A/N surpriseeee I'm back with more

Swimming in the lake with Avengers Loki is a lot of fun!

Coming out of the lake afterwards makes Mobius want to curl up and die.

In fact, that's kind of what he does, minus the dying part. He squeezes his arms around himself in a tight hug, his teeth chattering, and when he's still too cold, he crouches down and pulls his legs into his chest. He wishes he'd known how cold that freaking lake was before he'd suggested they jump in it. If he dies of hypothermia within a day of coming to Asgard, he's going to be a very disappointed ghost.

Loki looks down at Mobius with a frown. "Are you okay?"

"I am so cold," Mobius whispers.

Loki waves a hand in his direction, and he finds himself completely dry. It helps a little bit. It's enough that he can force himself to stand back up, and he even starts getting dressed, despite his shaking limbs. Maybe he'll warm up when he's wearing actual clothes.

Loki dries himself off, too, and throws his... cape? coat? Is there even a word for that in the human language?... back on, then leans against a tree to wait for Mobius.

"So," Mobius says as he's getting dressed, "are we going to the feast tonight?"

Loki sighs. "I really do not want to." His words say no, but his attitude says he could be swayed.

"It'll be fun," Mobius says. "I'll stick with you the whole time."

Loki hesitates, not quite convinced yet. Mobius gives him a minute to think about it while he buttons up his shirt, and, when he looks back at his friend, he seems just as unsure as he did before.

"If you want to leave, you can leave," Mobius tells him. "Just give it a chance. At least get something to eat."

Loki hesitates, then nods once. "I suppose I would like to eat. I didn't do much of that on Midgard."

"What, didn't like the food?" Mobius asks teasingly. Everything on Earth is so heavily processed this century, and it only gets worse. Mobius for one tends to enjoy the processed foods, but if he remembers correctly, it's a lot different than anything Asgard has to offer.

"Didn't have the time," Loki says with a shrug.

Mobius is fairly certain there was a lot of waiting around while he was on Earth and he easily could have sent one of his mind-controlled henchmen to get him something to eat, but he opts not to mention it. He didn't exactly seem to be in the soundest of minds while he was on Earth.

Mobius tosses his suit jacket on and looks up at his new friend expectantly. "Okay, now how do we get out of here?"

Loki cracks a smile, huffing a quiet laugh that brings a grin to Mobius's face, too. He gestures for Mobius to follow and heads off into the woods, and Mobius stays by his side, keeping his gaze on the ground so he doesn't trip over any roots. He almost made that mistake a few times getting here; he's not risking it again.

He brings his hands up near his face, rubbing them together to create friction. He breathes on them, trying to warm them up, not that it does much. He rubs his hands up and down his arms to at least try to warm his arms, but that has a negligible effect, too.

"What are you doing?" Loki asks.

"I'm cold," Mobius says, which isn't quite an answer to that question, but it's true. He's freezing right now.

"Still?" Loki says, incredulous. He pulls off his... cape? No, his coat. He's calling it a coat. It makes the most sense in this context. Loki pulls off his coat and drapes it around Mobius's shoulders. "Does that help?"

Mobius looks down at it. "Well, it doesn't have sleeves..."

"It's still another layer," Loki says. "If it doesn't help, I can take it back."

Mobius pauses, then shakes his head. "It's better than nothing. Thank you." It's actually not helping at all, but he feels really cool walking around in a leather coat/cape combo right now and he really wants to hear his Loki's response to it.

Mobius expects to have to initiate all the conversations tonight, even if Loki is a willing participant in them, so he's surprised when Loki asks out of the blue, "So where do you come from? I know you mentioned time travel."

"It's complicated," Mobius says. "I existed outside the timeline for a while. I'll leave it at that before I bore you to sleep."

"Please, bore me with the details," Loki says. "I'm interested."

Mobius raises an eyebrow. "Alright, but you can tell me to shut up at any time. I won't be offended."

So Mobius essentially lays out his life story -- or what he knows of it. He explains that he's a Variant; that he had a life in a timeline that was pruned long ago, and that he remembers none of it. He talks about the TVA and his role as an analyst. He tells him about hunting Sylvie and all the research he did, including using TVA Loki to figure her out -- and he tells him how they helped him figure himself out instead. And then he talks about the Void, and how He Who Remains brought them to where they are now.

To his surprise, Loki seems to listen the whole time. Mobius keeps an eye on him, looking for any sign that he should wrap this up quickly, but Loki looks attentive. He doesn't speak during the story, but he'll react occasionally, usually with confused looks that remind Mobius that not everyone knows the TVA like the back of their hand the way he does. (For instance, he almost didn't explain what it meant to prune someone, which was a fairly integral part of the story).

Loki gives him a few seconds to make sure he's done talking, then says, "So you don't remember who you are." He says it as both a question and a statement of disbelief.

"I know exactly who I am," Mobius says. "I don't know who I was, but I don't think it really matters."

"Really?" Loki says, intrigued. "Even if you were, say, a serial killer."

Mobius shrugs. "I'm not anymore."

"What if it was nice?" Loki asks. "What if the... the Time Variance Authority, you called them? What if the Time Variance Authority took you from a life you loved? Would you still rather live a life of ignorance, with no knowledge of where you come from?"

"Of course not," Mobius says immediately. "I would rather find out I was a serial killer than an ordinary happy guy."

Loki's eyebrows shoot up. "Really? Why?"

"Because I can't go back," Mobius says. "There's nothing I can do to get that life back. So why would I want to know what I lost?"

Loki thinks about that for a few moments. "I suppose that makes sense."

Mobius just nods. It does make sense. He's spent a lot of time thinking about it, and he really does think that he's right. He doesn't want to know. And if Sylvie offered to show him his old life, he would refuse for that exact reason.

After a pause, Loki asks, "Do you think you had a family?"

Mobius sighs. "I don't know."

"Have you ever thought about it?" Loki asks. "Your ancestors or your descendants could be in Midgard as we speak."

"I don't really want to talk about it," Mobius says.

"You could be on Midgard right now," Loki adds. "You could be... oh, I don't know, playing catch with your kids. That doesn't interest you at all?"

"I told you, I don't want to talk about it," Mobius repeats, more firmly this time.

"Today could be your wedding day," Loki continues. "Your lovely bride could be walking down the aisle right now."

Mobius stops walking and looks up at him. Loki stops as well, looking down at him with a thinly veiled smirk. Mobius is glad he notices that, actually. It means Loki's not pressing on the topic because he doesn't care that Mobius doesn't want to talk about it. He's doing it because he does care and he wants to see what he'll do if he keeps talking.

"I've already told you I don't want to talk about this," Mobius says, his voice as calm and level as he can make it. Loki's looking to get a rise out of him, and he's not giving him the satisfaction. "I don't like to think about what I might have lost. My friends are my family now, and that's all I need. Now I would appreciate it if we could change the subject."

Loki raises his eyebrows. Mobius isn't quite sure what type of reaction that is -- he's not even sure if it's a good or bad one -- but he doesn't look annoyed. He didn't get a rise out of Mobius, but he doesn't look bothered by it. In fact, he really just looks surprised that he didn't.

But finally, Loki speaks, and he just says, "Okay. What would you like to talk about?"

Mobius cracks a smile. It worked. He successfully shut Loki down without anyone getting upset. Maybe all that time spent studying Lokis is finally paying off.

"Let's talk about this feast," Mobius says. "Specifically, what is an Asgardian feast like and will there be salad? Because unfortunately that has not come up in my research and it sounds very relevant today."

~~

There is not, in fact, salad at an Asgardian feast.

That's about all Mobius has learned by the time they reach the palace. It's a disappointing fact, he must admit, but he's sure there will be something for him to eat. He'll just try whatever they have out and see what he likes the most.

The banquet table is laid out with more food than the TVA cafeteria has ever seen. Mobius expects Loki to go straight to it. He said he was only coming for the food, after all. But he pauses in the doorway, looking around in silence at the throng of people before them.

Finally, Mobius has to step in, and he says, "Look, they saved us a seat."

It's true: Odin sits at the head of the table, with Thor and his friends on one side and Frigga, Sylvie, and TVA Loki on the other. There's one empty seat next to Thor, and there are two next to TVA Loki. For the briefest moment, Mobius wondered if the seat next to Thor was Avengers Loki's, but if there are two next to TVA Loki, they're probably for him and Avengers Loki. The one next to Thor must belong to... Sif? Maybe? She's not here yet. It's probably hers.

It's actually a little disappointing that she's not here yet. Of all Thor's friends, she's the one Mobius is most excited to meet. He doesn't actually know why. He just likes her. She seems interesting.

With his gaze on the table, Loki says, "Maybe this was a bad idea."

"What?" Mobius scoffs. "Loki, we just got here!"

"And now I want to leave," Loki says simply.

"Loki --"

"You said I could leave whenever I would like," Loki reminds him.

"Well, yeah, but..." Mobius bites back a sigh. He did say that, didn't he? He can't renege on that now, but he can try to talk him out of it, at least. "Why do you want to leave? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Loki says, his walls coming back up -- if they'd even fallen to begin with.

"There must be something wrong or you wouldn't want to leave," Mobius says. "What is it?"

"I told you, there is nothing wrong," Loki says. "I do not want to be here."

Unfortunately for Loki, Thor catches sight of the two of them in the doorway and waves, and now it's too late to make a sneaky exit. That gets TVA Loki's attention, too, and he hops to his feet. He heads their way, Sylvie right behind him.

"I knew I should have left," Avengers Loki mutters under his breath.

The two walk up to them, and Mobius subtly leads the three Lokis away from the door so other people can enter and exit as they please. They stand off by the wall, out of the way but not excluded from the party.

"There you are!" TVA Loki says with a grin, but his smile falters as he looks his friend up and down. "What are you wearing?"

"Oh, this?" Mobius tugs at his borrowed leather coat/cape with a smirk. "Just trying to fit in."

All Loki says is, "Please don't."

Mobius chuckles and slips it off, and he hands it back to Avengers Loki for him to put it back on. "No, I was cold so Loki let me borrow it."

"So you two were off together, huh?" Loki asks, a teasing smile on his lips. "What, you couldn't get enough of me? Wanted to find another me for when I'm not around?"

"Actually," Mobius says, just as playfully, "I think I finally found that 'superior Loki' I've been talking about for ages."

TVA Loki scoffs, and Avengers Loki looks between them with his brows furrowed. Sylvie just shakes her head at them, amused.

"Did you and your 'superior Loki' have fun?" TVA Loki asks.

"I'd like to think we did," Mobius says. He looks over at Avengers Loki. "Did you have fun? I had fun."

Avengers Loki shrugs. "There are worse ways to spend my time."

Mobius grins. "That's what I like to hear."

TVA Loki chuckles. "Is there a single me out there that you wouldn't get along with?"

"That's a good question," Mobius says. "I should go back to the Void and find out."

"Mobius, you're an idiot," Sylvie says, but she can't hide the smile on her lips.

Mobius would be more than happy to continue with this conversation -- if a Loki is calling him an idiot, he must be doing something right -- but a voice from the doorway gets their attention.

"Oh my god, he wasn't lying," a woman says.

Mobius looks over to see Sif staring at them -- or, more accurately, staring at the two Lokis -- with an expression of both bafflement and amusement. He grins. There she is! He gets to meet her after all!

"Sif!" TVA Loki says, immediately tensing up.

"Loki," she says. She walks over and looks him up and down. "That's an... interesting outfit." The way she says it makes it clear that "interesting" is not a compliment.

Loki takes a small step away from her and forces an uncomfortable smile. "You look well."

"You don't," Sif replies.

Loki presses his lips into a firm line and nods awkwardly.

Mobius bites back a laugh. Of all the reasons he wanted to meet Sif, Loki's discomfort hadn't even cracked the list, but god, if it isn't the funniest thing...

"Shut up," Loki says, shooting him a glare.

"What?" Mobius asks, and he can't fight back his smile. "I didn't say anything."

Loki narrows his eyes. "You were thinking it."

"Oh, I'm still thinking it," Mobius tells him. He gives his friend a condescending pat on the back, and Loki shakes his head to himself, annoyed.

Sif looks between the two of them, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing!" Loki says quickly.

"Don't even worry about it," Mobius says. He holds out a hand. "I'm Mobius, by the way."

"Oh, yes," Sif says, "Thor told me about you, too. You're Loki's friend."

Mobius nods. "That would be me."

"Why?"

Mobius bursts out laughing at that. That was too good a response for him to even care that she didn't shake his hand. He claps Loki on the back. "Oh, buddy. I hope you're enjoying your big welcome home."

"I wish you would stop enjoying it," Loki deadpans.

"Not until it stops being funny," Mobius says.

Avengers Loki walks away, and Mobius realizes pretty quickly that he fucked up. It hadn't really occurred to him that teasing one Loki is teasing them both, and Avengers Loki is far too fragile for Mobius to treat him like that. He wants to convince the guy that he belongs here and that everything is going to be okay, not that everyone hates him and he's going to be miserable.

Mobius pats TVA Loki on the shoulder quickly, already turning away. "Be right back." He smiles at both Sylvie and Sif before going after Avengers Loki, right out the doors they'd just walked in through.

He doesn't run after him. He doesn't want to catch Loki too early. He waits until they're nearing the palace doors before he taps his friend on the shoulder, and though Loki could easily just ignore him, he stops and turns around anyway.

"What?" Loki asks irritably. "You said I could leave -- not that I need your permission."

"Are you seriously leaving because Sif doesn't like you?" Mobius asks, feigning incredulity in hopes that Loki will get defensive enough that he changes his mind, even though he knows perfectly well that it's not why Loki left.

Unfortunately, Loki doesn't take the bait. "No, I'm leaving because I don't belong here. These are not my people. I see no reason to pretend they are."

"They are your people," Mobius says. "Literally! You're their prince!"

"No, I am not," Loki says. "If the other me would like to pretend he is, he is more than welcome to, but I think it is very clear that I am no more welcome here than I would be in Jotunheim."

"Loki, come on," Mobius says. "That thing with Sif was just — it was an inside joke. That's it. You can't judge all of Asgard by what happened with Sif."

Loki crosses his arms, glaring down at him. Mobius shoves his hands in his pockets and looks up at him with a smile. Loki doesn't seem to be budging, but neither is Mobius. He'll stand here smiling like an idiot for as long as it takes for Loki to either go back to the feast or to leave the palace.

Finally, Loki says, "I will stay long enough to eat. Will that make you happy?"

Mobius is fully aware that it was a sarcastic question, but the fact that he's doing this at all makes him think that, at least on some level, Loki does care how he feels. It's nice to know. He'd been fairly confident he could win this Loki over the same way he's won all the other Lokis he's met, but he likes to actually see it happening.

"It will make me very happy," Mobius tells him. He gives his new friend a grin, and they head back to the party.

Loki still seems hesitant, and Mobius smiles reassuringly, not that he sees it. They head to the table, and no one tries to speak to them as they do, though Mobius spots a few uncomfortable looks from the Asgardians. He's not sure whether they're directed to the mortal in Asgard or the prince who tried to overthrow the monarchy, but he'd like to think it's the former. He has faith that he can get people to change their minds. He's not so sure about Loki. He's not sure Loki would think it's worth the effort. He'd probably just leave.

TVA Loki looks over his shoulder when Mobius approaches him, and he smiles up at his friend.

"This seat taken?" Mobius asks, like he can't clearly tell it was left open for him.

"Of course not," TVA Loki says.

Mobius sits down, and Avengers Loki sits on his other side without a word. Everyone else at the table has a plate full of food in front of them, and even Avengers Loki is filling his up within a minute of sitting down, but Mobius is a little too overwhelmed with all the choices. He doesn't even know what most of this is. He studied Asgard as it reflected on Loki's life. That didn't include a comprehensive study of what the Asgardians serve for dinner.

He glances at TVA Loki and Sylvie by his side, but they're already deep in conversation. He can barely hear them over the roar of the banquet hall, but it's clear that they're rather preoccupied. He'll just have to figure this out himself.

Avengers Loki nudges him with his elbow. At first, Mobius assumes it's an accident, but a glance to the side reveals that Loki's already looking at him.

"Personally," Loki says quietly, "I've always been rather fond of the boar."

Mobius gives him a small smile. At least someone's gonna give him a hand. He just hopes he isn't so obviously lost right now that everyone can see it.

"Which one's the boar?" Mobius asks. He'll give it a try.

Loki gestures with his fork to a nearby plate, and Mobius grabs a small piece of this meat to plop on his plate. He didn't eat much meat in the TVA, and he's fairly certain that when he did, he never had any boar. He's not quite sure what to expect. Still, if it was Loki's suggestion, he figures he should give it a try, so he takes a bite.

"Mm," Mobius hums, holding up a finger while he chews.

Loki cracks a smile, amused.

"That's not bad," Mobius says. He's pleasantly surprised. "Alright, Loki, you're in charge of picking my meals now."

"Oh, don't give me that much power," Loki says, almost teasingly. "I'll find something I know you'll hate."

Mobius snorts. "The God of Mischief, everybody," he jokes. "Clearly very mischievous."

Loki chuckles. "Careful, Mobius," he says. "If you get me started, you'll never see the end of it."

"You know what?" Mobius says. "Bring it on. I want to see what kind of mischief you'll get up to."

~~~

Meanwhile, TVA Loki and Sylvie are wrapped up in a conversation of their own.

"It's beautiful," Sylvie tells him, looking around the banquet hall with a small smile. "It doesn't really feel like home yet, but..."

"I think it will," Loki assures her. "I think you just need time."

"I hope so," Sylvie says. "I just — I've never really had a home. Not one I can remember. And I'm just waiting for it to click and for this to really feel like home, but what if it never does? What if I've already lost my chance to build a home, and Asgard is never more than some..." She gestures vaguely. "Just a place? Some mystical realm that I just happen to live in, but it doesn't mean anything?"

Loki shakes his head. "Don't say that," he says. "You just got here! Give it a chance!"

"I am giving it a chance," Sylvie says. "I want to love it here — and I do! I do love it here so far! But I guess I just kind of thought, you know, I'd get here and I'd look around and I'd know that I'm home, and that just... hasn't happened yet."

"Just give it time," Loki says. He gently rests a hand on her arm, earning a small smile in return. "This is your home. You'll see that eventually. You just have to let yourself settle in first. Once you realize you don't have to keep running, you can settle down for good. I think you'll see it then."

"I know," Sylvie says. "But what if I don't?"

Loki sighs. "I don't know," he admits. "Mobius still has the TemPad somewhere. If a few years go by and it still doesn't feel like home, we'll go somewhere else."

She shakes her head. "I'm not going to make you leave your home because I don't have one."

"And I'm not going to make you stay somewhere you don't want to be." Loki's hand slides down her arm and captures her own. "You are my home, Sylvie."

Sylvie drops her gaze to the table, but she can't hide the smile on her face. Loki squeezes her hand reassuringly. He just wants her to know that he's here for her. He'll put her above anything else.

"I think I'm gonna like it here," she says finally. "I really do."

"I do, too," Loki says. "I want you to. So if there's anything I can do..."

"I'd ask you to introduce me to people," Sylvie says, a teasing smile on her, "but it sounds like you're not on very good terms with anyone."

"Yeah..." If he'd known he'd end up crawling back to Asgard eventually, he would have thought twice before accidentally overthrowing the monarchy like that. "But I'm going to start fresh. I think if I just pin that on the other Loki, he can take the blame and everyone can move on."

Sylvie snorts. "You're throwing yourself under the bus?"

"I don't see why not," Loki says with a shrug. "I did the time for it. It can be his turn now."

Sylvie shakes her head to herself. "What did you do?"

Loki sucks in a breath through his teeth. "I don't think that's..."

Sylvie just looks at him, amused.

Loki lets go of her hand and gently hits the table. "Alright, changing the subject..."

Sylvie shakes her head to herself. "I have a new subject to talk about."

Loki gestures for her to continue.

"Who's Thanos?"

Loki feels himself freeze at the mention of his name, all of his muscles tensing. Thanos. God, where would he even start with that?

Sylvie must sense his unease, because she says, "Or we could talk about... friends? Your friends? In Asgard?"

Loki takes a deep breath and forces a smile. "My friends?"

She shrugs sheepishly.

"That's going to be a short conversation," Loki tells her. "My friends are Thor's friends. Usually, that means the people sitting opposite us." He glances at the Warriors Three, and he's met with the all-too-familiar sight of Volstagg stuffing his face with food.

God, he needs new friends.

Wait, he has new friends! He hadn't even thought of that! He's friends with Sylvie and Mobius (and Thor, he supposes, if that counts). What does he need Sif and the Warriors Three for now?

"What, you don't have any friends of your own?" she asks.

"Not close ones," Loki admits. "I was never the most popular person in Asgard."

"Wow," Sylvie says. "We've gone through three different conversation starters and all I've learned is that people think you're annoying, as if I hadn't figured that out myself."

Loki scoffs. "I am not annoying."

Sylvie just looks at him for a few moments, an eyebrow raised, until she cracks up laughing. Loki narrows his eyes, but he can only pretend to be annoyed for so long until he finds himself laughing, too. He doesn't even care that she's making fun of him. He just cares that she looks happy, and that makes him happy. What more could he ask for?