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Loki finally convinced Mobius to go onto the sacred timeline and see what his life could’ve been. Mobius had been debating it for months, he’d talked to so many people to see their opinions, but he just couldn’t make the decision, so he decided to talk to Loki about it.
“Loki, knowing what you know now, seeing different versions of you on the timelines… do you ever wonder what they’re like? What their lives are like?” Mobius asks one day, trying to make it sound casual, but Loki looked up curiously, knowing what this was about. He pushed his pie towards Mobius, signaling that he was done with it and nods.
“Yeah, I like to see them all.” Loki said simply. “I like to see if they were any different from me, how they grew up with father, if them and Thor were close. It’s nice to know the different ways things could’ve gone, I guess.” Loki says, watching as Mobius thinks it over, the wheels obviously turning in his head.
“Do you ever wish you had their life instead of your own?” Mobius asks after a long silence. That was his biggest worry. He’s scared that if he sees the life that Don got to have, he’d wish it was his life, and then not appreciate what he has here.
“Sometimes, but for some reason, it’s kind of nice to know that there’s another me out there who’s had a decent life. I know that if I had their life, I wouldn’t be here, I wouldn’t have ever been who I am today.” Loki says, making Mobius nod silently, thinking over the pros and cons of going to see how Don has lived.
After a few days of pondering, Loki wondered what Mobius thought about it all, but he didn’t ask. He waited until Mobius brought it up again, and when he did, he couldn’t help but be a little proud. Mobius walked up to Loki as they were leaving the bullpen for the day and told him that he decided that he wants to go see what he could’ve had. He wanted to go meet Don, but he asked Loki to come with him.
Loki assumed that it was because he had met Don before, he’d talked to him for a while when he was timeslipping, but Mobius made a comment about needing support, and that made Loki’s heart swell a bit. He agreed instantly, and within the week, they were down on the sacred timeline.
They walked up to the house nervously, of course, Don knew that this could be a possibility, but he never expected to open his door and see himself looking back at him. “You must be Mobius.” Don says, smiling, seeing the nervous look on Mobius’ face.
Mobius still has wide eyes, so Loki decided to step in. “Yes, this is Mobius. I wasn’t too sure that you’d remember… everything.” Loki says, putting a hand on Mobius’ shoulder, acting as if it was just an introduction, but really, he knew that Mobius would need some encouraging.
“I definitely do. Very interesting time… Why don’t you two come in? The boys are at their mother’s, so it’s just me for now.” Don says, opening the door wider, letting the two of them in. Mobius looked around the house with wide eyes. It was a nice home, two stories, children’s toys everywhere, it looks lived in, which makes Mobius smile at the thought.
“What are their names?” Mobius asks, looking at a framed photo sitting on a table near the entrance to the home.
“Sean and Kevin.” Don smiles, pointing at a few more photos hung up on the wall. “They’re a handful.” He laughs, leading them into the living room.
They all sit down on the couch, Loki staying mostly quiet, letting Mobius figure this all out for himself. They talk about the basics, Don’s family growing up, his marriage, the divorce following, his job, the kids. Mobius was learning a lot about what he could have had, and he envies it a bit, sure, but he can also tell the differences between himself and Don that he’s a bit thankful for. Don’s definitely more outgoing than Mobius is, he’s way more obsessed with jet-ski’s, he seems tired though, not just in the sense that he needs a nap, but in the sense that life hasn’t been the kindest to him, especially in the last few years.
After a while, the conversation lightened up, just talking about their interest, jet-ski’s, what movies and books they liked, the easy stuff. That’s when Loki excused himself to go on a walk. He knew that surely Mobius would like some alone time with Don, ask whatever personal stuff he was wondering. Mobius surprisingly didn’t mind when Loki left for a bit. He’s figuring out how to hold a conversation with him, laughing, talking like old friends almost.
They get on the topic of their love lives after a few minutes of Loki being gone, Mobius wondering how Don’s marriage was, how dating was going for him, if he has anyone in his life.
“Well,” Don laughs, his face a little pink, “The marriage was easy, it was just kind of doing what everyone else was. I don’t think there was ever any real love there, you know? It was just comfortable for a while.” Mobius nods, understanding the feeling. “After the divorce, it took me a while to start dating again. I didn’t think I ever would, I mean, who wants to date an old jet-ski salesman with two kids?” Self-deprecation, another similarity between the two.
“But you did start to date again?” Mobius asks, curiously. He’s never really had the opportunity himself, so hearing that another version of himself got that was nice.
“Yeah, I went on a lot of first dates that never really worked out, but it was fun, you know? Meeting new people. Took me a while to realize why they never worked out though.” Don says, laughing at himself a bit.
Mobius has a curious look on his face, wondering why too. “Why didn’t it?” He asks, hoping that he’s not prying too much.
“Well, I was dating women.” Don shrugs, still laughing at himself. “I mean, who figures out that they’re gay in their late forties after they’ve had kids?” He asks, rhetorically, but Mobius smiles a little, laughing under his breath.
“So, you’ve found better luck with men then?” Mobius asks, hoping that the answer is yes. He’d like to see a version of him who gets to just be openly who he is.
“Yeah, nothing that lasts too long, but I’m not too sure I want that anyways, so it’s nice.” Don says, smiling, assuming that Mobius has a similar situation. “What about you? From what I’ve seen, Loki’s a good one.” Don says, making Mobius’ face turn bright red, shaking his head, laughing a bit.
“Loki? No no, we’re not together.” Mobius says quickly, feeling how warm his face is getting.
“What? Why not? You’re into him, aren’t you? I mean, look at him.” Don says, stating the obvious, Loki’s hot.
“He’d never go for that.” Mobius laughs a bit, not because it’s funny, but at the thought of Loki going for someone like himself. He could get anyone, why would he want Mobius?
They hear the front door opening, making both of their faces go a bit red and their mouths shut quickly. “Well, if you won’t go for it, you mind if I do?” Don asks quietly.
Mobius doesn’t love the idea, but Loki wouldn’t go for Don anyways. He looks exactly like Mobius; they act pretty similar too. He shrugs, knowing in his mind that Loki wouldn’t ever agree, so he says, “Go for it.” Thinking that he’ll be entertained by Don trying to flirt with Loki.
As Loki sits down on the couch by Mobius, Don changes the subject to something a little lighter. He asks about the TVA, asks how all the stuff with the timelines work, but then when he hears how they solved everything at first, he starts to ask questions about Loki.
He asks about his god status, his powers, how brave he was to sacrifice himself for years and years to hold the timelines together. Mobius’ face is a little pink watching the interaction, seeing himself, but not himself, so openly flirt with Loki. Loki doesn’t seem too surprised though. His face is definitely tinted pink, but he’s laughing and talking and… is he flirting back? Mobius can’t tell for sure. Maybe it’s his wishful thinking, but Loki’s opening up quite a bit and taking the little compliments easily.
“Were people able to come see you when you were out there?” Don asks, setting up another line for him to use.
“Not until the end when they found a way for me to come back.” Loki says, thinking about how weird it felt to be truly alone.
“I’m sure that was hard, being alone all the time, nobody to keep you company.” Don says, making Loki nod a bit, but his cheeks go a little pink at what he’s about to say.
“I could hear some things though. If I focused in on the timelines, I could hear if anyone was speaking to or about me.” Loki says, glancing at Mobius. He’s never said that before, never admitted that.
Mobius had some rough nights when Loki first left. He spent a lot of those nights hopefully praying to Loki, wishing that he’d come back, saying how weird it was without him there.
“Did you hear anything from me?” Don asks, the corner of his lips tugged up a bit in a smirk.
“Were you talking or just thinking about me?” Loki asks, a small smile on his lips. That’s when Mobius realizes that yes, Loki is flirting back. Not as obvious as he would others, but he definitely is.
“Bit of both.” Don shrugs, making Mobius’ face go red, even if it’s not him, he wonders how weird it would’ve been for Loki to hear his voice talking about him. Loki laughs, shaking his head.
“I may’ve heard a few things.” Loki admits, making Mobius realize how insufferable it was to sit there and watch another version of himself flirt with Loki.
“Did you like what you heard?” Don asks, making Loki’s cheeks turn a bit more pink, only making Mobius shoot a deadly look at Don. He stands up quickly, making both of their heads turn to him, Loki having a small, devious smile on his face.
“I think we should be heading back.” Mobius says simply, making Loki nod.
“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Loki says after a minute, noticing how frustrated Mobius was.
“Well, it was lovely to see you two. Come back whenever, if you want to meet the boys at some point, you could be my long-lost brother or something.” Don says, making Mobius nod, knowing that he does want to meet them at some point, but not if the possibility of Don getting Loki into bed is still looming over them.
Don leads them out of the house, and the second the door closes, Mobius lets out a breath, walking ahead of Loki. “I think that went well, don’t you?” Loki asks, knowing that it did go well, but also that Mobius was obviously frustrated.
Mobius hums, taking a few deep breaths, “Why were you flirting with him?” He asks, not yet turning around to look at Loki.
“He started it.” Loki shrugs, a smile on his face, realizing just how much it bothered Mobius.
“Didn’t mean you had to continue it.” Mobius says, finally turning around to look at Loki. Loki shrugs, biting back a smile.
“Why not? It was fun.” He says, making Mobius’ face go red, partly in anger, partly in the idea of Loki flirting with someone who was basically him. Loki finally does let himself smile a bit at what he’s about to say. “It’s not like you didn’t give him permission.” He says, making Mobius’ face go red.
“So, you heard that then?” Mobius sighs. “Yeah, he apparently had a bit of a crush on you.” He admits, shaking his head at how weird that is, but also at how completely not weird it is for another version of him to like Loki. “Still, that didn’t mean you had to keep it going.” Mobius says, making Loki laugh.
“What?” He asks, rhetorically. “He’s hot.” Loki shrugs, making Mobius’ face go red as he shakes his head.
“He looks like me.” Mobius says, thinking that because of that, there’s no way that Loki found Don attractive.
“And?” Loki asks, stepping a bit closer, making Mobius shake his head.
“Were you just going to keep that up until he was able to take you up to his room or…” Mobius asks, still obviously a bit mad. He realizes that he sounds extremely jealous, but he can’t help himself.
Loki shakes his head, a smile still on his face. He moves closer to Mobius, getting so close that they were practically breathing in each other. “No.” Loki says. “I was just going to keep it up until you couldn’t stand it anymore.” He says, cautiously putting his hand onto Mobius’ arm. He lets his thumb run in circles over the jacket of Mobius’ suit. “Until you got too jealous to take it.” Loki teases, making Mobius’ face turn so red he looks like a tomato. His breath hitches a bit, realizing how close they are, feeling Loki’s hand on his arm, thinking about how obvious it is now.
Mobius lets out a breath, shaking his head, looking up at Loki. “You could hear when people were thinking about you.” He realizes, making Loki nod, moving his other hand to Mobius’ waist, gently holding him closer.
“I could.” Loki says, smiling, wanting to lean down and close that gap between them.
“So, you know. You have known.” Mobius says, realizing just how often he’d think about Loki while he was gone. The innocent and not so innocent thoughts he had about when the god would be able to return because he would be able to return.
“Yep.” Loki says, popping the p sound, smiling as he feels Mobius’ hands hesitantly go to his hips. “You’re what kept me hopeful about me coming back.” Loki says, letting a bit of emotion cross his face.
“And… and you feel the same?” Mobius asks carefully, hopefully.
“Absolutely.” Loki smiles, leaning in to meet Mobius’ lips. “I have for a very long time.” He says, finally connecting their lips together. Mobius breathes in sharply at the feeling, finally feeling those gorgeous soft lips against his own, his hands automatically moving into Loki’s hair, having imagined it too many times to count. Loki’s hands wrap around Mobius’ lower back, pulling him in closer, pressing them together, making both of them sigh into each other’s mouths.
Mobius’ mind is racing, but he can feel that Loki’s trying to comfort him even through this. The softness of the kiss, the gently hands on him, pulling him in, the heat of Loki’s body against his own even though he’s never warm. He’s trying to make Mobius as comfortable as possible, which only makes Mobius want to keep them attached together for as long as humanly possible.
They eventually do pull back though, their hands still on each other, their foreheads pressed together, just taking in the feeling of the other. “Wanted this for so long.” Mobius breathes, making Loki laugh a bit and nod.
“Why’d you let him flirt then?” Loki teases softly, making Mobius pull back and laugh, shaking his head.
“Never thought it was a possibility. I mean, look at you, you could have anyone you wanted. I never thought that it’d be me.” Mobius says, smiling a bit at how obvious it all seems now.
“Of course it would be you.” Loki says, smiling, running his hands up and down Mobius’ sides. “Look at you.” He smiles, making Mobius flush even more.
He shakes his head, denying that he’s anything special, but Loki quickly attaches their lips together again, proving him wrong. He eventually backs Mobius up against a tree, slotting their legs together, pressing their bodies together fully. Mobius feels his stomach turn a flip, feeling Loki’s body against his. He’s gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous, and feeling the god against him is so much better than he’d imagined.
Loki slowly breaks their lips apart, but then aims them at Mobius’ jaw, nipping a bit at the skin there. Mobius lets his head fall back against the rough tree, feeling those lips on his skin. “Lokes,” He breathes, pressing a hand into Loki’s hair, encouraging him to keep going.
Mobius can feel Loki smile against his skin, moving his lips down a bit further to the side of his neck, making Mobius let out a low groan. That just encourages Loki even more, pressing his hips into Mobius’ thigh a bit, feeling how the man’s leg tenses up at the feeling, then feeling his hips press forward into Loki too.
Mobius’ eyes fall shut, the hand in Loki’s hair tightening a bit, feeling the two getting way too worked up to be this public right now. It’s so new, it’s a bit weird that he actually gets to have this, but he can’t bring himself to stop any of it.
Loki nips at the side of Mobius’ neck, bringing a hand to his jaw to tilt his head the other way and move to the other side of Mobius’ neck. Mobius’ hips buck a bit and he groans a little louder when Loki hits a specific spot that makes his whole-body jerk. Gods, Loki’s going to kill him right here.
Loki groans into Mobius’ skin, making a faint mark on Mobius’ neck before bringing his lips back up to Mobius’, wanting to taste the man again. Mobius kisses back hard, letting his mouth fall open quickly as Loki’s tongue works its way in, devouring him whole. The god presses his hips forward again, practically rocking into Mobius, hearing, and tasting, their shared groans and huffs of breath.
Mobius can’t hardly take it anymore, they have too many clothes on, they’re pressed against a tree in a random neighborhood on the timeline, so the clothes issue can’t be solved, and Loki’s too addicting, too hot, to stand right now. He presses a hand to Loki’s chest, slowly breaking the two apart. When they do finally break apart, they’re both breathing roughly, their lips both swollen, little pink marks on the side of Mobius’ neck. “Gotta get back before I do something I shouldn’t do in public.” Mobius breathes, holding Loki’s slim hips in his hands.
“And what’s that?” Loki teases, looking down at Mobius with a smile on his face.
Mobius shakes his head, smiling, obviously amused. “It’s not socially acceptable to start taking off clothes in the middle of a neighborhood.” Mobius says, making Loki laugh, but nod anyways, knowing that that is definitely the direction that this was heading.
“Then open up the timedoor and get us back.” Loki says simply, backing off of Mobius, admiring the way he looks right now. He’s very obviously flushed, the small marks on his neck shining with the way the sun is hitting him, his pants obviously way too tight, the tent in them very noticeable. He was about to say something, tease Mobius about how flustered he is, but Mobius speaks first.
“Don’t say a word. You look the exact same.” Mobius says, obviously eyeing the tent in Loki’s pants too. Loki laughs, nodding, watching as Mobius opens the timedoor. Instead of opening it to a previously authorized zone, he opens it right to his apartment. “After you.” Mobius says, making Loki shake his head, amused, and walk through the door. Mobius follows immediately, taking them both to his apartment.
Don glances out of his window, seeing the two pressed against the tree and then walking through the time door and can’t help but laugh. Mobius was way too oblivious for his liking, and the two are too perfect for each other not to be together. He just can’t believe it took them this long to realize it. Don sends a quick prayer to Loki, laughing through it. “You two have fun. You’re welcome, by the way.”
Loki’s preoccupied, but he laughs a bit under his breath anyways. “What?” Mobius asks, breathing harshly, his hands never leaving Loki’s body.
“Don wished us a good time and said, ‘you’re welcome.’ Looks like this was his plan all along.” Loki says, making Mobius shake his head, laughing a bit too.
“Well, let’s not disappoint then.” Mobius says, going back to worshiping his god quickly, making both of them breathe out groans.