I Did Everything For New York
Chapter 2: I Did Everything for New York
Loki got through the rest of the night with little trouble and in rare form apparently had slept through everyone else getting up. Normally he was still a light sleeper and whenever Mobius woke and tried to slip out of bed he would notice, but once in a blue moon he slept through it. And he was usually woken up in the best ways possible.
He blinked tiredly as he heard his name being called and then his nose scrunched a little as he felt a set of lips brush against the tip of his nose and he chuckled as green eyes finally met dazzilng ocean blues alight with a smile. "Hey kitten. Its nearly eleven, I thought you might like breakfast in bed." Loki looked down between them and indeed he did see a tray holding chocolate chip pancakes, a little cup of syrup for said pancakes, a little bowl of mixed berries, some eggs covered in a healthy amount of cheese and two sausage patties cooked to perfection and next to all of that sat a cup of tea.
Loki's smile only grew and he nodded as he slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position and carefully pulled over the tray. "This looks divine Mobi. Did you say it was almost eleven?" He said with a mild look of alarm.
Mobius nodded. "It's Saturday though. Remember?"
Loki relaxed again and gave a nod. "I do...still not usually like me to sleep in."
"Well...I figured you could use a couple extra hours. Sean mentioned in passing when he left for his friends house this morning that you had a nightmare. It's been a while. Are you alright?"
Loki chuckled. So long ago he would have been absolutely furious at someone for daring to speak of his weakness to another, but now he was just warmed by how much he was truly cared for. "I am. I promise. It was hardly even a bad one. That's why I didn't feel the need to wake you. I had a cup of tea and spoke of colleges with Sean for a little while and I felt much better." He said before he eagerly stuffed a bite of pancakes in his mouth and melted at the fluffy, warm wonders.
Mobius nodded, but he didn't look wholly convinced, he could feel him studying him so once he had chewed and swallowed he reached out and placed a hand on Mobius's cheek. "I'm okay. I was a little shaken, but I know it is nothing that will come to pass. It is just silly paranoia and old doubts." And he meant it to. He would kill himself or cut off any one of his limbs before he ever harmed one of his children. Period.
Those blue eyes studied him a moment more before Mobius nodded and settled back against the head board on his side of the bed. "Sean's really starting to put some effort into looking at colleges. Not that I'm complaining I'm just a little surprised I guess."
Loki chuckled a little. "Well, he will be starting a new point in his life and depending on where he goes spreading his wings a little. It is probably exciting, the prospect of flying for the first time on your own."
Mobius laughed at that. "There you go with your metaphors."
Loki laughed as well as he stuffed another bite of the pancakes in his mouth. Once he had chewed and swallowed though he looked down at his plate for a moment. "He wants to go to New York."
Mobius looked over to him with a startled expression. "New York?"
Loki nodded. "When we spoke last night I was asking him about some of the places he has been considering and he was...very adament. I tried to reason with him that it is to far away, there are much nicer places to go and he said he would look at other schools, but..." He poked at his breakfast before he set his fork down. "I know how much the allure of a seemingly forbidden place can sing to a child's curiosity, but New York Mobius...they..."
"Hey..." Mobius moved a little closer and ran one hand up and down his back along the fabric of his green and black robe. The other gently took one of his shaking hands. "It's okay. It's alright. No one knows you're here. You have wards in place remember? Everyone is okay."
Loki nodded as he clung to Mobius's hand and the let one running up and down his back ground him. His hands ceased their shaking and slowly he felt air be allowed back into his lungs. Everyone was was safe.
Mobius still stayed close for a couple more minutes before he looked up to him. "Better?"
Loki nodded as he lifted Mobius's hands to press a grateful kiss to the back of his knuckles before he let the hand go so he could return to his breakfast. "Please talk to him. I know it's not fair of me to hold him back from something and I never want to come off as unsupportive. I...I don't want to be...my father, but I don't know if my heart could take it Mobius. If something happened to him. It's so dangerous there."
Mobius nodded. "I will Loki, I promise you I will. I'll sit down and have a long talk with him about it tonight when he gets home from his friends house. I think sometimes you forget, that my nerves aren't exactly unshakable."
Loki laughed a little as he picked up his knife and fork once more. "I know, you just seem to handle it a lot better than I do sometimes."
"You gave me something to believe in, someone to believe in when everything I had thought to be true was nothing more than lies. It was my turn to be your pillar of strength. And for the record you are nothing like Odin and he wasn't your father. So don't even try and compare yourself to him. You are so much better. It's not unsupportive to want to protect your children. Alright?"
Loki nodded with a smile back on his face as he stuffed another bite of his pancakes in his mouth.
***
The three weeks that followed were nothing, but ordinary and thankfully after he had assumed Mobius and Sean had their conversation there had not been any more talk of New York. Thank Frigga a hundred times over. Instead he had started talking a little more about California or maybe Cambridge, which of course he would prefer Cambridge because that was closer, but California could be just as exciting as New York and anything was better than New York so it was fine.
This Friday night he had expected to be no different. They sat around the table feasting on the roast and root vegetables and homemade rolls that Loki had made for dinner. The boys talked about School. Mobius told a little about his day, but for the most part found other things to speak of. He didn't like to talk about work at the dinner table.
"I got accepted to NYU." Sean said out of nowhere.
Kevin glanced up wide eyed. "You're moving to New York? That's so cool! Do you think...they're one of the biggest names...go..."
The rest of the conversation slowly faded out as his own heartbeat pounded in his ears. He clutched at the shirt covering his chest and tried desperately to get some air. Mobius was up and out of his seat in a flash. "Loki? Hey...Loki...come on it's okay..."
Kevin and Sean who both only then seemed to realize that something was wrong stopped their excited chattering and were alarmed to see Loki in a state that they hadn't seen him in in a long time.
Loki clutched to Mobius's arms shaking his head. "Can't...Mobi...he...c-can't...please...Norns not him please not him."
"Loki?" Sean asked as he looked to Mobius who gave Sean a stern look that said they were going to have a serious discussion when he came back down before he gently pulled Loki from his chair and encouraged him up the stairs to their room.
"Lay down." He said gently as he sat him on the bed, but Loki was still trembling and clinging to his arms.
"C-can't..."
Mobius sat down next to him and wrapped his arms around him. Rocking him back and forth as he felt Loki's head lay itself on his shoulder despite the height difference between the two and Mobius started to hum gently.
Once he felt Loki's trembling calm down a little he looked down to meet frantic and terrified green eyes. "It's okay Loki." He said gently. "Maybe...maybe he'll be alright there. I mean...that school is pretty secure for what I've heard. Hey...hey okay.." He backed off the idea as he felt Loki shaking again. "Just calm down."
Loki nodded and finally after another couple of minutes he felt the god go limp in his arms. He sighed as he gently laid him down on the bed. Taking a minute the pull the covers back so that he could tuck him under them before he pulled them up and left the room.
Once the door had been pulled shut he made his way back downstairs to two worried young men who both immediately looked to him and at least Sean looked a little guilty. "Is...is he okay?"
Mobius took his seat once more. "He will be." Mobius said though he left off the hopefully part. "Kevin, can I have some time alone with your brother please?"
Kevin nodded as he collected his plate and made his way out to the living room to watch some TV.
Mobius looked to Sean. "You know how we both feel about New York Sean. Why do you want to go so badly? What's wrong with MIT?"
Sean sighed. "Dad I've wanted to go to New York since I was ten and I saw it on TV. Plus...I...I wouldn't be bored there. There's so much to do and see and hear. There's so many famous people there. Why does Loki hate it so much?"
Mobius had kind of felt out the situation when they got back to the timeline. Did some research, but it seemed SHIELD had done a really job of hiding anything from the media. The few photos and footage that did still show him had been grainy and not easily distinguishable so they had never really told the whole of Loki's backstory to the kids. They didn't really need to know as none of it truly mattered. They only needed to know that Loki loved them just as much as he did and that he would take care of them. They had never seen him use magic either. To them he was just Loki. Their cool second dad. "He...got into quite a bit of trouble in New York in his youth. He doesn't hate the city, but there are a lot of people against him who if they found him now and worse if they found out he had children they would potentially use you to get him and if they found him it...wouldn't be ideal."
"Okay...but I'm not asking him to move to New York. I'm not even asking him to come. I mean of course I want him there, I want both of you to come and visit sometimes, but surely it's been so long they wouldn't recognize him, couldn't he just wear a disguise? This is what I want dad."
Mobius lowered his head into hands. "I know." He said quietly. "I know. It's...not exactly fair, but don't you think you could go to school somewhere else and then when you're older you can take trips there? Because he does have a point it's pretty dangerous there. Didn't that Doom guy attack the city again just yesterday?"
Sean nodded excitedly. "Dad it was awesome! You should have watched the newsfeeds! When Hulk came in things ended pretty quickly and Wanda was a powerhouse! Have you seen her magic?!"
Mobius looked over at Sean. "Would you ever talk to me again if I told you it's not going to happen?"
Sean looked back down to his plate and poked at the carrots that remained. Though he had eaten most of them so Mobius wasn't to inclined to encourage him to eat anymore if he didn't want to. "I mean...yeah. You're my Dad...but I would still be hurt. I had to do a lot of work to get accepted and I don't really have a back up plan."
Mobius thought long and hard about that for a couple minutes before he looked over to him. "I will try and reason with Loki for a couple days. If he'll listen to anyone it's me, but if I can't change his mind you're not going. I know that sounds harsh, but maybe when you're older I can tell you more, his fears...they are valid. Moreso than you realize. Understood?"
Sean still wasn't thrilled about the prospect that there was a chance he might still be shot down yet, but he nodded. "I didn't mean to upset him."
Mobius's expression softened a little. "I know Sean. And I know it probably sounds absolutely stupid and a little harsh and that it seems like we're probably making a big deal out of nothing. I know this probably sounds so cliche, but he only wants to protect you. Both of you."
Sean groaned just a little on principal, but he still smiled a little. "I know. I honestly wish I felt the pull to anywhere else, but I just don't."
Mobius chuckled at the groan before he pushed himself up and collected plates from the table. "Now go get your brother so that we can clean up alright?"
"Yes dad." Sean said before he slid out of his seat to go and collect Kevin.