What if I come back?

Inside of the shelter, Sylvie was debating with the other Lokis of the Void about the imminent fight. The blond hair all shabby around her face and a patronizing look in her eyes as she memorized all the information the other two were giving her.
They didn't seem to agree on everything, but none of them had drawn their sword so far, so it was... kind of alright.
Loki and Mobius were looking at them, sitting on a rock not so far away.
The bureaucrat had his jacket in his hands and smiled in amusement watching the scene.
"That's incredible.", he said to Loki. "So many Lokis in just one place and nothing has been blown up."
"Yet.", replied Loki with a smirk.
Mobius laughed softly, turning his eyes to the wasteland on the other side.
"Yet.", he said.
Loki stared at his profile for a few seconds.
He still couldn't believe his friend was alive. The memories of the prune had been keeping flashing in his head since it happened. The sudden movement of the Minute man, the rainbow glow blooming from Mobius' chest and eating him all in less than a second, so fast he couldn't even scream in pain.
Loki remembered perfectly the void he had felt in that moment. The same that scarred his chest when he found out about his father and grew bigger and bigger as loneliness fed it.
He felt like the world was going to collapse at that exact moment... but he had no time for mourning so he acted tough, praying silently for his soul, and kept going.
Kept surviving, like the Loki he was.
But Mobius was indeed alive now and, looking at him, Loki couldn't help himself from smiling in relief.
"I'm sorry for the time loop.", said Mobius, taking him back to reality. "I'm also sorry for what I have said to you. It was... immature. I should have listened to you more."
Loki kept staring at his profile, tasting the sweet flavour of those simple words to his ears. Then he smirked and turned to face the view too.
"You already told me that.", he replied.
Mobius shrugged, tapping his jacket with a finger.
"Yeah... I thought it was right to say it again.", he murmured.
Loki wasn't sure if he wanted to say those things because he still felt guilty or because he knew the effect they had on him. Maybe it was both. Mobius had this curious ability to understand quite easily what was the right thing to say to him. Probably it was because of the time he spent studying his Variants.
Far away from there, Alaioth's roar echoed faintly.
Somebody else had become its lunch. The appetizer before the Lokis main dish.
Mobius stiffened, clenching his hands around the robe while Loki just sighed, preparing himself for the fight.
"Are you sure about this plan?", Mobius said.
Loki nodded after a moment.
"It's not like we have many other options, isn't it?", he answered.
Mobius hummed in agreement, lowering his gaze on the bushes.
"Even if we all went back to the TVA with Renslayer's tempad, the headmaster of this circus would still control time.", Loki kept going. "We would just get all pruned and start over again."
"I know this.", Mobius said softly. "It's just that... Look, it's a scary ass, giant, smoke watchdog that roams in the sky and consumes anything that arrives here. I'm worried about you."
Loki widened his eyes, then blinked and frowned his eyebrows as he turned towards Mobius hearing almost nothing but his heart pounding.
"What?", Loki said.
The bureaucrat turned too. His expression was tended up with anxiety and concern.
"I've studied every possible Loki Variant I could find and none of you ever faced something so big and powerful! Even though you survive enough to distract him, you might..."
Mobius' voice faded as he clenched his fist under his chin and turned again to the landscape.
Suddenly Loki realized his eyes were close to tears.
He moved a little closer to the man -Mobius released his hand in surrender- and squeezed his shoulder the way his brother used to do with him before a battle. He didn't say anything. And what could he had possibly said? Mobius was right and silence is a better friend than lies when you are willing to march towards death. Even to the god of mischief.
They just stayed that way for a few moments.
Alaioth roared again in the distance. A thunder rumbled a little bit nearer.
Did it rain in the void? Who knows. It would have made the fight way more dramatic, thought Loki.
Mobius sighed, looking at Loki's hand on his shoulder as if it was going to fade away the very moment he would have blinked, then pressed his cheek on it.
Loki forced himself to keep breathing normally, but his heart started racing anyway up in his throat.
Mobius' cheek was soft and warm. So vulnerable, so human, so alive. He closed his eyes, making Loki lift his eyebrows. That was probably the biggest demonstration of trust he received from someone in way too much time.
It felt good. And warm, in his chest.
Mobius didn't look like he was willing to lift his head soon, so Loki leaned forward, pressing his forehead over his temple.
They both relaxed almost instantly.
Mobius pressed his head over Loki's as he sighed and Loki smirked, caressing his cheek with his thumb.
"Don't go.", Mobius whispered.
It wasn't his normal voice, this one was trembling and low. It was a pray he knew Loki couldn't satisfy. Yet, Loki thought, he asked. He tried.
This made his next words harder to pronounce.
"I must.", murmured Loki.
"Not really.", Mobius replied, his mouth moving closer to Loki's hand. "Sylvie is strong... and we have a Tempad. We could just... go back to Pompeii and free some more goats before the volcano erupts."
Loki couldn't prevent himself from laughing a little, lifting his head to press his cheek over Mobius' hair.
"That's intriguing.", Loki whispered. "But the TVA would find us quite fast."
"Then we'll move.", Mobius murmured softly. "Atlantis, Ragnarok, San Andreas... there's plenty of apocalypses for us to hide in."
Loki sighed, but Mobius kept talking under his breath.
"You could teach me to fight with a sword and hunt. I'll teach you how to not ruin somebody's salad to prove a point, that shit is draining as fuck. We could find a horse for you and a jet ski for me..."
"Mobius...", Loki tried.
"You are right. You would look way better on a Harley."
"Mobius.", Loki said firmly.
Mobius fell silent as Loki lifted his head and tried to make him do the same by lifting gently the hand on his shoulder. The bureaucrat didn't resist. Loki held his chin between his curled index and his thumb, smiling gently to him. He thought Mobius looked like a puppy: he had such beautiful light blue, wet eyes.
"I must go.", Loki said softly. "But... what if I come back?"
Mobius took a deep breath, lowering his gaze as he nodded.
"I'm good at that, remember?", said Loki.
Mobius nodded again and smiled softly, slowly turning back into the cheerful man he was.
"Yeah, you did a decent job proving that point.", he said.
"I know.", Loki replied.
The wind was rising. The thunder they heard earlier rumbled again, calling for the fight.
Loki could now feel Mobius' veins pumping blood at the rhythm of his heart, so fast he thought about the war drums in Asgard.
He fantasized to kiss him lately, before Sylvie crushed into his life.
He thought and imagined how it might have felt, if he would have fought him or surrendered to him in a blink. Now, Loki could see in Mobius' eyes he not only would have accepted him, but he would have held on him as long as he could and this awareness made him so relieved he had to clench his knee to stop his hand from shaking.
Loki leaned in, caressing Mobius' lower lip with his thumb, brushing lightly his nose with his. Mobius closed his eyes getting closer and opened his mouth a little, but he never felt Loki's lips on his.
Instead, the god held his face between his hands and kissed his forehead.
A long, bittersweet kiss that felt more like a mark than a rejection.
Mobius widened his eyes, watching Loki lowering his gaze on him as he kept caressing his cheeks.
"Loki..."
Loki pressed a finger on his lips, looking at him with those stunning green eyes.
"I'll take the rest when I'll be back.", said Loki.
Mobius felt everything in those words. That was not a lie, a joke or an empty reassurance. That was a promise.
Sylvie called them from the shelter.
Alaioth was coming nearer and nearer by the minute, it was time to go.
Loki and Mobius stood up and waited for the other Lokis to get to them, then they all walked together over the hill they planned to attack Alaioth from.
The giant watchdog was hovering over the valley, thunders and lightning lighting up his purple body.
Mobius opened the time door on the Tempad and said goodbye to everyone. As Loki hugged him he pressed him over his chest, sinking his face in his dark hair deep enough to kiss his neck without the others noticing.
"I'll wait.", he whispered.
Loki nodded and squeezed him so tight he could barely breathe.
"Thank you, my friend.", he said.
The wind roared as they let go and Loki turned to face the monster.