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If Mobius was to sum up his overall experience with regard to the day-to-day usage of TVA elevators, he’d likely use the terms “interminable” but “reliable”.
Which is why it took him by surprise when the elevator he and Loki were riding in juddered to a sudden halt. He inhaled sharply at the unexpected lurch, grabbing the handrail. Loki startled and latched onto Mobius’ arm, closer to him than the wall.
Mobius tried to ignore the annoyingly persistent sensation that arose within at the fleeting physical contact. It had been long enough since their undercover mission as husband and wife that he had now mostly schooled his involuntary reactions to proximity and touch, but he and Loki had never exactly been ones for keeping their distance from each other. So, though unintentionally on his part, these little moments still happened constantly… and still had the capacity to drive him crazy.
“What’s going on?” Loki asked, sounding a little perturbed.
“I don’t know, likely a malfunction of some sort. I don’t recall anything like this happening before…”
Loki cast his eyes upwards in uncertainty as some exterior mechanism emitted a brief and ominous groaning sound. Mobius pulled out his tempad, first punching in the contact for B-15, then changing his mind and going for OB.
It was Casey who answered.
“What’s up, Mobius?”
“Casey? Uh, is OB there? We’ve got a situation with an elevator, Loki and I are trapped.”
OB’s voice could be heard in the background.
“Hi Mobius. Can you tell me the elevator number? It’s just above the button panel.”
After a bit of boring back-and-forthing, pointless troubleshooting and inaudible rambling from the other end of the line, Mobius terminated the call with a sigh of frustration.
“How long?” Loki demanded in disbelief.
“Up to four hours, he said.”
Loki made a helpless noise, looking up at the ceiling in extreme agitation. Mobius paused. This was generally not what he’d consider a typical reaction from his friend. Annoyance, certainly, but this was something different.
“You okay?” he checked.
A non-committal grunt was the only response.
“You’re not claustrophobic are you?” he continued, mildly perplexed, “I’d know if you were...”
Loki frowned in distaste.
“Of course not, don’t be ridiculous,” he sighed, his shoulders heaving, “No, it’s just… I was really hoping- ugh, it doesn’t matter.”
He leaned against the elevator wall and slid down to sit, shoulders slumped tiredly with his elbows resting on his knees. Mobius regarded him for a moment, then sat down a couple of feet away, opening his tempad once again. He stole a sideways glance to find Loki with his eyes closed, almost as though deep in thought, but Mobius knew better.
“You’re frustrated.”
“… A little.”
“Why?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Come on, Loki, it’s not like we’ve got anything better to do. Talk to me.”
Mobius casually scrolled through the menu on his tempad, locating the folder he was after.
“It really isn’t important,” Loki insisted.
“If you say so,” Mobius decided to leave it at that, knowing that Loki would most likely cave, even if it took a while.
And ‘a while’ they definitely had.
His tempad issued forth with an absurdly jovial tune as he opened a game. He quickly turned down the volume, knowing Loki would be easily annoyed by it. Not that he could blame him.
Still, it had been enough to gain Loki’s attention.
“What’s that?” Loki asked, peering over his shoulder.
“Tetris.”
“What do you do?”
“Try and fit the blocks together so there’s no gaps.“ Mobius explained, furiously clicking away at the buttons on his tempad.
“Why?”
“Well, each completed row disappears and everything drops down. But if it keeps building up and reaches the top, game’s over.”
“No, that was a general ‘why’. I meant, why would you do such a thing?”
“Play a game? Cause it’s… fun? A little challenge? I don’t know, why does anyone do anything?”
“Mm, a question for the ages.” Loki leaned back against the wall of the elevator carriage, closing his eyes again.
“Ah crap,” Mobius said a few moments later, losing again.
An amused smirk spread over Loki’s face.
“Quiet, you.”
“I said nothing,” Loki stated innocently.
“I can hear it, regardless.” Mobius grumbled.
Fifteen failed rounds of Tetris later, Mobius’ cursing had become ever more colourful, to the point he had a literal god giggling like a twelve year old.
“Go on then, I’d like to see you do better,” he griped, not without good humour.
Loki snorted.
“You’ll never catch me partaking in such inane frivolity.”
Mobius exited Tetris and scrolled through the folder of games that he’d very poorly hidden amongst his personal work-related documents.
“No, I don’t suppose I would,” he acknowledged, “Maybe you’re more of a Snake guy, anyway.”
Loki’s eyes opened with something resembling mild interest.
“Snake? That’s a game?”
“Yeah.”
“Sounds… well, mildly diverting.”
“It’s not,” Mobius replied bluntly.
“Oh.”
“Mm.”
Selecting instead something he hadn’t played yet, Jumpman, Mobius regarded Loki after he had once again shut his eyes. He’d been looking noticeably tired of late, although Mobius knew from experience that Loki would brush any mention of it under the metaphorical rug, insisting he was fine. So he never bothered to raise it, despite his concern.
“You could probably sleep, you know,” Mobius commented lightly as the game finished loading, “Casey did say we might be here a while.”
Loki gave him a one-eyed glare.
“On this floor?”
“Come on, Your Royal Highness, you’ve slept on worse.”
Loki’s brow furrowed for a second in consideration, then he shrugged, conceding the point. Mobius started playing level one of the unfamiliar game, and died immediately.
“Oh, for- ”
“Alright,” Loki cut him off, “As much as it amuses me endlessly to listen to you ranting at a small box of circuitry, I suppose it wouldn’t actually hurt to lie down for a bit.”
Mobius hid a pleased smile as Loki shifted until he was lying curled up on his side, head resting on the inadequate ‘pillow’ of his hands.
“Yeah, no problem. I’ll wake you up if anything happens,” Mobius assured him.
“If you actually succeed at one of those games, for instance?”
“Go to sleep Loki.”
* * * * * * *
It was soon evident, however, that sleep was not forthcoming. Loki fidgeted, squirmed, flipped sides, rolled to his back, then back onto his side again mere seconds later. He ‘tsked’, sighed and made irritated little groaning sounds, agitation building.
“Is something the matter?” Mobius eventually asked with a patience he wasn’t feeling, as he finally proceeded to level two of Jumpman.
“Can’t sleep,” Loki ground out.
“Oh really, I hadn’t noticed.”
“My head hurts.”
Mobius paused his game at that, frowning in concern.
“It hurts? Are you okay?”
“What? Of course I’m okay. It hurts from spending the last half an hour pressed into this unforgiving tile at varying angles.”
Mobius went back to his game, rolling his eyes.
“Quit your whining. Just relax.”
Loki rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. He stayed mercifully quiet and still for a short time, to the point where Mobius thought he might have actually nodded off. When he glanced down, however, he found Loki still very much awake, expression decidedly irate whilst he determinedly glared at nothing.
Mobius sighed.
Given the intensity of the feelings he’d been contending with recently, he couldn’t believe what he was about to suggest.
“Y’know, you could always… ” he trailed off, doubting himself. But he knew that Loki wouldn’t let it go, now that he’d spoken.
Loki tipped his head back to look at him expectantly from the floor.
“Well, it’s just an idea, y’know, if you’re- if you’re really that uncomfortable- “
“Mobius?” Loki interrupted, in a ‘stop dithering and just say it’ tone.
Mobius swallowed.
“You- you can lie on me if you want,” he said falteringly, “On my leg, I mean.”
He patted his thigh awkwardly, face feeling like it was glowing red-hot. He couldn’t look Loki in the eye, instead staring at his tempad as though it were the most captivating thing in the multiverse, and not the individual next to him.
Loki rolled from back to front, propping himself up on his elbows as he regarded Mobius.
“Really?” he asked, and Mobius deluded himself into thinking he could hear some hopefulness there.
“Just a suggestion,” he shrugged, attempting nonchalance.
“Yeah. Um, sure… okay,” Loki said with unprecedented shyness.
Mobius finally looked down at him, smiling despite his mortification.
“Alright then.”
He sat back against the wall more comfortably, and flicked his hand in a casual inviting gesture. Loki dragged himself closer, and, glancing at Mobius as though checking he wasn't having second thoughts, curled up on his side again, hesitantly lowering his head onto Mobius’ lap.
Gods, Mobius instantly thought, perhaps this wasn’t such a great idea.
This felt way more intimate than he was expecting it to, and he could already feel the smouldering embers within beginning to reignite. Risking a glance down, however, he found Loki already with his eyes closed, looking wonderfully relaxed and… and blissful. A tiny contented smile graced his lips, his dark curls fanned out over Mobius’ thigh.
Mobius closed his eyes and exhaled softly, biting his lips together. He was determined to get a hold of himself. Helping a friend get some sleep, that was all he was doing.
Stop making this weird.
He forced himself to turn back to Jumpman, after lowering the tempad’s volume to near-silent out of consideration for Loki, whose breathing was already evening out.
* * * * * * *
Nearly one hour and two different games later, Mobius was tapping away at something called Digger when he felt Loki start. He glanced down, dismayed to find his brow pinched in distress, although he was clearly still fast asleep.
Closing the tempad and setting it aside, he bent forwards over Loki, trying to work out if this was something that necessitated intervention. Mobius was incredibly reluctant to cut short his much-needed nap, however, so leaned back again for the time being, more than content to watch Loki sleep.
Is that creepy? he vaguely wondered.
No sooner had he resettled though, Loki jolted once again, more pronounced this time, and making a small whining noise that crushed Mobius’ heart just a little. Breathing erratically, Loki’s eyes began twitching rapidly.
Damn it.
He put a hand on Loki’s arm, hoping a gentle touch might be enough to soothe him. But things only got worse, small quakes and spasms through his body increasing in intensity. Prepared for what was coming, Mobius barely reacted when Loki’s eyes flew open and he shot to a sitting position, panting heavily.
“Wha- where?” he half-whispered, then twisted around to find Mobius, taking in their surroundings.
“Oh…” he sighed quietly, “Elevator.”
“You alright, Loki?” Mobius asked softly.
“Yes. No- ” he shook his head in confusion, “I am, I’m just a bit…” he waved a hand in the air to indicate scrambled thoughts.
Mobius hummed in understanding. Loki drew his knees up, folding his arms on top and leaning down on his forehead. He was taking deep calming breaths, but obviously trying his best to be subtle about it. No longer able to help himself, Mobius reached out to place his hand on Loki’s back. He rubbed little circles, the tension beneath his hand gradually bleeding away.
“Nightmare?” he asked unnecessarily, simply wanting to get Loki to talk.
“Yeah,” the murmured response offered nothing more.
Mobius continued the gentle soothing motion in silence, choosing to wait this out. Eventually Loki lifted his head, then shuffled around until he was leaning against the wall once more, shoulder now pressed against Mobius’.
He tried not to let this affect him at all, and naturally failed.
Loki fidgeted a little, gazing down at his hands as he fussed with the skin around his fingernails. Mobius could read him like a book and knew that he was gearing up to say more.
After a minute or so, Loki sighed deeply.
“I’ve been having them for a while now.”
“Mm. I noticed you’ve been tired.”
“Of course you have,” Loki muttered under his breath, but with an underlying affection.
“So what are they about? Or would you rather not say?”
“The- the latter,” he admitted, “Suffice it to say that I find them… most disturbing.”
“Always the same?”
“Essentially, yes.”
“Premonitory?”
“Gods, I hope not,” he expressed vehemently.
“Okay, that doesn’t sound at all foreboding,” Mobius dipped his head down, trying to get Loki to look at him.
It didn’t work. Instead, Loki scrubbed at his face with both hands, then rubbed his eyes and sighed gustily again, looking positively drained.
“I- I was… I went to the medic yesterday,” he began, and Mobius had to quash an instinctive burst of alarm, “And they gave me something that might help.”
He finally looked up at Mobius, a hint of shame in his eyes as though he were admitting to some terrible weakness.
“I was feeling pretty… desperate. You know how I feel about relying upon medicines.”
Mobius’ mouthed quirked as he nodded slightly. Convincing Loki to take so much as a single paracetamol was a nightmare.
“Anyway, I was hoping to try it tonight,” another sigh, “I’m so exhausted Mobius, and I didn’t want it to start affecting my work.”
It clicked.
"That’s why you were so bothered earlier on. You were keen to go turn in, thinking you might actually get dreamless sleep for a change,” Mobius said with a touch of sympathy.
“Mm,” Loki grunted in confirmation, curling forward so his head was on his knees.
Mobius couldn’t help but put an arm around him, rubbing his shoulder as he pulled him a little closer.
“Are you sure you won’t tell me about these dreams? I’m pretty tough, you know, I can take it,” he said, attempting levity.
For some reason his words made Loki shudder, and he felt his friend take a deep composing breath before he lifted his head again and spoke.
“I’d rather not. I’m- I apologise. It’s for the best, I think,” Loki was resolute, despite his hesitant tone.
“Well, door’s always open, so to speak.”
Loki smiled slightly.
“I know,” he near-whispered, regarding Mobius fondly. To his dismay, Loki’s eyes were suddenly shining with unshed tears.
“Hey, what’s up?” he inquired softly, again pulling him into a one-armed hug. Mobius felt his heart contract as Loki immediately fell upon his shoulder, burying his face in his jacket. He shuddered again, his ragged breathing indicating a lapse of control.
“Loki…” Mobius began, at a loss.
“I’m okay, I’m sorry,” Loki’s muffled voice assured him.
“Don’t apologise. Geez, you must be beyond tired,” Mobius acknowledged.
Loki made a small noise in the affirmative, swallowing hard.
To hell with it, Mobius thought with a huff, and he reached over to wrap his other arm around Loki too, pulling him gently across his chest until he was essentially cradling him from the waist up. Loki tensed initially, but it took only seconds for him to melt against Mobius, soaking up the warmth and comfort. His head leaned against Mobius’ shoulder trustingly, mussed hair tickling his neck and chin. Mobius was already reeling from the surge of unbridled affection he felt, and he was painfully aware that he would likely regret stirring up his own emotions and desires so carelessly. But all he truly cared about in this moment was Loki.
They sat that way for a long while, Mobius revelling in their closeness. He couldn’t help but wonder whether this was something that Loki craved too, but he stamped down on those thoughts immediately. They worked together, and they were the very best of friends, that was all.
And this friendship was enough; this friendship was wonderful. More incredible than anything he could’ve ever imagined.
And yet...
Loki was quiet and placid in his arms, but Mobius could tell from his breathing that he was definitely awake, despite his lethargy. His demeanour held the uneasiness of someone who had something they wanted to say, but were debating it internally.
Predictably, a few minutes later Loki inhaled before speaking.
“Mobius,” he muttered softly, “These dreams…”
Mobius felt himself tense ever so slightly, but forced himself to relax for Loki’s benefit.
“Yeah?” he prompted.
Loki was quiet for a few moments, choosing his words.
“Look... can you please just- just promise me you’ll be care- ” he cut himself off abruptly.
“I’ll be what?”
Loki merely shook his head weakly, “Doesn’t matter.”
Leave it, Mobius thought. He of course knew what Loki was going to say, which implied that the nightmares were probably about him, and were bad enough to affect his friend this deeply.
Disturbing… yet not the priority in this moment.
“Go back to sleep, Loki,” he half-whispered after a brief silence, smoothing the dark hair back with a deliberate caress, “We might still have ages here, best to take advantage of it.”
“Okay,” Loki whispered back a moment later. He snuggled deeper into Mobius’ embrace, an action that caused his belly to swoop and his heart rate to increase. He grimly cursed his body’s betrayal as he forced himself to maintain his composure.
Only a few minutes later, Loki was out cold; deep, soft breaths puffing against his neck and cheek. Mobius allowed himself the luxury of combing his fingers through Loki’s curls, the raven hair unimaginably soft and silky.
It was, of course, at that moment that the elevator promptly came back to life, a grinding noise preceding its completed ascent to the living quarters. The doors opened, and Mobius withdrew his hand from Loki's head instantly, snapping his gaze up to find a smiling OB and an uncertain Casey, who was looking suspiciously at their abnormally intimate positioning.
“Hey Mobius!” OB said cheerfully, “Look, we fixed it a whole hour earlier than we said!”
“Is he alright?” Casey asked, frowning down at Loki.
“Shhh, yeah,” Mobius replied in a hushed tone, “He only just fell asleep though, so- ”
“Mmph… Mobius?” Loki mumbled against him.
Mobius sighed, looking upwards in exasperation.
“Oh… should we come back later?” OB asked, genuinely contrite.
“Ah, it’s too late now,” he grumbled, “Come on Loki, wake up... It’s time for your sleeping tablet.”
Loki groaned at the terrible joke as he sat up blearily, stretching out his neck and shoulders.
“Ha-ha, hilarious,” he deadpanned.
“Eh, I thought so.”
Mobius stood and offered a hand to help him up, steadying him when he staggered slightly. Their eyes met briefly… and Mobius could’ve sworn he saw something in Loki’s gaze that he hadn’t noticed there before.
Hell, he could probably do with some shut-eye too.
Thanking Casey and OB, who were preparing to run some sort of diagnostic on the elevator control panel, Mobius led Loki away down the corridor.
“Seriously though, let’s go try out this magical medicine on you," he enthused.
“Ugh, there is nothing magical about medicine,” Loki griped.
“Of course there isn’t," Mobius agreed, "Well, I could teach you how to play Snake instead?"
“..… I’ll take my chances with the pills.”