Mobius was becoming so used to whiplash that he was beginning to accept it as just the normal flow of events.
Just this morning they had been training back on Aeyhle. Although at this point it might be the next day (he couldn't keep track of time anymore). He desperately needed sleep. He was the sort of tired that almost felt sick, nauseous. Like his body was shutting down whether he liked it or not.
The water had helped, but he still felt unsteady, weighed down by... everything. As much faith as Mobius had in Loki, the god had been through an awful lot today. And the past few weeks. And, well, years. Mobius wasn't sure he'd be able to move this block.
Kcaylitrti, Ljaeinrye, and Sacqlikpirt (Mobius had learned their names, even though he couldn't exactly pronounce them aloud) had cleared everyone away from the block and were back on their platform. Everyone was getting as far away from the wall as they could, as if they half expected Loki would just blow it up.
Hell, maybe he will.
On the platform, when Kcaylitrti had taken Mobius's translator and Loki had some sort of secret conversation with Sacqlikpirt, Mobius had almost, for the briefest of moments, thought he was being betrayed again. It was absurd and he immediately pushed it away, but Kcaylitrti had heard him.
He could still remember what she had said in response to his inward Could Loki be turning on me?
"He is not. In fact, I would be highly surprised if he ever does."
Mobius would give anything for a look into Loki's mind, figure out what he was thinking once and for all. Be certain in something.
Now, Loki was standing tall, hands on his hips, as if sizing up the massive heap of crushed metal before him. To an outsider, Loki would appear totally confident, but Mobius knew him better than that. Loki had taken off his pack, and Mobius stood to his side.
Mobius took another glance at the shadowy fallen tower before him, then back at Loki, before turning to follow the others away. Not because he wanted to, but because he didn't think Loki wanted him there. The god had barely spoken to him their entire time on the platform, and Mobius wasn't exactly sure why.
As Mobius backed away, Loki spoke without moving. "Wait."
Mobius stopped.
Loki turned to look at him, and Mobius could fully see the panic on his face, even though only his eyes were unobscured by the gas mask. Everyone else was too far away now to notice anything awry.
"I'm not sure if I can do this," Loki breathed in a rush, like he was afraid to say it outloud. His eyes glittered in the dusky light.
"Of course you can," Mobius said, voice steadier than at had been all day. He forced truth and power into his words, even if he didn't really believe it.
"How can you know that?" Loki asked.
Maybe this insecurity always existed in him. When Mobius was studying Loki before they met it had shown up fairly often in his behavior. But Mobius had never felt it this palpably until after everything with Sylvie. At that moment, he hated her viciously for it.
"Because we have no other option," Mobius answered, deadpan. Loki winced, but Mobius knew they were both aware of the truth in his words. They had gone too far now to turn back or try to discover a different route to New Asgard. The plan was already set in motion, the timeline already grown.
Loki looked back up at the block. He was silent. Mobius put a hand on his shoulder.
"Stay with me." Loki's voice was raw, but solid.
Inwardly, Mobius tensed at the statement (command? question?).
I can't believe you'd even doubt it, that I'd stay with you. I'd stay with you through the end of the world. I already have. Don't you realize that? Do you really think I could leave, even if I wanted to? You're all I have left. The only thing.
"Of course."
Mobius felt Loki's shoulder rise as he took a deep breath. Part of his instincts told him to run, or at least move behind the god. The already poisonous air seemed to crackle with potential energy. Mobius was standing next to a powder keg.
But he stayed. Stayed at his side. Body facing Loki, eyes darting from the massive blockage to Loki's hands as they began to glow the faintest shade of green. Almost undetectable.
Loki raised his arms, and there was a sound like a hundred cars crashing together as the blockage shifted. But it didn't move.
Oh no.
Loki lifted his hands higher, until they were parallel with his shoulders. Mobius could feel Loki's muscles, knotted and tense beneath his damp shirt. Hundreds of people behind them had fallen silent.
Nothing was happening, but the cacophony of crushing metal grew louder, and Mobius noticed a few scraps crumpling at the edges. Like Loki was trying to compress the block before he moved it.
Loki's hands started moving backwards and he widened his stance, closing his eyes. The backs of his hands were nearly pressed against his chest, palms up towards the hulking mass before them. Mobius watched the muscle in Loki's jaw roll under his sweat-soaked skin at the edge of his gas mask.
Flashes of green began to arc around the metal, like lightning around a stormcloud. Underneath his mask, Mobius licked his lips nervously. The grinding sound stopped. Mobius squeezed Loki's shoulder without thinking.
Everything was still. A collective holding of breath. Mobius was so tired.
Suddenly, Loki shot his hands forward. Everything flashed, not necessarily with green or with light, but as if the air itself hiccuped. With a sound like screeching thunder, the blockage began to split down the middle, into two pieces. Smaller scraps rained down, unable to stick to the mass. A road was coming into view, and beyond it, a ramshackle town. The two colossal chunks of scrap metal were pushed back, falling into the void under the city, parting around the path. The noise was deafening and everything shook as it reverberated with the soundwaves.
And then the wall of metal and trash was gone.
Loki stumbled forward, and Mobius immediately lunged to catch him. Everyone behind them erupted in raucous cheers, whistling or hooting or growling in various tongues.
Breathing heavily, Loki leaned against Mobius, and Mobius laughed.
"You did it, you actually did it!" Mobius yelled over the noise behind them.
"Of course I did," Loki replied in a breathy laugh, grinning wildly. Mobius tightened his embrace. They held onto each other, giggling like children, nearly delirious with heat and exhaustion. Loki smelled like sweat and stone and magic (like static and smoke), and Mobius had never been so thankful to have someone to hold onto.
A clattering of metallic legs nearby made Mobius look around, and he saw Kcaylitrti, Ljaeinrye, and Sacqlikpirt barrelling towards them. The platform wasn't fully heightened, and when they reached the pair, the mind-readers pulled them up. Not very gently.
"Good job!" Kcaylitrti chirped, patting Loki on the back. Loki dipped his head graciously and leaned against a crate, still breathing hard, then tilted his head to the sky. Meanwhile, Lkaeinrye worked the levers to speed them ahead of everyone else while Sacqlikpirt screeched at anyone who tried to overtake them.
Mobius realized the group led a massive charge towards the town, like a tidal wave of people, some on platforms, others on beaten, buggy-vehicles that Mobius recognized as RayStoks (circa late 28th century), and even more just on foot.
"What's with the rush?" Mobius called to the others.
"Whoever gets there first gets the best deals, obviously," Kcaylitri answered in her shrill tone. "Our first stop is the ship rental, they offer the best trade rates for quality scrap. We can take you with us, it's the least we can do."
Sacqlikpirt snorted. "We owe them nothing, Kcaylitri."
Mobius quelled the urge to argue (you owe us everything and more, did you see what he did for you?), moving towards Loki and looking out at the town before them. Loki still faced the crowd behind.
Mobius clapped his left hand to the other man's left shoulder, resting a thumb on his collar bone, the heel of his hand on Loki's heart. Loki covered Mobius's hand with his own, and they stood there, wordlessly (two people that loved to talk at a loss for words, too tired to speak). One looking forward and one looking back, surrounded by the windless blur of motion.
...
The outside of the ship rental was gray stone, blocky and stained by darker grime, probably from the poisonous rain and any splashes of acrid mud raised by passersby. Lkaeinrye opened the door ahead of them and Sacqlikpirt strode in quickly, probably to immediately secure a deal. Next went Kcaylitri, then Lkaeinrye. Loki and Mobius followed.
Inside, it was almost blindingly white, floor marked with black stone to designate four lines, each leading to a glass window, and behind that, an attendant. Each window had a sign above it in about fifty different languages.
One window was for ship rental, another for metal exchange, one for currency exchange, and one for interplanetary passports. The building was much larger inside than it had appeared from the outside, with high ceilings, benches, and hallways leading to what were probably bathrooms in the back. It almost seemed like a shining train station. But Mobius hardly registered any of this.
"I fucking love air conditioning," he groaned, leaning sideways against a wall and pulling off his gas mask as he realized everyone else already had. The air was icy, crisp and cold and clear. Mobius's skin and lungs cried with joy.
"Mobius," Loki scolded laughingly.
"What?" Mobius asked, looking at Loki and rubbing his face where the gas mask had irritated the skin, slick with perspiration.
"I've just- I've never heard you swear like that before," Loki replied, face good-humored.
"If there was ever a good reason to swear, it was over this A/C," Mobius answered, flapping his shirt and shivering as his damp skin came in contact with the frosty air. Loki laughed.
Under the harsh artificial lighting, the god looked terrible. His skin was smudged with dust, and his eyes seemed hollowed out of his head in heavy dark circles. Loki was even paler than usual, underneath all the grime. Mobius realized he probably didn't look much better himself (probably looked even worse).
Pushing away from the wall, Mobius ran a hand through his hair and put the other on his hip.
"Alright," he sighed, "Let's go get a ship. And then I'm going to sleep for a year."
The building was already filling as more people arrived around them, and Mobius was not in the mood to wait in line for hours. His muscles ached, and his mouth was dry with exhaustion.
In the corner of his eye Mobius saw a flash of blonde curls, and for a split second, his entire body recoiled. He was suddenly convinced that Sylvie had found them and was coming to finish whatever she started in the Citadel. (Was Mobius more worried that she would try to kill Loki, or kiss him? Questions for another time.)
He lost sight of the blonde head, but the uneasiness didn't dissipate. They had to get off this stupid, sweltering planet.
The pair waved quickly to the mind readers, who were already at a window. Sacqlikpirt was arguing threateningly with an attendant (without their goggles and masks, the mind readers had concerningly wide mouths and small eyes, with two thick slits for nostrils). Mobius felt a brief flash of… something. He wasn't sure what. Loss, or guilt. Or maybe relief. He shook the feeling away. Too tired to figure it all out.
By the grace of some god, Mobius and Loki only had to wait in line for a few minutes. (the god was Loki, he had shoved about ten disgruntled others out of their way without a second thought).
The attendant seemed human-ish, with a round face and chin length, curly blonde hair. She looked up at them as they approached, and Mobius noticed her eyes dip over Loki's bare chest. Mobius snorted aloud without thinking. Loki shot him a look and the girl blushed.
"What do you two need?" she asked, grinning sheepishly.
"We just need a ship, something suited for multi-day travel over fairly long distances, for about this much," Loki shot her a charming, dazzling smile that lit his tired face and pushed a pile of gold coins toward her from out of nowhere. Mobius was certain that they were just an illusion, and hoped that they would get off this planet before anyone else realized.
The attendant looked down at the coins, then back up at Loki.
"This isn't really very much…" she said. "I may have one or two options, but you certainly have some specific requests for such a low cost."
Mobius elbowed Loki, who shot him a quick angry glance.
Of course he didn't look around long enough to figure out how much money he should actually give.
"Ahem- what options?" Loki asked, and Mobius marveled at his ability to stay composed at the moment. The attendant disappeared for a moment, returning with three small silver disks. When she pushed a button on the top, they projected a diagram of a ship, along with a few statistics.
All three ships looked terrible, like they were barely held together. Two of them didn't even have a pallet to sleep on, and none of them had any semblance of a shower. The 'safety stats' bar was incredibly low and blinking red in every hologram.
Mobius sighed and put his face in his hands.
We've made it this far just to die on a hunk of metal in space.
"I'm sorry, miss-" Loki started after a long moment of staring at the disheartening projections.
"Hira," the attendant supplied, raising an eyebrow.
"Hira," Loki continued, gesturing with one hand and leaning on the side of the window, as if the two were about to share a secret. "Look, I really hate to do this, but my husband and I were in an accident," he grabbed Mobius's left hand out of sight, and Mobius felt a wedding ring appear, "our ship broke down, we narrowly escaped with our lives, and nearly all our money was destroyed. Y'know, we're actually on our honeymoon"
The story was obviously a lie, but Loki said it with such a clever mix of conviction, sorrow, wistfulness, and embarrassment that Mobius nearly believed it.
"Oh that's awful," Hira said, eyes darting from Loki's crestfallen face to Mobius's, "But I'm not sure there's anything I can do."
Loki opened his mouth to speak again, but Mobius stepped forward.
"If only one person is participating in the lie, it isn't very convincing" a voice sang in his head. Mobius couldn't remember who had told him that. Maybe Loki.
"Look sweetheart-" Mobius started. His voice was low, soft, and concerned, as if he was worried about Hira's well being.
Ravonna always said that most of the time, when a man calls a woman 'sweetheart', it feels condescending and creepy. But something about how Mobius said it put people at ease.
"Maybe it's just your natural goodness, I don't know," she had said. (and look how far that 'natural goodness' had gotten him).
"-we're just having a really tough time today. You seem intelligent and hardworking, we don't mean to put you out, but if there's anything you could do to help us, it would mean a whole lot."
Mobius brought his left hand to his chest as if touched by her kindness to hear out their predicament. The hand still held Loki's, and he positioned it to display the fake wedding ring.
After a long moment of consideration as she chewed her lip, the girl finally spoke. "Y'know what, I might be able to give you two a discount. Think of it as a wedding present." She beamed at them, and began searching for another display chip.
Loki and Mobius thanked her graciously, shooting each other a gleeful look behind her back. Loki squeezed Mobius's hand, and the former analyst was certain the only thing keeping either of them standing was adrenaline.
Hira returned to the window and passed them a small silver disk. It projected the stats of a ship that was still small, but at least it wasn't falling apart. There was only one bed, but it had a working shower and sink. Mobius was relatively certain that this cost much more than the amount Loki had conjured, and he felt suddenly guilty tricking the attendant like this. She seemed sweet, if a bit naive.
"We'll take it, it's perfect. Thank you so much Hira," Loki spoke, voice deep and full, beaming like Hira had just offered them a million dollars.
"Yeah, really, you've done a good thing." Mobius smiled without his teeth, feeling guiltier by the second.
Tricks and lies and screwing people over. Still for a 'good cause'.
"No problem you two," she grinned, cheeks pink at their praise. "Just go out the door to your left and click the center button. That'll turn the ship on, and it will beep a few times so you can track it down. You have a three week timespan to return the rental before facing a 15% cost penalty every extra late day. We have other locations nearby that you can drop it off ati, I can give you a map if you like," she rattled off, obviously stating a previously practiced spiel.
"That would be lovely darling," Loki said. Hira disappeared back into the offices behind the windows with a 'I'll just be a sec' and a cheery wave.
"You were brilliant!" Loki said as soon as Hira was out of earshot. Mobius half smiled, distracted by his own thoughts. "I mean, the flattery, the charm, you truly outdid yourself."
"Well I feel bad about it," Mobius replied, almost snapping. He was too tired for this. Too tired to glow at Loki's praise while also feeling like it was an insult.
"What? Why?" Loki questioned, voice confused but still teasing, as if Mobius was pulling a prank.
"I just-" he sighed and searched for the right words. The pack on his back felt like a million pounds. "We're basically stealing and manipulating this poor girl into being an accomplice!"
"Keep your voice down," Loki hissed, smile melting off his face as he stepped closer to Mobius to whisper. "Look, it's not her fault, she won't get in trouble. We don't have any other choice."
Mobius crossed his arms and looked away. Loki grabbed his shoulder.
"Look, I love that you have a strong moral compass or whatever it may be, but don't be unreasonably cruel to yourself over this. We're both hardly standing and I prefer not to explode in the middle of space."
Mobius looked up then back at Loki. "Definitely does not sound like a fun way to die." His voice was begrudging.
At some point you're going to have to let things go. The best decision will not always feel good, but that doesn't make it less necessary, said a voice in Mobius's head. He wished he knew who it was.
Loki gave Mobius's shoulder a quick squeeze as Hira returned, passing Loki a piece of laminated paper (extremely outdated technology for this era).
"Have a safe trip!" she chirped happily, dumping their coins into a bag as Loki and Mobius made their way to the door.
Mobius gave Hira one last smile before securing his gas mask. She waved, then moved on to the next group in line.
It was hot outside. It seemed hotter than before compared to the icy air conditioning of the building they had just left. Loki had grabbed the silver disk and was now clicking the button frantically.
"Don't break it," Mobius said, listening for a beeping noise.
The shipyard was at least a square mile, full of vehicles of every shape and size. In the halflight, it almost seemed like a disproportionate graveyard. Luckily, the ship they had 'purchased' was close by.
Sealing shut behind them with a click, the door slid into place and Mobius hurriedly took off his mask. Inside the ship it was cramped. On one end, at the window and control panel, was a single captain's chair with two booths on either side behind it, then further back, tucked into an enclave in the machinery, was a wide pallet bed. In the back of the ship Mobius thought he saw the shower.
Loki moved over to quickly punch in coordinates, tossing the rental map on a booth. Mobius was too tired to ask where they were going, he just shoved the pack off his shoulders with a heavy thump.
My mac and cheese is definitely ruined, Mobius thought sleepily.
The ship whirred to life, lights blinking on and air conditioning kicking in (thank god, it was almost hotter inside the ship than outside of it).
The floor tilted as they lifted off, and Mobius felt the dizzying change in pressure as they ascended. It was almost eerily silent between the two, as if they had become hollow shells of people, driven to the edge by exhaustion. Loki dropped his pack unceremoniously in the middle of the floor, then collapsed onto the bare pallet, hardly bothering with pillows or blankets.
"Guess I'm sleeping on the floor then," Mobius grumbled to himself, walking over towards the pallet and Loki's sprawled form.
"No," Loki said back, face smushed into the mattress. Without moving any other part of his body, Loki reached out and grabbed Mobius's forearm, pulling him down onto the pallet beside him.
In any other moment of his life, Mobius would've argued. Or at least felt embarrassed. But he was tired beyond that, tired beyond anything. His muscles ached and his eyelids were deadweights. As soon as he hit the thin mattress, Mobius was asleep.
They both still wore the fake wedding rings.
HI GUYS SORRY THIS ONE TOOK SO LONG I'VE BEEN SUPER BUSY BUT DW I'M NOT ABANDONING THIS! like at all! also my ao3 account will NOT approve so if anyone knows how to fix that please send help. one bed trope 4 life