LOVE IS A DAGGER | Loki Laufeyson

05. The Variant [P3]

"Scared little boy." He muttered, after a moment.

"Yes, it was quite patronising. I thought it was a bit too far, actually."

"You're very clever." Mobius remarked, abruptly getting up.

Loki's eyebrows furrowed, his expression a mixture of confusion and offence, whilst Týr just tilted his head.

"I know." Loki stated, getting up to follow Mobius, Týr following suit.

"The Variant left something behind at an old crime scene." Mobius explained, leading Loki and Týr through the shelves of files. "A cathedral. A candy box. An obvious anachronism. I gave it to Analysis, but they couldn't find anything real."

"Why does that matter?" Loki asked.

"'Cause now we have two variables." Mobius answered, opening a container on the shelf, "Apocalyptic natural disasters and... Kablooie."

He pulled out the candy box, presenting it to the pair behind him.

"What's that?"

"Candy. Do you have candy on Asgard?"

"Yeah. Grapes, nuts."

"No wonder you're so bitter." Týr muttered, earning an offended look from Loki.

"I thought you were Asgardian?"

"Like I said, don't like to think about it. Plus, at least I've had candy." He stated, turning to follow Mobius as he walked away.

Mobius set down the stack of files on the desk.

"Okay. Kablooie was only sold regionally on Earth from 2047 to 2051. All you gotta do is cross-reference that with every apocalyptic event. I'm gonna give you each a third, and let's make it a competition, see who finds it." Mobius suggested, handing both Týr and Loki a fairly equal stack of files.

"Sure."

"You wanna bet something? Gentleman's bet?"

"Oh, absolutely." Týr agreed, grinning.

"Yeah, let's play for pride. Okay. May the best man win. Go."

The three sat down, immediately beginning to quickly comb through the files.

"Anything?" Mobius asked.

"Uh... It's not the climate disaster of 2048."

"Or the tsunami of 2051." Týr muttered.

"Let's go. Let's go. Come on." Mobius encouraged, flipping through his papers.

"2050. The extinction of the swallow... is that a thing?" Loki questioned, glancing up at the other two.

"Completely screwed up the ecosystem." Mobius confirmed.

"Krakatoa erupted in 2049 as well. No Kablooie."

"Odin, it's just one damn thing after another, isn't it?" Týr sighed, discarding another file, "Cyclone, famine, volcanoes, floods-"

"Got him." Loki said, displaying the file to Mobius and Týr, "That's where he is."

"Alabama, 2050." Týr read, nodding in approval, then looking up to smile at Loki, "Good job, Loki."

Loki grinned, smugly.

"You're gonna take my job if I'm not careful." Mobius remarked.

"Mobius, you sweet, lovely, boring man. Nobody else wants your/ job." The brunette teased, grinning at the other man, "It's way too much desk work."