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Loki tried his hardest not to giggle as he and Mobius shuffled across the floor. It would take forever for them to get to where they were going, wherever that was. Yet despite the slow progress, they made their way forward, one slide of a foot at a time, with Loki standing in front of Mobius. He could feel Mobius’ warm body pressed up against his back, the man’s hands reaching over his shoulders to cover his eyes.
“Just keep going, a little to the left, that’s it.” Mobius spoke softly in his ear, offering unhelpful guidance on where to walk when he couldn’t see where he was going. It was disorientating. This whole thing was so silly but Mobius just chuckled, his breath ghosting across his neck, whenever Loki complained.
Wherever they were headed, they were apparently almost there. Every small shuffle made his shoes squeak against the hard floor. It felt like they had been doing this for hours, and they had probably only walked an incredibly short distance in that time.
“Do I really need to have you covering my eyes?” complained Loki. While this was fun, surely there were quicker ways to do whatever this was. Couldn’t he be blindfolded and Mobius could drag him towards their destination. It would be quicker than this.
“That would spoil the surprise.” Mobius reprimanded, but his voice wasn’t stern. This was all just a silly game, right? Better try and get there as soon as possible so they could get this charade over with.
“This better be worth it.” Loki chided. Mobius just laughed. They continued to shuffle forward for a few minutes and then suddenly Mobius lifted his hands.
“We’re here.” He grinned widely, but Loki didn’t have time to watch Mobius’ facial expressions, he was too busy trying to figure out what was special about here. He twisted and turned, looking all around them but he couldn’t see anything different. The offices at the TVA had been decorated for weeks. There didn’t seem to be anything new.
“I am at a loss, Mobius. What am I supposed to be seeing?” It was then that Mobius pointed up towards the ceiling, and then Loki sighed.
“Mobius...” he began, swallowing hard as he was reminded of the previous time that he had used mistletoe. It was the time that he had tricked Hodr to mortally injure his brother, Baldr, by giving him mistletoe to use as a weapon. Mistletoe, the only plant that hadn’t agreed to not injure Baldr, and Loki had been sneaky, or perhaps just smart enough, to realise that it could be used against Baldr.
He hadn’t meant for it to kill Baldr. It was only meant to be a bit of fun. Hodr had suffered because of it, but so had Loki. The bad memories emblazoned in his mind. Another reason why no one should trust or love him.
“Mobius,” Loki tried again. “Have I done something wrong? Why are you showing me this?” He watched as Mobius’ brows furrowed in confusion, the cogs in his mind clearly working overtime trying to figure out what Loki meant.
“No, it’s just mistletoe. You know? It’s a human tradition.”
Now it was Loki’s turn to look confused. He gazed up at the mistletoe again, then back down to Mobius, then back up again. His forehead was creased and his mouth gaped open but no words came out. All the while, Mobius was trying to figure out why Loki was looking upset.
“Have you never heard of mistletoe before? Sorry, sometimes I assume you know all of Midgard’s traditions since you spent many years there. Perhaps I should have found a Yule tradition, something from Northern European tradition.”
“What?” Loki shouted, finally finding his voice. He was deeply confused. What did Yule have to do with him enabling one brother to kill the other? Did the humans celebrate this? If so, it was deeply inappropriate even by Loki’s standards.
Mobius took in a breath to steady himself. There was clearly some miscommunication going on here. Perhaps trying to explain wasn’t helping.
“Okay, okay. Maybe you just tell me what mistletoe means to you.” Mobius pleaded. He hoped he might be able to get this romantic gesture back on track.
Loki bit his bottom lip as his eyes roamed along the ground. When he spoke, he didn’t look at Mobius.
“Mistletoe means tragedy. It means my past mistakes, my erroneous ways, my cruel nature.”
Hearing this, Mobius looked visibly upset. “What? I don’t understand.” Then, as the penny dropped Mobius leaped forward and put his hand on Loki’s shoulder.
“Oh. Oh! No, Loki, I didn’t mean that. Shit.”
Loki let his eyes drift up to meet Mobius’. “You mean, you weren’t trying to show me I had done something wrong? I don’t understand. Why are we here?”
“Loki, love, I would never do something like this, even if you had done something to upset me or anyone. Let me explain. Mistletoe is a Christmas tradition. Couples kiss under it. It has nothing to do with your part in Baldr’s death or anything like that. Well, at least I don’t think it does, but anyway, that isn’t why I did this. I just wanted to kiss you.”
At that, Loki let out the breath he had been holding since he first saw the mistletoe. His shoulders sagged forward and he leaned into Mobius, happily letting the man pull him closer into a hug.
They stood like that for a long time, just feeling close to one another and enjoying being in one another’s arms. Loki was relieved that he hadn’t upset Mobius. All the man wanted was a kiss but Loki couldn’t do it underneath an object that reminded him of his past troubles.
“So,” Loki spoke into Mobius’ shoulder. “I’d happily give you a kiss, but could we maybe do it beside the Christmas tree or just anywhere else that isn’t mistletoe. I’m sorry, I just can’t...”
As his voice trailed off, Mobius pulled back and cupped his hands to Loki’s face. His thumbs wiped away the few tears that had fallen down Loki’s face.
“Oh, kitten. I never want to hurt you. I’m sorry about this. My fault. Even though I have read all your life I didn’t even consider that this,” he pointed upwards, “would bring back bad feelings. I’m so sorry.”
Loki’s eyes just welled up with more tears, and Mobius wiped them all away.
“Come on, kitten. Let’s go to the Christmas tree. You can tell me which one of our many and varied ornaments is your favourite.” Mobius took Loki’s hand and, after a small peck on their joined fingers, he pulled Loki away towards the cafeteria.