Loki POV
Things on Lamentis 1 were not going well for Loki and Mobius. By some miracle, they had managed to get out of the hotel before it collapsed in a series of explosions and raging fires. However, Loki was sure their luck was running out as Mobius and he narrowly dodged the incoming flying rocks and debris from the moon above. Mobius shouted something at him, but Loki was too busy ducking to avoid a nearby crash to make out the words.
“What was that?” he called back, and upon seeing the annoyed scrunch of Mobius’s face out of the corner of his eye, he added, “Sorry, I was busy trying not to die . Would you be ever so kind as to repeat yourself?”
“Don't give me attitude right now,” Mobius grumbled, taking a hard left turn to skid down a hill of loose rocks. Loki followed with what he considered to be more grace and dignity, before tripping and landing on his face. He heard Mobius laugh, though it was colder than his usual light chuckle.
“Ouch,” Mobius said. “I bet that hurt.”
“How dare you mock me?” Loki said, but his cheeks flushed red with embarrassment.
He quickly scrambled to his feet and looked up, expecting Mobius to be standing there with one hand outstretched and a teasing smile on his face. He was sorely disappointed. Mobius stood several meters away, hands on his hips and head down in deep thought. Loki bit back another retort, assuming that it would not help the present situation, and wiped the bits of dirt off his pants.
“Give me the TemPad,” Mobius instructed. This time, he did hold out his hands, though it was not to help Loki. Instead, he wiggled his fingers expectantly and raised an eyebrow when Loki didn’t move.
“Huh?”
Mobius let out an exasperated sigh.
“For the third time, give me the TemPad .”
Loki shook his head.
“No, I heard you the first- er, second- time,” he said. “But it’s dead.”
“And we will be too if you don’t give me the TemPad and let me recharge it.” Mobius sounded good and truly angry now. He stared at Loki with narrowed eyes, whatever spark of fondness Loki had seen back at the hotel now completely gone.
“What, so you can teleport us back to the TVA, interrogate me about something else pointless, and then prune me?” Loki crossed his arms. “I don’t think so.”
Mobius took a step closer to Loki, and he wished he could say that he wasn't intimidated. Back at the TVA, the thought of Mobius being a challenge hadn’t even crossed his mind. Yes, they were technically enemies- as betrayal on either side had always been in the looming future- but a threat? Loki had a hard time imagining Mobius on the battlefield or fighting him, though the possibility was becoming more and more likely the longer they stayed on this godforsaken planet.
“You would deserve it,” Mobius told him, and the words made Loki’s insides twist into knots. “You’re a Variant. You aren’t supposed to exist.”
Sylvie’s words to him bounced around in Loki’s brain. The TVA agents aren't some God-given saviours. They're Variants, just like us , she had told him. Mobius wasn’t created by the Time Keepers as he’d been told. He was nothing but a Variant, plucked from his timeline like the cosmic mistake he was, then brainwashed into serving a purpose that didn’t even exist. Part of Loki itched to tell Mobius just that- to be honest for once in his life. He knew it would be the right thing to do, but as his lips parted to form the words, he found them jumbling together.
“Mobius, I-” Loki tried. “There’s something you need to know-”
Right then, the universe chose to play tricks on Loki and sent a massive chunk of rock spiralling in their direction. Loki instinctively grabbed Mobius's wrist, dragging him out of the way and sending them both crashing to the ground. Mobius lay there shocked for a moment, eyes impossibly wide and staring up at Loki, who was sitting on top of him. Loki did nothing but stare back, and became intensely aware of how close in proximity they were. He could feel Mobius's racing heartbeat from under him. Their faces were mere centimeters apart from one another, Mobius's warm breath tickling Loki's chin ever so slightly. Loki watched as Mobius's eyes flickered down to Loki's lips, and Loki did the same. The intimacy of it all was intoxicating.
Then, in an instant, Mobius was shoving Loki off and rolling up to his feet. He looked like a flustered mess with his tie flapping in the wind, hair sticking in a million directions, and clothes ripped and stained by dirt. Still, he straightened his collar and shook his head, as if that could erase the memory.
"That didn't happen," Mobius told him, raising a finger to point. If Loki wasn't still in a state of shock, he would have begged to differ, but instead he said nothing.
Then, in one swift motion, Mobius gestured for Loki to follow as he sprinted towards the nearest structure: a small dingy cottage lodged between two rocks.
Loki just sat there for what felt like a lifetime, still recovering for the moment they had found themselves caught up in just seconds before. It shouldn't have shaken him so much, but it did. He had felt attraction before, of course, but nothing that breathtaking. It had been a strange new feeling, and he knew Mobius had felt it too, despite his denial. It was something Loki wished he had more time to ponder, but Mobius shouting his name was enough to yank him out of his stupor and back into the reality of the situation. He too shook his head, then got back up to his feet and took off after Mobius.
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They both arrived at the cottage panting and physically exhausted, but thankfully there was no one there to stop them from throwing open the door and barging in. Loki let himself fall onto the couch, unpleasantly surprised when he found it to be itchy and stiff. He glanced back up at Mobius.
"This couch is awful," he said in between breaths. "Not fit for a god."
Mobius said nothing in response, though Loki could swear he saw the flicker of a smile.
"Anyway," he clapped his hands together. "As I was trying to tell you, there's something you should know-"
“You’re right, there is.” Mobius dropped his hands and shoved them into his pockets. He sucked in enough air to stabilise his breathing, then continued on. “Let’s start with how long I was out in that hotel. Then, we can figure out how much time we have until that moon,” He pointed up to the giant blue moon hovering outside a small window. “collides with this planet and kills us all. Alright? How does that sound?”
“Fine.” Loki held his hands up in surrender, letting the subject drop. He knew it was selfish, but some small part of him didn't want to tell Mobius about the TVA. Telling Mobius would mean giving Mobius back his memories and returning him to his old life, and for some inexplicable reason, Loki wasn’t sure he wanted to do that just yet.
“You were out for about three hours,” Loki said. “There. Happy?”
Mobius nodded slowly.
“The hotel must have been evacuated a couple days before the moon hits, which explains why the Variant- pardon me, Sylvie ,” Mobius spat her name out like the taste of it on his tongue stung. “kept bringing you two back to it. Surely she had to have been using a power source somewhere.”
“She probably was. Unfortunately, the hotel where any kind of power source would have been is now a pile of rubble.”
“Stellar observation, Loki. Truly exceptional.”
"Why thank you.”
Mobius scoffed.
“So here’s the plan: you give me that TemPad. There’s a train that should be leaving here soon to take us to the main city. And in that city, there is an Ark getting ready to take people off this planet. Now obviously it doesn’t make it, but…”
“It would have enough power to charge the TemPad,” Loki finished, and Mobius nodded.
"I still don't see why this plan involves you getting the TemPad."
Mobius rolled his eyes.
"Seriously, Loki?" He said, then did that thing where he waved his hands around as he spoke, narrating out his predictions of what would happen if Loki stayed in possession of the TemPad. "What, so you can use my knowledge to help recharge it, then ditch me on this planet right as it's about to blow up?"
Mobius gave him an almost disappointed frown.
"C'mon, Loki. I know you."
Loki felt something tug at the strings of his heart.
"I would never-" he began, but Mobius was quick to interrupt.
"Never what? Never lie to me? Never betray me? Never stab me in the back?" Mobius chuckled darkly. "You've already proven that you aren't trustworthy. What is there to make me think this isn't any different?"
"This is life or death, Mobius!" Loki exclaimed.
"Everything is life or death!"
Mobius turned his body to face Loki full on, eyes flashing. And that's when Loki noticed it- the glint of metal trailing from his waist to his thigh and attached to a hilt on his belt.
"Is that why you brought a dagger?" Loki asked quietly.
Mobius glanced down, surprised, as if he had forgotten he had been carrying it. With nimble hands, he slowly unclasped the dagger from his belt, holding it out so that it weighed in the air between them.
"What's wrong with me carrying a dagger?" The question didn't carry any real weight, but the way Mobius had suddenly paled and trembled when he drew the dagger concerned Loki.
"I just didn't think they were your style."
"They aren't."
"So why bring one?"
"Why does it matter?"
Mobius fixed him with a steely gaze, almost taunting him to answer, but Loki didn't know what to say. He had no real reason to be concerned about the fact that Mobius suddenly carried weapons now, other than the fact that it seemed a little out of character for him. Still, the way the blade rested in Mobius's hands made Loki fidget uneasily. Something was off, he just couldn't place his finger on what.
"You could have been armed with a pruning stick," Loki said. "Or one of those irritating time collars. Instead, you've got a dagger. I didn't even notice that when I-"
Helped settle you into that bed at the hotel , Loki almost said, but wasn't sure how Mobius would react to the statement.
"-when we were on the run earlier," Loki amended.
Mobius said nothing at first, just flipped over the dagger in his palm.
"These are dangerous times," he explained, not meeting Loki's eyes. "I'd rather be prepared, is all."
Loki stared at him. "Dangerous times" seemed to be quite a generous description of their current predicament, but Mobius couldn't have possibly known they would end up on Lamentis 1. Which meant-
"It's for me, isn't it?" He phrased it like a question, but they both knew it wasn't. Mobius sucked in a breath, his grip on the handle of the knife tightening.
"I wouldn't say that."
"Don't lie to me."
Mobius let out a puff of laughter despite the situation.
"That's really something coming from you."
"Coming from me?" Loki said indignantly, throwing his hands up in the air out of frustration. "I'm not the one using other people for my own personal gain."
Mobius's brows knit together.
"It's for the good of the universe that we stop these Nexus Events and Sylvie. Otherwise, the entire Sacred Timeline will collapse and-"
"The 'Sacred Timeline' doesn't exist , Mobius!" Loki shouted, and Mobius's entire body went still.
"You don't know what you're talking about." Mobius's voice was low.
Loki knew it wasn't in his best interests to keep talking. Mobius was armed, angry, and had no reason to keep Loki alive other than the fact that he was holding onto the TemPad. If Loki were smart, he would be agreeable and obedient to win Mobius's favour, rather than pushing his patience. But those trivial manipulations that Loki was used to relying on never seemed to work with Mobius, and Loki was too caught up in his feelings to care much about self preservation.
"The Multiverse is real!" he yelled. "The Sacred Timeline is just a ruse! The TVA has been lying to you!"
"Stop it, Loki." Mobius shook his head disbelievingly. He sounded tired, entirely drained of energy. "Stop with all these wild accusations. Please."
But Loki was too far gone already. He was clawing at the hope that Mobius would believe him, and even if he didn't, he deserved the truth. He deserved to know what the TVA had done to him.
"Mobius," he said desperately, pleading though a god does not plead. "You're a Variant."
YOU ARE READING
A Guide to Fixing Broken Things
Fanfiction"I'll kill Loki!" Maybe in hindsight, Mobius promising to kill the Variant he had grown unreasonably attached to was a bad idea. He had been told he had an affinity for broken things. And maybe that was true- after all, he had placed faith in Loki...
