The Connection They Share

The Variant

"We found something." Loki exclaims we run into the cafeteria. I sit across from Mobius who looks annoyed that we bothered his lunch.
"No, I said, 'Don't bother me until you've read all the files.'" Mobius complains as Loki sets down the file.
"I have." Mobius looks up in shock. Even I was a bit shocked that Loki was studying for so long.
"Every file?"
"Yes."
"Pertaining to the Variant?"
"The answer isn't in the files, it's on the timeline. He's hiding in apocalypses." Loki finally sits down next to me with a determined look. I just sat back and watched their interaction with a smirk.
"Which apocalypse? Any time in history? There's, like, a million of 'em."
Loki pressed his hands against the table and leaned in "Ragnarok. Are you familiar?"
"Yes. The destruction of Asgard and most of its people. I'm sorry."
"Yes, very sad." Loki paused looking downcast then picked up his point quickly "Anyway, it got me" he glanced at me "us thinking..."
"Go ahead."
"Nexus events happen when someone does something they're not supposed to do, right?"
"Well, it's a little more complicated, but, yeah."
"Great. And then that thing they're not supposed to do, cascades into a whole range of other things that aren't supposed to happen. And so on and so forth, until eventually, a new timeline branches. Yes?"
"Chaotic alterations of a predetermined outcome."
"Exactly." Loki makes me jump "So, let's just say..." Loki then leans across the table to grab Mobius' salad, I also lean forward curious to see what he will do. "Your salad is Asgard in this scenario."
"It's not Asgard, that's my lunch." Mobius looks defeated.
"It's a metaphor. Just hang in there."
"I want that salad."
"And I could go down to Asgard before Ragnarok causes its complete destruction and I could do anything I wanted. I could, let's say, push the Hulk off the Rainbow Bridge." Loki had picked up a salt and begun dumping it into the salad.
"There he goes." Mobius slumps into his chair "The salt's Hulk?"
"And I could also... Set fire to the palace." Loki continues as he picks up the pepper pot and begun dumping that into the salad as well as the salt.
"No, just stop. Don't set fire to the palace. Okay?" Mobius tries to reason bur Loki wasn't listening. I just sat there trying not to laugh.
"I can do whatever I want to do, and it would never matter. It wouldn't go against the dictates of the timeline because..." Loki pauses as he picks up Mobius' drink but realises it's empty. He holds up a finger and goes up to this poor dude then steals his drink. Loki comes back "Because the apocalypse is coming. Ragnarok, Surtur will destroy Asgard no matter what I do." Loki tips the drink upside down and soaks the entire salad, ruining it. "There's the apocalypse."
"That's the apocalypse?" Mobius looks baffled and upset.
"Ragnarok obliterates the salt."
"What am I lookin' at?"
"Okay, it was a clumsy metaphor. But you see what I mean. It doesn't matter. It could be any apocalypse. It could be a tidal wave. It could be a meteor. It could be a volcano, a supernova. If everything and everyone around you is destined for imminent destruction, then nothing that I say or do will matter, because the timeline's not gonna branch. 'Cause it gets destroyed. Hence, the Variant could be hiding in the apocalypse and do whatever he wants, and we wouldn't know!" I see what Loki is getting at but I'm worried that Mobius will refuse to listen to him.
"Not bad."
"Take me to a real apocalypse, to Ragnarok, I'll show you."
"Yeah. So you can run away back to your homeland?" Mobius chuckles "I'm not taking you for a stroll along the promenade, much less an apocalypse."
"Oh, Mobius, come on!" Loki whines "What could possibly go wrong? We gotta properly test this theory." Loki spreads his arms but Mobius isn't budging.
"Well, here's a fun theory. You lure me out into the field, and stab me in the back. And that's a theory I don't wanna test." Loki looks extremely offended that Mobius would suggest such a thing.
"I'd never stab anyone in the back. That's such a boring form of betrayal."
"Loki, I've studied almost every moment of your entire life. You've literally stabbed people in the back, like, 50 times." Loki pauses and takes in a deep breath.
"Well, I'd never do it again, because it got old." Loki tries to defend himself but Mobius just laughs and says 'okay'
"Okay, look, you don't trust Loki or me but you can trust one thing. He loves to be right." I lean forward into the conversation and Loki points at me with a smile. Mobius switches his gaze between us then heaves a heavy sigh, "Alright, come on" He gestures to us as he stands and we follow with massive grins on our faces.

Whilst Mobius was gaining approval, me and Loki sat outside the office, waiting. I see Loki looking at me so I raise an eyebrow "What?"
"What were we, in the original timeline?" I feel my heart stop but Loki carries on "I know I was a dick whilst taking over the world but did we ever make up."
"We, um, I forced you to be my friend at the end of the battle. I then went up to Asgard with you to control my powers more." I explain, my heart hammering a million miles an hour. "I was there when you died, again, then saw your neck be snapped by Thanos. I guess I never really got over your death no matter how much I tried."
"What were we?" He asks again, I could feel his eyes bore into mine but I refused to look at him. This wasn't my Loki, I had to let my Loki go and lie to this Loki. I don't want to give him hope that we could work. I close my eyes "We were friends, just friends" I could feel the words burning a hole through my heart, why did it hurt so much to lie to him, he's not who I used to know. Mobius comes back to us and I follow him not wanting to sit next to Loki anymore.

Loki's POV
I frown as Avery walks after Mobius, I get up and follow them. When I came here, I never got to see any of the memories with Avery in them because I got distracted with my own death in the sacred timeline. I missed her, I wanted to take her with me when I took the tesseract but she was stood too far away. However, I know she's lying when she said we remained friends until the day I died. Avery looks too haunted by even looking at me for us to just be friends, I look at the back of her head as she talks to Mobius. I'm going to figure what we were to each other even if I have to kiss her to make her see that I'm still the same Loki. Seeing Avery again, unknown feelings have started to emerge and I want to explore them even if Avery doesn't.