He swam out to the middle of the river and dived and a minute later came up in another spot and swam on and kept diving, trying to touch bottom. "By God!" he kept repeating delightedly, "by God!" He swam to the mill, spoke to the peasants there, and turned back and in the middle of the river lay floating, exposing his face to the rain. Burkin and Alyohin were already dressed and ready to leave, but he kept swimming and diving. "By God!" he kept exclaiming, "Lord, have mercy on me."
Summary: The word "time" is in the first line of this song, so obviously it's about our guys. Similar plot and hopefully ~vibe~ of episode 2. Pray for us all tonight after midnight.
[I practice every day to find some clever lines to say / To make the meaning come through]
Mobius and Loki had been at it for what felt like hours in the library.
Their excursion to Pompeii had confirmed that The Variant could be hiding out in apocalypses undetected. But which apocalypse? The pair poured over file after file, getting nowhere fast.
Loki was engrossed in a file detailing Earth’s nuclear war and subsequent takeover by intelligent apes. Loki couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. How did a bunch of apes manage to do what he, The God of Mischief, could not?
Loki’s attention shifted away from world domination and towards the man across the table. Mobius closed the file in front of him and rubbed his strained eyes.
“Looks like someone needs a nap,” observed Loki, his eyes locked on Mobius and a smile playing at his lips.
Mobius returned the intense eye contact and crossed his arms over his chest, amused.
“How about you study that file instead of studying me?” suggested Mobius.
Loki slammed the file in front of him shut.
“I’m done with this one, actually. I’m an extraordinarily fast reader,” Loki replied, putting his feet up on the desk and his hands behind his head with exaggerated nonchalance.
“I’ve heard that about you,” nodded Mobius, reaching across the table for a file under Loki’s foot.
Mobius wrapped his hand around Loki’s right ankle and gently lifted it up to slide the file out from underneath. Loki tried not to notice that Mobius’s thumb lingered half a second too long on his ankle.
[But then I think I'll wait until the evening gets late / And I'm alone with you]
A TVA librarian approached Loki and Mobius’s table. “We’re closing for the night,” the woman flatly told the pair.
Loki looked up at the librarian and smiled.
“Ma’am, if you don’t mind me asking. How do you close for ‘the night’ when there is in fact, no such thing as ‘night,’ here at the TVA?”
The librarian looked at Loki with a blank expression, blinked, and walked away.
“I’m sorry about him!” yelled Mobius at the woman’s retreating form.
The librarian whipped around.
“Shh!!” she scolded Mobius.
Mobius and Loki turned to each other and suppressed laughs.
“I guess we should get out of here,” said Mobius, gathering up files.
“Shall we take that stroll along the promenade?” asked Loki, teasing.
“No, we’ve got more work to do,” responded Mobius. “Let’s go to my place.”
[The time is right your perfume fills my head / The stars get red and oh, the night's so blue]
“Home sweet home,” said Mobius as he opened the door to his apartment and gestured for Loki to enter first.
Loki crossed Mobius’s threshold. His instinct was to mock the ordinary-ness of his new surroundings. Like the rest of the TVA, the room’s color palette was an uninspired mix of browns and grays. But there was something different about this place. It was lived-in. A little messy and ordinary. But comfortable. A home.
Loki looked around. He could imagine Mobius pouring over files at the small kitchen table. Loki felt a pang of something like sadness as he glanced at the sole plastic dining chair behind the table. Loki looked over at the well-loved couch and imagined Mobius falling asleep there, an open book on his chest. I’d drape a blanket over him, Loki thought, before shaking the absurd fantasy from his mind.
“I wasn’t expecting any guests,” explained Mobius as he gathered up dirty salad bowls and socks.
“By the looks of your one dining chair, you don’t do a lot of entertaining,” jibed Loki. He was smirking on the outside, but inside Loki cursed himself for the unkind comment.
“Perceptive,” nodded Mobius, finding a way to compliment and lift up Loki even when the other man was mocking him. “What can I say? I’m married to the job. Speaking of... let’s get back to work, shall we?” said Mobius, sitting down on his couch and patting the space next to him.
[And then I go and spoil it all / By saying somethin’ stupid like “I love you”]
“Your turn to flip the record,” said Mobius without looking up from the file on his lap.
Loki sighed as he got up, stretched, and watched towards the record player. He gently lifted the tonearm off the Frank Sinatra record. Loki grinned. “I once met Frank Sinatra in a bar. Did you know that Ocean’s--”
Mobius interrupted Loki. “Ocean’s 11 is based on a heist that you pulled off in your youth with Thor, Sif, Balder--”
“Well, if you know every detail of my life, then why do you even need me?” Loki interrupted in turn, frustrated and tired.
Mobius smiled patiently at Loki.
“You’re tired. So am I. Why don’t you rest a bit?” Mobius said, getting up off the couch and gesturing towards it.
Loki raised his eyebrows. “Why Mobius, are you asking me to spend the night?”
Mobius laughed, then gave himself a moment to compose himself.
Mobius drank down the rest of his glass of bourbon and then looked seriously at Loki. “Unfortunately not tonight.”
Loki took a few steps closer to Mobius. “Oh, and why not?” Loki asked, his eyes lingering on Mobius’s lips.
“Because I need to have you back in your cell in a few hours. Renslayer’s orders,” responded Mobius, finding it tricky to keep the conversation casual with Loki looking at him Like That.
Mobius turned his back on Loki, walked down the hall, and opened a door.
“Shall I follow you to your room?” asked Loki, surprisingly tenderly.
Mobius turned back around with a blanket. The door he had stopped at was a linen closet. “No Loki, I’m just grabbing you a blanket for the couch.”
Loki hid his disappointment in another jab. “Thank god for that. I can’t imagine napping on your scratchy old couch without one.”
Mobius walked to Loki and handed over the blanket. Loki kept his eyes down during the exchange.
“Loki,” said Mobius softly.
Loki looked up.
“When I ask you to spend the night for real, you’ll know."
life goals: have the office that every grandfather seems to have in movies. you know, the ones with the large oak desks and bookshelves covered in old books that’s being gently soaking in golden light from large windows behind the desk. also the cool red velvet chair that’s behind the desk. that’s the goal.
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