Chapter Text
Mobius paused before he opened the door, running his fingers through his hair. This variant had already been a defensive pain in his ass, but now he had gone and bitten someone? Hesitantly, he twisted the pruning stick, listening as it powered up and taking a heavy breath as he looked at the orange glow of the wand and considered if killing this variant was something he really needed to do. Maybe he’d be some sort of help, he rationed. He definitely wasn’t totally insane, just a little scared.
Slowly, he opened the door. “Loki? Nowhere left to run…”
He worried what he might see as he rounded the corner, but only discovered his Loki Variant chewing on the stone cube, backed into the corner. It couldn’t have felt good on his teeth, but he seemed pretty determined to fit the entire thing in his mouth regardless.
The second he saw Mobius, he arched his back and bristled in a growl.
Mobius did not set down the stick, but instead curiously observed what this Loki Variant was going to do next. “You can’t shapeshift, bud,” he almost laughed.
Loki seemed keen to try anyway.
“I know you want to, but you can’t with that collar on.”
“I’m not stupid,” he answered.
“No, I know you’re not. You’re just scared.”
“I’m not scared!” Loki barked.
“No, of course you’re not.” Mobius turned off the baton, but did not entirely set down the baton, merely resting it on the ground, within reach in case Loki happened to lunge. For a second, he simply watched as Loki sat like a small child with his legs widely stretched out on the steps and continued to play with the cube. “Have you tried using that thing yet?”
Loki nodded sadly and set it aside.
Mobius decided that maybe it would be a good time to change the subject. “Well, if you want to be a dog, I can offer you a job helping me sniff out a Variant that’s been killing our minutemen.”
“Why?” Loki defensively asked.
“Because the Variant we’re chasing is you.”
Loki took a moment to process. “I’ll do it… if you let me shapeshift.”
“You can earn that privilege. For now I don’t think anyone’s gonna mind if you need to do whatever it is in your Asgardian form. Just for now.”