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Loki leans back against a pillar and pushes his hands into the pockets of his ugly TVA pants. He looks beyond the city over to the rainbow bridge. Eyebrows pulled high and tight, he takes in the view.
"Are you okay?" Mobius asks, popping a nut in his mouth. He looks relaxed, but Loki knows him well enough by now. Mobius is worried, his eyes sharply focused on him, studying his countenance, posture, and aura probably.
Loki pushes off the stone column and stands up straight. This isn't his home. His home doesn't exist anymore, neither do many of the people roaming the streets below. This Asgard is as real as a cheap snow globe from a tourist shop, and destiny will shake it just as much until nothing is left in the universe reminding anyone of this once mighty realm.
"This used to be home, but it only brings me pain," Loki says honestly. "And I hate being in pain."
"Everyone does," Mobius says cautiously.
Loki's lips twitch.
"You're blessed. You don't remember your old home."
"Loki," Mobius says, way too gentle for Loki's taste. The former god shakes his head.
"I know that brings grief of its own, but this…" He gestures towards the buildings. "I thought I hated it. I felt betrayed for such a long time. I didn't know what a loss it would be."
Mobius nods in understanding.
"How old am I in this timeline?" Loki asks.
"Five," Mobius replies.
"Why did you bring me here?"
Mobius smiles, near shyly, if that's even possible, and pulls a piece of paper out of the pocket on the inside of his jacket. He unfolds it as if it were something sacred. It's a drawing Loki once made and left on their research table.
"You kept that?" Loki asks, unsure if he should be flattered or affronted.
"You said you dreamt of returning here," Mobius says, "and then, you drew this."
Loki stretches out his hand and looks at the drawing, then at Asgard below them. His memory wasn't half-bad when he made the sketch.
"Thank you," he says quietly.
Mobius cups his shoulder and squeezes it. He doesn't need to say that their time is limited, that they have to reset the timeline because of some stupid thing its Thor and Loki will do soon. Mobius will clear his throat when the time has come, but until then, Loki will soak in the light playing on the sea and the rainbow bridge, the birdsong that can't be found anywhere else, the warmth on his skin coming from a long spent sun, and the wind caressing his cheek, a gentle reminder of his mother's touch.