Mischievous Scamp: A Loki & Mobius (Lokius) Zine

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Please enjoy a preview of my fic for the Lokius Zine: Mischievous Scamp! Pre-orders are open through October 18th. We have more info here: https://at.tumblr.com/mischievousscampzine/our-presale-is-officially-here/q3i0l17s4cfy Don’t miss it!

In the Margins

It started with a dagger.

Not a real blade, but a drawing of one. Doodled right in the corner of the file Mobius was reviewing.

The archivists aren’t gonna be happy if they see this. Mobius turned his pencil over, erasing the faint marks. I’d better get rid of it.

He picked up his Josta, and—just as he took a sip—he saw another mark further down the page. He lifted the sheet above it, and blinked in astonishment. There was a tiny portrait of himself in the margin, beside a paragraph on the 2100 Galveston hurricane. He had to admit it was pretty good… and then he recognized the handwriting below.

Just a simple caption—Mobius. In Loki’s familiar handwriting.

Mobius looked up, blinking away the tears that misted his eyes at the reminder. The last they’d seen each other was on that hill in the Void, and he missed Loki so much.

Against his better judgment, Mobius unclipped the page and slid it into his own folder. He penciled a note on the next page.

Please don’t draw on the reports.

He reconsidered, and erased his note with a sigh.

Loki was gone, and one set of notes was bad enough without adding his own. Loki must have drawn this long ago, and they were lucky the archivists hadn’t noticed and erased it themselves.

As he pulled his hand away, he saw a note that definitely wasn’t there before.

You can’t stop me.

“Loki?” Mobius’ heart skipped a beat, then reality caught up with him. I must have just missed it before. My sleeve must have been in the way. Yeah.

He erased it.

A week later, Mobius sat in his new office—Ravonna’s old office, repurposed after her departure—flipping through his personal folder, pulling out documents that might help with sorting out the timelines. He turned a page, uncovering a familiar drawing.

For the first time, Mobius wished that his art skills were anything like Loki’s. Taking up his pencil, he tried his best to sketch Loki from memory. It was… mostly recognizable, and he added a pair of curved horns over his head just to be sure. It was a long way from capturing Loki’s ethereal beauty, the spark of mischief in his eyes, but… not too bad. Though I’m better off keeping to stick figures.

Now at least their drawn versions could be together.

Mobius sighed, and slipped the page into his top desk drawer before moving on to the next report.

The next day, Mobius sat at his desk, faced with the latest stack of reports on new timeline branches. Over a hundred had come in just last night. Shaking his head, he grabbed the thick folder balanced precariously on top.

Scrawled on the cover sheet in Loki’s handwriting was a question:

Pondering the question, Mobius’ expression shifted into a softer one. He looked at the variant with such tenderness, gesturing around them to the fallen undead. “Loki, I think you already are.”

For as silver tongued and sharp-witted as Loki was, the agent had rendered him utterly speechless. Mobius saw him and still accepted him. It made his heart ache. The god felt undeserving of such clear caring. 

“Thank you, by the way,” Mobius added. “For saving my life. You’re a good friend.”

Clearing his throat, Loki rose from the ground. “Do you always have this poor judgment whenever it comes to choosing friends? You know me, so why even bother?”

“Honestly? My judgment for friends is non-existent. I think you’re my first. Besides, even if I know what you’ve done, I also know there’s usually a reason for these things. You’re more than just a file to me, Loki. You’re more than a story. I like getting to know you as a person.”

That had the god’s stomach in a flutter all over again. “Clearly, I deserve to be observed. Although I’m not remotely delighted being observed in this particular state.”

At the remark, Mobius sighed, gaze sliding over Loki. “Now, why would you do that? I happen to like you in this form.”

“Why?” A disgusted look, unbidden, crossed the god’s face. It was unlikely he would ever grow used to that form, or enjoy it. Loki glanced pointedly away from the agent. “This isn’t who I am. No matter what my heritage says. It’s just another cruel reminder of life.” The words came out more sharply than intended, teeth gritting for a moment.

A little sneak peek into a fic that I wrote for @mischievousscampzine

Pre-orders are open through October 18th and you can find more info here: https://at.tumblr.com/mischievousscampzine/our-presale-is-officially-here/q3i0l17s4cfy

Don't miss it!

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Elephant

It was just like Mobius to walk in at the most inopportune moment. The video projected onto the screen made it all look a lot worse than it actually was. Still, Loki struggled not to appear guilty, and Mobius’ expression didn’t help. The agent’s face was cinched, like he’d just caught the eye of someone he’d been trying to avoid.

Which made no sense, because who else would Mobius be searching for at this time of night? Or… morning, or whatever. Time was weird here. It stretched out in the silence.

Mobius cleared his throat and spoke. “That can’t be healthy.”

Loki shrugged and lifted his feet onto the desk. “It’s my life,” he quipped. “I’m allowed to watch it.”

Technically, that part isn’t, is what Mobius probably wanted to say. It irked Loki that he didn’t.

“Could you take your feet off the table?” he asked, instead.

Loki complied with an exaggerated sigh as Mobius approached the desk. He didn’t straighten up, though some strange part of him wanted to. It felt odd to have Mobius here, invasive and exposing all at once; he had to remind himself that the agent had seen it all before. That and bloody-mindedness was what kept Loki from switching off the—what he’d been watching. If he switched it off, it would be like admitting there was something wrong. Which there wasn't. Obviously. Of all the humiliations Loki had suffered in either lifetime, a crappy lay wasn’t even in the top hundred.

Mobius quirked his head at the image without looking at it. “Could we maybe… put that on pause?”

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