ten to three

It always started the same way: with a tugging sensation in his chest, like someone was pulling on an invisible thread, followed by darkness and silence. Sometimes he’d open his eyes to find himself in some far-flung corner of the Nine Realms, on a mission to reset a timeline or capture a dangerous variant. Other times he’d be back at the TVA - in the cafeteria, at the desk he’d shared with Mobius in the archives, or (like now, apparently) plunged into the midst of a battle. 

Only one thing remained constant. Wherever and whenever he ended up, Mobius was never far away. It was only a matter of finding him.

A deafening explosion shook the ground, followed by frantic shouting and the clatter of the Hunters’ steel-reinforced boots.

"He’s losing too much blood, I don’t think he’s gonna make it…" 

B-15’s voice. Loki’s heart pounded, adrenaline spiking. If Mobius was out there, if he was injured –

"Loki?"

Loki blinked, eyes stinging as he peered through the smoky haze. A familiar figure rounded the corner: slightly older than when Loki had last seen him, and a lot more dishevelled, but wonderfully, gloriously alive. 

"Mobius," he gasped, shaky with relief. “We need to hurry. This place is about to –”

Mobius didn’t give him the chance to finish, pushing him up against the wall (or what was left of it) and kissing him with a desperation that knocked the air from Loki’s lungs, leaving him dazed and breathless.

"You were saying?"

Loki stared, at an uncharacteristic loss for words. Another explosion echoed through the building, causing an alarmingly large chunk of the ceiling to come crashing down.

"C'mon," Mobius urged, grabbing his hand. "Follow me."

…as a promise

"You kissed me," Loki repeated. He still looked slightly dazed.

"Yep," Mobius chuckled fondly, reaching up to brush a smudge of ash from Loki’s sharp cheekbone. He’d opened a Time Door and practically dragged Loki through, stumbling out into the first place he’d thought of – the ash-blackened ruins of Pompeii. They’d be safe here, for a while at least. "You don’t usually act this surprised about it," he ventured. Loki’s bemused reaction was making him a little nervous.

"'Usually'." Loki frowned, a tell-tale furrow appearing between his brows. Mobius resisted the urge to smooth it away. "So… we’ve done this before?"

Oh. 

Mobius swallowed, suddenly hesitant. "Yeah, we’ve done this before," he said quietly. "Or… we will. I guess you haven’t got to that part yet."  He’d known this was a possibility, of course he had - with their timelines out of sync it was getting harder and harder to keep track of who remembered what. But Loki hadn't rematerialised for months, and suddenly catching sight of him like that... he hadn’t stopped to think, scared that Loki was about to vanish again.

The words came out in a jumbled rush. "I’m so sorry, Loki. If I’d known this was gonna be the first time - for you, I mean…" He started to move away - after all, from Loki’s perspective their relationship had just escalated several notches very quickly, the least Mobius could do was give him some space.

Loki instantly grabbed hold of his tie and reeled him back in.

"Loki -?"

All coherent thoughts fled from his mind as Loki pulled him into a searing kiss, their bodies pressed so closely together that he could feel Loki’s heart beating inside his chest. Mobius closed his eyes, losing himself in the delicious sensation of Loki’s lips on his. He’d have happily lived in this moment forever - but the multiverse, as always, had other ideas.

Loki broke away with a gasp, tensing in Mobius’ arms. 

"Already?" Mobius couldn't help the note of desperation that crept into his voice. "I thought we’d have more time."

Loki shook his head. "I don’t know how to stop it. I keep trying, but I – I can’t…"

"Shhhh. I know, sweetheart. This isn’t your fault." Mobius kissed the corner of Loki’s mouth, the fine lines around his eyes, that adorable cease between his brows. "Just hang in there, ok? We’re gonna figure out a way to fix this, I promise."

Some comfort in this trying time. I desperately need to finish this one.

Tagged these lovely people on Sunday: @megglesthegeek @seaofendlessnight @elodiah @kcscribbler @mobiusismycomfortcharacter

@westwardly @blackbirdofasgard

Plz consider yourselves tagged for WIP Wednesday, show off your snippets

And passing the tag onto: @thosegayoldmen @lokimobius @cha-melodius @insert-witty-user-name-here @lgwilt

@lokisleftbranch @distracteddream @agent-birdnoises @bi-aragorn @dapandapod