treason | loki laufeyson ✓

xiii. pompeii

📍POMPEII, ITALY - 79 A.D.

{ BOLD indicates Latin! }

"Cookie?" I ask softly, holding the plastic, pastel yellow bag filled with sweet treats up to Loki, offering one to him. He merely wrinkles his nose at them, as if they smelled bad, and shakes his head stiffly.

"No, I don't want a cookie." He whispers harshly, pushing my extended arm down, rejecting me. He then crosses his arm and turns back to the village view in front of us, filled with people dressed in draping fabrics.

"Suit yourself." I shrug, popping another one into my mouth. Mobius suddenly elbows me mid-chew, pressing a finger to his lips with a "shush!".

"Quiet, it'll be any minute now." Mobius keeps his eyes trained on the volcano in the distance, anticipating its eruption. We were currently testing Loki's theory in Pompeii, Italy, where the well known eruption of Mount Vesuvius took place.

"Until this entire town is wiped off the face of this planet." Loki begins, adding on to Mobius' previous statement. "Imagine. All that volcanic ash..."

"I know. But, we don't want to get too giddy."

"Oh, come on! It's cool."

"No, it is cool, but it's just not in good taste because..." Mobius gestures to our surroundings, hinting at the imminent death these people were about to meet.

"They're all gonna die anyway." Loki scoffs, not exactly caring.

"I know. Now listen, I'm gonna watch the TemPad for any variance energy. Because, we gotta be careful. If you're wrong, and there's a good chance you are, anything we do can create a huge branch." Mobius explains, reminding Loki of the consequences that would come with failure. Loki scoffs, scrunching his face together.

"Oh, Mobius! You make even the end of the world sound boring!"

"Listen! Okay, we're not meant to be here. Okay?" Mobius scolds Loki, jabbing his finger down at the dirt roads. "Anything we do can impact the course of history. Do you get that?"

"Yes, yes." Loki nods his head vigorously, now understanding the weight of the situation.

"Okay, so we're gonna start with very small disturbances. Can you make bird noises?" Mobius asks Loki, earning a confused expression from him.

"Bird noises?"

"Yeah." I shrug, tossing another cookie into my mouth. "Bird noises. Like, 'chirp chirp' or 'ca-ka, ca-ka'?"

Loki turns to me, arching a brow.

"Just to name a few." I grin widely, earning a scowl from the god. He then scoffs with a shake of his head, suddenly running into the middle of the village towards a locked pen with goats kept inside.

Mobius begins to panic, his hands gripping the TemPad a little bit too tight. "Loki!" He whisper-yells for him through gritted teeth. "Loki!"

Loki proceeds to unlatch the pen with a wide flourish, releasing the goats to freedom. "Go!" He swings his arm in a circle, shooing them out with a repeated 'yee!'. "Be free my horned friends!"

Loki continues to hang onto the pen, pleased that all eyes were on him now. "My name is Loki." Loki points to Mobius and I, causing everyone to slowly turn their heads in our direction. "We are agents of the Time Variance Authority."

I begin to feel my heart thump faster then what it's supposed to, now really feeling the consequences of what would happen to Mobius and I if Loki was incorrect. I squeeze my now clammy palms, tearing my gaze from Loki to the TemPad. I let out a small breath of relief as I see nothing forming yet.