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“Hey. What are you still doing up?”
Startled even by the gentlest voice coming from the darkness of the landing, Loki’s head shot around to find Mobius stepping just inside his bedroom doorway, marginally illuminated by the moonlight from the window, but still mostly veiled in the gloom of midnight. Heart skipping a beat at the unexpectedness of his appearance, Loki berated himself for his lack of observance, steadfastly ignoring the bitter awareness that his reflexes were no longer as sharp as they once were, without the ability to harness magical enhancement.
“Not ‘still’. I woke up,” he informed him, with a small shrug. “Quite a while ago now. I think.”
“You ‘think’?” Mobius prodded, and Loki fancied could hear his confused frown, without even needing to see his face.
“Mm. I’ve been… distracted.”
Turning back to the window, he gazed up at the sky again, barely registering Mobius creeping closer to his bed upon which he sat, knees bent up and arms draped loosely around them.
“Yeah? What by?”
A small smile lifted the corners of Loki’s mouth.
“Falling embers from Muspelheim.”
He knew it wouldn’t take Mobius long to interpret this, and he wasn’t disappointed.
“Ohhh, shooting stars.”
Huffing a near-silent chuckle, Loki’s smile widened a little, and he spared him a glance.
“Quite.”
“A meteor shower?”
“I don’t think so. I only saw two close together, but no more since… though not for lack of trying.”
A beat of silence, then Mobius asked, “Is it alright if I…?”
“Yes, of course,” Loki said, shuffling over a little and crossing his legs to make some space.
Mobius climbed onto the bed and settled beside him, leaning his elbows on the windowsill and peering up at the startlingly clear sky.
Loki watched him for a moment, although he couldn’t make out much more than the pale shape of his face, and a hint of the moon above reflecting in his eyes.
“Why are you up?” he pried curiously.
Mobius glanced over at him.
“Oh… I, uh, I actually don’t know,” he admitted, sounding almost sheepish. “I guess I just woke up too, and because it was kinda weird, I felt like I should come check on you.”
The admission was oddly touching, Loki’s gaze dropping for a second as he savoured the warmth that fleetly stole over him, and Mobius went back to staring at the star-scattered velvet of the firmament, perhaps hoping to catch sight of his own remnant of the fire realm.
Joining him in easy silence, Loki leaned forward as well, pillowing his head on one of his arms as he absently regarded the distant lights that shimmered in the nearby village.
After being awake for a considerable time with no sign that he was even close to drifting off again, he was surprised by how quickly he began to feel sleepy now that Mobius was there beside him. He almost said as much, then scarcely managed to curtail a snort of laughter when he realised how insulting it may have sounded.
“What?” Mobius spoke up anyway, and how in the worlds did he do that, when Loki hadn’t even made a sound?
“It’s nothing. I’m just glad you’re here,” he replied genuinely, and although he was referring to this moment specifically, it of course applied to their overarching situation.
Saying nothing for a long moment, Mobius merely shifted a little, laying his fingers over the top of Loki’s where they rested on the sill.
“You sure you don’t know why you woke up? It wasn’t the dreams again, was it?”
“Not tonight, no,” Loki answered. “For a change…”
“Well, that’s great,” Mobius enthused earnestly. “Promising, anyway. Maybe they’re starting to drop off.”
“Maybe.”
The fingers covering his twitched in an encouraging sort of squeeze, he assumed in response to his less-than-convinced tone.
“You will be okay,” Mobius reminded him. “You’ve already come so far, and in only a matter of days, when you think about it.”
“I know,” Loki murmured, letting heavy eyelids fall closed, and he smiled softly once more as Mobius drew nearer to him, an arm settling tentatively over his shoulders.
It was both sweet and disconcerting that even now, Mobius apparently felt that he needed to be cautious with any demonstrative affection. Either that, or the habit had become so ingrained, his hesitance was by now unconscious.
Quashing a surge of guilt as best he could — because if nothing else, he knew that Mobius certainly didn’t harbor blame for the distance he’d forced between them for far too many weeks following their reunion — Loki instead showed his subtle appreciation, relaxing into his side in a reciprocal gesture.
Of course, there was the added bonus that Mobius was always so warm that it verged on intoxicating, and even in a less than ideal positioning for true relaxation, Loki felt himself again tugged inexorably towards sleep.
In the darkness Mobius was oblivious to this, and carried on talking, his calming voice initially only serving to lull him further.
“It’s still strange, sometimes,” he said, hushed and sombre, “To look through a window and see the world of the timeline beyond, rather than…”
Trailing off, there was no need for him to finish the sentence for Loki to understand, his heart sinking at the reminder of their mutual grief.
“Yes, I imagine it must be,” he muttered with empathy, eyes cracking open a sliver to find Mobius now resting his chin on his other hand, still gazing outside.
“I can’t help but feel guilty,” he admitted, voice dropping to an even quieter half-whisper. “That I get to live. That I get to sit here beside someone I care about. That I get to look out the godsdamned window.”
The undercurrent of bitter pain had Loki dragging his head upright again, drowsiness clearing somewhat as he identified the impending need for compassion and support.
“Survivor’s guilt,” he articulated gently, “It can be brutal. I understand.”
“Yeah,” Mobius agreed, barely audible.
Letting the moment sustain itself, Loki cast around for something remotely useful to say, well aware that this brand of comfort was so far out of his scope of experience.
“You know, you already honour them by remembering them so,” he eventually offered. “And additionally, in acknowledging your gratitude for the circumstances you’ve been dealt… whatever they're worth,” he added, with a huff of self-deprecation.
Mobius turned to him, blinking against the burn of tearing eyes, and compassion swelled within.
“Whenever these invasive thoughts encroach,” Loki persisted, softening his tone, “By all means, hold still for a moment of observance, and let their sacrifice speak to you. But… don’t ever let it overwhelm you, to the point of domination.”
Gazes locked for a long moment, Mobius’ voice was rough when he finally spoke.
“Speaking from experience?”
Loki’s lips twitched with due remorse.
“Would that I could practice what I preach,” he answered wryly. “I am trying, however.”
“Hm. Makes two of us.”
Mobius’ arm fell from his shoulders as he pressed his hands to his eyes, rubbing away the evidence of his turmoil. And before Loki even realised what he was doing, he’d slipped his own arm around Mobius instead, pulling him closer.
“‘M sorry,” Mobius mumbled, giving his face one last scrub before running a hand through his hair, leaving it endearingly dishevelled. “For disturbing your quiet time, and now stopping you from sleeping with all my emo bullshit.”
“Pff. Don’t be absurd,” Loki scoffed. “I’m not the only party here who has suffered great loss, and after everything you’ve put up with from me — thus far, might I add, I’m sure there’s plenty more to come — it’s high time that I allow you the chance to unload.” He shook his head, shame coursing through him like something caustic. “In fact, I find myself in disbelief that it’s taken this long. I’m so sorry, Mobius.”
Nudging his head against Loki’s shoulder, he puffed out a long breath.
“Don’t feel bad,” he implored. “You were here for me the other night, remember?”
“In no way was I at all comforting, when I too was crying all over you.”
“Speak for yourself,” Mobius shot back. “You’re not me.”
Unable to suppress his grin at an argument that was characteristically ridiculous, Loki rubbed his arm in placation.
“Well. We’re here for each other, then,” he conceded, not bothering to hide his lingering amusement.
“Mm,” Mobius nodded tiredly against him. “Forever?”
“Forever,” Loki confirmed, utterly uncaring that the concept was no longer a possibility for them, without the TVA.
Funnily enough, it was only a moment or two later that a spark of bright orange flashed through the sky, so briefly that it was incredible they’d both caught it; Loki feeling Mobius jolt at the same time as he.
“Huh. Muspelheim again,” Mobius remarked. “Fire giants must be partying tonight.”
The innocent quip dredged up thoughts unbidden, Loki’s mind drifting from the Sons of Muspell, to Surtr, then of course to Thor. But as the inevitable grief began to consume him, he repeated to himself the advice he’d just now imparted.
Let his sacrifice speak to you.
Closing his eyes, Thor’s face took form before him, smiling at him warmly one last time before the fateful battle that would steal him away.
Tears threatened as Loki’s insides constricted painfully, controlling himself only for Mobius’s sake.
But don’t let it overwhelm you…
With a ragged breath, he managed to smile back at his brother, imprinting on his memory the glimmer of boyhood mischief in his eyes, enduring to the very end.
He was safe in Valhalla now, and although there was no way of knowing for certain, hopefully alongside his Loki.
“Hey. You okay?” Mobius inquired softly, lifting his head from Loki’s shoulder to regard him.
Though scarcely perceptible in the negligible light from the window, Loki knew his expression was one of concern, and his next breath was drawn with determined composure.
“As you said,” he answered, solemn in sincerity, “I will be.”