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I.
Mobius was in a meeting with the Minutemen about the next mission, when Casey's tapping on the glass wall from outside the room divided his attention away from the subject being discussed. (And it was rare — so rare — to see Casey anywhere that wasn't behind his desk)
Mobius took a quick glance at him, whatever the reason was that brought Casey here, he hoped he'd leave soon, so that the meeting could continue smoothly without anybody disturbing them, but once Mobius made eye contact with him, Casey quickly, urgently made the gesture of beckoning his hand, signaling he was precisely here for Mobius.
And dear lord, Mobius fought the urge to roll his eyes. What could Casey possibly want from him? It wasn't that Mobius resented Casey or anything, but the truth was, he found him somewhat... annoying, at least a little, and they barely ever talked. Mobius had been working with the TVA for as long as he could remember, the same also applied for Casey, but their jobs being so different from each other's simply explained why no more than three sentences were being spoken between the two of them. Or, if Mobius were to be more precise, their lives had never crossed paths until Loki.
Until Loki had to go and, the thought still sounded absurd even in Mobius' head, hang out with him. Not particularly hang out like two buddies hanging out, but Loki would always end up at Casey's office. Why, if Mobius had to guess, he'd say it was because Casey had the Tesseract and a dozen-or-so Infinity Stones kept in his drawer; they were his paperweights, after all.
But the point was, Loki and Casey started to form these type of weird, unlikely friendship, or maybe not outright friendship, but whatever it was, Casey started spending less time behind his desk, where he was supposed to be, and more time with Loki. And since Loki spent most of his time glued to Mobius... well, that somewhat explained why Mobius' life and Casey's suddenly crossed paths with each other.
"What is it, Casey?" He asked, not bothering to pretend to be slightly interested in whatever it was Casey was here for, after he excused himself and walked out the door to meet him.
"You need to come," Casey said urgently, already trying to drag Mobius by the sleeve of his jacket. This time, Mobius did roll his eyes.
"Jeez, just say what's going on!" He protested. Frankly, Mobius expected Casey to say there was a problem with the photocopier, or that someone stole his pen.
"It's Loki," was Casey's answer. And fuck. Oh fuck. In his head, Mobius already expected the worst.
This isn't good. This can't be good. Whatever it is, it can't be good, if it involved Loki.
He almost ran faster than Casey as he was being led to, in Mobius' head, the crime scene. Casey was leading him to the crime scene, Mobius wholeheartedly believed that.
(No, he didn't ask what happened. If it was about Loki, there was no time to stop and properly ask for the details of what went wrong. If it was about Loki, Mobius knew he'd better get there as fast as he could)
He expected to see a body or two, and maybe some message written in blood on the wall.
There wasn't a body, and there wasn't any blood on the wall, either. There was, however, a very pissed off Loki and an even more pissed off Hunter B-15.
Mobius stopped to inspect to scene, trying to make scene of it all when he was still too lost to ask what the fuck was going on. Because Loki was sitting on the floor, at the base of the stairs, and Hunter B-15 was standing with her arms crossed over her chest, looking like a very done parent.
"What the —"
"He fell," she said, cutting Mobius off. "Then he has to be a bitch about it,"
"It's not my fault that your Three Space Lizards thought it was a brilliant idea to make the stairs so steep." Loki said, more like barked, really. He still remained sitting stubbornly on the floor.
"What?" Hunter B-15 turned her gaze back towards him, then back at Mobius again. "Did you hear what he's just said?"
"About the stairs being too steep? Yes," Mobius massaged his temples. He really wasn't in the mood for this, and part of him hated that he'd already had an idea where this was going; Loki was making sure he made everybody's life harder with every opportunity he got.
"No one, and I mean no one, tripped and fell down those stairs." Hunter B-15 said, returning her gaze towards Loki now.
"Well, surprise, I just did." Loki hissed at her.
"Because you're a clumsy oaf —"
"Those stupid Space Lizards had no idea what they were doing when they built these stupid stairs. In fact, they had no idea what they were doing when they built this stupid place —"
"Loki, Loki, that's enough," Mobius chimed in, voice loud and intimidating to actually shut Loki up, but not too harsh still.
Loki looked at him now, him and Casey who seemed helpless, standing behind Mobius.
"How... how long has he been here?" Mobius turned to ask Hunter B-15.
"Who knows. Though I've been trying to get his ass off the floor for thirty minutes now. He just won't move,"
Mobius mouthed a 'what.' When his eyes landed on Loki again he said, audibly, "What?"
Loki, in response, hissed like a feisty cat. And really, Mobius wasn't in the mood for any of this.
"You deal with him," Hunter B-15 said, already walking away. "I'm done."
Which left Mobius alone with, he turned to look at Casey, Casey who was patting him on the shoulder.
"What are you — hey!" Mobius called after, after Casey, too, was walking backward away. "Where're you going?"
"He's not my responsibility, alright?" Casey said, still walking backward away from him, from the two of them. Until... Mobius sighed, he looked back at Loki who, like a spoiled-rotten child who didn't get what he wanted, sat cross-legged on the floor with no indication whatsoever that he'd get up anytime soon.
With Casey and Hunter B-15 gone, it was just the two of them now. Mobius cursed under his breath.
Loki was looking at him, and if he tried to make himself intimidating, Mobius thought he reminded him more of a moody teenager than a murderous serial killer.
"Alright," Mobius said. "Play time's over. Up, come on,"
But Loki only stared at him with that face.
"Loki," Mobius scolded. "You can't just sit here,"
Loki rose his eyebrows almost defiantly, though he said no words.
And all Mobius thought was, 'why me?' Then he remembered just why; he stepped in when they were about to prune him. Right.
And why would he do that? Ravonna said he had a soft spot for broken things, whatever that meant. But right now the broken thing was being a pain in the ass.
"Loki," he said again, and didn't remember himself signing up for babysitting. "Get up."
Of course, Loki refused to obey. And Mobius' patience was running thin.
"What are you? What, is this some kind of a protest?"
Loki shifted a little, though he still wouldn't talk. He didn't have a problem barking when Hunter B-15 was here.
Mobius sighed then, running a hand down his face. "Don't" he said, "Don't give me the silent treatment. I don't have time for this, alright? Come on, up, let's go." He beckoned his hand.
Still nothing.
"Loki." Mobius' shoulders slumped as he dropped his arms by his side, looking back at the mischievous scamp. One week ago, when Loki hadn't come in his life just yet, everything was so easy. Mobius thought he missed that, especially now. "You can't be mad at me, or at anybody else, when you fell down the stairs yourself and had no one else to blame,"
He fell down the stairs, it took Mobius this long for it to start to register, and when it did, Mobius mentally facepalmed himself for not considering this was the reason why before. Why Loki wouldn't get up.
And when Mobius looked -- really looked -- his suspicious was kind of confirmed when he noticed the way Loki seemed to favour his right ankle
"Loki," when he next spoke the man's name, Mobius' voice was softer. "Can you get up?"
That seemed to get to Loki. The look on his face, Mobius thought he actually seemed offended for a moment, then Loki hissed, like a cat. "That is none of your business,"
Right, Mobius thought. So that answered the question just fine. No wonder why he's so moody.
Mobius walked a couple steps closer, and pretended not to notice the way Loki tried to smoothly shield his ankle without making it obvious. He then kneeled down in front of him, smiling softly. "It happens to the best of us. There's no shame in that,"
And it was like Loki had been waiting for someone to point that out, for someone to reassure they weren't going to mock him. "I think I sprained my ankle," he blurted out perhaps too fast, but Mobius really didn't mind.
"Okay," he nodded, still on his knees. "Do you mind if I take a look?"
Loki looked hesitated for a moment, until Mobius added with comforting voice, "It's just me, Loki. Come on, you know I'd never hurt you,"
Wow, Mobius thought, he really is a spooked cat.
Loki hesitated for a few more moments, then he eventually, slowly stretched out his leg towards Mobius.
"Okay," Mobius nodded, voice soft. Then he gently rolled up the hem of his pants to inspect the damage. Loki's ankle was red, swollen, and he hissed when Mobius touched it, although the touch was featherlight.
Mobius huffed out an air, and Loki broke the silence, "I've broken a bone, haven't I?"
"What?" Mobius lifted his gaze up to look at him now. "No, no, it's fine. Just a little swollen here, but nothing's broken." It was the truth. Loki did not break his bone, although if anything, Loki didn't seem fully convinced.
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
"It feels like it's broken,"
"And I'm telling you it's not," Mobius' hand was still on his ankle, resting carefully there, and if this was anyone — if it was anyone else getting this close to what Loki considered an injury.
Loki squirmed a little and murmured something under his breath that earned a soft chuckle from Mobius. He looked genuinely surprised when Mobius got back and his feet and was now offering him a hand.
"I don't need your help," Loki snapped, though his action proved otherwise when he took the other man's hand and let himself be pulled up, manhandled. His entire weight learned on Mobius which made quite a funny picture considering the fact Loki was the taller one.
Which, honestly, Mobius meant to only give Loki some support — his original plan was that Loki wrapped his arm around his shoulders and his own arm around Loki's waist — so he could take Loki somewhere where he could properly tend to his injury. Loki particularly jumping on his back the second he was upright, so Mobius was giving him a piggyback ride, was not in Mobius' plan. But it wasn't like Mobius could shake him off of his back and let his ass harshly drop on the floor.
So he was giving Loki a piggyback, with, due to their height differences, Loki's legs touching and dragging through the floor as Mobius walked what felt like the longest walk in his life.
And if people were watching, at least, Mobius was somewhat grateful no one asked anything.
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II.
"Be careful with that," Mobius said, warned. He'd been noticing Loki seemed to have a little bit too fun with the utility knife, which he got from Casey's desk. They didn't have those on Asgard, Mobius supposed, thus explained the excitement on Loki's face.
When his warning met with no response, Mobius sighed and took another sip of his coffee from where he seated behind his own desk, occasionally watching in distance as Loki played with the new toy he'd recently found; the box cutter.
(Although Loki said he was working, cutting open those boxes that, in fact, needed to be opened, so Mobius couldn't exactly accuse him of neglecting his job. It was a decent excuse, actually, Mobius had to give it to him. He still didn't like the way Loki got too reckless with the knife, though)
"I've been wielding knives my whole life," he had said. "It's my second nature, Mobius. To suggest that I don't know what I'm doing," and he had waved the box cutter carelessly around in front of his own face and Mobius' which caused Mobius to feel the need to take two steps backward. "Is an insult," Loki had finished with a sly smile then, already going back to cutting the boxes open in a manner that, to Mobius, seemed more like he was cutting open a person than a package.
He had agreed to leave Loki alone since then, even if he couldn't help glancing at the mischievous scamp and giving out warnings from time to time to make sure there wouldn't be any accident.
Mobius was signing away another paperwork when he heard the loud 'ouch!' and 'oh dear' coming from where Loki was. He put down the pen, remained where he was and sighed loudly, two fingers coming up to massage his temples as he took in a deep breath.
This is exactly what I thought would happen, Mobius thought, and mentally cursed himself for ever allowing Loki to get 'too comfortable' with that knife in the first place.
I've been wielding knives my whole life. It's my second nature, Mobius.
Well, Mobius supposed utility knife was different than Loki's daggers then.
"Loki," Mobius said, cutting Loki off since Loki had been repeating that 'oh dear' for at least sixteen times now.
"Loki," he said again as he got up on his feet and was walking toward Loki. Loki had his finger held up. He was bleeding.
Mobius sighed again. He would've yelled something about 'I told you', hadn't the look on Loki's face right now reminded him precisely of a hurt puppy, and damnit, Mobius had always had a soft spot for hurt puppies.
He crouched down, his gaze shifting back and forth between Loki's bleeding finger and his pale face. The cut was there, true, and it was bleeding, but he certainly didn't cut his finger off and certainly he wasn't going to need to amputate it in order for him to live. If there was the one thing that bother Mobius the most, it was probably be the way Loki reacted to it all.
"Haven't you cut yourself before?" Mobius asked. When he realised how that sounded he corrected himself, "I mean accidentally cut yourself. Everybody has."
"No," Loki murmured, voice small. He still wouldn't look at Mobius, his gaze glued to the cut on his finger and, dear lord, Mobius thought, he's a child. "I don't... I don't think I have,"
"How?" Mobius mouthed, but shook his head and took hold of Loki's wrist so he got a better look at the cut.
It was, like Mobius supposed, a normal cut. He was going to live a damn normal life (as normal as things could get here in the TVA) after Mobius put a bandage on it.
"Come on, up." Mobius said, half-dragged Loki on his feet before he got all those blood on some important files.
(Really, Mobius wouldn't want to explain to Ravonna how all the files were smeared with red)
Mobius took Loki to his desk, sitting him down and fumbling around in his drawer. He grabbed a bottle of water and a bandage, placing them on the desk, then pulled out a handkerchief out of the pocket of his jacket. Mobius twisted the cap of the bottle open and drenched the handkerchief in the water. "Hand," he said.
Loki looked, Mobius' free hand was already reaching out. He looked at that hand, up at Mobius' face, then back at the hand waiting for him to take again.
"Hand now, Loki, I don't have all day."
"How do I know you're not going to transmit whatever bacteria's on your hand to mine with such an open wound that I have --"
"Jeez, Loki, hand now, or do you want to bleed to death?" He wasn't going to bleed to death, not with a cut that tiny anyway, but a good old empty threat always worked wonder when dealing with a little shit like him, and Mobius knew that.
Loki murmured something under his breath before he eventually, reluctantly gave Mobius his bleeding finger. "Be careful with it," he said, and if he meant for it to be a threat then... Mobius held back a chuckle at how small and childlike Loki's voice sounded.
For someone who likes to stab people in the back, Mobius thought, you sure don't do well with blood.
He cleaned Loki's cut with the handkerchief. He was being gentle, but Loki acting like Mobius was cutting off his entire hand obviously made Mobius want to be a lot less gentle than he was now, just because Loki was deliberately being a little shit. He, in the end, put up with it and continued cleaning the cut with the same amount of extreme gentleness, like he totally did not hear Loki's scream and protest at all.
When he was done, Mobius wrapped a little bandage around the cut. It was green, because he knew Loki liked the colour. Then he gave him his finger back.
Loki inspected it, holding the finger close to his face. Literally like a child, and Mobius chuckled softly.
"Do you wanna go back and play with that knife?" He asked, although already knew what Loki's answer would be.
Loki looked at him. He looked like he was in thought, then he looked back at his bandaged finger. "Nope," he said, then looked at Mobius again. "Can I just... sit here?"
Mobius also saw this coming a mile away, and while he wasn't particularly a fan of working with Loki sitting literally two itches away from him, knowing it'd be a pain in the ass, Mobius thought he'd cut Loki some slack this time, since Loki was 'injured'
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III.
The TVA didn't give Loki an apartment of his own. That is ridiculous, Ravonna had said, when Mobius offered her the idea, which, of course, was Loki's, and she knew that, even if Mobius didn't tell her whose idea it was.
Give him his own unsupervised space, and the next thing we know, he'll be gone, was precisely what she had added. And to be honest, Mobius didn't exactly expect her to give it a green light when he first walked into her office, either. If anything, he was only here, talking to her, so that he could tell Loki, who was waiting outside the office, that he'd tried. Really, that was all.
The problem was that, it hadn't occurred to Mobius before that the TVA's refusing Loki's own, unsupervised space meant he would be the one supervising Loki in his own unsupervised space.
Or, they made them roommates.
Of course, Mobius thought, of fucking course. He didn't know what else he expected, that Loki be locked in a cell at night? He probably expected just that, but Mobius also knew he, himself, would obviously not let that happen, either.
Which left them being roommates the only choice available.
Which also led to further problem; Mobius only had one bed. That... that might just be the problem he had deal with. Of course, he only had one bed in his only bedroom. It was only just him before Loki, so why would Mobius bother himself with a spare bed?
There was, however, a couch. But Mobius should have known Loki, being a little shit that he was, would not sleep on a couch.
And Loki had absolute no regard for boundaries or personal space when it came to someone he was comfortable with. So Mobius wasn't sure if he could call it a blessing or a curse that Loki was comfortable being around him. After all, Mobius earned that himself by warming up to Loki and taking him in in the first place.
And sure, Mobius could always use the couch himself. But why would he have to do that, when the damn apartment was his.
"My back hurts," Loki said, breaking the silence, from where he lied right next to Mobius on their now shared bed, with no space between them whatsoever. "Like really, really hurts, it's killing me,"
"And why's that, Loki?" Mobius sounded tired. Tired and.... understandably done. He was lying on his back with Loki's legs tangled with his own, that was how close Loki was, which was... not weird at all.
"I suppose I've been sitting in the same position all day. Does that ever happen to you?" Loki glanced up at Mobius now. And while Mobius felt that, he kept his eyes glued to the ceiling because no, he wasn't going to make this any weirder for himself by glancing back at Loki when Loki already had his face buried in the crook of his neck.
"Sometimes," Mobius said instead, holding very still, fully aware that their lips would touch, if he were to only turn his head a little bit downward to the left.
"So...." Loki trailed off. God, he was blinking. Mobius felt his eyelashes on his jawline and it was tickling. Damnit. Damn Loki.
"So what, Loki?" He still kept his voice emotionless, but he wasn't stupid enough to hope that Loki would take the message and sleep, so he wouldn't have to deal with any of this any longer.
"I don't know," Loki yawned. "Do something about it?"
Mobius mentally rolled his eyes. No, when he decided to step in, when they were about to prune Loki and took Loki under his wings, Mobius did not expect any of this. But he eventually mouthed a fine, and propped up on his elbow.
"Face down, then." Mobius said and he could've sworn he saw Loki grin as the little shit moved to lie on his stomach with his forehead lying on his own arm.
The little shit, Mobius thought grumpily, but he was already starting to knead Loki's shoulder blade with skilled hand, working through his tense muscles with just the right pressure and earning a soft purr from Loki's lips.
And that purr. God, Mobius hated himself for unconsciously smiling the second he heard that damn purr.
At least, Loki couldn't see it, he told himself that — that his feeling so smitten, like a high school boy who has a crush on someone, was nothing, and continued giving Loki a back massage.
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IV.
Loki never did well with heat. Mobius, having studied the god's life, was fully aware of that. Although he couldn't help suspecting that this... whatever this was, was not completely sincere. Of course, Mobius knew what heat did to a Frost Giant, but it wasn't that hot in here, after the air conditioner in the TVA broke down for some reason, and the technician guy was repairing it.
What Mobius suspected was that Loki used the opportunity to make himself appear as ill as possible, so that he was given an excuse not to work, so that people — and by people, it was literally just Mobius — had to spoil him rotten because he wasn't well, and Mobius would make himself look like the biggest jerk, if he were to neglect poor Loki.
So yes, Mobius saw through Loki's bullshit. Though what was driving him insane was that he had no other choice but to play along, because there was no way to know for sure which part of Loki's symptom was real and which was an act.
"My head's killing me, Mobius." Loki said from where he lied on Mobius' bed after Mobius managed to get both himself and Loki a day off.
Why, Ravonna had asked this morning.
Because heatstroke can be fatal, Mobius had told her.
I know, but why do you need a day off too, when Loki's the one that's sick?
Because, well, he's most likely dead without me, and that was how Mobius earned both of them a day off. Although, technically speaking, it was Loki's day off when Mobius worked harder pleasing him than he did his actual TVA-related work.
"Does this feel good?" Mobius' voice was soft when he gently placed a cloth, soaked in cold water, on Loki's pale forehead.
Loki nodded, closing his eyes.
"Do you want something to eat?" He continued asking in soft voice.
"Don't mention food," Loki murmured, which Mobius whispered back a 'got it'
"Mobius," Loki reopened his eyes to look up at his caretaker, his voice small and hardly audible.
"Hmm?"
"Actually..." Loki hesitated for a moment, then, "A bath would be nice?"
Okay, Mobius thought, maybe this was an act to get under his skin, but maybe it wasn't. And if it wasn't and Mobius didn't listen then....
Fine, he replied in his head. "Alright," Mobius said aloud in the same soothing voice. "Alright, I'll run you a nice bath,"
"With lavender-scented candles?"
This little shit.
"With lavender-scented candles," he smiled.
And if Loki thought he was going to lean down to give him a forehead kiss or something when Loki was giving him those puppy dog eyes. No, no, nope, not gonna happen, Mobius told himself and he went to get Loki's bath ready, lavender-scented candles and all that.
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V.
"Loki!" Mobius shouted when he heard a bone crack.
It wasn't exactly a mission gone wrong. Actually, things went well according to their plan, even if Loki getting punched in the face by that dude, who was twice his size, wasn't part of the plan, the mission was still a success.
But for the love of god, Mobius just knew he wasn't going to hear the end of it, not after he had, prior to the mission, specifically assured Loki that everything would be fine.
But now Loki was walking back towards him and the team with a nasty black eye. It was, in fact, so nasty that Hunter B-15 had to scrunch up her face. Mobius would do the same, hadn't he known that such a reaction from him would only make things worse between himself and Loki.
He was right about his not being able to hear the end of it. Back in their shared room, Loki kept whining and moaning, saying that it was Mobius' fault.
"Can't you just heal yourself with your magic?" Mobius asked, holding an ice pack atop Loki's black eye.
"Do you have any idea how much energy it takes to cast a healing spell?" Loki snapped. "The thing is, Mobius, this shouldn't have happened in the first place, hadn't you dragged me to that stupid mission,"
No, Mobius said in his head, this shouldn't have happened in the first place, hadn't you unnecessary challenged that man for a fist fight. Just because he's a mortal and you're a god doesn't nullify the fact he's literally twice your size. The hell were you thinking?
No, Mobius didn't say any of that aloud, knowing things wouldn't be pretty, if he did. Instead he simply held the ice pack for Loki, hushing him every time he whined like a literal kid.
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The one time Loki didn't whine about his injury.
Mobius remembered celebrating with the team about another mission gone well. He remembered thinking it was odd, how Loki immediately excused himself to go back to his room when, having believed he knew Loki well enough, he'd have thought Loki wouldn't want to miss a celebration for something he helped achieve the goals.
But maybe Loki was just tired. He also remembered Loki looking too pale for his liking after they got back to the TVA, before the god quietly excused himself, though Mobius supposed that was what happened after one spent a good forty minutes fighting an army.
So if Loki wanted to sleep the night off, Mobius would let him. He earned the rest, at least.
Mobius had two more drinks with Hunter B-15 before calling the night off. After all, he was tired, too. He'd meant to keep quiet when he returned to his and Loki's shared room, so he wouldn't wake him up.
He was surprised... confused when he closed the door behind and saw that the bed was empty.
"Loki?" He called, looking around in the dark before deciding to turn on the light. Loki was nowhere to be found.
For a moment Mobius thought, panic started to raise its head somewhere in his chest, no, if Loki had escaped...
His eyes then landed on the bathroom, the door was open ajar, and there was light coming out of it.
"Loki?" He called again. Silence being the only answer he received.
"Loki, everything alright?" He furrowed his brows now, already walking towards the door. If the panic in his chest had previously been because he thought Loki might have escaped, the panic in his chest now was stronger, uglier, as the thought of something happened to Loki crept down his spine.
"Loki?" Mobius knocked three times. "Loki, are you in there?" He knocked again when Loki wouldn't answer him.
Fuck.
"Loki, I'm gonna come in there, if you don't tell me you're okay."
Still no response.
Mobius cursed under his breath and pushed the door open as fast as he could.
His eyes landed on the bathtub. "Loki!" He shouted, terrified, because Loki was lying in there. The tub itself was drained of water, but it was the bleeding from his abdomen that froze Mobius on the spot. And when he could think, when his brain could process what was happening, when he could finally react, Mobius rushed to where Loki was.
He was unconscious -- or dead, no, no, he can't be dead -- and he was bleeding, his shirt soaked in red. The porcelain-enamelled steel he was lying on, stained with red.
If Mobius thought he was too pale before, Loki was definitely as pale as a ghost now.
"Loki!" Mobius shook him, at the same time already pulling him out of the tub. "Oh god, what happened. Loki, wake up! What happened?"
Then it hit, it must have been from the mission. He'd noticed Loki acting... strange, not as talkative as he normally was. How pale he'd been, how he'd quickly excused himself when they invited him to join the party. One of the Variants must have hurt him then, and he had hidden away his injuries.
If Mobius hadn't found him, if he decided to spend the entire night drinking with the team. He shook all of that terrifying thoughts away. All that mattered was that he was here now, with Loki cradling in his arms, on his lap, on the floor as he tried to wake him, calling his name and frantically shaking his shoulders.
He was about to check for the bleeding, to check for Loki's pulse when Loki started moaning, shifting in Mobius' embrace.
"Loki?" Mobius' eyes found his face. Loki was waking up, and he might never remembered being this relieved.
"Moby..." Loki said, or more like whispered. His eyes were still closed, but he was talking, which was a good sign.
He started blinking then, unfocused eyes staring up at the ceiling before it found Mobius' face.
"God, Loki, you scared the shit out of me," Mobius huffed out a chuckle. Though he knew they weren't out of the woods, his hand went to Loki's wound, to stop the bleeding when Loki's hand stopped his.
"It's fine," Loki said, voice hoarse. "I'm fine, Mobius."
"Loki, you are not fine. You... you were stabbed," Mobius tried his best to rid his voice of any panic, any fear, after he lifted up Loki's shirt and saw a deep gash across his torso. "We need to -- I need to get you to the healers,"
"Mobius," Loki gripped his arm now. "It's fine. I'm not bleeding anymore. My," he gulped, so obviously speaking hurt. "My magic will heal. Just... just need some time,"
Mobius looked at the cut again. The bleeding did stop, but it was still fresh and red and... and Mobius didn't like that. He didn't like this at all.
"Loki," he said, and if there was a crack in his voice, he didn't even bother to try to hide them. "Why didn't you tell me? Why?"
"Didn't want to... upset you," Loki said, still cradled against Mobius' chest, in Mobius' arms.
"You didn't want to..." Mobius nearly choked. "Loki, I'm upset. I am upset that you could've died, and you chose to hide away your wound then... then come to me," the last sentence was barely a whisper. "Is this about trust?" He added, and Loki had to avert his eyes when the pain in Mobius' voice made it difficult for him to breath. "You don't want me near you when you're hurt? Or is it about pride? Because I've studied you, Loki. I thought I knew you,"
"It's not about trust," Loki said. "And it's not about pride either," he looked back at Mobius now, so their eyes locked.
Loki chuckled, though it sounded painfully weak Mobius almost grimaced. "You're the only one I trust," he said. "And I never care about pride, about... being weak in front of you. I know I don't have to. I only... I only wish not to upset or... or scare you, because I know you care. That's why,"
It was Mobius' turn to look away, and when he look back to meet Loki's eyes second later there was something in Mobius' eyes; emotions, raw and profound. Then he blinked, chuckled. "That still doesn't explain why you slept in the bathtub, Lokes,"
"Didn't want to... get blood all over your bed," Loki said.
There was a moment of silence from Mobius' side. "Just when I thought I knew you," he said, though his voice was soft and comforting, "You kept surprising me, you mischievous scamp,"
Loki smiled, "I guess I'm full of surprises,"
"Indeed you are. Come on, let's get you up," Mobius was picking him up, carrying him in his arms when Loki protested, "No doctors," he said, "I'll heal. I told you I just need time,"
"I know,"
"Then where are you --"
"I'm taking you to bed," Mobius cut him off, already carrying him bridal-style.
"I don't want --"
"I don't care, if you got your blood on my bed, Loki. I'm not letting you sleep in the damn bathtub, and that's final. Do not argue with me on this,"
Loki thankfully shut his mouth now, and let Mobius carry him. It was... awkward, considering Loki being taller, but at least they made it to bed, and Mobius gently placed him down on the soft mattress.
"Stay here," he said.
"Not like I could go anywhere," Loki replied.
Mobius smiled at him, then disappeared into the bathroom where they just were. When he returned half a minute later, there was fist aid kid tucked in his arm. He dropped them by the bedside table before started properly tending to Loki's cut.
Loki trusted him enough to let him do that.
Once or twice, Mobius asked himself why he didn't just do nothing and let Ravonna prune Loki to dust when the self-proclaimed god first set foot in the TVA, considering the fact Loki had been doing everything in his power to make Mobius' life a living hell ever since Mobius let him in his life.
Mobius thought he knew the answer to that question now; why he stepped in and let Loki into his life.
Because Loki was his. A mischievous scamp who caused nothing but trouble, yes, but he was his mischievous scamp.
And Mobius wouldn't let anyone take him away.
Not now. Not ever.