's variants had appeared as throughout the years, though none of those images could have prepared you for the man that stood at the front of the room now.

His hair was much shorter than some of the others you had seen, cut just below his ears and surprisingly curly. His skin wasn't the vibrant blue shade like you had thought it would be from seeing so many of Mobius' holograms, instead, it was almost abnormally pale, like he had been stuck in an eternal winter, his complexion freezing over just as chilled and wintry as a blizzard.

You hadn't even been paying any real attention to what was going on around you, though you felt your head instantly snapping up to the front of the room as Ravonna struck her gavel. It was a flurry of struggle and confusion before you felt the warmth of Mobius leave your side.

"I think I might..."

You looked up at him, your lips drawn into a thin line of bewilderment at his boldness, your brow furrowed as you awaited for him to dig himself a deeper hole with Ravonna.

"Have an idea... Of what he's capable of."

The room was filled with a thunderous silence when Mobius approached the bench, and a small smile appeared on your lips as you studied the very frazzled Loki that was still being restrained at the front of the room.

All of your life, you had known nothing but order and complete uniformity. It felt like ever since you could begin to form memories of your own you had been stuck in a limbo of nothing but utter equilibrium.

Loki was the embodiment of everything that you, and everyone else around, you weren't.

He was chaos and mischief and a concoction of endearing disarray all wrapped into one. Finally experiencing him in person made you understand how Mobius could become so captivated with someone so puzzling.

You knew you shouldn't have been so intrigued.

But watching him spat and quip at Ravonna, the woman who seemed to always float above everyone, as he poked at her without a single ounce of care in his tone about what was to happen next to him, you found yourself reeling from the abrupt, overwhelming urge to know more than just what Mobius had told you during all those late nights.

A bizarre feeling of discontentment flooded you. You weren't satisfied with just the fun facts anymore, the fuzzy holograms of blue-skinned creatures and outlines of golden horns.

You needed to know him.

You were thankful for Mobius' friendship with Ravonna, if it weren't for that, you probably wouldn't have wound up sitting across from Loki as you were now in the barren, orange and beige time theater.

His piercing stare threatened to scorch holes through the table. You saw now how he was much more intimidating up close, sitting only mere feet in front of you. You wondered how Mobius could ever compare him to a pussycat, a title which you now knew to be insanely incorrect.

Watching the two of them go back and forth at each other could be likened to watching a tennis match, one that you were sure could never be witnessed anywhere else but in this theater.

"I can't believe you were D.B Cooper!" Mobius exclaimed cheerfully, enthusiastically slapping the small table in front of him, "C'mon!"

Loki stared at him for a moment before replying, his arms contentiously crossed over his chest, "I was young and I lost a bet to Thor."

You hadn't even realized the enthused chuckle that escaped you until Loki's biting gaze was suddenly directed to you.

You sat in a chair to the left of Mobius, just the slightest bit behind him, taking a back seat as you watched the duo, up to this point, like a theater audience. Your eyes eagerly bounced between the men as they bickered, though now it seemed you had now unexpectedly been added into the conversational equation.

"And who are you?" Loki finally spat, his eyes squinting threateningly, as if he were appraising you.

You stammered out your name, and you internally cursed yourself for sounding so caught off guard.

Loki hummed in response, and a smug smirk grew on his lips, looking adequately satisfied by your frazzled state.

"Taking notes on all this?" He hissed scornfully, slumping back into his chair.

Your eyes flickered to Mobius to see his concerned expression, even though his powers were essentially put on a leash as long as he stayed within the confines of the TVA, you both understood that he was still just as dangerous.

You swallowed thickly before finally replying, "No," You sighed, "I'm just here to help."

If you were being honest with yourself, you weren't even exactly sure why you were here, though you tended to follow Mobius wherever he dragged you, this felt a little unorthodox, even for him.

Loki only cocked an eyebrow at you, "Another puppet for the Time Variance Authority, how delightful."

A part of you wanted to snap back at him. You weren't a puppet, you thought, you were your own person, you were more than just your job, it's not like this was all you thought about-

"Hey," You quickly dropped your gaze to the unexpected hand on your thigh, your eyes travelling up the fabric of his blazer until they landed on Mobius' concerned features. "You okay?" He whispered.

You offered a slow nod in response. He was always like this, knowing just when your gears were turning a little too fast for you. Over the course of your friendship, you couldn't even begin to count all the times he had pulled you from your own spiraling thoughts. You wondered how he hadn't already been snatched up by another agent, one that actually knew what they were doing, instead of always hanging around with you.

"I'm okay" You smiled, sighing as you gathered yourself.

He gently pat your thigh before returning to his interrogation.

It was always strange feeling though, one that you didn't think you would ever get used to, and one that you were sure felt even stranger for the man, who was now standing, across the room from you.

His hands were firmly planted on his hips as he watched what would have been, his eyes frantically darting back and forth across the projection as you watched him try to make sense of what he was seeing.

"Than am I not your mother?" The woman's words now seemed to echo from every corner in the now deathly silent room.

"You are not."

He began to inch closer to the projection as he watched, his features softer now.

It had never really occurred to you until now how jarring this all must be for someone who didn't deal with past, present, and future on a routine basis.

You were been told in training that variants were nothing more than nuisances, just minor footnotes in the grand scheme of the universe, the only purpose they served was to be wiped from reality.

Though now, as you watched his shoulders slump at the sight of his mother, you wondered if they were more than that.

Or at least if this one was.

There was a part of you that wanted to tell Mobius to stop. You understood how much this all meant to him, how much this case meant to him, but it felt like he had forgotten that inside these walls, Loki was still just as much of a person as the two of you, not some lab rat for him to poke at.

No magic or tricks could hide the vulnerability you felt radiating from Loki as he pleaded, asking Mobius questions with answers you knew would only hurt him more.

"I'll kill you." The words weighed heavily within the room even as Loki's voice grew thinner with desperation.

"What? Like you did your mother?"

In an instant, a chair was flying across the room, shattering the projection before it quickly repaired itself. Your breath hitched in your throat as Loki stomped over to Mobius, and suddenly, words were flying from your lips before you could even begin to think about them.

"Stop." You called out, not so much of a yell as it was a stern request.

Loki was already on the floor, hissing in pain as his shoulders rose and fell.

Mobius immediately turned from you as you got up out of your chair, his lips mouthing a silent "You okay?"

You quickly nodded before continuing, "I think we should take a break... I think that would be good." You turned to Loki, offering him an anxious smile before facing Mobius again.

The roar of a burning city continued to play in the background, the metallic, mechanical sounds of heroes gathering bounced off of every corner in the room, though there was still an atmosphere of silence that surrounded the three of you.

The quiet was finally broken by the resounding banging of the large doors opening, causing all three of you to whip your heads to the back of the room.

"What are you doing?" The hunter sneered, her annoyance was clear in her tone.

"My job." Mobius quipped, helping Loki from the floor as you stood off to the side, timidly gripping your clipboard as your fingers drummed against the back of it. "Is it yours to interrupt?"

She huffed before continuing. "We have a situation."

It was only a second really, well, maybe a few minutes at most had you both stepped out, but regardless of the amount of time that passed, he was gone.

"Get out of my way." You heard the strong grumble from behind you, before you found yourself being pushed into Mobius' side by another hunter.

"Sorry" You winced, gently pushing yourself from him.

"He couldn't have gone very far" Mobius mumbled to you, a twinge of displeasure in his voice as he adjusted his blazer, huffing before the two of you began to trail behind the group of hunters. But before you could even take more than a few steps, he stopped you, his hand abruptly gripping your arm, almost yanking you backwards as he paused. "You okay?"

You let out a quiet gasp before you whipped around to face him. He smiled, almost apologetically, before slowly dropping your wrist, "Sorry..." He whispered, and you had to actively stop your brows from furrowing at the strange sight of a light blush creeping up his cheeks.

"I'm okay, Mobius, I promise." You smiled, even though you knew it would take a little more convincing for him to be satisfied with your answer, seeing as he didn't believe you the two other times you had said that. "Why wouldn't I be?" You added cheerfully, but if you were being truthful with yourself, you were still a little shaken, and you were also certain that that fact was written all over your features. You couldn't exactly pin point what had gotten you so flustered, but this whole day was turning out to be more chaotic than either of you had ever anticipated.

"I just wanted to make sure, you seemed kind of... Spooked, before"

You sighed, reaching out to grab his hand and giving it a quick, reassuring squeeze before slowly starting down the hallway again.

"I could do this without you, you know" He quickly muttered.

If you hadn't gotten so used to his ever-changing, almost-frantic speaking pace, you may have missed it. Though almost instantly, you were pausing to face him once again.

"I mean it, not like I want you to- or for me to do this without you" He stammered, his fingers anxiously fidgeting with the corner of the manila folder partially tucked under his arm. He grumbled something unintelligible, clearly frustrated with himself before he finally sighed, "I just don't want you to get hurt."

"Mobius..." You looked directly into his eyes, and for a second, there was no missing variant, no exasperated Ravonna surely waiting for the both of you, just two friends concerned for each other. "I'll be fine, I promise."

You wanted to sound more sure of yourself, you wanted to be more sure of yourself, but with how up in the air everything was at the moment, you couldn't really be sure of anything.

He sighed, and you could tell just by the way he looked at you, with his eyes so full of worry, and a melancholy sort of half-smile on his lips, that he knew you wouldn't leave his side so easily.

"Promise?" He asked, his eyes furiously scanning your features as he awaited your answer.

"For all time." You smiled.

"Always."

It wasn't until you were forced to chase an escaped variant when you realized just how confusing your workplace could be. The endless corridors and the same three orange-hued propaganda posters plastered on every wall didn't help much in your search either. After a while every, hallway began to blend together.

You wondered what the point of all this chasing was at the end of the day, it wasn't like he'd really be able to escape anyways. Even if he managed to find a way back onto some random date on the timeline, that substantial of a Nexus Event would surely be rectified in no time at all.

You and Mobius had split off from the group of hunters at some point along the way, realizing that separating was probably the better option, though a part of you wondered if it was just that maybe Mobius couldn't stand being with those hunters for any longer.

After an endless amount of circling and aggravated grumbling, "Should've never interrupted... Never would'a lost him then." You both found yourselves at the doors to the time theater once again.

For once, it seemed, that the forever-creaking doors decided to finally silence in your favor, that, or Loki was completely distracted by the video playing before him now. But as you finally realized what scene was playing out, you figured the latter was more probable.

"You will never be... A God."

You could barely bring yourself to look, your hand coming up to cover your mouth as you watched.

You knew that this happened, that once all was said and done, Loki would die.

There was something undeniably unnerving about watching it play out on the projection before you though, his pale skin turning a skin-crawling shade of light purple as the Titan dropped him carelessly to the floor.

You couldn't help the quiet gasp that escaped you as the reel finished unceremoniously, the bleak, pale light of the END OF FILE illuminating the room.

The chilling sound of desperate laughter suddenly filled the room, and Mobius took a single, echoing step from the door before finally speaking.

"What's so funny?"

Loki huffed, his back straightening as he took a deep breath, "Glorious purpose."

Mobius hummed, taking a few steps closer to him, "Nowhere left to run..."

Though as Loki sluggishly walked to the side of the room, gracelessly dropping himself down onto the small ledge that lined the perimeter of the room, you couldn't help but think all this chasing and melodrama was all for nothing.

It seemed that he had come to realize on his own that there was no use in running. What was there for him to run back to?

"I can't go back, can I? To my timeline?" His voice was thick with exhaustion as he looked up at Mobius.

You and Mobius shared a melancholy sigh before he continued.

"I don't enjoy... Hurting people. I don't enjoy it."

Your footsteps thundered through the nearly-silent room, and you could hear how Mobius' breath caught in his throat as you suddenly sat beside Loki.

You placed your clipboard beside you before taking a deep breath. You could feel your heartbeat in your throat, unsure if you would even be able to get any words out at all. You looked to Mobius before finally speaking, "Explain that to me."

You turned to face him, and you almost wished you hadn't. His eyes were glassy, his forehead wrinkled as his lips turned into a faint frown.

It amazed you how this was the God that Mobius had warned you so much about, how even Ravonna had once told you how vicious the Loki variants could be.

As you looked at him now, you couldn't help but think how wrong they both seemed to be.

"Because it's part of the illusion." He smiled weakly, "It's the cruel... Elaborate trick, conjured by the weak to inspire fear."

Before you could even respond, Mobius cut you off.

"So you do know yourself..."

"A villain." He answered suspiciously quickly, as if the words were always sitting in the back of his throat, just waiting for someone to prompt him.

"That's not how I see it" You whispered, your eyes widening at your own statement. You casually turned from him, looking back to Mobius, trying to ignore the unfamiliar warmth that bloomed in your chest as you felt Loki's gaze lock on you.

"Listen..." Mobius interjected, "I can't offer you salvation, but maybe I can offer you something better."

Loki left your side, slowly crossing the room to Mobius as he continued.

"A fugitive variant's been killing our minute men-"

"And you need the God of Mischief to help you stop them?"

Even as he tried his best to humor Mobius, you could still hear the faint traces of heartbreak in his tone.

"That's right."

"Why me?"

Oh, yeah. That.

Until now, you had almost entirely forgotten why this Loki was so important to Mobius in the first place.

"The variant we're hunting is... You."

Even though that fact had been sitting in the back of your mind ever since he had arrived, you found yourself shuttering at the idea.

If this was only the havoc that one Loki could cause in the TVA, you didn't want to even begin to imagine what more of them could do.

For a moment, you found your and Loki's thoughts syncing up perfectly.

"I beg your pardon?"

You didn't think these days could get any stranger, at least not until you patiently waited for Loki to notice you from the corner of his eye as he swatted the animated Miss Minutes on his desk with the rolled up Jet Ski magazine.

“New uniform?” You asked, and he hastily spun in his chair in response, his arms spread wide to give you a full view of his new attire. “Looks good.” You smiled, leaning on the edge of the Mobius’ former cubicle which had now been turned into Loki’s makeshift training room.

"It'll do." He smirked, wiping his hands down the front of his pants. He grumbled something else unintelligible under his breath before tossing the worn-out Jet Ski magazine back onto the desk in front of him. “So,” He spun in his chair now to face you, “Other than all this” He gestured aimlessly around the bustling office, “What do you do?”

The answer to his question should have come easily to you, you had done nothing but this for what felt like your entire life, yet you found you couldn’t find the words to explain your own work. It felt like such a vulnerable question, one that was reserved for close friends and your coworkers, and he certainly wasn't close to either of those things.

Loki came into your life like a hurricane, turning your entire office upside down in what seemed like only a few moments. He was pure anarchy, disguised in a button up and dress pants, though you couldn't help the strange voice that nagged at you from the back of your mind as he grinned at you, insisting that you could trust him.

So you stammered out the only answer you could think of, one that seemed to be carved into the very ridges of your brain since as far back as you could remember. “Protect the timeline.”

Loki instantly scoffed and your brow furrowed, not so much out of offense, but at the idea that he may have known just as well as you did how unsure you were of your answer.

"You asked what I did" You smiled timidly, feeling how your arms seemed to cross over your chest on their own accord, as if your body was already telling you to activate some sort of long forgotten self-defense programming from your training days.

"You really are so good, aren't you." You heard him mumble, so quietly, that if you hadn't been standing so close to him, you probably wouldn't have heard it.

"What?" You questioned, almost choking on your own words.

"You're good. Purely decent." He swiftly explained, "You are truly, one of the good guys. It's a rare occurrence. You should be proud."

"Why does that somehow feel like an insult coming from you?" You laughed.

"I can assure you it's not, simply..." He thought for a moment, his lips curling into a smirk once he finally came to a conclusion. "An observation."

You raised your eyebrows at him, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"I mean, what else do you do around here other than," He gestured aimlessly around the office, "This?"

You stammered as you quickly realized that no one had ever asked you that before, well, you supposed no one ever needed to, you all worked here anyway, what else was there to talk about?

"Talk... I guess..?" You almost winced at your own answer, when had you become so boring?

"How thrilling." Loki deadpanned, "Haven't you any hobbies? Anything you actually enjoy?"

You thought for a moment, the only ideas coming to your mind being work related. "Mobius and I..." You finally sighed, a soft smile on your lips as you answered. "After everything's done for the day, sometimes we go to the cafeteria."

"You have to be, the dullest human I have ever met."

"Hey!" You exclaimed humorously, attempting to mask the slight pang of disappointment that came with his observation. "Is saving the timeline not enough for you?"

"I believe you know my file well enough to know the answer to that."

"I think you have the wrong Analyst." You mumbled.

Loki tilted his head, his eyes squinting for a moment before he continued, "Am I to really believe that you, of all people, haven't see it?"

"Seen what?"

"My file. Or whatever other documentation this place has curated for me." He replied, rolling his eyes at the notion.

"I've seen it before, Mobius has shown it to me before," You added, "But that was it." You smiled softly, a twinge of dissatisfaction in your tone as you continued, "It's just not my area."

You could hear the sardonic hum of amusement that escaped him before he replied, "I must say, I didn't take you for a sidekick."

Before you had a chance respond, Mobius seemed to materialize beside you, his hand suddenly securely fixed on your lower back.

A quiet whimper escaped you at the unexpected feeling.

"S'that my Jetski magazine?" He asked, casually inserting himself into your conversation.

You tried to chuckle at the odd possessiveness Mobius always exhibited over his treasured magazines, but you couldn't even bring yourself to.

Sure, Mobius had touched you before, after what you could only imagine to be years upon years of working together, it was pretty hard to not come in contact with each other, but this felt different.

He stood just the slightest bit behind you, the front of his shoulder almost brushing against the back of yours.

His voice never wavered though, there wasn't a single shadow of edge or defense in his face, he just sounded just like the same, amiable Mobius that you had come to be such good friends with.

The only fact that had changed was that he was touching you, no, holding you, like you were something to loose.

You decided not to dwell on it for now.

"Anyways, c'mon, gear up, there's been an attack."

Your head was spinning at his abrupt change in pace, and you wondered why he hadn't led with that in the first place. Maybe he had other things on his mind.

Loki shot up from his chair as Mobius haphazardly tossed him a packaged jacket, the both of you hurriedly trailing behind him.

"Is he always like that?" Loki asked, though you were too busy trying to keep up with both of the men's lengthy strides to respond at first.

"He just get's excited abo-"

"So protective of you?"

If you all weren't in such a hurry, you probably would've paused in your tracks right then.

Was that what that was?

Despite your own questioning of Mobius' intentions with the gesture, you decided to not even give Loki the satisfaction he so clearly desired from you.

You only hummed in response at first, keeping your gaze locked in front of you as you weaved in and out of the many desks and cubicles that littered the main floor.

"That's Mobius." You finally replied, but was it? If you hadn't been so focused on trying to make sure you didn't lose Mobius in the crowded office, you probably would've closed your eyes to cringe at your own answer.

You couldn't tell if your breaths were becoming shallower from the sprint Mobius had just put you both through, or if your shortness of breath had something to do with how suddenly damp your palms had become.

This was what he wanted, to bother you, to get under your skin.

Just like Mobius told you.

You shook your head to yourself, maybe you would scold yourself later for putting so much sympathy in him, for thinking he was anything more than a self-entitled prince that longed for nothing more than to cause chaos, though a part of you still couldn't help but feel bad for him.

You took a deep breath, that was for later, there was more to focus on now.

Not another word was uttered between the two of you for the rest of the way, and even though you didn't dare look at him directly, you could still sense the smirk that was surely turned the corners of his lips as he studied you, searching for any crack in your facade.

Protective. You thought, of course he would be protective of you, you were his friend. He knew Loki more than anyone, and if he was worried, you were sure it was for good reason.

You smiled as you walked through the Timedoor, thankful for once that the location was somewhere slightly more enjoyable than sixteenth century France.

You wondered when the last time you had been to a Renaissance Fair rather than the actual Renaissance.

It was a nice change.

There were some times when you wished you could just stay, to witness the ever-stretching passing of time in places just like this.

There was so much life here. Colorful, patterned flags gently swayed gently in the breeze as children in not-so-accurate medieval witch and knight costumes ran around you without a care in the world. You paused for a moment, trying to take it all in without the pressure of a rogue variant on the loose or the endless paperwork that would surely arrive on your desk after all this.

"You on break time?"

You groaned, sighing before looking beside you to find another hunter.

"Just enjoying the view" You mumbled as you took another glance around.

You started to join the rest of the group, trailing just a few feet behind so you could still manage to get some peace before the inevitable pandemonium that awaited you all.

"Oof!"

You gasped when the sudden force collided with your leg.

"Sorry Miss!" The small voice below you chirped.

You looked down, the over-sized witch hat obscuring the rest of the child from your vision until she turned her chin up, smiling brightly at you.

"That's okay" You smiled, kneeling down to match her gaze, "Just as long as you don't put a curse on me."

The small girl's curls bounced as she shook her head fervently, "I'm a good witch!"

You let out a soft "Ah" in feigned realization, nodding your head.

If you hadn't been trying to entertain her, you probably would've rolled your eyes, groaning at the thought that in a few moments, you'd have to rush off and eventually leave this small bubble of normalcy.

One day, you swore, maybe you'd stay for more than a few minutes.

You looked to your side, spotting a small, rogue Daisy beside the girl's boots. You smiled before gently tearing it from the ground.

"Thank you-" You laughed at how the girl already snatched the flower from you before you had even fully lifted it to her, "For not cursing me." You whispered.

The little girl giggled, clutching the flower to her chest as she leaned into you, "You're welcome."

The sound of your name being called had you both jumping, your head whipping around to see both Mobius and Loki standing at the entrance to the large tent that stood in the center of the fair.

You smiled before finally standing up, watching as her bright smile quickly turned to a pout as she realized you had to leave.

She gasped, making you look down again.

"S'that your prince!"

You looked back at the two men, noticing how both of them were focusing on you, as if they had been listening to the whole conversation, a faint, almost-wistful smile on both of their faces.

"Sort of." You finally answered, before waving a quick goodbye.

"Think you were a Princess?" Mobius asked smirking when you finally joined them.

You let out a soft hum of amusement before walking past them.

"Smoothly done."

Loki's derisive response caught you off guard, to the point of almost tripping over your own feet as you rushed into the tent.

His sarcastic reply was only met with an unintelligible grumble from Mobius.

Any thought you had on the odd exchange dissipated in seconds though, you sighed as you looked around, helmets and batons thrown about haphazardly around the face-down bodies.

This was going to be a long day.

It was over before it began really, after a quick attempt at deceit from Loki, the whole ordeal ended with a reset charge. As it always did.

Before you knew it, all three of you were being rushed to Ravonna's office. It was a flurry of bickering and mindless back and forth arguments as Loki tried to convince Mobius that it was all just 'a lesson in catching a Loki'.

"Watch him." Mobius finally huffed, rushing into the office and swiftly closing the door behind him before you could even say anything.

You heard Loki unceremoniously drop himself into the padded chair to the left of large, golden double doors.

"I'm sure you won't have to supervise me for long." He mumbled.

You couldn't even bring yourself to look at him, continuing to stare back at your distorted reflection as your own thoughts began to torture you.

It seemed that every time things didn't go just quite the way Mobius had planned, or rather, Ravonna had planned, you always found yourself right here, feet planted firmly outside the doors that you knew you would probably never see the opposite side of.

You were just as a part of those mission as Mobius, and still everyone acted as if you were still an inept trainee.

"I didn't take you for a sidekick"

The words now seemed to bounce off of every corner of your mind. Was that really all they saw you as? You closed your eyes, doing your best to bury the thought, though the effort was useless.

You would always be thankful for Mobius taking you under his wing, but in times like this, you couldn't help but indulge the notion of where you would be if he hadn't been so quick to swoop in to your life. Certainly not as far up as you were now, if it weren't for him, you probably still wouldn't have been allowed in the court room, but maybe you'd still be you.

You wouldn't just be Mobius's assistant, his protégé, his sidekick.

You were a Junior Analyst. The title was etched as clear as day on the small placard that sat on the corner of your desk, yet still everyone seemed to think that you were nothing more than a temp.

"Somehow, this doesn't seem like the first time this has happened." Loki interrupted your silence, and for the first time today, you kind of felt grateful he was talking to you. You appreciated the brief distraction from your own thoughts.

You sighed, finally ripping yourself from the spot in front of the door and sitting in the chair opposite him. You feigned a weak smile as you rubbed your temples.

"Tell me, do they always slam the door on you when the adults are talking?"

If you had any more energy, you'd probably roll your eyes, maybe you'd even have the nerve to quip back at him, but now, you didn't even have the energy to tamp down the small sparks of self doubt that Loki only continued to fan.

"Sometimes." You finally mumbled.

"If it's any consolation, I thought you did well today."

You had to suppress the scoff that threatened to leave you at his words. He hadn't gotten that blaring, emblazoned Variant jacket more than a few hours ago, and yet here he was telling you that you did a good job like he was your boss.

You should've been more annoyed with him, but only a strange feeling of warmth filled you as he spoke.

When was the last time someone told you that?

You swallowed, before responding with a quick "Thanks."

"I mean that." He urged, and your brows furrowed, "And trust me, I wouldn't just say that."

Trust me.

"I appreciate it."

You hated how sharp you sounded, how on edge, but you couldn't help it. You wanted to say it was because of him, of Loki, but if you were being honest with yourself, that was mostly a lie.

If helping Mobius on a larger case such as this one had begun to reveal anything, it was that you were growing weary of only being seen as Mobius's second in command.

It felt nice to have someone finally pat you on the back for once.

"You didn't do too bad yourself" You smiled, "If you didn't try to throw us all off into a Red-line..."

You watched his smile grow when you finally responded with more than three words, his eyes shining like he had finally managed to unlock a treasure chest that had been locked for eons.

"I was testing you, you know-"

"Keeping our ears sharp?" You smirked.

"Exactly." He hummed before continuing, "That little girl in the market, dressed as a witch, what did she say to you?"

You chuckled, you had almost forgotten about that moment entirely in all the chaos. "She ran into me, I told her thank you for not putting a curse on me."

"And when Mobius called you and she saw us, what did she say?"

Your lips drew into a thin line at his sudden line of questioning, even though it seemed harmless, you couldn't help the faint whisper of suspicion that nagged at you from the back of your mind.

"She asked if one of you was my prince." You smiled.

"What did you say?"

You lifted your chin to better see his features in the orange-hued lighting of the makeshift waiting room. You noticed new wrinkles in his forehead as he waited your answer, his eyes didn't look so calculating anymore, and if you looked hard enough, you thought you could see just the smallest bit of care in his gaze, as if he were waiting on the edge of his seat to hear your reply.

"I told her that she'd have to ask you herself."

He let out a humored groan in response, "How could you!" He exclaimed playfully, "You just broke that girl's heart, you know."

"And how did I do that?" You sputtered through your own laughter.

"Now she'll have to live out her life never knowing if either of us were your prince or not!"

You gasped jokingly as he continued to berate you, your laughter carrying through the hallway and probably past Ravonna's office doors as well, but you couldn't bring yourself to care.

"I don't think I can live with myself" You sighed, wiping away any rogue tears that had begun to roll down your cheeks during your amusement.

"You are truly a menace to the timeline." He added, winking.

You wanted to hate the strange warmth that suddenly began to bloom within your chest.

But in truth, you didn't mind.

You took a deep breath, collecting yourself, "How are you feeling though, about all this?"

"Nothing I can't manage."

"I know this can be... A lot, all at once..."

You recalled the first time you had seen the variant processing procedures, watching humans and aliens alike being subjected to such aggressive rounds of supervision and precaution made you cringe.

You wondered what Loki really thought of all of that. You wondered if he really was just indifferent to the experience like he had said, or rather just aggravated by the whole process.

Your mind wandered for a moment, was he scared?

He had been ripped from the timeline, not even knowing the power of what he had done with the Tesseract. You knew that a majority of the hunters weren't kind, and although you understood why, you often thought that they could make more of an effort to be a little more compassionate when transferring variants into processing.

You wondered if any of it was really worth it, just to send someone to their inevitable pruning.

"I can assure you, I can handle whatever the Time Keepers" He drawled out each syllable before as he continued, "Throw in my direction."

You smiled, "Good."

The door unlocked with a resonant click as Mobius emerged, his face flushed. He walked past the both of you, his only acknowledgement of your existence a hasty, "Let's go."

You and Loki both shot up from your seats before Mobius quickly turned, both of you pausing in place like a pair of headlight stricken deer.

Your name echoed from his mouth in a tone you didn't think you had ever heard before, like a command, you thought.

You felt Loki's eyes land on you as you stared back at Mobius, anxiously awaiting whatever he was going to say next.

"We don't need you for this one." He smiled weakly, almost apologetically, "You can take a break."

"Mobius, I-"

"It's okay," He swiftly interrupted, "I got this one, I'll come and get you if I need you, okay?"

It was an odd feeling, a mixture of indignation and relief and confusion hitting you all at once.

He didn't wait for your response before leaving you, swiftly turning and gesturing for Loki to follow him as you stood frozen, dumbfounded in the middle of the hallway.

You were suddenly thankful that no one was ever really around this area of the office, Ravonna's Lair, as some of the other Analysts would call it. You knew that you probably wouldn't ever come this way if you had any say in the matter. Even on days when everyone seemed to be working overtime, this small intersection of hallways and doors was always nearly empty.

You were grateful for that fact now.

There was a brief moment were your own feet faltered, taking a single step in the direction they had left you.

You wanted to follow them, you were just as a part of this as Mobius, this wasn't just his case.

Though as you pulled your bottom lip between your teeth, the fleeting thought flew from you just as quickly as it came.

You were sure it was for a good reason.

And so you trudged back to your desk, and for the first time in what felt like forever.

Mobius was leaving your side.

holy cow. i can't believe it honestly, this has been such a labor of love for so long, and i really hope you guys enjoy it as much as i did writing it!! i'd absolutely love to hear what you all think of it!! so please feel free to hop into my asks and tell me all your thoughts/questions!! we have so much left to cover over the next few parts, and i can't wait for you guys to see where loki and his favorite analyst (it's you, you're his favorite analyst) go after this ;) also mia and nate and 🌻 anon this is for you guys for enabling my loki and fake dating ramblings and for being so nice to me through all this mwauh :)

tag request: @mobbucky

as always, likes, comments, and reblogs are always, always appreciated!!

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➺ part 2

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iguana-eyanna · 2 years

Text

Cold Illusions & Scorching Lies Pt. 9

Pairing: Loki x Pregnant reader

Summary: Many try to tear you and your prince apart from each other. When Loki lets go of the past that brought him to his doom, you begin to realize you’re not the only one who uncovers a forbidden truth.

Author’s Notes: these events will be in chronicle order of the Thor movies. (Italicized text will be flashbacks). They will be titled for every part.

Warning: death

Loki (2021)

Do you enjoy hurting people?

Making them feel small?

Making them feel afraid?

Those words echo in his brain ever since he has arrived at the TV-A.

He doesn’t know how many nights he spent there or what year it was. All he knew was that he escaped the year 2012 and tried to make sense of his journey in life, especially him witnessing his death.

But what about you?

Mobius only showed him moments of him from when he was defeated by the Avengers or how he witnessed his mother being murdered by the Dark Elves.

He almost had his heart thawed seeing his father depart the physical plane.

He mourned at the last words his brother said to him before he died.

But what he doesn’t understand was why you were not featured in these moments.

Loki knows Mobius is hiding something. The trickster even requested your file and everything was blank.

There must have had some recording of you as Loki was wondering where you are in the future.

Were you alright?

Were you hurt?

What if he hurt you?

He realized that he did as he chose not to face the consequences of his actions and left you alone on the rainbow bridge. Loki left you so you could answer for his crimes.

He then gets out of his bed and goes up to Mobius’ cubicle, knowing he’d be working there.

Mobius shoots up to greet his friend. “There’s my favorite-”

“What happened to my wife?” Loki abruptly asked.

The agent’s mouth dries, unprepared for this moment.

“I know you’re hiding something about her, as you refused to show any evidence to show if my wife is alright.”

Mobius sighs in defeat, straightening his posture in his chair.

“There’s a reason for that…” Mobius said cautiously.

Loki throws his fist on the table, earning a few stares around the workplace.

“I will not help you in your investigation until I know what happens to her.”

Mobius looks at the raven haired man and gets up to leave.

“Follow me.” the agent says.

The god of mischief is content that he’s finally getting his answers. But he’s afraid of why it took Mobius so long to show what’s in store for Loki.

The agent takes Loki back to the screening room again. Mobius writes a password on the keyboard and the projected screen lights up.

“If I show you this, there’s no turning back.” Mobius warns his friend.

Loki shot a look at Mobius, and he bowed his head down.

“After you left, Odin entrapped her in a necklace in order to delay Ragnorak due to a prohecy. She was stuck in time for almost ten years. Once Odin passed, her imprisonment ended and you reunited. It was short-lived as both of you were separated and met again on the planet of Sakaar.”

Mobius said as Loki saw himself with you in a room.

“Darling, please. You know I would have never forsaken you.” Loki said, as he held her hand.

“So falling into an abyss at Asgard and leaving me in the clutches of Odin was what, Loki?” she says, her voice dimming down as tears threatened to roll down her face.

Loki got closer to her as he wrapped his arms around her waist, forcing her to look at him. “When I learned that you disappeared without a trace, I felt broken. The best part of me was missing and nothing would have filled that void unless you were in my arms.”

Loki sees how you move back from his touch and untie your robe, revealing a swell in your abdomen.

You were with child, his child.

He saw how he grazed his fingers on your belly, almost as if to see this was a trick, a cold illusion that was playing on him.

But this was real.

“You two stayed in the grandmaster’s palace for a few weeks. You didn’t tell her that Thor arrived and she left because of your scorching lies. It wasn’t until she decided to go back to find you so you both could save Asgard.”

Mobius said, switching to a channel where he saw himself on the ground as you were teary-eyed.

“I know I read the file, but how did me and my wife cause Ragnarok?” Loki dared to ask.

Mobius held his breath. “Loki, the next part isn't going to be so pretty.”

“I don’t care, I need to see what happens!” Loki gritted through his teeth.

Mobius looks at the man before him and fast forward to when they arrived to Asgard.

—-------------------------------------------------------

“You’re late.” Thor said as he walks over to the couple.

“You’re missing an eye.” Loki responded, as you made your way to Thor, hugging him quickly.

“I’m glad you’re alive.” You stated as you cared for Thor.

He smiles at you and looks down to see your growing abdomen.

“Even after my brother told me, I’m still surprised that you’re going to be parents.” He says, beaming at both of you.”

“Oi! No time for catching up, we have an army of the dead attacking us.” The valkyrie screamed as she neared you all.

“I need to get to the palace.” You simply stated, looking at your husband.

“I’ll take you there.” He states, taking your hand as you brave the soldiers in front of you.

You didn’t know if Loki was using bits of magic to help you fight through the bridge, but a source of adrenaline flooded through your blood. You then see how one of the dead soldiers is about to strike your husband. Waisting no time, you raise your hands and shot a spiral of hot fire at them.

They soon turned to ash and Loki looked up at you, amazed.

“Remind me to not upset you again.” He jests.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” you joke back as you finally enter the kingdom.

It wasn’t long until you arrived to the trophy room where you saw your father’s crown. You carried it off from its pedestal, feeling his powers course through your body.

You’re about to run off to the eternal flame till you saw Loki staring at the infinity stone.

“Love.” you said, walking up to him.

He turns to you with sadness in his eyes.

“The person I was a few years ago would have done anything to get that power, and all because I was blinded by what Thanos promised.” He says, looking back at the cube.

You place your father’s crown in your right arm as you reached for your husband’s hand with your left.

“We have a new chance to make things the way we want to, write our own destiny.” You reassured him.

He nods his head as he looks up to the direction where the fire was.

“Go. I’m right behind you.” He said. You kiss him passionately before running to where you Surtur will rise.

Once you arrive to the step, you hold his crown in between your hands.

“Father, you are reborn.” You said as you let go, seeing the crown fill with life as glowing orbs appeared in the fire. He begins to grow in height and you back away momentarily, scared.

He grows almost ten feet tall till he stops and sees who revived him.

“My ruby…” He says warmly like a candle at night.

“Come forth so I may bless you with my powers and knowledge of your birth realm.” He says, raising his hand. You slowly walk up to him and see how he presses his finger to your head, burning a spot on your forehead. Your eyes glow the same yellow as his, feeling his power grow into you. Once he pulls his hand away, you fall backwards from exhaustion, until a pair of arms caught you.

“Loki?” you question as you looked up.

“We need to go now” Loki screamed as he carried you out of the palace as Surtur began to grow into his true form.

You don’t know how as you lost consciousness but you heard Loki screaming.

“Please, I need a healer or a midwife. Help my wife, I beg you!”

Your body gets pulled away from his embrace and you see glimpses of women attending to you.

Momentarily, you awoke from what you thought was a nightmare and saw your husband sitting impatiently in a chair near the bed you’re lying on.

You begin to shift in your position, seeing Loki snap his gaze at you once again, feeling the tears brim to his eyes.

“Thank goodness you’re alright.” He said, pulling you in a bone crushing hug. You hold onto him for what felt like an eternity and pulled away so you could push back the strands of hair that was hiding his face.

“What happened at the fire? All I saw was Surtur placing his finger at your temple and you fell back.” He asks.

Your hand flies to your head, where there was no evidence of a scar or burn.

“My father, he parted me the last knowledge and powers of Muspelheim. I never understood at first, but my realm’s power course within me… within our babe.” you said, feeling your bump. Loki looks down as well, putting his hand on top of yours.

“Our child is the product of two legacies. They shall carry on with great pride.” Loki says, putting his free hand on the side of your face.

“We shall carry on to our bright future.” You said, as you two pulled in to a blissful kiss that would envy all the stars in the galaxy.

—-------------------------------------------------------

The projected screen shuts off and Loki hasn’t realized that he’s crying.

“I- need to find her, tell her I’m alright!” Loki says, getting up from his chair.

“You can’t do that Loki” Mobius said calmly as he gets up to calm the raven haired man.

“You don’t understand. She probably witnessed my death. Oh no, what if she gave birth to our child? I can’t let them grow up without their father. I will not allow that.” Loki said, trying to leave but Mobius puts him in a time loop again.

Loki stops in his tracks, his eyes turning red from anger.

“WHY ARE YOU STOPPING ME FROM SEEING HER?” Loki screams.

“BECAUSE SHE’S DEAD!” Mobius yells out.

Loki stands still forgetting how to breathe as the room fell silent.

Mobius sat in his chair defeated, looking down as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“A few months after the snapping, she goes into labor. She delivered the baby, but she hemorrhaged. Even if you prevent everything, she will still die. That’s her fate for all of her variants. Your wife died selflessly to give her child the chance to live.”

Loki feels his head spinning as he knelt on the floor. He felt sick to his very core. All he could dow as shake his head and pound his fist to the floor, muttering no. His mutters turned into a bloody screamed and he cried out in agony. Mobius gets out of his chair quickly and tries to pull up Loki off his feet. He refuses to do so, but he just sobs out his pain.

He doesn’t know how long Loki stayed there, but he got up and refused to utter a single word as he slowly walked to his room.

He didn’t leave for the longest time as he forced himself to starve. He didn’t allow himself to sleep as he would abruptly wake up from nightmares of losing you.

One night, Loki turned around on his bed and saw a small packet appeared out of the blue on his nightstand. He slowly grabs it and reads the note on top of it.

You have one chance to make things right. I’ll make sure no one knows. - Mobius

Loki tears off the packaging and sees the traveling tech agents use to go to different realms. He breath becomes shaky as he realizes what he can do.

He was going to save you.

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