Mobius is falling over. That can't be good.
Loki could feel the smile fall off his face, sliding down like melting snow. He knew Mobius had been struggling with the heat, but he had just been trying to distract him, he didn't realize it was this bad. The former analyst had sort of stumbled to the ground against a pile of scrap metal. His head was tilted down and he was blinking like he couldn't see.
"Mobius!" Loki shouted, alarmed, rushing towards his friend. He crouched in front of him. Mobius was leaning against his pack. "What's happening, are you okay?"
Mobius waved a hand dismissively. "Just a little overheated… s'all…" His voice was faint. "I just need some water."
Loki bit his upper lip and took a deep breath. "We don't have water."
Mobius looked up at him quickly, then seemed to immediately regret it, closing his eyes and putting a hand to his brow. He spoke softly. "What?"
"I- I didn't bring water," Loki responded quickly. "Unless you did!" Loki was not good at dealing with sick people, or hurt people. Too vulnerable.
"I didn't bring water… I saw your massive pack and assumed you had some… stupid of me…" Mobius almost laughed. Loki felt guilty. He pressed a hand to Mobius's cheek, it was burning.
"Alright, I'm getting this off," Loki said. His voice was worried and his brain was pinging to a million different places. He didn't know how to help, he wasn't used to needing to help like this. He pushed the pack's straps off of Mobius's shoulders, then began to unbutton his shirt.
"Woah woah woah, what are you doing?" Mobius still had his eyes closed, and pushed weakly at Loki's hands.
"Trying to cool you down, I can stop-"
Mobius sighed. "It's... fine, your hands are cool." He paused. "Why are you alright but I'm-" he gestured towards himself, "-on the ground?"
"I've always been less affected by changes in temperature," Loki shrugged. Then it dawned on him in a crash of horror. His hands froze halfway down Mobius's sweat soaked shirt.
Because I'm a- a frost giant.
Loki remembered how cold the room had become when he had been losing control. Maybe if he could control it…
No, no, no way. Stupid idea.
Loki finished unbuttoning the shirt. Mobius's chest rose and fell with shallow breaths, his eyes were closed and his head was still tilted down. Loki flapped the man's shirt a bit, as if trying to fan him.
"Mobius?"
Mobius didn't respond. Loki tried to tilt his head up, gently, and it lolled towards the sky.
"Mobius!" Loki's voice was panicked and he didn't bother trying to hide it. Mobius made a noise that could have been "I'm fine, calm down" or "alpine, balm found". His eyes were half closed, and Loki could see the whites.
Loki desperately began to miss the rain, there was no wind or sound on this godsforsaken planet. The silence was deafening. Loki didn't know as much as he should about healing (those lessons were boring) but he knew this couldn't be good.
And he couldn't bear it. The pain was real and visceral, shooting through his chest, to see Mobius like this. Defenseless. The former analyst's face was rough with stubble, and his silver hair had begun to grow out slightly. A few weeks of unpredictable sleep and meals had given him a leaner look, like he was carved out of stone or wood by the wind. Raw.
Loki swallowed hard, and imagined the Casket of Ancient Winters. He imagined the icy, painful, soul-numbing cold on his hands. The sharp, metallic air burned his lungs as he took a deep breath.
Just my hands, just my hands, please. He was begging with himself. Against his will, Loki's mind began to spiral into deeper panic, like he couldn't do this without the emotional turmoil. He was free falling. His breaths became frantic and shaky, crashing through the heavy silence. In the halflight, the scrap piles seemed like giants. Then, as if the winds had shifted, he sighed. Gave up. Defeated.
So be it. Let me fall apart, I'm tired of fighting it.
There was no sound except for two uneven breaths. Two heartbeats. The sky was every ugly color and the shadows were alive. Loki closed his eyes, his hands were ice cold. Colder than ice.
And he didn't fall apart. Without fighting them, the thoughts spun themselves out and blew away.
He opened his eyes, his hands were blue. Just his hands. Just his hands. Quickly, Loki pressed them to Mobius's damp chest, one over his heart.
Mobius gasped softly, as if stung, then groaned. His eyes fluttered, but he didn't move.
For a brief moment, Loki worried he was hurting the man, but he could feel Mobius begin to take deeper breaths.
Loki slid his hands upward and around Mobius's neck, one on each side. His skin was like a fire against Loki's hands, and slick with sweat, especially at the nape of his neck, as if it had been pooling there. Loki held him as if he was glass.
Mobius's eyes blinked open. Loki smiled, it felt as though gold light was crashing through his lungs.
I'm doing this, and it's working. I got through the panic spiral. I'm helping someone and it's working.
"How-" Mobius started. His voice was rough. Loki moved a hand up into his hair and clutched the back of his skull, as if he was trying to cool his brain. Mobius swallowed dryly. "How are you doing this?"
Wordlessly, Loki pulled the hand from behind Mobius's neck so it hovered between them. Mobius looked at it, blinked, then swallowed again, as if trying to get enough saliva to speak.
"I thought you didn't-" Gently, Loki put his hand on Mobius's stomach, just under his rib cage, keeping the other in the man's hair. Mobius stopped, as if he had lost his train of thought, or was looking for the word he meant to say. "Didn't want to do… that. Blue."
Loki shrugged. He was still smiling. "Well, you're obviously more important." It came out teasing, like a snarky comment. It wasn't. He meant it. He realized truly and fully that he meant it.
Mobius had become more important than Loki's own self hatred.
The notion swept him off his feet, so unfamiliar. Part of him wanted desperately to retreat, run away and hide, but he still held Mobius's head in his hands.
I mean it, I mean it. He is more important.
Mobius just blinked, holding eye contact. Loki moved his hand down the man's abdomen, trying to convert every hot patch of skin to cool. Mobius shuddered, and his eyelids fluttered slightly. Loki stopped. Mobius's face had relaxed, he looked more comfortable. He gave Loki a small smile.
I did that. I helped him. He is more important. He's everything.
The silence stretched into infinity. Loki could feel Mobius's heart beating under his skin. They were hidden in the silence between seconds, in the twilight of minutes just before they end. Slowly, without realizing, Loki had begun to lean forward.
I want to kiss him. Oh gods I'm going to kiss him. Oh-
There was a noise in the distance. A noise breaking the silence. They both heard it, and stiffened. Loki whipped his head towards the sound.
Like a thousand tiny metallic feet running over the ground, like a flurry of mechanical typing. He could see something in the distance
It was some sort of floating platform emanating soft white light, and he could make out boxes and people sitting atop it. As it came closer, Loki thought he saw a blur of spindly metal legs propelling it forward and keeping it above ground.
Loki gently set Mobius's head against the pack, stood up and began waving his arms.
"HEY!" he yelled. He saw Mobius try to sit up in his peripheral vision. "OVER HERE! HELP!"
"Loki," Mobius hissed. Loki ignored him.
"MY FRIEND NEEDS HELP! HEY!"
The platform continued towards them, and Loki could see someone holding what looked like binoculars to their eyes, trying to make the pair out. Loki gave another wave of his arms, then helped Mobius to his feet, careful not to let his pack slide over his head when he bent over. The former analyst was heavy, and he had put his pack back on. Mobius slumped against him and whispered in his ear.
"What are you doing?" He sounded like he thought Loki had lost his mind.
"You need help, I'm not going to let you die on this ridiculous junk planet."
"I'm not going to die-"
"Hush." Loki shushed Mobius and straightened up, raising a hand in greeting. The platform had reached them.
A figure Loki couldn't quite make out yelled something down to them in a language he didn't recognize, high pitched and fast.
"What?" Loki asked, feeling his heart sink. They might not even be able to talk to them.
The figure spoke again. The platform was over ten feet above them and Loki had to crane his neck to see them.
"I- I don't understand you," Loki shouted up, hearing the desperation in his own voice. Mobius was heavy and sweaty leaning against him.
Leaning downwards, the figure was joined by two others, one on each side. They said something again, the fluttery language made Loki feel lightheaded. Then, something was tossed down. It hit Loki on the forehead, and he caught it awkwardly against his chest.
"Ow," he shot back. Examining the object in his hand, it seemed like some kind of earpiece. A language translator.
He pushed it into his ear, hoping desperately that he was right and it wasn't actually some sort of head-exploding device. The beings didn't seem hostile.
"We need help," Loki called up again. This time, he could understand the response.
"Why?" The voice was still high-pitched, but at least he knew what they meant now.
"My friend, he needs water. We need transportation to the nearest ship rental," Loki's voice felt hoarse from all the shouting in the acrid, heavy air.
"Why should we help you?" The voice was suspicious.
"Well why shouldn't you?" Loki countered, wishing desperately he was on even footing with them.
"Because more weight slows the - down, because you're a liability, because I don't want a sick person on my -, and most importantly, we can't get to the nearest ship rental unless you have lots and lots of time."
Loki assumed the word he couldn't make out was whatever they called the floating platform.
"For one, my friend is not sick, he's just dehydrated. We are not a liability, and the ship rental is only a 6 hour walk, which should be even faster on your floating-thingy." Loki was becoming angry now.
"6 hour walk?" Mobius whisper-shouted. Loki ignored him.
The shadowy figures made a high pitched twittering noise that hurt Loki's ears. It might have been a laugh. There must've been some sort of light on the platform, Loki could only see their silhouettes.
"None of that is our problem. You have wasted our time."
The platform began to move away.
"NO!" Loki shouted. Fury rose through his chest. Reaching his free hand towards the platform, the other still holding Mobius up, Loki tensed every muscle. Beads of sweat popped on his temple with the effort. His head filled with buzzing, just like it had on Lamentis.
The platform jerked to a stop, then began moving back towards them. The figures started screeching, but they didn't necessarily sound angry or scared.
Loki could hear them shouting. "Magic user, magic user, magic user! -!"
Hopefully these weren't the type to kill magic users. Loki felt the resistance stop as the platform began to move towards them on its own accord.
Loki pulled his arm back around Mobius and tensed, preparing for a fight if need be. The platform sunk down to ground level, carefully wedged between the towers of junk. There was a small circle of pure light in the center that illuminated the figures better.
There were three of them, feminine figures, legs exposed and torsos wrapped in layers and layers of threadbare netting. Probably to stay cool on this sweltering planet. They wore goggles and gas masks, their bald heads reflecting the light from the platform. Their skin was a pale shade of bluish-lavender, almost white, and their arms and legs were too long to be proportionately human.
The tallest, the one Loki had been talking to, rushed towards them.
"What are you doing-" Loki panted, taking a step back and holding up a hand between them.
"Helping you, idiot." She motioned with one of her long arms and the other two figures stepped forward. They held gas masks in their hands, and a translator for Mobius. "Why aren't you wearing masks? Idiots, idiots."
Loki didn't appreciate being called an idiot three times in the span of a minute.
"We needed masks?" Loki asked, helping Mobius onto the platform as the man grabbed a mask and strapped it on, then pushed the translator into his ear.
"You put us on a poisonous planet?" Mobius nearly shouted at Loki, voice sounding harsher through the mask.
"I didn't know it was poisonous," Loki shot back, strapping on his own mask. With the mask on, the air became far thinner and easier to breathe. "Anyways, why did you change your minds?" Loki turned to the three beings suspiciously.
"Because, you became valuable to us," the tall one shrugged.
"Hey, I'm not here to be a servant, I'm here to get to the ship rental and to get my friend some water." Loki's voice was low, threatening.
"We know. The passage to the ship rental, as well as the only place that resembles a city on this planet, has been blocked. You're going to help us unblock it."
"I'm not sure if I-"
"Oh you will," the tall one said, voice suddenly falling so many octaves that it became like the rumble of thunder. A flash of fear lit Loki's chest. She stepped closer to him, and Loki realized that the shortest of the beings was still at least two feet taller than himself.
"I'm still hung up on the whole 'poisonous planet' thing," Mobius called from the ground, seeming undeterred by the tension. He was sitting against a crate. The entire platform was full of crates, some stacked on top of eachother.
"It won't kill you if you've only been here a short time, it just isn't very comfortable," the tall one said dismissively, her voice returning to its natural pitch. "Get him some water," she said to the shortest one, who quickly hurried over to a large black cabinet, pulling something from the bottom drawer.
Loki watched as she handed Mobius a thin black can with a long straw that fit into the mask. He said a silent prayer under his breath that the liquid actually was water and that these three tall pale people weren't about to murder them.
Mobius seemed fine, he leaned against the crate as he drank and closed his eyes. Loki watched his throat roll as he swallowed.
So trusting. Of them. And of me, that I wouldn't put him in danger.
The tall one turned back to Loki. The medium one was already busying herself with setting the platform into motion, and Loki held his hands out for balance as it jerked back to life.
"I'm assuming you don't need goggles since you could see us," the tall one prompted, and Loki furrowed his eyebrows.
"What?"
"Many beings cannot see through the atmosphere of this planet, it is too thick. I assume you two are not those beings."
"I guess not," Loki answered, distracted, still turning back to watch Mobius. The short one was still crouched by him, and patted his shoulder comfortingly. They appeared to be conversing quietly, and Loki felt the most absurd flash of jealousy. All the beings were beautiful in a terrifying way, smooth, curvy, tall, and threatening. Their mesh shirts were fairly easy to see through, and Loki felt the bizarre desire to cover Mobius's eyes. As if she could sense his jealousy, the tall one made a noise that might have been a scoff. The short one laughed like quick blasts of a whistle.
Wait, Loki thought, and the medium one turned to him from where she was fixing the controls as if he had spoken out loud. You're mind readers?
The short one nodded enthusiastically, and the tall one barked something at her. The short one then began to shake her head no, but the damage had already been done.
"You're mind readers?" Loki said aloud, shocked and frightened. Mind readers were just a child's tale on Asgard to keep bad girls and boys in check.
"You're mind readers?" Mobius echoed, sounding awed. He had finished his water, but still sat against the crate. "That's so cool!"
"Thank you! We can only do it within short range, though," The short one chirped, her voice was the highest. It burned Loki's ears.
"Fascinating," Mobius breathed.
"And don't worry about us exposing your secrets," the tall one said mockingly to Loki, perceiving the first worry that flashed through his mind.
"We don't meddle in the affairs of other races," the medium one finished. Her voice was the lowest, sounding like a breathy young girl.
Part of Loki expected Mobius to say that they had nothing to hide from each other, but he was silent.
Perhaps we both have something we don't want the other to hear, Loki mused.
"Oh, you do," the tall one answered mysteriously. Loki and Mobius both looked at her quickly.
"I thought you said you wouldn't meddle in our affairs," Loki snapped, feeling fully disarmed.
"Yes, but there's no harm in a bit of fun," the tall one answered, stepping away from them to help the medium one steer, cranking back a large lever. The platform glided along quickly without bouncing or jerking, the metal legs balanced out any differences in ground level. The air was so still that Loki felt as though they weren't moving. It was like someone had spun him around a thousand times, then landed him on his head.
He spent the rest of the journey trying very hard to only think of a white wall. He had walked to the very edge of the platform, and sat with his legs hanging down, leaning sideways against a crate. Mobius talked with the three beings the entire time, but Loki ignored their conversation, focusing only on the towers of junk and scrap that they passed in a dark blur and the clatter of the metal legs.
He didn't even let himself entertain the idea of a betrayal, as he normally would have, because the beings would probably immediately throw himself and Mobius off the platform if they had any suspicions. Instead, Loki only thought of whatever could be blocking the way, how big it might be. On if he could actually do this when his life wasn't in danger or he wasn't fueled by impulse.
Eventually, a strange shape rose in the distance, surrounded by tents and other floating platforms, hundreds of different beings roamed around at its base and between the tents. It seemed like they were working on dismantling the blockage.
The blockage itself was a massive heap of metal and junk, if Loki had to guess he would say that it had been a towering pile that fell over.
"I don't understand," Loki said, getting up and moving towards the beings and Mobius. "This can't be the only way to the city."
"It is," the tall one answered, sounding disappointed in whoever made that decision. "The city, if you could call it that, floats over a giant sink-hole, with only one path in and out. There aren't enough lives in the city or out of the city to make it a priority for anyone that could actually help us."
"So you want me to do it."
"No, you will be doing it."
Loki had the brief desire to fight, argue, and use a snappy comeback. But he didn't. He stepped close to the tallest one, looking up at her goggles in an attempt at eye contact.
Promise me, he thought. Promise me that if I can't do it, you won't hurt him.
"Why would we do that?" The tall one said in a tone that made Loki think he had assumed correctly.
I know you have an advantage being able to see in my head, but please don't use him as leverage. It won't work, if I can't do it then I can't do it.
The tall one cocked her head. "We'd never hurt him, he's much kinder than you. A lovely conversation partner."
Mobius just watched them, curious.
You better stick to your word, Loki thought, menacingly, letting everything he felt flash through his mind. It felt freeing, no hiding or tricks.
The tall one jerked her head towards Mobius and the short one grabbed the translator from his ear in a flash.
"Hey!" Mobius shouted, trying to grab the translator back.
"Is there something you aren't telling us? Is he valuable for a reason you are somehow hiding?"
Not in a way that would benefit you, Loki answered, unable to stop the flood of emotion that came with the question she asked. The tall one suddenly understood.
"Ah, I see. You love him."
The words were so raw and final, spoken in her high-pitched, fluttery voice. Dizzying and hanging in space. They had reached the base of the blockage, and people below were looking up at them. Loki swallowed hard. He felt like he was at the bottom of the world, the massive pile of scrap towering over his head.
I- I don't know. I don't know how I feel. Is… is this love? That you can see in my head?
"That is for you to figure out on your own," the tall one responded.
"We meddle not in the affairs of others," the medium one repeated.
Mobius had gotten his translator back, and tried to get to his feet. Loki rushed over to help him up.
"He is not," the short one said to Mobius, apparently answering his thoughts. "In fact, I would be highly surprised if he ever does."
"Ever do what?" Loki asked, looking from Mobius to the short one.
"Nothing," Mobius soothed. Loki couldn't read his expression through the mask.
The platform began to sink down, and beings of various different races began to crowd around them. Loki felt exposed and underdressed in his unbuttoned, ratty shirt.
"EVERYONE BACK AWAY FROM THE BLOCK," the tall one shout-screamed, voice utterly low and whistle-high at the same time. She was so loud that Loki saw many people covering their ears. He winced.
"WE HAVE FOUND A MAGIC-USER!"
Everyone around them erupted into cheers. Loki straightened, waving to the people around them as if he was a king greeting his loyal subjects, smiling good-humoredly.
Fake it till you make it.
Time to see what he could really do.
woo! anotha one! thank you to everyone still here and reading y'all mean so much to me, and believe me, there's a LOT left in store for these two. anyway, let me know how i'm doing in the reviews! any feedback just makes the story better (or gives me motivation to continue and feel like people are actually reading this lol)