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It started with a case they were working on, a normal case, nothing too complicated. It would've been another tedious task they forgot about within the next twenty-four hours, hadn't it been for Loki's eyes catching something in Mobius's hand. An evidence from the crime scene, which would've been ordinary. Until Loki shot the question.
"What's that?" He asked, intrigued.
"This?" Mobius looked at him, a hint of knowing smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. "Is what we call candy,"
"Candy?" Loki tested the word on his tongue. He knew what a candy was, surely, because Mobius remembered, when they'd just started whatever this was that was the relationship between them, asking if there was candy on Asgard. And Loki had said, 'of course, grapes, nuts,' and Mobius had left it at that. Not without a 'no wonder why you're so bitter,' but that was it. The conversation about candies had never made a comeback again. Until now.
Until now that Mobius was holding one in his hand, one that appeared to be an evidence in the crime scene, by the victim's bed (but the 'evidence' itself was clean of any blood or other body fluid) and it happened to be different from the candies Loki knew.
Back in Asgard, there wasn't any candy like this. Back in Asgard, candies came in the forms of grapes and nuts. The candy in Mobius's hand, however, came in an oddly plastic-wrapped form, and the plastic was colorful, part of it was transparent, allowing Loki to see its content; candy. They were colorful, too. He saw red, green, blue, yellow and white, and they were all shaped like these tiny little...
"Gummy Bears," Mobius cut of his train of thought.
"Beg pardon?" Loki's eyes shifted up towards Mobius. It wasn't until now that he realized he'd been staring at the bag of Gummy Bear in Mobius's hand.
"These are Gummy Bears, to be more precise,"
Loki made a face that looked to Mobius like a confused puppy, and if Mobius thought it was adorable, he kept the thoughts only to himself as Loki cautiously took the item from Mobius's hand. Mobius let him, because the case was simple enough that it wouldn't affect anything at all, if a curious little pussycat were to mess with one item, from the scene, that really, was hardly an evidence at all. For all Mobius cared, it could've gotten lost or been thrown away, and it still wouldn't make any difference.
That still didn't mean Mobius excepted Loki to rip open to package and threw one in his mouth. Mobius opened his mouth then, about to protest but that was too late. "Damnit, Loki," he hissed, but he supposed it was... not a big deal. (He just had to try not to think too much that Loki was eating an evidence. It was... hardly anything at all)
Loki chewed as Mobius studied his face. He picked another bear, this one was green, meaning it was an apple flavor, and ate it.
"Well..." Mobius trailed off. He tried to predict what went on in Loki's head. He normally was able to read Loki, but not this time.
"It's... good," Loki said, nodding slightly to himself.
"Yeah?"
"It's good," he repeated, and Mobius tried to read what might've been lurking behind his eyes, the way they lit up and the way he chewed faster.
Gummy Bears were nothing like grapes or nuts, obviously. So maybe Loki... Mobius studied his face. Hard. But so far he seemed pretty intact.
Maybe Loki's first time eating actual candy wasn't going to lead to anything messy, Mobius thought, hoped.
If he only knew how wrong he was.
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Mobius frowned when he met with emptiness after drawing the cabinet in his cubicle open. He was certain he'd stored a couple packs of KitKat there. No, Mobius didn't really have a sweet tooth, but he, from time to time, could use some sweets to distract his mind when the day got too long. He thought, trying to recall if he simply failed to remember his having eaten them before, but really, he placed them right here and never opened the cabinet again until now. The KitKat was mysteriously gone. And no one even came near his cubicle.
Actually, no one but Loki.
No, Loki wouldn't. He didn't even know KitKat, so to think that he would rifle through Mobius's stuff when Mobius was away just for some candy he never even ate before, and therefore he couldn't have known if it was edible at all. That Loki, out of all people, would lower his guard, his high security and severe trust issues like this, just for some candy.
Loki didn't know KitKat, but he did know Gummy Bears, knew how real candy tasted like.
(Mobius still remembered how his eyes lit up, like a kid at a candy shop)
It wasn't like Mobius could start throwing out accusations. He sighed and leaned back against his armchair, thinking. Maybe it was Casey, except Mobius didn't think it was Casey or anybody else but his own variant pet. The mischievous scamp.
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Mobius was minding his own business, typing away on his computer in the cubicle when a familiar voice grabbed his attention.
".... That's bullshit," B-15 sounded frustrated. "You're telling me they all went out on a walk by themselves or something?"
Then another minuteman's voice trying to cool her down. Poor guy wasn't doing a very good job at that, though. Mobius rubbed his eyes, he didn't want to interject, whatever it was that was going on. But someone had to, someone who could talk to her without being yelled at.
He left his desk and approached the scene. "Hey," said the analyst. His presence earned an eyes-roll from his Hunter friend, while the poor minuteman looked like he wanted so badly to excuse himself now. "What's the matter?"
B-15 shoved a bucket of sorts at Mobius, and when Mobius leaned in to look inside, it was empty. He knew that bucket. Miss Minutes always left Hershey Bars in it, so anybody could take one whenever they felt the need for a snack break.
The bucket already being empty when it was only ten o'clock was... indeed, unusual. Especially when it usually went a couple days in a row without needing a refill. So this could only mean one thing.
"We've got a thief among us, Mobius." B-15 said.
"A... thief," Mobius was still processing the informations in his head. It was an unspoken rule, he knew that, because they shared. The maximum was two per person, and that would still leave a handful of candy in the bucket at the end of the day.
"A Hershey thief," Casey chimed in, looking just as frustrated.
"Any suspect in mind?" B-15 still kept her gaze glued to Mobius. She didn't suspect him, Mobius knew that, he also knew who the main suspect in her eyes was. Because Mobius, even if he wouldn't voice it aloud, suspected the same individual as well.
He shrugged instead. "There're hell loads of variants doing task forces around here. Maybe one of them got, I don't know, hungry?"
B-15 chuckled, it sounded murderous. "I think I know just the variant, Mobius,"
Then she excused herself, purposefully bumping into Mobius's shoulder to make sure he got her message across, and Mobius had an urge to sigh, the bucket still in his hold.
He did, however, sigh when Casey leaned in to get a better look at the emptiness inside the bucket and asked if he knew who the specific variant B-15 talked about was.
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Mobius wanted to have a solid proof, a valid evidence, before confronting Loki. He never voiced his suspicion about the Trickster God being the culprit to anyone, even B-15 who seemed to have targeted Loki as the main suspect too, after the mystery of the disappearance of the TVA's sweets had been going on for nearly a week now.
He placed a bag of M&M's on his desk, purposefully at the spot where it was easy to be seen, and hid behind the corner. The cubicles around his were currently unoccupied, because it was twelve o'clock, and twelve o'clock meant lunch break. The entire area was supposed to be empty, and it was, save for Mobius.
(And part of him liked this, it gave him thrills. It reminded him of being on a stakeout. Mobius hadn't done that in a while now)
Mobius made himself comfortable (but also alerted) at his hiding spot, waiting, observing. He could be patient. He was patient.
Forty minutes passed and he couldn't help checking his watch for the third time. The lunch break would be over soon, and the M&M's on his desk remained exactly where it was. Mobius sighed. Maybe this was a waste of time. Maybe he missed his salad for nothing at all.
He was about to give up and leave his hiding spot when he caught something by the corner of his eye. A shadowy figure sneaking around. Loki rounded the other corner, and Mobius held his breath, eyes trained on the variant god's every move.
Loki looked left and right, like he expected someone to jump out of the shadow and attacked. He was being careful. Interesting.
Mobius watched from safe distance, making sure Loki couldn't see him here. Loki was heading towards his cubicle. He had his eyes on the M&M's, that Mobius could tell.
Loki watched the bag curiously, cautiously. He hadn't had M&M's before, but he must've known it was a type of candy, too, with the colorful packaging and all that. Mobius watched him rip open the bag, give it a little sniff. Loki then looked left and right again, making sure all the hunters, minutemen and analysts — especially Mobius — still hadn't returned from the cafeteria. The place remained just as silent, as empty. The god, the candy thief, picked up a piece of the chocolate, a brown one, sniffed at it again and put it in his mouth. Mobius narrowed his eyes.
Then something in Loki's eyes twisted before he tilted his head backwards and held the bag at his lips.
Mobius could've sworn he'd never seen someone eat so fast.
That mischievous scamp.
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Mobius knew Loki knew that he knew something. Something about the atmosphere in the room, in their shared apartment, was different. The silence wasn't actually comforting like it normally was, and he was tense. His shoulders were rigid and he'd been avoiding looking Mobius in the eye. And it was almost too amusing for Mobius, seeing Loki like this, like a child who'd just misbehaved and knew he was in deep trouble.
"You know," Mobius trailed off, breaking the silence, and nearly chuckled when Loki flinched. "I talked to C-20 today. She said she believed someone stole her cupcake."
Loki remained where he was, standing by the window with his back facing Mobius, and Mobius had to hold back a chuckle. Loki could be... too easy to read sometimes.
"Said she left it on her desk, and when she came back from her trip to the archives, it was gone,"
Loki was still silent. He didn't turn around to look at Mobius, which was... funny. Mobius approached him now, until he was standing right behind Loki. "Do you know what I think?" He said, and smiled when he noticed goosebumps all over Loki's skin.
Mobius leaned in, whispering in Loki's ear. "I think there's a candy thief among us,"
Loki gulped. He was very still when Mobius slowly spun him around until they were face to face. And sure, Loki was taller. He never looked so small like he did now, and Mobius thought, he liked this; not Loki being a sugar addict and giving everybody headache but Loki being... timid. At this point Mobius was sure he knew what Mobius knew, and he couldn't talk his way out of it like he used to. It was... amusing.
"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" Mobius teased.
"I... don't know what you're talking about," Loki was trying. it was obvious he was trying not to stutter and to look intimidating, and it was adorable, how miserably he failed. Mobius almost felt bad for him.
He hummed instead, the sound from his throat seemed to have an effect on Loki. Mobius thought he adored the way Loki looked like he wanted to run. He was cornered, Mobius's own body pressed against his, his back against the window.
He leaned in and Loki's breath hitched. Mobius's face barely an inch away from the mischievous scamp's, his own breath landed on Loki's lips, and Loki looked like he was about to lean in and close the tiny spaces between their mouths.
Cute, Mobius thought. How Loki believed he could kiss his way out of this.
(And Mobius wanted to, he'd always liked the kisses they shared. Now, though, just not the time)
The tip of his finger, touched the corner of Loki's lips, caught the god off guard. Mobius wiped something off of his mouth then, before he brought the finger to his own mouth and licked it clean, tasting the taste of it on his tongue.
"Syrup," he said with a smirk, and just like that, Loki fucking broke.
"I didn't mean to!" His voice sounded like it simply flooded out of his throat. "I didn't mean to, alright? I just... she left it there, it was just there on her desk and I thought... I thought,"
Mobius chuckled and Loki's cheeks turned red.
"I couldn't help it!" Now he sounded like a child, which was ridiculously adorable.
"I know,"
"You can't blame me for something I couldn't control!"
"I'm not blaming ya, kiddo,"
"But you..." Now Loki just looked confused. "You're not mad?"
"I mean, the entire TVA is mad. You ate everybody's candy like a mischievous scamp that you are. But me? Yeah, sure, I was. I was mad, you ate my KitKat and my M&M's, and you had the nerve to act oh-so innocent with those eyes, but I wish you could see the look on your face right now."
Loki gave him a puppy dog eyes, it was driving Mobius insane but he wasn't about to give in now.
He chuckled some more, then sighed, though the smile never left his face. "I don't know if I should be mad at you, for all the damn troubles you caused, or if I should kiss you real hard on the lips,"
"Well..." Loki trailed off, "I'd personally prefer the latter,"
"Sure you would,"
Loki leaned in when Mobius, for the second time, interrupted him with a hand holding up between them, between his fingers held a bag of Gummy Bear, and Loki froze.
"How about a deal?" He said, though Loki's eyes glued to the sweets in Mobius's hand. He gulped, eyes lit up, tongue darting out to wet his lips, and Mobius doubted he was even aware of himself doing that.
"Behave, and you can have this at the end of the day, every day, can you do that?"
"I --"
"No more stealing other people's candy, can you do that?"
"But --"
"Or no Gummy Bears,"
Loki was at a loss for words, his eyes kept switching back and forth between Mobius and the Gummy Bears. Then his shoulders slumped in defeat. "Fine," he said.
"I can't hear you, sweetheart,"
"I said fine," Loki repeated, louder, clearer.
"Fine what?"
"Fine, I won't steal your precious friends' candy anymore,"
Mobius smirked and handed Loki the Gummy Bears. "It's a deal then,"
"You know," he added, as Loki ripped the bag open. "You were... quite a pain in the ass,"
"It's kind of your fault though," Loki said with a mouth full of the fruit gum candies. "You shouldn't have let me taste it in the first place,"
"Way to shift the blame," Mobius smirked slightly, watching Loki enjoy his so-called little reward, for the agreement they'd just made.
He had a feeling he was going to have quite a headache controlling and making sure Loki didn't consume too much sugar that it effected his health, and he had a feeling Loki wasn't going to make it easy for him. But right now, watching Loki like this, enjoying his candy like a literal kid, Mobius's smirk turned into a genuine, sincere smile. The fact he was the only person whom Loki let his guard down enough to show this side of him.
Mobius playfully petted Loki's head, purposefully messing his hair up, knowing if it was anybody else doing this, it'd likely be a death sentence. Though Loki let Mobius, even unconsciously leaned into the touch, seeking more.
"You're such a mischievous scamp," Mobius chuckled. But you're my mischievous scamp. He thought, Loki looked so damn kissable right now.
He might just reward him with a kiss, too.
A candy and a kiss, yes, he'd love that.