☆
Loki slowly approached Týr. The brunette was sitting on a rock by a small lake, Sylvie crouching closer to the water as she chucked stones across it.
Týr stared down at his hands as Loki took a seat on the rock beside him, scowling furiously at the growing scorch marks.
"I'm sorry." The ravenette murmured after a moment.
Týr looked up at him, nodding his head slightly in acceptance.
There was a pause.
"I remember Asgard." Týr began, looking back down to his fingers, "I remember my family, my home, my sister."
Loki just gazed at him, listening intently. There was a small splash as Sylvie threw another stone, causing Týr to glance at her for a moment, before he continued.
"The universe wants to break free, so it manifests chaos." He rubbed his fingers over the scorch marks on his palms, "Like me being born with my powers, or Sylvie, the goddess of mischief."
The demi-god followed the shorter man's gaze, looking at the blonde with an expression of slight regret.
"And as soon as that created a big enough detour from the Sacred Timeline, the TVA showed up, erased my reality, and took me prisoner. At the time, I tried running. Stole a TemPad and ran. But it didn't last." Týr sighed, taking a breath, before looking back at Loki, "I don't like to think about Asgard because of my nexus event. Because of what I did."
He scoffed.
"You know, you should feel lucky we're about to die, because I wouldn't be telling you this in any other circumstance."
Loki huffed out a laugh.
"I don't know why my powers are what they are, or why they hold the power that they do," The brunette went on, "But I just know that they can never fully be controlled. They take hold when my emotions are high, so I was never meant to experience any high emotions."
Another pause.
"I was never meant to fall in love."
Loki's eyes widened a fraction.
Týr cleared his throat, "But, I did. I loved someone, and I lost control. My sister barely survived, no one else."
He took another breath, looking out over the water.
"When I was running from the TVA, I thought I had purpose. I thought I could do something that would get them back. But everywhere and every-when I went, it just caused a nexus event. Because I'm not supposed to exist."
The two glanced at each other, knees brushing together, as Týr desperately told himself he was only sharing this because it didn't matter anymore.
Loki carefully placed a hand over Týr's, smiling at him softly.
"Not long now." They heard Sylvie murmur. She slowly shuffled closer to the pair, glancing up at them, "Do you think that what makes a Loki a Loki is the fact that we're destined to lose?"
"No." Loki answered, voice quiet, "We may lose. Sometimes painfully. But we don't die."
"You survive." Týr agreed, nodding at Sylvie, "I mean, you did. You were taken by the TVA, but you ended up nearly taking down the organisation that claims to govern the order of time. You did that on your own!"
Sylvie looked back up at the two with a soft smile.
A loud rumbling caused the trio to all turn their heads, right in time to see a large meteor crash into the ground, just across the lake.
Loki gripped Týr's hand, the brunette squeezing back.
They turned back to look at each other, Loki continuing to gaze at Týr with that same, soft smile.
A sound from behind them abruptly broke their trance, causing the three to spin round, standing quickly.
Three portal-doors had opened, immediately allowing the area to become flooded with Minutemen as the trio were dragged through.
Týr's hand was yanked from Loki's grip, six Minutemen detaining him as he was pulled through one if the portals.
He glanced towards Loki, eyes wide, struggling slightly when he was pulled away from the other man, to a separate part of the TVA.
The ravenette, in turn, struggled against the restraints of the two Minutemen leading him.
Týr glowered at Mobius, before he was led away, round a corner.
"Well?" Mobius asked, as Loki was marched down another hallway.
"Well what?" He snapped.
"I know you got some quip you're dyin' to say."
"Oh, I don't have a quip. I've got nothing to say to you."
"Oh, come on."
"And why does Týr need so much security?" Loki spat, still tugging against the hold of the Minutemen.
"Why'd you think?"
"Then why aren't you with him, now, instead?"
Mobius ignored the question, "You just can't help yourself."
"You betrayed me!"
"You betrayed me!" Mobius retorted.
"Oh, grow up!"
"You grow up."
They approached a Time Theatre, the doors being opened for them.
"You know, it occurred to me that you're not really the God of Mischief." Mobius started.
"Oh, here it comes. The folksy, dopey insult from the folksy dope." Loki sneered, "What am I? The God of Self-Sabotage, yeah? The God of Back-Stabbing?"
"You're just kind of an asshole and a bad friend. Yeah, chew on that for a little bit." He clicked something on his TemPad, "All right, it's ready."
Another portal opened in front of Loki, this one red instead of the usual orange.
"What is this?"
"You'll see."
"Mobius!" The demi-god yelled, trying to pull away from the portal.
"Okay. No, no, no, let him, one last desperate trick from the desperate trickster. Go ahead."
Loki sighed, "The TVA is lying to you."
Mobius scoffed, then nodded to the Minutemen holding Loki, "Put him in."
"No!"
☆
Mobius knocked on the door, before opening it and letting himself in, "Hey."
Ravonna let out a sigh mixed with a small chuckle, "Shouldn't you be interrogating the Loki Variant?"
"He's softening in the time cell," Mobius answered, slowing walking over to her desk, "But while he marinates, I thought maybe I'd interview the other Variant."
"Oh, no." She shook her head, "Just stick with your Loki and figure out what that nexus spike was."
"I know, but I think I can get there faster if I work them all together. Remember you said we have a part to play, and the part I play-"
"Absolutely not." Ravonna cut him off, "She's just too dangerous."
"Too dangerous? Come on, Ravonna. This is what I do."
"And this is what I do. Nobody speaks with that Variant."
Mobius let out a small sigh, continuing in a quieter voice, "I mean she can't be more dangerous than Týr, and I've been working with him for ages now."
"He's being kept in his new cell, you're not going to talk to him either."
"What?" He turned, shaking his head. "I mean, if there's a mastermind here, I don't think it's Loki."
"Good. Then he should be the easiest to break." The woman smiled, "Work your Loki and figure out what caused that spike. Time-Keepers are watching, Mobius."
"They're always watching. 'Work your Loki, work your Loki.' That ought to be my mantra." Mobius threw over his shoulder as he turned and walked back to the door, closing it behind him.
☆
"Okay, Loki." Mobius' voice came from the doorway Sif was supposed to be emerging from again, causing him to turn. "You ready to talk?"
Loki let out a breath of relief as Mobius re-opened the red portal and led him back out into the interrogation room.
"Fancy technology." He remarked, glaring at the other man as he circled the table and pulled out a chair, "Threatening interrogation tactics. Seems you and I are in a loop of our own." He sat down.
"Well, there's been a lot of water under the bridge since then." Mobius picked up a pencil, looking down at the papers in front of him.
"Certainly has."
"Okay, you said the TVA is lying to me. Go ahead." He nodded, "Or is that just a cockroach's survival mechanism kicking in?"
"Let me out of this place, stop beating me up, and I'll tell you." The ravenette's retorted, arms crossed over his chest defensively.
"Cockroach. Got it. How long have you been working for the Variant?"
Loki paused, taken aback, "Me? Working for her? Please."
"Okay, so if you're not working for the Variant, what is it? You're partners?"
"Absolutely not." He shook his head. "She's difficult and irritating, and she tries to hit me all the time."
Mobius just looked at him.
"No. Not partners, no."
"Yeah, I guess you don't do partners." Mobius agreed, "Unless, of course, it benefits you, and you intend to betray them at some point. Same for Týr I'm assuming?"
"It was a means to an end, Mobius. Welcome to the real world. Down there, we're awful to get what we want."
"Now I gotta have a prince tell me how the real world works? Why don't you just tell me what caused the nexus event on Lamentis?"
"Let me say this again. I'm not going to tell you, just so you can turn around immediately afterwards and prune me."
Mobius nodded, sitting back in his chair, "I guess we've reached a dead end then."
"Okay, it's over." Loki nodded back.
"I'm gonna miss these little tete-a-tetes."
"Me too."
"One guy playing checkers, you, old Mobius playing chess," He stood up, fiddling with his TemPad, "But, yeah, give my regards to Lady Sif."
"What... No." Loki started shaking his head, "What? No, no, no. Please, not... Well, just wait, wait, wait."
"Yeah?" Mobius looked up from his TemPad.
The ravenette took in a breath. "Of course it was me pulling the strings all along."
Mobius sat back down, putting the TemPad away.
"She came to me on Asgard a long time ago and then she took me to one of her apocalypses and that's where we hatched our plan together."
"Which is?"
"Coming along very nicely, thank you."
"And how does Týr figure in all this?" He asked.
"Doesn't matter. He's a pawn. They both are." The taller man shrugged, before continuing, "Something very, very big is gonna happen. And when it does, I'll dispose of him."
"Well, we saved you the trouble there. He's already been pruned. So assume I do set you free-"
"Hang on, wait. Hang on." Loki cut him off, leaning over the table slightly, "What'd you just say?"
"What? Assume I do set you free." Mobius repeated.
"Týr. He's gone?"
"Yeah. Not before he took out like three of ours. Yeah, we've been keeping him around to try and figure out why he can still use magic in the TVA, but, after that last stunt you two pulled, the Time-Keepers decided he was just too dangerous." He explained, "He put up quite a fight, took down three guys before Hunter B-15 stepped in and popped him."
Loki looked away, staring at the table, eyes wide as he attempted to process the news. He furiously pushed away the tears he could feel beginning to form.
"So you might want to fire off a thank-you note to Hunter B-15, because it looks like she already disposed of him for you." Mobius let out a small sigh, "Guess Loki's are the superior Variant. I would've bet on Týr, but that's what makes a horse race. Shame, really. I was growing fond of the guy."
Loki sat back in his seat shrugging, "Good riddance."
Mobius looked back up at the other man, taking in his expression, before he started tapping his pencil and chuckling.
"What's so funny?"
"Come on." He laughed, "You're just like- look at your eyes. You like him."
"What?"
"You like him. Does he like you? I mean I'd be careful there, he doesn't exactly have a good track record-"
"Was he pruned?"
"-I mean, no wonder you have no clue what caused the nexus event on Lamentis. Both of you are just swooning over each other. I guess-" Mobius continued, still chuckling slightly.
"Mobius! Tell me the truth!"
"-It's the apocalypse! You're crushing on a Variant who's ability to fall in love quite literally breaks reality. That's pure chaos!"
"Is he alive?" Loki exclaimed.
"For now. Believe it or not, I'm on the side of wanting Týr alive. I meant it when I said i've grown fond of him."
The demi-god let out a sigh of relief.
Mobius paused for a moment, before moving on. "Was infiltrating the TVA, was that always sort of the grand plan with the other Loki?"
"She calls herself Sylvie." The ravenette corrected after clearing his throat to respond.
"Huh, Sylvie." He scribbled it down.
"Our interests are aligned."
"Overthrowing the Time-Keepers?"
"Maybe they need to be overthrown."
"I ought to box your ears." Mobius shook his head.
"Mobius, listen. If what Sylvie told me and Týr about this place is true, it affects all of us."
"He we go. Now, you've already told me about 50 lies in the past 10 minutes-"
"I'm not lying-"
"-and now, I'm supposed to believe your new terrorist buddy-"
"-I'm telling you the truth."
"-that's just a copy-paste of you, and your pyromaniac boyfriend."
"He's not my boyfriend."
"Whatever you want to call him. What, a highly-dangerous Variant you have a, literally, world-ending crush on-"
"You're all Variants!" Loki yelled, slamming his hands down on the table, "Everyone who works at the TVA. The Time-Keepers didn't create you, they kidnapped you from the timeline, and erased your memories. Memories Sylvie can access through enchantment."
Mobius stared at him in utter silence.
"So before this, you had a past, maybe you had a family, a life."
The two sat there in silence for a few moments.
"Nice try." Mobius finally spoke up.
Loki sighed and shook his head, leaning back in his seat.
"That was good. You three, what a trio! Gosh! Unbelievable. Wherever you go, it's just death, destruction, the literal ends of worlds!" He exclaimed, "Well, I'm gonna have to close this case now, 'cause I don't need you anymore. Yeah, or as you might say, 'our interests are no longer aligned'."
Two minutemen strode into the room, marching over to where the demi-god sat.
"You know, of all the liars in this place, and there are a great many, you're the biggest." Loki told him, as he was pulled to his feet by the minutemen.
"Why? 'Cause I lied about your boyfriend?"
"Oh, no. That I can respect. I mean the lies you tell yourself."
The red portal re-opened and Loki was shoved in, Mobius looking over to watch him disappear through.
☆
unedited
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
hii! long time no see :) been busy with school work and suffering from writers block :'D updates may take a while but im trying my best!
also there may be a couple people who read/were aware of my wilbur x male!oc fic so im just gonna address that- it has been deleted. shubble has all my support and if anyone still supports wilbur after this you can get the fuck out <3
- Arachnid
word count: 2428