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“I think I might be in love with you.”
The words were out faster than Loki had expected. It was like ripping off a bandaid you had had stuck to your skin for too long, so long in fact that you had accepted it as a part of you, hidden from plain view by the fabric you were wearing but there, always there. Sometimes it itched, sometimes it hurt and sometimes it just felt incredibly wonderful and warm and made you giddy and this, Loki thought, is where the band aid metaphor really needed to end. It didn’t make him sound super smart anymore.
He looked at Mobius waiting for him to say something, anything because Loki was only so patient and only so confident and he felt like he needed to turn around and run if Mobius didn’t immediately say something. He didn’t even have to say it back. He would like him to, though.
Loki gripped the fabric of his trousers tightly because otherwise he might start doing something extremely embarrassing, like fiddling with his hands or - the Norns forbid - rubbing his face, anxiously.
Mobius didn’t say it back - instead he looked right back at the god and said with the quietest and fondest of voices:
“And I know that you are.”
Well, that was unexpected.
For someone who called himself the God of Mischief Loki found himself repeatedly surprised by the time agent. He didn't know what to say to that. He had thought he had hid his feelings so well, but a lot of things he had thought had proven to be wrong over the past time. Being told he was a robot after all, he thought, wouldn't surprise him in the least. Or maybe it would. He didn't think robots would be able to feel like this. Nervous. Shaky. Sick. Robots also didn't need to breathe and Loki really could use some oxygen right now but his lungs refused to work the way he wanted them to. But then again, maybe he didn't know everything about robots. Maybe there were robots that needed to breathe. Maybe there were robots that could get sick and nervous and shaky. He should probably stop thinking about robots.
"I beg your pardon."
He didn't exactly know if he had said it to Mobius or himself but either way it was all he could come up with. A pathetic excuse for a witty comeback, pressed through his lips like someone might press flowers in a book. Now that was a metaphor. Or was it a comparison? Either way, it was good and Loki was almost proud of himself but there was another matter his mind was currently occupied with. A matter that let metaphors seem irrelevant and dull in comparison even if they made him sound smart and that meant something. Said matter was standing right in front of him, regarding him with his signature look that was ever so soft and understanding and felt like Mobius was looking right through him. For once, Loki didn't mind. He had put the cards on the table, he might as well accept the outcome.
"I have been watching you, Loki, and thereby found out that you",
that bastard made a dramatic pause and had the audacity to point his index finger at Loki. The god fought off a smile. That same audacity was one of many things he liked about the other.
"have been watching me."
Loki raised an eyebrow in order to feign a superiority and laid back attitude he absolutely didn't feel. He had thought he had been discrete. He was now fully convinced that robots do need to breathe. And quite possibly got sick. And Thor would donate Mjolnir to a museum and start writing poetry instead of picking fights.
"You have been watching me quite often, in fact.", Mobius continued and stepped a bit closer. If Loki hadn't already been holding his breath he would certainly do so now.
"Especially when you thought I wasn't looking."
Loki swallowed hard and pretended the little, witty, half-smile Mobius was giving him now wasn't making him weak in the knees.
"You also sigh dreamily whenever I say something clever."
Mobius made another small step forwards so that Loki and him were standing chest to chest. He looked up, Loki looked down and their eyes met.
"And your eyes sparkle whenever you look at me. They practically scream 'I am in love with you.', actually. They are doing it now too."
Was Loki misinterpreting or did Mobius just lean in a bit? He licked his lips nervously. He could have sworn their faces had been further apart a second ago. He wasn't used to reciprocated affection, he wasn't used to wanting it either and now Mobius had closed his eyes and, he realised with a shutter, this was quite possibly going to be his first kiss. He felt two strong hands on either side of his hips as Mobius leaned his forehead on Loki's. He felt like he was about to faint. No, he was definitely going to faint.
"Luckily, I have had similar problems for a while now."
The other continued and started to caress Loki's skin through the fabric with his thumbs.
In all honesty, Loki's response to that was nothing but pathetic. He was a god, for the Norn's sake, he shouldn't be so easily played, he shouldn't lean into the touch like a dog into the hand that petted him.
And yet he did.
He did lean into the touch and he did let out a stuttering breath and he did awkwardly put his hands on Mobius' shoulders and it was all so wrong but when hadn't Loki been or done anything but that.
"Maybe you have misinterpreted." Loki whispered, just to be petty. He couldn't let Mobius have his way with him like that. He had a reputation after all.
"Maybe I have." Mobius smiled and raised an eyebrow. "You tell me."
Oh, and once again Loki was taken aback by the other's response. He wasn't ready to admit to anything yet. 'I might be' had already been more than he had intended to say. He smiled. His dear colleague was always a challenge, always on his toes. Maybe he couldn't admit it outloud but in that moment he admitted to himself that he was a little bit in love. A little great bit.
"Why don't you find out for yourself?"
Mobius chuckled. "And risk the wrath of Loki, soon-to-be king of the nine realms?"
"You forgot space."
"Of course. Loki, king of space. Quite literally by the way, you're so damn tall. I like it though. Makes you look super hot."
Just for the record: Loki did not blush at this so casually stated fact. He did not. He was a God. Gods didn't blush, just like robots didn't have to breathe.
"I know." He said instead of blushing, his voice felt foreign to him like it was only barely attached to his will, acting on his own. He was afraid that maybe he would start saying things, big things, things without a 'might be' or an 'I think', if he wasn't careful enough, those words would slip past his lips without him noticing, without having enough time to think, think, think, Loki, think -
And suddenly all thinking stopped.
Suddenly there was warmth, and a sickness that didn't feel bad at all, and there were daggers in his stomach, though he didn't feel stabbed and there were shudders but he didn't have a cold and there was a new taste on his lips even though he was sure he hadn't accidentally eaten. A taste, he knew he favoured above the sweetest grapes and the best Asgardian wine. A taste that reminded him of a home he had never had, a home that was yet to come.
The kiss couldn't have lasted for more than a few seconds, or maybe it could have, time works differently in the TVA after all, but it didn't feel that way, and if time really was relative here, then isn't everything about feeling in the end? However long that kiss lasted, here or elsewhere, Mobius kept Loki close after parting their lips, brought his hands up to the god's face and cupped his cheeks, gently, ever so gently, ever so patient, ever so considerate because in the end that's what Mobius was. The very essence of his being so to say, and oh, how much Loki loved it. All of it.
He loved him from those maddeningly basic dress shoes to his ridiculous moustache, he loved his boring ties and his distanced way of talking and his rare moments of pure excitement. He loved the sparkle in his eyes that appeared whenever he found something challenging, his cunningness and so many more things that he was afraid he really might start saying them if he kept thinking about them, so he leaned forward before Mobius could ask him if he was alright - because Loki knew that he would, Mobius would always make sure Loki was alright, and Loki loved him for that as well - and kissed the time agent again before his mouth could betray him.
He had to admit that his technique was...lacking. He had stabbed more people in the back than he had kissed and romance had not really been his top priority so far, glorious purpose and all, but luckily Mobius didn't seem to mind. Maybe he was inexperienced too, maybe he had been so busy taking care of the sacred, blasted timeline that this was new for him as well. Since Loki wouldn't be able to tell either way he let the thought pass and gently pushed back against the other's lips. He tightened his grip on Mobius' shoulders because he feared he might be swept off his feet in the most literal way. This was insane. He was not only technically kissing his boss but also someone he had never been supposed to meet, someone he almost hadn't gotten to know for longer than a few seconds, someone who almost had been only a stranger sitting in his courtroom.
Against all odds there were standing here now, hugging, kissing each other. Against all odds both of them had fallen in love - and with each other too. Against all odds the kiss was beautiful even though Loki had never kissed anyone before, or maybe that's just what kisses are like when you love someone.
Beautiful.
Time works differently in the TVA but eventually everything must come to end. In this case it was the kiss, even though there could have been nicer ways than an annoying ring and the familiar sound of elevator doors opening. They both turned their heads, still helplessly entangled with each other, Loki's hair was not far from being categorised as an apocalypse itself and Mobius' tie was askew because someone might have pulled at it a little. A little hard.
There was no denying of what they had just been doing and Mobius prayed to the time keepers that it wasn't Ravonna he'd see standing in front of them.
It wasn't.
It was Casey, and he looked slightly confused at the weird and very uncomfortable looking position he had just found his co-workers in. He bluntly pointed an index finger at Loki's crotch and asked with the most innocent tone of voice:
"Is that a fish, Mr. Laufeyson?"
You see, not many people have met the Time Keepers, for they were hiding away in their little chamber, somewhere in a small pocket of time, unseen and undisturbed by the happenings of the universe but at this moment, they looked up from their game of dice and turned their heads, confused because they could have sworn they had just heard one of their time agents laugh.