"Where are you taking me?"
"I'm taking you to one of our unused bedrooms here at the TVA. Now I don't want you to worry, It's a nice room. It might not be up to the standards of a god like yourself but it will have to do for now," Mobius paused for a breath. "so.. what do you say Loki?"
"I- What?" Slightly confused, Loki cleared his throat and started again," You expect me to be able to let my guard down enough to be able to rest in a place I'm not familiar with? Near people, I don't know. I thought you said you knew me.." Mobius stayed silent, adding to Loki's frustration.
Mobius had already sussed out that this Loki uses frustration and anger as an illusion. An illusion which couldn't fool Mobius, he could see that behind the scary persona Loki put on, he was just a scared little boy. A scared boy who was lost and needed direction. Needed fixing. And that was exactly what Mobius was willing to do.
The rest of their journey was silent. Despite all of Loki's backchat, he continued to follow Mobius down each hallway, all the way to the little bedrooms hidden away from the normal busy life at the TVA. Once Mobius had reached the door assigned to Loki, he had a sudden thought.
"Ok lokes, this can go one of 2 ways, either you stay in your room, alone, with the door locked." He paused, and Loki shifted on his feet. "Or you follow me, just down the hall to my room. That way you won't be alone and as long as you don't misbehave, we can keep the door unlocked." Mobius could see Loki's brain working, trying desperately to think of the better option.
"I don't want to be alone right now." Loki muttered, immediately realising how desperate and dependent that made him sound, "Only! Uh only because you know how those guys out there get. They're ready to prune me on sight.." Loki avoided Mobius' eyes instead favouring looking down the long corridor. "Is your room a lot further?"
Mobius let out a small sigh, "No Loki, don't you worry about that. My room is just a few doors down. B-12 wanted to make sure I was near you at all times, so she placed our rooms close to each other." Mobius smiled and caught Loki's glare.
"Is that why you're inviting me to your room then?" Loki started, growing visibly irritated, "Just to keep an eye on me, hah! You don't trust me, do you?" Loki didn't mean to sound so raw and offended as he sounded, but at this point, he was too exhausted to care. That was tomorrow Loki's problem. #
"What? No, lokes. Of course, I trust you!! If it were up to higher authority, you wouldn't have a bedroom just like all the other variants at the TVA." Mobius defended himself "Count yourself lucky Loki."
It was a mixture of being scared of angering Mobius and just pure exhaustion that shut Loki up. Standing still now with his arms crossed Loki started, "Can we please get to your room now?". At this point, Loki had lost all his dignity, he could hear how whiney he sounded.
"Alright, Alright follow me," Mobius sighed, he was now also showing visible signs of exhaustion. Putting his hand on the small of Loki's back, He guided the taller male a few doors down.
then he began again, "Well this is it, shall we go in?" Loki only nodded in response. "Alright, you're the boss," Mobius opens the door, briefly letting go of Loki's back so he could close the door behind himself. Loki turned around at the loss of contact, feeling lost without Mobius' direction. As Mobius turned back around, he noticed Loki's lost gaze in his direction and decided to take the lead to try and reduce Loki's anxiety which at this point he could almost feel radiating off of him.
"Would you like a little tour?"
Loki nodded, "That would be nice....and thank you."
"for what?", Mobius gave him an intrigued look.
".....for not leaving me alone in this place..", Loki looked down at his feet, feeling embarrassed at his uneasiness.
Mobius paused and turned around to face the dark-haired god and looked up into his eyes. Placing his hands on his shoulders, Mobius comforted him, "Loki, I would never leave you unattended at the TVA, and that's not because of some rule the higher-ups made... It's because I care about you Loki!"
Loki froze for a second, then replied, "You care about me?". This surprised him. How could someone he met just a few days ago, well he thinks it's been a few days. Who knows, it could have been weeks. how could this stranger say he cared about him? His thoughts started to spiral further and further. Loki started to question the legitimacy of what the silver-haired man had just said to him. Was he lying? Maybe he was just trying to gain his trust to gain an advantage over him, or perhaps to betray him later on or use him for leverage-
"Yes, I care about you! Now how about this tour?"
Before Loki had time to answer, Mobius started walking around the small cosy apartment, pointing at different doors and naming rooms.
"So that's the bedroom, Bathroom, there's a sofa in that room plus a little kitchen if you can even call it that," he laughed to himself, "It's just a little sink, tiny fridge and a microwave. I hardly spend any time in here so I don't use any of that stuff anyways." Mobius chuckles, and Loki stays silent still a little sceptical of Mobius' kindness.
"soo... would you like a shower?? Or I don't mind if you wanted to slip right into bed and have a good ol' rest, it's up to you lokes."
Loki contemplated his options for a short while, but his exhaustion won over and he stopped analysing, "I think I'll take you up on the shower."
Mobius gave a short nod and wordlessly wandered over to a dresser and crouched down, receiving a small pile of clothes from the bottom drawer. Standing back up and remaining silent, Mobius walked back over to Loki and handed him the small pile.
"Here, these should fit. Take as much time as you need. We aren't in any rush After all," he half smiled at the raven-haired man standing in front of him.
"Thanks," Loki nodded turned on his heel and headed to the bathroom. Just as he was about to walk in, Loki turned around. Mobius was staring right at him! As they made eye contact, Mobius averted his gaze.
"uh.. well have a nice shower Loki," he said, as he began walking to the bedroom. It was now Loki's turn to stare at the other man as he walked the short distance to the bedroom, entered, and then closed the door behind him.
Loki was extremely exhausted at this point however that did not deter the idea of escape from his mind. he pondered the idea of escape for a few moments until the shower won him over. Stepping into the bathroom, Mobius' bathroom, was a complete change of scenery. It was clean and spent just like Mobius, it sort of strangely comforted Loki.
Quickly undressing, he turned on the shower and jumped in, relishing the sensation of the hot water hitting his skin. It felt great, he could feel all the stress melt away from his body. His entire body relaxed and he finally felt relaxed for the first time he's been at the TVA. Leaning his head back, Loki let the hot water cascade through his raven hair, savouring the sensation. Closing his eyes, Loki let out a shaky sigh while running one of his hands through his hair, separating his curls.
He opened his eyes, searching the surfaces of the bathroom, looking for anything he could use. His eyes landed on some TVA-issued shampoo, conditioner and body wash. While the shampoo and conditioner looked untouched, the body wash was half empty, reminding Loki that he was in fact, in Mobius' apartment.
Loki finished rinsing out the last remanence of conditioner that coated his hair and turned off the shower. He towel-dried himself off, paying close attention to his hair, making sure to get out as much moisture as he could. Quickly dressing himself, he opened to door to the bathroom.
Stepping out, now relaxed and ready to sleep, a thought crossed Loki's mind. His eyes wandered to the unlocked door and again the idea of escape crossed his mind.
His feet moved before he had even made up his mind, as well as his arm which reached up to hold the handle. Without thinking properly, Loki opened the door out to the hallway and stepped out. 'What am I doing?' Loki thought to himself.
Suddenly, the bedroom door opened and Loki immediately turned his upper body towards the noise.
"Loki are you-" Loki jumped at Mobius calling his name and his flight or flight impulses kicked in. He chose to run.
"HEY- oh for god's sake...", flinging open the front door, Mobius began chasing Loki. All he thought to himself at this moment was 'This is going to be a long night'.
"Alright Loki, come on now be reasonable here!" Mobius shouted down the empty corridor. Turning the corner, Loki slowed down staring at the dead end right in front of him. Whipping his body around, he saw Mobius had just caught up with him.
Steadying his breath, Mobius jokingly sighed, "Gotcha, there's nowhere to run now Loki.."
Loki's breath quickened as Mobius cornered him, "I d-didn't mean to" His increased breathing cut off his own sentence.
Realising Loki had no form of escape, Mobius softened his gaze and put his hands up as a way of showing Loki he meant to harm, "Loki, we can do this one of two ways, you decide okay?"
Loki nods.
"words please," Mobius prompts.
Loki scanned his surroundings once more, hoping to see a way to escape. Realising he had no other options, Loki quietly answered.
"o-okay,"
"Alright, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Mobius gave Loki a warm smile, "So you either come back with me and we put this whole little escape thing behind us for now and talk about it in the morning, or we can do this the hard way-"
Before even having the chance to explain the other option Loki cut in. "Please-" his breath hitched, "I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to run... I'm s-sorry I-"
"Hey shh shhh it's ok, don't worry about it. I'm not mad, a little tired, yes. But it's okay Loki. Like I said, I'm not mad." Mobius's heart broke for the panicked and frightened Loki, shivering with anxiety in front of him.
"Come here," Mobius kind of meant it in a comforting way but he can understand how Loki heard it as more of a command. Nevertheless, Loki slowly walked over to him anyway. He was still wary of the silver-haired man but decided it was better than standing in the middle of a dead-end corridor.
Just like earlier, Mobius placed a warm hand on Loki's back, carefully guiding him back to his room. The short walk back was silent. Loki's little escape had exhausted him to the point he was walking quite a bit slower than Mobius. Noticing this, Mobius slowed his pace and encouraged, "Almost there lokes, you can do it." With a little smile.
They were now both back in Mobius' room, Loki hadn't said anything since Mobius had cornered him. Mobius decided to break the silence.
"Shall we try this again?" with a lack of response, Mobius continued speaking. Enough for the both of them, "Right, well you go ahead and make yourself comfortable in the bedroom while I go freshen up, sound good?"
"Oh, and please Loki, no more escapes, ok? I want you to know that you are safe here and I won't let anyone, and I mean anyone, hurt you or prune you, ok? Do you understand?", Mobius questioned, staring into Loki's eyes with what could only be described as worry and kindness.
Loki only nodded and continued into the bedroom, closing the door behind himself without another word.
"Oh, Loki..."
After using the bathroom to take a quick shower himself, Mobius walked out of the bathroom and towards the front door. "I'm not making that mistake twice," He sighed under his breath. He made quick work of locking the door then turned to quickly walk through the room to the bedroom door where Loki now resided. Slowly opening the door, Mobius quietly walked into the bedroom and silently closed the door behind him.
Mobius gazed at Loki's sleeping form. He was curled up in the middle of Mobius' double bed. Although there was room for both of them to sleep comfortably side by side, Mobius thought it a bad idea to interrupt a sleeping god. So instead, he walked around the side of the bed, picked up his pyjamas and a light blanket and quietly exited the room.
"Goodnight Loki." Slowly closing the door to reduce the noise, Mobius quickly dressed himself and lay down on the living room sofa.
It was small but not too small for him. A tired thought crossed his mind and he imagined Loki trying to lie down on the same sofa he's on and he chuckled to himself. The image of Loki's long limbs hanging off the sofa was enough to make the analyst laugh.
Without any more disruptions, Mobius settled himself down onto the sofa, pulled the blanket around himself and fell into a dreamless sleep.
The same could not be said for Loki however. The small amount of sleep he had managed to get had been plagued by nightmares of his mother. Of his past. Oh, how he wished he could save his mother from his foolishness. If only he wasn't so selfish and foolish. If only he wasn't so lonely. His dreams spiralled into his lonely past. His life is riddled with sadness and utter loneliness. Then back to his mother again, however this time she knew what he was. Worthless. A waste of time. Loki knew who he was deep down. He didn't want to be alone but as Mobius had enlightened him over his stay at the TVA, his attempts to change himself for the better were futile. This was who he was meant to be. A bad person.
Waking up was painful. Tears streaked down his face and they wouldn't stop flowing. Curling up tighter into himself, Loki continued to cry silent tears. That was until he couldn't stop it anymore and let the sobs wreck his now-shaking form.
Stirring slightly, Mobius sat up and rubbed his eyes. Quiet sounds of sobbing muffed by the thin walls filled Mobius' ears.
"Is that...", He needed a second for his brain to process before he stood up. "Loki!"
Walking the short distance to his room, Mobius knocked lightly on the door. The only response he received was muffled cries from the god. "Oh, Loki... I'm coming in ok?" When Mobius realised he was not getting an answer, he slowly opened the door. What he found broke his heart. Mobius was joking earlier when he called Loki a scared little boy, but now he most definitely was not joking.
Loki was curled tightly into a ball in the centre of the bed, under the covers but visibly shaking. His sobs were silent now but they both knew he was still crying.
"Hey, Hey. Loki, it's okay. I'm here." Mobius sat on the edge of the bed reached towards the god in front of him and placed a hand on the mass in the middle of the bed. "hey shh it's just me Loki. are you okay?" without a response, Mobius continued. "hey, I'm gonna need you to either come out of there or respond to me, okay?" Mobius gave him two choices, still rubbing his shoulders comfortably.
Mobius began to hear Loki trying to speak, but every time he did more sobs would replace his words. Despite this, Loki managed to mumble out a small, "I-Im fine." Which was an obvious lie, but Mobius didn't mind. Any response was enough for him. It provided him with the comfort that Loki was still with him and not so far gone that the only thing that consumed him were the nightmares.
"Okay, well if you think you're fine then I'll leave you be..." Mobius removed his comforting hand from Loki's back and stood up off the bed. Standing for a second, Mobius looked down at the shaking ball in the dim light of the room. Of course, his heart broke for Loki, but if Loki didn't want his help there was nothing else he could do.
With a small sigh, Mobius turned around and took one step towards the door. That was the moment that Loki decided to break free from the comfort the bed provided and he grabbed onto Mobius' wrist. A small, strangled, "Wait.." escaped Loki's dried, cracked lips as the blanket fell around his shoulders to reveal a dishevelled raven-haired god. Mobius turned back around to face Loki.
"Please stay." Mobius could hear the desperation in his voice. The dim bedroom light illuminated Loki's face enough that Mobius could make out his tear stains and furrowed brow.
"I'm not going anywhere," Mobius started, "is this okay?" Mobius questioned as he sat on the bed next to Loki.
"M-Mobius" Lokis voice broke as he all but whined Mobius' name. Staring needily into Mobius' eyes, Loki broke down once again. This time, however, he did not have the protection and comfort of the blanket. Instead, he had Mobius. He has his strong warm arms wrapped around his back, enveloping him in a warm embrace. Lokis arms mirrored Mobius' except they were a lot more desperate.
Lokis fingers curled into Mobius' night shirt while he rested his head in the crook of his neck. Once again, Loki was exhausted. Mobius knew this, so instead of chasing Loki up about his nightmare, he simply lay himself and the other man down on the bed while he still had his arms around him.
"Sleep now Loki, we can talk tomorrow. Does that sound like a plan?" The only response the silver-haired man needed was a small nod from the taller man. And that was exactly what he got.