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Ever since freeing Loki from the End of Time, the team had been trying, and failing, to arrange a trip away from the TVA to relax. Finally, their schedules aligned, and much to Loki’s dismay, they unceremoniously voted on going to the beach with a game of rock, paper, scissors.
He’d asked B-15 if they could go during a day that wasn’t so sunny, and she looked him up and down before telling him, quite rudely, if you ask him, that he needed more vitamin D and the sun would be good for him.
And so, that’s how Loki ended up sitting in the godforsaken sand, barking orders to Mobius as he competed in a sandcastle-building competition.
The plan was simple: Mobius would collect the water, and Loki would do the sculpting. After all, they were only building sandcastles, and he was a god; how hard could it be?
The rules: Each team had an hour to create the best sandcastle. After their time was up, they would be judged by B-15, who, Loki might add, was relaxed comfortably under a parasol on a sun lounger, sipping smugly on a cocktail, and not sweating to death under the planet's two suns like he was.
The winning team would win a weekend away on the timeline wherever they wanted, no questions asked. During this, their work would be transferred to the losing team, so they wouldn't have to worry about coming back with excess amounts of files to work through.
Loki needed to win. Everything had been so hectic since he got back that he barely had any alone time with Mobius.
OK, so that was a lie. They spent a lot of time together, especially alone time. He was just too nervous to tell Mobius about his feelings.
He'd had been given his own room upon his return to the TVA, and they spent most ‘evenings’ there together. They didn’t need to suggest hanging out at Loki's anymore; they would simply walk back together after work, and Mobius would make himself at home instantly.
Loki had done many scary things in his life. Most recently, leaving the timelines alone to fend for themselves was one of them. But nothing was as frightening as confronting his feelings and confessing them to Mobius. Loving Mobius was easy. It was expressing that love that he struggled with.
But he planned to use this opportunity to take Mobius somewhere nice, eat delicious food, and pour his heart out to him.
He felt his pulse race in excitement and anxiety. He had to win.
He stole a quick glance at O.B. and Casey, who were casually filling their buckets up with sand and laughing as they patted down what looked like a crumbling wall.
He put the finishing touches on another sandy tower and smirked. Amateurs. They wouldn’t know what hit them.
“Hey, look at you go,” Mobius said, strolling back with another bucket full of water. “It’s amazing! How are you working so fast?”
Mobius’ eyes were wide in astonishment as he placed the bucket down and bent down to admire Loki’s work. He watched as Mobius trailed his fingers across the immaculately sculpted battlements.
“I’m a god, Mobius, and a very smart one at that.”
Mobius hummed, reaching out towards Loki’s head and patting him gently, “Very smart, indeed.”
Even though he was boiling from the sun's rays, he shivered under the weight of Mobius’ hand. There was something about Mobius’ touch that made time feel like it slowed down.
If he weren’t so used to the feeling of time flowing through him, one might think he was using magic in these moments. It was, however, only his mind subconsciously trying to stay in the moment for as long as possible. There was no magic needed when it came to Mobius.
They stayed in that position for longer than was probably acceptable for friends, with Mobius kneeling next to him in the sand, his hand resting on top of his head.
A particularly large wave crashed against the shore, pulling him out of his daze. He realised that he had been staring at Mobius, who was smirking at him, obviously waiting for an answer to a question Loki didn’t hear.
“Um…” He cleared his throat, embarrassed that Mobius had caught him being a love-struck fool. “Did you say something?”
Mobius moved his hand so that he was holding the side of Loki’s face, his thumb brushing against the edge of his lips. His eyes sparkled like that of the sea behind him, though Loki noted that Mobius was significantly more beautiful.
“I said, What do we need to do next, Your Highness?” Mobius patted his cheek and withdrew his hand. Loki tried not to outwardly whine at the loss. He could feel his face burning under Mobius’ attention, and he hoped that he could just blame it on the heat. There were two suns, after all.
“Yes, right!” Loki scrambled to his feet to take a step back, taking in his hard work as he did so. “It’s not historically accurate, but I think this castle needs a moat.”
“I’ll get to diggin’ then.” Mobius beamed.
The last fifteen minutes of the contest passed quickly. Working alongside Mobius was effortless. They’d fallen into a good rhythm of Mobius filling up the moat and Loki focussing his attention on the small details.
Their teamwork was formidable. They were certainly going to win.
“You’ve got to be joking, right?” Loki argued, “My– our sandcastle is a replica of Inveraray Castle.”
B-15 shrugged and slurped the last of her cocktail through her straw. “Loki, I don’t even know what that is.”
“You don’t-? Thor and I visited there when we were young and feasted with the Duke of Argyll. Don’t you know the story?”
“Knowing too much about you is more of his thing,” she snorted and pointed towards Mobius, who was standing closely by his side.
“Anyway,” she continued, “O.B. and Casey’s sandcastle had more heart. It was less pompous.”
“Pompous?!” His voice became shrill. “I beg your pardon! O.B. and Casey made a turtle; that’s not even a castle!”
B-15 laughed, “Like I said: more heart.”
He scoffed. This was unbelievable. B-15 hadn’t said anything about being able to build anything other than a castle. If he’d known, he would’ve chosen something far more impressive to make.
He was just about to argue this point when he felt Mobius' hand land on the skin of his shoulder, putting pressure there to ground him. It was a technique that Mobius used often and one that Loki knew all too well.
“Let’s take a walk, shall we?” He said, squeezing his shoulder and then moving his hand down to the small of Loki’s back.
“If we must,” Loki sulked, allowing himself to be guided away from their friends. “I can't believe we have to do O.B.’s work. Good job that I have centuries of experience with quantum engineering.”
“Yes, you do! Thanks, Loki!” O.B. called cheerfully, waving at the pair as they made their way down the promenade.
For an island that boasted about its beautiful beaches, there weren’t many people around. In fact, when they reached the nearest café, it was deserted.
The café was small and manned by a single robot who was very excited to see them—they were the first customers of the day. It enthusiastically told them that they were holding a buy one, get one free offer, so Loki’s ice cream was on the house.
After a long time on Mobius’ part deciding what ice cream to have, they made their way to the tables outside to eat.
Two tubs of ice cream sat in front of Loki. On one side of the table, Mobius was digging into his vibrant blue monstrosity of an ice cream. "It's bubblegum flavour," Mobius had told him with a grin. Loki screwed his nose up in disgust.
He had chosen pistachio, which was a much more acceptable green, although he’d hardly eaten any of it, opting instead for ranting and raving about their loss.
“B doesn’t understand,” he complained, waving his spoon in the air. “I chose the perfect castle to be sculpted out of sand.”
Mobius nodded understandingly, spooning a large scoop of bright blue ice cream into his mouth.
“I can’t believe she’d choose their sandcastle over ours—if you can even call it a castle!”
He made eye contact with Mobius just as he slid the spoon out of his mouth slowly, his tongue lapping against the underside to make sure he didn’t miss a drop of ice cream.
“I had great plans for our timeline getaway.” He grumbled, mixing his ice cream so that it became soupy.
“What kinda plans?” Mobius asked, licking his lips.
“Well, I wanted to do something nice for you.” He mused, so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t notice Mobius leaning towards him over the table. “I planned on cooking my favourite Asgardian dish for the both of us, but that idea has been dashed against the rocks of despair.” He flopped his head down onto his arms dramatically, hiding his face from view.
Everything was ruined. He had tried so hard, but yet again, even his best wasn’t enough.
Mobius laughed loudly—that beautiful melodic laugh that made Loki’s heart sing, and some of his frustration washed away. A hand found its way onto his head again, and it patted him apologetically.
“I’m sorry, Loki. Your castle was amazing, but we can go on a date any time you like, y’know? Doesn’t have to be special.”
His head flung up in shock.
Surely he didn’t hear that correctly?
“Date?!” He repeated. His mouth hung open like a fish.
“That’s what it was, wasn’t it?” Mobius smiled knowingly at Loki.
“You knew?”
Mobius nodded. Of course he knew. He always knew. He was always able to read him better than anyone else.
Loki felt daft. He thought that he was being discreet with his plan, but he should’ve known better than to underestimate the way that Mobius knew him.
“I wanted to tell you myself.” He said after a pause, “I wanted it to be special.”
Mobius’ face softened.
“This is special.” He said, reaching out to grab Loki’s hand. He lifted it towards his lips and kissed the back of it softly. “Everything about you is special; how could it not be?”
Loki’s heart lurched in his chest. He couldn’t believe this was happening. Mobius was holding his hand. Mobius had kissed his hand. He replayed the moment in his mind, thinking of the way his moustache tickled his skin and how soft his lips were.
“But if you insist,” Mobius said, leaning back in his chair, hand still wrapped tightly around his own. “Don’t let me ruin your moment. What were you going to say to me?”
His jaw dropped.
“Go ahead,” Mobius smirked, his sea-blue eyes swimming with mirth.
Loki took a deep breath in. This was it. This was the moment he had been waiting for. He had pictured this moment multiple times as he sat on the throne at the end of time. The setting varied, but what he wanted to tell Mobius remained the same.
He knew exactly what he wanted to say.
“I wanted to thank you,” he began. “You saved me. You allowed me to see that I was able to be more; that I could be anyone I wanted. Because of you, I was able to find purpose.” He gestured with one hand to the surrounding beach. “And what a glorious purpose it is.”
The trees swayed in the wind, the sun shone, the tide pulled the sea out and pushed it back against the shore, the clouds moved across the sky, and their ice cream melted. Time continued. All because Mobius believed in him.
Loki met Mobius’ eyes pointedly. “All of this is because of you. You are my purpose.”
Mobius’ breath caught in his throat.
“I’ve never adored someone in the way that I do you. Someone who sees me for who I was, who I am, and who I could be. And what I’d like to be is with you. If you’ll have me.”
“Damn,” Mobius sniffed, squeezing Loki’s hand tightly. “Anyone ever tell you that you have a way with words?”
“Once or twice,” Loki smiled, eyes watery. “I have been told that I have a silver tongue.”
“Ok, does Prince Silver tongue want to come over here and give me a kiss?” Mobius said softly. He reached up to wipe a tear from his eye.
“More than anything.”
Loki leapt from his chair, bumping into the table with his thigh as he landed on Mobius’ lap.
He wrapped his arms around his neck and leant in.
Mobius’ lips were soft and sweet; it was glorious. The flavour of his ice cream lingered upon them, and Loki savoured the taste. Perhaps bubble gum wasn’t so monstrous after all.
They parted, and Mobius ran a hand through Loki’s hair, playing with the ends gently. He gave Loki a quick kiss and said, “I adore you too, if you weren’t aware.”
“I actually wasn’t aware,” Loki said, leaning in close. “Why don’t you tell me again?”
“I adore you,” He brought their lips back together in a light kiss.
“Again.” Loki said against his lips.
Mobius rolled his eyes fondly. “So demanding.”
They held each other close, arms wrapped tightly around one another as they shared kisses and watched the sea wash against the shore.
This time, instead of being apart as time passed, they were very much together.
“I still want that meal you told me about.” Mobius said later that evening. They were laying together on a sun lounger watching O.B. and Casey splash each other in the ocean. B-15 lay nearby reading a book.
“Your favourite Asgardian food!” he exclaimed, wrapping his arm around Loki’s shoulder to pull him into his chest. “Now that’s something I can’t miss out on.”
Loki turned to look at Mobius and grinned shamelessly.
He had one last confession to make.
“I never actually learnt how to cook.”