Loki one-shots fanfiction ♡

62. I swore that I'd become a better man for you and I tried

Loki didn't realise how deep the pain he inflicted on Mobius was. He couldn't turn back time and undo what he'd done, ironically, for that would mean another Nexus Event.

He could, however, make it up to Mobius the best he knew how.

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Pairing: Loki/Mobius M. Mobius

Takes place after their Roxxcart Store divorce. AKA, the classic jealous Mobius trope, but I made it more angsty.

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Disregard every cruel, spiteful thing he'd said, Loki knew, deep down, he did betray Mobius. The reasons wouldn't matter, because it was him who'd assured Mobius he was trustworthy. It was him who chose to walk through the Time Door as Mobius called his name, trying to reach him in time.

Loki! Loki, wait! Loki!

So yes, Mobius had every right to be angry, disappointed. And yes, Loki knew he was deliberately being a jerk -- a bigger jerk than he already was -- by carrying out a fight with Mobius, a heated argument where bitter words being their weapons, instead of doing what he knew was the right thing to do; offering Mobius an apology, which Mobius deserved.

He was frustrated, at himself, mostly, for being frustrated at Mobius for all the accusations Mobius came up with, all the crying about how Loki was breaking the man's reality.

So he threw back some unpleasant words he didn't mean. And their conversations... no, not conversations, their interrogation never ended with reasons why Loki did what he did, at Roxxcart, but in Loki being locked away in a time loop of his own. Not a punishment, he knew that. This was just a temporary makeshift cell, to make sure he couldn't cause any more problem in the meantime.

His punishment, the consequences of his crime, was pruning before the Time Keepers. An execution he'd always seen coming a mile away, and he'd made peace with that long before he even ended up at the TVA, ever since he looked Thor in the eyes and let go.

But even his well-earned death was once again robbed from him, and that, too, was frustrating. Loki didn't know how, but apparently Mobius talked to Ravonna. It must've been Mobius, he knew that because there was nobody else, even if he and the agent were still at each other's throats. Apparently, what Loki did wasn't enough to make Mobius hate him to the point he'd let him die.

But the thing was, Mobius had no right. To force himself into Loki's life, make him feel as though he, for the first time, wasn't alone, then make him feel all these things he felt back in the Time Theatre, when Mobius assumed Loki had fallen for himself. And now Mobius took the liberty of swooping in and snatching away what was rightfully his; his sweet release of death, an end he'd always longed for. No, Mobius had no right to do that.

He had no right to give Loki a clean slate. What he did at Roxxcart, all forgiven. His sentences became no more, in the blink of an eye.

It frustrated Loki, to now be able to walk free around the TVA like he could before the incident.

What was more frustrating, was the fact Mobius didn't even show up. Loki hadn't seen him since their conflict in the Time Theatre. It was D-90 who came and freed him from the time loop, saying nothing more than the, 'You've been cleared. Congratulation,' with an expression that suggested the complete opposite.

At the end of the day, with his magically, thanks-to-Mobius restored freedom, (but still not-too-much-freedom) Loki found himself at Mobius's doorstep, even though he didn't know why he was here. To say sorry? That wasn't what he had in mind. But the truth was, he didn't know what he had in mind, except for the fact Mobius had been AWOL for the rest of the day, after their fight.