A Roman Heart

72 hours later

_So, your name is Octavius - he said to the Roman with whom they had left him waiting - By any chance it will not be Octavius Augustus, right?

The man raised an eyebrow at him from under his helmet, as he crossed his arms and cleared his throat, before continuing.

_Octavius Augustus, born Octavius Gaius, nephew of Julius Caesar, General of Rome and later appointed Emperor himself.

_That's correct - commented the miniature, approaching over the surface of the table where he was sitting - You know history, amanuensis.

It was his turn to raise an eyebrow at the other.

Amanuensis?

What did he mean by that term?

He was not a scribe. He was… he lowered his eyes with a sigh. He didn't quite know what he really was. Or what he had been. Before TVA.

The doors were then thrown open and through them appeared the imposing figure of a man dressed strangely but very elegantly, with a crook in hand.

He rose from the chair with his mouth open.

First a cowboy. Then the 26th president of the United States. After that a Roman Emperor and now… an Egyptian Pharaoh?

_My name is Merenkahre. Descendant of Ra, the Sun God

_Nice to meet you. My name is...

_Mobius - interrupted the Roman - I know, the former Pharaoh knows. The whole museum knows who you are.

He looked down at the little Emperor.

Could it be that he had offended him in some way?

_Peace, my colleague in reign– the old Pharaoh explained, sitting down in one of the chairs - I think it is better that you allow me to play my role.

_As you order, Your Highness - replied the Roman taking one of his hands to his chest, while bowing his head - After all, you are the intermediary.

_Excuse me - he said then sitting down again raising his hands a little - Can you explain what happens? Jed... the cowboy who looks like me, told me that he was going to take me to Loki and... instead I ended up here with you and... I don't want to be rude or sound offensive, but... I really would rather be with...

He inhaled, pausing before uttering the word that had almost escaped him.

He had no right to say it.

It didn't matter what this Jed said to him about the Norse God.

He wasn't going to claim something he wasn't.

_You would rather be with your loved one. That's what you were going to say, right? – the old Pharaoh asked him smiling.

He began to cough when he choked on the air hearing the Egyptian pronounce something like that so lightly.

He... he wasn't wrong, but... damn.

_My husband, Jedediah, has gone in search of our adopted son, because at this moment he is finishing his meeting with the committee for the fundraising of the Museum - clarified the little Roman - and this reunion takes place in the entrance hall, which it is too public and too big for any gathering.

_Husband? Adopted son? Are you referring to Loki?

He asked when he heard that delusional explanation.

_The Emperor - explained the Egyptian - has recently married. In fact, a day before my wife and I arrived. During his wedding ceremony, from what our son has told us, he has adopted the young man known as Loki, who today is heir to the land that, within the confines of this establishment, Octavius rules.

“Well, I’ll be damn”

He though.

Loki adopted by a bad-tempered Roman dwarf.

And heir to an Empire.

It was… just amazing.

And so typical of the chaos that was that God.

He finishes his thinking putting his hands to his face for a moment shaking his head.

_Con... Congratulations - he finally said after recovering - Both for your marriage and for the adoption. Loki is… complicated, but he was always a focused person when he ruled over a people.

_I am aware of it. That is one of the reasons why I chose him as my successor. As pater familias, the convenience of my people is something that I must take into account.

_Pater familias - he murmured after listening to the Roman's speech - The father of the family. Loki… hasn't had very good experiences with them in his time.

_As I told him: I am not Odin - said the Roman taking off his helmet, to place it under one of his arms - I am Octavius Augustus. From Rome. Like the former Pharaoh here present, we lead peoples with structure, with laws. Especially harsh regarding the mistreatment of hostages from other ruling houses.

_Savages – the old Pharaoh said making a dismissive gesture with one of his hands.

_Barbarians - added the Roman with a grimace of disgust.

He smiled despite the strangeness of the situation as he heard those two refer to the All-Father as what he had always thought he had been.

Odin had acted hideously. He had never made up for his mistakes and had abandoned his children in their time of greatest need.

To Loki, his maneuvers, had cost too much.

Always on the brink of sanity, always having to protect his life against those who hated him in Asgard, always having to justify his existence, he had verified how his "father" renounced him when he dropped him into the abyss, knowing that, the God of the gods possessed an unequaled power and was capable of stopping him if he had wanted to, and then having to endure that not only did he not take charge of having abandoned him to his death, but that he had not lifted a finger to assist him while he was a prisoner of Thanos as he had been and that, in addition, he had become his judge and executioner in his "judicial process" in Asgard.

And now, forgiven and expelled to a timeline in which, as the others told him, they were considered "attractions" and not real people, he had achieved what he had never been able to achieve before: a father by choice and a group of people who protected him with obvious sincerity.

69 hours before

_Loki! Boy! You look fine! - Jedediah exclaimed when he saw him arrive next to Octavius.

_It is my Asgardian gala outfit - he clarified, letting the General descend from his hand to the Roman ground - Someone told me that a friend is getting married and I could not attend to his nupcials dressed as I was dressed.

_The same thing happened to me - said the blond, showing him the outfit that he has on turning on himself.

He shook his head, while the General gently pulled the aforementioned cowboy by the toga that was wearing to quickly kiss his lips.

_Loki has accepted the proposal – the General said to his partner.

_Seriously? - asked the cowboy, widening his eyes.

He nodded smiling.

_We have completed all the papers that the men from Octavius have requested.

_You will not regret it, amigo. They are a little crazy, but these Romans are good people.

Clarified the cowboy with a smile from ear to ear, while his partner laughed low.

He raised an eyebrow at the latter's expression.

What was he missing?

Oh, yes. Typical of Jedediah. He had paid attention to half of what Octavius would surely explain to him.

_Jedediah - he clarified as amused as his new Roman father with what was happening - Not only are the Romans good people, as far as I know, your "boys" from the Wild West are also good people and the proposal included them.

The cowboy smiled putting on his hat that he was obviously going to wear, even though it didn't match anything else he was wearing, as he said.

_Yeah, they are a bunch of stubborn mules, but deep down they are good and… the proposal include them?

The leader of the Wild West diorama brought his eyes from Octavius to him, while the revelation was forming in his head and neither he nor the Roman, could resist laughing at the other's expression.

_That's why you asked me to sign that roll! - Jedediah exclaimed, slapping his face with the palm of one of his hands.

_You wanted a family amore - Octavius reminded him still laughing - Now you have one.

The cowboy took a deep breath and crossed his arms, looking back at them both, while smiling sideways.

_Yes, it looks like, doesn’t?

The General rested his hand on his partner's shoulder and they both fixed their eyes on his.

He swallowed hard as he realized that what had made him cry with Octavius was repeating itself this time with both of them.

The miniature couple really appreciated him to that point.

Which was something rare in his life.

He... had always had a hard time relating to others. He had always had a hard time trusting to the point where others had become necessary. He had always put a barrier between himself and others.

It was that he always knew that with his personality, affection, became a weapon that others could use to hurt him. And in fact, he had become a specialist in using it over others, learning what not to leave open for it to happen to him.

Until… until a certain analyst had appeared in his life assuring an authoritarian judge that he knew what he was capable of and with his actions had destroyed the castle of cards that he had held for all those years that he had existed.

And his heart had been so exposed that he had suffered horrors watching people escape in Lamentis, hearing Sylvie's story of loss, regretting that he had been a horror with Sif (although she had not been much better with him), feeling how he broke when telling Mobius that he was a variant or when the judge had pruned him, confused with his other self until when he told him that he only wanted her to be okay, he had understood that there was no true love there but compassion, to break again when not being remembered by the analyst.

It had only taken a Mobius for Loki to really begin to live and appreciate things that he had despised because he did not know them.

Like this one.

In which others decided to take risks for him.

Not for what he had been, or of the place he had occupied, but because of what he truly was.

_Octavius! Jedediah! - he felt the voice of the former president exclaim behind his back - Here we are!

He smiled again at the future husbands, and then turned, straightening his back.

They had guests to receive.

72 hours later

_These three days have been crazy on Instagram

Nick commented, looking at the phone that the Asgardian was holding, while he scrolled through the comments below the image that they had posted the previous nights on the social media.

_I can see it - Loki murmured and then looked up and observed those present in the Central Hall - although, I must confess that, I find it somewhat strange to read that...

_People prefer you?

The London guard asked him with a smile on her face and with the usual effusive attitude she always had.

_In Asgard ...

The God began to say and he had to raise a hand to interrupt him, while he sighed.

_Quoting my father: let's not talk about the savages, please

He affirmed crossing one of his legs over the other, while around him, in the observation chairs that they had borrowed from the picture room to carry out their meeting, a couple of laughs were unleashed.

It had been a pleasant and unpleasant surprise when his parents arrived at the Museum.

On the one hand, both he and Larry had managed to pass the test of explaining their relationship to Merenkahre and Shepseheret, the ones who had simply performed the royal equivalent of rolling their eyes and implying that they knew long before that they would end up together.

It is that, he regretted to say that, despite having reigned in a time where weddings usually took place very early in life, never, truly, a similar circumstance had occurred in his case.

His parents had considered their own love to be a gift and that none of their children should go through what his father had gone through when he had married Kamunrah's mother for diplomatic reasons. Therefore, they had allowed their young son to choose and no one had called his attention before the attack that his brother will carry out and cost him his life.

So, he was sure that, when his heart began to beat for the night guard, his parents had been fully aware of the situation.

“_ That that man wants what? - asked his father surprised.

_Pictures, of Ahkmenrah.

Tilly told them waving her camera with a smile.

_And can we know why? - asked his mother just as surprised as his father by the request.

_Oh, Larry has gone back to studying - explained the London guard - He is looking to become a Professor of History and has chosen Ahkmenrah as his main protagonist for one of his papers at the University.

_Me? Seriously? - he asked Tilly, pointing to himself.

_Of course, silly! - said the blonde woman laughing softly - Larry always talks to me about you when we talk! You have always caught his attention! I'm sure he knows more about you than you do, with how much he has read about your reign!

His eyes had literally been opened in that moment.

First, because thanks to the amazement he had at knowing that the Brooklyn Guardian had studied him so hard and second because of the reaction his own body had suffered when he received the news.

His heart had jumped inside his chest, imagining the hours that the guardian would have spent during the day reading in the archives of the Museum, which was where his history was best contained and preserved.

He could almost see him there. Leaning over the files, adjusting his glasses and hair and taking notes in one of his notebooks, as I'd seen him do so many times when they had to solve problems at night.

Only this time the focus of Larry Daley had not been to untangled some issue of one of his fellow exhibitors, but... him.

He swallows hard remembering the talks with the night guard.

Larry had spent long hours, many days, talking to him. Walking the aisles or visiting his exhibit, where they would sit on his sarcophagus and he will ask him thousands of questions: How did Egypt look when you ruled? What did you like the most? Were you nervous when assuming the throne? What the hell is wrong with your brother? What was your family like? What food did you prefer? Was there a book that you would like?

At the time, he had been grateful that the guard would take the trouble to approach and pay attention to him, because, of the majority of the exhibitions that were in the Museum, he starred in one of the few that... did not have another of his time to stand by him. His Anubis didn't count. They did not speak and were truly custodian sculptures. It happened to him like Teddy or the Moai. With the difference that Teddy had found a mate at Sacajawea and the Moai, well, he was always a popular figure among exhibits, which meant that he was never alone.

Therefore, he had not been able to detect the other's interest in his person. He had simply taken it as a kind attitude and nothing more.

He had been a fool.

Larry hadn't just cared about asking him about his time. He had told him about his. How he got tired more easily now that years has passed, how he always had to argue with Nick since he was a teenager, how Doctor McPhee trusted him and that that scared him a bit because he didn't have a college degree and the Board didn't see him with good eyes. And always, always, Larry had asked for his opinion and valued it.

And he... he had let him go despite the obvious pain he felt, thanking him that he would leave him with his parents.

His heart clenched thinking about what Tilly had said: Larry always talked about him. He had not forgotten, even if he had ignored him and paid him badly. And now he was going to talk about him with his fellow students and he was so kind that he only asked for some photos.

_How do you want us to take them?

He told Tilly, who applauded despite the exasperated sound his father made when he saw that he was going to let the guard keep him all night dressing and posing in different ways for the pictures she was going to send to his former colleague in New York"

On the other hand, the arrival of his parents had resulted in an astonishing situation that no one had been able to calculate: his father and the Roman General had hit it off from minute one.

Which had led them to share information regarding the Norse god. Information behind closed doors, which had ended with his father storming out of the place, to exchange words with his mother, who had since taken Roma's new son into her care.

From what he and Larry had been able to understand, Octavius and Merenkahre agreed on the respect of the laws that established the behavior to be observed with hostages from royal houses and were shocked and offended by the attitude of Loki's fictional parents. On that occasion it had been the first time he had heard the word "savages" applied to Asgard and, since then, due to the amusement it had caused between the exhibits, he had not heard the name of the land of the Norse God again, without being associated to that denomination.

Of course, they hadn't had much time to ponder any of these matters. Customs had made a mistake with Mobius and detained him, while his parents had arrived almost a day and a half early. From what they understood he had been dispatched during the day and at that moment, while Loki was being distracted, at the other end of the Museum, in the warehouses, his lover and others were looking for the analyst.

_There's nothing strange about it, Loki. Seriously - Nick intervened - People like you.

_But I am not an example. I am not a hero - commented the God - Usually in institutions like this it is exposed...

_All kinds of people and characters - Doctor McPhee told him – That a person or character its exhibit here it do not revolve on you being "good" or "bad"...

_That no one its entirely - he added, interrupting the Director - Neither one nor the other.

_It's true. Nobody is - agreed the Director of the exhibitions - What matters is that people feel that you are important to them.

_Loki - Tilly told him - Read the comments. People love you because they are reflected in what happened to you. Nobody identifies with Thor on that regard. Yes, the man is beautiful, but he is perfect and none of us are perfect. On the contrary, I think that if we were all honest, we would share a lot with you.

_Who had a bully determined to make their life miserable at school or elsewhere? - Nick asked raising his hand and several of those present did the same.

_Who has an unbearable brother or sister? - asked from his side, causing Nick to laugh and lower his hand, but Tilly and Laa kept it up.

_Who has co-workers that they can't stand? - Doctor McPhee asked and everyone, except Laa, raised their hands again with laughter.

_Who has screwed up with the person who cares the most to the point that they thought they were not going to forgive them for it? - the hands that were raised keep raised and the Norse God looked at them in amazement.

_I should have moved to New York much earlier - Tilly admitted smiling at Laa.

_My husband has a patience of gold - Dr. McPhee explained.

_My girlfriend endured that I kept our relationship secretly until a couple of months ago, because I was afraid to introduce her to my parents, because mom immediately gives you a date to get married and she thought it was because I was ashamed to be by her side - Nick commented.

_I realized that I was in love with Larry, three years after letting him return alone to New York - he admitted on his side.

_And you say that... all these people... have gone through similar things and that is why they feel identified with me - Loki observed pointing to the phone.

_We don't say - Nick clarified, laughing - We know. We put to vote if we brough someone else on display and the Avengers and your family were widely rejected.

_In fact, when we stated that our Museum would only expose Loki from the Cinematographic Universe you come from, we received hundreds of emails and thousands of messages on our social media applauding the initiative, sending suggestions to improve the exhibition and that was only three days ago - explained Doctor McPhee.

_That is why you have moved me to that other larger room next to the dioramas.

Loki commented, looking back at the phone and he had to cough to hide his laugh.

No, it wasn't for that.

But the Norse god didn't have to know so far in advance.

The place where his exhibition used to be was not bad per se, but it was a little tight for two people and nothing at all private.

They hadn't wanted to be nosy, but both they and Teddy and Sacajawea had their private spaces in the museum where they could be together. Larry had his quarters and the former president had his own personal exhibition. And in both cases, there were doors, which could be closed from the inside.

Not to mention Jedediah and Octavius, with their own wing in Rome and the cowboy's house in the Wild West.

It had seemed coherent to do something similar for Loki.

Without clarifying what for.

After all, he supposed the God would add two plus two when Mobius showed up.

_Yes - Nick said that, thanks to the goddess Baast, the young had not related the remodeling with that particular issue - and because, as Dad told me, we can put everything your fans send there too. People feel very important if they can interact in any way with the exhibits. Drawings of you and stories have already begun to arrive and half of what there is to recreate your rooms in Asgard came from a girl who left everything in the Museum for us to put it together.

_While the other half came from the deposits of previous exhibitions - Dr. McPhee commented - In any case, people are happy and the purpose of this commission is succeeding.

_Excuse me - Larry's voice was felt as he approached the round of chairs, pointing to his pocket - Would you mind if Jed and I took Loki for a while?

He put a hand to his mouth to hide his shocked expression.

His lover and the cowboy had huge smiles on their faces.

Which could only mean one thing: they had found Mobius.