Chapter 3
Loki had told them all he knows. It must've taken a good hour to get through everything, including what he never got a chance to tell them before he went to fix it all. The first thing they questioned was how long he had actually been through that loop. He didn't say. He knew better than to make them feel guilty for his centuries of learning for the sake of nothing. A waste of time. He wasn't exactly thrilled about thinking of that while he was holding the different timelines together. But, hey, he was a god. It was more like spending hours sewing something just to learn you've sewed it into your shirt and have to undo all the stitching. Except perhaps a bit more strenuous. The next thought was anything that may help figure this out, but generally speaking, they had nothing. O.B. and Casey of course volunteered to think up some things while the rest of them took a breather. Especially Loki. So, pie break it was.
Mobius stood from his seat as O.B. and Casey started walking away. "Don't get distracted, you two!" Mobius calls after them, laughing a bit when Casey turns around to give a double thumbs up. He knew better than to believe that. Loki looks between them. "Distracted with what? Those two are the fastest thinkers I know." He starts walking with Mobius and B-15 in the other direction, heading for the break room. Mobius gives him a look before smacking himself in the head, "That's right, you don't know." He shakes his head. "Those two have been circling around eachother. Neither of them are straightforward enough to ask if their little outings are dates or not. Though I wouldn't exactly call them outings, either. They've stayed at the TVA. Haven't even looked at their timelines." Loki raises his brows with a simple, "Oh." "Oh? That's it? I was honestly surprised." Mobius laughs. B-15 gives him a look. "You're not very observant for an analyst. They were practically spinning their heads off over that little guidebook." Mobius just shrugs. Loki looks around a bit as they talk and walk, enjoying the familiarity. It felt like home. Or, rather, the closest thing to home he's ever known. Mobius certainly felt like home. Still it was being threatened. He couldn't help but worry. "I kind of just thought they were fanboying. Didn't think they were like that. I'm happy for them." Loki smiles despite the anxiety. Mobius nods, looking up at him. "What's with the horns, anyway?" He asks, out of the blue, grabbing at one of them, making Loki laugh. "Why do you still have them on? C'mon, you're not sitting on a throne right now. Just be your normal self." Loki rolls his eyes, the crown beginning to shrink down until it tucked away into gold earrings. His cape also disappeared. Mobius eyed them, "Nice touch." "I try to keep it classy. Especially after being forced to wear a brown suit for so long." Mobius almost looked genuinely offended at that. "It's fashionable!" Loki gave him a look and a smirk. "You're so full of shit, Mobius." Mobius laughs, "Yeah, well, we can't all look as good as you, your majesty." Loki rocked his head to the side in a though. "Well..I could. But seeing as how you love your suit so much, I won't change your clothes for you." Mobius is about to jump on that until B-15 beats him to it. "Wait, can you change mine?" "Of course. I mean, I figure with some freedom around here, you guys would've already gone and bought stuff from different timelines to wear." There's a pause. Mobius thinks for a moment. "We don't really..understand currency like that. We know the logitistics but there's just so many timelines. They're all different. Hard to understand." He shrugs. Loki just laughs and turns back to B-15. "Anything in particular you'd like?" She gives a shrug. "Whatever you think is easiest." Loki narrows his eyes, expecting more. He honestly wished these people would indulge in freedom every once in a while. He quickly makes something up for her, something he thinks fits her personality well. When she looks down, there's the brightest smile on her face. Loki has to stop and look at her. He didn't realize how much the TVA has taken from her, too. She deserved this. "Can't believe I'm saying this, but thank you, Loki" "Anytime, B." She softens her gaze at him. "I guess Mobius' love for you might just be rubbing off on me." She jokes but it ticks something in Mobius' mind. He knows it's a joke, but it's still-... He moves closer to Loki. "I didn't even have to work that hard." Loki jokes and B-15 just smiles. They finally get to the break room and Loki immediately makes a beeline for the pie, ignoring everyone's eyes. He hadn't exactly eaten in a while, and some key-lime sounded pretty good right about now. With Mobius in tow, people around them seemed to become more scattered, now certain that this wasn't another variant that had somehow wound up at the TVA even with the shutdown of its former rules. This was the Loki. This was Mobius' Loki.
"What are you guys feeling? Cause, personally, if I don't get some sort of food in my mouth right now, I'm going to start breaking things." Mobius walks up behind him, hitting a few buttons since Loki was clearly hangry and struggling. "Same as you. Can't go wrong with key-lime. Or apple. But this stuff is always the best. Nice texture. Unlike pumpkin. Can't stand pumpkin." B-15 had moved to talk to one of her colleagues when they began to question Loki's presence. She quickly explained as best she could, but obviously it still left confusion. She just ended it with 'Mobius is handling it' and that was that. Everyone knew about Mobius and his favorite little obsession. So they weren't all that shocked when they looked back to see the man leaning against the counter, smiling up at Loki as he spoke. Mobius had never seemed more.. content. Just happy to have him back. B-15 talked a bit more with her colleague before thinking it'd probably be best to leave the two be, getting some food and going back to her station to help out. One can only third wheel for so long. Again, Mobius was a terrible analyst if he couldn't piece together their feelings for eachother.