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“I’m really sorry, I should have seen this coming.” Mobius placed his hand gently against Loki’s chest, halting Loki’s attempt to press up against him.
“You’re sorry?” Loki responded, frozen in confusion and preemptively guarded, bracing himself for the clear rejection that was to follow.
“Yeah,” Mobius clarified, “with your whole sugar daddy thing. I should’ve realized you might try this.” His hand moved to Loki’s shoulder to keep him still as Loki started to pull back. Mobius’s body language was still relaxed and open, unphased.
“My what? What do you mean by my ‘sugar daddy thing’?”
“I just mean you like older men that can take care of you, but I think in your case the sugar is power more than just money.” Mobius searched Loki’s face to make sure no offense was taken. “You saw your folder; you read about the Grandmaster. He’s one of the Elders of the Universe and you can’t get much more powerful than that! And you were there for the various tutors and statesmen of Asgard.”
Loki was silent and he felt exposed. He quickly tried to cover his discomfort and embarrassment by standing up taller and sneering down at Mobius.
“Hey, hey, don’t do that,” Mobius soothed, gently squeezing Loki’s shoulder, “I didn’t mean any judgement, I just wanted to make sure you knew I can’t actually give you that lifestyle. I might be your supervisor here but I’m just a middle man. I don’t want you realizing I’m unimportant and thinking you wasted your time, and honestly I deserve better than that! So if it is power you’re looking for, I would rather just let you know upfront that I’m not what you’re looking for.”
Anger deflating, Loki considered Mobius. He was a calm and gentle man, confident without bravado. He thought about his motives for trying to kiss him and smiled in relief at what he found.
“It wasn’t for power. I wanted to kiss you because I just like you. I like that you seem to care. Not just about me, but that is really important. You actually care about this ridiculous timeline and your absurd job and this petty world, and it makes me care a bit about it, too. It makes me want to care more about it. I even like your silly mustache.”
Mobius smiled. His thumb rubbed light soothing circles on Loki’s shoulder, no longer holding him still, just resting there. “That’s good, that’s really good. I’m so proud of you, Loki.”
At that, Loki surged forward and kissed Mobius roughly, which Mobius slowed to a more casual pace. He gently ended the kiss and pulled back to look at Loki.
“I think I had it wrong. You don’t want a sugar daddy, you want praise from an older man. We should work on your daddy issues.” He kissed Loki again sweetly to calm his outrage at that statement.
“I’ll have you know my father issues are load bearing. You cannot remove them and have me remain; they are baked into my foundation. Though you might be right, I choose to believe I like you for who you are and I am not just seeking approval.”
“I like that, that’s a good answer. And hey, if I happen to praise you a lot, just know it is because I really do think you’re great and you’re making great progress. I don’t think you were told enough but you deserve to be.”
Trying to fight down a smile, Loki leaned back in for another kiss. Yes, this could work out quite nicely.