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They were in the elevator, heading down to R&A to get Loki’s weird affliction sorted out. Loki had a wild look in his eyes, like that of a trapped animal. He felt a strong urge to grab him by the arms, like that would somehow anchor him in time and space. If Mobius was being honest with himself, he also had other selfish reasons for wanting to grab the god by the arms.
He and Loki had become part of each other’s personal space since their first meeting. It had annoyed him how much he had missed the traitorous god’s presence by his side even after his betrayal at Roxxcart, and he had lashed out when they were reunited. When the dust had settled he knew he’d become too possessive of someone who never belonged to him in the first place, so when they’d said goodbye in the Void, Mobius had planned to leave his romantic feelings at the time-door. It was a plan that failed miserably. He’d held onto hope that the god would find his way back to him.
Then all of a sudden, there he was, barrelling towards him, and those desperate blue eyes saw no one but Mobius.
Mobius wanted to keep his head on straight and give Loki whatever he needed right now but his heart was being pulled apart. He was confused, worried, relieved, and overcome with yearning all at once. It didn’t help that Loki looked, by some miracle, more attractive than he’d ever looked before.
His curls were a greasy mess and his sweat-soaked shirt stuck to him like a second skin. His slacks looked ready to rip at the seams at the slightest movement. His strong forearms were exposed and his long fingers were digging into his own hips. Mobius snapped out of his daze when he realised he was staring. He glanced up at the god from the corner of his eye to see if he’d been caught.
He did a double-take.
Something was off. The wild panic in Loki’s expression was gone. His body was no longer tense. His eyes burned with defiance and his jaw was set with determination.
“Loki?” asked Mobius, tentative and more than a little scared.
Blue eyes met his own, and for the first time in his life, Mobius couldn’t read Loki.
The elevator dinged.
Mobius glanced at the doors and then back at Loki. The god made a strange gesture, raising his index finger. Mobius looked back at the elevator doors, expecting to find them open.
They weren’t.
“Loki, what’s going on? Did you do that?” asked Mobius, his voice level, gesturing at the doors.
“Mobius,” said Loki after a long pause, staring at him intensely. “I’ve been timeslipping.”
“Is that what you’re calling it?” he asked.
“No, Mobius. I’m from the future. Our future. I’ve seen the timelines get destroyed countless times, I’ve tried to fix it countless times, I’ve failed countless times, I’ve seen you die countless times…” said Loki. He spoke fast, his voice devoid of emotion, as if repeating something he’d said time and time again.
Mobius paused to take it all in. He stared at the god and saw clearly that Loki was on the verge of a breakdown.
“Okay. I believe you,” said Mobius. “I take it this means you learn to control the… timeslipping in the future. That’s a pretty cool power. Much cooler than stopping elevators.”
His attempt at humour falls flat. Loki continues to stare at him but this time there’s a vacant sadness in his eyes.
“I know, I heard ya. I mean we all gotta die sometime, right?” said Mobius, reading Loki’s facial expression. He’s relieved he still can.
Loki sighed.
“Not you, Mobius. Not ever. Not if I have any say in it,” said Loki, seething, “and I am a god, goddammit! I have power over time so you’re sure as Hel never running out of it.”
Mobius inhaled sharply. Now that it was pointed out to him, he wondered how he hadn’t sensed it before. Loki hadn’t stopped the elevator. He’d stopped time itself. He looked over at him. The god was breathing hard, running a hand through his hair and shaking his head.
“I shouldn’t have come here. I didn’t mean to come here, I lost control, and when I lose control it always sends me back to you,” rambled Loki, dragging a palm over his face and then pressing the heels of his hands against his temples.
“Loki, your powers have always been instinctual. Maybe they’re trying to tell you something,” suggested Mobius. “Maybe I’m supposed to help you.”
Loki laughed humourlessly. “I know full well what they’re trying to tell me, Mobius.” He took a deep breath, composing himself, then continued, “It’s easy to lose your bearings within your mind when you’ve lost them in time and space. I’m just trying to remember who I am. You remind me, Mobius. That’s why I keep coming back to you.”
Mobius flushed. His heart was racing and he couldn’t keep up with his thoughts. There were so many ways this could go, so many things he could say, so many questions to ask. He’d probably said it all in countless time-loops he can’t remember.
“How does this usually go?” asked Mobius.
Loki let out an exasperated sigh. “You ask me how the TVA gets destroyed, what I’ve tried to do to fix it, what I could try next, when was the last time I ate or slept, how long have I been timeslipping for,” said Loki, once again, as if reading a list aloud.
“And you keep coming back for a recap?” asked Mobius with a wry smile.
“I keep trying to reassure you I’ve heard it all before, that I’ve tried it all before. Everything gets destroyed by the time I’m done explaining. This is the first time I’ve come back since learning to stop time and this the first time you didn’t immediately overwhelm me with questions,” said Loki. “We’re both learning, I suppose. Even though you don’t remember any of it.” He paused, then continued, “You’re a smart man, Mobius.”
They were silent for a moment, holding each other’s gaze. Loki had moved to lean his shoulder against the elevator wall, facing Mobius. They were close but not close enough, never close enough.
“So, you’re not here for a recap,” said Mobius slowly, breaking the silence. “What do you need from me, Loki?”
The god inched closer, his voice low and serious as he said, “It hasn’t happened to you yet, but you risk your life to fix my timeslipping. It isn’t the first time you’ve risked everything for me. All that self-sacrifice and for what? You die in the end, never getting a chance to live, or make a single selfish decision. You die while I-”
“No!” said Mobius, interrupting him, “I’m not gonna listen to some self-deprecating tirade about why it should’ve been the selfish god of mischief who dies instead. You say I never got a chance to live, but I have lived. And you gave me that, Loki. You gave me a life worth living.”
“But is it really your life when every decision you’ve made since the day we met revolved around me?”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Well, I would. I want you to ride a jetski. I want you to settle down and live a normal life. I want you to watch sunset after sunset, just letting time pass.”
“Of course, I want those things, Loki, but I want them with you!”
This revelation was met with stunned silence. Then the god’s face crumpled. He pressed his forehead to Mobius’ shoulder.
“I do not deserve you,” he whispered as hot tears fell upon Mobius’ suit jacket.
Mobius chuckled, choking on his own unshed tears. “You’re the god of mischief, and now time apparently. I think you’ve earned the company of a boring analyst,” he said, his voice light and lilting.
Loki pulled away to look him in the eye with a heart-meltingly fond smile. A large hand cupped the side of Mobius’ face and a gentle finger brushed away a tear he hadn’t noticed escaped.
“What if I want more than just your company, Mobius?” Loki breathed.
Mobius’ heart soared like he’d just stepped off a cliff as realisation dawned on him. His ears ringing, hearing nothing but the sound of his own thundering heartbeat, he let himself fall, yanking Loki forward by his tie and crashing their lips together.
He kissed him with elation, a joyful smile on his lips. Loki kissed back with fervency. It took only a moment for the kiss to turn heated, hands desperately trying to be everywhere at once. Mobius licked at the seam of Loki’s lips and the god let him in, tongues sliding past each other. In all the eons of his existence, Mobius had never felt so alive.
Loki pulled away abruptly, fingers still gripping short silver hair. “I can’t stay. And you won’t remember a thing,” he said, breathing laboured and face flushed.
Mobius clung to him, holding on by the straps of his dagger harness. “Then you’ll just have to remember for both of us. And when all of this is over, when you find your way back to me,” he said, “I want you to show me what we did.”
Loki nodded vigorously. Then Mobius pulled him forward again and kissed him hard. He sucked on Loki’s bottom lip and the god moaned, involuntarily thrusting his hips forward. The friction elicited a cry of pleasure from Mobius that made their passionate kiss turn even hungrier. Loki pulled away to trail kisses down his neck and then dragged his hands down his heaving chest as he sank to his knees. Mobius squirmed under his palms.
“Loki,” Mobius moaned breathlessly, throwing his head back as long elegant fingers touched him through his slacks. “Loki!” Mobius hissed when those fingers undid the button of his slacks and slowly, reverently, unzipped his fly.
He looked down at the god on his knees before him and wondered if he was the luckiest man in the multiverse. Loki met his gaze, eyes dark with desire as he pulled the slacks down to Mobius’ ankles. Then Loki palmed his cock through his briefs.
He hissed through gritted teeth, eyes wide, and Loki drank in the reaction with a smirk. “Since when are you the patient one?” complained Mobius.
The god merely shushed him and then pulled his briefs all the way down. His cock sprang free and Loki looked up at it, grinning wickedly. Mobius groaned at the divinely obscene sight before him, transfixed. Then, holding his gaze, Loki licked a stripe up his dick. Mobius gasped, shuddering, his hips stuttering. Two large hands steadied him, their grip gentle but firm.
Mobius looked down to find Loki's eyes squeezed shut in pleasure, a blush colouring his sharp cheekbones. Then, those thin pink lips closed around the head of his cock.
“Fuck!” cried Mobius, his left hand shooting out to grip Loki's hair. He urged the god closer and he obliged, swallowing his throbbing length, moaning all the while. The vibrations sent electric heat shooting through Mobius to pool low in his belly. When Loki pulled back to suck on the head of his dick, Mobius saw stars.
“Loki, please,” Mobius whimpered. He could feel that familiar pressure building up, the kind he sometimes allowed himself to feel in the privacy of his chambers, thinking of Loki.
The god swiped a hot tongue across the leaking slit of his cock before sinking back down again. Mobius tugged on his hair, his hips desperate to move.
The grip on his left hip disappeared. Before he could look down to see where the hand had gone, he felt it, caressing his balls. Mobius went still, teetering on the edge of a precipice. Loki must have sensed it because he looked up at him and they locked eyes. Then the god hollowed out his cheeks and sucked hard. Every muscle in Mobius' body tensed when he came. He clenched his jaw, senses blocking out everything except the feeling of all-encompassing pleasure washing over him. Part of his brain was counting the number of times his hips jerked forward to spill into Loki's eager mouth but he quickly lost count. Loki moaned, swallowing diligently till there was nothing left to swallow.
The god rose to his feet and Mobius held him close to his chest as he came down from his high. Then, he spun them around and reached down to palm Loki, but he grabbed his wrist.
“I won't last a moment more,” said Loki. Mobius looked down at the tented front of the god's slacks. Loki undid his own zipper and gingerly pulled his slacks down with his briefs. “Just touch me,” said the god.
Mobius had to take a moment to appreciate the sheer length of Loki's dick. He'd seen it before but it was mind-numbingly thrilling to have it within his reach. He wrapped a hand around it firmly. A low guttural sound escaped Loki's throat. Mobius pumped him once, twice, and then the god came, pulsing in his grip, spilling all over his fist.
Loki was panting, head bowed, his handsome face framed by locks of raven black hair. Mobius touched his cheek with his other hand and the god leaned into the touch. Their eyes met and they both broke into soft, almost shy smiles.
Then Mobius looked away, feeling a little guilty about the mess they’d made, and gasped when he saw the elevator doors were open.
“I must have lost control,” said Loki, seemingly unfazed.
“You sure did,” Mobius replied smugly.
Fortunately the hallway beyond was deserted. They dressed themselves quickly. Mobius peered outside, holding the door open with his foot. Something caught his eye.
“Loki, is- is that supposed to happen?” asked Mobius, his throat going dry as he watched a filing cabinet outside turn to gravity-defying ribbons. This was not how he imagined the world ending.
The god put a reassuring hand on his shoulder and turned him around.
“I’m so sorry, Mobius. But this is goodbye,” he said, his voice breaking.
Mobius nodded solemnly, knowing he needed to be strong for Loki. They locked eyes and he saw his pain reflected in pools of icy blue.
“Well, I can’t think of a better way to go,” he said, his voice coming out hoarse. “See you in another time-loop, Loki.”
“I love you, Mobius. More than you can ever know.”
“I love you so much, Loki.”
An overwhelming surge of affection knocked him off-balance and he stumbled forward, collapsing in Loki’s open arms. Loki held him tight as the world around them began to spaghettify.
“I’ll fix this, I promise,” whispered Loki, pulling away to look into his eyes.
They kissed. It was desperate and tasted of salty tears. Loki held Mobius till there was nothing left to hold onto.
The last thing Mobius felt was warm hands cupping his face as the rest of his body went cold and numb. He didn’t dare look down at himself. Instead he held Loki’s gaze, tracing the lines of the face he had loved for centuries. It was the last thing he saw.
Words echoed in his head as his vision faded to black.
I promise.