Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“-Tomorrow, are you sure? I don’t want to go behind Loki’s back…”

“I thought you said you’ve had this conversation with him!”

 “I tried, but I don’t think he’s listened.”

Loki watched from the darkened hall in a set of patterned pajamas with a diaper’s waistband poking out the top of his pants as his caregivers talked in the warm light of the kitchen, dimmed to just the overhead lamp above the dining table. 

He had originally gotten up to ask about the prospect of another story, but the one they were inadvertently telling, now seemed much more interesting when shrouded in mystery like this, than any of the story books on his shelf. 

“I’m not passing up an opportunity like this without knowing what I’m missing. I can take maternity leave for this! It’ll be fine, it’ll let him have time to warm up.”

“No, I know you can, but that’ll only help until we get settled. What about afterwards?”

“Well there’s two of us, I think it’ll be fine. You’ve learned enough to survive with Loki when I’m not around.”

Loki’s eyes watered as he considered Sylvie not being around. He kept to the shadows a while longer, quieter than a mouse. 

“We need to decide tonight.” 

“Why? Why can’t we wait? At least until after we’ve talked with Loki? Got his attention and approval on it?” 

“Because that’s what the agency told me! I don’t think it can wait. What if the offer expires? What if someone else gets to him first? You’ve put this off long enough. I’m going tomorrow regardless of whether you want to come or not. Your decision.” 

That’s when Loki started to cry. He did what he could to stay quiet, but he didn’t want Sylvie to leave him, and in his own toddlerish headspace, that was the only part he had internalized. 

Thor fell silent, stopping the conversation and pushed in his chair, finding Loki in his hiding spot. 

“You should be asleep!” He told the little in a calm and happy tone, but Loki did not reciprocate. 

“No! Mummy no go! No go mummy!” Loki choked, but to his surprise he was picked up and brought to the table, and not taken back to bed. 

“Well, at least we have his attention now,” Sylvie sighed before clarifying to Loki that she was not going away, her and Thor were just talking about some changes. 

Changes? Loki was unaware of these. Was this about those weird questions they had asked him the other day?

“You know how mummy got that call last week?” 

Loki shook his head. 

“Well,” Thor explained, “Mummy’s been waiting a long time, since before you and I came into her life, for this call. And now, you might be getting another sibling… Another little in the house,” he tried to put into easy words.

And for the first time, Loki understood what this meant.

“Do you think you’d like to be a big brother?” Thor asked. 

The little looked between Thor and Sylvie, entirely unsure about what that would mean. 

“Well, that’s something to think about, huh?” Sylvie asked, trying to break his overwhelm. “But for now I think we have the much more pressing matter of getting one sweet little lovie back to bed, don’t you think?” 

Loki broke from his thoughtful trance to gaze at her. “Um, story! Please?” he requested. 

“You don’t think it’s a little late for a story?” 

“No! Please? Just one!” Loki begged. 

“Just one, but let’s make it short,” she replied, holding out her hand and letting him take it, leading her back to his bedroom which was soon just going to be “the nursery”.

Chapter Text

Tomorrow. Thor thought as he laid in bed. Eyes wide open. Tomorrow. His little brother would have another sibling, at least in writing. He’d have to share a room and get used to it. And it seemed like Sylvie had made her decision that it was going to happen whether they liked it or not. 

Loki went to daycare or spent time with Thor, working from home, and for many days, Sylvie was gone. Just… away. 

“She just has to take in paperwork,” Thor would say, petting the young toddler’s back and reassuring him that it was alright. 

Loki would continue to whine and mope, waiting nearly by the door for Sylvie every day when she was gone for hours that were usually not a part of her work schedule, until Thor would pick him up and put him to bed, fussing and kicking the whole time, to the point where some nights Sylvie would find both of them passed out on the couch or Thor sleeping in Loki's crib with his hand over Loki's back, just to appease the child. 

And then:

One day, Loki got home from school and felt something was… off. He found boxes in the trunk of Thor’s car behind his own car seat, and when he entered the home, he walked on tip-toes and cautiously snooped around every corner, checking for anything out of the ordinary. 

“Sylvie said he’s not coming home till next weekend, you’re alright, no need to worry, little brother.”

But Loki didn’t seem to care. Something was wrong and he was going to figure it out. He nervously stopped before opening the door of his own room, the last spot. He had known as soon as Thor unclicked his seatbelt that was going to be the victim of change, but maybe, just maybe that wouldn’t be it. 

“Alright, enough paranoia. I know this is a stressful time, but I think we need to get you a new diaper first,” Thor told him, picking up Loki, who was standing at the closed door, and tucking the little over his shoulder playfully like a potato sack. But instead of giggles like Thor had intended, the little started to cry and scream as if going into his own room frightened him. 

A pacifier was set in Loki’s mouth as he was laid out on the changing table and noticed there was a difference. Multiple big ones. The first was the second crib facing his own. And then, there was the fact that his clothes were pushed to one side of the closet, and there was a second toybox next to his. 

Regressing smaller, his face twisted and he threw a fit while Thor tried to rub in the baby powder and attempted to stop the little from kicking him as he snapped up Loki's onesie. 

“I know it’s not fun,” Thor said calmly as he picked Loki up and set him on his lap on the edge of the crib. “But you know I went through the same thing, right? I was around your age, three or four, when mum brought you home and I had to share a room with you, it was very scary for me as well,” he said, trying to soothe the little whom he was hugging to his chest and rocking back and forth. 

Knowing this made Loki feel a little bit better in the moment, and his breathing evened. Gradually, after giving this speech to Loki many times with lots of comfort and hugs, as a second highchair came into their kitchen, and his bookshelf had to be moved into the living room, and an alphabet tiled flooring made its way into his room, Loki stopped minding so much. This new process was supposed to be a little scary, right?

Chapter Text

Thor clicked the straps of Loki’s overalls into place and brushed his hair with a massaging comb. 

The little passively sat through it, tolerating it without his normal sweet demeanor. Thumb planted firmly in his mouth. He refused to take it out for even a pacifier. 

“It’ll be fine, I promise little brother,” Thor assured him as Loki stewed in premature resentment and anger towards this little that he didn’t even know the name of. “Sylvie will be taking him these first few weeks. He’ll sleep in her room and you’ll still have your room to yourself.”

This was not the correct thing to say. 

Loki’s face reddened even more and his eyebrows furrowed intensely as he sent a backwards glance at Thor to let him know this was going to be a tantrum. 

His older brother sighed heavily as he began to take the strands of hair between his fingers, and clipped colorful bows into Loki’s hair hoping to somehow make up for those insensitive words. “You can sleep with me if it’ll make you feel better,” he apologetically added.

“Mh,” Loki acknowledged. 

“And you will get time with mummy, I promise. We’ll try to split the parenting duties.”

Loki cringed slightly. Parenting? Thor wasn’t his parent, but he appreciated the sentiment. “Up!” he lightly demanded the second Thor set his curls down. 

Thor smiled and picked him up from the wooden step-stool-seat in the middle of the bathroom. Sometimes it was impressive how much Loki could fold himself up to sit so comfortably on the step. 

“There. All done and ready. You look so pretty, I bet all the mummies and daddies will be jealous they don’t have a sweet baby like you today.”

“No baby,” Loki refuted. 

In the second Loki took his thumb away from his mouth, Thor slipped in a pacifier. A nice green one, too. Loki’s favorite.

“Right, of course. A princess,” Thor corrected himself as they walked back to Loki’s room. 

“A very pretty princess,” Sylvie cooed from her spot helping pack Loki’s bag and adding extra supplies for her new adoptee.  “Maybe we can show him all of those movies you like when we get home,” she mused. 

“Tor moobie!” Loki pointed to his brother.

“I meant the baby, I bet he’d like to see them, too,” she proposed. 

“...No,” Loki thoughtfully denied as if this were such a tough decision that he needed to mull over. 

In the car ride, Loki apprehensively looked at the other car seat next to his own, the toys around it were identical to his, but the main difference was the fact that this one had orange lining in contrast to his own green. 

He scrunched up his nose. What an ugly choice of color. He expected better from Sylvie. As he imagined having this new little in the car next to him, he protectively held his wolf plushie to his chest and leaned as far back in his chair as he could, hoping to disappear into the padding. 

The building that Thor’s van pulled up to was a horrid, sterile gray. Something about it frightened Loki, causing him to cling to his older brother, but Thor didn’t blame him, the hairs on the back of his neck were bristeling as well. 

“It’s alright,” Sylvie told them both, petting their backs as she beckoned them forward.

The inside of the building looked like it hadn’t been updated since the 70’s, or whenever wood paneling was popular, at least. The halls were mostly empty, but Loki occasionally saw windows that peered into large rooms of toys and or beds. His stomach churned. 

“C’mon, hold mummy’s hand,” Sylvie said as he started to slow his pace and fall behind the group. 

When he didn’t reach for it at first, she took it anyway, continuing to lead him and Thor down towards the end of the hall. 

Loki whimpered as they reached a white door that Sylvie knocked on. 

A woman opened it. She was probably around Sylvie’s age, but her hair was frizzy and graying from stress. She smiled in a plastic-y way that looked almost doll-like. Reaching slowly into the uncanny valley. The badge on her lapel advertised her name as “Ravonna Renslayer”.

Before Loki even had the chance to make an attempt to hide, the three were beckoned into her small office. Well, not miniscule, but it felt a little bit cramped especially without any windows. The walls were an oaky color and lightened the room slightly. 

Thor and Sylvie took seats in the two chairs opposite the luxuriant office one reserved for her, and Loki was about to, touching Thor’s lap and beginning to instinctively make himself a seat when he took interest in the bassinet that took up most of the empty space on the far end of the room. It was one suited for travel and did not look especially comfortable. Sylvie kept one, but when Loki used it, his legs dangled over the sides unless he folded up. 

He stared for a second, pausing as he leaned slightly on Thor’s legs but didn’t commit to sitting down entirely. Then he got up, his curiosity piqued, and decided he should check on what or who was in the cradle. 

Although the shade hid the baby’s face from the harsh fluorescent lighting, it did not hide him from Loki’s curious gaze. Loki set both hands on the walls of the cradle as he looked over. The little inside was dressed in a brown jumpsuit, a rather ugly one, and had silver hair, his orange socks were barely visible, poking out of a soft blue blanket, no doubt crocheted by some retired folk as an act of charity. The pacifier held in his mouth was blank white with no designs. And the little had mittens on his hands, a charcoal gray. 

“That’s Mobius,” Sylvie informed Loki, “he’s going to be your new little brother.”

Loki looked at her, and then down back at the baby who shifted slightly in his sleep. The new little’s eyebrows knitted together sadly like he was going to cry and Loki watched nervously, waiting for something to happen; A yell or scream, but nothing ever came. So, he continued to stare at the little, absolutely fascinated. 

Mobius wiggled a little bit more, rubbing his oddly misshapen nose with mitted hands. But Loki quickly stepped away when he let out a small noise, a high little whine. 

“Poor thing,” Sylvie cooed, standing up from her spot. She couldn’t quite pick Mobius up, not from this position, but she joined Loki at the side of the bassinet while Thor continued asking the lady behind the desk questions as he read through the final papers. 

“Isn’t he cute?” Sylvie whispered to Loki, as he looked between the both of them, not quite sure if he should be jealous or not. She pet the sleepy baby’s belly and hair as he began to wake up. 

The new little winked an eye open and then smiled as he saw Sylvie, reaching out towards her after a little yawn and a happy burble. 

“You get to come home with us today, little one,” she smiled while adjusting the blanket over him. “And that’s Loki,” she informed him, pointing at the toddler next to her, “he’s going to be your brother.”

She did not specify big or little or the same age, because she knew Loki would inevitably fluctuate. There would be mornings where she and Thor were rushing around with two newborns and others when Mobius would get up to Loki’s age, maybe old enough to join him at daycare, but that wasn’t something for them to worry about yet. 

Loki poked at the baby cautiously and watched as Mobius sensitively moved his legs away. Then he leaned in, as much as he could, and pet the little’s mustache, a silver, well manicured, broom which he hadn’t noticed before with the lighting of the shade. Facial hair itself was not uncommon on littles, especially older ones, but something so well taken care of on a little this small was almost unheard of. Littles who mostly took formula or pureed food had a much higher possibility of getting things stuck in their hair, so caregivers usually opted to shave it, but it seemed that Mobius had managed to keep his. 

“What do you think of him?” Sylvie asked. 

“Um,” Loki pondered for a moment, scrutinizing the baby as Mobius looked up at Sylvie with his big blue eyes, in a way that could really mean anything. Instead of answering, Loki just stuck his thumb in his mouth. Although, he also furrowed his brows disapprovingly. 

Sylvie stuck out her lip in exaggerated sadness at Loki’s resigned reaction. “Well I think he’ll make a fine addition to our family,” she corrected him, “and now you’ll have mummy home with you all day when big brother goes to work,” she hinted. 

But that didn’t seem to change Loki’s opinion. He kept the little scowl but just tried maneuvering himself into her, hoping she’d put her arms around him and rock him back and forth soothingly. 

“I know, that’s going to be fun, right? You, me, and baby,” she cooed.

“Baby,” Loki repeated, pointing at the baby, who grinned and wiggled, flexing his hands within his thick mittens. 

“Ms. Laufeydóttir,” the adoption coordinator asked. 

Sylvie looked up. 

“Just a few more things before you can take him home,” she smiled in that uncomfortably saccharine way. 

“Right… right, of course.” Sylvie maturely sat back down. 

Loki looked between the bassinet and the laps of his caregivers, eventually settling on making that spot in Thor’s lap he had contemplated when entering the sterile office. 

But he still focused on the little bassinet, fascinated by the way he hardly saw a little arm poke out as Mobius readjusted his pacifier or rolled himself over, and how besides the occasional crinkle of a diaper under the cotton jumpsuit, or huff of contentment, the little was silent and seemingly still. 

“He’s interesting, isn’t he?” Thor whispered as he noticed his brother's attention being sucked into it. 

He nodded absently. Definitely interesting.  

Sylvie slid a couple final papers back to the woman behind the desk. 

They stood up and shook hands as if it were a grand business deal. 

“Let me grab a stroller for you,” Ravonna smiled. 

“Tolla!” Loki repeated. 

“Stroller’s for the baby, you get a big warm brother hug,” Thor told him, tickling his baby brother.

That made Loki pause. “No tolla?” 

“Well, you get to be held. Don’t worry, you can sit in your stroller soon,” Thor explained, “Mummy can’t carry the baby on her own, it’s just to make things easier while we get him back to the car.”

Loki still pouted over it, at least until he saw the stroller. It wasn’t the nice type he had for outings. The thing was probably closer to a hospital wheelchair with a colorful fabric and over the shoulder restraints that did not look comfortable. Like the rentable ones at the mall. 

Thor gently took Loki off his lap and got out of the sticky leather-like chair to help Sylvie lift Mobius out of the bassinet. 

The poor little looked, if not anxious, at least very surprised by this development, and made a little mewl, the most noise he had made the entire visit. 

Then, Sylvie squatted down by the front of the stroller fixing the buckles and adjusting them as the new baby tried his best to make things easier for her, holding the nylon straps in his mittens and trying to lean back in the padding, legs wide so she could pull up the strap that rested between them, bringing that point of the seatbelt up to click by his navel just like the shoulder and tummy straps. 

As Sylvie began to push him towards the exit, back to the car, Loki hopped up into Thor’s arms, thumb back in mouth and tried to hide his face, still not happy with the way things seemed to be going. 

Chapter Text

Both of the littles were set into car seats, the green one and the orange one, and had the restrictive seatbelts fastened for them. 

Loki tried to nurse on a sippy cup Sylvie had handed him and pay attention to his stuffed wolf, but he absolutely could not stop watching the baby next to him. 

Mobius made hardly any noise as he tried his best to stop the jingling of the toys above him, muting them with his mittens. It was a fun game, which Loki only understood after Mobius caught one, dropping his pacifier as he stretched the elastic of the dangling toy down, considering fitting it into his mouth. 

Loki’s gaze caught Mobius' attention, and he gave the infantile grin of pure joy complete with a gurgle of delight as he let the toy go and it sprung back to the ceiling of the car. 

Sylvie watched both of them in the mirror as the younger little nearly kicked her seat and babyishly played with anything within his reach.

“Oh, here we are,” she said over the noise of the toys and fascinated baby coos. 

The van pulled into the cement driveway of the small house. It was almost a cottage, but not that small. Its three bedrooms would be cramped four, especially when two of the inhabitants were littles and the other two refused to share a room, but it was a good sized home, generally speaking.  

Mobius looked out the window at its humble brown façade. He seemed mystified by it, as if it were his first time gazing upon a house at all. 

Thor opened the door of his van and unbuckled Mobius’ seatbelt, picking up the baby in his big arms. 

Mobius squeaked at the touch. 

“I know,” Thor chuckled, “you want mummy more, but she can’t pick you up as easily.” He rubbed circles into Mobius’ back and supported the little in his other hand with ease. “You’re safe,” he reassured the baby. 

Loki, meanwhile, was waiting on the front steps with Sylvie as she unlocked the door, holding her other hand and seeming to have an urgent need to go inside as he hopped up and down. 

Upon being allowed in, he toddled to his bookshelf and selected a big picture book from his shelf that he tried to bring to Sylvie. 

“Storytime already?” she asked. “I thought you’d at least want some lunch before naptime… and how’s that nappy looking?” 

She ignored the book in his hand to squat down and unbutton the crotch on his overalls and give him a check. 

Loki’s diaper was incredibly soggy. The “appearing designs” of rubber duckies were not only visible, but had begun to smudge and run, making vaguely yellow and orange splotches all over the front and back of his diaper. 

“This one needs it too,” Thor yelled, startling the little in his arms. 

Mobius jumped, and stiffened but did not cry, just looked back at Thor with glassy, nervous eyes that looked as if filled with tears and ready to burst. 

“Don’t spook the poor thing!” Sylvie scolded while checking on the baby herself. He wasn’t as wet as Loki, just a small trickle had settled into the soft padding and it was apparent, but there wasn’t much of a swelling nor a smell, and the Sesame Street designs had become slightly more vibrant instead of their normal pastels, but only slightly and more in some places than others. Sylvie paused and took a proper peek at it. “He’ll be fine for a little while longer,” she concluded. “Just set him down here, I’m sure he’ll want to have a look around when mummy’s all done with this little one,” she told Thor while turning her attention back to the cold and still anxious toddler on the changing table, waiting with his lower half uncovered for a new diaper to be taped onto him.

So, Thor did as he was told, setting Mobius down on the padded floor and letting him explore the room with his own hands. When the little looked slightly overwhelmed, Thor squatted down next to him. “What are you thinking about?” he asked. 

The baby looked back at him, opening his mouth just enough to keep the pacifier in, but no sound came out.  

“How about this?” Thor prompted, showing Mobius the white wooden crib that had been made just for him. “I made this, you know. Loki’s, too.” 

Mobius got up on his knees and crawled towards the crib, petting a wood leg with one hand. 

Loki hopped down from his spot on the table and joined them on the ground. 

“It’s a bit crowded,” Sylvie commented as she found her path to the door blocked by two babies and Thor. 

They all three looked up at her like this was a surprising discovery. 

“Shall we move to the living room instead? Then mummy can watch her baby boys while making lunch.”

Loki’s smile widened as she bent down to rub noses with him. 

There was already a bucket of toys in the living room. Mostly things that Loki wasn’t super attached to but Sylvie kept after her move. It felt like a waiting room toy bucket; some random books, a wooden box with different games on each side, some blocks and baby toys, and various stuffed animals, many in soft, pastel colors and lavender scents. Thor laid them out with Loki’s help and let Mobius explore. 

Mobius grunted as he wiggled down onto his belly, seeming to take interest in one particular toy after Thor demonstrated it to him, pressing a button on a small board and having a little lion pop up from a box and play a song. 

Loki watched them for a moment and then got up. 

“Loki! Would you like to show your horsey to Mobius?” 

“No,” Loki said. 

Thor frowned. “How about your wolfie?”

“No!” Loki stomped his foot to accentuate that that was absolutely not going to happen. 

Taking a deep breath, Thor tried not to be upset with the toddler. “Why don’t I show you to the baby?” 

Loki stopped his build up to throwing a fit, abruptly, and tilted his head at Thor. 

“C’mere,” Thor patted his lap.

Loki cautiously complied, slowly edging his way around the new baby, careful not to touch him, and sat down in Thor’s lap, sitting bolt upright and with a straightened back. 

Then, Thor moved slightly so he was sitting in front of Mobius, just behind the fun toy and tried to catch the baby’s attention. 

“Mobius, this is my little brother, Loki. He’s 22 going on 3 and likes…” Thor gave a deliberate pause to let Loki fill in the blanks. The little loved to talk about himself. 

“Play block!” Loki answered. 

“And likes to play with his blocks. Anything else?” 

“Um Fenny!” Loki added. 

“He likes his wolf plush, Finley… anything else?” 

“Mummy!” 

“There you are, a common interest!” Thor told them both.

Mobius found this quite funny, giving a little smile that was almost a chuckle, but Loki did not, scowling back at his big brother. “N’ Tor,” he added. That was something. Mobius was probably not fond of Thor yet, right? 

Mobius sat up, bracing himself on one arm and reached for with the other, making a coo as he did so and trying to grab for either Loki’s leg or Thor.

“Would you like to play with him?” Thor asked the little, presenting Loki as if he were a doll. 

Mobius reached out and grabbed Loki’s ankle playfully, signaling a yes. 

To which Loki responded with a shocked face. How dare this- this infant touch him? The older little whined, almost a cry, and yanked away crumpling himself into Thor’s lap. 

But Thor did not let him. He sat Loki up and tried again. “Loki, this is Mobius. He is our friend, right?” If not brother, Thor at least was somewhat sure he could call Mobius a friend, in the same way Sylvie had been for the first year they had known each other before being dubbed “mummy” or “mu-ma”. “He likes… what does Mobius like?” Thor asked rhetorically thinking that maybe, just maybe, the little would try to speak. 

But he didn’t. Instead, Mobius got up. Not to stand, but he crawled to the bucket of toys and pulled one out, a soft purple, lavender scented lamb. He showed it to Loki, and then hugged it tightly, practically bouncing in place. 

Loki stuck out a pouty lip, but as it wasn’t one he played with, or even took notice of regularly, he felt he didn’t have much of a place to be upset. 

“Mobius likes…” Thor tried to consider how to interpret this. “Sheep,” he decided. 

Mobius smiled and hugged it tighter, burrowing his crooked nose into the fleecy fur. 

“Lavender…” 

Then Mobius, with a hopeful look, tried to hand the lamb to Loki. 

“And sharing,” Thor added. 

But Mobius shook his head and shifted on his knees to get slightly closer to Loki, touching the older little’s knee. 

“And Loki,” Thor corrected himself. “Did mummy tell you all about him before bringing you home?” he asked with a knowing grin. 

The baby returned it and nodded.

Loki looked slightly surprised at this. It wasn’t unlike Sylvie to brag about him, but he wasn’t expecting her to do it to Mobius, this baby, this infant. 

Sylvie stepped out of the kitchen and let them know lunch was ready. She helped Loki into his highchair while Thor carried Mobius over and helped with his. 

Loki was given a plastic plate of cut vegetables with hummus dipping sauce. To make sure things were even, he also looked across the way at Thor, who had been given the same thing, and Mobius- but there was nothing on his tray. 

Mobius noticed this discrepancy as well and made a little noise, a whine to alert Sylvie to it. 

“Oh, sweet baby, we’re going to wait on giving you solid food for a little while, alright? Just a few days, and then we’ll think about letting you try solids. Just until we get the green light from the doctor,” Sylvie explained. 

Mobius tried to show he was used to solid foods by reaching to take a carrot off Loki’s plate. 

“No, no,” Sylvie beckoned, taking it out of his hand and setting it back on the toddler’s tray. She had a bowl in her hands that she mixed with a plastic spoon. Judging by the blender on the counter, it was homemade. 

Regardless, Mobius still tensed looking at the chunky mixture. He shut his mouth and leaned back to avoid the spoon. 

Knowing this was going to take a while if Mobius insisted on being this fussy, Sylvie sat down on the table, blocking the littles’ view of Thor partially. 

Loki’s interest in the bowl grew exponentially as Mobius aggressively dodged the spoon. 

The baby leaned back as far as he could, pushing on the tray and lifting up his bum from the padded seat as Sylvie nudged the spoonful near his lower lip. Still, there was no taking.

Poor Mobius tried to block his mouth with his mittens as his face reddened and beads of water started to form in the corners of his eyes. He sucked on the back of his mittens but instead of the screams and yells that came with a Loki tantrum, Mobius just let out a whiny hum of upset. 

He relaxed momentarily when Sylvie took the spoon away, dropping the mush back into the bowl and debating her next course of action. 

Loki set down a slice of bell pepper he was about to eat as he watched the scene, feeling a little ping of empathy in his gut remembering when Thor had tried to feed him the icky little food from the store. That’s probably what Mobius had expected. 

“Mumma,” Loki called to get her attention, grabbing for her sleeve. 

“Hm?” she asked, trying to hide her frustration. 

Loki shifted upwards to reach for the spoon in her bowl. 

“Oh, does Loki want some?” she asked with a smile. 

Loki nodded, and with a big grin, he let Sylvie spoon some of the baby food into his mouth.

The worst of it by far was the texture, which was still better than most store bought types of little and baby foods. But Sylvie knew what she was doing and knew how to season properly and what Loki tended to like, or at least swallow. 

Hardly any got on the toddler’s lips or chin and his bib remained a pure white. He grinned encouragingly at Mobius as Sylvie prepared a spoonful and tried once more to give it to the baby. 

His tears began to dry and he apprehensively pulled the mitten away from his mouth as she brought the spoon closer. Still, nervously leaning back, he took a sip of the smoothie-like mixture from the tip of the spoon, not committing to all of it like Sylvie assumed he was, causing her to get the green mixture in his mustache and on his chin. 

“Oops,” she smiled as she wiped the excess away. 

“Oopie,” Loki repeated. 

Mobius smiled a little bit, just slightly and imitated Loki, grabbing for a bit more. 

“Is that yummy?” 

A nod. 

“Yeah, mummy knows how to make good baby food, none of that icky stuff they probably fed you before, huh? Probably didn’t feel so good in that little tummy of yours.” She poked his belly, causing the baby to coo in a way that was more like a quiet squeal. 

Sylvie kept feeding him, getting him to finish the bowl and giving a couple of the spoonfuls to the slightly jealous Loki, who was eventually removed from his chair and set in Thor’s lap for kisses and talk and a couple more vegetable slices. 

“I don’t understand why they ever let you keep this,” Sylvie commented as she tried her best to get the goop out of the silver broom on Mobius’ upper lip. 

He frowned and fussed over her touching it. It was an equally upsetting experience for both of them. 

Thor sifted some powdered formula into bottles for Loki and Mobius, poured some water over both, and set them into the bottle warmer where they’d be prepared by nap time. Then, he lifted Loki up, wrapping him in a tight hug and trying to make the little cozy. Although, Loki did want to play a bit more before he was put down for a nap, and tried to make that known by grabbing his brother’s beard and nose as he was set on the ground and allowed to build with his blocks on a padded mat, stacking them as high as he could until Sylvie brought the baby out, all cleaned up. 

Loki made a loud whine as he was steered away from his toys and back to his room. 

Sylvie looked up at the tall toddler while still managing to hold the baby in her arms, slightly straining, but doing her best to cradle him comfortably. “How about this;” she began. “If you can show me right now that your nappy is dry, you can get some extra playtime while I change and dress Mobius. Cuz’ we don’t want to keep him in that itchy jumpsuit for much longer, now do we? No,” she cooed at Mobius, rubbing noses with him. 

“Is ugly,” Loki commented. 

“I agree, makes such a cute little baby look so sad. Like a prisoner,” she frowned as she squatted down to check Loki’s nappy, realizing he wasn’t going to do it himself. “Uh-oh, looks like I can see someone’s duckies,” she commented, looking back up at the toddler. 

Loki looked terribly upset about this, it wasn’t like he had any control of that, and now he was getting his time to play taken away? How unfair. (Well, to be fair, Sylvie and Thor had tried to potty train Loki, but Loki hadn’t exactly hadn’t put in effort on his own behalf to actually use either the training potty or the real one.)

“C’mon, my little love,” she cooed, standing back up with some effort to keep the baby in her arms. 

Chapter Text

Loki got changed first and Sylvie tried to make it special by giving him kisses on the belly and rubbing in the sweet smelling lotion liberally as Mobius explored his crib, grabbing at the blankets around him and keeping the lavender scented sheep within arms reach. He began to burble and coo a little bit more as Sylvie helped Loki out of his day clothes, only leaving the bows in his hair after a little tiff about it, and picking out pajamas for him. 

The baby fascinatedly ran his mittens along the white bars of the crib and explored the new feeling of a comfortable full sized bed with crawling and shimmying and rolling and trying to touch his toes while looking up at the mobile above him in awe. 

“I think it’s time I put somebody’s pacifier in,” Sylvie commented lightly with a smile referring to Mobius’ excited squeals and babbles after zipping up Loki’s nap-time pajamas. “Now, how are we going to do this?” she asked the older boy. “Do you want baby and me to take the rocking chair or shall we do crib cuddles?” 

“Bi’ boy!” Loki insisted. 

“Okay, crib cuddles for the big boy and baby,” she fondly mused. 

Instead of going to his crib to wait, Loki sat on the floor with a few toys at the foot of the rocker while Mobius was changed and redressed. The baby made even more little noises whenever Sylvie did practically anything. It was almost like he didn’t expect the motions of the lotion or the baby powder or even the diaper. 

“Goodness, look at that, you and your big brother wear the same size nappy,” Sylvie chuckled. 

Mobius kicked his legs a little bit to try out the new material. It was thicker than the ones he was used to and louder, too. The plastic made a crunching noise whenever he moved, just like his sensory blocks… Did Sylvie have any sensory blocks? Those were the best. He chewed on his mittens as he thought about it. 

Being the big brother, Loki understood his responsibility to pick out the jammies which he did with the council of his wolf and goat plushies, looking through the stuff recently added to the second half of the closet. He picked out a bear hat with a matching brown and white knit-looking pajama set. 

The baby seemed to absolutely adore it. As Sylvie slipped on the outfit, he tried a little harder to grab at his toes, much more interested now that they had tiny bear ears and faces, and also tried to grab at the hat on his head, hoping to pull it down over his eyes. 

“Loki, what story shall we read for Mobius’ first day home?”

“Um… story!” 

“I know, but which one, baby?” 

Mobius perked up in her arms thinking he was being referred to. 

“Goodness this is going to get confusing,” she smiled, sitting down on the ledge of the open crib while Loki ran off to find a book in the bookshelf that was now, so inconveniently, located in the living room. 

“Which one are you looking for, brother?” Thor asked, as Loki looked through the shelves. 

Loki did not answer him, not in words. Instead, the little held up Corduroy, which Loki had picked simply because it was one of his favorites.

He began to waddle back to the nursery after showing it to Thor, but let out a shocked giggle as his brother scooped him up and carried him just like Sylvie carried Mobius. 

“What do you have for us, lovie?” Sylvie asked after Thor had set the toddler down. Loki hugged the book to his chest. He handed it to her as she sat on the ledge of Mobius’ crib, petting the baby’s back while the bottles Thor had brought cooled on the cleaned off changing table. 

Thor held his little brother on the open edge of the opposite facing crib and tried to get him all comfortable, maneuvering the little in his lap who just got sleepier the second Sylvie opened the first page and Thor pressed the nipple of the bottle to his mouth. But little Loki fought sleep, trying to watch his new little brother nurse and making it horribly difficult for Thor to position him, as Loki would not take the bottle himself. 

Eventually, the tot gave up and pretended to be asleep as Mobius fell drowsy in Sylvie’s arms, wanting to see what would happen next. 

Sylvie hummed as she set the book and the baby bottle to her side, placing a pacifier in Mobius’ mouth. 

He nearly woke up as she did so, until she told him to “hush hush,” and added a kiss on his cheek as she laid him down and tucked him in to the fluffy quilts and colorful crocheted blankets. 

He mumbled something, but it seemed to be a sleepy “Love you” recreation made up of baby jargon. 

Loki watched with one eye open as his brother repeated the same routine with him. The adults stayed for a few minutes, humming soothing melodies and turning on mobiles and praying that no problems emerged. Luckily none did and both Loki, and Mobius, did actually fall asleep in that time given to them. 

But when Loki awoke, it felt as though he hadn’t slept. How clever he was for convincing his caregivers that he was asleep! The room was dark, but not pitch black, more like a lazy gray as a hint of sunlight fell through the curtains and by Loki’s crib. 

The other baby made no noise and Loki stayed completely still, suddenly overcome with the stomach churning feeling that there was someone else in the room, a stranger whom he did not know or understand. He wanted to be the big brother Thor had been to him, thinking about the stories from when he had first come home that Thor had told him, but absolutely could not bring himself to quietly stand up and peer over the other crib, he just… couldn’t. He found himself paralyzed in place with anxiety, and as he was overcome with emotion. The poor toddler started to cry. It wasn’t a loud one, but enough of a bawl to be picked up on the monitor and bring Thor running to come take his little brother. 

Mobius, used to these noises, paid no mind and kept sleeping as Loki tried to curl up in his brother’s arms as small as possible. 

Thor took him to the living room in hopes to calm him down.

“What troubles you?” he asked the toddler. 

Loki did not answer, instead wiping his nose on Thor’s shirt. 

“Was it a nightmare?” 

A head shake. 

“Oh, sweet brother, was it a messy?” 

Loki giggled as he properly denied this was the problem either. 

“Just wanted some attention, did you?” 

“Yeah,” Loki cooed, deciding that it was easier than actually explaining his irrational fear. 

“Alright then, let’s play a game, how about that?” 

Loki hopped down from his brother’s lap and grabbed a large box out of the toy bin. He set it down on the floor with a loud thunk, lifting the cardboard lid and beginning to take out massive puzzle pieces which Thor helped him place around the room, starting work on a large, 25 piece, picture of the ocean floor. 

Chapter Text

After Loki had awoken and was taken from his spot, Sylvie thought she’d stay with the second little until he woke up, assuming it could only be sometime soon after the disruption, but nothing ever came, and after ten more minutes, she finally just set down the bars and woke him up gently with the palm of her hand rubbing against his belly. 

The baby gurgled and grinned at Sylvie when he opened his eyes. 

“Sorry I can’t let you sleep longer, but I wouldn’t want to ruin your sleep schedule, my sweet one.” She pinched his cheek to accentuate her words, but he seemed to understand, smiling and making a little “ah,” as he kicked his legs, letting the pacifier fall by his side. 

“Now, how’s that nappy?” she asked, undoing a couple of the snaps on Mobius’ legs. “Wow, look at that,” she smiled. “You may even beat Loki to potty training… Alright, now, let’s get up, I’m sure you want to go play, right? A little more time to explore?” she questioned, helping the baby sit up so she could lift him properly. 

He was easy to lift when sitting up like this, so Sylvie carried him to the living room. 

“Do you know who those two lovely boys are?” Sylvie asked. 

Mobius looked down at Thor and Loki and then reached for Sylvie’s face, grabbing for her. 

“That’s alright, you’ll learn soon. No rush.” She gave him a kiss on the head as she spoke before setting him down on the wooden floors to join in Loki’s game. “Mummy’s going to go put the last finishing touches on your room for tonight, alright? Just a few minutes and I’ll be right back.”

Mobius knitted his eyebrows together and bit the inside of his cheek as he looked up at  her. 

“I won’t be long, I promise. Just a few minutes at most.” And with that, she left. 

Loki stood up, blocking Mobius’ way towards the large cardboard puzzle. “No babies,” he told the younger little. But Mobius didn’t seem to care, sitting himself down on the floor instead of the position for crawling he had been in. Loki stomped his foot, hoping to exaggerate his point and drive Mobius away, but he still wouldn’t budge. 

“Loki, don’t be mean, let’s let him have a look at it. He deserves to admire our hard work, right?” Thor reasoned. 

And so Loki, hesitantly, begrudgingly, stepped to the side and sat down, leaning against Thor to let the baby see what was going on. 

Mobius propped himself up and crawled cautiously, slightly closer to the puzzle, making sure to keep an eye on Loki and Thor, looking for some, any sign of validation from either one of them. He picked up one of the lone pieces, fumbling with it in his mittens, one that hadn’t been set into place yet. Turning it over in his hands, he tried to decipher what the greater picture could be. The rough edges also fascinated him, and he nearly brought it up to his mouth to give the corner a chew until he caught Loki’s hostile eye. 

Thor was restraining the absolutely fuming little who was nearly ready to lunge at Mobius. So slowly, Mobius pulled the puzzle piece away from bumping the plastic of his pacifier and held it out to Loki, who snatched it away with greedy hands. 

“Loki say ‘thank you’,” Thor prompted. 

But Loki did not say “thank you”. He didn’t even set the piece down. He just didn’t want Mobius touching it, hugging it to his chest. 

Mobius found another piece, being careful not to place it anywhere near his mouth, for fear he’d upset Loki again, he found the spot where it went and set it down, clicking it into place after a couple attempts to position it in his mittens. 

He looked up for the approval of Thor and Loki. Both of them had their eyebrows just slightly raised. 

“Very clever,” Thor said, hardly above a whisper. 

Loki looked up at him with a scowl. 

“What? He’s my little brother, too,” Thor told him. “And you know, you’re his big brother, you can help him.”

Loki considered this as he gently unfolded his arms. He didn’t move away from Thor or talk to Mobius, but his pure jealousy directed at this little, at least temporarily, shifted to fascination. A skeptical one, but the same type of reserved interest he had shown on the neutral territory of the adoption office, and that was enough to make Thor proud. It was an incredible step for the first day. Loki hadn’t even pitched a tantrum. Not a full one at least, and not in front of Mobius; He was trying very very hard to be a big boy. 

“Um, is the sea.” Loki showed the baby, pointing at the picture that the mostly completed puzzle created. “Look, there’s fishies!” he showed him. 

Mobius watched his hands and then slapped the tile Loki had pointed at with the fish. 

“Is that something else Mobius likes?” Thor asked.

Both tots looked up at him. 

“The ocean?- Maybe we should take him sometime.”

Mobius smiled and nodded, while Loki seemed slightly indifferent to the proposal, as instead of answering the question, he simply watched Mobius’ reaction to the comment. 

“What do we think about playing something that Mobius can help with?” 

Loki scrunched his entire face in severe disgust. 

“No?”

“No.” 

“Can I show the baby some of the other toys we have for him so you can keep working on your puzzle, then?” 

Loki actually considered this for a moment. Then, as Thor seemed to make his decision and took Mobius into his lap, Loki just stood up. “Um…” he began, “Loki watch…?” He put his hands on his hips as if this was a command and not a very polite request. 

“Yes, of course you can watch. Can you help, too?” 

Was that too much? Loki wasn’t entirely sure, and neither was Thor. But it was rapidly decided that Loki’s love for Thor outweighed his resentment of Mobius, especially as Sylvie dusted off her hands after the final moments of hard work and flopped down onto the couch. So he grabbed some baby toys, a few still in packages, from the bin on the opposite side of the room and some from the nursery, and unceremoniously dropped them at Thor and Mobius’ feet. 

“Thank you,” Thor commended him. 

Loki sat down with them and took one of the older toys to fidget with as he watched while Mobius explored the others with his hands after Thor took off his mittens.

Sylvie set down her phone as she watched them and smiled before sitting down on the floor. 

“How’re you feeling?” she whispered to Loki, shifting the little into her lap, putting her arms around him, and rocking back and forth while they watched Mobius play on the floor. 

“Um…” Loki shrugged in response. He wasn’t exactly sure himself. 

“That’s alright. It’ll take time.”

Mobius rolled from side to side while on his belly, kicking his legs behind him as he fumbled with a soft rattle toy in front of him. 

“Psst, hey, little one, look at this,” Thor said, giving Mobius a little poke on the shoulder.

Mobius looked up at him, only for Thor to yank the ugly white pacifier out of his mouth. 

“There.” 

Mobius once again looked puzzled and upset at this development, at least until a new, much newer, more colorful, pacifier was pressed into its place. 

He crossed his eyes to try to look at it and finally settled his mouth around it. It was a bit firmer than his old one, and the seam along the side of the nipple was much less rough on his tongue. He rather liked it, grinning a little wider as he went back to playing with a fabric sensory caterpillar covered in tags and filled with rattles and various fillings. 

He snaked it across the floor as if it were a train. 

“I’m glad someone’s enjoying that old thing,” Sylvie laughed. 

Mobius snuggled it close to his face to show her how much he loved it as he readjusted himself, sitting up a little more and lifting himself to almost crawling position as he continued to play, entirely unburdened, with the adults and Loki’s eyes on him. He made a small huff, and felt the pressure in his stomach leave, and then sat back down, on his knees this time. He didn’t seem to even acknowledge that it happened or particularly care. It was just something that happened. 

Loki’s eyes widened. That was not something he was used to seeing another little do, but Sylvie and Thor were used to it. 

“Oh, did someone make a messy?”

Mobius went red in the face, seemingly surprised Sylvie had noticed as she took his wrist. 

“I know, we don’t like walking, do we? Poor thing,” she cooed, helping him up, as if that were the problem. “We’ll work on that.” 

Mobius could walk, but it wasn’t something he did if he could help it. 

He waddled at Sylvie’s side and chewed on his pacifier, pointedly not looking back at Loki or Thor. 

The second they were gone, Loki shoved the toys Mobius had been playing with out of the way with his foot, and then proceeded to feel a little bit guilty about it, looking back at the caterpillar and assorted baby toys as if they were living things. 

He finished his puzzle with Thor as they patiently listened to the bathroom’s water running and heard the vague noises of Sylvie’s talk through the walls.

Chapter Text

“Aw, sweet little one, it’s okay. Scary this first time, isn’t it?”  Sylvie hummed.

Mobius’ face was red and tears were starting to prick at the corners of his eyes, yet he was still quiet, aside from a few helpless whimpers and whines which were still well below Loki’s normal volume as Sylvie patiently changed him out of the messy diaper. 

“Be still so mummy can get you all cleaned up now.” 

He was an incredibly easy little to bathe, and seemed to love the water, having a preference for the warmth. He was the type of baby to slap the water, but not really splash, and to try and hold the liquid in his hands, shocked as it would run between his fingers and back down into the bath. He peeped and fidgeted and still seemed rather responsive to any form of touch, yet he seemed happy, well at least until Sylvie took the pacifier out of his mouth. 

He asked for it back with a silent look, and then with a point and a few vowels. 

“You’ll get it back in a second,” Sylvie replied. 

His eyebrows knitted together as he tried to think of his own solution to the problem. At first, he moved his thumb up to his mouth, but of course Sylvie shut that down quickly. 

He started to bite down on the inside of his cheek and quicken his breathing just slightly. 

“No, no. Look, I know we’re a bit scared having our first bath, but mummy’s not going to let you have that pacifier in. Sorry, sweet one, but it’ll just be for a few minutes until you’re all clean. Then we’ll be done.”

Restlessly, the little started to fuss a bit. 

“How about we use mr. alligator?” she asked as a last resort as he began to put those tears from earlier to use and his whining became slightly louder and more continuous. 

Mr. Alligator was a beat-up, homemade washcloth puppet that she had sewn for Loki after Thor had expressed difficulty with getting the little into the bath, which had been a bath-time staple now for a good three years. The wear was starting to show. 

The baby watched it for a moment as she moved it from side to side, checking if he was interested by watching how his eyes tracked it. 

“He’s going to help me get you all clean.” She moved the alligator’s mouth and put some soap into it which made the baby still for a second, his face unreadable. 

She made the alligator rub up against his side at first, in a friendly manner, the same way a cat might, with its head tilted towards him, which he seemed to find slightly amusing. But as it started to clean with an open mouth, appearing to “bite” him, he tried to move away and the tears came right back. 

Sylvie took a deep breath and sighed, knowing the worst part which she’d have to do next. “I’m sorry, Mobius,” she said in a silly voice to appear as if it were the puppet talking. “I really am a friendly alligator. I didn’t mean to scare you.” 

She let the baby grab its snout and poke at its eyes, and gently “bit” his hand to allow him time to understand what it was supposed to feel like. 

He smiled, a full grin, forgetting all about his pacifier for a moment as Sylvie continued to make comments through the gator’s mouth as she cleaned him. 

All of Sylvie’s efforts however, soon paid off. She set Mr. Alligator down on the side of the tub as the water drained, allowing Mobius the opportunity to touch the toy more and play with it as she began to dry him off with a hooded puppy bath towel. 

“Can we say bye-bye to mr. Alligator?” she wondered aloud. 

He made a little wave towards the puppet as she stood him up, drying him a bit more before sitting down on the toilet seat and letting him sit in her lap with the towel as a comfortable barrier between the little’s damp skin and her still fairly dry clothes. 

She hugged him close and rocked him back and forth. “First bath at home. That’s very exciting, isn’t it?” 

He curled up into her lap and tried once more to set his thumb in his mouth.

“Aw, I know, baby boy needs his soother,” she hummed as she bounced her knee and grabbed the pacifier off the counter, popping it into his mouth. 

He visibly relaxed as she rocked him back and forth. 

Sylvie felt a little bit of warmth trickle onto the towel, not much, but enough to realize that it was probably time to get a diaper on the little guy. They’d have plenty of time to cuddle later. 

So she did, laying him down on the changing mat and taping a thick diaper over his lower half.

She slipped a onesie on him and buttoned it up.  

“There we go,” she narrated. “There’s mummy’s snuggly boy!” she cooed, ready to pick him up and return him to play. 

But the sad, anxious look returned to the baby’s face.

“Uh-oh, what is it now?” she asked. 

He kicked his legs and his face twisted to tear up. But he didn’t make the silent whimpery cry he had exhibited earlier, instead it was a full-on, pacifier-drop-from-mouth, cry with thrashing and yelping. 

In all the three months Sylvie had known him, usually spending an hour or two with him a day, she had never seen him cry like this before. 

“No, no, no crying,” she shushed him, picking him up again. “Why are we so sad?” she asked. “This is a happy day. We’re happy.”  

Mobius kept bawling. He was trying to tell her there was something wrong, but she wasn’t quite sure what, and he didn’t know how to communicate. 

“Thor- psst. Hey! Thor!” Sylvie opened the bathroom door and called him over, disrupting him from chopping vegetables for dinner. 

“What? What’s wrong?” he asked. 

“I- I don’t know…”

Loki peeked around the corner, pausing his play to see what could’ve made the silent little cry so hard. 

“Did you get water in his face?” 

“No, I don’t think so…” 

Loki investigated closer as Thor took the baby out of her arms. “Um!” He got the adults’ attention. “Baby cold!” He traced his fingers over one of the lightly-colored, healed scar-marks and dents on Mobius’ legs. “...Baby scared!” he realized, making sure Sylvie and Thor understood. 

Thor already knew. He recognized that discomfort, the aftermath of so much excitement built up over the day, just to come crashing down from one negative sensory experience. A classic Loki conundrum, but apparently not a Mobius one, as Sylvie’s panic was apparent. 

“And what do you suggest we do, Loki?” Sylvie asked, half just trying to help his imaginative play, and half actually curious to try the solution he proposed. 

“Uh…” Loki ran off back to the nursery and Thor curiously followed as the baby buried his face into his shoulder. 

Loki tossed the orange blanket from Mobius’ crib to Thor. 

Mobius responded by taking a corner into his mouth and trying to cover himself with the rest of it. 

That simple gesture made him quiet almost immediately. 

“Here!” Loki handed them another item: pants. A pair of regular-ol’ pajama pants which Sylvie helped slip onto the baby. 

Instant quiet. 

“Wow, look at you. First day and you’re already a better big brother than me,” Thor commented.

Loki grinned uncertainly as he looked between the members of his family. “Yeah,” he softly agreed. 

Chapter Text

Loki woke up to the arms of his big brother wrapped around him, protectively keeping him away from the dangerous ledge of the bed. He kicked and tried to pull away. 

Thor, at this point, was also at least a little bit awake and chose to hug Loki even closer, pretending to be still asleep. 

Loki began to playfully yell and scream, giggling at first.  

But Thor continued the charade, rolling onto his back and taking Loki with him, at least until Loki elbowed him in the side and he was forced to let the little go. 

Loki scrambled off while Thor slowly pulled up the covers, lazily making the bed.

Then, Thor slowly picked him up, in a swooping heft and brought him into the nursery to get him a clean nappy. He talked slowly as he changed Loki, hoping to keep the little grinning and happy. Loki’s headspace was wildly unstable today, seemingly swinging rapidly between the comfort of being a baby and the independence of a toddler. All this to say: he was clingy and fussy. He attempted to insist on sitting in the bathroom during his brother’s morning business, but instead found himself carried out to the living room where Sylvie had the play fence set up and Mobius was crawling around inside, taking some tummy time as he still got used to the new environment. 

The second Loki understood where he was going, he threw a fit. Yesterday things had been all fine, but now the filters were down. There was no “best behavior for the guest”. 

Loud screaming and crying commenced the second Thor tried to remove koala-child from his chest. “Loki! Loki, calm down, I just need to go use the bathroom. Then we’ll get you a bottle and some breakfast, I promise. I won’t be more than ten minutes. Look, mummy’s here, she’ll take care of you.” 

But Loki was too angry and upset to care. “No!” was all he could scream. The only word capable of slipping past his lips with any meaning still attached. 

Eventually, Thor did manage to pry the little off him, setting Loki down in Sylvie’s lap as she reached out to take him. Loki cried and kicked and wailed, but Sylvie just put her arms around him and rocked back and forth. 

“Hush little one, it’s alright. Mummy’s here. Can we do something to make things better while Thor’s away? How about a song? Maybe mummy should read a story?” She stroked through his hair and pretended there was nothing else in the world except Loki for just a couple seconds while he calmed down. 

Loki’s breath began to even and he started to curl himself into her instead of searching for escape, like a rolly polly who’s been picked up by a careless child. 

“There we are,” she hummed. “See? All better… Now, What shall we do as we wait? We’re going to be doing that a lot these next few days.” 

Loki stared up at her, unfurling just slightly and repositioning himself into a cradling hold, as if he were ready to be given a bottle, but there was no discernable answer in his eyes, just wonder and love. 

“Can lovie play nicely on the floor?” she asked, sitting Loki up and preparing to move him, but Loki kept his fists balled into her shirt and pulled on her as she tried to set him in the fenced area. “You want mummy to sit with you?” she sighed. 

Loki didn’t answer, but she moved down off the couch, anyway. 

Loki begrudgingly stepped over the fence and toppled down by his toys. He looked a little bit upset, but just passively threw a soft block across the pen to show his displeasure. 

“Don’t be like that. You know I’m climbing in, too.”

Sylvie kept her word and climbed in after him. She sat criss-crossed on the carpet and let Loki rest his head on her knee while Mobius played. 

At first, the younger little didn’t seem to notice them much, continuing to work on a stacking ring toy, a soft fabric kind with little animal heads on each ring and rattles inside. 

Loki stuck out his tongue at Mobius, even if the little one wasn’t looking at him. He rolled over against Sylvie so his forehead pressed into the side of her stomach as he sucked on his thumb, silently begging her to pet his hair so he could pretend the world was just back to the days when it was just him and Sylvie and Thor, so things would seem like they did mere moments ago once again. 

“Aw, look at that, did you stack those rings all by yourself?” 

Loki felt his mummy lean forward, squishing his head a little bit as she reached out to grab something. 

Mobius cooed proudly over his work in response to Sylvie’s encouragement. 

“Gods, you’re a cutie. Are you coming to see me and Loki? He’s a baby today, too.” 

Loki rolled back over and looked up at Sylvie and then to Mobius who was curiously poking at other toys. 

“Go on, show him how it works,” she beckoned, picking up the older little and patting him on the bum. Loki anxiously looked back at her. “I know you can crawl, I’ve seen it. Now, go on. I know you’re not shy.”

Loki mumbled and crawled to one particular toy Mobius seemed interested in. It was a sorter toy with rubber straps on the other sides of the box so littles could not only see in, but they could get the toys out with ease. Loki plunked a little blue square in and showed it to Mobius, like it was entirely unimpressive. Mobius had figured out the puzzle yesterday, he could figure this out , Loki concluded. But instead, the baby played dumb, just a little bit; looking back at Loki, Mobius took a star and tried to set it into the same hole. 

“No, like this!” Loki told him, taking the star from his hands and shoving it in the right spot. 

Mobius grinned and stuck his thumb into his mouth, laying down on his belly and getting comfy, shifting from side to side. 

Loki soon mirrored, entirely subconsciously, of course and against his will because apparently he needed to teach this baby everything . 

Mobius grabbed one of the letter-shaped blocks and handed it to Loki, who scrunched up his nose and discarded it between the straps instead of deciding which hole the “B” fit into. He did not do this with most of the other shapes, not even the fancy 3D ones, just the letters. 

The two looked up as they heard footsteps, and Loki dropped the toy, carelessly, standing up on his knees and shuffling up to the side of the pen where he could watch as his older brother made bottles. 

He whined and yelled for Thor’s attention, but before Sylvie or Thor could do anything about it, Mobius touched Loki’s back in a reassuring manner. 

Loki tensed and quieted. He stared at the little, not the wide-eyed baby stare, but a calculated inquisitive look that one may give a complicated math problem. He did not sink into the touch, but did not pull away from it either, well not until Thor came by with bottles. It wasn’t a sort of forceful pull away, but Loki pretended it was after he did it. In reality, he was more just looking forward to more cuddle time with his caregiver. 

Thor scooped him up after handing off the other bottle to Sylvie, who took Mobius into her lap, not bothering to move as she gave him his. 

Loki remembered his clingy temperament and gripped Thor’s chest and shirt as if nursing from him and not a bottle. 

The warm milk quieted any fidgeting either of the little ones were doing, but unlike Loki, Mobius actually reached up and wrapped Sylvie’s hand over the bottle. 

“Do you want to take it yourself?” she asked lovingly. 

Mobius winked an eye open, and then moved his other hand up to grab it from Sylvie, showing her what an independent boy he was. 

“Oh, look at you!” she cooed, trying not to let the genuine delight and surprise hurt her face muscles. 

Mobius grinned back at her, and the expression quickly morphed to surprise as she leaned in to raspberry his belly. 

Perhaps the ordeal was a little too exciting, as the laughter caused him to spit up some of the milk onto both himself and Sylvie, but it was alright, they were both still in pajamas, anyway.

Loki pretended not to care as he busily suckled with his brother supporting him, making a rhythmic motion as Thor spoke. Gently and sweetly, he tried to distract Loki from any sort of other noises in the room like the plastic and wooden rattles that Sylvie and Mobius accidentally bumped as they played, trying to make Loki feel like the only little in the world, floating through the comforting fleecy void. 

And soon, the two of the boys were being led to their highchairs for breakfast. Loki was shaken from his near meditative state as Thor set him down, feet on the floor. At first, Loki attempted to pitch the second tantrum of the morning, but then he found his arms pulled as Thor “helped” him walk instead. 

Mobius had his thumb shoved in his mouth and was obviously trying his best to still be silent by the time Sylvie pulled him out of her lap. 

Then came the morning bowls of mush that each caregiver fed to a little. Loki got some time with Sylvie, while Mobius got some time with Thor. No one besides Sylvie seemed to like this convention much. Loki even slurped slowly at his spoon of applesauce to show his displeasure. 

“Oh what is it now? Are you jealous that mummy keeps working with the baby?”

Hesitantly, Loki pulled back on the half taken spoon and then nodded. 

She smiled at his honesty, a rarity for the sneaky toddler. “You know you can always help. You were such a good helper last night, you know that? And you played so well this morning. You did! It’s true.” She switched to a loving baby talk as she tried to continue feeding him. 

Loki switched back to taking more food and shyly smiled back at Sylvie. 

Thor was having a fairly easy time with Mobius, too, as Loki and Sylvie observed. The interactions with the new little seemingly came naturally to him, almost even more naturally than they came to Sylvie. He made vehicle noises as he scooped applesauce into Mobius’ mouth which made the baby giggle and coo, clapping his hands.

Loki looked over at them and scowled after observing for just a couple seconds, he even looked a little bit joyful, happy for them, before deciding he wasn’t supposed to feel that way. 

Sylvie was doing the exact same thing, looking back at the two when Loki turned back to her. So, he tried to get her attention. Well, not actually her attention. He wanted everyone’s attention. That left two options: Cry, or play a game. He kicked his legs a little bit first, “accidentally” hitting Sylvie in the process. 

Sylvie quickly looked back at him. “You were watching them,” she jokingly accused. 

Loki hadn’t expected that reaction, and plan B kicked into action: Loki began to go red… well pink with his pale complexion. 

“Uh-oh, does Loki have a bit of a crush?” she playfully added. 

Mobius and Thor seemed to find it amusing as well, but apparently, Loki did not. He quickly shook his head and started to cry, doing those baby-ish weepy balled hands at the corners of his eyes. 

“Oh fussy thing,” she tisked. “You know mummy is just playing.” 

Thor sent her a skeptical glance and she silently told him she knew and she very much didn’t need the pointer to know it was a dumb comment, thank-you-very-much. 

She set the bowl of applesauce aside, there wasn’t much left, anyway, and removed the tray to pick Loki up and lead him back to a quieter environment…. again. 

She sat with him on the couch, knowing it still gave him a view of Mobius and Thor in the kitchen, but was far enough away to give him a break. 

“Poor poor baby,” she hummed, patting his bottom. 

Loki didn’t mean to, but he practically sighed, melting into her.

“Oh, I know, big snuggles, but I’m afraid we need to do things today, and I can’t have you crying every time Thor or I need to step away.” 

Loki let out another huff. 

“You can either be mummy’s big helper, or you can go play with Mobius, alright?”

Loki kept himself tethered to her, seeming to have made his decision to be “mummy’s big helper”. 

Chapter Text

There were squeaks and giggles around the kitchen table this morning as Thor had two baby boys in their highchairs turned to face him. He had two bowls of oatmeal next to him, one with a green grippy spoon, and another with an orange grippy spoon. 

Loki had been given the opportunity to feed himself, but obviously, watching his big brother feed the baby made him a little bit jealous, and now Thor was feeding the littles their breakfast alternatingly. 

“So you know what you get to do with mummy today, right?” Thor asked.

Loki shook his head. 

“You get to help mummy take the baby to the doctors. Are you excited for that?” 

Mobius sank back in his chair, but Loki didn’t seem at all phased, humming with acknowledgement as he opened his mouth for more food. 

“The doctor’s is never fun. But Dr. Banner is very nice, and I’m sure Loki and mummy will make sure it’s fun for you,” Thor told the anxious baby. 

Mobius tearfully opened his mouth and accepted another bite before taking a sip out of his bottle. 

“Uh oh,” Thor said, looking down at his watch. 

Loki leaned forward, trying to get a look at what he saw. 

“I need to go, but I love you, you know that?” 

Loki nodded as he took a hug and a kiss on the temple and Mobius got the same treatment. 

“Sylvie!” Thor yelled. “I need to get going. Can you step in?” 

“I’m right here, No need to yell!” she frustratedly told him, stepping into the kitchen and setting down the overfilled diaper bag in one of the empty chairs. 

She finished feeding the littles their breakfasts, got them changed and dressed, and then buckled them into their car seats. 

“Are we ready to go?”

During the car ride, Mobius tried his best to get a view out the window, leaning forward and testing his restraints in order to see past the bulky sides of the headrest. 

Loki, on the other hand, talked to Sylvie, chirping to her about any nonsense he could come up with, the whole way there. 

“Mobius?” Sylvie asked. 

The younger little looked back at her, jerking his attention away from the scenes outside. 

“Are you excited to meet our friend Dr. Banner?” 

He leaned back, shaking his head. 

“Loki didn’t like him at first either, huh Loki?” 

The older little agreed, and looked at Mobius, feeling himself overcome with the constricting feeling of anxiety despite knowing that this appointment was not for him. 

The sanitary office building was a cool gray with blue tinted windows. 

In the concrete parking garage next to it, Sylvie set up the basic single stroller and waited for the baby to sit down in it. She strapped him down and held Loki’s hand as they walked towards the slightly menacing office. 

With his free hand, Loki began to suck his thumb the second that the automatic front doors greeted him. 

Sylvie pushed them into the elevator and used the time she had been allotted, a good 20 seconds, to grab Loki’s pacifier out of the diaper bag and shove it into his mouth. 

The building began to smell much more like a doctor’s office as the elevator doors opened. It smelled overwhelmingly of hand sanitizer and hastily covered sick. There were undertones of latex gloves and rubber, too.  

It became apparent that this was a specialty little doctor only when Sylvie opened up the door to the waiting room and brought the littles in. 

Loki stared over his shoulder at the back of the waiting room where all the toys and books were. His eyes glued to a tv playing claymation cartoons, while Sylvie talked to the man at the front desk and got Mobius checked in. 

When all was done, Sylvie moved the stroller next to where Loki had already decided he wanted to be. 

He was playing with an abacus while sitting on the floor. As Sylvie sat down next to him, he thrust it towards her and the baby, rattling the beads and acting as if it were the most interesting item in the world. 

Mobius lightly pressed against his restraints as he tried to grab at the toys Loki had found, so Sylvie unbuckled him and let him sit in her lap. He reached for the beads on colorful wires and tried to follow them with his eyes through the maze. 

Both littles were quiet, The empty office was devoid of any waiting room noise besides the occasional ring of the telephone behind the reception desk, and it gave Sylvie a much needed moment of peace. 

She rested her chin on Mobius’ shoulder and hugged him close to her. 

A nurse came out and called for them, so Sylvie took a quick second just to strap Mobius back into his stroller and get Loki to set down the abacus so he could follow them. 

Upon getting into the office, Loki sat down in one of the bearably comfortable pleather chairs while Sylvie unbuckled Mobius’ harness once again and coaxed him out of the stroller and up into her lap on the examination table. She also encouraged Loki, but he shook his head and chose to stay in his chair, playing with some of the toys attached to the stroller absently. 

They were hardly sitting for a minute, not even enough time for Loki to get bored, before a nurse came in. She had colorful scrubs and a seeming indifference for her work. “Is this Mobius?” she asked, already knowing the answer, and preparing her equipment. 

“Oh, look at that,” Sylvie narrated as the nurse held out the finger clip that would be used to check his vitals. 

Mobius leaned back and tried to bury himself into Sylvie’s shirt. 

“No, no, it doesn’t hurt. See? Watch mummy.” She sat him back up and stuck out her own hand, letting the nurse take her heart rate and blood oxygen levels first. “So we’re going to be calm. Okay? All relaxed...” She spoke barely above a whisper as she took the clip off her finger and reset the numbers on it, then clipped it to Mobius. She pet his back and held his hand so he wouldn’t be tempted to flick it off, lord knows Loki would. But Mobius resisted the urge and sat very still, breath quivering only a little bit as Sylvie tried to soothe him. 

Loki looked up and watched as he remembered that there was a baby in the room, who was on the verge of nervously hyperventilating. 

“C’mon, pacifier out, lovey. We need to take your temperature. Nice and easy,” Sylvie narrated. She gently tried to pull it out of his mouth, and he hesitantly released it. “Would it help if mummy did it first?” 

“Me! Me!” Loki butted in. This baby was too dumb to realize that the thermometer didn’t hurt? In Loki’s mind, that was a treat: A quick way to earn the favor and praise of the adults around him for being “such a brave boy”. 

The nurse let Loki take it. He tried to hide a sly smile that gave away how absolutely mischievous he felt, but Mobius was pretty obviously watching and pointing at him, babbling to Sylvie, presumably all about it. 

“Look at Loki over there being a big boy. You want to be a big boy, too, right?” Sylvie asked back. 

Mobius nodded slowly, but pointedly kept his mouth shut when the nurse offered him the cleanly sheathed piece of metal. 

“Would you rather have me take it rectally?” The nurse asked. It wasn’t uncommon with littles around Mobius’ age. 

Sylvie once again whispered to the baby. “It’ll be much easier if you just open your mouth, you know. You don’t want to do it the other way. Trust me.”

Loki recoiled thinking about the times that he had to have it done “the other way”.

But still, Mobius shook his head and tried once more to grab Sylvie’s hand for his pacifier back, whining his discontentment with it being away from his mouth and putting his thumb temporarily in its place.

“Fine,” she sighed. “If you want to do this the difficult way, we’ll do it the difficult way.” 

Gingerly, she moved the little off her lap and laid him down onto the paper covered table. Then, just as if this were a diaper change, she pulled down his pants and unsnapped his onesie. She took a second to check his diaper, see if he needed a new one, but it was clean, most importantly. Dry? Not exactly, but that didn’t matter. 

She lifted his knees and the poor little made a yelp unlike anything Loki had ever heard from the baby. 

Mobius had fussed before, and even had a meltdown once, but it was still a quiet one. Even in that case it probably couldn’t have been heard from the other room. Loki’s soft crying was probably on that level, but this- this was different. This was a scream that Loki and Sylvie both knew could only be followed by a tantrum. 

Sylvie still tried to remain calm and act like this was routine, even as he gripped onto her sleeve and tried to pull on her. “I know, I know, and I warned you,” she told him, petting his belly with her free hand as she kept his legs up until the thermometer beeped and could be removed. 

Mobius bit down on his pacifier, and the tantrum never came, just two lone screams of shock and upset followed by anxious, quick breaths. 

“That was so scary, wasn’t it?” she asked. She leaned in and whispered to him as she continued, “You know, Loki threw huge fits when he had it done that way. I don’t think he really ever forgave Thor for that one.” 

Loki glared at her, but Mobius seemed to find it funny, quickly changing his demeanor to smiling back at Sylvie as she did her best to stifle a laugh at Loki’s oh-so-angry expression while she continued re-dressing Mobius. 

She soon sat him back up and pulled him onto her lap, just as he had been earlier while Loki hoisted himself up onto the bench behind her, suddenly desperate to share the attention. 

She kept one hand around Mobius, but set her other on Loki’s knee while the nurse took a few notes and asked Sylvie a few questions about the baby.

Then, the nurse left, saying that the doctor will be in in a few minutes and that it would likely be a while- sorry for the wait- as the medical records were still transferring and insurance being weird and it was this whole thing. 

Loki got up once the room was empty. He squeezed past the stroller and snuck around as Sylvie comforted and played with Mobius, poking at his belly and kissing his cheeks, hoping to slow the hyperventilating breaths. 

Distraction. That was the key. That was always the key with these little ones. She leaned over and fished a rattle out of the diaper bag as Mobius’ cheeks reduced in redness. “Oh, look at that? What is that? Does it make a noise?” she asked, taking the little’s hand in her own and shaking the rattle just slightly. His eyes widened and he started to grin while kicking his legs. But she kept one eye on the curious toddler who was bravely going where he had never gone before. 

Doctors appointments with Dr. Banner had always been for Loki in the past, so whenever he had been in the office, he was confined to the arms of his mummy or brother on top of the exam table. But now he was free and there was no anxiety of a shot keeping him tethered to one of his caregivers. 

Loki opened one of the drawers, but nothing inside caught his interest, so he opened another… and another-

“Loki,” Sylvie scolded him. 

Loki shut one of the drawers but continued to rummage through the others until she called him again: “Loki! Shut it. Can we come up here instead?” She was trying very hard to sound calm and peaceful, to keep Mobius happy and admonish Loki at the same time. It was a difficult balance, and quite the feat that she was able to do it, a skill she attributed to the times when she needed to tell Thor he was acting like an idiot but still help Loki not freak out because of a messy nappy or a nightmare. 

Loki grabbed a stethoscope out of a drawer and brought it over to show Sylvie and Mobius, not quite understanding (or at least not caring about) Sylvie’s commands; he was too excited about his discoveries to process her requests. 

He put it in his ears and tried to listen to his own heartbeat, sitting down on the floor, right in the middle of the office. Sylvie tried again to tell him to stop, but the baby in her lap kept her seated as he clung to her whenever she tried to lean or move him. So, she let Loki play. He was quiet, he was learning, she rationalized to herself, as she allowed Mobius to take all her physical attention, still keeping her mental attention divided evenly between the both of them. 

Loki pulled up his shirt and eventually took it entirely off as he frustratedly kept trying to listen to more of his organs aside from just his heart. That seemed to be the idea anyway, as he moved the metal device around his chest, and then down to his belly, and tried on his arms and neck and forehead. 

Soon, realizing that his experiment hadn’t worked, Loki left his shirt on the floor as he got up and tried with both Sylvie and Mobius, pressing the stethoscope to their chests and seeing if perhaps that changed anything.

“Okay, we’ve had our fun, can we put your shirt back on and put the stethoscope back for Dr. Banner?” Sylvie asked. It was a rhetorical question, as she finally convinced Mobius to move off her lap so she could get up and gently set the stethoscope on the counter, away from Loki’s hands, and pulled the shirt back onto him. “Let’s play with something else, alright?” 

Loki got back up and looked for something else. He peeked into another drawer and found the Holy Grail of a little’s trip to the doctors office: a box of assorted stickers surrounded by even more boxes of colorful band-aids. 

“No, not yet. I don’t think so,” Sylvie quickly removed his hand and shut the drawer. “We’re going to play with the toys Dr. Banner gave us, alright?” She pulled up a basket from the other side of the room which had been obscured by the diagonally placed examination table. 

Loki scrunched up his nose at it. The corner basket of rejected toys that had been played with by sick little, healthy child, and all in between, but never loved or cherished like the toys Loki kept in the diaper bag or in his bedroom. They were rejects, forsaken objects. 

Regardless of his personal beliefs about them, when Sylvie placed the basket on the table, he still sifted through it, pretending he was interested. Sylvie let Mobius look through them as well, watching the tear stains on his face fade as he pulled out a couple of stuffed toys and picture books. 

One caught Loki’s eye. One he hadn’t seen in the office before. 

“Mummy! Mum-mum!” Loki called her attention. He showed her a story, one he quite liked. “Mummy, baby catapilla!” 

“It is just like the one Mobius has in his crib, isn’t it?” she asked. Taking “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” out of his hands. 

“Where Finny?” Loki asked, preparing himself for the story. 

“He’s in the stroller pocket, love. Can you grab baby’s lamb, too?”

Loki grabbed both plushies and tossed Mobius’ towards him as he crawled back up for story time. 

Sylvie opened the book and began reading, and it wasn’t long until Loki was also wanting to sit in her lap, eyelids droopy, chewing on his pacifier. 

“No, no,” she smiled, “it’s not naptime, not yet. Let’s stay awake,” she encouraged both of the littles. Loki crawled behind her and rested his head on the paper-y pillow, curling up into a little ball regardless of Sylvie’s opinions. 

“Hi, hi, sorry we took so long. It’s been a hectic morning.” Dr. Banner entered the room. “And this must be Mr. Mobius. Hey little guy! And who is that back there?” 

Loki pushed himself up so he was more sitting up instead of laying down. 

“Is that Loki? Hey bud!” 

Loki tried to smile, but there was something about the doctor that always made him rather uneasy. “Hi.” he shot back. “Um, mummy rea ‘tory while wai’ an’ babies seepy,” Loki informed him, very seriously. 

“He’s talking more than he was last time,” Dr. Banner smiled. 

“Yeah, he’s been doing well. We’re still working on adjusting to the new baby, though.”

“Alright, about that little guy,” Bruce clapped his hands together. 

Mobius was charmed by the man and smiled at him.

“I’m Dr. Banner, your mom and older brothers have been coming to see me for quite a while,” he introduced himself, holding out his hand for Mobius to shake.

Mobius grabbed it in his other hand cautiously, but didn’t properly shake it, but that was good enough for a little so small. 

“Sylvie, tell me about him. What developmental stages is he in? How’s his movement? Responses to noise? How’s the move treating him?” The doctor scooted forward on his rolling stool as he spoke and got up to inspect the little closer.

Mobius cooed and made squeaks as his head was touched and his hair was brushed through by the doctor’s fingers, inspecting the way it grew, its health, looking for dandruff or dents. 

“He can walk a good amount, but generally prefers to crawl, I think. He hasn’t spoken any words yet, but has shown me he knows some means of communication with sign language. Oh! And with that he told me they were feeding him solid food before he came to us.” 

“Wow, solid food, what a big boy,” Banner commented coolly as he inspected Mobius’ mouth and teeth. 

That’s when Loki stepped in: he got up, setting down his toys, and showed the doctor his teeth and mouth, too. “Look! Big boy teef!” he said, almost drooling, with his pointer fingers hooked into the sides of his mouth. 

Banner paused for a moment, and then shined the flashlight in Loki’s mouth, too. 

The gesture made Mobius giggle and scratch the side of his nose. 

“Is Loki being funny?” Sylvie asked.  

Mobius nodded. 

“Well, it looks like he’s understanding you and responding. That’s pretty advanced for his age,” Banner told Sylvie while turning the flashlight off and ignoring Loki. “Let’s take a look at those ears, see what makes them listen so well.” 

Loki kept a close eye on the doctor as he grabbed the otoscope off the wall and put a new cap on it in order to look into Mobius’ ear. “Me first!” he butted in, again.

Banner smiled and complied with the request; a little who was happy to be at the doctor was a rarity, and even if it wasn’t his appointment, it seemed to help the baby, so he didn’t mind. 

“Oh, I see something!” he said in mock surprise. 

“What is it?” Loki anxiously sputtered back. 

“Loki, you have kitties living in your ears! -‘meow’- oh there’s one. -‘hiss’- oh that one almost got me.” 

Loki grinned at the thought of one of the many, apparently, kitties in his ears trying to scratch the doctor. 

“Alright, let’s take a look at Mobius. See if he has any kittens. Are you going to help me look?”

He looked through the machine first and took his actual observations first before letting Loki have a try. 

Mobius couldn’t help but squirm at the feeling of the device tickling him. 

“Do you see any kitties in there?” Banner asked. 

Loki shook his head. 

“That’s alright. They’ll grow in,” he smiled. The doctor took the tool away and cleaned it off before grabbing the one next to it. With this one, he examined Mobius’ eyes. The baby flinched backwards in reaction to the bright light. 

This time, Loki did not fight to get a turn, instead he stood next to the doctor with his hands behind his back, bent over, acting like a teacher observing their student’s science project. He watched Mobius with a judgmental pursed lip. 

“Mobius, Mobius! Hey, can you look at me, buddy?” 

Mobius stopped staring at his older brother, snapping out of the near staring contest with Loki. He grinned at the doctor as the trance broke. 

“There, good job… Thank you.” He addressed Sylvie next, “Does he have any toys? One he really likes?” 

“Yah!” Loki butted in. He grabbed the lavender lamb from next to his mummy before Sylvie even had time to answer and showed it to Mobius, letting the baby reach out for it, but not giving it to him. 

“Okay, Loki, I need something from you, can you be a big boy and help me?”

“Uh-huh!” 

“I need you to move from side to side, okay?” 

“Side-side,” Loki repeated to show he understood. 

“Alright, start… now.” 

Very inconveniently, Loki stood behind Dr. Banner and moved the toy back and forth to the right and left of the doctor. 

Mobius smiled as he watched Loki and the lamb. 

“Wow, good job little guy. You got some healthy eyes there.” Banner turned off the flashlight and set the tool back on the shelf.

Loki set the lamb down in the stroller and found himself intrigued by the wall of tools which the ophthalmoscope and otoscope had come from. He squeezed the bulb of the blood pressure machine and watched as the little red reader jumped. It kept him briefly entertained as Banner asked Sylvie more boring questions: “Do you know his biological age?” 

“They told me early 50’s but we’re not really sure.” As she spoke, she pulled him back into her lap, a little closer so he didn’t slip off. 

Banner reached over and grabbed the sheep from the stroller, giving it to Mobius, again. 

The baby happily took it, shaking joyfully, even though it didn’t rattle. 

“He sure got lucky, then. Most biologically older littles tend not to get picked up from adoption centers.” 

The thought saddened Sylvie, but she tried not to show it, lifting her head to rest on his shoulder as Mobius pet the sheep and didn’t listen.

Banner scribbled something onto the paper attached to his clipboard, before finding another question. “I had a lot more of these, but having Loki here has answered most of them for me,” he laughed. 

Loki turned around and dropped the blood-pressure equipment, unsure of what the comment meant. 

“Oh, no, no nothing mean,” he assured both Loki and Sylvie after seeing their worried looks. “Mobius’ fascination with his older brother has shown me he’s smiling and cooing, he’s watching objects that he finds interesting and listening, he’s reaching on his own… That’s most of what I have. Just a few left.” 

Loki let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding and tried to find something new to play with, going through the basket of books and toys that was placed behind Mobius and Sylvie. 

“Any troubles with sleep?” Dr. Banner asked, scooting a little bit closer to examine Mobius’ crooked nose. 

“It’s about what you’d expect: eight hours at night, a one hour nap during the day, and a couple wakings for nappy changes or another bottle.”

Banner had a different question he had prepared to ask next, but Mobius was starting to fuss and pull away. “Do you know how or when he broke his nose?”

“I don’t. They didn’t tell me that. But that reminds me;”  Sylvie pulled down her little’s pants, causing his upset to become more frantic, just a little bit. “Do you know what these could be from?” she asked, touching the healed scar marks. 

Mobius squirmed and started to cry. 

“Loki can you move the toys? I’d like Mobius to lie down for this portion of the exam,” Banner told the toddler, but Sylvie moved it as she got up and kept Mobius down, petting his belly as he struggled and whined and soft tears rolled down his cheeks. 

“This is the thing!” Sylvie said. “He won’t cry for anything else, but the second he’s undressed it’s suddenly a problem. I don’t understand, I’ve never taken care of a little like this.”

“I wish I knew what to tell you, but I don’t get it, either. Some littles just have sensitivities. Consider it a baby quirk. If his headspace grows, he might grow out of it. Let’s take a look at those scars though. That’s a lot.”

“Do you think it was abuse?”

Banner took a deep breath, “I'm not sure if we can jump to that conclusion so fast, but it's a possibility. How does he react to baths? Is it the same?”

“No, I think he likes bath time, doesn’t seem to mind diaper changes either.” 

Banner nodded. “It always sucks seeing a little who was abused in the past but… Well, he’s healing now. But he’s not going to like what I need to do next, can you just keep him calm for me?” 

Sylvie nodded and Loki saw this as an opportunity, as well. He found a baby toy in the diaper bag and held it above Mobius’ head. But Mobius didn’t watch the toy much, still more fascinated by Loki and the older little’s interest in the adults. 

The doctor jabbered on, asking hundreds of questions to Sylvie about Mobius’ activities, how many diapers he had been using, colors of urine, any injuries or spots that seemed to be bothering him. It was all a bit much for poor Sylvie who had only been taking care of Mobius full time for three days, but she did her best to give honest answers while the doctor pressed different spots on Mobius’ abdomen and chest, searching for lumps or expressions of pain. But nothing ever came except a couple coos and mews that came with the little’s touch-starved nature. Once Sylvie resnapped his onesie and pulled his pants back up it was all wiggles and giggles. 

“How’s he looking on shots…?” the doctor asked himself, flipping through his papers. “Looks like we’re due for one,” he said, “but other than that, we’re all done. I’ll go get that all ready for you.”

It wasn’t a long waiting period, just enough time for Sylvie to turn Mobius around in her lap so he could hug her and rest his tired head on her shoulder and for Loki to start to get fussy. 

“When go?” he asked, moping, and leaning on the countertops.

“Soon, little one.”

“When Tor?” 

“Big brother’s at work, you know that.”

Loki began to get even more dramatic, “When play?” he asked in a very drawn out way, leaning his neck back and nearly bonking his head against the cabinets behind him. 

“Soon, soon, be patient.” 

Loki nearly screamed, he whined so loud. “Noooo! Bored now!”

“Well that’s good, because we’re almost done here,” Dr. Banner sighed as he reentered with a small tray of shot supplies. 

Mobius absently looked away as the doctor rolled up his sleeve and applied an alcohol pad to the area. Sylvie got him to sit still and spoke gently to keep him calm and distracted. His face twisted a little bit as the doctor disposed of the syringe and applied a cool Care Bears band-aid, which Loki found himself very jealous of. 

“Alright, there we go, all set.”

“Sticka!” Loki reminded the doctor, who of course, obliged even as Sylvie told him to say “Please” multiple times. 

But now all was done, and things would be easier on Sylvie for the rest of the day. That was it, that was the big stress. Now she could go home, make herself a cup of tea and sit down in the living room with the two littles. That sounded good… no… That sounded perfect. 

Chapter Text

“Good morning my sweet cherry pie,” Sylvie cooed once she noticed Mobius shifting in his bassinet, making little noises and reaching for the star mobile above his head.

The little didn’t seem to care as his diaper was checked and he was laid on the changing pad on Sylvie’s bed. But he did giggle and squirm while Sylvie changed him and played with a rattle toy in his hands as she raspberried his belly.  

“You did so well sleeping through the night last night, you know that? Only one waking,” she reminded him, trying to make conversation. “And mummy took care of that, didn’t she?”

Mobius smiled at her lovingly as she helped him sit up. 

“Now, would baby like to go see his big brothers?” she cooed, rubbing noses with him. “I bet they’re already having breakfast.”

In the kitchen, Loki was already feeding himself a cup of yogurt and Thor was enjoying his own cup of coffee and toast. 

Mobius got ready to climb up into his highchair when Sylvie stopped him. 

“Let’s get some formula in your tummy first, yeah?”

“I wan’!” Loki chirped. 

“You also want a bottle?” Thor asked.

Loki stubbornly nodded. 

“Thought you were being a big boy,” remarked Sylvie as she took down another bottle from the cabinet, filling it with milk and formula powder. 

“I am!” Loki defensively added. 

Sylvie led her baby and took both bottles to the couch, but Loki didn’t immediately follow. 

“Come sit!” she beckoned.

“Go on,” Thor encouraged him after unstrapping Loki’s restraints. 

Thor eventually joined them after Loki, pulling his little brother into his lap as he sat down and helping him with the warm milk. 

But Loki was distracted, and watched Mobius with fascinated eyes, it was quickly becoming one of his favorite pastimes as he made long mental lists of likes and dislikes and character traits which he never thought about again after observing. 

The baby felt his gaze and watched him back, giving a couple little kicks and wiggles to show how excited he was to see his big brother. 

Sylvie removed the empty bottle from Mobius’ mouth and burped him. 

Loki tried not to giggle at the squeak that Mobius made when Sylvie tapped him on the back.

“There we go, all ready for breakfast,” she said, patting Mobius one more time, just to be sure. 

Loki still needed a moment to finish his bottle, but after he was done, his brother heaved him up into a big hug, burping him as well, and then took him to the bathroom for a morning bath, as someone had made a little bit of a mess while taking his bottle. No matter how big his headspace was, Loki had lost almost all of his control over those sorts of things, but neither Thor nor Sylvie minded. He went red, but didn’t immediately cry, waiting until Thor picked him up to whine and mumble upsetly about it. 

After a bath, Thor set his baby brother down in just his diaper on the floor of the nursery, giving Loki the opportunity to pick out his own clothes, another favorite pastime of little Loki. 

He looked through his closet and dresser, sifting through sundresses and pajamas and rompers and onesies. 

“I think today’s a good day for your overalls,” Thor commented. 

Loki nodded in agreement and grabbed out a pair of pretty blue overalls, a dark denim with plenty of pretty patches and embroidery. Several mends were done in bright threads to create running designs of vines and daisies and other various colorful plants. Admittedly however, there was a very out of place stitched cat head on the back pocket after Loki had insisted on it. It was his favorite part, but it made the rest of the outfit appear unmistakably hand customized. Regardless, Loki loved them. 

 They were soon followed by Sylvie leading in the baby. She had tried to pick all of the morning’s sweet potato mash out of his mustache but had failed, and a few little flecks of orange were still visible. She occasionally glanced at it and pretended as if it didn’t bother her while picking out an outfit for him, with Loki’s input of course.

“If we give him overalls then you can match!” Sylvie squealed a little bit too enthusiastically. But these overalls did not look like Loki’s. There were no designs on them, just plain blue denim. 

So, swallowing his pride momentarily by hiding his face in Thor’s chest, Loki let Sylvie dress up Mobius to match him.

Admittedly, he was a little flattered when he looked up to see Sylvie helping the baby stand up. Mobius wiggled and looked down at himself and his new clothes as if they were all very fascinating. He did not throw a fit over being able to see his legs like he had last time, but instead, he seemed to find them interesting; fascinating things which he had never seen before.  

“Shall we play, maybe?” Thor proposed as Loki began to sift through the toys beneath his bed, crawling around the opened crib to move around stuffed toys. 

Loki tied a small blanket around his neck and grabbed a few beloved plush toys, most notably, Thor’s goat, which wasn’t exactly Thor’s anymore after he had passed it down to Loki, knowing the tot would take good care of it. He did. In fact, second only to his wolf, it was the stuffie treated with the utmost respect. 

He picked it up and showed it to Thor before climbing down from his bed and letting his big brother lead him out to the living room. 

Loki sat down with a plop and moved the plush animals around without any dialogue, the whole scene taking place within his head. 

Mobius was soon set down next to him, but Loki pretended not to notice, instead showing the toys to Sylvie, and keeping the rest of his body turned away with the exception of his forest green blanket-cape that Mobius rested on, chewing on a teether and looking up at one of his caregivers in awe every time the rattle inside it made a noise until he realized that they were taking care of their own chores, and until they realized that maybe his curiosity would convince both him and Loki to get into trouble that they weren’t prepared to deal with right at this moment. 

Thor turned on the television and checked on Loki and Mobius, who both looked up at him, curiously. “Loki really likes this show, have you seen it?” Thor asked Mobius, referring to the colorful puppets on the screen. 

Mobius shook his head. 

“I think you’ll like it,” Thor winked, rubbing his hair and giving Loki an extra kiss on the cheek before leaving. 

Chapter Text

As reruns aired, Loki lost a little bit of attention and went back to a pretend game with his toys. 

“My, did Thor not give you a bib? Poor thing,” Sylvie laughed as she noticed drool dripping down Mobius’ chin and onto Loki’s blanket. 

Sylvie grabbed a burp cloth and wiped off his face, “drooly boy,” she teased. 

Mobius took the toy out of his mouth with little strings of spit and cooed up at Sylvie. 

She pressed her lips together and raised her eyebrows, nodding, and pretending not to be at least a little bit grossed out by it as she wiped off the rubbery ring with the same cloth. 

“Do you think we’re ready to go soon?” Sylvie asked, turning off the tv.

“Go?” Loki questioned, setting down his toys. 

“Yeah, we wanted to take you both out to the park, maybe a little picnic,” she proposed.

Loki clapped excitedly, alarming the tinier little who wasn’t quite prepared for the sudden noise, or the yank of the blanket, beneath him as Loki got up. 

Defeatedly, Mobius laid down prone, like he had observed Loki doing whenever he fell, until Sylvie came and pulled him up. “You watch your big brother too much, you know that?” she asked, bringing him into a tight hug.  

He made a small giggle, and seemed to think himself rather funny, poking at his nose shyly with a mitten. 

He did that quite a bit. Sylvie and Thor had come to the conclusion that maybe that was because it tickled when he blew air out of it so quickly, like when laughing. Or maybe it was more of an itch? They weren’t entirely sure, but it didn’t seem to hurt or bother him much, so they didn’t mind it. 

Sylvie handed the baby boy off to Thor, and the little made a high pitched chirp of farewell as she left to get showered and dressed. 

Thor agreed to make sure Loki was getting ready to go to the park. There wasn’t much to prepare besides the diaper bags, so that essentially meant making sure he wasn’t opening up finger paints.

Loki followed Thor’s spoken directions as if it were a scavenger hunt, dropping items into the bag as he searched for them. However he still did not quite understand the specificity of packing one, which meant Thor would need to lovingly rearrange the contents while listing off more things to get as the little helped. 

Mobius, despite being much smaller and newer to the home than Loki, did know where many of these items were, and occasionally crawled out of Thor’s lap to help Loki find stuff or to grab the object himself, if it was in a location he could reach from standing up on his knees while bracing against something. 

Loki zipped up the bag when Thor said that they were done.  

But then Thor paused, stopping him. “Do you want to bring a couple toys as well?” he asked.

Loki nodded and stepped over to his bed. He paused as he thought what to take and looked around the room, sifting through his toys under his bed, and eventually settled on running out to the living room to grab his goat plushie, running back to show it to Thor again. 

“Alright, do you have everything?” Thor asked when Loki made it back to the floor of the bedroom and set the goat down into the pocket of the bag.

“Yup!” 

“Good because I think Sylvie’s already waiting for us.”.

The park was nice, and the temperate day made for perfect play weather for Loki, and even Mobius, who played in the sandbox with some of Thor’s help, especially when it came to helping the little sit upright on his own and picking up that, oh so heavy, bucket of sand. 

The adult plucked the pebbles out of the baby’s mustache and silver hair, and made sure to stop him from throwing or licking any of it, which Mobius responded to with a distraught look back at his caregiver. 

A shadow loomed over Thor and Mobius in the sandbox and Loki watched from the top of the playground as Sylvie came and sat down on the ledge with them. 

“Weren’t you unpacking the food?”

“I was, but it’s not very fun in comparison to watching over my littles, now is it?” 

“I guess not,” Thor conceded, letting her sit down with them. 

Loki saw an opportunity as Sylvie seemed like she needed a little to take care of. “Mummy! Mummy play swings!” he shouted, coming down from his high spot on the playground. 

Sylvie smiled and took his hand. “Okay, let’s go to the swings.” 

Mobius stopped sifting through his sand to watch them as Loki giggled and gave happy yelps as Sylvie pushed him.

Keeping his pacifier in, the baby leaned forward onto his hands in front of him and made a babble to Thor- a little “m!” 

“Do you want to go on the swings like Loki?” Thor asked.

He nodded and let Thor pick him up. They walked to the little swing, one which leaned back in a big, chair-like fashion with shoulder straps that clicked with a seatbelt. 

Thor grabbed Mobius’ velcro, red, sneakers, instructing the tot to keep his legs extended so he could push him from the front. Mobius reached for his caregiver a little bit and giggled as Thor grabbed his feet and made jokes, but he still tried to watch Loki next to him, who was trying so hard to be a big boy on a regular swing, and having a rough time. 

“Let’s move to a different swing, how does that sound?” Sylvie suggested. She knew if she said “baby swing” Loki wouldn’t budge and would throw a fit on how he was absolutely, most definitely, not a baby.

Loki nodded. “Sing boken,” he informed her. 

It wasn’t at all, but that was alright, he needed the baby swing anyway. 

Sylvie buckled him in next to Mobius. 

Although the littles couldn’t see each other, the presence of another little was felt. Immensely so. 

As Mobius would kick at Thor, Loki would watch him and laugh, but Sylvie didn’t put up with that when he tried. 

“Tor! Tor!” Loki yelled. “Tor go push!” 

“Fine, fine, I’ll get you too!” Thor laughed. He didn’t mean to, but he nearly pushed Sylvie out of the way as he tried to run between Mobius and Loki to push them by their feet. 

She shook her head and decided to stand behind the littles, pushing them from the opposite side, very lightly, just enough to feel like she was doing something. 

But soon, Thor stopped the swings and helped Loki and Mobius out of their seats, picking the little-r of the two up. “I think it’s about time for lunch, don’t you?” 

Mobius stuck out his tongue at the thought of having to eat savory baby food again. Sylvie was good at what she did, but mush food was always a little bit off, even with all the fancy seasonings. Luckily though, as he soon found out after being set down next to her on the picnic blanket, they were trying something new today. 

Both of the littles got their bibs snapped around their necks before being given the option to snack on different finger foods; several types of fruit, crackers, and cheeses were laid out in front of them. 

“Mobius,” Sylvie caught his attention as she noticed him looking down at the selection, “I have more baby food if you don’t want to do solids.” 

He nodded to show he understood and then picked up a Goldfish cracker and ate it. Loki stared at him as he did it, and then handed Mobius another cautiously, seemingly surprised that a baby who never wanted to walk, and refused to talk, or potty at all, would be so comfortable eating solid food. 

Then, Mobius grabbed one and handed it to Loki. 

Loki took it and then grinned at his mummy and big brother to check if they saw. 

“Baby silly!” Loki giggled, trying again and giving Mobius a cereal puff and then a banana slice. 

Sylvie nudged Thor to get him to look at them. “Look at that!” she grinned quietly. 

Loki picked up another slice of banana and gave it to Thor this time, and made sure to try and set a couple of crackers into Sylvie’s mouth. 

“You need to eat too, little one,” Thor told his toddler brother, handing him a carrot stick. 

Loki took a nibble off of it before immediately going back to trying to feed the rest of his family. 

So, Mobius grabbed some more fruits and crackers and gave them to Loki, who was absolutely, once again, tickled by the gesture.

“Look at them… silly boys,” Sylvie quietly whispered to Thor across from the blanket. 

Noticing she was talking, Loki offered her more food. 

“I’m okay, but thank you. That’s very nice.” 

Loki stood up then; if Sylvie was done eating, that meant everyone was, right? 

“Mummy go up! Swing ‘gain!” 

“I have you,” Thor said instead, leading his little brother up around the playground. 

Once suitably away from the blanket, Loki tapped Thor on the shoulder. “Um, bubba, seeket,” he whispered, trying to get Thor to lean in. And once his older brother did, Loki whispered a little “um…”, as he couldn’t think of anything, and then pushed his brother with one hand. “Tag!” he yelled as he tried to run off. 

For a moment Thor was a little bit stunned. Was he just pushed? Was Loki trying to play a chase game? Against him? The tot was still in diapers, there was no way he was going to outrun Thor…. And yet. “You little snake!” Thor called. 

Loki giggled and screamed as he tried his best to pull himself up the playground, crawling through tubes and going down slides as he tried to run away from his older brother, who was admittedly, not putting in his best effort to get him. 

“Tag!” he yelled back as he reached up and caught Loki’s ankle through the bars of the jungle-gym platform. 

Loki squealed and then raced down to come tag Thor again. And Thor, now invested in the game, ran a little bit faster to escape from the little, even if Loki was only a toddler who was starting to waddle. 

Then…

“Thor, Thor! Psst!” Sylvie called at him. 

Thor stopped running for a second and looked at Sylvie, sitting in the grass, cradling Mobius and holding his bottle for him. “Hm?” he asked. 

She motioned over to something he did not see. 

Thor peeked down over the ledge and saw the sight he had really really hoped not to see: little Loki face down in the woodchips. 

“Loki?” Thor asked, coming down to check on him. “Are you alright? Do you need a Band-Aid?” 

Loki looked up at him, teary and sad looking, checking to make sure there was genuine sympathy in his eyes. “Tor! Tor up!” he cried. 

After being helped up, Loki paused and tried to hide a smirk. “Tag!” he yelled before running off again. 

“Loki stay within the woodchips please!” Sylvie commanded as he tried to run around the picnic blanket, using Sylvie and Mobius as a shield. But then it really happened, and Thor knew it really happened because he watched in real time as Loki tripped and fell scraping up the palms of his hands and his knees. 

Thor knelt down by him, “tag,” he said quietly as he pet Loki’s back before scooping him up. Loki properly cried this time, complete with yells and screams as Thor rubbed his back and sat down next to Sylvie and Mobius. 

Mobius turned onto his stomach in Sylvie’s lap and watched Loki, babbling and very obviously empathizing with the older boy’s condition. 

Sylvie reached over her baby boy to fish a couple band-aids out of the bag with the addition of a Neosporin tube. “There we go, look at those.” 

Loki peeked out of Thor’s arms at the Sesame Street Band-Aids he was offered while Thor put some of the anti-bacterial cream onto his wounds. Loki screeched like Thor’s attention hurt him even more and only finally stuffed his thumb in his mouth once Thor put the Cookie Monster Band-Aid on his knee and kissed the spot. 

“Are your boo-boos all fixed?” Sylvie asked. 

Loki nodded, and before Thor could move it out of his reach, he grabbed a Band-Aid, clumsily peeled it, and stuck it on Mobius’ cheek. “No hurt,” he smiled. “Baby no hurt.” 

“Yeah, you’re the one who fell, not Mobius,” Thor laughed. 

“Helpah,” Loki grinned, ignoring his big brother’s observation. Then, he leaned forward again and touched the other little’s hair. “Mumma hold.” 

“I am holding him,” Sylvie agreed. 

“Loki hold?”

“You’ll have to get off my lap first for that,” Thor responded before gently assisting Loki down onto the grass. 

Loki put his hands out as if to grab for a new toy, signaling that he was ready. So very gently, Sylvie let Mobius crawl into his lap instead. 

The older boy squeaked with delight as he played with Mobius’ hands and hair and the straps on his overalls like a baby doll. 

He looked up at his carers when Mobius did the same to him, with a big grin of course. 

“Loki, Mobius is your baby, too, did you know that?” Sylvie asked. 

Loki stopped smiling after she said that. He looked up at her and stared, not even seeming to care as Mobius took his fingers and chewed on them gently. It wasn’t like an upset lack of a smile, but more of a pondering one. He obviously didn’t know what to make of that concept. 

So… Mobius was like… a pet! He concluded. But, a pet takes a lot of care and attention. Babies take a lot of care and attention. Loki needed that care and attention. He opened his mouth to speak after thinking about this. “But… but, baby, too!” he whined. 

“You’re right, you’re right, bad example. You and Mobius are learning to take care of each other,” she said, thoughtfully replacing her words, knowing Loki wouldn’t take to an idea unless there was something in it for him as well. Having a second big brother taking care of him was definitely a benefit. 

“Yep. Loki take care now. Cuz’ when tiny Mobis take care,” he decided. For having the limited vocabulary of a two year old, Loki sure did try his best to communicate. He was a chatty little guy even if not all the concepts of the English language stuck in his mind. 

Mobius grinned and removed Loki’s fingers from his mouth, cooing as he recognized his name leaving Loki’s mouth. 

“Uh-huh?” Loki asked, looking down at him to check if that had been the correct assumption.

He was met with kicks and giggles and the feeling of Mobius snuggling his face into his arm. 

“Yeah, see? Good care!” Loki grinned. 

“You are just the cutest little things, huh?” Sylvie asked, tickling Loki’s neck as she put away food. “I’ll take him back though now, because you need to get your wiggles out for naptime.” 

“Why doesn’t Mobius get to get his wiggles out, too?” Thor asked. 

“Wel-” Sylvie paused after she started speaking. “I…- Baby, do you want to get your wiggles out with your big brothers?” 

Mobius nodded and let Thor pick him up. He was just a little bit lighter than Loki and easy to heft around. 

Loki ran around the playground as Thor slowly coaxed the baby to crawl up the stairs and Loki helped take him down the slide. 

But soon they began to slow down. Thor hefted Mobius up onto his back and took Loki’s hand as he led them back to the car. Sylvie had packed up the picnic and was all ready. 

She opened the car doors for him and helped him get both of the little boys into their car seats to go home. They were barely awake when Sylvie popped two colorful pacifiers into their mouths. 

Upon getting home, Loki was still awake, having to walk in on his own as neither Thor nor Sylvie could carry him at the moment. 

He rubbed his eyes and whined. A loud sigh of exhaustion permeated the nursery as Thor set Mobius into his crib on the far side of the room and ushered Loki up onto the changing table. 

Loki took his nappy change silently before getting set into his crib and the bars were yanked up. However, Mobius’ change went very differently.

His cold, soggy diaper had made him temperamental and difficult, seemingly snapping him out of the near unconscious state.

“Hush, child,” Thor whispered, petting Mobius’ back after picking the younger little up again after the worst was over. “Loki, what troubles you, brother?” 

Loki reached out his arms in a request as he stood up in his crib. 

“Mummy’s making bottles right now. I promise, you will get one.” 

“No! No! Take care! Mobis take care! Pease?!” he whined. 

“Do you want to take a nap with your big brother?” Thor asked. 

Mobius nodded tearfully and held out his arms to be handed to the slightly older boy. 

Thor set down the bars of the crib, nearly dropping Mobius as he did so. 

“There we go,” he heaved. 

The two fit perfectly. As in, they had room to both be on their backs with their limbs stretched out in that definingly infantile way while barely touching one another. 

Mobius giggled as Loki moved around and adjusted himself.

“Look at you two!” Sylvie grinned as she came into the room with the two bottles. “Such cuties… Do you want your bottles?” she cooed.

The boys each took their bottles with two hands and lazily sucked while Sylvie sat down at the foot of the bed and read them a story, rubbing their legs when they (mostly Mobius) kicked or snuffled as they readjusted for comfort. 

Eventually, Sylvie closed the book and checked to see if the babies were asleep. 

Loki was still chewing on the nipple of his bottle as if it were a pacifier, while Mobius’ bottle had rolled out of one hand and had nestled into the corner next to the bars of the crib while his thumb was gently placed between his lips. 

Sylvie took both bottles and pressed pacifiers into their mouths before covering the both of them with one of Loki’s soft baby blankets, and setting the bars up. 

A good half an hour or so later, while walking past the open door with a basket of clean, folded laundry she had been preparing to put away, Sylvie found Thor standing over the edge of the crib, resting his forearms on the ledge and resting his head on the rail. 

She paused and set down her basket in the hallway before joining him in gazing at them. 

Thor was not alarmed by her presence, he knew she was there, but he couldn’t help but keep his eyes glued to the littles. 

“I never thought they’d get along so well,” Sylvie whispered as she watched Loki shift his legs and let out a long sigh. 

“I never thought they’d get along, at all,” Thor responded with a smile. 

Chapter Text

“Are we playing a game tonight?” Sylvie asked as she watched Loki scamper between the nursery and the living room, dumping stuffed animals and toys into the playpen where Mobius was sitting during their pre-dinner playtime. 

She was just peeking her head out from the kitchen while turning hamburger leftovers into a scramble with some eggs, green onions, and tomatoes. Most of the family’s diet was pescatarian (if not vegetarian), in order to keep little tummies happy and to make messy nappies easier to clean up (but occasionally Thor couldn’t help it and Loki would beg when they went to the store for something with meat in it, and then this would happen and Loki would realize he didn’t actually care for meat all that much, and Sylvie would know from the start that she didn’t really want a full steak, so she’d make something else for herself and then they’d end up like this where she’d be incorporating leftover meats into her cooking. If only she could just convince Thor to get the fake meat, that would make things so much easier).

“Yeah mum-mum play farm!” Loki yelled back. He grabbed a board book of animals out of the playpen and brought it over to Sylvie to show her what “farm” meant.

“Oh that sounds fun, are you the farmer?” 

“No! Das Tor!” he grinned. 

“Thor’s still at work,” she laughed, watching her food. “So who are you?” 

“Um…” Loki paused. He turned the book back towards himself and thought about it. Alarm presented itself on his face.  

By the time Sylvie turned around to look at him, Loki was nearly working himself up to tears. 

“You don’t need to decide now, if you don’t want to. You can switch animals,” she reminded him. 

“Um yeah. Orsey-heep,” he decided. 

“Wow, a horsey-sheep. Is that like a llama?” 

“No. Yuck,” he said like it was an insult to everything he stood for. 

“What’s Mobius being?” 

“Uh… No know.” 

“Maybe you should ask him, then, huh?”

“Yeah.” And with that, Loki ran back to his playpen and hopped over the barriers clumsily. 

When Thor had first bought it, the fact that Loki could step over the sides was a big point of contention. “This was the tallest one they had!” Thor had argued. 

“Really? You couldn’t have just ordered one online?” 

“I… I guess I could’ve. I don’t think it’ll really be that big of a deal though.”

“You say that, but the second he has motivation to leave his pen, he’s going to.”

This conversation was replayed in their heads a lot. Especially when Loki would be set down and subsequently decide he missed his caregiver or had something very important to tell them and he'd immediately get out and repeatedly knock on the bathroom door for them, or raid the kitchen for sweets and snacks. 

It was, however, very helpful with Mobius. Being shorter than Loki, he didn’t have the extra six inches of leg to sweep over the gate. And as the little was hardly walking, he didn’t even make much of an attempt to get out, usually just having Loki go get a carer for him or whining until he was heard. 

“What animal?” Loki asked, as he set the book down at Mobius’ feet again. 

Mobius pointed at his toy sheep and then at the real one on the page. 

Loki scowled at this. “No.” He wanted to say: I’m the sheep. You can’t be the sheep, choose something else. 

Poor little Loki, who had kept to himself so much during daycare, was now starting to realize that there were some downsides to trying to include the other little in games when he couldn’t communicate with him. 

Mobius was experiencing a similar frustration. Instead of just pointing at a different animal, he decided the best course of action would be to toss himself backwards onto the pile of stuffed animals and whine and kick, not the happy kicks, angry kicks. 

“I sure hope you two are playing nice in there!” Sylvie called while turning the burner off and setting a lid over dinner. Then, she came out with her hands on her hips to find Loki trying his best to name the animals and show them to Mobius who was absolutely not having it. 

She sat down with them in the playpen and tried to figure out the problem. “Loki, you can be the pony like you said you wanted to be and Mobius can be the sheep.”

“No. M’ sheep,” he said decidedly. 

“Okay, then why don’t we play shepard? You two and lavender lamb can be my flock.” 

“Fock,” Loki tried to repeat. 

Sylvie pretended it did not sound like a swear. “That’s a group of sheep. But let’s have some dinner now. Then we can worry about our game.”

Loki nodded in agreement and let himself think about what he’d wear after being locked into his highchair. 

Mobius had the perfect outfit, which fit very nicely with his white, off-white, silver, orange, and brown wardrobe. It was a soft, wooly, playsuit; kind of like his pajamas but without feet and with a hood which included little ears. Sylvie made sure to also give him silver knitted, thumbless mittens to complete the look. Loki didn’t have anything quite like that, nothing except a forest green wool sweater and a pair of light yellow pajama pants with goats on them, which were of course chosen because they matched Loki’s (second) favorite stuffed animal. After Sylvie pulled them on, the little dug through his costumes and eventually found some homemade construction paper ears that looked very much like floppy sheep ears. He put the headband on and gave Sylvie the triumphant arms-up-in-the-air gesture of “all done!”

“That looks wonderful. Okay, let’s go see what big brother’s up to, hm?” She had heard Thor open the door earlier, and take the rest of the food that was still on the stove. 

“No,” Loki said. “Mummy dess-up.” 

Sylvie sighed, “Loki, your clothes are too big for me.”

“Mum-mum Bo Peep,” Loki cooed as he set one of his bonnets on her head. 

“Fine. Fine, you win. I’ve got the perfect dress for this,” she sighed, leading her boys to her room. 

Mobius’ bassinet was still in there despite the fact that he hadn’t used it in a few days. 

She took off her day clothes and slipped on a long, floral dress before tying an apron around her waist. “There, how’s that? Mummy Bo-Peep and her little lambies.” 

Mobius grinned at her while chewing on his pacifier and Loki clapped. 

“Back to the playpen now. Sound good little sheep?”

“Bahbah!” Loki babbled. 

“Is that your sheep noise?” She asked.

“Yeah!” he beamed. 

She tried to convince her boys to stand up and walk with her, but the two decided to instead insist on crawling behind. 

Thor finally met them in the front of the kitchen, where he was eating his somewhat cold food. He had to set down his bowl when he saw Sylvie to laugh. 

“Look at you!” he cooed at the littles following her. 

Loki couldn’t help but squeal when his big brother picked him up. “Tor farma n’ mummy chepad. Cuz ‘heep take care,” he tried to explain. 

“Mummy and I are the farmers?”

“Mhm!” 

“Well I think that it’s time for the lambs to get their bottles then, huh?” 

Loki looked away and anxiously frowned like he didn’t get an evening bottle every single day. Evening bottles were usually not the same as regular ones, and they weren’t bedtime bottles either, and now with Mobius in the house, the two caregivers were beginning to realize that they would have to stagger them so the two could have their separated bath times.

Regardless of the tot’s reaction, Thor got to work making Loki a bottle while Mobius crawled around the playpen under Sylvie’s close supervision. Maybe because of his small headspace, it seemed that the tot did not know how to play “sheep” correctly. Instead he just played like he normally would. Taking tummy time to fidget with a cloth hand puppet of a pig, trying to get it over his bulky mittens. 

Although he knew what awaited him, Loki pretended to be excited about his bottle. Pretending to look forward to it so much, that he didn’t even wait for Thor to come pick him up, instead leaning against the fence and trying to signal his big brother that he was impatient by opening up his mouth. 

“Are you going to drink your bottle like a sheep, too?” Thor asked with a grin. 

Mobius smiled at this thought and grabbed his lavender lamb. 

“Just like Mobius’ lamb?” 

That didn’t deter Loki, he was basking in the attention and loved being praised for being such a silly guy. 

Thor pet his chin and caressed his cheek, giving him some playful little pinches to test if he’d snap out of it and ask to be picked up. But Loki didn’t, rubbing against him and still pretending, so Thor laughed and positioned the bottle downward as he pet Loki’s hair, letting him drink and waggle his pretend tail. “Such a good sheep,” he cooed at the toddler. 

Mobius, sensing Loki’s happy and contented nature, crawled out of Sylvie’s lap and sat down next to Loki, obviously hoping to also get his bottle the same way. 

Sylvie tugged him back. “Be patient, baby. Loki’s getting his bottle. You’ll get yours soon.”

Loki hated the awful feeling like his organs were tensing up. It was always like this and the taste of honey never covered up… whatever sort of laxative they put in there. His position only made it worse. He whined the complaints to Thor. 

“Do you want up?” 

“M-m.” Loki denied as he kept his mouth firmly around the nipple of the bottle, even as tears came to his eyes. 

This was the worst part of every day. Thor and Sylvie both knew it. 

Once Loki was done, Thor quickly picked him up. 

“No! No! Play!” Loki cried, despite clenching his stomach. 

Thor stopped, set the little one down and crossed his arms, watching as Loki figured out there was no good solution. 

“Shh, it’s okay little Loki lamb,” Sylvie cooed as he tried to crawl to her for comfort. “We can keep playing after your bath. If you get to Thor quick enough we can even salvage your outfit so mummy doesn’t need to wash it again right now,” she hinted to Thor. 

“Yes, right!” Thor agreed, playing along. “If we shear the little sheep before we wash him… he’ll… get his wool back…?” The metaphor fell apart the second it left his lips, but Loki understood, and let Thor pick him up and yank at least his bottoms down before he finally broke, making a mess in his nappy. His shirt was lifted off and Thor took him back to the bathroom to get him changed and washed up. 

“Jus like Tor!” Loki told his big brother while waddling next to him, with his pants around his ankles a little red and teary, but generally proud of himself as Thor opened up the bathroom door. 

“What do you mean just like me?” Thor asked, confused by this remark.

“Tor pants off when potty.” 

“That’s right, huh? Very observant, you.”

Loki did not try to repeat the words, too busy starting to cry like always, like every evening.

“If you don’t want to do this, we can always start potty training,” Thor sighed as he rolled up the messy nappy and put it in the pail.

“No! No, no no!” Loki screamed as he was wiped up.

But Loki was grinning and happy the time he was returned to mummy Sylvie. Well, by the time he returned himself to mummy Sylvie, climbing out of his playpen the second he got the chance to meet her in the kitchen. 

“There’s my little one!” she cooed at him. “C’mere. Do you want to help me with Mobius’ bottle?”

“No. I sheep, see?” He showed off his ear headband once more. “No baba”

“Hm… Okay, Mr. Sheep, what noise do you make?” she asked skeptically. 

“Bahbahbah,” he babbled while lazily wrapping his arms around her shoulders to show how terribly boring just standing in the kitchen with her was. 

“Alright, you’ve proven yourself to me, now go get in your pen.” 

Loki grinned before scampering back to his playpen and climbing back in, satisfied that she acknowledged his presence. 

“Ready for round two?” Sylvie asked as Thor returned to the main room. 

“I have to get Mobius, too? I thought we were splitting the messy nappy duties.”

“We are. I get them tomorrow when you’re at work late, remember?” 

Thor sighed and shook out his limbs. “Alright. Fine. I’m ready.” He stretched and cracked his knuckles. 

“Where’s my second little baby lamb?” Sylvie asked as if she couldn’t see Mobius trying to bury himself under the pile of toys, hiding from his mummy and Thor. 

“There’s my cheeky boy,” she cooed as he hopped out and “surprised” her. 

He squealed and giggled as she pulled him into her lap and tucked the bottle beneath her chin as she tossed on some easy cartoons for Loki to gawk up at while she worked with the other baby, trying to get him to take his laxative bottle. 

“I know, it’s all weird and yucky compared to your regular one, isn’t it?” she asked as Mobius fussed and moved his mouth away. 

“Shh!” Loki stood up, gripping the edge of the playpen and leaning towards the tv. 

“Loki, there is no sound, you’re okay. Back down from the tv,” Sylvie frustratedly told him as she stopped cradling Mobius and ended up having to readjust him: Sitting him up in her lap, one hand acting like a harness strap between his legs, gripping her criss-crossed ankle in front of her to keep him in place, and the other holding the bottle in his mouth. Her chin was set on his shoulder, acting as a third arm, to keep his shoulders in place and to stop him from twisting away. 

It was not a comfortable position for either of them and Mobius made that very clear by continuing to whine and pull away, almost working himself up loud enough to scream; Getting dangerously close to the volume of his “baby quirk” meltdowns. Finally, he reached for a rattle toy and shook it violently, slamming the wooden bead toy against the carpet as a form of protest while Sylvie uncomfortably forced the rubber cap against his mouth and nose. 

“Sylvie, Sylvie! I think that’s probably good!” Thor said, finally intervening and scooping the baby out of her arms. Thor would have normally focused on getting Mobius in an easy pose so changing him wouldn’t be so bad, but instead, for the moment, Thor simply focused on calming the distressed little one, bouncing him and rocking him back and forth. 

Mobius’ whimpers fluctuated with the sudden bounces while Thor spoke. 

“That bottle’s all gross. You know that the honey is supposed to cover it up. Very clever of you noticing. But it’s all over now. All done. Can you make a messy for me? It makes all our lives much easier if you go now and don’t try to wait.” 

Mobius propped himself up a little bit and let Thor distract him by planting a smattering of kisses on his rosey cheeks. 

“Wow, look at you, didn’t even need that full bottle.” 

Mobius was much easier to get cleaned up than Loki. His romper may have needed a wash, and perhaps he hadn’t been so conveniently positioned, but he definitely was calmer and quieter, just, as always, sensitive to touch and a little bit fidgety. 

“Mumma. Mumma go bah, bah heep,” Loki giggled, unphased, only just ripping his attention away as the credits rolled on his Shaun the Sheep cartoon enough to squeak out the simple sentence, if you could even call it that. 

“Oh wow, very nice to know.” 

She didn’t seem to understand what he was trying to communicate, so Loki rolled down next to her, belly up. 

“Bi’ woo go fuff! N’ peh happy.” 

She roughly pet his belly and pat his legs and torso down to make him howl with laughter, as she raspberried his little tummy. 

He screamed, and squealed and laughed till his face was pink and there were tears in his eyes, but the good ones this time. 

“You were so grown-up about your baba, you know that?” she ventured to ask as he was calming down, trying to catch his breath again.  

“Yeah. Good ‘heep,” he agreed. 

“Very good sheep.”

“Mhm. Goo’ fir mumma. Cuz' mumma more pehs,” he laughed. waiting for her to run her nails over his chest and belly or back, which she did without hesitation. Mummy's little manipulator, she thought to herself, trying not to laugh at the thought. Too cute for his own good. 

Chapter Text

“Shit-shit-shit,” Thor swore when it happened. He knew it would happen, it was only a matter of time before it happened, but the panic still hit him as if this wasn’t some scenario his mind had played out over and over and over. As if this wasn’t some scenario he had sworn to himself to fix before it could happen. 

“She,” Loki tried to imitate. 

“No, no-no, do not use that word,” Thor tried desperately to correct his little brother. 

The toddler giggled and tried repeatedly to say it. 

But even Thor couldn’t help himself as he tried to section off that one part of the kitchen in a rush and properly survey the damage. “Shit,” he tried to mumble under his breath this time as he noticed the fragments peppering every crack in the floor tiles.

The toddler fiddled with a large piece of broken ceramic, turning it over in his hand. 

“Can we put that down so I can clean it up, please?” 

Loki looked up at him, squatting over the pile of shards like an archeologist on a dig. 

“Please, can we put that down?” 

Oh, so there was something at stake here… Loki considered. He pretended not to hear his older brother. “Goose!” he pointed out. 

“Yes, I know that was Sylvie’s goose, now hush.” 

“Dead goose…” 

Too late, the dots had been connected, the conclusion was drawn. The fantastic ceramic goose which had ornamented Sylvie’s wonderful home before she had moved in was now gone, reduced to microscopic fleks of clay and glaze and sharp glass-like pieces.

Loki paused his investigation and rolled backwards onto his bottom, spreading out his legs to sit and consider what the death of this beloved household object would mean. 

Thor rushed to pick him up before the motion could be completed. “No! Nope, we do not want you hurt,” he told the little as he brought him over to the playpen. Far enough away from the mess to be safe, but close enough so that Thor could still keep a close eye on him. He turned on the television and tried to get the toddler to lose interest so he could make sure Mobius was still napping and clean up before Sylvie got home, but Loki climbed over the pen’s barriers to watch the cleanup, leaning his head on the back of the couch. “Goose bye-bye,” he lamented.

“That’s alright, Sylvie can always get a new one.” Thor took a deep breath as he said it; God, he hoped that was true.  

He heard keys in the door and resisted the overwhelming urge to swear again.

Setting the large pieces on the counter, Thor tried to sweep up the small ones from the cracks. 

“Mumma!” he heard. “Mumma! Mumma! Tor broke. Goose bye-bye. Dead.” 

Why did he have to open with that? Thor thought. All he could talk about just minutes earlier was the painting at daycare and his pet plant finally growing, but now it was all about the goose, huh? 

The toddler worked himself up into tears by telling Sylvie these things. “Goose dead!” he cried, clinging to her. 

Sylvie bit the inside of her cheek as she made her way to the kitchen, keeping the little boy hugged close to her side. 

She was trying very hard to keep her tone neutral and relaxed as she took a deep breath. “You broke it?” she asked. 

“Um… yes. -And I’m very sorry that it happened,” Thor hurriedly sputtered. 

Sylvie pressed her mouth into a thin line. “Well… that’s too bad.” 

“I can get you a new one-”

“Don’t. Don’t worry about it. Thirty-three years is a long time for a goose.” 

Thor could see tears starting to form in her eyes, but he was slightly distracted by the tear-dampened spot on her shirt Loki had been able to create. Who knew a little could hold that many tears for a ceramic goose that he had never shown any interest in before. He could be an actor , Thor mused to himself as he peeked into the nursery. 

Mobius was just barely waking up, not in a grumpy or sad way, either, and it seemed like the shattering noise had been severely cushioned by the gentle lullaby noises in the room and the closed door. As he considered that good enough and rushed back down the hall to clean up, Thor finally processed Sylvie’s words. 

“Thirty-three, really?” 

“Mhm,” Sylvie pursed her lips. “Grandma made him for me…”

“Make?” Loki asked, picking his head up. He was slightly red and his curls were disheveled, but he didn’t seem all that sad.  

Thor’s stomach sank. “Would it make you feel better if you shared while I cleaned up?”

“Shared?” Sylvie asked.

“Yeah, talk about it a little bit, a eulogy of sorts.”

“She gave him to my mother the day I was born. He was always in my room despite being a cookie jar… I used to hide my money in him like a piggy bank,” she smiled a little bit as Loki began to want to wiggle away from her grasp, but she hugged him close anyway, disregarding his request, at least until he let out a loud whine and finally pulled himself away. 

“Where are you going?” Both of the adults asked in unison.

“Um, help-ah,” Loki smiled as he toddled off down the hallway. 

Both Sylvie and Thor turned to one another to question who was going to make sure he didn’t get into trouble, but by the time they mutually decided on an answer, he was already coming back with three canisters of Play-Doh which he set down, each individually with a loud thunk, onto the tray of his highchair. 

He hopped up onto the seat and began getting to work, taking the globs of clay out of their canisters and beginning to sculpt as Thor got out the vacuum and Sylvie decided it was a good time to go grab her other baby, and give him some time to play and socialize. 

She tried to make conversation, and so did Mobius, gently trying to coax him into conversation, but Loki wouldn’t listen or respond except with noises of “I’m busy.”

However, he did eventually present his work to her, getting up to show her the creation nestled in his hands. 

His own, messy take on a goose, The goose, with little blue bonnet and all. 

“Oh!” Sylvie grinned with the heartfelt excitement of a child. “A new goose? For me?” 

“Baby!” Loki grinned. “Um, egg!” he tried to explain, giving his goose its own origin story.

“Thank you, love,” she told him. “That makes me feel much better.” 

Loki bashfully grinned, as she set it on the shelf where the old, much larger goose used to sit, and tickled his belly causing him to erupt into a fit of laughter. 

“So… um, can I make you dinner?” Thor asked as he finally concluded that the ceramic was sufficiently cleared away. 

Sylvie sucked in both her lips as she considered. “Sure, that sounds lovely.”

Chapter Text

There are many responsibilities that come with taking care of littles that many prospective caregivers tend to overlook, but none is more grueling for both parties than the dreaded task of shaving. 

Some mornings after a change, if Sylvie or Thor (usually Sylvie) noticed one of the little ones was growing in some hair around his legs, back, chest, or diaper area, they’d need to take him into the bathroom, grab out a razor, and clean him up. At best, the process resulted in a bored and fussy little, and at worst, the kicking and thrashing of a tantrum would cause a couple small, but painful nicks on the tot’s skin. 

That’s why today Sylvie and Thor had plans, to hopefully-- fingers crossed --offset the upset that this routine grooming chore would have on the two babies.

“No!” Loki screamed as Sylvie laid him down on the bathroom floor and prepped her electric razor. She had only made the switch from a manual one recently and-- oh boy did it make a difference. But Loki didn’t notice much besides the scary noise this new razor made, which Sylvie had sincerely tried to show him wasn’t that bad, and had assumed that the fact that he hadn’t been cut, was only dumb luck. 

Sylvie secured his legs on either side of her to make sure she didn’t get kicked. “Shh, we’re using the new razor, remember? It’s just gonna tickle, see?” she ran the turned-off device over Loki’s cheek, leaning forward. “We’re just gonna work head down, alright?” 

She hated to do it, but with how much Loki flinched, she needed to hold his head down in place to get everything on his upper lip and chin, switching between holding from under his chin to grabbing a chunk of his hair. 

Never fun. 

The face always took the longest since she wanted to make sure to get everything. One or two missed spots were okay almost everywhere else, and Loki was usually able to chew on his pacifier or play with a toy, but when working on his face, neither could happen. 

Luckily, afterwards, she could move down to his chest and armpits and every other part of him-- That was a little bit easier, as she could usually just hand him a bath toy and let him play with it. But Loki was not in the mood this morning, while Sylvie was distracted, trying to get that difficult spot on the backside of his upper thigh, he took the rubber frog, opened the lid of the toilet, and then dropped it in.

 As soon as Sylvie heard the tap of the porcelain lid being shut, she looked up and locked eyes with the little. 

He immediately looked away from her. 

“Loki-baby, where’s your toy?” Sylvie had learned that sometimes asking in a nonchalant manner had more of an effect on him than becoming upset. 

Loki looked at his left hand where the toy had been, and then at the toilet before the reality of what he had done, and the fact that it wasn’t going to stop Sylvie from completing the task at hand, sank in. 

“Did you drop it in the potty?”

Loki tearfully nodded. 

“That’s too bad, huh? Alright, flip over, mummy’s gotta get your back, too.” 

This part was always a struggle, and out of every part of the body, Sylvie generally tried not to worry about Loki’s back, but she still wanted to get it, anyway. The only nice part was that Loki enjoyed getting his back pet, and feeling-wise, his back generally had the least amount of squirming, even if it was an uncomfortable position for both of them, crammed in the itty bitty cottage bathroom, and more often than not, led to a whiny little one. 

“There we go, look at that, we’re all done, now we can get you all rinsed down. Sound good?” 

 Loki nodded as Sylvie helped him sit up and warmed up the water coming out of the detachable shower head for him. She also fished the rubber toy out of the toilet and set it in the sink to be washed. 

She hummed to him gently as she finally got him to sit down into the empty bathtub to rinse off any stray hairs that hadn’t fallen off on their own. 

After Loki’s, it was Mobius’ turn. He had about the reaction Sylvie expected for his first time.

She secured his legs, just like she had with Loki and, with a clean razor, got to work cleaning her baby up. 

At first, he feared for his mustache, but then as Sylvie moved away and let him take his pacifier, he started to struggle and get more and more self conscious and upset about his lower half. 

“I know, I know,” Sylvie let him know. “But mummy needs to get it so I need you to sit very still like a good boy, can you do that for me?” she asked, leaning in to give him a kiss on his upper chest. 

Mobius nodded. 

“There we go, nice and easy, right? No meltdowns this morning.”

She missed a few spots, opting for completion over neatness, and let him play in the water while she rinsed him off, watching as he tried to grab at it or hold it as it poured over his arms and off his fingertips. 

“That’s my sweetie-boy.” 

Sylvie and Thor got both of the boys dressed up. It was a relatively warm day, but the tots were dressed in puffy winter jackets with long pants and scarves. The two even got little bobble caps placed on their heads.

Loki knew something was up. He squatted near Thor and Sylvie as they packed up the diaper bags, and included some extra things. “Oh!” he observed as they brought out more toys and objects he hadn’t seen in a while, a few plastic buckets and shovels, as well as baggies for shells and fun rocks. There was a box for a new product, but that was getting pretty typical nowadays as Thor and Sylvie were still adjusting to life with the new baby. 

“No, no, don’t pack it up yet!” Sylvie cautioned Thor. “You need to try it on! Make sure you both fit first!” 

“Can you hand me that box, Loki?” Thor asked, watching with amusement as the little fumbled with the waxy, polished cardboard and tried to figure out what the item was. 

“Pah!” Loki babbled after handing the object back to him. 

“Why thank you,” Thor said. “Do you want to see what it is?”

Loki nodded and watched with wonder as his big brother opened up the packaging and pulled out a small paper booklet and a big black harness. It wasn’t like Loki’s daycare backpack, as the structure on the back wasn’t fully solid, it didn’t seal up like a bag, Loki observed. 

Before Thor put it on, he unbuckled several of the other straps. Loki helped, waiting for an answer to what this mysterious new device could possibly be. 

Sylvie gently scooted Mobius forward towards the ledge of the crib instead of the center, where he had previously been playing, out of everyone’s way. “Get his legs in the holes, this way. Turn it around.” 

Thor put two of the backpack-like straps over his shoulders and adjusted the extra buckles around his belly and chest while squatting down as Sylvie was busy helping Mobius with the same task, clicking him into the little cocoon he was set in. 

“Now lift!” she called when she was done. 

With a little bit of effort, Thor pulled himself up and checked that everything was secure. Sylvie adjusted Mobius as well, making sure he was comfortable on Thor’s back. 

“Would you look at that, Loki? Isn’t it lovely?” Sylvie asked. 

Loki patted the black “tactical” fabric approvingly. “Mhm.”

A drive out to the ocean wasn’t that far by American standards, only about forty minutes or so, but for Loki and his family, it seemed like forever, definitely far for a day trip. 

Upon arriving, the littles were changed in the back of the van, and Thor prepared the little backpack again. This time, it went slightly quicker now that he had done it once already. 

Mobius’ pacifier was clipped onto his jacket, and as he was gently bounced with Thor’s movements, he played with a small wooden tambourine-like toy, tapping it gently against Thor’s shoulder as they walked, with Loki occasionally glancing at him, the perfect height to make eye contact. The mentally-older boy walked in between his caregivers, holding their hands down the meandering, meadow-encircled path down to the sand, and occasionally breaking to pick a flower or throw a rock into the wild brush around the trail. 

The wind wasn’t strong today, but it was still chilly enough for Mobius to try and bury his reddening nose into Thor’s hair as they made their way down the sand in a slow and winding path down the cliff-side. 

The beaches here, in their little corner of the world, were not the fun, summery sort of beaches one sees in magazines, if that wasn’t already obvious. The sand was only lukewarm once Loki got down to it. He thought about sitting down, but instead gathered up some seaweed which had been left on the beach and started to show it to his mummy, who was holding his hand and making sure he didn’t wander into the water. 

“Oh… that’s… really something,” Sylvie said as Loki showed one of the bulbs of slimy green waste to her. “Can we just set that down?” 

Loki ignored the comment and waddled to Thor, who was trying to talk over the wind to Mobius, pointing at the waves and asking the little what he thought, prompting answers by occasionally rocking onto his tiptoes to grab the baby’s attention, even though he usually just responded with a simple gentle tap on Thor’s head or a readjustment of his legs around Thor’s torso and rarely did much else, although when Loki toddled up, this changed. 

Mobius noticed first. While Thor was wistfully staring out at the sea, he had been trying to survey the scene surrounding him, trying to look behind him and out to where Loki and Sylvie were, to the right, as he fiddled with the metal cymbals of the tambourine in between his fingers and occasionally set the toy in his mouth, adding a couple denting bite-marks into the soft wood. 

“Mobis an’ Tor look!” Loki giggled as he showed them each pieces of the sand-covered, slimy material.

Thor took a peek at the long strings of sea grass Loki was dragging on the ground and nodded, agreeing that it was very interesting. But Mobius peeped and grabbed at Loki’s find.

Loki was eager and curious to see what the baby would do with the weeds, so he quickly handed them over. 

The smaller little dropped his previous toy down onto the sand, with a soft, shimmery clatter. 

“Mobius do not put that in your mouth I swear,” Thor told him while leaning down to pick up the fallen toy.

Reluctantly, the baby complied, after taking a second to process. Instead he just held the gourd-like seaweed form and ran his fingers over the texture, and as soon as Loki got bored watching him, he took it away. 

This sudden gesture was upsetting, and just as Sylvie was able to get there and try to smooth over the situation, Mobius started to cry. The soft and quiet, but desperately attention hungry sort of cry that involved planting one’s face firmly into the closest caregiver and gushing weepy tears until acknowledged. The exact type of cry Mobius was a pro at. At this point he could pretty much do it on command. 

Sylvie set his pacifier into his mouth and put a hand up to his cheek, gradually letting it move to the back of his head, slipping underneath his hat and petting his hair. “Why don’t we give Thor a bit of a break?” she asked, kissing him on the cheek by standing up on her tiptoes. Thor squatted down to let Sylvie get Mobius out of the harness. As Thor stood up, he stretched happily, no longer carrying a good hundred-fifty pounds on his back. 

Mobius felt a bit awkward standing up on his feet. He stomped on the sand in his boots while holding onto Sylvie’s hand, curiously testing the texture beneath him. 

In Sylvie’s other hand, she grasped Loki’s wrist, squeezing it just slightly as a way to convince him to drop the seaweed. “Is it just like the sand box at the park?” she asked Mobius as he continued to find interest in the course ground. 

He did not seem interested in answering her, but then again, he didn’t really have time, as Loki yanked them back towards where he had found the seaweed, next to a big pile of driftwood which he immediately began to root through, babbling and looking for his own buried treasure in the pile as Mobius waddled up next to him in his thick puffer coat and sat down to help Loki find whatever if was that they were looking for, as he didn’t really understand, himself. The fascination that all these natural, novelty toys was enough to entertain him, handing Sylvie pieces of driftwood and giving Loki other pieces of seaweed, which the toddler usually ended up discarding. 

The tide slowly retreated out, and when she was confident that it was low enough, Sylvie gave Loki a gentle tap on the shoulder. “Look at all that over there. Do you want to help me find some shells?” she asked. 

Loki hadn’t even noticed and stared in wonder after she had pointed it out. With Thor joining them, he rushed to the cement-like, stiff sand and began to pick things out of it. Anything interesting that he could find, he washed off in the water as it came in, and then handed it to Sylvie, who would put it in a small fabric bag for safekeeping. 

Mobius found some nice shells, too, and even a piece of a crab’s claw, which Loki couldn’t help but marvel at. 

Both Loki and Mobius would light up and squeal with each treasure they dropped into the bags, desperately vying for their caregivers’ approval. 

At first, Loki tried to hide his excitement, giving a shy smile and maybe a happy squeak before trying to put on a hardened exterior, but the facade was dropped when Mobius brimmed with amazement as he saw a couple small fishing boats and vessels out on the water, yanking on Loki’s sleeve and show him. In that quick second, not only did the excitement immediately rub off onto Loki, but he felt momentarily honored as he realized that he was looking out to where Mobius was pointing and neither Sylvie, nor Thor, were. He had been the only one called upon to share this moment of happiness with, and he couldn’t help but grin.

As they continued to pick through the sand, the family began to approach the rocks where the sand stopped, but Sylvie still encouraged everyone to gather closer. Mobius and Loki couldn’t help but let out excited yells of wonderment as they looked into the puddle their mummy was pointing to. So many beautiful things awaited them beneath the glass-like cover that was the water. 

Sylvie stopped either of the boys from plunging their hands in to touch all the textures they could see right below them. “We’re going to be very gentle, okay? You don’t want to hurt them.” 

Thor immediately set a bad example for the little ones by reaching in and choosing to immediately interrupt a sea urchin, wrenching it from its seat in the bottom of the pool and holding it up to show the littles, who both found it very interesting. 

Loki stopped observing Thor and looked back down at the pool he was sitting next to. He touched a small anemone and searched with his bare hands for crabs and small fish, feeling around and exploring with his hands. 

Mobius soon joined him, also digging gently with Sylvie’s supervision. 

Loki found a periwinkle, a beautiful spiral shelled mollusk, and grabbed at it, trying to rip it off the wall of the pool so he could put it in the treasure bag. 

“Loki, we’re only collecting the dead ones, that one’s still alive.”

Loki looked up at her and then grabbed a different mollusk, this one a blue mussel. Before Sylvie could protest, he had it detached and ready to shove in the bag. 

“Look over there. What’s Thor doing?” Sylvie asked as a distraction, while stopping Mobius from dunking his head into the freezing water, only barely catching him so that the pom-pom of his hat was wet. 

Thor paused after hearing her, and pulled his arm out. It was covered in slugs, rainbow ones, in all sorts of pretty colors with many different shapes and sizes, and with that, Loki needed no convincing, he leaped up and crawled over to the other pool where his brother sat and squatted next to him, asking about a whole number of curious things that he found in the water. Mobius soon crawled to them, quickly followed by Sylvie who wanted to keep a close eye on her boys. Loki continued to play in that pool before exploring another and another with his family. 

He stopped at one, particular one, and didn’t sit down by it with everyone else. The tide at the time was just beginning to come in, so Sylvie and Thor were trying to hurry up and let the tots look at the last few puddles of alien-like creatures. 

“Come look at this one, Loki! This is a brittle star. We haven’t seen one of these yet!” Thor coaxed him, trying to take his hand and bring him closer, but upon seeing the strange, monstrous spider thing Loki shook his head, obviously frightened by it, especially the creepy way it moved as Mobius poked at it, trying to pick it up.

“It’s not so bad, come see!” Sylvie tried to lure him forth, towards the water, but instead, especially as she tried to keep him close by holding onto his wrist, he stumbled backwards in an attempt to break away, and misjudged his surroundings. 

His back foot fell into a hole, and he panicked, as his shoe filled with ice cold water. That was upsetting on its own, but in the slow, adrenaline pumping, fraction of a second as Loki fell backwards, there was a second sensation: A sudden, horrible, searing pain in his ankle. The little screamed as he found his weight unsupported and fell back onto the rocks, just barely missing the back of his head on a sharp, protruding edge. 

Thor immediately rose to his feet, the second he had seen Loki drop backwards into the hole he had been up, but just a second too late to save his baby brother from the fall. 

There were a few seconds of silence as Loki laid in absolute shock, the pain in his ankle shot up through his body as the nerves tickled his mind, telling him that he was hurt, and yet, he needed a moment of processing time. 

Sylvie and Mobius stared for a moment before reacting, seeming to be in a similar emotional state as Loki, before the hurt toddler let out a shrieking cry of distress and Thor finally rushed to his aid. Loki screamed and cried, thrashing as Thor moved him down onto the beach sand, away from the pools and rolled the little’s pant leg up, and his ruined socks down, to survey the damage. 

Sylvie, a few seconds behind as she helped Mobius walk and watched his steps carefully, knelt down next to her older boy and touched the joint. 

Loki yelped and tried to kick her before realizing that the motion hurt even more. But Sylvie remained calm and pretended he hadn’t done anything as she examined him, watching the area grow red and swell. 

“It’s a sprain,” she told Thor as if that was the most normal thing she had seen all day. Then, she put her face in closer, a very precarious position when considering Loki’s state of mind. “A bad one,” she elaborated, poking at him, which made Loki cry harder as he tried to roll away. 

The tide was lapping closer, slowly. The little enclave of sand they were sitting in was still above water, and they could see the trailhead from where they were, but the tidepools were beginning to be washed over with a thin layer of sea foam each time a wave crashed about a hundred feet out. It was time to get packing up. 

Thor began to pull his little brother up. 

“He’s not going to walk,” Sylvie told him with crossed arms. 

Thor realized this as Loki yelped and struggled to stand on one foot before he helped him back down onto the sandy beach floor. “Alright, put him on my back,” he sighed, sitting down to give Sylvie an opportunity to readjust the belts on his back so they were more Loki-sized. 

Loki struggled horribly as Sylvie tried to convince him to stand on one foot and Mobius tried to help steady him the best he could, as they worked together to make sure Loki made it up onto Thor’s back. 

Loki relaxed as he found himself gently lifted up and Sylvie tucked the final clips over his shoulders, snapping them into place and keeping the little propped up against his brother’s back. 

Mobius stopped drawing in the sand with his fingers and toddled up as he heard the first click. 

“Are you helping?” Sylvie asked, peeking behind Loki’s back as Mobius fiddled with the velcro pieces she hadn’t gotten to yet. 

Mobius clicked the buckles together on his side under Sylvie’s supervision. 

“Such a big boy,” she commented, kissing him on the forehead. 

Mobius smiled, tickled about being commended for his hard work and was happily brought into Sylvie’s arms and kissed on the cheek again. 

“Are you going to be okay with walking like a big boy, too?” 

Mobius hesitantly nodded but tried to walk between Sylvie and Thor, holding their hands and looking up at Loki. The hurt boy had his legs wrapped tightly around Thor, who gripped his hurt ankle gently and tried to soothe the swelling. 

Loki sucked on his pacifier, almost chewing and letting the rhythm calm him. Eventually, he felt peaceful enough to open his eyes, and peek down at Mobius, who was gently patting his arm and smiling up at him. 

“I guess that lunch is probably off then?” Sylvie asked as they approached Thor’s car. She sounded genuinely disappointed. When they had discussed and planned the whole ordeal, Thor had offered to pay for lunch, and even if Sylvie didn’t always like his decisions, she always appreciated a free meal. 

“Nonsense!” Thor told her with a huff, setting Loki down onto his hurt ankle.

Loki cried out again. 

“Fuck. Right,” Thor corrected himself, picking Loki back up and waiting for Sylvie to come support Loki, just a little bit and help the toddler-- maybe closer to baby at the moment --balance on one foot as Thor took the carrier off himself and his little brother. Sylvie helped before letting Thor pick the baby up and set him into his car seat, not bothering to check his diaper under all of those layers, and buckled him in, all secure. 

Loki’s tears were mostly silent now, but still present, rolling down his pinkened cheeks as he sucked on his pacifier and pressed his head onto the padded back of his seat, seeming to scrunch up and blend into the padding. He whined and whimpered, but didn’t scream or cry, as he tried to listen to the way Sylvie was talking to him from her passenger seat spot. 

Mobius wasn’t especially loud this trip, he almost never was, but he did try to hand Loki some toys and make him feel better, giving the hurt little one an oddly shaped squishy toy to play with and squeeze during the car ride, offering a rattle, showing it to Loki with a shake and a heartfelt look of reassurance, which Loki accepted graciously with a quivering attempt at a smile. 

Thor’s idea of lunch in this situation was a quick stop in the drive through, and keeping the greasy paper bag away from prying little, and caregiver, hands, as he informed Sylvie that they’d be eating when they got home so Loki could put some ice on his ankle and make sure it was okay while distracting and rewarding him with a lunch simultaneously.

  Thor iced his ankle and doted on him and Mobius, who opted to crawl the second he was on his comforting home turf. But Sylvie was quick to pick up her baby and get him off the icky floor, comfortably positioning him in his highchair cutting up his food into little, bite-sized pieces for him. 

After lunch, Sylvie bandaged Loki’s hurt ankle to keep the swelling down, with long pieces of tape-like gauze which wound around his wound, as when Thor had tried, it hadn’t worked as nicely as anyone would’ve hoped. 

Then, they worked to help move Loki down onto the floor with his little brother. He wasn’t crying any more, not so much, but instead, he tried to play and couldn’t help bouncing in his seat and playing with his brain teaser toys to keep him busy while he couldn’t run around. 

For the next few weeks, that was just how it was, and Loki learned to keep himself busy as his foot was held in a boot and Thor carried him, or pushed his stroller for him. 

Mobius watched these trends. Of course, he helped dote on Loki and was an amicable playmate, but the jealousy did sometimes show through. He’d whine and cry, throwing a little bit of a fit until he was allowed to cuddle up to Loki or until Thor or Sylvie put their strollers next to each other or until Thor or Sylvie picked him up, too. 

And, for the first time since coming home, a new balance was being reached with the attention being shared between the little ones. A balance which both of the little ones quickly came to appreciate. 

Chapter Text

Mobius was beginning to grow fairly used to the rhythm of the home at this point, and began to drop some of the habits he had learned in his time at the adoption center in favor of ones that he found to be helpful in this new environment. Unfortunately, not all of these new behaviors were on purpose, and not all of them were actually very helpful, but instead simply biologic mechanisms that happened to change. One of these was waking with Loki and being disturbed by nighttime noises. 

Previously, there had always been commotion at the littles home. Baby monitors, PA’s, and the intercom system would be old and low quality, and seemed to continuously scratch with static; rattles, toys, and even rustling sheets would be constantly going, no matter the time; new littles and some of the younger ones, like himself, but with less of a sense of self preservation --the ones who didn’t understand that sometimes avoiding nurse attention got you a higher priority and more affections when you needed it-- would yell and scream and cry whenever a nappy change was needed or they were hungry, scared, or maybe just wanted to be held. 

But now, after weeks without this constant noise, which he had been conditioned for a long while to ignore… how long, he wasn’t exactly sure, maybe months, perhaps years, his body was now waking with every little sound, and most mornings, those noises were either Loki waking up, cooing, whining for attention, or Thor, who, no matter what mood he seemed to be in, seemed to always be quite heavy on his feet, seeming to stomp down the halls regardless of the rest of the household’s sleeping status or how much of a hurry he was in.

Mobius awoke this particular morning with Loki humming, waiting for Thor’s attention. He watched through the light wooden bars of his crib to see if Loki was going to try something, to check if the other little would be older today or just a baby like himself. It was hard to say these days, with the boot inhibiting Loki’s motor abilities and all. 

Loki sat at the end of the crib, taking his stuffed animals and bitterly tossing them down as he looked out the ajar doorway to get a glimpse of Thor, then looking away to stare at the big, bulky, black brace his foot was stuck in. It ruined the mood of his cutesy pajamas, restricted his movement, itched, and he wasn’t even allowed to touch it. How utterly horrid for a toddler of hardly two. He had given up throwing fits about it after it hadn’t worked the first dozen times, but he still eyed it with disdain and generally tried to be as difficult and fussy as possible when he could in regards to it. 

Thor shyly opened the door to check on his two little ones and Loki immediately sat up straighter, and with the support of the crib bars, wiggled up to stand, struggling with distributing his weight. 

Thor touched noses with the wiggly toddler. “Are you up extra early to help mummy?” 

“Yah!” Loki grinned. 

“Are you and Mobius going to be big boys for her? Help make her life a little easier?” he asked while unlatching the sides of the crib. 

Loki shrugged, and impatiently braced against Thor as the bars were set down. 

“No? Not a big boy today?” 

Another shrug as he was set down onto the changing table and his pastel green onesie, with the little daisy embroidered on the chest, was unsnapped. 

“I understand,” Thor nodded sagely, taking a moment to send Loki an understanding look as he changed the little one, who’s leg hung limply over the side of the table. 

Loki got down and crawled to the chest of drawers on the other side of the room once his nappy had been changed as Thor gave Mobius the same treatment, giving the tinier little a bunch of kisses and making sure to snuggle him close as Loki picked out his outfit for the day.

Mobius broke from Thor's chest to watch what Loki was doing, peering at all the colorful fabrics Loki yanked out of the drawers, before seemingly deciding on something and pausing.

A pinafore dress. a nice one, too-- A bright green one, with white accents, and like everything else in his wardrobe, covered in hundreds of embroidered details. Flowers and animals and flourishes of abstract yellow and golden stars peppered it all over, lending the dress the nickname of Loki’s “pixie magic dress”. 

He slipped it on with Thor’s help and grinned, smoothing the circle skirt over his legs as Thor helped him stand up. 

As the older little locked eyes with his baby brother, he giggled, clapping, showing off his joy with the pretty outfit as he tried to spin to make his skirt flair. 

Mobius was fascinated by this and slid down off the crib to investigate more. 

“Would you like a pretty dress, too?” Thor asked absently, already checking if Loki had a dress that might fit the baby. 

Mobius hesitated for a moment as Thor held up some options.

But before Mobius could decide, Loki had already snatched a pink satin dress from Thor’s hands, and shoved it back in the closet. 

“What do you think about this one? You never wear it,” Thor asked the older little one, holding up a red gingham one as an alternative. 

Loki nodded and supervised as Thor scrunched it over Mobius. 

Although he was shorter, Mobius was a little bit thicker than Loki around the midsection, and had a slightly broader ribcage. 

Thor was just able to button it up in back, but Mobius’ little belly and chest touched the fabric in a very sweet way, mimicking baby-fat at his sides. However, Thor found this to be a wonderful feature of the dress, not something that needed fixing. The cotton wasn’t too tight for Mobius, either and he found that he rather liked the way the dress came down, just below his knees, and the triangular straps tied at the shoulder. 

Mobius spun and cooed with delight as the dress fanned out, just like he had seen Loki try. Then, he paused for a quick second and smoothed the dress down as he tried to look in the drawers of the dresser like Loki had.

“Right, right, I thought this would be different. Silly me,” Thor said, grabbing an extra pair of shorts and pulling them up over Mobius’ diaper and watching as the little’s face lit up again. 

Thor picked his little brother up and brought him out to see Sylvie as Mobius trailed behind. 

She was sitting on the couch eating a bag of chips and watching TV, but paused when she heard the happy babblings of the two littles. “Look at you two!” she squealed before taking Mobius into her lap, poking and tickling him with all the affection a caregiver could bestow. Loki was treated similarly, and the two got their usual tummy time as Sylvie and Thor got up to make soft-food breakfasts and bottles for them. 

“You know,” Sylvie began, hardly above a whisper, leaning into Thor,  “I think they’d look awfully cute with their hair done…” 

Thor distractedly agreed with her while refilling the kettle.  

She sighed watching them. “They are adorable. We need to show them off more, huh? Take them out for more stroller rides with their pretty bows and dresses?” 

Thor paused and laughed. “We don’t do that enough already?” 

“Well, we haven’t with Mobius, not very much yet. Maybe we should!” 

“... Maybe we should,” Thor agreed once more, softly, while tightening bottle caps and mixing the oatmeal before adding some milk to Loki’s, almond milk to Mobius’ and placing it on the table by the highchairs. “But after breakfast, right?” 

“Yes! Why would I want to work with fussy, hungry little ones?” she asked rhetorically before collecting her dressed-up boys from the living room. 

Neither of the tots could stop fidgeting with their skirts, and Mobius was pink and giggly. It was very obvious that he had never been given the option to wear a dress, or at least hadn’t considered it before.

After breakfast, Sylvie offered to do their hair, brushing Loki’s into bouncy curls and covering both littles with clip-in accessories. Loki’s were pink and green, and resembled flowers with leaves and fairies, while Mobius got two simple red bows clipped onto his right side, just above his ear, that had little strawberries in the center. They didn’t clip anything back or change the shape of his hair at all, but instead, were only clipped there for decorative purposes. 

“Oh aren’t you two precious?” she asked as Loki awkwardly attempted to spin while still limping with the boot and avoiding putting pressure on his hurt ankle and Mobius looked at himself in the mirror.  “Should we go somewhere with you two all dressy?” 

Loki laughed and clapped. “Go! Go place!” he grinned.

“We could take a walk to the shops,” Thor suggested. “I actually need some groceries…”

“That might be a fun idea. Are you sure you can walk that much?” she asked Loki. 

“Go tolla,” Loki responded. 

“You wanna take the strollers?” 

“Mhm!” Loki smiled, sitting up very straight. 

“I thought that the little princesses would be better suited to a ride in a royal carriage,” Thor suggested. 

“Wagin wagin wagin!” Loki quickly chanted, still spinning in circles, mostly on one foot, and looking at his skirt, but this time with more ferocity and excitement.

Chapter Text

The wagon that Sylvie and Thor kept was a homemade variation of a common Radio-Flyer model, with doors that made it easy for Loki and Mobius to get in and out, and raised seats so they weren’t sitting on the wooden floor of the cart. 

On the way to their town center, which wasn’t really much of a center at all by American standards, Loki and Mobius gawked and cooed at the normal sights as they were pulled in their wagon. And, in spite of what they had each been taught-- well, in spite of what Loki had been taught-- he chose to imitate the princesses he’d seen in movies, waving and blowing kisses at passersby. 

Occasionally, not often, but occasionally, they’d wave back, and a couple of people even pretended to snatch the kiss, which made the little roar with giggles.

Mobius didn’t care much about any of this. The environment was still so new to him, that he was already almost overloaded with sensory input. The fabric and new feeling of a dress was interesting, as well as the bumps in the road, the pacifier in his mouth, and the lavender scented sheep in his lap that he insisted on holding onto. The world was bright and sunny, but the morning air was still cold on his shoulders. He could smell the bakery up the road and the salted sea air, but it wasn’t as distracting as Sylvie’s voice as he listened to her and Thor converse at the head of the wagon about where they were really going. 

The path was dark due to the narrow roads and imposing buildings which lined the archaic, cobblestoned street that led to the downtown shopping district of their town. Sure, in most places, even their own neighborhood, there were corner stores, cafes, salons, and the like, within a convenient distance, but the town center was quite different, with an American-style shopping mall as well as the more traditional walking plaza that was generally preferred by Sylvie due to the fact it was more wagon and stroller accessible. 

However, today, Thor opted for the other option and took the littles into the big mall. 

Loki was almost on the edge of his seat, and would’ve put his knees on the seat and stood up if it wasn’t for the boot. 

The mall itself was a dreary gray brick on the outside, and inside, it had huge walkways with big skylights, but was still overwhelmingly bright despite every other color being gray. 

Perfume shops and food stalls made smells suddenly feel paralyzingly strong and forced Mobius to bury his face into his lavender scented stuffed animal. 

Loki on the other hand, seemed to revel in the copious amounts of input, wiggling from side to side and gripping the edges of the wagon while grinning from ear to ear and whipping his head around back and forth, trying to look at everything. 

As the babies grappled with the input, Sylvie fell behind Thor’s pulling to walk next to them, letting Loki tug at the back hem of her shirt and point at things while Mobius simply held her hand, playing with her fingers and calming himself with the warmth. 

There was an American couple out today, a few tourists, who stopped Thor and Sylvie to ask them about the little ones, what their names were, how big their headspaces were, etc.etc. They complimented Loki’s dress, to which the little responded by trying to stand up and twirl for them so they could see his skirt flow. 

If Thor hadn’t been a bit quicker, the little would’ve tripped over himself and fallen out of the wagon entirely. But he was caught, and giggled as he looked up at his older brother, who set him down. 

“He- sh-... they’re quite the little ball of energy, aren’t they?” The man hesitated. 

Loki caught his breath, letting his laughing fade as he was set back down onto the seat.

“He is a handful,” Thor agreed awkwardly. He wasn’t exactly used to holding conversations with strangers like this.  

The woman was busy cooing over Mobius, who slunk backward, pushing into Sylvie. 

“Little baby littles are the cutest! Aren’t you? Yes you are!” She pinched Mobius’ cheeks. 

This was fairly normal, as Loki was quite the cheek pincher and poker, but he wondered if this time things may be different. He asked Sylvie by squeezing her hand and looking up at her with nervous, watery eyes. 

She looked down at him and briefly locked eyes before immediately understanding his message. “So, is it normal to touch other people’s little ones without permission in America?” she asked passive aggressively. 

The woman paused and thought for a minute about how to explain that it was socially acceptable if the little or child was under a year or two old. But as she realized that no matter what she said, Sylvie would not take it, and backed away apologetically. 

The strangers were quick to leave after that, and the family moved on with their mall trip.

Loki was keen on looking at clothes, he always was. Thor loved it as well, but Sylvie’s commitment to the collective aesthetic of a wardrobe and not the individual pieces, sometimes created tension between the two caregivers. 

It was no easy task to window shop while trailing a wagon behind you, but Sylvie managed anyway, pulling the cart of little one while Thor and Loki busied themselves browsing and trying on whatever they found interesting. 

That is to say, Thor tried on whatever they found to be interesting. Loki, meanwhile, contented himself with being a watcher, a judge, and a helper. He sat in the dressing rooms and helped his brother with the zippers and buttons, and would proceed to evaluate the outfit and tell Thor if it looked good, even though, most of the time, he picked out. 

Sylvie and Mobius would wait outside the doors for them. A couple shops even had special chairs for family members who were waiting, and in these cases, Sylvie would let Mobius climb up onto her lap and bounce her legs until the pacifier fell out of his mouth, only suspended by the ribbon looped around it and the clip on his dress. Only after that would she hand him a teether or rattle toy and use the opportunity to check his nappy to see if he’d need a change soon. 

After a few of these shops, Sylvie began to get into a habit of quickly scanning for anything she needed-- which in most cases, ended up being a resounding nothing-- before making a beeline to the dressing room sitting area, if she could find one. 

In this particular store, there was none, so she crouched down by Mobius in his wagon and performed a similar nappy check and toy time as she waited for Thor, carrying Loki and a bunch of clothes.

“Ooh!” Loki squeaked as he pulled out a brightly colored romper from behind some clothes. 

“That is very nice,” Thor agreed. “Should I try it on?” 

“Me! Me try!” 

It was the first piece Loki had picked out for himself all morning, Thor let his little brother take it over with them to the fitting rooms. 

“Thor,” Sylvie said as they passed by, taking a quick moment to look up from the fabric book Mobius was playing with, slapping the pages and pulling at the 3d elements. “Can you check Loki’s nappy while you’re in there?” 

“Yeah,” Thor nodded while Loki pulled down his skirts in embarrassment. 

As they got back to the dressing room, Thor noticed that something was wrong. Loki had properly hung up the romper, but he was sitting on the tiny corner chair with his arms folded. 

“Mummy said it was time for a nappy check.”

“No…” Loki replied. 

“I’ll still let you try on your romper on, even if your nappy’s wet,” he whispered to the tot. “Just no leaks and no messes.” 

That convinced Loki to let Thor lift up his skirts and check, but as his older brother kept lifting, trying to help the little entirely remove the dress so he could try on the romper, Loki shoved the skirts back down. 

“I thought you wanted to try it on.”

Loki nodded. 

“We need to take your dress off to put on the romper. You can’t have both outfits on at once.” 

This fact seemed to distress Loki. 

Sylvie heard all of this and quickly knocked on the dressing room door. “Loki, are we going to get to see that pretty outfit?”

The little broke into tears then and began to throw his little fit. So, Thor gathered up the clothes to put on the rack outside as the game of dress-up came to an abrupt end. 

He didn't exactly feel comfortable setting the little one in the wagon with Mobius, who was only getting slightly impatient and fussy, nowhere near the levels of Loki. 

“Loki, Loki, hush!” Thor told the aggressive and cranky child as he carried him to the exit of the store, slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. 

Sylvie kept talking to the baby little as she took the wagon’s handle and followed them, passively asking him questions and trying to keep him busy until she could catch up to Thor.

“We’re going to the mummy room, right?” Sylvie finally asked in her adult voice as she found herself speed-walking to keep pace with Thor.

“Yep,” he simply replied. 

The “mummy room” was a name for the rest area made for nursing, quiet times, and nappy changes. It was a large, communal space by the indoor playground for caregivers and parents. 

Loki was still very upset by the time Thor got him there, whining and trying to protest with hitting and kicking, that Thor pretended not to notice. 

Sylvie found a spot to lie her little one down for a change. The last time she had checked it, Mobius had been mid-wet so she knew well that it was more than time for a new nappy. This one was nearly leaking. 

He teethed on a slobber-covered set of faux car keys, occasionally leaving a trail of spit from them as he moved from one texture to the next. 

When Sylvie finished her job changing him, and put on some hand sanitizer, she noticed that Thor was still dealing with an irritable Loki who did not want to be changed. 

So she used the opportunity to give her baby a raspberry on the tummy, which made him wiggle, but not laugh like she had hoped. “That feels empty, doesn’t it? Is that an empty tummy ready for num-nums?” she cooed, taking the keys out of his mouth and wiping them down with some pacifier wipes.

Mobius babbled and tried to take Sylvie’s hand, which she was resting on his chest, into his mouth. 

Sylvie was quick though and set his pacifier in before he could get her. 

She helped him up and nuzzled him close. “Okay, let’s get up and check in on big brother, huh? Maybe we can cheer him up.”

Loki was still winding down from his tantrum when Sylvie approached the tired Thor. 

“Maybe we should try a little lunch before we finish up. Baby and I are getting hungry, and I suspect the other little princess is, too. I have it this time.”

Loki sat in his seat with his arms crossed as the wagon was pulled, biting down on his pacifier while Mobius tried to get Sylvie’s attention to ask for a bottle. 

It wasn’t long though until they found a small sandwich place. The type of mall food stall that advertises “healthy fast food”, has the grittiest, most sauceless coleslaw you’ve ever seen, and will charge you an extra 45 Krone for it. 

Sylvie got herself a cold egg salad sandwich, Loki a bowl of mac and cheese, Thor a pulled pork. Then, she turned to Mobius. “Do you want solids or baby food?” she whispered. 

The little instead politely requested to be picked up. 

“Baby food it is,” she said quietly. “Two.. no, three fountain drinks. One large, and two medium. And… Can you put warm water in this, please?” 

The worker took the baby bottle with powder in the bottom from her hand before adding up the total and sliding her the cups for drinks, too.

Thor and Sylvie got their drinks and Sylvie helped Loki with his, making sure he got some ice and then helped him fill the cup without spilling, and adding a lid to his juice. 

In the food court, Thor found Mobius and Loki highchairs and set them at the table. 

Mobius was able to get in on his own, but Loki, because he was still struggling with his ankle, needed just a little bit of extra help before Thor could flip up the latching guard that would keep the little in his seat. 

When food began to come out, Sylvie put bibs on each of the little ones and took out her mason jar of baby-food. 

Loki fed himself mostly, but obviously appreciated when Thor took his fork and fed him instead, his demeanor quickly becoming that of a happy, joyful, toddler. 

For a moment, things were as they were supposed to be. 

Sylvie was cleaning off Mobius’ mouth with his bib, and Loki was watching and laughing, kicking under the table. 

The tot picked up his over-sugared apple juice in two hands absently. He chewed on the straw as he watched the baby coo and put up the silliest fake fight with mummy, grinning and giggling as he tried to dodge the cloth. 

“Didn’t you get him a bottle, too?” 

“Mhm, but I think that’s for the big wagon ride home.-- Loki, baby, why don’t you let me take your drink and we can go get some sillies out before naptime?”

Next to the food court was a modest indoor playground. It was about the size of any other store, but the floor was made of a soft, plush material and large, padded structures rose up around the rest of the vacant-feeling room. 

Loki couldn’t enjoy much of it, but neither could Mobius, as he purposefully limited himself to the baby spot on the floor, just next to Loki, exploring this great big world of crawling-level plastic shapes, and toys.

Loki knew this spot well, so even as he looked longingly up at the big play structure above and around him, he felt like he wasn’t missing much. This was just like going to the park, but indoors. 

Loki had so much energy to spare, but being unable to walk or run on his own meant he needed to get a little bit creative.  

By the end of trying to climb on all sorts of shapes and playing with a big, huge yoga ball, he was out of breath, and crawled to the side gate where Sylvie was sitting with his drink and the diaper bag. 

“Juice!” he demanded. 

“Juice please ,” Sylvie emphasized. 

“Juice please,” Loki repeated back, obviously very done with attempting manners. 

“Thank you,” she added passive-aggressively as she handed it to him. 

Loki did not repeat her this time, but did make eye contact, making it very obvious that he had heard her, but was too busy sipping on his apple juice to care. He was also apparently too busy to notice that the lid was loose or to remember that it wasn’t a sippy cup. 

His hands moved to better grip the cup, as he sat down instead of kneeling, and with an accidental little slip of just a bit too much force--

Pop!

Ice cubes and a sticky, golden liquid spilled all down the front of Loki’s green and white dress and onto the soft, foamy floor. 

Mobius and Thor both paused to look at the incident. 

Loki froze and looked at his cup as if wondering where the liquid had gone, before taking a quick glance down at his dress and then examining the faces of his caregivers, and starting to whine as he felt ice on his legs begin to melt into water. 

Thor scooped the little up and helped him stand so they could try to clean up and prevent the dress from staining or getting too sticky, and Sylvie brought out a burp cloth to soak up what she could. 

Loki’s face began to twist as he looked down at the ruined state of his dress and began to cry again. 

“And… that’s our cue,” Sylvie mumbled as Mobius helped her scoop ice pieces back into the cup for her to throw away and Thor picked Loki up. 

The adult crouched down next to the little one. “That’ll all come out in the wash,” he told Loki in a very soft, very quiet voice. 

Loki shook his head. “Ruined,” he sobbed, still surveying the damage and touching the embroidered decorations on the dress. “Ruined!” he repeated, this time kicking and starting to throw another fit while Sylvie finished cleaning up and prepared Mobius to go. 

After the tiny door on the side of the wagon was shut and Mobius and Loki’s legs were intertwined, with Loki’s legs nearly touching the opposite seat, and Mobius’ kept in his own space, Sylvie pulled them back home. 

Loki’s backup sippy cup of water was slowly being drained while Mobius worked on his bottle. 

Thor looked down at them on the way home. 

Loki looked perfectly in place, but when he looked at Mobius, the little who was much more obviously getting sleepy and trying to drink his bottle of formula, he couldn’t help but feel like a pram or at least a shaded stroller would’ve felt much more appropriate. Well, it was alright, there was enough of a backrest on either side of the wagon to let Mobius slump down and curl up with his lamb. This position wasn’t exactly comfortable, and Loki wasn’t exactly the happiest to have his legroom taken up, but what they had would make do for now. 

By the time they got home, one little one was absolutely asleep, and the other was wiping his face of pink little tears. 

“Well, we can’t take the wagon inside,” Sylvie said, putting her hands on her hips with a bit of amusement as she looked at both of the little ones. 

“We can pick them up,” Thor said as he took Loki, kissing the little’s cheek and smoothing his hair. “And get this one a new dress for his nap.” 

Loki didn’t even protest, passively nodding and burying his face in Thor. 

Sylvie brought the wagon up to the front of the house before making an attempt to pick the sleeping baby up, replacing his empty bottle with a pacifier and grunting as she tried to cradle him. “There we are,” she finally said once she set him on the couch, taking a quick break and stretching before trying again and making it the rest of the way to set him in the crib. 

For a moment, after she set him down, she felt very thankful that they lived in a single-story home before picking him back up and making it the rest of the way to the bedroom. 

She checked on Loki who had been somehow convinced to wear a blue, knee-length playsuit with buttons all up the chest while Thor put the dress in the washer. 

“Baby here!” Loki whined. 

“He’s already asleep. Maybe you two can cuddle once he wakes up.” 

Mobius winked an eye open and kicked, whimpering and trying to get Sylvie’s attention.

“Oh, don’t you be like this, too! I just carried you in you silly boy!” 

Mobius gave her a knowing grin as Loki stumbled over to the other crib and made himself a spot in Mobius’ arms. 

Sylvie found this quite amusing. 

Loki was so much bigger in physical size and in headspace that it looked very awkward to have the tinier little wrapped around him in such a way. But they both looked so happy. 

They giggled and spoke in their gibberish to each other.

“It is nap time though. So we need to sleep, okay? Goodnight.” 

She turned on the baby monitor today instead of just leaving the door open, and shoved the receiver piece, usually kept in her bedroom, into her pocket after leaving so she could hear them. 

But after she heard a simple: “Mobis seep. Happy deams.” And a babbly with a few giggles, as presumably Loki had patted the little one’s hair, in response, the line went silent. 

Chapter Text

Today was really something special, both in good and bad ways for Loki and Mobius. Thor and Sylvie had very loudly told the littles upfront it was clean-house-day, which was never good, but it was also the day Loki got to stop wearing his boot. 

Despite that, it was obvious once the work started that Loki was having trouble with his headspace and balancing it with the sensation of being able to walk again. 

He tried to toddle, following around mummy or Thor as they worked, but he seemed to be tripping over his own feet. 

Loki squatted while holding out the dustpan for Thor to sweep into. He was distracted, but Thor didn’t mind, because at least he was holding it steady and that was all that mattered. 

After sweeping, Thor got out a mop and bucket, adding some soap and setting the bucket into the sink. 

“Are you going to help me with this one, too, brother?” he asked as he turned the tap on. 

But Loki was too busy to answer, grabbing and inspecting all the fruit in the fruit bowl on the counter, an actually rather helpful task. 

“It’s not quite lunchtime yet, little one,” Thor reminded the young toddler (at most). “I think maybe we should set you outside with mummy and Mobius. She could use a tall little one like you to help her hang the laundry.” 

Loki stuck out his bottom lip to pout as Thor picked him up and slung him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, a position that had become even more common than usual in recent days. 

The sunshine beat down heavily through the trees in the late morning, filling the small home’s yard with golden light. The grass was still dewy, and the sun had just risen above the high treetops despite being nearly perpendicular to the ground.

“Do we have another baby joining us?” Sylvie asked, peeking out from behind a flowy crib sheet. 

Loki made a loud whine in response, still not able to see her as his top half was draped over Thor’s back. 

“Yeah, he just needs a little break.” 

“You can just set him down over there.” 

Loki, no longer relegated to staring at the floor or his brother’s backside, was able to finally take in what the situation was. 

Normally, when it was him and mummy in the yard, there was a simple quilt set out with some toys, but now things looked very different. The quilt was gated, just like the living room, and a foldable bassinet was set out, complete with plenty of soft baby toys. 

Loki’s normal garden toys were nowhere to be seen, and neither were Sylvie’s regular rules about what toys were allowed outside. 

As he was set down in the play area, he realized that…this was maybe not that bad. The plush grass sank below him and he absently batted at a couple of the toys until he remembered Mobius’ presence.  

Mobius had on some brown, corduroy overalls that looked like a bear with a white peter-pan collared shirt underneath. How he managed to keep it from being grass stained while lying in and exploring the outdoors was a mystery beyond comprehension. 

Loki twisted around, entirely ready to instigate some drama, just a little bit. Attempt to test how far he could push the little until Sylvie noticed or if he could cause a meltdown, and if he was really lucky, maybe even a tantrum. That would really be something. 

Loki always had these thoughts, but when he actually looked at the content baby-- on his own, lying on his belly and flipping through a soft board book while lying on the blanket with a comfy stuffed animal under his chest and a pacifier in his mouth…-- he realized that Mobius didn’t actually really care about whatever he was scheming. The little was not especially emotive if he was suspicious of something. He hadn’t even really looked at Loki aside from a passing glance since the older little had been set in. 

Loki scooted forward, behind Mobius, pretending to be cautiously trying to get a glimpse of what the book could be about, but as he did so, Mobius quickly whipped his head around, giving Loki an anxious stare. 

Loki, at a loss for what else to possibly do, poked the baby, just around the hip, enough to elicit a little crinkle from the plastic waistband of Mobius’ diaper. 

Mobius tried to look at the spot Loki had touched and seemingly made a decision. He rolled over onto his back and gave Loki a playfully cautious smile, letting his hands fall by his ears and out of the way, like he did when he slept. 

Loki smiled slightly as he understood that the little was opening up to play and touched the baby again experimentally: He patted Mobius’ tummy, lightly pressing and tapping, fascinated as the baby squirmed and wiggled and peeped little noises. 

Sylvie pretended she wasn’t watching, even though she definitely was, trying not to say “aw,” out loud for fear it would frighten Loki away.

He then tried something his brother often did during play times like this; an experiment to see how Mobius would react. He gently tried to tickle around the little’s armpits, ready to pull away at a moment’s notice if the reaction was negative. 

Mobius clenched, but giggled. It was a bright, happy laugh-- and loud, too! Not the quiet chuckle Loki had heard him make before. In fact, it was possibly the first noise Loki had heard him make that didn’t sound a bit strangled and as if he was trying to force himself to be quiet. That was… his voice, and Loki was hearing it for the first time. A genuine giggle without fear or restraint. 

It made him grin, if only for a second.

Loki suddenly stopped as Mobius began to rub the side of his nose. “Mumumum?” he asked. 

Sylvie had finished with the laundry and was now scooping some dirt, ready to plant some flowers while listening to her babies play, entirely at peace, but she set down the trowel to check up on them. “What’s up?” she asked Loki, resting her arms and cheek on the side of the fence. 

Mobius was resting on his side, propped up on one arm, face still red from laughter as he continued to paw at his face. 

Loki pointed at him, as if Sylvie didn’t see. 

“Aw, honey, he’s a happy baby.-- Aren’t you? Are you a happy baby?” she asked Mobius. 

He cooed up at her tireldy, still catching his breath with a big smile and then squeaked with laughter again when she tickled his belly. 

Loki looked between them with his thumb in his mouth. 

“Is Loki a happy baby, too?” 

“No baby,” he protested, furrowing his brow contentiously.

“You are, you are,” she told him as if reassuring any fears as she checked on his diaper, patting him on the bum. “Maybe not so much of a happy baby? Did I ruin your fun?” she asked a little mockingly as she pulled away from him, looking at the way he kept his very intimidating scowl. 

She set a pacifier into his mouth and continued to watch as the little sat down and then fell purposefully backwards, lying on the warm quilt next to Mobius. She knew it was around naptime, and the boys were beginning to get tired, but letting them doze in a warm, spring sunbath was going to be much easier for both of them than trying to wrangle them down for their naps in the nursery. 

Loki reached up to grab his toes, demanding Sylvie’s attention as he did so, babbling and cooing to her as he tried to reach past himself for a rattle, a ring-shaped clear one filled with rainbow plastic beads which made a lovely noise as he held it up to his ear to get a closer listen to the satisfying rolling noise it made.

He ignored Mobius next to him, who was back to his board books and lamb. Now Mobius was the one watching curiously out of the corner of his eyes. 

Loki remained unaware, focusing much more on maintaining Sylvie’s attention to be bothered by Mobius’. 

She hummed and brought herself to a slightly closer garden bed so she could watch them a bit closer. 

But the second Loki found her attention to be insufficient, he whimpered, loudly. 

“Mummy’s right here. Keep playing,” she reassured him as she turned back to her herbs and flowers. 

He threw down his rattle to check if that worked, and began to kick and fuss in a way that made it obvious that he was considering working up to screams when it didn’t. 

However, Mobius made a noise. Not a vocal one, but a sigh. A heavy, calm, but slightly fed up sigh. 

It was not a noise Loki had expected from the baby; Sylvie or Thor, sure, but Mobius? He hadn’t known him for all that long, but… it wasn’t a noise he had prepared to hear. 

Loki suddenly quieted and tried to see what had caused the other little to make such a noise. But their eyes unfortunately had to lock, and both littles blankly stared at each other.

Mobius fumbled with the book and handed it to Loki, who took a peek at it and then dropped it over the fence for Sylvie.

She gave him a look, set down her work to reach into a picnic basket next to her, and fished out another pair of mittens, just like the ones Mobius had on, which she quickly wrestled onto Loki’s hands so he wouldn’t be so tempted to grab and throw and drop things. 

He didn’t cry, but did make a point to scowl at her as she velcroed the pink, fleecy fabric over his hands. 

He set his hands down back on the floor, jerking away after Sylvie got all the pieces into position. Upon repositioning himself, his curiosity and focus floated back to Mobius’ long sigh. 

He studied the smaller little further before a conclusion was reached: The poor thing was getting not only sleepy, but bored.

Loki grabbed an inflatable ball and fidgeted with it, rolling it back and forth between his legs as he observed and pondered if this was something he should be fixing. 

He quickly made the decision that it wasn’t. 

Loki turned over onto his hands and knees as the smaller tot rubbed his eyes and lazily stacked his color coded rings. 

Discarding the ball, he got up, and set a blanket on the floor into the bassinet. Followed by a few pillows, and any other soft toy he could find on the floor of the playpen. By the time he was done, there was hardly any room left in the cot. But regardless, he climbed in and felt absolutely, entirely, comfortable. The fact he needed to curl up wasn’t great, but he didn’t seem to mind it all that much. 

Sylvie smiled at him, being a big boy, putting himself to bed like a good little one . She began to hum a soothing tune.

As Mobius noticed the disappearance of his lamb, he felt like he knew exactly where it was. He crawled to the bassinet where Loki was cloud gazing and tugged at one of the draping blankets spilling over the sides. 

The disturbed Loki angrily sat up and stared down at him. 

Being too little to vocalize what he wanted, Mobius looked up at Loki and simply grabbed at the air, hoping that maybe, Loki would understand. 

But he didn’t, giving a cocked eyebrow and a skeptical look. 

So, Mobius peeked over the ledge of the cradle, before yanking out his stuffed sheep, creating a hole in the nest Loki had made for himself. 

Loki was even less happy with this development. 

He looked to Sylvie to see if she saw this injustice, and when he realized she didn’t, he tried to yank the toy back. 

Mobius did not fight it. Not really. He sat down, crossed his arms, and contemplated what to do, with a pouty little frown on his face, before deciding to tug on Sylvie’s shirt and get her attention, leaning as far as he could over the fence of the play space. 

She looked down at him as she finished planting a row of Icelandic poppies, but Mobius quickly realized that he didn’t know how to communicate that his beloved toy had been taken, except by pointing a mitten over at Loki. 

“Did Loki take your napping spot?” she asked while taking off her gardening gloves. “That silly boy.” As she spoke, she opened the playpen gate and sat down next to Mobius, taking him into her lap. “You poor thing! Where ever are you going to rest now?” 

Part of her last sentence was sarcasm. As the two had become nearly inseparable (no matter how much Loki denied it), nap times close to one another had become regular and almost expected, especially on colder days. 

However, in some ways, Sylvie was right. There wasn’t any room for two. The one, comfortable naptime spot had been stolen along with the comfortable blankets and toys, and who could stand for that? 

She cradled him close to her chest as she checked him. With one empty hand, she searched for the bag that she’d keep bottles and sippy cups in, just barely reaching for a mostly cooled bottle of luke-warm milk. 

She set it into the crook of her neck and held it with her head as she brought Mobius up a little bit higher to drink from it, not bothering with a bib or burp cloth and taking her risks at getting dribbled or spit-up on. 

The little one wasn’t much in the mood for a nap though. He took a couple sips, but soon unlatched, cooing and making his babyish babbling noises. 

“You’re just so wiggly? Wiggly boy?” Sylvie asked, tickling him like Loki had. 

Mobius squealed, almost screamed as he giggled in that voice Loki had heard earlier. 

The older little opened his eyes as he heard it and moved just a little bit. 

“Shh, Loki’s sleeping!” she hushed him with a wide smile. 

Mobius set a cotton mitten into his mouth as he nodded, a little embarrassedly, while kicking his legs absently and fidgeting. 

Then, he reached up, and with two mitted hands, tried to grab the straw sunhat off of Sylvie’s head. 

Sylvie leaned over to make it easier, wisps of her hair sticking with static and sweat to the fibers as her baby pulled it down and onto his own head curiously. 

“You look very handsome,” she commented, adjusting it on his head and dotting a kiss on the top of it.

The little one thought it was funny as well, rubbing the side of his nose and continuing to kick and fidget. 

“How are we ever going to get such a lively little one down for his nap? Hm?” 

Loki had already sat up and had been watching for a while at this point, with his knees brought up and mitted arms wrapped around him. 

Sylvie noticed him. "You can sleep, it's okay," she told him. "But can you share your toys and pillows with Mobius? He wants some, too."

Mobius smiled, a big full smile for being understood, when he was so afraid the message wouldn't get across. 

Loki glared at both of them and decided that maybe, just maybe, this was the perfect time to shake his head and whine and cry and act as if this wasn't all by his own doing. 

Sylvie pressed her lips together and gave him the most utterly unimpressed expression she could ever give a little before Mobius scooted down, giving her permission to divide the attention a bit. 

She tried to move Loki out of his palace of pillows and blankets but the boy went limp the second she applied any force to pulling him away.  "Brat," she mumbled under her breath.  

Mobius tried not to smile in agreement. 

It took a great deal of coaxing and a couple near misses of a foot to the face or an elbow to the boob to get Loki into her lap, but somehow Sylvie managed, even as he fought her. Wrestling him into a not very warm or particularly loving hug, she kept him restrained, which, as every other parent had told her, made the ordeal worse (and yet both her and Thor still insisted on it). For Sylvie, it was more of a hug for her own and Mobius' safety. 

When he finally calmed down, Sylvie set a bucket hat onto his head to keep the bothersome sun out of his face before finding a second bottle in her picnic basket and carelessly shoving the nipple of it into his mouth.  

He whimpered behind it but stopped moving so much.  

"Shh, there we go. That's good," she said, finally able to stop clutching him tightly and instead use a free hand to pet his hair, which snaked down to check his nappy once he relaxed. "Mummy's calm boy, huh? Are we quiet and sleepy ?" She emphasized these words to make sure they really sank in. 

Loki nodded. 

Mobius, at this time, was laying on his belly, watching, and sleepily trying to keep his eyes open, smiling gently at Sylvies reassuring words.

"Mummy's calm quiet boy s ," she noted, looking up at him. 

As Loki relaxed, Sylvie was finally able to maneuver him down into a more comfortable, cradled position, and as he softened even more, she saw an itty bitty smile creep across his face around the bottle.

“Both of you,” Sylvie tacked onto the end, reaching down to pet Mobius, but Loki tried to grab her arm, whining, and pull it back to himself.  

That seemed to be a final straw. “Alright, yep, nap time for you both,” she said, scooting Loki off her lap entirely. 

She took a second to survey the bassinet, as it had been set outside when she had only anticipated caring for one little, and decided it was unsuitable for the two to share. So, she moved all the soft items out of it and onto the quilts where the two littles were lying, shoving the hard or noisy toys out of the way and tucking her babies in as if they were in their crib, which Mobius found really silly. 

Once the little ones were asleep, Sylvie decided that it was maybe time to take down the baby gate. No longer was she hanging up sheets or doing much that demanded her full attention or anything that the babies couldn’t help with, in fact, she strongly believed that being in the garden would be good for them. So, with the bassinet, and a couple toys that neither of the littles were close to, she took a few things inside, just inside the back door for Thor to put away later so she didn’t need to leave them for long. 

A very rare occurrence happened about forty five minutes later, as Mobius woke up from his nap first. 

“Hello,” Sylvie hummed softly, noting his presence as she mixed some soil at a nearby potting table.

The little rubbed his eyes and observed the changes in his surroundings before pushing himself up and crawling to the corner of the quilt, but no further.

“Would you like to come help me?” she asked. 

Briefly, Mobius paused, and then shook his head, choosing to lay on his belly and observe the grass instead. He stretched out, letting the tiny blades rub against his forearms and tried to pick up a few small ladybugs, cooing over them. 

“Let’s get those mittens off you so you can play, hm?” Sylvie asked as she stepped closer. 

The baby little rolled himself over for her so she could take the little sock-like pieces of fabric off of his hands and he could immediately try to put them into his mouth. 

“Were we exploring the grass?” she asked him.

Mobius nodded and spread his palms wide, letting the individual pieces tickle in between his fingers. 

Loki began to shift very soon after that, and stole away Sylvie’s attention. 

She checked the little, and subsequently pulled him off the quilt by his ankles, which made him roar with laughter as she slid a pad under his bum and got him changed into a clean nappy. 

The chilly wipes and cream made the warm summery day feel even warmer and relieved his skin of irritation and rash. 

Having the mat out like this also made it easier for Sylvie to coax Mobius down for a change as well.

Today, he was a little bit wiggly and modest, as if he had a reputation to uphold and this was all very embarrassing to him, which of course, Sylvie found to be adorable. 

Loki distracted him with toys while Sylvie handed him the fresh nappy that would go on once she cleaned him up, letting him examine the softness himself and look at the dinosaurs on the outside. 

It didn’t seem to surprise or bother him when she took it away to put underneath him even if he did kick a little bit. 

“There we go,” Sylvie cooed as she slid his overalls back up and set the straps into place. She placed a kiss on Mobius’ cheek as she helped him sit up. “Now, can you both play nicely while mummy gardens?” she asked them. 

Loki looked up at her with his hand in his mouth, pacifier hanging, and made a motion like he wanted to be picked up at her.  

“Would you like to help?” she asked him. 

Loki nodded firmly. He most definitely wanted to help, even if Mobius didn’t, and immediately after Sylvie undid his mittens, he quickly crawled over to her potting bench to help, pulling himself up and leaning on the furniture as if it was difficult. 

Mobius remained fairly content with his puzzles and toys as Sylvie gave her older boy instructions on how to plant seeds into tiny cardboard pots. 

Then, after Loki had gotten a start, she came over, and with a little bit of work, picked Mobius up. 

He was a little bit surprised, as always, but still put up with being carried over to her planting beds. He didn’t really have much of a choice to help or not if Loki was helping. 

He made handprints in the dirt, and poked holes like Sylvie was, sitting in her lap while Loki covered up the seeds they were planting and added some water from a watering can Sylvie had provided and let him fill up. She monitored his ability to pour and how much water he added to the soil, but mostly tried not to interfere, letting him attempt his own miniature type of independence. The two were as helpful as they could be to her and followed every order-- well, almost every order, with the exception of Loki attempting to eat a few seeds,-- until she just had to take over on her own. 

As she clipped back some pieces of brush, Sylvie snipped off a few pieces of sweet smelling plants for Loki to rub between his fingers and smell, like lavender and sage. 

Loki in turn, handed the smelly plants back to Mobius. “Sniff!” he commanded the baby.

Mobius smiled as if this was a very funny joke before Loki shoved the plants closer and Mobius did smell. 

He nodded as if he understood the smells in some special way before trying to take one from Loki’s palm. He sniffed the lavender he had caught once again before chewing on the petals and eventually setting the whole piece into his mouth. 

“Ew! Yuck!” Loki called out, giggling. 

“It’s just lavender. He can chew on it,” Sylvie reminded him, but as she said that, Mobius spat out the plant and gave her a rather betrayed and upset face. “But maybe it’s just time for lunch. Are you hungry?” she asked them both. 

Mobius whined and was helped up, taken in by the hand, with Loki hanging onto Sylvie’s other. 

Chapter Text

As it neared a month of Mobius and Loki getting used to each other’s presence, Sylvie and Thor met up to make an executive decision. 

They stood at the edge of the playpen, arms crossed and pretending to be simply idly supervising while the two babies busied themselves with a series of puzzles and storybooks that Loki, oh so desperately wished he could read. These ones weren’t like the ones Mobius was usually given, as the pages were cardboard, or sometimes even paper, not some waterproof plastic material or fabric. They even had words, not just textures and pictures, or the occasional teether.  

“So do you think it’s time?” 

“How would I know?”

“You were a little babysitter, you should know.” 

“I guess, but I’ve never done anything like this before.” 

“So… maybe we should test the waters first?” 

“Yeah, that sounds right.”

This big discussion was about the fact that their water bill was through the roof. Or, more informally: if it was time to get the littles to share a bath. 

The day was supposed to be unseasonably warm, so they decided a good step would be to share a swim. Unfortunately, neither little had any idea how to do that. So, Sylvie and Thor selected the next best option. 

Loki sat in the driveway next to the car as he waited for Sylvie to bring out a battered old kiddie pool, which had nearly turned white in the long six seasons it had spent in the sun, braced against the side of the detached garage, while Thor took Mobius out to find him a pack of appropriately sized swim nappies and a swim suit, which in this case, didn’t mean trunks and flip flops like it might for an adult. It meant a plastic nappy cover, a pair of water wings or a life vest, some sort of sandal or water shoes, and a bucket hat to tie it all together. 

Sylvie unceremoniously dropped the plastic tub down and grabbed the hose from the other side of the house while Loki watched her, curiously toddling a few yards behind her at all times, still trying his best to be her little helper. 

“Move!” she commanded Loki once the hose was on. 

So he did, just a few centimeters out of her way as she clamped her thumb down on the hose and made the water shoot out at a much higher speed. 

With it, she rinsed the built-up cobwebs and gunk out of the pool before dumping it out again, just as Thor’s van rolled up and parked right on the street. 

“Just in time,” Sylvie said as she greeted them, letting Thor carry the baby in, as he had been napping on the long car ride home, bundled up in a new towel like a swaddling cloth and clutching a partially finished bottle. 

Mobius slowly opened his eyes as the warm air hit him and cooed at Loki and Sylvie. 

“I’m just going to get him dressed and then you can play,” Thor said to the slightly older little, who was trying to take Mobius out of his arms. 

“That’s when we can fill up the pool, too,” Sylvie added. 

Getting Mobius up and dressed did take a little bit longer than expected due to the very simple, but unfortunate mistake of not realizing when the little one was done using his nappy and taking the tapes off just a little early. That paired with the typical baby fidgeting led to the need for some cleanup. But at least it wasn’t like when Loki was fussy and would purposefully hold it until then. This was just an effect of Thor not checking that he was already going. 

When that whole ordeal was cleaned up, Thor got Mobius into a blue and orange swim nappy and covered it with some snapping plastic pants which were orange with a banana leaf design, followed by a matching bucket hat to appease Sylvie, and then Crocs that looked like little red race cars and water-wings with cartoon trains on them. 

The little obviously wasn’t too sure about the look. 

“You and Loki are going to swim outside today, what do you think about that? It’s like a big bath.” 

Mobius pressed his mouth shut and nodded in a reserved fashion before Thor picked him up. 

“Don’t freak out for me, okay? Let’s have fun. Loki’s very excited.”

Mobius nodded before sticking his thumb in his mouth as Thor made a quick stop in the bathroom and quite impressively squatted down to reach for a bucket of rubber toys inside the cabinet under the sink. 

“Stay with me here,” he told the little, as Mobius struggled not to set his feet on the floor. “And--” Thor strained and grunted as he stood back up “--there we go.” 

Mobius twisted in Thor’s arms and leaned backwards to try to look at the toys in the bucket, making the adult struggle for balance. Mobius suddenly and apologetically hugged onto him in a more convenient way.

“Mobis! Look!” Loki called once Thor and the younger tot stepped outside. He was bent over the pool in his own similar outfit, and splashed a little bit of water out at both of them. 

Mobius covered his face even though he was well out of the way of the splash and let Thor set him down into the water. Loki happily crawled in afterwards. 

Sylvie and Thor watched from the sides, and asked the littles about different toys that they set in, including the beloved washcloth alligator, Mr. Alligator, which both Mobius and Loki grabbed for immediately, almost taking the puppet off of Sylvie’s hand. When Loki eventually did get it, he knew how to put it on and started to snap the jaws at Thor and Mobius and Sylvie, eventually biting each of them on the hands and screaming with delight and giggles at how his family reacted, splashing his other hand in the low water and making waves by wiggling and hopping up and down with giddy happiness. 

Mobius remained mostly still, sometimes playing with the rubber toys Sylvie or Thor had handed him and watching Loki play so actively in the small space. 

“Loki, Loki,” Sylvie whispered to the tall little who was standing up on his knees in the pool to “bite” her again with the soft alligator.

Loki stopped his giggly play and slowly sat down to listen before taking the alligator puppet off of his hand and giving it to her. 

“Do you think we can play with Mobius a little bit? Lookit, I brought more toys. How about the cups?” 

Loki quickly took the rainbow stack of plastic cups she had handed him from her hands and took the stack apart, letting the cups float in the water until he had no more in his hands. “All gone!” he smiled at her before showing her his emptied hands. 

“Wow, that’s very impressive, and how many was that?” she asked. 

Loki shook his head. “All gone!” he repeated. 

“How many cups were there before ‘all gone’?”

Loki looked and then scowled at her before trying to count. “Four!” he very proudly told her. 

“Is it really four? Or is that just a number you like?” she asked back, looking at the eight cups strewn about the pool. 

“Is four,” he assured her, definitely four . 

Meanwhile, Mobius had begun to gather, dump out, and neatly set the cups at Thor’s flip-flopped feet. “Can I join you?” he asked the little, moving slightly to his side and dipping one of the cups in, scooping up the water. 

Mobius, who had made a collection of seven dried cups, attempted to grabbed Thor's back. 

Thor handed the cup back to the baby and watched him dump it out and set it behind him again. 

Then, there was just one more, and it was a green one in Loki’s hands. 

Mobius scooted closer to Loki and attempted to take the final cup hesitantly.  

  “Can you ask him ‘please’?” Thor prompted, but Mobius ignored him and reached across to take the cup from Loki. 

Loki let him, just to curiously see where this was going, but when Mobius simply set it outside the pool, it was very obvious that this was not the desired outcome. 

“Do you think you should share the cups?” Sylvie asked. 

Before anyone could respond, Loki began to reach behind Mobius to grab a few of the cups, putting them under the water and dumping them into one another, or putting other toys inside the cups, with some stacking and an attempt to make an egg-like structure by pressing two together. 

“Mumma! Lookit! Egg!” he showed her, when he finally got the hang of it. 

Sylvie tapped on it to “crack” it, to which Loki responded by pulling the cups apart and freeing a small bath toy and some water. 

“Here, Mobis!” He then said, trying to include Mobius a little more, even though the tot was already distraught and upset with the cups being taken from their spot from outside the pool. He scooped up a cup of water and dumped it right onto Mobius’ head, flattening his naturally fluffy and wispy hair into a pancake. 

“Loki, that was very mean!” Sylvie scolded him as Mobius just sort of sat there in shock.

The smaller little wiped his eyes on his hands and tried to dry his face, but then smiled, he grinned and giggled and reached behind him for a cup, which he tossed at Loki. 

But before Sylvie could tell them not to throw things, the two were throwing toys and splashing and screaming with giggles. 

Sylvie and Thor both took a step back, leaving the toy bucket accessible, and trying to keep their clothes fairly dry as they chatted from a reasonable distance. 

“Bathtime’s going to really be something,” Thor said.

“...Yeah…” Sylvie agreed. “So,” she switched the subject rather quickly. “Um, that water…”  she added, as it was no longer as crisply colorless and clear, as is the pool ideal. 

“We should probably take them out soon, right?” 

“Well, there is one last thing I want to try. Just, can you watch them for a minute longer?” 

“Yep, I’ve gottem.” 

“Thanks.” Sylvie smiled before running inside to grab her final experiment.

Thor stopped the littles from drinking the water and tried to keep them settled and playing nicely with each other until Sylvie came back, which meant trying his best to create an interesting sensory experience for them. He wound up a boat and let it glide across the water, which Mobius immediately grabbed. 

The little grinned and debated putting it into his mouth before looking at the wind-up key and trying to twist it himself. Then, he handed it back to Thor, clapping to tell the adult that he wanted more. 

Thor set the boat back into the water after rewinding it. 

This time, Loki dumped one of the cups of water onto the little boat, trying to sink it, but when it remained puttering around the pool, he decided to try and trap it instead.

“Okay, okay, I’m back!” Sylvie called with a smile as she shut the door and made it out to the driveway, making sure not to stumble in her wedge sandals before sitting down next to the kiddie pool in between the two littles. 

She clicked open a light blue bottle and, in a Loki-like motion, dumped it upside down and squeezed in an almost reckless manner into the pool’s water. 

Then came the fun part, when she got out the hose and refilled the steadily lowering water level of the pool, causing millions of bubbles to appear around the tots. 

Mobius played like he usually would in the bath, clapping his hands with the bubbles in between and making little pieces of soap fly everywhere while Loki stood up, seemingly to make a point and grabbed a big brick of bubbles to try and throw at Thor, laughing and stomping in the water as Thor tried to catch the fluffy lump. 

He then tried to scoop up more and threw it in the air, raising his arms up grandly to accent his impressive feat. 

The pool began to slosh and overflow with Loki’s stomping about and eventual sit-down back into the water, and when that happened, Sylvie turned the water off and moved the hose out of the way to let the littles play just a bit more in the foam until she noticed Loki’s chest and belly beginning to pinken and Mobius’ fingers pruning up as he reached for her to pull her down and show her the bubbles firsthand and the boat that he had been playing with. 

She begrudgingly reached her hand into the gross water and began to pull out toys and set them into the bath toy bucket after trying to flick away any droplets, and soon, Mobius began to join her while also covering himself in bubbles, sinking down as low as he could into the water while Loki instead got up and out. 

“All done!” Loki said in an unbothered manner. 

“All done?” Sylvie asked. 

“Yep! All done!” he repeated, showing her he had nothing in his hands as if that had anything to do with anything. 

“Okay, okay, I see you,” she smiled before grabbing the hose once more. 

Thor lifted Mobius out of the gross but still bubble-filled water as Sylvie turned on the water and sprayed Loki as well as the side of the house, rinsing him off and making him giggle as the high pressure drops pelted him, knowing he’d then be able to run up to Thor and be wrapped in a big, warm towel. 

Mobius was set down at the end of the driveway, but didn’t stand up until Sylvie instructed him to. She was gentler on him than Loki as she washed him off, taking his hand and letting the water pour over him, even daring to get his legs and belly and back, which he fought her on, threatening to sit back down on the pavement or even lie down until she turned off the hose and wrapped him in a hooded bear towel, before giving him plenty of cheek kisses and handing him off to Thor, taking Loki’s hand in her own instead. 

“Here, switch?” she asked once they got inside. 

Thor handed Mobius back to her and took Loki’s hand to get him redressed and diapered. 

Sylvie cradled the baby in her lap. Practically rolling him up into a ball and tucking his head into her neck. “You did so good. You played so well with Loki and hardly any tears, huh?” she asked in a sympathetic cooing voice, rubbing his shoulder lovingly. “Such a sweet baby.” 

Loki was quick to come toddling out of the nursery in one of his many pairs of not-denim short overalls with Thor behind him. 

“Switch?” Thor asked her, offering to take the baby off her lap and leave her with Loki. 

“Yes, thank you.” She handed the little up to the larger man, who let Mobius sleepily slump over his shoulder. 

“Naptime already little one?” he asked gently. 

Mobius nuzzled a nod. 

“Okay, we’ll just need to get you into your naptime clothes then.”

Most of the day wasn’t of note, but of course, evenings meant messes, and messes meant baths, and that was yet another experiment for Sylvie. 

She washed each of the littles up individually and gave them a rinsing off with the removable shower head before giving them a proper bath, the warm type with actual washcloths and real soap. 

With Loki’s lanky limbs, it was a bit cramped, but both tots managed and Sylvie was shocked how easily it went, with exception to Loki’s splashing and Mobius almost crying over it-- and the loss of his pacifier to the water. 

However, both were so exhausted by the time they were diapered and in warm clothing that they could hardly keep their eyes open for long, especially as Thor held Loki and rocked him back and forth with the most love in the world, kissing him on the temples and letting the little one lace their fingers together, as seemingly, the little didn’t know what to do with his sleepy, idle hands. 

Mobius, however, refused to be cradled tonight, and instead slept on Sylvie’s lap on his tummy, letting her pet his back and speaking to him softly as he kicked his legs just a bit. 

Another milestone had been made in the family, and yet it was still just another day, another night, more crib snuggles and stories and songs and pacifier snuffles and baby kicks.

Chapter Text

Today was weird. There was no doubt about it. But for most of the family, the main reason was that it was Loki’s first day back in school, Sylvie still had another month off of leave ahead of her, but Loki needed to be back in classes soon, and even though daycare wasn’t mandatory, he was starting to miss his friends and some fun content. It really wasn’t good to keep him away for so long. 

 “Look!” Loki had said that morning.

Mobius looked at him from over the side of the crib, reaching out to grab the item Loki was showing off.

“Is baby’s,” he said in the voice mummy used for cooing at Mobius. 

The object in question was a colorful activity ball that Thor had bought. One could tell because it was rainbow and plastic, not wood. 

“No,” Loki chuckled, scolding Mobius playfully for trying to take it back, as he stuffed the toy into his backpack. 

Mobius let go of the wooden crib side and toppled down frustratedly onto his bum, crossing his arms with a huff. 

“Es school. No baby. Love Mobis,” he explained, picking up his open bag with items toppling out and trying to give the little one a kiss, ending up settling for the back of the baby’s hand.

Random items spilled out of Loki’s backpack as he ran to go find his mummy and brother. The little did not need much corralling as Thor was almost right outside the door and not only ready to scoop Loki up, but also to zip the little’s backpack closed real quick. 

“Alright, let me see. How did you do, brother?” he asked once he got Loki to sit back down on the floor for just a second longer, long enough to check the bag’s contents. “Do we need to bring Mobius’ activity ball?” he asked sincerely as he took it out of one of the pockets.

Loki tried to take the ball back, but Thor held it out of his grasp. “No! Es baby’s.” 

“It is, so shouldn’t we keep it with the baby?”

“NO!” Loki protectively hugged the ball and then set it in the bag. 

“It looks like you did a pretty good job,” Thor commented as he folded Loki’s extra pair of clothes and set in a couple of extra nappies. Aside from the ball and a comfort plushie, all of it was pretty in place.

Loki smiled and let his brother set the bag on his shoulders before telling Mobius “bye-bye,” and giving the baby little a kiss, even more awkwardly this time, on the pad of his pajama-d feet since it was the easiest spot and Loki was in much too much of a hurry to care. 

The tinier little laughed and gave Loki one of those babyish waves of simply flexing his hand. 

“You can say good-bye to him properly,” Thor informed his brother, taking Mobius out of his crib and setting the baby on his back in a piggy-back position, but Loki was already scampering down the hall to see if Sylvie had packed his lunch. 

“Mumma! Mumma make?” he asked as he leaned on the kitchen counter and played all sweet. 

“Thor actually made your lunch today,” Sylvie commented. “He got up extra early so it would be special for you.” She slid Loki’s lunchbox toward him, to which Loki responded by opening the metal lid and checking it like a briefcase of money.

He nodded, closed it, and immediately shook all of the food together by picking it up and toddle-running with it to Thor. 

“Ready go!” he shouted, just to make it extra clear that he wasn’t the one holding up the trip. 

“I hear you, brother,” Thor replied. As he set down the newly changed and babbly Mobius on the couch. 

“I can take him,” Sylvie flatly said with a roll of her eyes, like taking the little to school was so obvious and such a burden on her. 

“I’m taking him. He’s on my way”

“But I have another month off!” she complained as if it were now an issue that she couldn’t. 

“Can you pick him up then?”

“Yes, fine, I’ll pick him up.”

Loki hugged both his mummy and, once more, Mobius before tugging Thor out the door and on their morning walk. 

Occasionally, Thor would need his car for work, but today wasn’t one of those days. 

Loki’s daycare was the midpoint between Thor’s work and home, and was less than a mile apart from either, which made drop-offs and pick up pretty easy. 

During his day, Loki fell right back into his place at school. It was almost as if he hadn’t been gone for a month, but that’s just how little daycares tended to be and littles came and went fairly regularly. Of course, he also talked extensively about “Baby Mobis” and his caregivers and showed the other littles and his teacher the activity ball, but all in all, nothing had changed, and although he was a bit tired from his nap, he was in a cheery and bright mood when his mummy arrived with Mobius in a stroller to come pick him up. 

“Mumma! Mobius come see?” he asked, trying to beckon them in so he could give the baby a tour. 

“He’s napping, little one,” she explained, lifting the shade of the stroller to show Loki the sleeping baby. 

Since Mobius had come home, Sylvie and Thor had decided to invest in a second stroller for him, and this was not the old one he had been taken to the doctor in. This one faced inward at the adult pushing it and leaned back in an almost cradling position, and let the little one’s feet dangle. It wasn’t the jogging stroller Loki was usually given. This new stroller could not fit through the door without folding it up first. 

Loki frowned and hummed sadly, setting his thumb in his mouth while trying to work out how he could work around this problem. 

“Maybe you can show him tomorrow,” she reasoned, petting his back as she led the disappointed toddler away.

After dinner, the thought was still heavy on Loki and Sylvie’s minds.  

“Sylvie?!” Thor called. “I just gave them their bottles! Can you ready the bath?”

She was in her own room, on the floor, rooting around underneath her bed.

“Sylvie?” Thor peeked his head inside the room while carrying Mobius, who was too busy touching Thor’s hair to particularly care that he was sitting in a messy diaper. 

The caregiver withdrew and smiled at them in a way not unlike Loki would if he were caught doing something he wasn't supposed to-- which was only exaggerated by the mess of random items, trash, and papers surrounding her and her staticked hair that stuck out around her head. 

“Found it!” she smiled at them, showing off what she was looking for. 

“Alright, now can you help me, please?” Thor was too tired to really care or acknowledge what it was she had found. 

“You sound like me,” she told him, all the joy draining from her face momentarily before she went to help Loki and Mobius get cleaned up and into the bath. 

The next morning, Loki went through his morning routine with his brother, just like the previous day and Sylvie did what she could of her co-parenting duties. 

Mobius had gotten himself up early just to see Loki, and was keeping his mummy company in his high chair as she packed her other little’s lunch… but getting distracted and playing peek-a-boo with the little one, leaning on the tray of his highchair. 

When Loki was all ready for the day, pouty about some fight he had had with Thor, he did join them and ate his breakfast in his own chair before Sylvie put his lunch in his backpack, gave him a kiss even though he resisted, and then handed him something that changed his mind. 

“Do you know what this is?” she asked.

Loki smiled and nodded.

“Tell me what it is.”

“Camma,” he answered. 

“Do you know how to use it?”

He nodded, entirely sure of himself as he turned over the mint green Polaroid in his hands. 

“Okay, show me,” she skeptically asked of him. 

Loki looked at it, and proceeded to try to open up the pocket where the film was stored before she snatched it away from him. 

“Nope, no, okay, let’s try again. So, first off, we don’t touch that. Got it?” 

Loki nodded. 

“So you turn it on with this button, and then look through this hole, and then you can press the button!” she took a photo of him, resulting in the little grinning with excitement as the paper slid out of the camera. “Then you shake it,” she suggested. 

Loki danced in that awkward, toddlerish way, shaking the paper maniacally until Thor passed him and headed into the kitchen.

“Tor! Tor lookit see? Mumma picta!” 

“Mummy Sylvie took a picture of you?” 

“See? Look!” Loki handed him the now, just beginning to develop, photo. 

“You look very nice. We may just have to hang it on the fridge.” 

Loki was smiling to the moon and back, his entire mood had changed, and now he was just glittering with excitement. 

“Loki? Loki! I’m not done!” Sylvie called him. 

The little wandered back and sat down in front of her, now much more attentively. 

“Okay, so do you think you can take this to daycare and take some photos for Mobius to look at when you get home?” 

Loki absolutely beamed at her. 

“It’s a big responsibility, are you sure?” Thor asked. 

“M’ big kid,” Loki laughed, taking the green camera. 

“There is one rule,” Sylvie told him. “I’m going to put it in your backpack-- turned off-- and you can only use it when your teacher says so, okay?” 

Loki nodded, absently while fidgeting, a little excited and on the verge of being overstimulated. 

Once he finished giving out his “bye-bye” hugs and kisses to his family, Loki and Thor left the house for the day. 

“Ms. Max!” Loki yelled as he ran up to his teacher, with Thor following behind closely. 

Although Loki did his best to explain his mission, Ms. Maximoff found that Thor did a much better job of making a case for the activity and explained it a lot better than the little could. 

“Is a cama!” Loki giggled when Thor took it out of his backpack to hand to the teacher. 

“Wow, it is a camera… nice little polaroid one, too. You don’t skimp out on a camera for your two year old,” she said while turning it over in her hands in a much more judgmental way than she actually meant it. 

“It’s Sylvie’s…” Thor thought to say. “We didn’t buy it just for this or anything. It’s pretty old. I don’t even know how much paper’s in there.” 

“Alrighty then Mr. photographer, go sit down in the circle and I’ll give it to you during playtime, okay?” 

Loki nodded and ran away to join his friends.

“Sorry it’s such a hassle…”

“No, no I totally get it’s enrichment. It’s good for him. This is one of the least crazy or distracting requests I’ve gotten. Do you know what it’s like when someone lets their little bring a full iPad or phone to school? So much worse. We can actually work this one in as a lesson.” 

Thor silently nodded. “Well… um thank you.”

“You’re very welcome,” she smiled.

Ms. Wanda Maximoff had planned other things for the day. As in, she had painstakingly curated a lesson plan for once and had spent all week preparing for it, but the littles didn’t know that. They didn’t need to know that. And they also didn’t need to know she was going to push it to Monday to instead talk about cameras and photography and light and optics. It was an easy lesson, and a relevant one, too, that ended up getting the littles excited and willing to let Loki take photos of them or their toys and for Loki to get Ms. Maximoff to take photos of him. 

Quite a few of the pictures Loki ended up taking were of his fingers or the floor, one time the inside of, his classmate, Scott’s mouth, and about six of the bathroom he didn’t even use. But many more were of a thriving daycare class, classroom, and play yard. The few Ms. Maximoff took probably could’ve been put up on a website or in a catalog. 

When Loki finally ran out of polaroid papers, the group sorted and discarded the unusable photos, and by then, naptime was over, art time, outdoor play, and the day’s story had all passed, and Sylvie would be coming by to pick up the little in a measly twenty minutes. 

“That’s all had! We’re all out of photo papers,” Ms. Maximoff explained with a smile as Loki kept trying to take photos, clicking the flash at her and the table of photos. “You’re all done!” 

“All done!” Loki repeated, with a smile. 

“So what’re you going to do now?” 

Loki shrugged and kept clicking the button as if it would work and more pictures would print. 

“Why don’t I keep this safe?” she suggested, taking the camera out of his hands. “And you can go play with your friends. Sound good?” 

Loki hesitated for a moment, but then reluctantly agreed to go do something else for the remainder of the day while he waited for his mummy to come pick him up. 

And when she did, she was very pleasantly surprised to be presented with Loki’s half-inch-thick stack of photos and his big, grinning face as he walked home at her side. 

“Wha’s baby do?” Loki asked curiously. 

Sylvie moved the shade up to let Loki look as the smaller little wiggled his legs and began to babble at them. 

“Hi sweetheart!” Sylvie cooed at him. 

Mobius reached his arms up, flexing his hands in a way that was ambiguous as to whether he was grabbing for them or waving. 

“Mobis hello!” Loki laughed. Seeing the little in a soft, patterned romper that went down to his mid thigh. 

Mobius smiled back at him behind his blue newborn pacifier with an elephant on the button and awkwardly grabbed at the straps over his shoulders that kept him in the seat, toying with them as Sylvie reached forward to check his diaper, just popping open one little crotch snap and using the back of her hand to see if there was any dampness yet before snapping it closed again and leaning forward to kiss him on the cheek, to which he responded with a coo and a chuckle. 

“Baby’s cute,” Loki informed her. 

“I’m glad you think so, too. He may even be just as cute as you if you can believe that’s even possible,” she told him. 

“No more.” 

“No, you’re both very cute. Equally cute.” 

When they got home, Sylvie made a space for them, larger and cleaner than usual, on the floor of the living room after giving them both changes and making a sippy cup of after-school apple juice for Loki. 

There was no play-pen fence or pile of stuffed animals or even wooden and plastic Montessori toys scattered about for them to play with, just a couple baby blankets, all nicely laid out and a big open space for them to lie down in. 

“Okay!” Loki announced to get Mobius’ attention, as the smaller little was so very distracted by trying to grab his toes and wasn’t properly sitting up or listening. 

Sylvie sat with them to watch as Loki insisted she needed a tour as well. “Um. Pichas!” 

“That’s what we’re looking at,” Sylvie agreed, poking a little fun at his redundancy as she got Mobius to roll over onto his tummy and watch. 

One by one, Loki went through his massive stack, answering questions that Sylvie brought up, hoping to have him elaborate on where or why the photo was taken. While Mobius was handed one of the duds to play with, letting him put the photograph in his mouth, crease it, and curiously rip it, an activity that Sylvie, at this point, was almost entirely sure could occupy almost every little you presented it to for hours at a time.

“And what’s that one? Who is that?” 

“‘S Nat-ah-sha,” Loki said, annunciating every syllable of her name. “N’ she’s read.” 

“She’s reading? Is that the reading corner?” 

“Yeah!” 

“And how about this one?” she asked about a particular blurry and dark image. 

Loki giggled. “Es Scott’s mouf!” 

“Gross!” she responded in a way that made Loki giggle before setting the image down, in favor of a couple different pictures of Loki’s classmates. “These are Loki’s friends,” she told Mobius. “Maybe you’ll get to meet them one day.” 

Loki had begun laying the pictures out on the ground instead of flipping through the stack, creating a grid-like spread of polaroids. 

Sylvie picked another one up. “And can you tell me who this is?” 

“Ms. Max!” 

It was a very nice photo of the teacher making a silly face at the camera, which she also showed to Mobius. “That’s the teacher. She’s really nice.” 

There were a few more Sylvie picked up; some of people, others of activities, and still more of the classroom itself. 

“Is this math time?” 

“Mhm!” 

“What’s that thing you have called? Can you tell Mobius about it?” 

“‘S a abacus.” 

“That’s a fun word, isn’t it? What does it do?” 

“Counts! Dr. Banner haves one,” he shrugged. 

“He does, doesn’t he? I forgot about that.” 

“Ababacub,” Mobius tried to babble the word, but Loki didn’t pick up on that, and Sylvie didn’t think he came close enough to really deserve any praise for it aside from a rub on the back. He reached out for the photo, taking it from Sylvie’s hand and gently looking at it. 

“Do you like that one?” 

He nodded. 

Loki took it to look at. It wasn’t anything too special in his mind, so he shrugged and gave it back. 

“We’ll have to put some of these up. They came out very nicely,” Sylvie observed. She let Mobius keep that one particular picture in his hands until he got distracted by some different ones. 

“Oh this is adorable,” she genuinely grinned at one, which had been, very obviously, taken by Loki’s teacher of Loki’s group of little friends. 

The older ones had big grins plastered on their faces-- Scott’s looked pretty genuine, like he had actually been laughing, while Bucky looked like he had just been told to smile. Peter and Natasha, as well as Loki-- the younger ones-- were kind of awkward. Loki also had tried to smile all big, while Natasha looked totally distracted by something else, and Peter looked more genuinely curious about the camera, cocking his head like a little puppy. 

“Would you like to see it?” 

Mobius cautiously took the polaroid out of her hands and looked at it, tapping his fingers on the back side. 

“Do you know that silly boy right there?” Sylvie asked in a cooing babytalk tone. “Who is that? Is--” 

“--‘Oh-ki!” Mobius replied pointing at the other little in the picture. 

Sylvie paused, staring at the baby, who was beaming up at her with a very proud-of-himself smile, and looked up at Loki to see if he had heard.

Loki had, and had stopped laying out photos because of it. “Mobis? Mobis talk?”

“He did! Just to say your name,” 

“Mobis! Mobis say ‘gain!”

“‘Oh-ki!” Mobius giggled, kicking his legs more as he said it. He couldn’t quite get his mouth around the letter “L” but he had the foundations. Then, he rolled over playfully onto his back and chewed on his hand. 

“Look at you!” Sylvie cooed at him, rubbing his belly. “You feeling chatty? How about we try ‘ma-ma’. Can you say that?” 

“Ma-ma!” Loki tried. 

Sylvie looked up at him and gave him that little, “I wasn’t talking to you” simper. “Very silly boy, I know you can say ‘mumma’.”

Loki scrunched up his nose, and Sylvie, slightly mockingly did the same until the little started giggling. 

“What do you think Mobius should try to say?” 

“Um…” Loki looked around himself for something before picking up a block. “R...reck-tangle,” he said awkwardly. 

Sylvie looked at Mobius doubtfully. “Let’s try something easier…” 

“‘Oh-ki!” Mobius repeated, trying to grab the rectangle block from Loki’s hands. 

Loki curiously let him take it. Just for Mobius to give him a happy little shriek, which made Loki laugh even more. 

“Aw, look at you two cuties,” Sylvie couldn’t help but swoon. 

“Yeah!” Loki told her. “Mobis say me's name!” 

“I know, that’s pretty exciting. Are you happy you got to be his first word?” 

Loki enthusiastically nodded. 

“You’re gonna help me teach him more though, right?” 

Once again, more nodding. 

“Yeah, that’s because you’re my good boy. Such a big helper for mummy, aren’t you?” 

“Mhm! An’ Mobis go daycare now!” 

Sylvie hesitated. “Not quite yet… but I think we’re definitely closer after today, don’t you think?” 

“Yeah!” Loki told her as he distractedly helped the smaller little sit up and gave him a big, squeezing hug. 

Chapter Text

“‘Oh-ki!” Mobius had started repeating a million times a day, much to the slight annoyance but also affection of his caregivers and sibby. More recently, he had finally started giving into Sylvie’s desperate want for validation by slowly integrating “mam-ma” into his vocabulary as well. He had not attempted to pronounce Thor’s name yet. 

He spoke with the slightest hint of a southern drawl. It was almost unnoticeable in baby babbles, but as he slowly moved towards real words, it became a bit more obvious and was something which Loki found to be very amusing and silly, mostly because it wasn’t something he had really heard outside of cartoons. 

“Baby, say ‘cat’!” Loki tried, showing the younger little a plush cat he was playing with.

Mobius looked at him, kept the pacifier in his mouth, lowered his eyebrows in an unimpressed manner, and took the stuffed animal from Loki’s hands fairly forcefully, yanking it away and examining it, himself. 

“Hey! Mine!” Loki complained. 

Mobius, thinking himself slightly funny, crawled towards the door with the plush in one hand, slipping once he got out of the nursery and halfway down the hall and landing on his tummy with a thump. That immediately had Sylvie opening the bathroom door and frantically pulling up her pants to deal with the matter; she didn’t even bother to wash her hands. 

Mobius began to whine and cry as Sylvie sat with her back against the wall and gently tried to bring him up into her lap, cradling him and trying to tell if he had actually hurt himself.

“You boys…” she tutted. “I can hardly leave you alone for five minutes just to use the potty.” In all fairness, it had been getting closer to ten as she had gotten distracted scrolling through her phone. 

Loki was already out of the nursery, toddling up to them, with his eyebrows furrowed and arms crossed. He awkwardly squatted down, and attempted to snatch the plush toy in Mobius’ hand back. 

“Nooo!” Mobius wailed. 

“Give it!” 

Sylvie sighed, realizing she’d be dealing with two bickering toddlers for an indeterminate amount of time, with no guarantee either of them would ever grow out of it. She lightly held her breath that Mobius’ recent headspace growth was a trend that would continue past this phase. 

Well, at least it seemed that he was learning new words: “No” was a new one.

Loki kept trying to wrestle the cat out of Mobius’ hand only for the stitching on the tail Loki was pulling from to pop off while Sylvie kept trying to talk to both of them. 

“Hey, why are we fighting over stuffed animals anyway?” she asked, trying to uncurl Mobius’ fingers and get Loki to back off. “We’re going to set the kitty down here while we work this out.-- Why do you both want it?”

“Cuz is mine!” Loki choked wetly, stomping his feet. 

Sylvie ushered him down into her arms, too. “So why does Mobius want it?” she asked curiously.

Mobius wiped his eyes with a balled fist. 

“Cuz he’s a brat,” Loki suggested in a murmur as he pressed his face into Sylvie’s shoulder. 

“Mobius, can you show mummy what’s wrong with your toys?” she asked, suspecting Loki hadn’t given her the right answer. She was especially suspicious because Mobius had been quite attached to his toys. It didn’t seem very much like him to go after one of Loki’s like this just because. But… toddlerhood was filled with surprises like that. 

She helped both her boys stand up and let the littler one take her into the playroom and show her his toys. 

To be fair, the lavender lamb and, in all honesty, most of Mobius’ other toys, had already been older items when they came into his possession. Sylvie had bought the lamb to help littles relax during naptime years ago when she was a babysitter, and then she had kept it through two moves and let it sit in the living room being one of Loki’s “friend toys” (toys that Loki wasn’t particularly attached to, meant to be shared with other littles that came over that wouldn’t cause fighting or attachment issues) for the last few years. By the time Mobius had gotten it, the fur was faded, the herbs hardly smelled anymore, and many of the non-wooly parts were loved to the point of the fabric only being a mesh-y backing while others were crusty with mysterious substances that refused to come out no matter how much they were scrubbed.

Now, after being dragged around by the baby absolutely everywhere for two months-- through many times being used as a glorified dust mop as he tried to crawl with it-- it had finally reached a point where Sylvie realized that perhaps she should be looking into getting him a new one. 

The lamb was not the only toy in the condition for replacement, but it was definitely the worst off. There were other toys Mobius had that had been bought new, and specially for him, but they stayed near the bottom of his crib by his feet and were not acknowledged as he pointed at the more well-loved items. 

Sylvie frowned as she tried to consider how to handle this conundrum. “How about mummy takes these old ones out to tea today, and you can play with your new ones? Hm? No need to take Loki’s.” She thought this all sounded fairly reasonable. The old ones would be taken out and Sylvie would keep them for a few days. Then, after Mobius had forgotten, she’d toss them in the bin and he’d finally have grown an attachment to the ones that were more baby friendly anyways. 

Mobius hesitated to let her grab the items out of his crib, looking almost like he’d cry about it, obviously suspecting exactly what she had planned. 

“They’ll be back soon, love.” she lied as she carried away the treasured toys. 

He couldn’t help but look heartbroken and feel horribly punished as he looked at the empty spot by the head of his crib. He thought about seeking comfort from mama but she had just done this to him! And Thor wasn’t around… He looked to Loki, who was trying to stick the tail back onto his cat, standing in front of his toy box and hoping to fix it before he set the cat back in.

 Despite his limited vocabulary, which couldn’t quite squeak out “sorry”, Mobius awkwardly toddled to Loki and hugged him before starting to cry. 

Loki looked down at the little constricting him and slowly, cautiously, set the cat aside. 

For a long moment he kept his arms awkwardly up, away from the bib of his overalls where Mobius buried his face so deeply. Then, very slowly, he lowered them down to rub the little’s baby-shampoo-scented, dove-gray hair, and soon, as Mobius nuzzled him, he moved his arms down further, hugging him around the neck. 

Because he wasn’t quite strong enough to carry Mobius-- maybe pick him up a few inches off the ground, but not quite princess-carry him-- Loki sank down onto the ground, taking the smaller little one with him and holding the baby like Thor held him when he was upset. 

Sylvie came back into the room, but cautiously stepped back out, not wanting to ruin the moment. She gripped the side of the door frame as she watched. 

With Mobius’ head tucked into his shoulder and legs wrapped around his backside, Loki began to speak. Perhaps vocalize was a more appropriate word. Loki began to hush the little, giving tiny “shh”’s and occasionally peppering in words like, “baby’s okay” before he began to sing. 

“ Hush little baby, please don’t cry, mumma’s gonna buy you a raven bird… ” 

His words were hardly decipherable and even less correct, but he persisted anyway and tried to get through the song the best he could. 

As Mobius got quieter, Sylvie slunk into the room, quietly and all dramatically on her tip-toes in case Loki saw her. 

He did, but simply looked at her instead of taking any actions. 

Sylvie took one of the neglected, but new stuffed toys off Mobius’ bed and suggested the sad little one take it by introducing it to him in a silly voice and giving the item some personality, kneeling behind Loki so that Mobius was watching her from where his head was tucked over the older boy’s shoulder. 

It was a little bear plush, the kind that turned into a baby blanket.

He reached out and grabbed it, but he didn’t hold it the same way as one of his other toys. Not in Loki’s opinion. He sucked on one of the ears and touched the fabric. 

“See? Better already,” Sylvie hummed. 

Loki furrowed his brows and stuck out his bottom lip. “No,” he whined. 

“‘No’? Why ‘no’?” 

“Baby es no sheep!” 

“He needs his sheep?” 

“Yah.”

“Well the sheep’s busy so he’s gonna have to play with some other toys for a while, okay? You have to play with other toys sometimes, too when they get washed.” 

“Oh! Lemme help?” Loki asked. “Help wash?” 

“Well…” Sylvie paused. “I have it. Um, it’ll be fine,” she told them, nodding, very sure of herself. “Now why don’t we move on from all of this and go play outside?”

Sylvie was, unfortunately, not on her game today. She was exhausted and it really showed in her shoddy planning of this entire situation and her slow reactions. The night before had been just sleepless and the boys had kept her busy with Loki having a midnight nightmare that had him regress well into infancy, and Mobius insisting on snuggling with them if Loki was going to get such treatment. 

“No,” Mobius said quietly. 

Loki was much more ready to go, but he paused to consider this new option. 

“Should we have lunch first, instead? Maybe take our naps?”

Mobius rolled out of Loki’s arms and toddlerishly stood up before taking Sylvie’s hand, with Loki quick to follow.

During the boy’s nap time, Sylvie used the time as her naptime as well, sleeping on top of her bed’s covers with HGTV renovation shows on the tv in the background, only to be woken up prematurely by a thump, which she, in her half-asleep state, ignored until something came into her room. 

She opened her eyes and let them adjust until she saw her little Mobius pulling himself up to awkwardly stand at her desk so he could reach his battered plushies on the shelf above. 

“Mobius, you’re too little to be getting out of your crib like this,” she complained with a groan. 

Mobius tried to hand her the sheep with beans threatening to fall out of it. 

She set it aside before reaching her arms out. “Come finish up nap-naps with mummy,” she encouraged him, scooting over to let him have room and reaching out her arms in a way like Loki would-- making needy, toddlerish, grabby-hands. 

Mobius, in his adorable outfit-- something that could’ve been called a union suit, long onesie, coveralls, or footless pajamas depending on who you asked, which was white with yellow stars and yellow accents on the cuffs of the wrists and neckline, and matching pacifier-- rolled onto the bed next to her in the cutest possible way, just to find himself being eaten up, smothered, by the great Sylvie-monster, who held him in a loving, motherly embrace. 

“Mam-ma,” he cooed while making himself comfortable, adjusting to the fabrics beneath him and gripping the sleeves of her shirt in balled fists. 

That’s when she decided she had no choice but to fix those toys for him… or at least pretend to. If things didn’t work out she could probably order a replacement anyway. 

After another twenty-or-so minutes of napping, Sylvie kissed her little one on the cheek as he began to squirm and mumble babbles behind his pacifier. “Are we waking up?” she asked him. “We need to check on Loki, too, you know.” 

Mobius awkwardly got himself up, picking up his damaged toys as he did so and climbing down off the bed. 

“I know that walk.” A sense of amusement, nearly a smile, was present in Sylvie’s voice.

 Mobius didn’t even bother to turn around or look at her in any way, putting all of his effort and focus into squatting to pick up one of the dropped stuffed animals that had fallen out of his arms and onto the ground. 

She got up off of the bed to help him and also usher him into the nursery so she could check on Loki. 

Although he was awake, he didn’t seem bothered to be alone, instead, diligently smacking buttons on one of his crib toys, only standing up and making grabby hands as if Sylvie could pick him up when he saw her. 

“There’s the other sweetie boy!” she cooed, setting her hands on the railing. 

“‘Oh-ki!” Mobius mimicked her tone as he reached his hands up to lace his fingers with Loki’s momentarily in an odd little greeting. 

“Mobis! Hi!” he sing-songed back. 

“You little things are so silly,” Sylvie hummed as she got Mobius up onto the changing table. 

Mobius was opening up, and Sylvie could tell by the way he kicked during his change. There was no lying still and limply like he had when he came to them. Instead he was kicking his legs and lifting his hands above his head, leaning back to try to reach for a couple of the toys hanging from Loki’s crib bars. To which Loki responded to by awkwardly walking over to the head of his bed, squatting down, and trying to hand Mobius the sensory cubes and rubber teethers through the bars. 

“Alright, Loki’s turn,” Sylvie narrated as she helped Mobius down, and set the bars of the crib down for Loki before helping him onto the table. 

“Where are baby’s alligators? They’re all faded! Mumma can hardly see them!” she teased after unsnapping his onesie. 

“All gone!” Loki giggled as Sylvie tickled his belly. 

“I guess they are,” she agreed, bending down to rub noses with him, before beginning the change. 

She brought a picnic basket of sewing supplies along with her outside, along with the rest of the usual luggage stuffed into an extra, small bag, and made a spot for herself under a tree. 

Although they largely played on their own on their usual quilt of toys, Loki couldn’t help but periodically ask what she was doing, and Mobius couldn’t help but ask if he could help. He couldn’t express it much, having a hard time letting her know as he sat down next to her and babbled while getting his hands close to her work, which she brushed away with a mild annoyance. “Mummy’s still working.”

“Ma-ma,” the little repeated, touching her hand again. 

“Would you like something?” she asked. “Did you make mumma a present?” She leaned as far back as she could as she asked that, trying to check his nappy. 

Mobius sat down in a way that mimicked how she was sitting, with his legs stretched out, and picked one of the old toys up. 

Sylvie smiled, and had him set it down again. That seemed to get the message across well enough. “Okay, I have a very important task for you and your big brother if you can get him to help.”

Mobius sucked on his pacifier as he listened. 

“Can you pick me some lavender off that purple bush over there? Just the flowers.”

Loki overheard, but did not immediately act, instead waiting and watching to see if Mobius would or could understand this request. 

“Loki? Are you going to help him?” Sylvie asked as the tinier little one began to crawl, and slowly push himself up into a stand that became a toddle. 

Loki shook his head and kept playing with a plastic shovel, digging a hole in the grass and flicking dirt everywhere, only pausing when he had concluded that the baby wasn’t picking the buds fast enough and that he needed to come over and show the other little the “right way” to do it, aka, ripping the entire stalk of the plant out of the ground like a weed and then presenting it to Sylvie, who was really trying hard to be nice about the whole thing even though she wanted to harshly scold the boy for ripping up her nicely landscaped lavender. 

It was, for lack of a better defense, a more convenient way of picking the pieces that Sylvie needed. 

She got up and replanted the bush while trying to give Loki as gentle of a reprimand as she could for such a heinous and criminal action. 

He crossed his arms and frowned at her ungratefulness. 

“So we just pick these. This is the only piece I need,” she told both littles, demonstrating by picking one of the small purple, or browning buds off the top, “and then mummy can dry them and make the lamb smell good again.”

Mobius picked a few buds and set them into Sylvie’s hand, at which point, she couldn’t help but notice his mysteriously wet fingers. An unfortunate, and gross sensory experience that every caregiver has experienced when dealing with a baby or toddler. Was it spit? Water from crawling around on damp grass? Something worse? Sylvie would never know and it was best for her just to ignore it, even if she did involuntarily bristle. 

Loki took off a handful of buds properly, as demonstrated, and handed them some to Mobius. “Baby, here,” he chirped. 

“Mobius, are you going to say ‘thank you’?” 

Mobius babyishly waved at Loki and repeated his name: “‘Oh-ki.” 

“Such good manners,” she teased. 

For the next long while, Sylvie worked on mending the toys, and keeping the herb stuffing next to her. She’d make her mends first, so that the toy would survive a round in the washing machine, and probably stuff it tomorrow. Hesitantly, so that Mobius would not see, she laid the husk of the sheep plushie down in the grass next to her before attending to her next patient: Loki’s black cat with the ripped tail. 

This toy was a much easier fix, even if it probably could’ve also used a wash. 

However, she didn’t bother with that, just making the necessary mends before setting it by the lamb skin. 

The next three plushes were repaired, although some did need to be restuffed, like a caterpillar Mobius liked, and a teddy bear, too. Each of these were repaired and set into the slightly creepy pile of fabric. 

“Are we ready to go in?” she asked while picking up and stowing the fabric plush skins in a bag where the littles wouldn’t see. 

After a fight and a tantrum that led to Loki being put in a short time-out in the kitchen, she finally was able to start the washing machine and throw in the toys, self congratulating herself as the best caregiver ever for the incredible lengths she’d go to to keep her littles happy, reminding herself that even if they were ungrateful brats, she had still done well. 

Chapter Text

Upon coming home, Sylvie set the boys up in their shared room with an open toybox and snuck off for another bathroom break, thinking that maybe she could leave them alone for a few seconds, obviously not having learned her lesson last time. This time however, it seemed that the consequences were much less severe, and instead of fighting or getting hurt, she found the two littles sitting right in front of the washing machine, watching the toys go around through the little glass window at the front. 

“Oh, what are you sweet things doing out here?”

Loki pointed at the washing machine and sucked on his pacifier. 

“They’re being washed so mummy can make them look like new again,” she explained.

Loki nodded then pointed again.

“I just explained that to you,” she told him. 

“No, dive ‘t.” 

“‘Drive it’? Loki, it’s not a car,” she laughed. “Do you want to drive something? We can go drive your cart, that might need some fixing up, too.” 

“‘Go dive,” he grinned, bouncing to his feet and tip tapping his toes to show how excited he was. 

“Well what’re we going to do with little Mobius then? What’s he going to do while you're driving?” 

“Mobius run over,” he said while waddling away to the garage. 

“Well that’s not very nice,” Sylvie said, almost trying to stop herself from chuckling as she helped Mobius up and brought him out behind him so they could take a look at the “cart” in question. 

It wasn’t really a “cart” but one of those plastic toddler ride-on toys. It was cheap and the batteries had died in it ages ago, prompting Loki to lose interest and for Thor and Sylvie to consistently forget about fixing it or cleaning the cobwebs off it even though every time they walked into the garage they said “oh I have batteries for that inside” and then promptly went inside and forgot.

This time Sylvie really was going to get it running, shake the spiders out of it and everything. She might as well. with all the toy mends she was doing today. 

Loki looked at the spiderwebs surrounding every crevice or slightly concavity on the toy apprehensively, a little unsure about them while Sylvie brushed the entire surface off with a fluffy duster, covering it in webs and dust. Then she took a cleaning wipe to it, and before the toddlers, who were exploring the gym equipment that they usually didn't get to play with, even noticed she was doing anything, it looked like new. 

She switched out the batteries before setting the toy down and beckoning the boys outside to the driveway where they could play with it. 

Loki took the first turn sitting on top of the cart, using his feet to slowly make it crawl along the cement as he steered it around and pressed buttons that lit up or made little noises. 

“Are we going to let Mobius have a turn, too?” Sylvie asked after a few minutes. 

Loki looked back and scowled at her before he noticed the baby that she was obviously holding back. 

He looked so excited kicking his legs and cooing while pointing at, nearly grabbing for, the toy. 

Loki’s expression softened slightly, but he retained a reluctance to the idea. 

“You can both play on it,” Sylvie offered, “Mobius is small! You could push him like mumma pushes the stroller?” 

Loki continued to consider if he’d be open to that idea, propelling himself in slow little bursts forward with both feet instead of in slow more walking-like motions. 

“It’ll only be a few minutes, you’ll get it back.” 

Slowly, she lifted Loki off and let him help the younger little up. 

“Thor’s going to like hearing about how nicely you’re sharing,” she said, even though much of the sharing was not Loki’s preference. 

Mobius’ feet hardly touched the ground unlike Loki, who had to bend his knees on the toy. 

The smaller little tried to move, but had a hard time, so he sort of just pressed the buttons around him, and unsurely twisted around to look around the handles were-- where the ride-on toy became a push toy. 

When Loki noticed his difficulty, he stood up from Sylvie’s arms and grabbed the handles to push the toy, which felt remarkably like a shopping cart. 

He walked at first, watching as Mobius got used to the feeling of suddenly moving. 

The little bent his knees so he wasn’t close enough to the ground to drag his feet, and bent over the wheel, moving it gently, as he steered for Loki. 

To Loki’s surprise, Mobius looked almost like he wanted to go faster, so he sped up a little bit, almost into a run until Sylvie stopped them and informed the boys that they were being too rough and unsafe. 

She then showed Loki how to properly push him, requesting that he be a little gentler. 

A request that Loki ignored as he continued to run around, inevitably tripping and dramatically falling flat onto his face. 

“And, that’s why we never take this thing out…” Sylvie recalled as she went to the clumsy boy’s side, and pet his back before trying to have him roll over and sit up. 

“‘Oh-ki?” Mobius asked, struggling and tripping while getting off the toy. 

“You silly boys!” Sylvie tutted, trying not to laugh at them while she picked Loki up lovingly and dragged him out of the road, beckoning Mobius with her. 

She sat down on the sidewalk curb as Loki nestled into her bosom, sucking his thumb and letting his lower body rest on the pavement as she stroked his hair. When she finally got him to look up, she noticed a scrape on his cheek and pet it. 

Mobius had toddled close at this point and was awkwardly sitting next to Sylvie, by Loki’s head. “‘Oh-ki,” he said softly. 

“Loki’s sad,” Sylvie told him. “He got hurt. Can you see that? It’s a little scrape.” 

Mobius frowned as he looked at Loki’s pink, teary face. 

“‘Oh-ki sah.”

“He is. And that’s a new word for you, isn’t it?” 

Mobius did not think of what she had asked him, far too concerned about the crying toddler with the asphalt scrape on his cheek to care. 

“‘Oh-ki no sad,” he tried, being careful about his pronunciation as he stroked Loki’s inky hair. “‘Oh-ki happy?” he requested, before looking up at Sylvie with a trembling lip. 

“Aw, baby, I know,” she sympathetically told him. 

Mobius repeated these phrases a couple times while Sylvie helped Loki stand up and brought the boys inside. 

After she cleaned up Loki’s face, while Mobius curiously explored the bathroom around him, she took the fabric skins of their toys out of the washer, inspected the results of her work so far, and piled them into a stack to be hung out on the line to dry, even if that image would be rather gruesome. 

A long hang on the line and some restuffing the next morning did the trick for the stuffed animals. At least four of the five plushes had survived well enough, and luckily, the lamb was one of them, which was restuffed with beans and a lavender sack to be just as gracefully lumpy as when Sylvie had first bought it. 

She handed the toy to Mobius, tucking it underneath his arm during his nap the next day, but instead of snuggling the top of his soft, wooly sheep into his nose, he just sort of limply held it, as if he couldn’t feel it there. 

She tried not to take it personally, but couldn’t help but feel at least a little bit down when he didn’t immediately carry it with him to get his nappy changed. 

That was fine , but then, when he went to play with Loki, he also didn’t take it. 

“Mobius, did you see I fixed your lamb up for you?” she asked, showing the fixed toy to him. 

He looked up at her from his stacking toy and hesitantly took it from her hands, pressed it to his nose, and then set it back down. 

“I did stuff it with lavender, Mobius.” Sylvie defended herself as if he were a rational adult and not a toddler. “You saw me stuff it, I don’t know why it smells any different.” She crossed her arms with a huff. 

Loki watched the two of them with interest, looking up from his picture books. 

Mobius folded his arms back at her. He hadn’t been upset at all before, merely uninterested. But if she was going to be mean about it, then so was he. 

“Thor and I spoil you both,” she complained. “Brat boys the both of you.” 

Mobius stuck out his tongue, making Loki giggle. 

“Maybe I’ll just take this back then,” she pettily added, taking the toy out of the play pen and carrying it back to her room. 

Now, with such a lovely mend job and with all the time she had spent on it, there was no way she was just going to throw it out, but it could at least sit in her room for a few days. 

Sylvie took the plush sheep down later that night after she put the boys to bed and really studied it, looking into its beady eyes and adjusting the gingham ribbon bow around its neck, trying to figure out where she had went wrong, or moreover, why Mobius had suddenly grown out of it, when it was so obvious that he was, in fact, still a baby. 

She fell asleep with it pressed to her chest as she thought about the day she had brought him home from the adoption center and his immediate fascination with the toy. Maybe, she hoped, something about it would bring her the same comfort it had previously brought him. 

After a few nights of this, she kept the sheep with her, tucked into her arms as she got up in the morning, apparently late, as neither little was in his crib. They were up “helping” Thor prepare lunches by running around the kitchen until Thor picked them up and set them, giggling, into their highchairs for breakfast. 

“Uh-oh, I don’t think we have a third highchair,” Thor joked when he saw Sylvie come in clutching the sheep to her chest. 

Loki snickered at the thought-- the best a toddler could snicker. 

Meanwhile, Sylvie brought the stuffed animal up and had it kiss Mobius on the cheek. 

He stopped eating his mashed sweet potatoes and looked over at the sheep, and then at Sylvie. 

She couldn’t help but notice how he had gotten it into his mustache, eating with his hands, copying Loki, who had a more manageable meal of dry Cheerios and a banana. 

Mobius suddenly reached up and grabbed the sheep, ripping it from her hands and getting orange, sticky, mess all over it as he buried his nose in its wool. 

He then set it down next to him, squishing it in the right hand nook of his chair. 

Thor smiled as he took the orange streaked bowl away from the little, “looks like he just needed a break,” he mentioned. 

“You messy little weevil!” Sylvie commented adoringly as she cleaned up his fingers with a wet wipe after Loki had been sent with his brother to go get ready for the day. 

The little smiled as she got the corner of his mouth. 

“Now I’ll have to wash your sweet little lambie again!” she added, slightly hurt sounding as she took it from him and set it by the sink.. But the truth was she didn’t have the energy for that, instead opting to clean it up much in the same way that she cleaned up Mobius with a wet rag simply wiping off the surface. 

Later, she sat with him on the couch, cradling his head and cooing at him, rubbing his belly and watching as he kicked or babbled in his cute baby talk, only occasionally getting out the rare word or the occasional loving “mama” in between giggles as he tried to set her fingers in his mouth and such, leading to her raspberrying him and making him laugh even more before burying his face in her chest. 

“Sorry, Mobius,” she told him with a smile, running her fingers through his hair. “Mummy’s not making any right now. It’s going to be another few weeks till she can feed you herself.” She spoke in the third person.

She sat him up in her lap, putting his head over her shoulder and bouncing her knee. “I can make you a bottle, do you want that, my sweet little pumpkin?” 

He gave his answer by burying his face into her shoulder. 

“Aw, baby,” she smiled. “Did you just want me?” She pet his back lovingly and leaned forward to pick up the little sheep thrown on the ground by accident, handing it to him. 

He set it in between his nose and her shoulder like a pillow. 

“Does it smell like mumma?” she asked jokingly. 

He nodded. 

Chapter Text

“Tor!” Loki screamed as he ran out of daycare. “Tor no work!” 

“Yeah! I got the day off!” Thor told the toddler after kissing him on the cheek. 

Loki screamed a happy squeal in response, especially as he noticed Mobius sitting on Thor’s back. 

“Mobis no nap?” he asked. 

“No, he told me he was a big boy like you and couldn’t sleep,” Thor informed his brother. 

Loki bit his tongue, feeling incredibly proud of himself for somehow giving Mobius the impression that he didn’t take naps. 

“‘Oh-ki hi!” he peeped from behind his pacifier. Lifting one cautious hand up off of Thor’s shoulder as if it would destabilize him, and giving Loki a wave almost a grabby hand for his shoulder. 

“He’s been a talkative little duck.” 

Mobius smiled in response to the nickname and kicked his legs, nearly catching Thor in the crotch. 

“He’s learning all kinds of new words-- Did you learn any new words today?”

“Um… yeah?” Loki said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, “cash-register.” He said it as if it were one word.  

“Cash register? That’s a big one. Did you play grocery store?”

Loki nodded as he held his older brother’s hand. 

“Mobius learned ‘go’ and ‘please’.” 

Loki smiled and tried to coo at the baby as he was picked up by Thor and strapped into his stroller, where he insisted on gazing up at his big brother and Mobius from his spot. 

“Th- Thor go,” Mobius stuttered, having a hard time wrapping his mouth around the “th” noise, he played with the caregiver’s hair as he said it, gently pulling on it, 

“There’s another new one! Are you saying my name, little one?” Thor chuckled, bouncing the tot on his back as Loki once again looked up at them before breaking into a big, winning smile. 

“Where go?” Loki asked to clarify.

“We’re going to pick up Sylvie, and then what do you think about ice cream?”  

Mobius made a happy, squeak of a noise, making Loki, once more, look up at them and grin. 

“Yeah, that sounds nice, doesn’t it?” 

Mobius put a couple of fingers in his mouth as he tapped absently on Thor’s shoulder, in a way which was almost self soothing. 

Sylvie had been finishing up some remote work when they got home. Even though she wasn’t going in-person yet, now that Loki was in school, she could start setting up her workspace at the kitchen table. 

When her boys came home, she took a quick minute to take out and set up Mobius’ stroller before opening the garage door to get it outside. 

“We’re not taking that,” Thor told her, almost confusedly. 

“Why not? We already have one. There’s two of us.” 

“I have him on my back!” 

“Are you going to make Loki walk half that way then? Or are we getting the little one started on heavier walks?”

“No, I’m going to carry him.” 

“You’re not though! Not back up this hill! Be reasonable. I’m taking the stroller. If not for Mobius, then as a cart for their bags.” She loaded in their diaper bags to accentuate her point. 

Thor rolled his eyes and let her push it along with them. She walked next to him and cooing at the little riding on his back, who was already showing some sleepiness, but not yet fussy. 

Mobius slouched a little bit, leaning into Thor’s back, even though the pouch already held him firmly there, and chewed on his pacifier monotonously. 

“Poor little thing, maybe he just needs some sugar in his system, hm?” she smiled, knowing very well that both him and Loki were going to be pains once they were given the extra sugar at this time of the afternoon and admiring the quiet while it lasted. “Thor, should we let Mobius down? I don’t think he’ll be able to see the flavors from up there.”

“Is he going to read the names?” Thor asked sarcastically. 

“No, but maybe he can choose by color…” 

Mobius reached his arms out and mumbled a couple “mamma”s to her. 

She switched tones almost immediately. “Hi, baby! What do you think? Share with mummy or get your own like a big boy?”

Mobius seemed confused by this idea. “Mamma,” he repeated. 

“Alright, let me take him,” she finally said. 

Thor looked at her apprehensively. 

“He obviously wants me. Hand him over.” 

“He’s fine!” 

“He keeps saying ‘mamma’.”

Thor sighed and squatted down so Sylvie could unbuckle the straps and help him down. 

It was obvious that the tot was excited to stretch his legs and walk around a bit, or perhaps more importantly, to cling to Sylvie and attempt to push his own stroller. 

He played with the toys on the front of it until Sylvie asked him to leave it so they could go inside the shop. Loki was already getting up out of his as Thor parallel parked it outside, but Mobius took a little bit of coaxing to leave the stroller outside, and obviously was apprehensive to do so until Loki took his hand and practically pulled him in. 

Sylvie hugged him from behind, standing on her tip-toes in order to place her head on his shoulder while standing in line, forcing him to focus on the display case in front of him instead of allowing him to explore the rest of his surroundings. 

He kept two fingers in his mouth as she whispered to him.

“What should we get? Should we get chocolate? Cookie dough? Strawberry? What are Loki and Thor getting?” 

“Min’,” Loki answered with his hands pressed against the glass.

“Loki, you don’t like mint,” Sylvie frowned. “You always complain about it. No mint. Try something else.” 

Loki groaned before Thor pointed out a new flavor. “Why don’t you try cookie dough? I know you like cookies. It’s like a double dessert.”

“Double dirt,” the little repeated, pressing his hands and nose against the glass, bending down and taking up half the line width as he did so. 

“What are you going to get?” Thor whispered to Sylvie.

“I think baby and I are going to share a scoop of chocolate.” 

Thor nodded as he considered what he should get for himself, eventually deciding on strawberry cardamom. 

Sylvie obviously didn’t approve of the fact that he got it in a cone, too, and when Loki inevitably complained to his brother about that unfairness, he was rewarded with a cone as well, one stuck on top of the bowl with the scoop barely peeking out from underneath it. 

There was a bench outside where the family sat, with Mobius seated on Sylvie’s lap, and Loki on the cement ground struggling with coordinating his spoon, paper bowl, and cone with his mouth, leaning against his brother’s legs as Thor supervised him while keeping his own cone from dripping onto his legs or his little brother’s head. 

Sylvie scooped up a little bit of ice cream on the wooden spoon and ate the first bite herself, which immediately made Mobius, who previously seemed a little bit reserved about the whole idea, interested. “Do you want some?” she asked before scooping more onto the spoon and offering it to him. 

He took it. 

“Mm, was that yummy?”

Mobius nodded, trying to lick a melting drop that had accidentally brushed against his mustache. 

Sylvie brushed it away with a napkin before alternating spoonfuls of ice cream in between them. That was until Mobius decided maybe it would be more efficient for him to put his hand into the paper cup and try to grab some of the melty substance. 

“Hey! Naughty boy!” she scolded him, setting the spoon and cup down to grab his wrist, holding his hand away from his body so he couldn’t get the sticky, chocolate on his clothes or hers. 

Immediately on realizing that this method was not actually a viable solution and had actually stopped him from getting more ice cream, he began to squirm and nearly kicked Loki before starting to cry as Sylvie reached into the diaper bag and helped him get the substance off with wet wipe. 

They were quiet mumbly cries, and it was obvious that he was somehow a little embarrassed or self-conscious about his predicament. Sylvie, however, seemed to understand this as if he were having a full meltdown and treated it as such, placing his head on her shoulder and setting aside her ice cream to coddle him and tell him to hush, as he reached for the ice cream cup beginning to melt at her side. “No,” he hummed.

“No? No mummy time?” she asked. “Just sugar for you, hm?” She picked back up the bowl and gave him another spoonful of chocolate ice cream. “Yeah, that’s much nicer isn’t it?” she cooed before scraping some of the melted sugar liquid from the bottom for herself. 

Mobius looked at the empty paper cup, but didn’t seem bothered by it, instead shifting in Sylvie’s lap to check on what Thor and Loki had gotten.

“‘Oh-ki!” he squeaked. 

Loki silently looked up at him from his seat on the floor as Mobius reached down like he was stretching. 

Thor stopped him before he could fall or perhaps worse, grab Loki’s spoon. 

Mobius awkwardly simpered as he met Thor’s gaze while being pulled back in Sylvie’s lap. 

Thor didn’t seem to mind though, instead cooing at the baby, tickling underneath his chin before giving him a little taste of his ice cream. 

Loki turned around to look up at his caregivers and to ask for a taste of Thor’s ice cream as well if Mobius was getting some, but decided rather quickly that he wasn’t fond of it. 

When they were done, Sylvie neatly stacked all the empty cups and pushed her toddler out of her lap so she could dispose of them. 

Loki was quick to climb up and take her seat to bother his brother and Mobius, chatting more about his day and how cool daycare had been and letting Thor ask them about a couple of things that they saw until Sylvie returned after having found a trash can. 

“What’s our next stop?” she asked while pulling the energetic and sugar-high Loki up off the bench to take her spot back, letting him wiggle and “dance” in his exclusively little way as if to tell her that he had so much energy. 

“Well, while we’re having treats…”

“Don’t you tell me what I think you’re going to tell me.”

“A trip to the toy store will do the boys good,” he smiled, at least partially just to see them get jumpy and excited, and so that Sylvie would be forced to let out a big heavy sigh that may have been more of a grunt. 

Mobius grinned and began to go retrieve his stroller until Sylvie chased after him to offer help and make sure he got it out without hitting someone else’s.

“You can get one toy, but that’s all,” Thor told each of the boys. 

“And one for each of us, too?” questioned Sylvie back while parking Loki’s stroller.

Thor grinned. “Of course!” 

Loki was eager to attempt to pull his brother into the store, but was stopped as Thor paused to help Mobius park the stroller. 

“Mobius, Loki? Can you come see mummy real quick?” she asked

She had them come stand to the other side of the door, away from the strollers, and began to give them her spiel. “I need you to understand some things before we go in.” These talks never worked, but damn if she wasn’t going to try anyways. “You can pick out one toy. Can you count how many that is?” 

Loki nodded. 

Mobius didn’t answer, already looking in the doorway distractedly. 

Thor came up took his hand, “are you listening to mummy? Do you know what she said?” he whispered. Luckily, that seemed to be enough to get him to pay attention. 

“Rule number two: we’re not putting anything in our mouths. I’m going to give you your pacifiers and I don’t want it to come out of your mouths until we’re out of the store, okay?” She sifted through the diaper bag over her shoulder as she said that and found Loki’s pacifier, only to stand on her tip-toes to place it in his mouth. Thor did the same for Mobius.  

Loki was beginning to have enough of this and slowly started to step backwards away from Sylvie to go in. 

“And last thing--” she said, pulling him forward to let someone out of the store, “we’re not getting anything for big kids. Nothing Ms. Darcy wouldn’t give you at daycare.”

Loki furrowed his eyebrows at this. Not only was he an incredibly clever little, but the criteria for what “for big kids” meant felt so horribly vague to him. He didn’t have many words to express that but the concept was there. “Not fair,” he pouted. 

“Would you like to pay for your own toy?” 

Loki didn’t respond. 

“That’s what I thought. Alright, come on now.” 

For a few minutes, Sylvie let Loki take her by the hand and lead her around a sweep of the shop, just to have him stop once they came around to the first aisle again, where they found Mobius staring up with starry eyes at the big wall of toys. 

Loki broke from Sylvie’s hand and met the second little, pulling him instead of Thor or Sylvie with him through the store for a second time, as both of the caregivers trailed behind. 

He took Mobius first to his favorite part of the toy store, the aisle with the plastic animals. Although he never actually wanted to take any of the plastic animals home, they were the only toys in the store besides the train table open for him to play with. 

“Tor? Tor amamals?!” Loki asked around his pacifier, handing him a hard plastic dragon. 

Mobius imitated him, picking up a tiger, turning it over and setting it back down. 

Thor took a few minutes to crouch down in between the littles and act out a scene with the plastic toys, making them try to participate, or at least hand Thor new animals to incorporate into his story. 

Sylvie watched them for a while, just to be prepared for when one of the littles eventually lost interest. That first little was Mobius, still slightly littler than Loki and with a much less developed attention span, even though Loki wasn’t far behind. 

“Do you want to show me something?” Sylvie asked as he took her hand. 

He didn’t, but Loki definitely did.

The older (only slightly though) little bypassed Thor, took Mobius’ other hand and began to lead him and Sylvie in another direction. 

“Mobis pre’end?” he asked, showing Mobius the section of princess dresses, baby-dolls, and fake food, but Mobius didn’t seem as interested in these toys as Loki was. 

“Mamma? Mam-ma,” Mobius questioned. 

“Hm? What’s wrong?” Sylvie asked him.

Mobius pulled her toward a stick horse and grabbed onto its ear with his thumb and forefinger. 

“You two and your horses, hm? We have one of these under Loki’s bed. Let’s find another toy, hm?” 

Mobius looked a little bit sad, but seemed to understand what she was saying and let her lead him away. 

Loki followed them, curious to see where Sylvie was taking him as they bypassed the action figures, the dolls, and stuffed animals in favor of the baby and toddler aisle. Although that aisle wasn’t for him, he knew Mobius still needed that stuff, baby stuff . Not Loki though, because Loki wasn’t a baby, he was just being supportive, that was all. 

Mobius took a clock off the shelf and handed it to Sylvie. Not a real one, but a little wooden one with pieces that could be set in place like a puzzle, ones that Sylvie made sure were also not small enough to choke on. “Is this the toy you want?” she asked him. 

Mobius reached out his arms to ask for it back. “Please?” he tried.

Sylvie just smiled and handed it to him. “I will need it back to pay,” she informed him. “Loki? Pick something out, okay, baby?” 

Loki humphed and found Thor the next aisle over looking at the big kid toys that the little had been forbidden from. 

Sylvie followed him just to be safe. 

Loki curiously set his chin on Thor’s shoulder. 

“Look at this, Loki!” Thor said. 

“No, Thor, don’t get him attached--” Sylvie warned.

“It’s a spaceship! What do you think?”

“Oh my god, I’m not letting you spend 3200 Kronen on a Lego spaceship,” she responded.

“But they’re getting toys they want!” 

“Yeah, but that’s because their toys are like…” she looked at the sticker on Mobius’ clock, “150? C’mon.”

“What are you going to get?”

Sylvie paused and hesitated a little bit. “Well if you really must know, there’s a little black dragon I’ve had my eyes on.” 

Loki picked up one of the boxes and shook it, delighted by the noise. 

Sylvie raised her eyebrow at him. “Remember the rule I gave you?” she asked, changing the subject. 

Loki pointed at his pacifier as he tried to hand her the slightly smaller box of bricks supposed to be used to make a bonsai tree. 

“Ah ah, that’s a big kid toy, can we put it back and find something new?” 

Loki did not like that idea one bit. 

“Loki, if you want a building toy we can find the big blocks for you,” she suggested. “We can make a tree out of those!”

It was not the tree part that Loki was excited about though. 

“C’mon baby, let’s find you something better to play with. Mummy doesn’t want to spend 600 Kronen on a toy you can’t play with.” She held out her hand for Loki to take.

The little sat down behind where Thor had been squatting. 

“Loki…” she warned him. 

“Brother, shall we maybe look at something else?” Thor suggested. 

“No!” Loki responded sharply, tucking the set underneath his arm. 

Sylvie sighed. “Little one, Mobius is quite tired, I think he’d like to be going soon so he can take his nap. Can you pick out something else please?” 

“No tire mama,” the second little tried to tell her. 

“No, you’re not sleepy one bit?” 

Mobius shook his head. 

“Well maybe you can go help Loki find a different toy? Hm?” 

Mobius nodded and joined Loki and Thor in their inadvertent mission to block the aisle,  trying to gently tug Loki up, but it didn’t do much aside from making Loki defensive and angry. Leading to kicking, crying and shouting. 

“Sylvie, why don’t you go get the toy you want? I can take Loki,” Thor offered while helping Mobius down into his lap, encouraging him not to feel hurt by Loki’s refusal to cooperate. 

She shrugged. “It’s your funeral.” 

Thor picked up Mobius, and stood up in front of Loki. “Loki?”

The tantruming little looked up at his brother clutching the toys to his chest. “I’m not getting one either,” he said very maturely, making a big point about it. 

This did not change the toddler’s mind who continued to defensively hug the box and kick about it, scraping his heels against the carpet as if attempting to scoot backwards.  

“Yep. I’ve decided that I’m too big for Legos.” Every word pained Thor. “...They’re only for babies,” he declared. 

Mobius found this funny, and Loki also obviously called the bluff, raising his eyebrows. 

“...Yep. I am never going to use those because they’re for babies. You can get them if you want. I won’t stop you.” It was a bold strategy, but one all the same. 

Loki stopped his tantrum nearly immediately and looked up at Thor curiously. 

For a brief moment, Thor thought he had won. “Yep… Now c’mon, let’s go find mummy Sylvie!” 

Loki got up with the box gleefully. 

Thor hesitated, but breathed a heavy breath and realized this wasn’t one he could win. Bouncing Mobius in his arms as the little one moved to watch Loki behind them, who was absently following while examining the box, trying to puzzle out what it was. 

“You got him to--...Oh… You did not.”

“Did you find your dragon?” Thor asked. 

“Did you find Loki a toy he’ll actually play with?” 

“I was kind of hoping you’d distract him…”

Sylvie huffed. 

“Loki, would you rather have a different toy? Look at all these stuffies!” 

The little was not convinced. 

“It’s just a boring tree,” she reasoned as if she really didn’t care. She was a much better actress than Thor. “And look at how many pieces it comes in before you can even play with the tree! That’s ridiculous!” 

That Loki could agree with. Thor usually hated putting his toys together. It was no fun.  

“Wouldn’t you rather have a cute little friend like mummy has?”

Loki slowly nodded and stepped back, still clinging to the kit to observe the stuffed animals and see if he saw any he’d rather have.

Only one caught his attention, but it wouldn’t have if Mobius hadn’t pushed himself up in Thor’s arms to grab it from behind his caregiver. 

“That one… really?” Sylvie asked. 

The massive, four foot long shark flopped in Loki’s arms but it was so soft and squishy, he couldn’t resist it.

Loki giggled as its tail swung by his knees while Sylvie looked at the price tag. 

She looked up at Thor and wondered if maybe she just should’ve let the boy get the Lego set. 

But at this point, Loki had gotten attached, sitting down on the floor to play with the fins. 

Thor admitted that if it made up the difference, he’d get himself a smaller Lego set, maybe even the tree that Loki had suggested. 

Sylvie frowned. “It is your money,” she reasoned. 

Thor nodded, but still got himself a smaller spaceship than he otherwise would have before helping Loki up and taking him up to the counter to pay for the shark, the clock, the spaceship, and the dragon.

The total was probably more than groceries, but Thor pretended that he didn’t care and Sylvie pretended not to notice. This was a special day anyway. 

On the walk home, Mobius began getting horribly sleepy, so sleepy in fact, that Sylvie had to force him to stop trying to push his own stroller with his lamb “baby” in it, as he was slowing down and definitely not looking where he was going. 

“C’mon, we’re just gonna put you in your stroller, let you have a little nap nap,” she tried. “Right with your lamby lamb, doesn’t that sound nice?” 

Mobius disagreed strongly. He made quite a few repeated “pease no”’s which eventually just became whiny “no”’s as Sylvie tried to coax him up into the stroller seat, with Loki and Thor eventually having to stop so she could pause and work with the fussy little. 

She strained a little bit as she picked him up to lightly bounce him. It was obvious she had been training for this during nap times and in the hours after she had put the boys to bed. “What’s wrong, hm?” she asked, checking his nappy and considering other usual culprits of such distress. He definitely would need a change sooner rather than later, but generally seemed alright. “Can you tell mumma? Use your words since you’re getting so good at it?” 

“No tire mamma,” he squeaked sadly. 

“You are tired though, I see you nodding off as you’re pushing your lambie. There’s no shame in having a nap. Look, Loki’s taking one right now, too.” 

Loki snored in his stroller seat, covered by his shark, hardly visible to Mobius under the shade of the front-facing stroller.

“Even big boys and girls take naps. You caught mummy napping the other day, didn’t you?” 

“No tire mamma!” he repeated, more frantically. 

She picked him up again and made a real effort to cradle him and get him into the stroller seat. 

He struggled and instead of crying, he screamed. 

Loki immediately snapped awake and the caregivers couldn’t help but stare absolutely wide-eyed at him. 

He let out another helpless-sounding shriek as he kicked and fought his way out of her arms. 

“Do you want to be in the big boy seat like Loki? Is that the issue?” 

Mobius put fists up to his eyes as he sat on the brick path to try and wipe away the tears. 

“What if lamby sits with you? Hm?” She tried to hand the sheep to him. “He’s still little enough to need a baby seat and soon you’ll both be able to share with Loki, but for now, he still needs the comfy seat.” 

This did not work, and Mobius shook his head. 

“Thor?” Sylvie asked in a slightly exasperated tone. “Trade?”

“Would you like to ride on my back?” Thor asked. 

“No!” Mobius whined.

“Alright, just set him in. He’ll calm himself down.”

Thor apologetically sighed, and gave Mobius that face that the little had already nearly perfected better than himself, the one that said “I’m sorry, I really don’t want to do this”. 

Mobius cried as Thor picked him up and cradled him for a moment, kicking like Loki might, and only narrowly missing Thor’s nose. 

“Shh,” Thor tried, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet before setting the little in the stroller seat and holding him there while Sylvie hurriedly fastened the buckles to hold him in. 

“No! No No! No tired!” the toddler stammered in between cries. 

“Oh I knew I shouldn’t have given you sugar when you hadn’t had a nap,” Sylvie told him as he fussed and pulled against his restraints, trying to wiggle out of them. “I know, baby...”

He sniffed as she set a pacifier in his mouth but continued his crying as she pet his belly or rested a hand on his leg during long straight stretches of walking. 

“Guess you’ll just have to tire yourself out,” she sighed, a little sadly herself. It wasn’t nice to hear her baby cry, but what else could she even do? 

And eventually, he did. When Sylvie and Thor made it home, the little one was peacefully sleeping and Sylvie could, remove him from the stroller and, with help, get him onto the couch for the cuddles she was not able to provide earlier, brushing her hands through his silver hair and assuring him that she was there for him now and that it was okay. 

“Mamma,” he mumbled, twisting his hands into her shirt. 

“That was a lot for you wasn’t it?” 

He nodded. 

“That’s okay, we’re all done now.” 

He hummed quietly as he twisted over. 

“Do you want to try something new?” she asked him. “...Actually, nevermind, you’re probably too big of a boy for it.”

“No?” he tried. 

“No? You’re still little enough?” she smiled. 

He nodded still sleepily, yawning and wiping the sleep from his eyes in the same little firsts as earlier. 

“Okay, here we go, ready?” she asked. But it was more a question for herself than her little as slowly, and nervously, she lifted her shirt and undid some buttons before lifting him up. 

She cringed at the unfamiliar feeling at first, as her little one slowly and cautiously began to suckle. 

“There we are!” she giddily smiled, picking his head up and bringing it closer to her.

Thor paused as he walked by them. “It worked?” he asked. 

Sylvie nodded. “Like a charm.” 

The little one snuffled in her chest. 

“He may be growing up a little bit, but I don’t think he’s going to outgrow me anytime soon.” 

Chapter Text

“Thor?!” Sylvie yelled from the other room. 

“Hm?!” he responded as loudly as he could. 

“It’s starting to rain!” 

“I see it!” he told her. “I have them!” 

Loki, in just his diaper, sorted through the clothes in his closet, like every day, while Thor put Mobius in some corduroy overalls, helping him get his legs through the holes and making sure the straps weren’t twisted as the little tried his best to click them into place around the bib, sitting on the open edge of his crib. 

The sides had been left down for a couple of days now. 

“I don’t think they’ll let you onto the train looking like that,” Thor told the near naked toddler still sitting on the floor. 

Loki stuck out his lower lip.

 “How about we get you into a matching outfit?” Thor suggested. “Mummy would find that precious.” 

Sylvie poked her head in while Thor buttoned up the straps over Loki’s shoulders. “Look at you two all matchy-matchy!” she cooed. 

Mobius smiled and hopped down from his bed to run up to her. “Momma, we go!” he told her, flapping his hands by his shoulders and bouncing on his tip toes. 

“We are going to go somewhere!” she agreed, “that is, if you and Loki can put your shoes and socks on.” She reached behind him to pull out a drawer and began to help him with this difficult part of dressing. 

“There we go, you’ve little kitties on your feet now!” 

“Kitties!” he repeated. 

“Kit-ties!” Loki squeaked back as he looked through his own sock drawer to find a pair. 

“Here are your kitties!” Sylvie told him, showing him the second pair of cat socks in her hands.

Then, soon, Thor picked Loki up and lugged him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and grabbed the little’s diaper bag and suitcase as he did so. 

Sylvie on the other hand, squeezed Mobius’ hand and briskly led him behind the brothers. 

Then, when she could leave him with Thor and Loki, she ran inside to grab a stroller.

“Why did you grab that one?” Thor asked. 

“What’s wrong with it?” 

“Loki’s pretty big, and Mobius is walking on his own, do we need to take the baby one?” 

“It’s comfy for them! And we might as well get our money’s worth,” she reasoned, stuttering a little. “Look how nicely it fits all the bags, too!” That part was true, as the reclined seat did cradle the bags nicely. 

Thor shrugged.

The stroller hardly fit on the train, but there was a spot in the corner of a car where Sylvie could put it. If nothing else, it was a little more compact than the toddler stroller was. 

Thor set Loki down on a seat just before the train started to move, one that faced a small table. “No! No backwards!” the little one fussed as the car lurched forward. 

Sylvie sighed, cut her losses, and let the tall little awkwardly try to sit in her arms, clinging onto her with his bum on the table so he could face forward, just like Thor and Mobius. 

At first, she tried to ignore him, and instead hold a normal conversation with her co-caregiver, but unfortunately, Loki was too cute and she ended up running her fingers through his hair and petting his back. 

“Ah ah, nope, we’re not doing this that way right now,” she said very suddenly when his squirmy hands began to lift her shirt up. 

Loki murmured something incomprehensible. 

“If you’re hungry, this is all I’m going to give you right now.” She reached down just slightly to grab a bottle out of the diaper bag by her feet and tucked it into her neck for him.

“Trains always turn you into such a little baby, hm?” she smiled. “Are you going to be a baby when you see your mum?” 

Loki didn’t do much to answer, besides readjusting his arms around her and making a tiny peeping coo. 

“Are you seeing what Mobius is up to?”

Mobius almost seemed startled as his attention was ripped away from window-watching by Loki tugging on the sleeve of his shirt. 

“Bee! Mo-bee!” Loki cooed. 

Mobius reached over the table to pet the little one’s hair, running the inky curls through his fingers just like he had seen Sylvie do. “Hi Loki!” 

“Ooh! You got the ‘L’ look at you!” Sylvie smiled. 

“Mobius, are you feeling big today?” Thor asked. 

The little nodded. 

“Big enough to try one of Loki’s favorite games?” 

“Bigger n Loki!” he exclaimed.  

Thor rooted around in the diaper bag for a coloring book as well as a box of crayons and set them out for Mobius on the table. 

The boy flipped through and landed on a page he liked before selecting a color and sliding the box over to Thor. 

“Would you like me to color with you?” Thor asked. 

The little one nodded silently as he got to work. So, Thor grabbed a crayon and joined him.

Frigga’s retirement community was four hours and two train transfers away. Precisely the reason that Thor had taken the time to convince Sylvie to spend the night there. Lord knows it hadn’t been her first idea. 

By the time that this third train had stopped, Loki had only grown more awake, hyperactive, and grown-up in headspace-- up to his very top limit of three years old to impress his mother with what a big boy he was, much to Sylvie’s disappointment. 

Luckily, she still had one more little to baby. 

“You know, if you don’t take a nap soon you’ll have to take one at nana’s,” she told Mobius flippantly. “Are you sure you don’t need to sit in the stroller? We wouldn’t want a repeat of last week.”

Cautiously, he agreed and sat down, letting Sylvie buckle him in. Even though he crossed his arms and didn’t dare touch any of the toys. 

The pattering of rain on the nylon fabric shielding him from the rain and fleece baby blanket over him, must’ve felt quite nice.

For a moment, Sylvie almost felt jealous. 

Chapter Text

Thor pushed the door bell to his mother’s apartment and was promptly greeted by her, as if she had been standing right next to the door, waiting for them. 

“Loki! Thor!”  

“Mummy!” Loki screamed, leaping into her arms and wrapping her in a hug. 

“Look at how you’ve grown since I saw you last!” she chuckled at him. “Have you always been so much taller than me?” 

“Yeah!” Loki giggled. “Mummy silly.” 

“Oh, Sylvie, how nice to see you again! And is this the new little bundle of joy?” she cooed politely. 

Sylvie turned the stroller around so Frigga could see Mobius, just barely rubbing his eyes with his pacifier in. 

She bent over the front of the stroller to get a good look at him.

“Mobius, this is your nana, Frigga. Can you say ‘hi’?” 

Even though Sylvie hadn’t expected him to, he responded with a little “hi!” back. 

Frigga stood back up, “I’m so delighted you all could come visit me this weekend. If there’s anything I could do to make your stay more comfortable, just ask.” 

Thor seemed to already have his response planned. “And if there’s anything we can do to make your life easier, just ask.” 

“Well, actually, now that you say it, I don’t have Loki’s high chair anymore, and I’m sure the new baby will need one, too.”

Before Mobius had the chance to protest and tell her he was being big today, bigger than Loki, Sylvie held his pacifier in his mouth. 

“We brought their booster seats with us,” Thor answered. “I can set them up for you if we’re going to eat soon.”

Mobius whined louder and louder as Sylvie kept the pacifier in place. 

“Oh, baby’s a bit fussy, probably a soggy nappy. I’ll be right back,” she excused herself.

She shut the door to the bathroom and laid out the changing mat. “Let’s just take a look while we’re here,” she encouraged him. 

Mobius stood by the bathtub with his arms crossed. 

“You want me to change you standing up? We can do that.”

“No.”

“No? At least let me check you.”

He bit the inside of his cheek, mimicking the sour faces Loki and Sylvie both liked to pull.  “M’ big today. Not baby.” 

That was remarkably clearer than almost anything he had said before.

“You’re being big for nana? You want to impress her?” 

He nodded. “Like Loki.” 

“Ah,” so you premeditated this, she wanted to say. “Well nana really likes babies. Can’t you humor her for today?” For me?

Mobius placed one thumb in his mouth and wrapped his other arm around his midsection, having a very serious ponder. 

“Well, if you want to be bigger, we’ll need to start potty training then, won’t we?” 

“Yeah…”

“But we’re not there yet, now are we?” 

“No…” 

“Okay, so lie down and we’ll keep chatting, right?” 

The little let her do her work, clinging to his plush lamb instead of any of the teether toys she had offered instead. 

“How old is ‘bigger’? Two? Three? Four?” 

“Dunno.” he answered.

“Can you be big after we leave tomorrow?” She was really trying to bargain with a toddler, almost pleading at this point. 

He whined and kicked at her. 

“Mobius, please. Work with mummy, yeah? I’ll get you ice cream!” Bribes really? Bribing a little? “All you have to do is be your usual tiny self for Thor and nana, okay? When you and Loki get to play or when it’s just us you can be as big as you want.” -- she pulled him up by his arms and began refastening his overalls-- “And tonight, I’ll take you out and we’ll get a special treat, okay? But only if you can do this for me. Play pretend, right? Playing pretend with mummy?” 

Mobius hugged her, wrapping his arms and legs around her, sitting on her lap. 

“There we go,” she smiled. 

“Go up? Please?” 

With a heave, she picked him up. He wasn’t even as heavy as the weights she lifted most days. So, for a few seconds, she simply held him and kept talking. “We’ll go out and do something-- have some mummy-Mobius time so we don’t need to stay here with those boys and their mum.” 

It all seemed so obvious to her, that she was shocked when the little didn’t emphatically agree, but instead sat in silence, with his head over her shoulder. 

“There we go, little headspace, just slip down for me,” she told him, thinking -- hoping-- that’s why he had gone quiet. “Mumma’s got to clean the mat now for Loki, so she’s gonna put you down,” she warned. 

He didn’t respond. 

She set him down in the living space. Maybe some time with Frigga and her boys would convince him. 

There was an old rug on the floor being used as a playmat for the boys. Their toys laid out over it.

Loki stopped playing with an old handmade doll as he noticed Mobius being shooed out of the bathroom. “Mobius! Hi!” he called. “See what mumma brought!” he grinned, holding the toy up. 

Mobius looked for a caregiver. Thor was not in a neighboring chair, mamma was in the bathroom cleaning up, and-- oh! There was nana. She was in the kitchen, but he could see her flowy skirts fluttering by as she brushed past the doorway. 

Mobius sat down next to Loki and watched patiently without touching anything -- Not at first. He nodded, acknowledging the handmade doll, but didn’t touch it.  

Then, he saw Sylvie open up the bathroom door. “Loki, how’s your nappy?” 

Loki lowered his eyebrows and turned away from her. 

“Loki, we're doing nappy changes now, c’mon. Let mummy check.”

“Mmm,” he whined. 

She came out of the bathroom to yank him up. “Let’s go. We’ll start potty training both of you fussy boys when we get home if it’s really that important to you.” 

Mobius wasn’t quite sure what to do with himself when left up to his own devices. He kept surveying the toys as if Loki was still playing with them. He missed his mamma. He wanted her or Thor or even Loki. He didn’t want to be in this strange place alone. 

Frigga stopped what she was doing when she heard little sniffles coming from the living room. 

“Mobius?” she asked. 

The sniffles grew louder. 

“Aw, poor baby!” she cooed, sitting down on the edge of the quilt. “Are you alright?” She took down one of the baby bags. “What can I get for you, sweetheart?” 

He put his hand in his mouth. 

“Is it a bottle? Are you hungry?” 

He shook his head. 

“Missing your mummy and daddy?” 

He wiped an eye. “Tor no daddy!” he told her. 

“No? You just call him Thor?” 

Mobius nodded, as tears kept falling down his face. 

“You’re just a little lonely and sad… Let nana fix that.” She pulled out a few toys from his bag and offered him a pacifier from a case labeled “MOBIUS” in Sylvie’s scribbled Sharpie handwriting.

He took it, but then stood up to help her find something to play with. 

“Who is this?” she asked, taking out the lavender lamb. 

He reached out for it, and then sat down on the rug, holding it close to his chest and burying his face in it. 

Frigga smiled at him, admiringly before shaking a rattle she had hidden behind her back. 

Mobius looked up. 

“What is that noise?” she asked. “What was that?” 

Mobius reached out a hand like she’d just give it to him. 

“I don’t have it. Can you find it?” She displayed one hand from behind her back at a time. 

Mobius found this a little silly, crawling to find it behind her back. 

Frigga handed him the toy, letting him shake it himself and explore it with his fingers and mouth after he discovered her trick.

“You’re a bright little one. Does your mummy ever tell you that?” 

The little pointed towards the bathroom door. “Mamma.”

“She’s in there with Loki, isn’t she? Smart cookie.” She pulled Mobius onto her lap then, seeming to surprise him, even though he did most of the moving. 

She cradled him in her arms, and began to run a soothing hand over his hair. “Mobius is a very interesting name,” she told him. “It suits you.” He kicked and smiled, rubbing his nose with the back of one hand. “Quite the creative baby name.” 

Mobius awkwardly tried to respond, but ended up only stringing syllables together without any real words. 

Frigga smiled. “You are so cute, I could just eat you up!” she cooed, planting a kiss on his cheek. 

For a second there, he considered that maybe Sylvie was right as he pressed against her arms and tried to roll himself over so he could crawl to a new activity. 

“Mummy! Mobius! Hi!” Loki yelled as he toddled out of the bathroom. “Mummy! Mobius, come home with mumma Seevee,” he explained. 

“He did?” 

“Mhm, n’ baby then bu’ big now!” he elaborated loudly.

“He doesn’t look very big to me.” 

Mobius and Loki made momentary eye contact as the little one teethed on some key toys Sylvie had stuffed into a diaper bag pocket. 

“Mobius no baby,” Loki smiled. “No more.” He spoke like he had caught onto a prank being played on him. 

Mobius stared back at him with the same starry eyes that Loki recognized from their first meeting. 

“Is he just a baby for nana?” she asked, reaching over to pet the baby’s back. 

Loki nodded very sternly. 

“But you’re not a baby, are you?” she asked. 

“No!” Loki answered, wiggling and dancing around to demonstrate. 

In fact, he was so consumed with proving this that he didn’t even notice when he stumbled backward right into Sylvie. 

“No he’s not!” she exclaimed, hugging him up from behind and tickling a sweet spot on his side that made him simply melt into her arms until she had to sit down with him on the floor.

It wasn’t until Loki caught his breath from giggling, that she was able to start speaking again. “It’s almost baby’s dinner, so we’re going to take another break…” she said.

“Is he eating solids? I’m almost done with a pork roast, it’s Loki and Thor’s favorite.” 

Mobius chewed on the back of his hand thinking about how nice that sounded. 

“At this age I prefer to keep him breastfed,” Sylvie countered. “He’ll be so sleepy by the time we eat--” She checked her watch. It was barely 3. “--He’ll probably be in bed by then.” 

“That is a shame.” Frigga said. “I was making dinner early so we could take them to Bingo night. The ladies would definitely enjoy the company of some littles.” 

“Sylvie’s just joking!” Thor interjected suddenly, almost running from the next room over. 

“I am not!” 

“Loki loves to go to Bingo with mother! It’s a treat! No reason we should deprive Mobius just because his headspace is slightly smaller! He can nap in his stroller if he’s so tired.” 

Sylvie flushed nearly white as her bluff was called, then looked almost pleadingly over at Mobius. 

“Mam-mama!” he reached up for her. 

She sighed. “Yeah, you come here. C’mon, before mummy ruins her shirt waiting for you.” 

She took his hand and began to lead him to the guest room. 

“Sylvie, dear, there are blankets out here for covering if you’d rather stay and chat. I don’t mind. I used to feed Loki the same way. You don’t need to fret over it.”

“I…” Sylvie looked between Thor, Loki, and their mother trying to hurriedly think up an excuse. “Are you sure?”

Frigga smiled warmly at her and took a soft muslin sheet out of an ottoman chest, handing it to her.

“Thank you,” Sylvie replied, even though she didn’t really mean it. She tied part of the cloth around her neck, and draped the rest over her front before getting Mobius into position and allowing him to nurse on the couch. There was something comforting about it. The tapping of rain against the windows and savory smelling food from the kitchen in the warm, although somewhat clinical-feeling, cottage-like apartment with the warmth of the baby in her lap and against her chest created a fluttering feeling of serenity that she didn’t actually want to feel right now-- she couldn’t feel it right now, she told herself. 

Mobius kicked, and made a couple snuffling mumbles under the covering. 

“No teeth,” Sylvie reminded him sternly. “Are you fidgety? Is that our issue? Do you need a toy to play with?”

  She leaned over and picked up the closest possible toy and set it into his hands. He sighed, and melted into Sylvie as his kicks slowed and he began to run his hands over the malleable teething rubber and hard plastic of his rattle. 

Then, he pulled away. 

“All done, already?” she asked, raising an eyebrow he could not see. 

Mobius shrunk from under the cloth, almost wiggling out of her grasp. 

“I know you’re excited to play with Loki, but mummy needs to burp you first. Come here!” 

He whined and whimpered at being held on her shoulder and refused to even open his mouth, even when she pressed on a part of his back that she was so sure would make him spit up, ruining the muslin draping. All he did was make the tiniest peep of a burp. 

She tried not to make her frown too obvious as she set him down. If he wanted to “try” some real food then so be it. She wouldn’t stop him. 

“I need some mommy time,” she suddenly informed Thor, brushing past him immediately after she had brought her shirt down. 

“Now? Just before dinner?” 

“Yes, now.” she replied sharply. “It’ll only be a moment. Does ‘freshening up’ sound better to you? Or pumping the rest for later? Just get the little ones into their booster seats and help them get plates if they want some. I’ll be right out.” 

She shut the door to the guest bedroom she was going to be packed into all night. Between the suitcases, bed, and air mattress, there was hardly room for her to walk.

She laid down on the big bed, careful not to bump the temporary guardrails Thor had set around it, and pulled out the breast pumps, turning one on without attaching it just to hear the noisy purr, and then, her phone, sighing as she checked her work email and personal messages, and then scrolled through old photos. Some of Mobius, some of Loki, and a rare few of Thor. But then she got further back, and further… and further, back to when she first backed up all those important documents and printed photo albums in a flurry of excitement for the novelty of digital storage.

She tapped on one, and zoomed in to look at it. 

Her adoption papers. Signatures and all; bright red notary stamp unfaded and shining.  

The next image was her. 8 years old. Grinning next to her “mother” and excitedly holding papers in one hand and an obviously handmade stuffed horse in the other. 

Sylvie rolled over, leaving her phone where it was and unzipped her suitcase on the far side of the lumpy guest bed, pressed against the wall and brought out the toy in the photo. Its fur was worn to the backing, the eyes were mismatched buttons, as the originals had fallen off decades ago, and the yarn tail which was once white and braided, was frayed and stained with all sorts of things, but it was hers all the same.

She brought it close to her chest and curled up on it, burying her nose in the tattered mane in the hopes it would still smell like country apple perfume 30 years later. It didn’t. It hadn’t for a long time. 

Someone knocked on the door. “Sylvie? Your food is getting cold!” Thor told her. His voice barely audibly over the mechanical white noise.  

“Just a minute!” She wiped her eyes and sniffed a deep breath. It had been a while since she had had a moment like this. Ten years maybe? Most nights the old horse and the photos brought her comfort, maybe even peace in some way but today it felt like she had lost her only yesterday. 

She stuffed the toy back into her suitcase and turned off the pumps, stashing them away, before looking in a small mirror and trying her hardest to not make her face look so red and her eyes so puffy with a mix of tissues and the small bit of makeup. 

Then she took a couple breaths and opened up the door. Promising herself not to look too closely at Frigga’s golden locks or think too hard about the just-too-familiar shape of her nose. 

“Sorry,” she said with an unconvincing fake smile, “my allergies are acting up again.”

“We made you a plate if you would like to sit and have some. You must be famished, poor dear,” Frigga said, pulling out a chair for her across from Thor. 

As Mobius noticed Sylvie entering the room, he suddenly dropped his plastic fork. 

Thor picked it up off the ground. “Ah! Clumsy boy,” he teased, getting up to go wash it off.  

“Mam-ma!” he mumbled, reaching across the table towards Sylvie. 

“Hello baby!” She cooed, with a smile that was a bit more genuine. “Did nana fix you a plate? Looks tasty!” she commented. 

Loki raised an eyebrow at her. 

“Nana got you a plate, too!” she hummed to Loki.

“No,” Loki corrected her. “Thor did!” 

“Ah, big brother got you a plate. And did he do a good job?” 

“Yes!” he smiled. 

“And you’re feeding yourself like a big boy?” 

“Yah!” he squealed. 

“Look at you, with your clean bib!” 

“Mobius, as well!” he giggled.

“Really? Mobius, too? Is he being a big boy?” She looked over at him.

Mobius opened his mouth halfway. 

“...Trying,” Loki hesitantly replied. 

She smiled and scooped up some of the mashed potatoes on Mobius’ plate. “Trying so hard?” she cooed while slipping the spoonful in his mouth. 

He furrowed his brows a little bit as she did so.

Thor returned and handed the little his own fork back before sitting down as Sylvie began eating her own dinner. 

Mobius hesitantly looked down at the orange rubber handle but didn’t touch it, instead using his hands to pick at the food on his plate.

“He was eating so well just a moment ago,” Thor frowned. 

Frigga smiled and tapped the back of her son’s hand. “A mothers presence can do that.” 

“Nuh uh!” Loki interrupted with a mouthful of food. “M’ big fir mumma!” 

“Now you are,” she agreed. “But long ago, that was not the case. There were many times when you came home from a day with Thor as a big kindergartener and were suddenly a baby the second you reached my arms.”

Loki’s face turned bright pink and he looked down at his plate. 

Sylvie took a few small bites of her own food, crumbs that were hardly large enough to taste, cut her food up, and mixed it around a little on her plate, before taking Mobius’ baby fork and focusing more of her attention on feeding him.

She occasionally paused and took a bite of food. Well seasoned, properly savory, well textured, and obvious that every piece had been obviously doted on and perfected over many years of tinkering with the recipe but… Sylvie didn’t have time to enjoy the flavors of a home cooked meal. 

She held some fatty, melty, pork roast in her mouth for a moment. Then, pretended that she had dropped something, and ducked under the table to spit it out into her napkin, which she promptly shoved into her pocket to dispose of later. This process repeated until the cloth napkin was filled with about half her plate and she decided that she could be full, in between feeding Mobius, of course. 

Loki tried his best to help with this process by occasionally offering his own fork and sound effects, which, in all honesty, was not only easier for Sylvie, but seemed to mutually benefit the littles, as Mobius found it to be much more of a novelty than when mummy did it, and Loki realized it made him look like a very responsible and grown up big boy, if the expressions on Thor and Frigga’s faces were anything to go by. 

The two boys squealed and giggled as if they were doing something they shouldn’t be. 

Frigga took a breath, “Oh, you and Loki did that all the time when you were small,” she told her son. “You were older than he is now--” A spork-full of meaty pot roast splatted onto the ground. “--A little more dexterous-- but, it still brings back such happy memories of you boys… Where did all that time go?” she asked.  

“I took all it!” Loki wiggled in his seat. “An’ Mobius!” he squawked. 

“Ah, greedy little bugs!” Thor laughed. “You’re making mother and I so old!”

Frigga smacked him on the shoulder. “Don’t say that!”

“They know I’m joking!” 

“No they don’t, they’re only babes.”

“I am not a baby!” Loki said in his most grown up voice. 

“No, you’re not. I’m sorry, my dearest,” she corrected herself. 

Suddenly, Sylvie excused herself, seeing, and subsequently tripping over, a prime, unsuspicious moment to make her getaway. “I’ll be right back,” she said, patting her pocket to make sure no gravy was dripping onto her jeans and the fabric was properly tucked in.

She took out the napkin upon reaching the bathroom and frantically shook it out into the toilet, letting a sticky wad of potato fall in with a “sploosh” and several chunks of meat fall in with little “drip drop”s. Then, she flushed it and watched intensely as she wadded the napkin back up in her pocket to make sure it all went down properly. 

By the time she returned, Frigga was dabbing around Mobius’ mouth and wiping off his hands while Loki was helping Thor with the dishes, submerging his arms in the warm, soapy water. 

She pretended she had just found the napkin on the ground. 

“Mumma!” Loki yelled when he saw her. “We go play game!” he threw his wet arms around her as if he hadn’t seen her in a very long time. “Mumma play game, too! …Please?” 

“Yeah, mother’s taking us to Bingo, brother. Isn’t that exciting?” Thor interrupted before Sylvie had the chance to speak. 

“I just hope one of us wins something,” was all she could think to say.

Chapter Text

Upon arriving in the communal hall, Thor and Sylvie were surprised to find a small corner of soft toys that had been set up for the littles. Although the gesture was appreciated, Sylvie chose to keep Mobius closeby for now. 

“He needs to rest off such a big meal,” Frigga cooed at the baby. 

Sylvie did not look at her or respond as she kept pushing the stroller towards some empty seats. 

Mobius opened his eyes and brought his legs up towards his chest, giving Sylvie the curse of having a cute baby in the stroller she was pushing. 

She furrowed her eyebrows at him, an expression which deepened as he swiped at the jingling baby toys above him, alerting the old women that surrounded them to his presence and positive temperament. 

Sylvie rested a hand on his knee and quietly shushed him as she found her seat. 

This did not do anything, as Frigga’s widowed friends still crowded around and pulled back the shade to get a look at the happy, wiggly little baby or, when the stroller got too crowded, the very sweet and equally attention hungry toddler… maybe preschooler at this point. 

They pinched and pulled at Loki’s cheeks and twirled his hair until a microphoned Bingo caller announced that aides were passing out cards and a game was about to begin. 

Thor helped Loki into the playpen and got him settled with a few board books and a big, colorful, beach ball. But soon, the little reached over the fence, leaning on it, and began to whine, and fuss. 

Frigga pushed out her chair and set down her pen, but Sylvie beat her to it, practically running over to Loki’s side, even though she did make an attempt not to look too frantic. 

“What’s wrong this time?” she asked. 

Loki cracked a smile and began to fidget with the large beach ball in his arms. “Um, can Mobius come play? With me?” he asked. 

Sylvie bit the inside of her cheek and considered it slowly before walking back to her seat, and asking Mobius in a whisper if he’d like to join Loki.

He sat up and looked out towards the other little one before nodding. 

“Yeah?” she asked. “Okay, let’s go see Loki.” There was a sad sigh in her voice.

Mobius was set down into a faded, primarily colored bed of quilts and toys. There was an amount of range in their age that Mobius wasn’t used to and Loki didn’t seem to care about. At home, almost everything was kept relatively new. Sylvie kept items that were carved wood with soft edges and wax finishings, and Thor occasionally brought in some plastic, rainbow, monstrosities, but it seemed like none were ever kept forever, with the exception of a few soft toys and blankets. There was a shelf life for baby and toddler toys that the caregivers understood well. Here it was different. 

Glossy wooden buggy cars and softly painted mint green baby toys from the 1950s mingled with the rich patterns of the 70’s and overflowed into the colorful neon, Care Bear branding of the 80’s and 90’s. A few select objects from the past decade or so, which were probably left by grand-littles by accident, peppered the area. 

“Mobius!” Loki suddenly addressed him. “Wanna play a game?” he asked. “How big are you?” 

Mobius snapped out of his trance to look at him. “Yeah, okay,” he said, propping himself up to stand and stretch his legs. He didn’t answer the second question. 

Loki crawled towards a play set that was decidedly not built for littles. It was a small, plastic fenced garden. “This is my house,” he declared, shutting the gate behind him and tending to pulling his vegetables and straightening flowers on wimpy wires. He could barely fit inside, even sitting with his legs crossed, and the walls hardly reached above his navel and his knees pressed against the cheap plastic. 

Mobius raised an eyebrow. “Where’s mine?” he asked. 

Loki shrugged. 

-- “BINGO!” Sylvie screamed suddenly. 

Both the boys stopped and rushed to the edge of the play pen to watch what would happen as Sylvie excitedly ran up to the front with her card to claim a prize.

Loki tripped over himself and made a loud crashing noise as the plastic garden came with him. He began to wail despite falling on a cushioned floor; another bump to his previously injured ankle was probably not a welcome sensation. 

As Sylvie took a bottle of mediocre grocery store wine and grabbed a new bingo card, she looked just in time to witness Mobius panickedly helping Loki up as grannies swarmed around them. 

Mobius started to back himself into a corner as Loki was consumed by looming shadows that cooed, oohed, and ahhed over him, caressing his face and smothering him in an uncomfortable amount of physical touch. They couldn’t pick the lanky little up, but it was apparent they were trying to as they breached the playpen walls. 

Mobius’ face must have given him away as a few of the strangers who weren’t able to get to Loki began to fawn over him instead. “Hey little guy, what happened to your nose?” “Are you his brother? How sweet!” 

Mobius softly whined, but it wasn’t heard over the rest of the noise in the echoing ballroom. He put part of his hand in his mouth and scooted backward towards the wall. 

Sylvie fought through the crowd, but she only tended to Loki, taking a look at his ankle and giving him some kisses, assuring the concerned watchers that he was alright, but although they stepped back, many didn’t leave, instead, awing over the caregiver and her baby as if they were animals in the zoo. 

Mobius began to crawl closer to Sylvie, hoping to hide behind her back, only to notice an unwelcome hand where it shouldn’t be. 

“Someone needs a change,” he heard someone say. 

He whipped around and sat down, folding himself into a ball. Maybe Sylvie was right about this place , he considered. 

“Mobius?” Frigga pushed past her peers and struggled to step over the fencing to get to him. 

“Nan-na!” he shouted back, frantically leaping into her arms. 

She was so warm and soft and smelled like honey cinnamon. 

She made the world feel quiet. 

“Look!” Frigga suggested. “There’s your mummy and Thor.”

Mobius moved his head over to look at them, and witnessed Thor picking Loki up and bringing him over the fence of the play area. 

Sylvie rocked Mobius’ stroller with her foot, back at her seat. After being given a change in the hall’s tight bathrooms, Mobius now contentedly sucked on a pacifier in his stroller while turning over a baby toy in his fingers. He looked slightly sleepy, but not too bad. Loki sat in his brother’s lap across from them, curiously watching his mother and brother play their game. 

“Alright Cliffside residents!” The Bingo caller announced, “Tonight is very special because Ms. Fjorgynndottir has some littles visiting her!” --as if they weren’t aware-- “We’re going to play a very special round for them tonight.” 

A group of helpers in brightly colored vests passed out new cards, but as Sylvie set one on the tray of Mobius’ stroller, she noticed that these cards were very different from the ones they had been playing with earlier. Loki crinkled up his nose as he made the same observation. The bold, black, easily legible numbers were replaced by colorful, clipart graphics of everyday objects. 

Thor handed his brother a Bingo dauber

“Our first num- square…? Is a house! Who has a house?” The caller said into a small microphone. 

Loki pressed some ink onto his paper. So did Thor. Sylvie peeked over at Mobius’ paper, but he had correctly assessed that there was no house. 

“Next one up is the dog! I’ve got one of those at home!”

Loki dotted his paper again. So did Mobius this time. 

“Oh, you got the puppy!” Sylvie cooed at him. “What noise does a puppy make?” 

Mobius cracked a smile and made a small, barely audible “wuf”.

The caller continued to list objects: “Cat”, “tree”, “cup”, “boat”, “pants”...

 “Bingo!” Loki shouted, snatching his card and running up to the front. “I win!” he declared loudly as he showed them his card. Thor excused himself and ran up behind his brother, to grab his hand and help him up the stairs to the stage.

There was a pause as Loki showed everyone his card. A long, uncomfortable silence as Thor and the announcer looked at each other, and then at Loki. 

“...Looks like we have a winner! What prize are you going to get?”

Loki surveyed the table and moved his hand over the same bottle of wine Sylvie’s had. Thor moved his hand away gently and guided it towards a nice pair of gloves or a candy bar. 

Loki snatched the chocolate bar quickly and then turned around to hold it up as if it were a mighty sword or the olympic torch before running down the stairs with his brother close behind. 

When they got back to the table, Thor slid the card over for Sylvie and Frigga to take a look at. 

It was covered in green dots. Absolutely covered. It looked like it had been dipped in paint. Words that hadn’t even been called yet like “flower” and “sun” were blotted and filled in. In one case, Loki had pressed the dauber down so hard so many times that the printer ink had bled and the word and picture were almost entirely unrecognizable. 

“Oh, what a lovely job, dearest,” Frigga told her son. 

Sylvie pressed her lips together, raised her eyebrows a bit, and nodded silently, then peeked over at Mobius to make sure he wasn’t getting any ideas. 

He wasn’t. Only the squares that had been called were dotted, albeit a couple times each. But he did seem to find Loki’s mischief awfully funny, grinning and kicking his legs.

“Is Loki being silly?” Sylvie asked her little, scrunching her nose while Loki tried with a tremendous amount of effort to open the wrapper of his candy.

Mobius babbled back to her as she teased him. Back and forth they went, throughout the round. 

Then, suddenly, Sylvie stopped and her voice turned stone. “Oh. Mobius!” 

The little stopped and sank back in his stroller, dropping the dauber pen. 

“You have a Bingo!” she exclaimed, running her finger over the still-wet blots of orange. 

A smile slowly crept onto the baby’s face. “Bingo!” he giggled. It was soft though. He didn’t scream like Loki did, he spoke just loud enough for the family around him to hear him. 

Sylvie picked up the card and helped him into her lap before shouting. “Bingo!” for him.

“Alright, do you want to go up there? Want mummy to come?” she took his hand and brought him up. He had never looked more excited and despite keeping a toddling pace, pulled her along up to the front to grab a prize. 

He proudly presented the announcer with his page and then ran to the table, clinging to Sylvie just to grab a pair of cheap, dollar store sunglasses, despite it being the middle of winter. 

Loki applauded him and took a look at the sunglasses himself. The boys giggled, comparing their winnings and discussing the cards. Loki even included his mother in the conversation, showing her the new card he had been given and telling her about the objects that had been called and if he had them or had seen them. 

The mother listened attentively and commented on their ridiculous notions of the world, often asking them some extra questions to get them to elaborate, which only served to make the littles laugh further, almost entirely forgetting the game that everyone else was still keeping up with. 

On the walk back to the apartment, Sylvie pushed an empty stroller as the littles walked together, toddling with the adults just behind them. 

They were laughing, playfully pushing each other, trying to get the other to stumble just a little bit. 

Frigga brushed up against Sylvie, breaking her from her trance of watching the toddlers. “Aren’t they sweet?” she asked. 

“...Yeah,” Sylvie answered.

There was a long pause between them as Loki took the plastic sunglasses and put them on. “Am I handsome, mumma?” Loki asked, with a laugh in an over-articulated preschool manner, addressing both women at the same time. 

“The handsomest, dear!” Frigga cooed. 

Sylvie took a slightly colder approach. “They are very stylish, Loki. But we’re going to give baby his prize back, now, right?”

Loki nodded and set them awkwardly on Mobius’ nose, nearly poking out his eye with one of the arms. 

“Oh, when him and Thor were small, that would have been a fit! He’s come so far… He really loves you and the little one. I’m so lucky to have you here. I don’t know how him and Thor could have gotten along without you. It was such a treat that you could make some time to come see little ol’ me. I’m having such fun.”

Sylvie looked away for a minute before putting on a happy face with gritted teeth. “Of course! It’s been just lovely!” 

Chapter Text

Sylvie stuffed her bottle of wine into her suitcase when she got back to the apartment. And when she came out, Thor was taking a while to change the little ones in the bathroom, before she could even take claim to the chore.

 She could hear him blowing raspberries into the little ones’ tummies, and jingling toys for them. If she really pressed her ear to the door, she could even hear Mobius playing his part to perfection, babbling and humming around teether toys as Loki and Thor talked to him and teased him lovingly. 

Sylvie, upon catching Frigga puttering around the kitchen and living areas, quickly retreated back to her room and stayed there, scrolling through her phone again, this time into a social media rabbit hole about some odd drama that she didn’t really care about just to pass time. 

She only realized that she had perhaps passed a little bit too much time, when she came out to find Thor sitting in the living room with Loki, Mobius, and his mother, all without her. 

The littles were in their pajamas with Loki, being sleepily held in his brother’s lap, his head tilted back, so his hair could be pet by his mother. 

Mobius laid on his tummy on the floor, with a pillow under his chest as he watched the tv with a pacifier in. He looked content to be alone, at least until he saw her. 

“There he is! There’s mummy’s baby! Did Thor put your jammies on for you?” she asked, nuzzling his nose as she helped him up to a sitting position. “Are you ready for our walk?” 

“Walk?” Thor asked. “At this hour?” 

It looked later outside than it really was, being winter and all, but it was still around bedtime for the littles.

“Yes,” Sylvie said in a voice that sounded more rehearsed than she had meant it to. “We’re low on rash cream. I don’t want us to run out.” 

Thor raised a skeptical eyebrow. 

“... And baby food. I thought he’d be a little older so I didn’t pack any but I thought maybe we should have some on hand for the morning. Don’t you think?”

Her eyes flicked between everyone in the room. She could have sworn Frigga was trying to hide a smile. She must’ve been staring because Frigga tried to explain herself. 

“I’ve done that so many times with Loki. So many things to fit in those little bags. I’m shocked you’re able to fit supplies for both of them in there.” 

Then after making Loki sit up (despite protests), she got up and went to the kitchen. “Will you be needing some bags?” she asked. 

Sylvie checked her purse. “No, thank you,” she lied. 

“Why are you taking Mobius with you?” Thor asked. 

“Why not?” she returned. “Nothing like a good stroller walk in the rain to get a baby sleepy. Better than television.” 

Loki beckoned her in to voice his own concerns, whispering them to her as if they were very concerning. 

“You can hold the baby when we get home. We’ll be both snuggled right up next to you tonight… Unless you want to sleep with your mother.” 

Loki bit his cheek, frowning. 

“We’ll be back soon!” she reiterated, pulling on her raincoat and zipping up her boots before offering the same treatment to Mobius and grabbing out his stroller. 

She buckled him in lovingly, and congratulated him on his theatrics. Wrapping his hand around two of her fingers and pulling them into his chest was quite the nice touch. 

Sylvie shut the door of the apartment, and then, once they were out of the building, and into the freezing rain, she paused under an awning, and began to talk to Mobius. 

“Are you still feeling big?” she asked as she flipped up the stroller shade so they could lock eyes. 

“Yeah,” he mumbled. He wasn’t actually sure. 

She unclicked his seatbelts. “Want to walk with mummy, then?” 

Mobius got up and took one of her hands, or her arm rather, clinging to her. 

“Still want your pacifier?” she asked. 

He took it out and set it in her hand. 

“Thank you,” she added before putting it away. 

They walked out into the rain. It was windy and so cold, but if that bothered Sylvie, she didn’t show it. “What should we have for our treat, do you think?” 

Mobius didn’t answer her. 

“I think it’s a little cold… and late… for ice cream. How about a piece of cake and some hot chocolate?” 

“Okay…” Mobius agreed. 

Sylvie led him into a small market before they got their treat. He sighed, beginning to regret getting caught up in her scheme just to have his reward being running errands after bedtime… 

She seemed to feel that too though, being quick about her purchases that would cover her tracks. 

He crossed his arms and rubbed his eyes a little bit, but didn’t dare voice anything else right now under the buzzing fluorescent lights. He knew not to be loud in stores, by this age he did. 

Sylvie parked the stroller, with the plastic bag set into the seat, in front of an open-late sort of cafe.

“So,” she steepled her fingers after finding them a comfortable sort of booth. “Let’s talk. Are you in the mood to talk?” 

Rain beat hard against the windows. 

Mobius found the reflections of neon signs and the outside world much more appealing than listening to her right now. 

“Mobius? Can we talk?” 

He peeled his attention away slowly and began to fidget with the sleeves of his scratchy rain jacket that just made the worst noises…

“Mobius?” 

“Yeah?” he finally asked. 

“Can we talk?” 

“Okay…” he answered. 

“So, you said you’re feeling bigger, can you help me understand that?” 

She sounded like the littles home therapist. She shouldn’t sound like that. 

“I know it’s late, isn’t it? Are you sleepy?” 

He didn’t respond. 

“You’ve been very good for me today, you know that?” 

“Why’d you lie?” he asked suddenly. “It was mean…”

Sylvie was a bit taken aback. “Lie?” 

“Yeah… you maked me lie…” 

Sylvie bit the inside of her cheek. “Mobius… I wasn’t being mean. Sometimes adults just… have to lie… to keep control over a situation.” 

This wasn’t a satisfying answer. He kicked her shin lightly under the table. Nudging her. 

“Can I explain when we get home tomorrow?” she pleaded. 

He kicked her a little harder this time. Not enough for it to hurt, but enough to make her think it might next time. 

“Alright, alright.” Now it was her turn to cross her arms and furrow her brow. “Nana Frigga is not my mother. Nor is she yours. I didn’t want you to feel weird about it. So, I wanted you to be able to come with me easily if I needed to get away without looking rude.” 

“It was rude… Nana nice!” 

A waiter came up to the table with some crayons and a coloring mat for the little one and asked Sylvie if she was ready to order. “Two slices of cheesecake, a cup of hot tea, Earl Grey, and a mug of cocoa” was her response. 

Once the waiter walked away, she realized Mobius had already begun coloring-- scribbling but in a very slow, deliberate manner. Consciously scribbling.  

“Mobius,” she sighed. “You know when Loki screams and cries for no reason because he wants to be alone or is overwhelmed?” 

He vaguely nodded, not really paying attention. 

“Well, adults do that, too, but you can’t see it.” 

He hummed.

“And they don’t want other adults to know that’s how they feel, so they try to make up excuses for taking their alone time. You were my excuse for the day, and I’m sorry I did that to you. ” She made a point to accentuate her apology. “Can you take this treat as a peace offering?” 

As the mug of steaming hot cocoa was set down in front of him, Mobius took a deep breath. “Okay,” he answered, picking it up to have a sip. But it was apparent he didn’t really mean it. 

Regardless, Sylvie took the opportunity to move on. “So, can you tell me more about this big, grown-up-boy headspace?” 

Mobius looked almost excited for a moment, but it quickly faded. “No…” he answered her. 

“No? Why not?” she waited for a response, but he made it pretty clear she wasn’t going to get one. “Words aren’t coming?” 

He nodded silently. 

Sylvie looked slightly disappointed, herself. “This is going to be something we’ll have to experiment with, isn’t it?” she asked. “Just test the waters, see what we like?” 

He nodded, and then had an idea. “Like books,” he managed. “An’ puzzles.” 

Sylvie smiled at him, setting her cup of tea down briefly to accept two cake slices. 

He used a fork, but held it wrong. “Cake!” he added. 

“And Mobius is not a baby anymore, is that right?” 

He shrugged, and went a little red. “Mmh…”

“Sometimes? Is Mobius still a little baby… on occasion, perhaps?” she tried. 

“Yeah,” he agreed. 

“But he’s growing up a little bit because…”

“--Love momma, n’ Tor, n’ Loki!” he said quickly, and with his mouth full. 

Sylvie smiled. “So is Mobius ready to go to daycare soon?” 

Mobius nodded quickly. 

That was all Sylvie needed to figure it out. 3 sounded like a good number for him. 3 and growing up or down. 3 give or take. She could handle that. He was feeling the same as Loki was today but couldn’t do anything about it. 3 but… a little more emotionally mature. 3 but he understood lying, and forgiveness, manners (to an extent), and sharing. That was definitely it. That’s why she couldn’t place her finger on it so fast.

A small smile crept onto Sylvie’s face, even as Mobius’ shrunk back to a contented neutrality. 

She tried to extend herself a bit. “Can I color with you?” she tried. 

“Um… sure…” Mobius said, sliding over the placemat and crayons as he set down his mug, some of the whipped cream floating on the top, sticking to his nose. 

She colored only outside the lines of the picture, creating a sunny sky and rolling meadow background for the puppy on the page. 

On the walk back to Frigga’s apartment, Sylvie held Mobius’ hand. She offered the stroller, but he hadn’t taken it, instead walking with his head down in the rain, letting all the icy drips roll down his coat and boots. He didn’t say a word or splash in any puddles. If it weren’t for the fact that his boots were little bears, no passerby would have even suspected him of being a little. He seemed so still and stoic.

When Sylvie reached the door of the apartment she came upon two horrifying realizations: Firstly, that she didn’t take a spare key with her and secondly, that the door was unlocked. 

She quietly tried to press it open, slipping the bulky baby stroller inside by the door, before herself and Mobius. 

“Did you pick up what you needed?” Frigga asked. The light was on in the living room, as she sat in the open with a book. 

“I… Yeah, we did.” 

“The little one’s not asleep yet?” 

“No, he decided to be a big boy and stretch his leggies,” Sylvie countered before picking the drenched little one up, more as a show of strength than anything. “But I think it’s well past his bedtime.” 

“Of course,” Frigga answered. “But, Sylvie?” 

“Hm?” 

“I’d like to speak to you when you’re done.” 

Sylvie gulped before leading the drenched little one away.

Admittedly, she did baby him a little, and he let it happen. Even older littles could go tiny when sleepy. 

“P-Paci,” he mumbled almost incoherently under his breath, “Please?” 

Sylvie finished getting him out of his day clothes, discarding the rain jacket in the bathtub, before reaching into the bag and taking out his pacifier. “You want your lambie, too?” 

He reached out his hands for it, and hugged it close to his bare chest. 

“Alright, my little pumpkin. Lie down now.” 

After giving him a change, and taking a little bit of extra time to cover his ticklish tummy with soft, lavender scented lotion, she picked him up with a heave, and carried the sleepy child to bed. 

“Mamma?” 

“Yes?” Sylvie asked, as she tucked him into the blankets of Frigga’s guest bed. 

“Love lambie and mommy!” he added with a big grin, kicking the blankets and holding up the sheep plushie for Sylvie to kiss. 

She kissed each of them on the cheek. 

“Mommy go sleep?” he asked when she didn’t sit down.  

“I’ll be in soon, b-- Mobius.” 

“Won’t you two hush? I’m trying to sleep!” Thor groaned. 

Sylvie looked down at him on the floor mattress. Mobius sat up to do the same. 

“Would you rather sleep with Thor?” she asked. 

“No… M’a big kid,” he said around his pacifier.

“Sylvie?” Thor asked before she left. “Be good to my mother, won’t you?” 

Sylvie closed the bedroom door as slowly as she possibly could. She could see Frigga on the couch from where she was standing. The old woman was still reading her book and didn’t seem to have any dwindling patience. 

“Hi, Sylvie.” The mother said when she noticed her. 

“I…. I need to clean up the bathroom.” 

“That can wait. Sit down. Let’s have a chat.” 

Sylvie reluctantly did as she was told, feeling very much like her defiant 8-year-old self. She could feel the voice of her past creeping into her throat. It took everything in her not to stomp her foot and shout “No!”, but she kept it under control, instead, taking some very deep breaths. 

“I feel a deep sadness in you.” 

The comment provided reinforcements to Sylvie’s defiant past self, letting her a crude nose crinkle slip out onto her face. “Okay…” 

“I hate to pry but...Were you close with your mother?” 

Sylvie hadn’t expected her to be so forward about it. “Not exactly…” she answered. 

That wasn’t enough information for the old woman, so Sylvie tried again. “I was adopted… Then returned…” She made a motion with her hands, kind of a “figure it out yourself” gesture.

Frigga reached over to put a hand on Sylvie’s knee.

Sylvie did not pull away from the gesture, but stiffened under its oppressive weight.

“What was she like?” 

“I don’t remember really,” Sylvie said. “I was only with her for a few months before she passed.”

Frigga moved her fingers up to grasp Sylvie’s hand, encouraging her to keep talking. 

“She was… a good woman,” Sylvie nodded, swallowing down a lump in her throat as she said it. 

“I’m sure she was. If she wasn’t, you wouldn’t be such a good mummy for those boys today.”

Sylvie smiled just a little bit as her face pinkened again and tears fought their way through. 

“Oh, dearest” The pity in the old woman’s voice would’ve bothered Sylvie just a few minutes ago, but now it didn’t feel so bad. It had a warmth to it, now. “Could I get you a cup of tea?”

“Why?” Sylvie bumbled. 

“The steam soothes an aching heart, child.” 

Sylvie wiped her nose and started to speak, only to choke on her words, resigning herself to just nodding. 

Frigga patted her shoulder lovingly. “I’ve already adopted one extra child into my heart, if you ever need a mothering presence, it’s always open for you, too.” 

Sylvie broke. 

The next morning, Mobius woke up to Thor rubbing his shoulder, and was then, lifted up onto his lap, with his head tucked into Thor’s neck. 

“Good morning, big, sleepy guy,” he said. “Are you ready to get up for breakfast?”

Mobius smiled, burying his face into Thor’s shoulder.

“Are you playing with me? Pretending to be sleepy?” the caregiver asked. 

Mobius tried not to laugh. 

“Oh!” Thor stood up dramatically. “My poor little!” he bemoaned, struggling to open the bedroom door with the boy in his arms. 

Mobius giggled. 

“He is stuck in an eternal slumber!” Thor told Sylvie and Frigga. “The poor baby! Whatever shall I do?”

Loki giggled at Thor’s display from his seat in the living room. 

But Mobius sat up and whispered in Thor’s ear, “but ’m not a baby… right?” 

“No, of course not… Sorry,” Thor whispered back. “Oh how tragic! He will never taste the delicious breakfast nana made!” 

Then Mobius really did sit up and move. “No!” he said, louder. “I’m up! Look!” 

Thor set him down. 

“It’s a miracle! He’s awake!” Sylvie cooed at him, as he wriggled into her lap at the breakfast table. “And he’s a big kid, too, huh?” 

“Extra big kid!” he laughed. 

“Too big for his booster seat?” 

Mobius hesitated, looking over at Loki on the play mat, studying him a little… “Is Loki sit in a boost?” he asked slowly. 

“Not yet, but he will be,” Sylvie assured him. 

Loki smiled at them, pacifier in his mouth and said something to his big brother in garbled gibberish.  

“My, my, it’s like they traded headspaces!” Frigga laughed.

Sylvie made nervous eye contact with her. “Are you going to tell nana good morning?” she whispered to Mobius. 

“Good morning!” he mimicked, while not really paying attention, swaying his hips, setting his elbows on the plastic tablecloth, peering over the table, past the vase of flowers to Frigga’s half-filled daily crossword. 

“Alright enough socializing, little one, let’s clean you up!” 

Mobius screamed with surprise as he was lifted back into Thor’s arms. “Thor go changes and uppies!” 

“Yeah?” Thor asked. 

“Loki go changes and ups, too?” he asked. 

“Loki already got his nappy changed… but if you’re really good, I’ll let you try to use the potty,” he said in a low voice. 

“No you won’t! Not at nana’s house!” Sylvie yelled to them. 

“I’ll clean it up!” Thor shouted back. 

Mobius ran out of the bathroom happily and threw his still wet hands around Sylvie. “Momma! I did it! I did it!” he squealed.

“You did? All by yourself?” 

He didn’t answer that, but still buried his head in her shoulder. 

“It’s perfect timing,” Frigga said. “Now he’s all ready for breakfast!” 

Mobius took his head away from Sylvie’s shoulder so he could try to help, setting out both Loki’s and his own plastic plates and silverware. 

“What a good helper,” Frigga commented, ruffling his hair and standing up on her tip-toes to kiss his forehead. 

Mobius blushed and buckled himself into his booster seat to really show off how ready for breakfast he was. 

Soon, Sylvie sat down, followed by Thor bringing in Loki, keeping the little’s arms raised up to make him feel like he was taking some early steps and needed his brother for help. 

Mobius wasn’t sure if he had ever seen Loki so small, but then again, maybe he just noticed it today because of his own bigger headspace. 

Loki really needed the buckles. He kicked and squealed without any heed for volume and pulled apart a pancake with his fingers, getting his hands sticky with honeyed fruit salad that Thor had put on his plate.
Mobius tried his best to be more polite to make up for Loki’s antics as the adults began talking, mostly about last night and the day ahead. 

“Thor, why didn’t you say anything?” Frigga asked.

“I…” Thor stuttered. “I thought it was a…” he cupped his chest awkwardly, “maybe a side effect from the medication? It’s hormonal, right?” He was a deep red color. 

Sylvie burst out laughing, but Mobius wasn’t sure what she found so funny about it, and after trying to listen in more, he realized that he wasn’t really interested in the conversation to begin with.

He stood up from the table and wandered over to ask Sylvie if he could go play in the living room but was stopped with a tug on the sleeve. 

“Mobius,” Nana said, “I am so impressed by you, did you know that?” 

Mobius paused and then smiled, a big, goofy, smile. 

“You are such a good brother for Loki and Thor. I don’t think we ever could’ve ever asked for any better.” 

A hand patted Mobius’ back. “Say ‘thank you’,” Sylvie reminded him. 

“Thank you, nana!” he said, fidgeting bashfully. 

“That’s sweet of her, isn’t it?” Sylvie asked when he finally got to her. 

Mobius nodded and felt a little bad for changing the subject, so he spoke very very softly, “um… mama can I go play?” 

“We’re almost done. Just be a little patient, okay lovie?” 

Before Mobius had the opportunity to either agree or disagree, she pulled him into her lap and held him close. “You know, if you’re good, nana might come play with us,” she hummed to him. 

That was motivation enough for him. 

“Mummy’s about to call nana!” Sylvie called as she came around and sat down on the couch. 

“Mumma an’ mumma!” Loki grinned, standing up to lean over the play-fence, even though he could have easily just stepped over it. 

“Both mummies! Aren’t you lucky?” She opened up a little gate for Loki so he could join her. “Mobius? Do you want to call nana?” 

Mobius stopped sorting his wooden blocks. “...I listen,” he let her know. 

“Would you like to come listen up here with mummy and Loki?” 

Mobius nodded and climbed up onto the couch, keeping a little bit of distance so he wouldn’t be picked up by the camera… at least, that was until Loki stood up after struggling to see Sylvie’s phone screen and walked around the back of the couch, resting his chin on her head. 

She awkwardly tilted the phone up so Frigga could see him and put her arm around Mobius just tightly enough to coax him to lean into her shoulder and chest. 

“Hi Mobius!” Frigga cooed after already beginning her conversation with Loki and Sylvie. How had she even seen him? 

“Do you want to say hi?” Sylvie whispered, massaging his soft, fluffy hair that must have been spilling into the frame of the camera. 

Mobius shook his head. 

“He’s just listening today, but he wanted to see you, too.” 

Chapter Text

“Aren’t you excited to go to daycare with Loki today?” Thor asked Mobius while giving both of the preschoolers their bath. 

“Yeah! Cuz ’m a big boy!” 

“You are? Are you a bigger boy than Loki?” 

“Um… sometimes!” Mobius laughed. 

Loki frowned at the both of them and patiently waited his turn to be scrubbed down. It was horribly embarrassing to him that this little, who, for the first two months of knowing him had kept a steady headspace of under six months, had just, in the last few weeks, exponentially shown a growth in headspace and was now comfortably chatting more fluently than Loki usually cared to. Loki probably could talk like that if he wanted to, of course, obviously , he just… never felt like it. It made him cuter to adults, and earned him more praises on even the most basic tasks, or so he told himself. 

There was audible humming Loki could hear from the door as Mobius was potty training under mummy’s supervision this morning. He could hear her telling him how good he was doing and that he was being such a big boy, which of course, only ticked Loki off further. 

He trudged out to the living room to see his big brother with crossed arms and a dramatic pout. “Mobius big!” he whined. 

“He is…” Thor agreed, curious to see why that had him so riled up. “I’m also bigger than you. What’s the problem?” 

“I'm the big one! Me!” Loki said while melting into a pile of tears. 

Thor picked the little up and let him curl up in his lap, petting his back. “And you’ll be the big one again, soon. He’s not going to stay so grown-up forever, no matter how much Sylvie acts like it.” 

Loki nodded, pressing his face into golden Thor’s hair. 

By the time Loki saw Mobius again, Sylvie was helping the boys slip on their backpacks, filled with toys, naptime blankets, and extra diapers. 

She was coming in today, too, she had told them, but only for a little bit, just long enough to show Mobius around and help him feel comfortable. 

Mobius held onto his caregivers’ hands while Loki stomped ahead through a thin blanket of snow, feeling very thankful that momma couldn’t feel his sweaty palms through his winter mittens or his racing heartbeat under his puffy coat.

Sylvie was squeezing his hand in a tight grip. Maybe she felt the same way. They had hardly been apart since she took him away from the littles home.

He thought about voicing his concerns… or maybe excitement, which only deepened as they kept walking. He had never been to a daycare in a headspace like this before, and it had been a long time since he had been to one at all. Those visits hadn’t been pleasant either.

They paused on the stoop of a not-too-dilapidated looking building. It had gotten a fresh coat of paint recently, but there was definitely wood rot in the deck’s awning and the fencing could have given anyone splinters. The front door that Loki was running towards was covered in colorful handprints. Mobius had been here before, but the context had been so so different… now the quaint little structure felt so big. 

“Mobius! This one mine!” Loki said, proudly pointing at a few green splotches that were a little more smudged than most of the others, like he had been wiggling his fingers when he did it. 

“Maybe Ms. Maximoff will let you do one,” Thor suggested.

Mobius nodded silently, cracking a shaky smile. 

Loki finally opened the door for them and proudly posed on the other side, as if he had just done a magic trick.

There was only one person there though, a younger redheaded woman. 

“Good morning, Loki!” she cooed. 

“Miss Max! Goo’ morning!”

“Hi, good morning,” both Thor and momma said over one another. 

“We have another little one with us,” Sylvie added, pushing Mobius slightly forward as she said it. 

“Es Mobius!” Loki added, grabbing the other boy’s hand and pulling him forward. 

“Hi Mobius,” Miss Maximoff said softly. “Loki’s told me a lot about you. We’re happy to have you here.”

Mobius wondered if she could somehow feel his anxiety. She spoke to him hardly above a whisper. 

“Let’s take a tour,” she said, offering a hand to him. 

Mobius looked back at his caregivers. 

“We’ll still be here when you get back,” Thor assured him. 

“I go, too!” Loki piped in. He ran up to meet Mobius and Miss Max. 

“Uh-oh, will I need to begin giving out gold stars before class even starts?” she joked. 

Loki held onto Mobius’ other hand. The toddler’s excitement and comfort with the environment was palpable. It immediately put Mobius at ease. 

Together, they went through the big room and its sections. The reading area, naptime area, math area, sensory area, baby area-- Both the boys were confident that they wouldn’t need to know that one-- lunch tables, the playground, the kitchen, etc.etc.etc. 

It was almost surprising how much that had been fit into the space, until one realized that the “math area” was just a table with fractions and the “sensory zone” just had some bins of multicolored sand to sift through. Each “area” wasn’t much in isolation, but it made a nice cohesive whole when paired with everything else. 

Loki sat down on the story rug once the short walkthrough was over, but Mobius had different interests. Sylvie and Thor were writing on a clipboard near where they had entered and were whispering back and forth pointing at check boxes and fumbling through their wallets for cards of information and the like. 

He tried his best to help them, rocking back and forth on his feet as he watched them, awkwardly trying to squirm into Thor or Sylvie’s arms. 

“You aren’t going to go sit with Loki?” Sylvie asked him. “He’ll show you where Ms. Maximoff keeps the good toys.”

Mobius considered it, but ultimately chose to cling to her instead. 

“Ah ah, little one, it’s alright. Sylvie will be here to pick you up in a couple of hours,” Thor reminded him, scooping him up off his feet and dumping him back on the carpet by Loki. “Shall I stay for the morning circle?” 

Gripping some of the fabric of Thor’s shirt, Mobius nodded. 

“No!” Loki spat back. 

“No?” Thor asked, pretending to be hurt. 

“No! Tor go!” he insisted. 

“Will you look after Mobius, then?” 

“Yeah, Mobius my baby.” 

“I’m not a baby anymore,” Mobius whined. 

Thor hugged him tighter, rubbing his arms to soothe him. 

Soon, other littles began to show up. Some babbled and hopped up and down with energy, others quietly clinging much like Mobius… even though he noticed that the ones who did seemed much younger than he was. 

Loki began to shoo his big brother away as the first tots sat down in the circle and Ms. Maximoff stepped in to welcome them. “Go! Go’way!” he hissed. 

“Alright, alright,” Thor mumbled, as he set Mobius back down on the floor and backed away. 

At first, Mobius assumed he was going to go socialize with the other caregivers or maybe even just leave, but instead Thor had gone into his backpack and pulled out the little purple sheep plushie and returned to set it in his arms. 

“Just in case you needed a reminder of mummy and I,” he whispered. Then, he kissed each of them on the cheek, ruffled their hair, and reminded them that Sylvie would be here at 3 to pick them up. 

Chapter Text

Things seemed fine in the following minutes after Thor and Sylvie left. Mobius mimicked Loki and sat peacefully through the morning routine even if he didn’t know the “Good Morning Song” yet. It was only when he heard his name, he stopped absently staring off into space. 

“Mobius? Do you want to tell us about yourself? Anything Loki hasn’t already said?” 

To be fair, Loki was even less attentive than he was. Loki was already leaning back to play with some of the toys on the shelf behind him. He didn’t even care that someone had said his name. 

Mobius shifted from side to side. “Um…” 

“How old are you?” 

Mobius held up 4 fingers. “Four,” he announced. “And… this’s my sheep…” he hummed. It was barely loud enough for anyone else to hear. 

“But, he was baby,” Loki finally spoke up, refocusing. “Mummy gave,” he said, pointing at the stuffed toy. 

“We’re really glad you’re joining us today, Mobius,” the teacher said. She smiled as warmly as she could. “--Loki, can you sit still with your brother today and pay close attention so you can help him?” 

“Mhm!” Loki answered, sitting up a little straighter, on his knees instead of criss-cross like everyone else. 

Morning circle didn’t last much longer than that, as Mobius was reassured he’d be able to meet with more of the tots throughout the day, especially as they were about to begin “centers time” or whatever Ms. Maximoff called it. 

“Mobius!” Loki yelled when it was time to choose, “we boxes?” 

Loki brought him over. “Boxes,” he repeated, pointing at the tubs of sand and beads.  

They weren’t the only littles at the boxes, but it was still a calm, quiet, sort of experience. Mobius’ shoulders relaxed as he ran his fingers through the grainy textures and picked out toys in it. 

The room was still loud, but the textures and toys helped. Loki was next to him, and his lamb plushie was comfortably under his arm. His shoulders relaxed, even with other, unfamiliar littles near him. But Loki wasn’t paying attention to them, so neither did Mobius. 

He was only taken out of it when there was a different scattering noise. “Loki, your beads!” 

Another little looked up at them, “That’s why there’s a mat. He spills a lot,” he explained. 

“...Oh…” Mobius said softly. He returned to his play without another word, feeling a little embarrassed that he had pointed out the mess up. 

Then the stations changed and they got to try some art, and then blocks. 

Loki chattered during both of them, but Mobius wasn’t feeling too comfortable just yet. He did his best. He talked to the older boy that Loki seemed to know when spoken to. He could feel that he needed to pause and take a potty break, but Loki was here, and it was so easy to forget about it when trying to make all the shapes stand up in just the right way to build his structure, so he kept his head low and stayed quiet, even though he shifted back and forth, slightly wiggling his hips and hoped it went unnoticed by Loki and the older boy they were playing with. 

Loki tapped his shoulder eventually. The younger little was standing up on his knees. He cupped his hand around Mobius’ ear. “Mobius? You’re leaky,” he said, almost giggling, and definitely not in a whisper. 

Mobius touched his thigh and went red, but he didn’t cry. He took a deep breath. He was a big boy.

“Mobius? That’s your name right?” The older boy asked. 

Mobius nodded, wincing a little bit. 

He got up and tugged on the teacher’s sleeve with Mobius following a couple steps behind. “Miss Max? Mobius had an accident.” 

The teacher stopped helping a little with math to take care of the situation. 

“Thank you, Scott,” she said. “Mobius, do you want to come with me and get cleaned up?” 

Mobius paused, and looked back at Loki, admittedly terrified of leaving him, but followed the teacher. 

She found another pair of pants for him. They were gray sweats, that were scratchy, cold, and a size too big. The new training pants she helped him put on were similar. They were less like the fabric almost-underwear that Sylvie and Thor had surprised him with and were more like the nappies he had just gotten out of with a papery texture he wasn’t too fond of. 

He lived with it though and continued through the stations with Loki and Scott, not really speaking to either of them unless they asked him something first. 

That was until Ms. Maximoff got art time set up and rang a loud little bell to tell everyone that a craft was about to start and to gather around. 

Suddenly, the classroom felt very full. It wasn’t just Mobius, Loki, Ms. Maximoff, and Scott, but it was ten more or so littles who were all talking to one another and gathered around the long tables. 

Loki wasn’t even talking to him either, he was chatting with littles that Mobius had seen in photos before but didn’t know the names of. 

He sat down with everyone else and hoped it wouldn’t stay this loud or crowded for the whole craft or at least that he got invested enough in the activity not to care. This second option proved to be a good solution. The constant swell of noise grinded on his brain like sandpaper, but the cutting, gluing, and coloring of matching letters soothed him well enough. That was until he was practicing with the safety scissors by cutting Loki’s pieces out for him, and his hand must’ve slipped. 

When, he wasn’t exactly sure, but Mobius soon noted a searing pain in his fingertip. 

He looked at it only to witness a hardly visible line, covering about a quarter of his finger pad. He examined it closer as blood began to emerge from the laceration. 

He couldn’t help making a small whine, and then a bigger one. 

Loki looked up from his craft and peeked his head in to look at what was wrong. “Mobius okay?” he asked. 

Mobius nodded. He sniffled and choked back sensitive tears before rubbing the remaining straggling ones out of his eyes. 

“Miss Max?!” Loki shouted, raising his hand up. “Mobius hurt!” he added. 

All the eyes at the tables turned towards them and chatter nearly ceased. 

The teacher came over and took a look. “Wow,” she said. “You’re being very strong, not crying about a papercut. Those can really hurt. Do you want a bandage?” 

“Yes please,” Mobius whispered with a small nod. This day just kept getting worse. 

She found the first-aid kit and wrapped a Blues Clues Band-Aid around the afflicted spot. 

Mobius let her, holding his finger out and keeping still, but he brought his lambie up to his nose and buried his face in its soft wool so she couldn’t see how bad it hurt. He was strong. He was a big kid. 

For a long while there was simply a low hum of chatter throughout the tables. Then, a little girl, a few chairs down, excitedly announced that she was all done, and presented her piece with a great deal of pride to Ms. Maximoff. 

“We go outside?” she asked. 

“We’ll go outside when everyone else is done,” Ms. Max reassured her. “Do you want to help some of our friends?” 

She looked between the other littles. “Yeah,” she agreed. 

The girl stood up and toddled between other littles. She was around Loki’s age in headspace and poked over everyone’s shoulders to tell them that their cutting was wonky or their gluing was bad. 

Mobius glanced at her as she got to his, albeit anxiously. 

“Ugly,” she said, generally, pointing at his craft. 

“It’s not done yet,” Mobius answered her quietly. “Do you want to help?” he slid the project toward her. 

“--Natasha, I’m not sure if your daddy or your big sister would want to hear you talking like that…” Ms. Maximoff warned. 

Natasha zipped her lips and found a chair to climb up next to him, grabbing a crayon and assisting him in coloring, even if she wasn’t very good at it and Mobius kind of wished she would go do something else. He didn’t really want her help. 

Loki looked over at him. Apparently the distress had shown because Loki flicked her fingers away. 

“Mobius doesn’t need help!” he answered her in his clearest, most adult voice. “He big!... Um… help me?” he asked. 

Natasha kneeled on the chair and began scribbling on Loki’s project instead. He didn’t seem to mind, talking with her instead. Maybe babbling would be a more accurate way to describe it. They were both hardly 3 years old, holding crayons in their fists awkwardly. 

For them, it was less of an art project and more of a talkative social hour, Mobius noted. But now he also noticed didn’t know who else to talk to. He turned from one side to another, but everyone else was already busy in conversation, so he didn’t talk to anyone, keeping his head down and finishing his project. 

Chapter Text

The doors soon opened for the littles to run outside while Ms. Maximoff hung up their art projects. Loki and his friends ran outside quickly, hopping off their chairs the second the door was open. He had said something or other about getting the good tricycle as he ran away.

Mobius didn’t immediately follow though. He tried to, sure, but it was such a rush that even though he wanted to, he didn’t want to get caught up in the crowd. As he patiently waited, he thought about how different this Loki was from the one at home. At home it was all books, and sometimes he didn’t even make a noise for hours upon hours on end, staying as quiet as he possibly could. But here, he was loud and boisterous and running and screaming and yelling. Maybe it was just the excitement of having Mobius there, but then again… why would he be excluded if that was the case? 

Mobius glanced down at his lap, at the silver sweatpants and then had the horrible realization that something was missing; his lamb!

It felt difficult to take deep breaths knowing it was gone. Maybe he had just dropped it. 

He looked under the table, but it wasn’t there either… and then he checked his cubby, zipping open his backpack, and then a pocket, and then another smaller pocket and then Loki’s backpack and Loki’s pockets. 

“Mobius, can I help you find something?” Ms. Maximoff asked. 

Mobius looked at her teary eyed before making a frantic attempt to try to explain that his comfort toy was gone, but it just came out as babbled jargon. He was struggling to breathe through it and eventually just sank down onto the floor, hiding his head against his knees. 

Ms. Maximoff wordlessly sat down next to him and rubbed his back. 

They sat there for a minute until Mobius looked up and wiped his eyes. “Wan’ mommy,” he managed in a tearful shout. 

“She’ll be back soon, Mobius. Do you want to go play outside with your big brother?” 

He put his thumb in his mouth with one hand and batted her other away before shaking his head. 

“Should I leave you alone for a minute?” she asked. 

Mobius nodded, bringing his hands up to cover his ears. Nothing was all that loud, even the sounds of happy, screaming littles was dampened by distance and the walls of the classroom. 

He tried his best to breathe, but just couldn’t slow himself down. His eyes were snapped shut as tightly as he could make them. 

Then, he noticed that the lights had been turned off. Ms. Max was rifling through drawers and occasionally sticking her head out the door to watch the other littles as she gathered a box. 

She approached him, still as he was struggling to quiet himself. Vocalizing seemed to be relieving the tension, even if it made the outburst look worse. Even if he knew it would get him more timeout time and it just made him cry worse. 

“Mobius?” Ms. Max whispered. 

He opened his eyes, struggling to look at her through the tears. 

“This is a box I keep for very special little ones,” she continued. 

She popped open the lid and gave Mobius a moment to look inside. 

“Would you like me to show it to you or to explore it on your own?” She layed out two cards for Mobius, one that had a smiley face for yes, and a frowny face for no. 

He cautiously pressed on the smiley face, wiping his nose on his sleeve. 

“I have noise canceling headphones when things feel too loud, cards with wants and needs on them if you can’t talk, and some special toys to play with…” she said it all very softly and gave Mobius a chance to have her stop in case he was getting stressed. “And right over there we have weighted blankies. Would you like one?” 

Mobius had sat politely to listen to her, but he was starting to struggle. A whine escaped. 

“Too much?” She paused. 

Mobius nodded but tried to communicate what he wanted in the moment. He hummed for a second. “Pah n’ banket,” he managed to mumble. 

“Pacifier and blanket?” Wanda clarified. 

He nodded. 

She set the pacifier in his mouth and pulled the fuzzy blanket around his shoulders, making the crying restart. But this time it felt better. It felt safer. Cathartic. It wasn’t just bubbled over stress, it was relieving the stress entirely. Well, maybe not entirely, but as much as it could. He was actually starting to feel better, easing away from his limit. 

Slowly, he began to explore the toys, popping the fake, rubber bubble wrap. It helped. His breathing slowed a little bit and evened. 

The next time Wanda came by, he waved for her attention. 

She knelt down silently. 

He put his arms out to be picked up still giving a mumbling little whimper. 

“Do you want to be picked up or a hug?” she asked him.

“Ups.” 

“I’m going to grab you a stroller then, okay?” 

Wanda took out a stroller from the far side of the room. It looked like she had a couple in case she had multiple baby littles to watch over. There were a couple of cribs in that corner, too, but since there hadn’t been any babies in today they had gone unused. However, while she was there, Wanda did move some things out, having the sneaking suspicion that maybe she’d be caring for one now. 

Mobius let her adjust the buckle around his navel and left the weighted blanket on the floor as she fixed the shade above his head. He chewed on his pacifier and fiddled with a fidget toy from the sensory bin in his hands. 

“Are you ready to go outside?” she asked him. 

He slowly nodded, with hesitation. 

Outside was louder, brighter, and busier, but Mobius sat in the stroller, slowly rocking back and forth, pushed by her foot as he watched Loki and his friends race their tricycles around the cement race track. Then, he started to squirm. 

“Why don’t we go play with them?” Wanda asked. 

Mobius nodded and let her show him to the sandbox. He toddled awkwardly before crawling once he reached the sand. 

“Here are buckets, and shovels for you to play with,” she explained, handing Mobius the supplies. But the little one was familiar with sandboxes already. He liked the texture and they were an easy place to set a baby down at the park. 

When Wanda got up, leaving him to sift his sand between his fingers and scoop it up into buckets before dumping it out. It relaxed him, even in the loud and bright environment. 

Loki stopped right by Mobius on his tricycle and stepped into the sand pit. He sat down there. “Mobius, hello!” he said. 

Mobius smiled softly and put his arms out to be picked up. 

“Baby, hello,” Loki corrected as he wiggled around so that Mobius could sit in between his legs. “Come play?” he asked. He pointed over at where his friends were running up the big playground. “Come play friends?”

Mobius shrugged and went back to his activity. 

“Big fun,” Loki informed him. 

“Oh, and…!” he added, getting up and holding up a finger to tell Mobius that it’ll just be a moment. “Lambie!” he grinned, bringing it over from a bench to show the little. 

Mobius paused in stunned silence before snatching the toy away from Loki and squeezing it in his arms. 

“Now come play?” Loki asked. He held out his hand to help Mobius up. 

“Took it,” Mobius mumbled. 

“Hm?” 

“You took it!” Mobius whined again, louder. He made a frustrated noise like he was going to start crying again. 

Loki looked around to make sure Ms. Maximoff wasn’t looking. “Yeah, cuz’ we wanted you to play!” he explained. “Don’t cry! Please?!” He tried to hug Mobius or pick him up, something to make him not cry. He was panicking. “C’mon, let’s play! It’s okay, it’s all done! You’re okay!” 

“Loki! Are you coming or not?!” one of the other littles yelled. 

Loki didn’t respond to them. “Lets go!” he tried again, trying to physically pull Mobius out of the sandbox to go with him. “See my friends!” he pointed over to them, like that was something Mobius wanted to do right now. 

Ms. Maximoff had definitely noticed at this point. She was walking towards them. 

“Mobius! Move!” Loki insisted, growing more and more frantic by the second. Eventually, he let go and hid behind a nearby playground slide. 

“Hi Mobius, are you doing okay? Is the sun bothering you?” Wanda asked in a kind voice. She avoided direct confrontation on the issue for a moment, hoping to put both of the boys at ease. 

Mobius showed her the stuffed animal in his arms. 

“You found your sheep. Now how do you think it got out here?” she questioned. “Loki, I can see you over there. Can you come talk to me and Mobius for a minute?” 

Loki slowly stepped out of the shadows and sat down on the edge of the sandbox dejectedly. 

“Mobius is feeling very upset because he couldn’t find his toy earlier. Did you know that?” she asked. 

Loki looked down. “No?” he answered. He paused. “I wanted him to come play.” 

“Mobius, are you feeling okay? Do you want to play with Loki?”

He shrugged. 

“Would you like to just say ‘hi’?” 

Mobius paused and shifted uncomfortably.

“Maybe that’s something we’ll save for tomorrow, hm?” 

Tomorrow? That thought hadn’t even crossed Mobius’ mind. He was going to have to do this all again tomorrow and the day after that and after that? He buried his face in his lamb plushie before Loki picked him up, scooting Mobius into his lap and trying to soothe him. 

For the remainder of the day, Mobius did participate in the activities and really tried his best, but he had definitely sunk in headspace, and Loki noticed. 

The older little stopped talking to his friends so much in favor of constantly keeping the other little held and supervised, something that Ms. Maximoff must’ve been thankful for as she watched over the older ones. 

Loki was even able to tell her that Mobius wouldn’t touch his sippy cup and needed a bottle, which he gave to him, and even helped him into a crib for naptime before setting up his own mat right on the other side. 

He had sat down to play blocks with him during afternoon playtime instead of some more interesting dramatic-play game with his friends. They looked like they were having fun, and Mobius did feel a little bad for keeping Loki here, but Loki seemed happy enough. It was funny, how the things that made him so immature when Mobius felt bigger were the same things that made him such a good friend now that he was littler again.

It wasn’t long before mommy was there to pick them up. 

Loki, of course ran up to her, but Mobius stayed where he was until Sylvie had talked to the teacher and then got down by his side and held him in her lap. “You had a rough day?” she asked in a whisper. 

Mobius nodded.

“Me, too,” she said, scrunching her nose up a little bit. “Why don’t we go home and do something to celebrate your first day? I was thinking pizza, unless you’re too little for that.”

“Pizza!” Mobius repeated with a smile. 

He let her lead him out with Loki and buckled him into the stroller for the ride home where he knew things would be safe and comfortably routine until tomorrow, and even when that got so bad, at least Loki was there and so was Ms. Maximoff, and maybe they could make it all better. 

Chapter Text

It had been a quiet evening. Both the littles had gone to bed with minimal trouble, allowing Sylvie and Thor to sit together without any major worries. Thor took a leaflet out of his pocket and showed it to Sylvie.

“You can’t let Loki see this,” Sylvie whispered in a hushed voice. 

“But he’ll have such a good time!” Thor told her, waving the flyer. 

“You’re acting like a child about this. Look, you can take them if you want but I’m not going.” 

“Me?! You sound like a child! It’s The Wizard of OZ ! What’s going to happen?” 

“Play?” Loki asked, emerging from his hiding place where he had been eavesdropping. 

“Now you’ve done it,” Sylvie grumbled. 

“Loki, there’s a new play, do you want to go see it with Mobius?” 

Children’s community theater was not unfamiliar territory to either of the caregivers, and definitely not to Loki, who always wanted them to come to every show.

“Pway!” he repeated, clapping as Thor picked him up. 

“Out of bed, so late again, though… Maybe I’ll have to rethink…” Thor contemplated. 

Loki screamed loud enough to wake Mobius up. He jumped down out of Thor’s arms and ran down the hall back to his room. 

Thor chased after him before picking the gangly little up as high as he could and setting him in the crib.

Loki stood up, resting his arms on the crib bars while Thor took down the other crib’s rails and sat down to take Mobius, who was making a small fuss about being woken up, louder than he ever would’ve dared to in his first few months of living with them, into his lap and replacing the pacifier which had fallen out, into the baby’s mouth. 

Thor rubbed the baby little’s back while talking to Loki. “You need to go to bed if I’m going to take you,” he said. 

Loki sat down and crossed his arms. 

“You get fussy when you’re tired and I don’t want you to have a fit.” 

“N’ ‘tory,” Loki mumbled. 

“You want another story?” 

The room was dark. It was well past 8PM, but the clock hadn’t struck 9 quite yet. Thor considered the request; it wasn’t like Mobius was asleep either, still mumbling baby babble and fussing about being woken up. Thor leaned back to press on the crib’s soothing sounds box, letting it play a quiet “Rock-a-Bye Baby” before setting Mobius down, watching as the little kicked and fussed. He got up to turn up the lights, and picked out a story before turning on Mobius’ mobile, letting the duckies turn over his head, which nearly silenced him as Thor then set down Loki’s crib bars to sit down next to him and read. 

The next morning, Loki climbed over his crib bars and diligently tried to put down Mobius’. Unfortunately, his toddler dexterity was quite limited and he wasn’t able to undo the latches very easily. So, he settled for trying to reach through the bars and grab at the other little’s ankle or wrists. 

“Mobis! Mobius!” He asked at his normal volume. 

Mobius hardly moved before Loki began to talk again. 

“How big?!”

“Hm?” the silver haired little hummed as he began to fidget. 

“How big?!” he repeated. 

Mobius rolled over to look at him. “Dunno,” he shrugged. 

“Oh… Um… be my age, kay?” Loki asked. 

Mobius hummed noncommittally. 

Then, Thor came into the room. “You’re out of your crib already?” he asked, picking Loki up. 

“Excite!” Loki explained, bouncing on his tip-toes as Thor picked him up and wrestled him down onto the changing table. The little one giggled and squealed happily. 

“Tor,” Loki began when he was settled on the changing table, staring up at the ceiling.

“Hm?” 

“Mobius how big?” he asked. 

Thor paused and looked over at the second little. “As big as he wishes,” he said confidently.

That wasn’t the answer Loki had wanted.

But he did note after hopping down, that Thor looked over the crib’s bars and asked Mobius himself: “What are we doing this morning? Potty or nappies?” 

Mobius pointed at the changing pad, so Thor took down the crib bars and set him there. 

“Mobius rattle?” Loki offered, seeing how the little would react if given a baby toy. 

“Thanks,” Mobius said as he took it. He quietly rolled the beads up by his ear. 

Loki’s eyebrows furrowed. 

“Are you alright little one?” Thor asked. 

Mobius opened his eyes to look at him, and then nodded, a little confused. “Jus tired. Big week,” he explained. 

“It was a big week for you. Do you want to come to the play with Loki and I?” 

“Yeah,” he said. 

Mobius looked down at his legs, as Thor brought up the new nappy. 

“Your scars are healing,” Thor commented. 

“Yeah…” Mobius smiled a little bit. The deep purple troughs were now just little pink lines over his skin. Most people wouldn’t even have noticed them. “Thor?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Momma see?” 

“Of course. Would you like a onesie or just a shirt?” 

“Shirt,” he said. “Jus…ta try, though…” he said. 

“I wouldn’t take you outside in just a shirt and nappy, child.” 

Once Thor had slipped a construction-vehicle patterned t-shirt over his head, and ruffled his hair back into place, Mobius got the chance to stand up and look down at himself… It didn’t feel all that bad anymore. It didn’t feel so much like overwhelming shame or pain or disgust anymore. He felt… fine, mostly. Not entirely, but better all the same. 

“Do you want to show mummy, still?” Thor asked as he let the little one look in the mirror. 

Mobius set his fingers in his mouth, deliberating, before giving Thor a nod. 

Loki ran out to the living room. “Mummy! Mummy!” 

Sylvie took off her headphones and paused a computer game. “Hm?” she asked. “Do you want to play, too?” She patted her lap. 

“Um, yeah, but look! Mobius no pants!” he giggled. 

Sylvie paused, raised her eyebrows and watched as Thor carried Mobius out and set him down. 

“See?” Loki asked. 

“I do see!” Sylvie smiled. “Hi, baby! How are you feeling?!” she cooed. “Look at those little leggies!” 

 This was a big step for many reasons, but perhaps most importantly to the caregivers, it meant quicker changes, significantly less laundry, easier nappy checks, and probably the most important, that their little was healing and getting more comfortable around them. Fully adopting the new environment and his family and really putting his past, whatever it was, behind him. 

Sylvie welcomed the little one into her arms, giving him a big hug. 

“Mummy, me too!” Loki whined as he fought to be included. 

“Yes, you, too,” Sylvie smiled, welcoming the exceptionally tall toddler into the hug. 

When they broke apart and Sylvie began securing highchairs and preparing breakfast, Loki just had to ask, “Mummy go play?”

“Nope, it’s just you boys and Thor, won’t that be fun?” she asked. 

Mobius hesitated, biting the knuckles on one hand as he cautiously monitored how Loki would respond. 

Loki scowled. 

“It’s just for today. I need to run some errands and clean up, okay?” 

That didn’t change anything. 

Loki tried to pull his bowl up off the tray, only to find it suctioned to the surface. He peeled away the edge with the intention of throwing it.

 “Stop that! You still need breakfast regardless of whether I can go or not.” 

Loki kicked her and sulked. 

“Alright, that’s enough of that.” She took the bowl and began to forcefully feed him, holding the spoon in one hand and his head in the other. 

Loki whined and fought her. 

“Loki, if you’re not good for Sylvie, we might not be able to go,” Thor warned. 

Loki stopped actively fighting her but continued to scowl, keeping a fussy face on for his mommy and Thor. 

Mobius on the other hand, fed himself, he didn’t play with the bowl, either even if he still spilled a little down the front of his bib. 

“I think even if Sylvie doesn’t come, we should still enjoy ourselves,” Thor said, “Maybe we’ll bring her a signed playbill.”

“Oh, I’d like that,” Sylvie agreed.

“Do you think you two would be in charge of that for me?” Thor asked them, knowing full well that he’d be the one in charge of it. 

The littles nodded, excitedly. 

Thor got the boys ready for the day and put pants on Mobius. 

They went through the steps of a weekend morning, with cleaning up the home and playing in the backyard. Everything had gone nicely, if Mobius was to judge, at least until Thor put the two littles down for a nap.

Thor slid the bars up on both cribs and turned on the mobiles above both littles’ heads. “Rest so we can go to the play,” Thor whispered to his brother, reaching his hands through the cribs bars to pet the little one’s belly. 

Loki whined and rolled over, away from the hand. 

When Thor shut the door, Loki stood up and placed his arms on the ledge of the bars. “Mobius! Still baby?” he whispered loudly.

Mobius rolled over and dismissively swatted his hand. “Go ta sleep, Loki,” he mumbled. 

“Not a baby?” he asked.

“Go to sleep!” Mobius repeated, starting to pile up his soft toys around his ears. 

“Um, you’ll like it, is good!-- The play,” At this point, Loki was just speaking to speak. He was lightly hopping on his mattress.

“Loki!” Mobius whined, hoping he had been loud enough for Thor to hear. 

But Thor hadn’t heard and so, for the next hour, Loki took to talking and playing with his toys while Mobius napped, or at least tried to. 

Chapter Text

The theater was a little more than a quick walk away. Thor brought the stroller with him on the train to the next town over. 

Mobius looked out the window the whole way there, sitting on his hands and rocking himself from side to side, more-or-less with the sway of the train. 

Loki, Mobius was noticing, wasn’t as fond of such a remarkable vehicle, and like last time, took to exclusively wanting Thor’s lap. 

It wasn’t a long train ride though, only a couple of stops away in the next town over. 

The theater was not the sort of grand piece Mobius had expected, with intricately carved details and grand marble pillars. It was actually part of a community center. The little theater had a small ticketing table where Thor scanned 3 tickets, followed by a lobby with furniture from 30 years ago and carpet probably twice that age. 

Thor led the two littles into the auditorium where folding chairs had been set up along the sides and in the back, but a big padded mat sat in the middle, front-and-center of the floor, right before the stage.

Loki raced to it, trying to steal a spot from the other families filing in. 

He patted a spot next to him for Thor and cooed at Mobius to sit with him. “Mobius, see?” Loki asked, pointing up at the big curtains. “Thats play,” 

Mobius nodded as Thor got out his pacifier and set it in his mouth. “Loki? Want yours?” 

“No,” Loki said. “M’ lookin’,” he pointed at the stage. 

Mobius wasn’t sure what watching the play had to do with Loki having a pacifier in, but that was okay. 

The lights began to go dark, soon and the big curtain opened once the rest of the audience quieted, or at least got as quiet as a group of littles and children could get. 

Mobius wasn’t aware that the play would be a musical, but apparently it was and Loki made sure to make it clear that he knew the entire soundtrack by singing-- and then after Thor tapped his shoulder and told him to be a little quieter-- humming and tapping along.

Thor even got in on it too, as he bounced Mobius on his knee along. It was almost jarring as Mobius had to grip the front of Thor’s knee to stabilize himself, making an involuntary little mumble of surprise. 

Loki sat mostly quiet otherwise, until the lights suddenly came up.

“Alright, intermission,” Thor said to both of them. “Is it time for changes?”

Mobius had definitely wet himself a few times since they had left the house. 

Loki shook his head. 

Mobius didn’t trust that for a second, but as Thor led them out of the theater and saw the line for the restroom changing tables he paused. “Loki, are you sure you’re dry?” 

“Yep!” Loki said, distractedly chewing on his fingers and looking towards the concessions table. 

“Do you want to use the big kid potty? We can try that,” Thor said. “It’ll be faster than a whole change.”

“Nope, all good.” 

Thor sighed. “Okay,” he said. He didn’t ask Mobius, probably already knowing that the little couldn’t avoid a change. 

“Thor…” Loki tugged on his carer’s sleeve as they exited the bathroom. “Cookie?” he asked.

“Yes, we can get you a cookie.”

He bought them each a cookie from a folding concessions table in the lobby. 

“Thor…” Loki tugged again. 

“Hm?” Thor asked. 

“Mobius’ cookie bigger…” he complained. 

Mobius looked down at the oatmeal raisin cookie he had in his hand. 

“It’s not. They’re the same size,” Thor reassured him. 

Loki started to mumble to himself until Mobius broke off a piece of his cookie and handed it to Loki in the hopes that he’d stop being loud and upset, and to be fair, it did work for the moment, but as the lights flicked and the show started again, Loki didn’t seem very interested in staying relaxed and receptive. 

The wicked witch ran through the audience aisles as the play worked up to its climax, intimidating Dorothy and her friends. 

Loki leaned out to grab her skirt, the part that was trailing low near on the floor. 

The witch pretended not to notice as she gave her speech, only starting to pull away when she had to. 

“Loki, stop that,” Thor whispered, trying to move his brother’s hand away. 

Loki looked back at him and scowled. 

“Let go,” Thor encouraged him. “Let Dorothy and her friends take care of it.”

Loki slowly let go of the witch’s dress and was subsequently moved onto Thor’s lap and away from the aisle.

“No!” Loki screamed. He kicked Mobius in the shoulder as Thor tried to maneuver him. 

“Loki, hush!” Thor whispered. “You’re okay.” 

Loki set his fingers in his mouth, scowling a bit, as he watched the end of the play sitting in Thor’s lap. 

But as the lights came up, Mobius noticed that there was an issue: Loki was leaking everywhere. Luckily, it seemed like most of it had been contained to Thor’s lap. Loki froze when he noticed. 

“It’s alright, I brought a change of pants. You’ll be okay,” Thor assured him. 

“Um, I’ll help,” Mobius added. “If you want.” He held out his hand for Loki to take. “‘S ok,” he reassured him. 

But Loki was already working himself up into tears again. 

“Loki it was just an accident, these happen all the time,” Thor said, patting his back.

“N- no!” Loki sputtered out. “Don’t wanna go!” he cried. 

“We have to go to get you changed.”

“M’ not going!” he screamed, stomping his foot. 

“Don’t you want to bring back signatures for Sylvie? She asked us to,” he tried to reason, but Loki wasn’t hearing any of it. “We’ll be back soon, there’s another play in a few months, won’t that be exciting?” 

“Um, Thor?” Mobius asked quietly. 

“Hm?” 

“Loki didn’t nap… at all.” 

Loki curled his fingers into a fist. “M not tired!” he screamed, banging his fists on the soft vinyl mat. 

“You just don’t want to go. But we need to get you out of that nappy,” Thor explained. 

This didn’t help. Loki continued to throw a tantrum as Thor hoisted him up over his shoulders. He kicked and kneed and cried as he was forcefully carried out and taken into the bathrooms.

Loki would probably live in a theater if he had the option, but today he didn’t.

 Thor set Loki onto the changing table and strapped him down before handing Mobius a toy to give Loki. 

Mobius ran his fingers through Loki’s hair and tried to soothe the crying little with a stuffed toy rabbit that Loki absolutely did not want right now. “‘S why we naps,” he joked trying to lighten the mood a little. 

Thor wasn’t really paying attention though-- or maybe he couldn’t hear over Loki’s incessant whining. 

“All better!” Mobius said, kissing the palm of Loki’s hand as Thor slid a new pair of pants onto his little brother. 

After Thor had put a new pair of pants on himself-- Mobius’ extra pants to be exact, which were too small for him and covered in a toddlerish pattern of fish-- he took Loki off of the table and carried him awkwardly, as if he were still tantruming. 

Thor handed Mobius a playbook and set Loki down, only once he was sure the little wasn’t going to throw another fit even though Loki still cried and pouted. 

“See all the actors?” Thor asked. “We’re going to ask them to write their names in the book,” he told Mobius. 

The little hugged the book securely against his chest and nodded with a determined devotion as they met the Tin Woodsman and Cowardly Lion, as their lines weren’t as long as Dorothy’s.

Mobius grinned at the signatures they had managed to get. Only two more were left: Dorothy, who was still meeting with a couple of excited girl littles, who wanted photos with her, and the Wicked Witch. 

“Let’s talk to her first,” Thor said. “She’s not really a witch, just an actress in makeup.” He reassured the little ones, but Mobius wasn’t going to trust that so quickly. He shook his head and clung to Thor’s arm, they didn’t need every signature for Sylvie, anyway, and Dorothy’s line was starting to thin. They could wait and be patient. 

“It’s no big deal, little one. You’re brave, you can do it,” Thor reassured him, petting his back, but Mobius’ breathing still sped up with his heart rate. 

Loki leaned forward to look at Mobius. “I do it?” he asked. 

“Loki, you’d like to get her signature?” 

Loki nodded, taking the playbook out of Mobius’ hands and ran ahead of them bravely, despite his obvious sulking earlier. 

“Hop up on my back, little one. I’m here to protect you,” Thor reassured Mobius as he bent down slightly for easy climbability. 

“Name pease?” Loki asked the witch, holding out the playbook for her. 

“Of course, my pretty,” she told him. 

Loki grinned as he took the booklet back from her. 

“Loki, what are you going to say?” Thor asked. 

“Thank you!” Loki giggled as he sheepishly ran back to his brother. He seemed almost star-struck by the encounter.

“Sylvie?! We’re back!” Thor called as they stepped inside. 

Loki sulkily followed his older brother. 

“Aw, is lovey so sad you had to come home?” she asked him. 

Loki nodded. 

“Mama?” Mobius asked. “We gotted the thingy!” he grinned, showing Sylvie the booklet of signatures. 

“Oh my! You even got the wicked witch!” she grinned. 

“Loki did!” Mobius told her. 

“They worked very hard to get you all those. Very patient boys,” Thor said to both of them, ruffling Mobius’ hair as he did. 

Sylvie grinned, “Aw, I wish I could’ve seen.”

“Come see nex-time?” Loki asked.

She ushered him into her arms, and brushed his messy, tantrum hair out of the way. “I think I might have to,” she said. “Just to make sure your big brother doesn’t wee his pants next time,” she laughed.

Chapter Text

When Sylvie came to wake the little ones up today, Loki didn’t squeal and giggle with his usual fervor. Morning light reached through the windows and sun-dappled both cribs with shades of gold. The whole room was filled with warmth and smelled more like the wildflowers blooming underneath the windows outside than the nappy pail. 

Mobius stretched before sliding down onto the floor through the open crib side and watching his mommy check on Loki.

Loki made a noise; A whiny mumble as momma opened up his crib. 

“Good morning, Loki,” she cooed. 

Loki made another noise and kicked his legs in response. 

“It’s baby-morning for Loki,” she sing-songed, running a hand over his belly. “No wonder, too. Someone had a messy last night, poor thing,” she narrated while checking him.

She looked over at Mobius. “Are you watching him for me?” she teased.

“Yeah,” Mobius said as he leaned onto the crib’s mattress to watch Loki up close.

Loki began to make himself cry so Sylvie would keep talking to him. 

It worked. “You can sob all you like, but mummy can’t pick you up. You’re going to have to walk on your own to the bathroom,” she reminded him, tugging on his arms to help him move. 

Loki refused and started to fuss louder. 

“Baby day?” Thor asked as he ran into the room. 

“Just for this one,” Sylvie said, moving away from Loki as Thor managed to pick him up. “I just need him in the bathroom to clean him up,” she said.

“I can do that,” Thor agreed. 

“And Mobius,” Sylvie paused once Thor had left the room. “How’s your morning?” she asked. 

“Um… good,” he answered. “Loki’s being funny,” he said.

“Is he? Do you like when he’s a baby?” she asked. 

Mobius shrugged. 

“I guess this’ll be your first time being the big brother,” she noted.

“Um sometimes m’ bigger than Loki,” he pointed out.

“It seems to me that you’re much bigger than him today, though, don’t you think?”

“Big ‘nuff that no diapers?” he added hopefully. 

“That’s what I needed to hear,” she said.

After she cleaned up Loki and got him into the bath, Sylvie multitasked diligently to help Mobius use the potty and finish undressing himself so he could be washed, as well. 

Today he even got to be mr. Alligator and scrub Loki with the hand puppet, with mommy’s help to keep the water out of the baby’s eyes. 

Loki splashed lots though. He was playful and giggly, but he was also awfully loud and threw bath toys, getting water in Mobius’ eyes and up his nose. That made it a little bit more difficult to stay so bubbly. 

However, Sylvie seemed to understand. 

“Okay, Loki, I think that’s enough bath time, don’t you think?” 

Mobius took the opportunity before Loki. Standing up so the water ran down off of him before Sylvie could wrap him in a towel and help him step out onto the fuzzy turtle-shaped mat outside of the tub. 

Mama wrapped Loki in a towel too after pulling out the drain and coordinated to help the both of them get dried if not also diapered and dressed, too. Well, Loki was diapered and dressed, Mobius put on his big-kid training pants and dressed himself. 

“Mobius?” Sylvie asked as she led Loki out to the kitchen.

“Hm?”

“Do you think you can get breakfast on your own?” 

“...Yeah!” he answered, looking through the cupboards for a bowl, which was quickly filled with cereal and milk as he sat down at the table, and he hardly spilled, either, even if the full quart of milk made it difficult.

Sylvie sat down with Loki on the couch, wrapping him in a baby blanket, or at least keeping one underneath him and over her lap. She supported his head with a pillow and started to nurse him. 

He moved very little, but occasionally reached for her or kicked. Occasionally, he unlatched to swallow or mumble slightly, but Sylvie always guided his head back to her chest. 

When he was done, she brought him up to rest on her shoulder, or more realistically, the back of the couch. 

“I’m gonna miss you today.” She snuggled into the nape of his neck and blew a raspberry that tickled him. “Ms. Maximoff is going to be so happy to have a mellow, sleepy little baby,” she hummed.

Loki snuffled. 

Hearing the baby’s noises made Mobius pause. “Loki coming?” he asked. 

“Loki’s still coming to daycare. He’s just a baby.”

“Oh,” Mobius hummed. 

“Such a baby, huh, Loki?” she asked, rubbing his tummy with a single finger. 

“Why’s he coming an’ I didn’t?”

“Loki gets to go to daycare in his baby headspace just like you will. You didn’t go because we needed time to get you used to the transition into a new family. You would’ve stayed home even if you were nine or ten.” 

“Oh…That’s big,” he mumbled. 

Loki woke up a little more during their morning walk. He blew raspberries and squealed and babbled constantly from his place in the stroller, grabbing at the toys that had been bought for welcoming Mobius home. 

Ms. Maximoff met them outside on the patio of the daycare, where Thor lifted his brother out of the stroller seat and parked it outside. 

The teacher rushed to set up a small fenced play pen for Thor to set Loki down into. 

“Bee! Bee-bee!” Loki squeaked, reaching his hands out to grab at Mobius’ jacket. 

“Hi Loki,” Mobius hummed. 

Loki cooed back in response. 

Thor left after giving out hugs and soon the school day began. 

Mobius quickly noted that there were no other babies like Loki in the room. A couple were Loki’s usual age, but they walked more than they crawled and could eat solid foods, even if they used their fingers more than utensils. 

“Is he gonna come out?” Mobius asked as they were released for playtime. Loki had burbled and cooed all through circle time and was now looking out of his spot passively. 

“He can,” Ms. Max said as she worked to wrangle Natasha away from the cabinets above the sink. She set the little girl down by them and tried to distract her with a basket of blocks. 

Natasha didn’t say much. When Loki was taken out of the play pen, he mostly took to crawling and laying on his tummy on the big circle mat. 

“Have you guys seen Nat?” One of Loki’s older friends, Bucky, stopped into their corner. Upon seeing her he knelt down by the blocks she was stacking. “Did you find the plates?” he asked. 

“No,” she said, sounding slightly annoyed. 

“Why do we need plates?” Ms. Maximoff asked. 

“We need paper plates to make masks,” Bucky said. 

“And why’s that?” 

“We’re playing burglars and Natasha and Peter wanted to be the good guys!” 

She raised an eyebrow and then found the plates in the cupboard to hand down. 

Mobius wanted to play a little bit, but instead, he decided to watch, bringing Loki up into his lap to watch with him. The baby hummed and babbled as he chewed on a vinyl-covered foam beach ball. But eventually, he crawled out of Mobius’ lap and right into the center of the confrontation in the pretend grocery store.  

“Loki!” Mobius whispered. He tried to coax the little back to him but Loki wouldn’t pay attention to him, and he was too big for Mobius to just pick up on his own. 

“A baby!” Natasha giggled. 

“Why is there a baby in the store we’re robbing?!” Scott laughed, trying very hard not to break character. 

Loki burbled at them. 

“Ms. Max! Loki’s ruining our game!” Bucky called. 

Mobius tried to drag Loki away, but he planted himself on the floor and refused to be moved. “Loki, you want a toy?” Mobius asked hopefully. 

“Loki!” Ms. Max addressed him with a sweet voice. 

The baby paused and looked up at her. 

She motioned towards Mobius and gave him a wink to come join her. “Loki, do you want a toy? Look! Look at all the big sparkly colors!” she showed him a rainbow colored train. In all honesty, it fascinated Mobius too. She pressed a button on it and the train started to chug, making compressed, crackling noises and playing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” in an equally low quality manner. She set out a few more toys to entice him further like a rolling baby mirror and a push cart toy. The whole main circle mat was being set up just for him. Although, Natasha and Peter probably would’ve been fascinated too if it weren’t for their older friends who wanted to play something that involved pretending. 

Mobius found the other littles interesting. He wasn’t a big pretender himself, but he admired the older boys enough to think about asking them to play Legos… until he remembered his duty to look after Loki.

He stood next to the younger little, watching him put things in his mouth and burble to himself, bang toys on the ground, and rolling around on the carpeted floor.

Before Ms. Maximoff rang the bell for lunch, she came over and strapped Loki into a stroller to just move him across the room into a high chair. Mobius picked up his lunch and sat down at the tables, pretty far from where Loki was being fed a mushy squash puree.

Loki’s friends sat next to him. He leaned in, excited to talk. [Mobius says something

The other littles don’t seem to understand what he’s trying to express, but they try to include him anyway. They’re loud and get boisterous and excited while Mobius feels anxious and excluded. ]

He ate alone, picking at his food while he listened to them talk. He didn’t mind listening. In fact, he usually preferred it to talking unless it was about trains or jetskis. 

“Bee!” Loki burbled.

Mobius looked up and saw the baby reaching out with his hands and face covered in baby food. “Hi, Loki!” he whispered back. 

Loki bounced up and down in his seat as Ms. Maximoff tried her best to get him to hold his mouth open for another spoonful.

Mobius chuckled at them. 

At recess, Loki sat on a blanket in the grass, bashing blocks together to hear the loud clacking they made. Mobius had planned on playing tag with the other littles, but all of them except for maybe Peter, with his diapered toddle-run, could have easily outran him.-- and when they did finally play, no one chased Mobius anyway, always going after one of their closer friends. So, Mobius came down from the top of the play structure and to Loki’s blanket. Where he sat down and shifted the baby into his lap. 

Loki squealed happily and nuzzled Mobius, while burbling and kicking with a big grin on his face. Mobius was pretty sure he was enjoying being held… but then he rolled out of Mobius’ lap and back onto the blanket, seeming to ignore his older sibby. Instead, Loki ripped up grass by the fistful and squawked excitedly as he waved the shavings around, throwing them recklessly and watching the blades fall to the ground excitedly before trying again and again, making a bald patch in the earth. 

“Loki!” Mobius giggled, taking the little’s hand away. 

Loki turned around and made the saddest, most pleading face possible. He made a little noise, a huff. 

“Loki, nonono don’t. Loki don’t!--”

Loki started to cry, dropping his pacifier from his mouth. He stretched over Mobius’ lap, going mostly limp and rolling out uncomfortably, like he twisted when he decided he didn’t want Thor holding him anymore. 

Although it was a familiar scream, Mobius still had to cover his ears, unable to comfortably move with Loki over his lap. 

Mobius knew plenty of the other littles were staring. He knew the feeling when they went to the grocery store sometimes or when they had to leave the park. Loki tantrums weren’t uncommon, but usually Mobius could at least somewhat hide, separate, run behind momma or put his stroller shade down to attempt to dampen the noise. Now, Loki was right on top of him-- and bigger than him-- enough so that the baby was difficult to move.

Mobius tried to scoot or to roll Loki off, but eventually, after multiple attempts of rolling the little away, he began to cry, too. 

Ms. Maximoff was running towards them. She frowned and tried to pull Loki up. Once she finally had gotten him at least off of Mobius’ lap, she checked his nappy and pet his hair soothingly. “I’m sorry, Mobius. Loki must be tired. It’s almost naptime. I hope he didn’t scare you too badly.” 

Mobius shook his head. 

As ms. Maximoff secured Loki into his stroller, she helped Mobius up, too. “You can keep playing if you want. Loki just needs to be put down for hi--”

“I’ll come,” Mobius agreed, wiping his nose on his sleeve and sucking in a snotty breath as he tried to calm himself. 

He put on the classroom’s sensory headphones and stayed in the darkened room as Loki was changed first and then coddled until he stopped crying. 

Although he wanted to help, Mobius needed a little bit of extra time to himself, with a weighted blanket over his shoulders and a twisty fidget toy in his hands. 

Things were largely quiet. Mobius was aware of the muffled noise of littles playing outside, but the classroom was largely soft, only broken by the hum of an electric bottle warmer and Loki’s occasional coos as he was set into a rocker. 

Ms. Max scooted a chair up towards the backdoor to watch over the other littles in the yard. 

Loki wasn’t quite napping, kicking lazily and humming as he flicked at little toys that hung above him. 

When the bottle-warmer’s little light came on, Ms. Max got up and called the rest of the littles in for a story and a nap, and helped Loki move to one of the large, rolling cribs usually kept in storage. 

She sat in a rocker and read from a picture book to the littles on the carpet around her. All the littles that was, except Mobius and Loki. Loki laid in his crib sucking on a bottle of milk, and Mobius sat down at his side. With a portable little crib like this, he could see Loki easily, the bed frame only rising a couple inches off the caster wheels. 

Loki, upon feeling a gaze, looked over, and weaved a skinny hand through the bars. 

Mobius pulled the hand down just slightly and kissed Loki’s palm. 

Loki didn’t squeal or scream, but curled his fingers into a fist, grabbing at the kiss. 

“I’m here for ya, Loki,” Mobius whispered as he held onto the baby’s hand, wrapping both it and himself in the warmth of the weighted blanket, like he was protecting it. 

Chapter Text

Mobius hopped down from his bed only to notice that the nursery was already empty.

 Last night, he had stayed up to listen to momma read him a chapter from a story she had picked out. It was a big kid one, too, not a picture book-- a big, long, book with only a small picture on each page. But he liked it anyway. 

He thought Loki did too, but then again, Loki had fallen asleep last night, just when it was getting good!

Mobius just had to just see how it ended. He needed to hear how Tip and his friends would defeat the evil witch Mombi. 

He took the book off a special display on the top shelf of the bookshelf. Sylvie was at home today, maybe she could read just one more chapter.

He waddled out to the kitchen with the book clutched in his arms, but instead of finding mama on the couch nursing Loki or eating breakfast with him, she was nowhere to be found and Thor was busy making something. 

“Thor?” Mobius hummed. “What doing?” He stood up on his tippy toes sweetly.  

Thor turned around as if he had forgotten that he had a second little. “Mobius! Hello! I’m making a cake for our little party today.”

Mobius nodded quietly. He hadn’t forgotten that there was a party today, but when momma had talked about a “small outside get-together” he hadn’t really realized it would be an all-morning preparation thing. 

“Mh… momma?”

“Sylvie’s outside setting up, little one. I can change you in a moment and we’ll get some num-nums right after I--”

Mobius handed Thor the book.

Thor paused. “That’s Sylvie’s book, child. You should be asking her to read, not me.” 

Mobius began to walk away. If Thor was busy, and wouldn’t read anyway, maybe he should try Sylvie. 

“Mobius!” Loki giggled. He grabbed Mobius’ arm before he could run away. “Mobius, don’t want num-nums? Or a diaper change?” he asked, trying to mimic the sarcastic, silly tone Sylvie liked to put on. 

Mobius scowled. 

“It’s alright, little one. Sylvie’s rather busy. I don’t think she’d be able to read to you this second, anyway,” Thor told him. Upon setting his cake in the oven, he touseled Mobius’ hair. 

Mobius put his hands over his head. Thor wouldn’t read, he couldn’t get to Sylvie, and now Thor was expecting him to be happy about this? Making light of this situation. He crossed his arms and grumbled. 

“Ah, you’ll be alright after we get you fixed up. You’ll see mummy in a few minutes. Just be patient.” 

That just made him madder. His face got hot. “Don’t wanna…” he pouted. His nappy was cold and his tummy was rumbly and his socks were just off a little bit; one half off, and the other rolled with the heel on the top of his foot-- and NOW to add insult to injury, his hair was messy, too!

Loki watched, like he was ready for Mobius to explode. “Brother…?” he whispered. 

Thor shut the oven and stood up. “Right, I know, it’s alright, brother. I’m on it.” 

Mobius limply let Thor pick him up and wiped his eyes as he was slung over his caregiver’s shoulder. 

Thor changed him and dressed him up, and combed out his hair before helping him make a bowl of cereal. Even though it made Mobius feel better, it was still not enough. Thor was quick and robotic. He didn’t bother much with kisses and tummy tickles this morning. He hardly even bothered to chat but to be fair, neither did Mobius, he only wanted to hear the next chapter of his story. 

After finishing his food, Mobius stood up and ran outside with his book, once again clutched to his chest, to see Sylvie. 

She was setting up plastic, folding tables and chairs. 

“Momma!” Mobius cried. 

“Hello, little one!” Sylvie grinned. “Are you as excited as I am for our party today?”

She spoke in that high, babytalk voice that made Mobius’ tummy flutter, and she bent down like Mobius was shorter than her, which, he’d be the first to point out, he wasn’t. 

“Um… no…” Mobius admitted. She sounded so enthusiastic it was almost embarrassing to disagree. 

“Aw no… what’s wrong?” 

“Read? Please?” He held it out to her. 

“Did you take that off the display?”

He paused and then nodded. 

“We don’t take books off the bedtime display, baby. The bookmark might get lost, and then we wouldn’t be able to read it!” 

He showed her that it hadn’t fallen out. He had been awfully careful. 

“Mobius,” she sighed. “I don’t think we have time. We’ll read at bedtime, I promise.” She hesitated for a second. “You know what?” 

Mobius bristled with anticipation, he started to smile. 

“Since you were so good at not losing the bookmark, could you put it back for me?” 

She had already refocused onto spreading a pretty tablecloth across one of the tables. 

She had no time for him at all. He got it. He saw how it was.

Mobius walked away with the book. 

He would take it to someone who actually cared. 

He sat down by Loki. Loki, who had been working on an activity book with a crayon, but seemed to be staring at the wall, probably pondering if he should make some artwork on it with both caregivers busy. 

“Loki?!” Mobius asked. He was trying to sound excited; mask that fear of rejection. What if no one wanted to spend time with him?! What if no one wanted to read?? 

Loki jumped slightly. “Hm?” he asked quietly. 

“You read? Please?” 

Loki set down his crayon and nodded. 

He was such a good big brother, Mobius grinned. He settled down in Loki’s lap and handed the older little the book. 

Loki opened it and began to read: “T-he army of… G-l-in-da t-- THE goo-d-- good loo-k-ed” -- very slowly and very stiltedly, sounding out each word -- “vuhry… I-mp-au-sin-g.”

“Um…” Mobius interrupted. He took the book back and snapped it closed. “It's okay…”

Loki didn’t read very much like mama did. He wasn’t good at it at all. 

“Mobius,” Thor said loudly. “If you’d like Loki to read, there are easier books on your shelf. He can read those. Right, brother?” 

“I can,” Loki agreed. He pushed Mobius off his lap, not aggressively, and climbed up the back of the couch so he could see Thor still working in the kitchen. “You know why?” he asked. He didn’t bother to wait for an answer. “I’m a big kid!” 

The back garden’s door slid open and one familiar face looked in cautiously. Bucky Barnes had arrived with his caregiver. 

“Here here!” Thor added before running over to answer it and welcome his guests. 

The party was starting already? 

With Bucky younger than normal, and Loki older, they almost matched. At least, they would if it wasn’t for Bucky’s prosthetic arm and Loki’s bright green party dress. 

“You’re quite early,” Thor mentioned as he retrieved two beers from the fridge. “We hadn’t expected guests for another hour.” 

The tall, blonde caregiver shrugged. “Yeah, well, I like to swing by early to help out. I figured it had been a while and with a new baby--”

“Um,” Mobius said quietly. 

Loki interjected for him. “Mobius’ not a baby!” 

“With two littles,” the caregiver corrected himself, “an extra pair of hands might be appreciated.”

“Then consider it appreciated,” Thor added, tossing him a can. “Shall we head out back?” He picked Mobius up, stowing the drink can under his arm.

Mobius didn’t mind at first, at least until he noticed Loki gathering up his coloring book. He kicked to get down. 

“Mobius,” Loki said in a very patient, voice. “Mummy and Thor need to watch you, kay? We’re going outside.” He patted Mobius’ arm. 

“Book!” Mobius protested. 

“It’ll be there when you get back.” Thor assured him. 

The three boys were put outside but instead of having free roam, like Mobius wanted, he was immediately picked back up by Loki and held by the older little, who struggled with his weight, stumbling awkwardly and continuously having to readjust his hand placement. 

Soon, more and more of the town started to arrive, lots of littles Mobius and Loki knew from daycare, and lots of caregivers and grownups he had never seen before. He wasn’t the littlest and wasn’t excluded from games by any means, even being designated the role of “gatherer” for their little primitive tribe game that was currently being made, but he couldn’t help but not want to do that right now. 

Loki was making “clay” , dumping a cup of water onto an exposed pile of mud and trying to work it into a snake, only to find the dirt slipping through his hands and Scott, Bucky, and Natasha all had their own jobs. Peter was the only one who didn’t. He was too little and stayed with his aunt instead, watching from a nearby garden chair as she talked with the other grownups. 

Mobius, despite the fact that he wasn’t a baby, decided to follow that example. He found Sylvie and clung to her arm. She hadn’t been talking to anyone in particular, just wandering around and mingling with a plate in one hand of snacks and a drink in the other. 

“Hello lovey,” she said to him, “Not playing with your friends today?” 

Mobius shook his head and hugged her arm deeper. “Read? Please?” he pleaded. 

“Mobius.” She sat down and set her drink and food to the side so he could climb up onto her lap. “You know I can’t do that right now. We’re going to read it in just a few hours at bedtime, I promise. Now, can we get you something to eat? There’s lots of food over here. It’ll be a nice little plate of num-nums for you, and maybe we can make one for Loki too. What do you think?” 

Mobius didn’t like the sound of that very much at all. As much as he hated to do it, he started to cry-- it was his last resort after all. He was hungry by now, although he hated to admit it, because he didn’t want to eat or to be here, he just wanted to read his book! 

He was loud, he knew it, and people were starting to look, which only made things worse. 

“That’s it,” Sylvie said calmly. She didn’t sound angry. “You need dinner.” She called for Loki who came running instantly, and was absolutely covered in mud from head to toe. 

She stared at him and then grabbed a napkin and wiped off his hands. “I’m making plates. What do you want?” she asked.

The two boys sat down in the grass as the other littles’ caregivers made them their own plates. 

Loki began to speak after swallowing a bite. “It’s sad you couldn’t be read to,” he mentioned. “But do you know what I like?” 

Mobius shook his head. 

“Watch Thor,” he whispered. A smile was glinting its way through on him. 

Thor looked normal enough at first. He was talking to four adults that Mobius had never met before. 

That’s when Thor started to rock his chair, picking up the front legs just a bit, and then a little bit more. 

The caregiver laughed a lot, and loudly-- louder than anyone else and started to spill his drink as if he were a little. 

“Thor, tell us about that fish again,” one of the adults said. She had a sneaky smile to match Loki’s and a long braid of long hair. 

“YES!” Loki yelled. “The fishy!”

Thor chuckled, almost like he knew what they were doing and took a deep breath to steady himself. “Many many years ago, when I was a young man, I met with Tyr, from high school and we went out on a little row boat to go fishing on a lake. Granted, neither of us had been fishing since our fathers took us as boys…”

Mobius always loved a good story, and so did Loki. They listened intently, and soon, Mobius began to forget that there was a second story he had wanted to hear. This one seemed, for a moment, better. 

“We were ready to put our boat in for the day, to row in. The fog was getting thick and I knew mother and father… and Loki, would expect me home soon. But right then, I felt a tug at the line-- More than a tug-- It almost pulled me overboard! And we wrestled as I reeled in the line. The rod nearly snapped! But as I brought it up, it was an eel! As wide as Loki”-- Loki giggled-- “and twice as tall as me! A monster! A behemoth!” 

He held his hands up to really illustrate how big the serpent was, and as he did, he tipped his chair back more and more until, with an underwhelming thud, he fell back onto the grass. 

Things went quiet. 

Mobius began to crawl forward. 

What if Thor was hurt? 

Thor started to laugh. He giggled like a child or a little. 

“Thor! You ridiculous oaf!” Sylvie joked. She came to help him up as his friends laughed. 

Mobius grinned. The adults, for the first time, felt like him. Maybe parties weren’t so bad if the adults acted like littles, too. It would be okay if mumma couldn’t actually read his story to him.

“Thor! Thor up?” he asked. Mobius wasn’t really one to run around in big games, but if Thor would pick him up and tell him stories, and talk silly, then maybe he could enjoy this. 

Thor obliged and allowed the toddler to nestle by his chest as he spoke to the other grownups and Loki stayed close, making flower crowns out of the residual dandelions in the grass. 

Sylvie had spent a while cleaning up that evening. The adults had been washing dishes and putting away chairs and everyone had left. 

Mobius had done what he could to help, and Loki had at least done what he had been asked, but in the end, there was only so much the two littles… and Thor, who was still acting goofy, could accomplish without making even more work for the grown-ups. 

Sylvie, about halfway through cleanup, when there were still dishes in the sink and chairs outside, collapsed onto the couch with a sigh. 

“Mumma okay?” Mobius asked. 

“I’m okay,” she smiled, welcoming him into her lap, “just tired. Aren’t you?” 

“Yeah,” he said. 

She picked up the book next to her that Mobius had left when the party began. 

“Look at that, our bedtime book still isn’t on its display,” she hummed. 

Mobius paused and stiffened up, grabbing her sleeve. Maybe she wouldn’t read tonight if it wasn’t put back properly… 

“Oh well,” she said. “I guess we’ll just need to read down here before we head to bed, won’t we?” 

Mobius snuggled into her arms. 

“WAIT!” Loki yelled. He dove onto the couch next to them, with his face right at Mobius’ knees to watch Sylvie read. 

“Silly boy,” she said, “you’ve heard this one before.”

“It’s good though,” he whined. 

“It is,” she conceded. “And I think, since you both were so helpful today, maybe we’ll read an extra, if you can keep your eyes open that long.”

“I can!” Loki said. 

Mobius nodded in agreement. 

“Then it’s settled.” She took a deep breath and began to read. “The--”

“Wait!” Thor interjected. 

He sat down on the floor, as room on the couch had been obviously limited, cushioning himself with pillows and bringing Loki down onto his lap. “Now we’re ready.” 

Sylvie cleared her throat once more. “The army of Glenda the Good looked very grand and imposing when it assembled at daybreak before the palace gates.”
Mobius realized then that this moment, this life, this family-- being cuddled and held and read to after tiring days --was the life that he had dreamed of having. Now he had it, he couldn’t possibly wish for anything more. He wanted things to stay like this forever.