Chapter Text
“You’d think, in a city this big, there would be other dating options than your co-workers.” Ravonna says sarcastically, making Bee chuckle and Mobius looks up from his lunch to glance at the couple that has just walked through the door and that prompted that comment from Ravonna. He shakes his head, a small smile on his lips. “They make a cute couple,” he says with a shrug, watching the pair. They really do: Sharon Carter and Steve Rogers are both young, pretty and talented, a perfectly well matched pair.
Ravonna makes a face. “Well, perhaps. But we all know Rogers will be back with Barnes before the end of the month and so why waste your time with someone who’s clearly smitten with somebody else?”
“Oh, you’re telling me you’d pass the chance to date Rogers, even for a little while?” Mobius says, which makes Ravonna blush and Bee laughs some more. “Carter seems smart. She probably knows what she’s getting into.”
“And there might be… other reasons,” Bee says, voice low, conspiratorial and Mobius rolls his eyes. Of course she’ll bait their boss like that.
“Oh, please no,” Ravonna says dramatically. “No more corporate espionage.” She sighs, looking heavenward a little theatrically. “Does Potts never run a background check on the people she hires? You’d think she’d have learned after the mess with Romanov.”
“But that ended up working in everyone's favour,” Mobius feels obliged to point out. “With her now being the new Head of Security and all that.”
“Besides, Stark hires whoever he wants to hire,” Bee adds. “Background checks be damned.”
Ravonna makes a face once more. “Yes and that’s why I’m always dealing with leaks,” she says, annoyed. “I should probably go and threaten Rogers a little. Make sure he knows what’s in store for him if he babbles something he shouldn’t to his lovely new friend.” As if on cue, Sharon Carter laughs a little too loud, making them look in her direction once more, watching as she bats her eyelashes coquettishly at Rogers and Ravonna huffs. “ Men, ” she whispers frustratedly, glaring at the pair.
“Ah, to be young and in love,” Mobius says, mostly to goad his boss a little more. Ravonna turns to glare at him and he smiles innocently at her while Bee laughs some more.
“Oh-oh,” Bee stops laughing suddenly, but her eyes shine with mirth as she watches the cafeteria’s doors open and a new pair walk in. “You want to worry about corporate espionage, worry about that,” she says and Ravonna turns to look at the newcomers, her expression turning even more sour.
“ Asgard, ” she spits out venomously. “What is he doing here?”
“Visiting Banner, apparently,” Mobius says. “It seems it’s getting serious.”
Ravonna snorts. “Oh, sure. Just like the younger Asgard and Stark were getting serious. Next thing we’ll know, Thor will be getting his hands on some highly classified documents-- or worse, he’ll stole Banner away to Asgard Industries and--”
Mobius shrugs. “That doesn’t sound like the golden prince, really,” he argues, his attention back to his half eaten salad.
“Oh, yes, I forgot I was talking to the Asgard family expert,” Ravonna says with a roll of her eyes. “I’ve never understood that obsession of yours.” She pauses, considering. “Is that how you know about the serious bit? From tabloids’ articles?”
Mobius doesn’t dignify that with an answer. Fun as tabloids can be, he knows they’re not reliable sources and besides, he doesn’t have a weird obsession with the Asgard family, just with one of their members. It’s a little inevitable to learn about the others by sheer proximity, though. “It’s not like it matters,” he points out. “The merge is more or less a fact by now.”
“Because Asgard Industries is facing bankruptcy,” Ravonna shoots back. “But if--”
Ravonna’s mobile phone starts ringing right then and Mobius must admit he’s a little thankful for it. He doesn’t fancy continuing this argument: his boss is a little paranoid when it comes to corporate espionage. Not that he can blame her exactly, given Stark Industries’ history with that problem, but--
Ravonna is frowning, so whatever the matter, is probably serious. She waves him goodbye and gestures for Bee to follow her, picking up her lunch tray and heading for the exit. Bee follows, throwing a small smile in Mobius' direction and the man happily returns to eating his salad, deciding to push all thoughts about corporate espionage out of his mind.
He does spare one glance in Thor Asgard’s direction, though, taking in his broad figure and handsome face. Even this far, he can tell he’s as stupidly attractive as the tabloids like to gush about, but in Mobius’ opinion he has nothing on his younger brother.
But of course thinking of Loki Asgard makes him think of that pretty little mess he created a couple of years ago, when he stole a few super classified files right from under Tony Stark’s nose (under the clever ruse of dating him , of all things). As Mobius understands it, it was mostly done for giggles and so it didn’t end up in a big financial mess, but well-- Stark has not forgotten and neither has his personnel.
To be fair on Stark, rumor has it, Loki can be quite distracting. And considering the length of their romance, it probably could have been worse.
He should have seen it coming, Ravonna had told him one night, when she was busy dealing with the aftermath of that leak and Mobius had been trying to be a supportive friend, helping where he could, knowing she was way over her head, even if the aftermath of such things wasn't really his area of expertise. What was Stark thinking, that he had managed to tame a serial seducer with his pretty face and even prettier words?
He probably had thought that, Mobius would have said, but he knew it was a rhetorical question and answering would have only succeeded in annoying Ravonna further. Loki might be a serial seducer as she put it, but Tony Stark wasn’t that much better, not then anyway. Then Pepper Potts had come along and had proved that playboys could be reformed, but of course that’s a different story.
Now, to be fair on Loki, while he does have a reputation for seducing-- well, everyone, really-- it’s mostly done to get something out of them. The seducing bit is often a small part of a much larger ploy and so yes, Stark probably should have seen it coming.
He looks in Thor Asgard’s direction once more, watching as he leans close to Banner, an arm around his shoulders, whispering something against his ear. Mobius wouldn’t claim to be an expert in romance, or body language for that matter, but he does believe the Asgard heir looks honest.
So there’s probably nothing to worry about.
Ravonna is just a little paranoid.
Mobius feels pretty ambivalent about his work: he likes it well enough, he supposes, even if it’s not exactly thrilling and it’s far from what he ever envisioned for himself. He spends a lot of time running tests on the company’s systems, making sure they’re as secure as they can be and he’s always coming up with new ideas and solutions, which has guaranteed they haven’t had an actual security breach in years (that was not prompted by someone saying something they shouldn’t have to someone else). It’s a good job, that pays well and that gives him more than enough time to pursue other interests and hobbies.
Whatever Ravonna might say, his little… interest in the Asgard family is not weird. Who in this city is not a tiny bit curious about the lives of the many heirs and heiresses of the biggest companies in the country? And so what if Mobius enjoys following a particular heir‘s career (and to an extent, personal life) a little more closely?
He might be a little old for celebrity crushes, or so Ravonna is always telling him, but it’s not quite a crush. It started as such, of course, but his interest has grown and matured ever since. And sure, once his only interest in Loki Asgard was his impossible good looks, but like a true fan, doing his research has helped him get to know the man a little better and now he’s completely fascinated with his whole being.
Besides, it seems like Loki Asgard has made his life effort to be as interesting as possible. He’s always doing something new, changing career paths like nobody's business, getting into all sorts of trouble because of his absolute disregard for rules and his inability to stay still. People seem to think he’s the perfect opposite of his serious and formal older brother, but if people actually cared to look, they’d see that while Loki has built a reputation as a mischievous scamp, Thor is never far behind when his younger brother runs into trouble.
But of course, that’s how reputation works: once you’ve built one, it really doesn’t matter what you do, your reputation precedes you. So Thor will forever be the golden child of Asgard and his brother will always be the troublesome rascal that can’t be trusted.
It’s a bit unfair, in Mobius’ opinion. Not that anyone asked, of course.
He shakes his head, turning his attention back to the code he’s writing. His mind wanders off often when he’s working; there are parts of the job that are so basic he could do them in his sleep. He can’t help going back to thinking about today’s lunch, about Thor Asgard’s presence and Ravonna’s paranoia. The merge between Stark Industries and Asgard is pretty much a fact, so he doesn’t actually think there are any reasons to be concerned, but--
“Mobius.” Ravonna’s voice breaks him out of his reverie and he turns to offer his boss a perfunctory smile. He didn’t hear her approaching, which is a true testament of how distracted he was.
“Hey Ravonna, what--?” he starts, but then he notices she’s not alone. He smiles at the man behind her, trying his damn best not to look half as nervous as he feels. “Mr. Asgard.”
“Oh, please, call me Thor,” the man says, shaking his hand firmly. “Pleasure to meet you.”
Up close, he’s much taller than Mobius previously thought. Broader too, his bulk takes most of the small corridor leading to his cubicle. And much more handsome too, if he’s being honest.
Damn it, he should say something, shouldn’t he? “The pleasure is mine,” he greets, throwing a panicked look in his boss’ direction. Just what is this about?
“And this is my brother, Loki” Thor continues with the introductions, unfazed by Mobius awkwardness, letting go of his hand and pulling said brother from behind him. The younger man doesn’t look too pleased to be here, looking around with a highly displeased expression.
Oh god, oh god, oh god. Great. He’s finally meeting his celebrity crush and he can not form one coherent thought. Great, just great. “How do you do?” he says, offering his hand for the other man to shake although that's probably a terrible idea. He can barely process the fact that he’s meeting Loki Asgard, how could he ever hope to handle actual physical contact?
Luckily for him, Loki doesn’t shake his hand, or at least not right away. He nods politely and then Thor hisses “ Brother” quietly, eyes fixed on the younger man, a pleading look on his face and Loki sighs dramatically, shaking Mobius' hand very briefly. Mobius would feel a little offended, if he could process literally anything right now.
“As I said to you, Mr. Asgard,” Ravonna breaks the tense silence, before Mobius can do or say anything to embarrass himself. “Mobius here is my best analyst. He’ll be a fine mentor for your brother.” She doesn’t look too pleased and Mobius frowns, trying to process the words. What the hell is happening here?
“And I thank you for your kind help, Ms. Renslayer,” Thor says, tone earnest. Loki rolls his eyes behind him and it occurs to Mobius it’s not polite to be staring this intently, but damn, how can he not?
“I’m sorry, I’m not following,” Mobius says, turning to look at his boss, figuring he should be paying attention to the going ons rather than to his ridiculous crush . Ravonna rolls her eyes, but there’s a glint of amusement there.
“It seems the merge has happened a little earlier than we anticipated,” Ravonna announces. “As part of the merging deal, Odin Asgard has asked for his older son to be on Stark Industries’ board and for an… internship for his younger son, so he might learn a bit of the business. Hence this.”
This. “What’s this, exactly?”
“As you may know, my brother has a... knack for security systems,” Thor says, tone a little proud, prouder than what’s probably appropriate considering his brother’s knack resulted in him acquiring several national security secrets a couple of months ago and causing more than a bit of chaos. Loki does preen a little though, evidently pleased and Mobius can’t help the fond smile that comes unbidden to his lips. “Ms. Renslayer thinks his talents could be put to good use under your wing.”
“Mobius has my total confidence,” Ravonna says, smiling sharp as a knife. “I also have total faith in his ability to keep your brother in line.”
It’s a little rude to be speaking about Loki like he’s not even there, but he doesn’t look offended. Thor is watching Mobius closely, as if trying to read into his very soul and Mobius hurries to offer him a confident smile. He’s not so sure about that, to be honest, but it’ll probably be rude to say anything.
Besides, he’s not about to pass off the chance to actually get to know Loki Asgard.
“Alright,” Thor says, patting his brother’s back, a wide grin on his face “I leave you in good hands, brother.”
“We’ll see,” Loki replies, tone flat, expression guarded. Mobius offers him a smile too, all the while praying he’s not blushing like a schoolboy faced with their crush for the first time.
“Very well, we’ll leave you to get settled,” Ravonna says, with an expression that suggests Mobius will be a very dead man if something (whatever that might be) happens. “If you follow me, Mr. Asgard, I’ll take you to Mr. Stark's office now.”
And with that, she and Thor are gone, leaving Mobius with a clearly unhappy Loki.
“So…” he begins, hesitant, unsure of how to begin. “I’m guessing you’re not thrilled about this?” he says, feeling awkward.
Loki huffs. “Understatement of the century,” he says, dropping himself unceremoniously on the chair in front of Mobius’ desk. “Is Mobius your first or last name?” he asks, glancing at the small name plate on top of said desk.
“Both,” he replies and the other man arches his eyebrows. “My mom fancied herself a very funny woman,” he explains with a smile. There’s some tension in the room and it’s clear Loki doesn’t want to be here, but he’s not openly hostile and that has to count for something, right?
“Oh, yes, very funny,” Loki snorts, leaning back on his seat. “Mobius Mobius. Is that even allowed?”
Mobius shrugs. “It’s Mobius M. Mobius, actually.”
Loki snorts once again. “Does the middle M stands for Mobius too?”
“It’s just an M,” Mobius replies, smiling some more, feeling the tension easing a little. His companion actually chuckles at this and Mobius is willing to count that as a win.
Working with Loki is probably going to be a bit weird.
But hopefully, it’ll turn out okay.