Work Text:
Loki hated birthdays, especially his own, and he had his reasons. He absentmindedly thought, leaning back against Mobius's armchair, with Mobius's jet ski magazine flopped down on his lap, in the Agent's cubicle until he was comfortable, back to the first time he started hating birthdays. It was after Thor's failed coronation, after he stumbled upon the Casket of Ancient Winters and, upon touching it, his skin turned blue, ice cold.
He started hating birthdays ever since, for it reminded him of the day he was found, no, stolen. Odin could sugarcoat it however he liked, but the truth was, his rightful death had been robbed and he was forced to live his life in a shadow, as a relic. And his 'birthday' only served one purpose; to remind him of that fact.
He fought the urge to roll his eyes. Today was his birthday. He wondered if Mobius remembered from the files he'd studied about Loki, probably for a hundred times and more, and hoped he did not, so he could pretend like today was yet another boring day working for the TVA as Mobius's partner, and if he was the agent's lover by night... well, that was another story. The point was, there was nothing to celebrate. Loki's birthday wasn't even actually the day he was born but the day he was, to be precise, stolen.
He greeted Mobius with a sweet smile when the analyst returned to his desk from his little trip to the archives, with the variant's file tucked in his arm, not Loki's but the variant they were currently trying to track down.
The thing about Mobius was, he could be hard to read sometimes, and Loki wished Mobius would go easy on him, because right now he wanted to ask what was on his mind, if it was Loki's birthday. A surprise party was obviously off the table, which was a relief, for Loki was certain Ravonna wouldn't agree to such a thing to take place in the TVA.
But he hoped, prayed, Mobius completely forgot about it, because really, Loki truly, genuinely wanted to forget about it.
______________________________
Maybe he did get lucky and Mobius did forget, because Mobius hadn't mentioned anything about birthday for the rest of the day, not during the work-hour, not during the lunch break. And if he could have their evening, after returning home together, spent without either of them — but obviously it wasn't going to be Loki — bringing up the subject, they both would go to bed and wake up to a new day that wasn't Loki's birthday. So that was the plan, to make it through this evening and through the night.
"What're ya watching?" Mobius's voice snapped Loki out of his little trance. He wasn't really paying full attention to the rerun of Bates Motel that was playing on their television, but he did find the show interesting nonetheless.
"Some drama," Loki shrugged, and reflexively leaned in when Mobius took a spot on the couch next to him, with an arm around Loki's shoulders.
"Murders and drama," Mobius hummed to himself, having finished the show before.
"A perfect combination," Loki purred softly in agreement. His head rested against the crook of Mobius's neck.
They spent the next forty minutes bathing in each other's presences, simply enjoying the comfort the atmosphere held, and the touch of their skin. So it was more of the couple enjoying being here in each other's arms than them watching the show. When the end credits rolled, Loki lazily nuzzled a little against Mobius's neck, making a sound that came dangerously close to the one a house cat would make.
It was perfect. This was perfect; the privilege of settling down with a man as good as Mobius. When Loki thought he was meant to spend eternity alone, unloved, Mobius walked into his life. And even if Loki tried pushing him away at first, the way he did everybody else, Mobius stayed and Mobius never gave up on him.
"Hey," Mobius softly said. He slightly nudged Loki, because he wasn't sure if his boyfriend was on his way to drifting off, and didn't want to startle him. Loki murmured a moan from his throat, still hadn't moved away from Mobius's comforting shoulder.
"What is it?" He all but purred, when Mobius hadn't said anything further than that.
"You know..." Mobius sighed, like he was trying to tread lightly, and that's when Loki knew; something was on Mobius's mind. He lifted his head up so he could get a better look at his lover's face. Something was definitely on his mind.
"I didn't forget," he said. It was all it took for Loki to know what Mobius was talking about. "I know you don't want me to make a big deal out of it, or to even talk about it. Your birthday... it's today,"
"Oh," Loki mouthed, before adding a quiet, "It is," because he wasn't sure what else he was supposed to say.
"And I was gonna humor your wish, because I respect that. I really do. That's why I wasn't gonna bring anything up at all. I know you haven't had... the most healthy perspective on birthdays, and I understand why,"
Loki looked at him. He wanted to ask if they could not talk about this, and he knew, if he did ask, Mobius would stop. For some reason, he listened to Mobius.
(And maybe, the reason had something to do with Loki knowing Mobius always had his best interests at heart. He didn't ever have to worry about getting hurt, when Mobius was around.)
Mobius paused for a short while. For a moment he almost looked like he regretted bringing the subject up and risking ruining the mood, when they were happy. At ease. "So I was gonna give you this tomorrow, or maybe next week, so it's not too close to being a birthday gift. But... I don't know why, I'm sorry if I ruined this, but I thought you deserved to know someone care. I do." Mobius looked Loki in the eyes. He had a fond smile on his face as he pulled out a tiny box from his pocket.
"Mobius..."
It was a silver ring attached to a necklace, as a pendant of sorts. With 'Always' engraved on it.
"May I?" He asked, almost like he was... afraid. Afraid Loki would get mad. But Loki only looked at him with glassy eyes, and then he nodded, wordlessly, before moving to turn his back toward Mobius. So Mobius could wrap it around his neck.
"I... thank you," Loki said. His hand unconsciously touched the ring, now hanging around his front, from his neck.
"I know it's... not that fancy or anything. You're probably used to something... more luxurious on Asgard. But I wanted to give you something —"
"Mobius," Loki cut him off. He turned around and was looking at him now. "It's beautiful. This is beautiful," he said. The smile on his face was the exact same one that made Mobius fall for him in the first place.
Mobius smiled back. He looked like he was in thoughts, for a moment, like he was afraid he was pushing this too far. But then his hand came to rest gently on Loki's face. "Do you want to... celebrate? Just the two of us,"
And Loki shifted his gaze downward. He was still smiling, but Mobius could see a glimpse of sadness behind his eyes. That's when he wished he should've kept his mouth shut. "There's nothing to celebrate," Loki said, only barely above a whisper.
"That... I disagree," Mobius's voice was soft. Kind.
Loki looked back up at him. Mobius's hand never left his face, it felt warm. Comforting. Loki never wanted it to go away.
"Give me a chance to make this night special... for you. And if you ever feel overwhelmed or uncomfortable in any way, let me know and we'll stop. Is that okay?"
Loki knew, had Mobius were to be anybody else, he would've turned him down. But Mobius was Mobius, and Loki trusted Mobius. "Okay," he heard himself say, slowly nodding once, twice.
"Okay," Mobius's smiled widened a little. Somehow it helped putting his mind at ease.
______________________________
Loki had heard of birthday cakes, though the term wasn't something he was truly familiar with. Back in Asgard, birthdays were celebrated with a great feast full of... all kinds of food and drinks, but never birthday cakes.
To be precise, he'd only heard of birthday cakes and some other types of Midgardian food from his reading about Midgardian cultures and etiquettes in Asgard library. So he was understandably intrigued when Mobius took him to the TVA kitchen through the Time Door. Although it was more of Mobius 'sneaking' him into the place, because from the look of it, Loki was certain he wasn't supposed to be here, especially during nighttime, and neither was Mobius.
The TVA head chef, Tobey, if Loki recalled correctly, was never a fan of him, and Loki figured he only tolerated Mobius the way he did literally everybody else, because he didn't exactly have a choice.
But Tobey wasn't here. The kitchen was dark and empty. The first no longer being the case after Mobius switched on the light.
"Are we supposed to be here?" Loki asked, already knowing the answer.
"Nope," Mobius said as he walked ahead of him to rifle through the freezer.
"Would you be in trouble, if we were to get caught?"
"Well... technically, yes." He shrugged.
"Mobius. We should just go back —"
"Hey, none of that," Mobius swiftly turned to cut him off before turning back to whatever it was he was doing, searching for. It worried Loki, Mobius's recklessness worried Loki, though at the same time Loki was impressed, to see this little mischievous side of his lover, when he'd always been the opposite of mischievous most of the time. Maybe Loki's mischief did rub off on Mobius. But the fact Mobius was doing this — breaking the TVA rules — for Loki...
He hovered behind, not too far away. Looking around, the TVA kitchen had various kinds of fancy-looking dishes, and Loki had no idea what most of them were. He doubted he'd ever seen them at the cafeteria, where they only served the most basic food, which was weird, but he could guess they must be reserved for someone like Ravonna, or even the so-called Time Keepers.
When Mobius turned around to face him, he had an exciting, childlike smile on his face and a plate of cake in his arms. "I don't know if it may be for your liking," he said. "But it's the only cake I could find, and cookies and cream has always been my favourite,"
And Loki wanted to say, really, whatever Mobius liked would be more than okay. He stayed silent when Mobius, after enthusiastically handed the cake to Loki, grabbed a few icing bottles, some other jars full of colorful toppings and a bottle of wine.
Then he turned off the light and opened the Time Door. Loki didn't hesitate to follow Mobius wherever he might lead him to.
______________________________
He thought they'd head back home, with the cake and the other things they snatched from the kitchen (something about it brought a longing nostalgia back to Loki, to the time when he and Thor were little and they often sneaked into Asgard kitchen at night for some late night meal. That seemed like a lifetime ago.) Loki was... surprised, but not in a bad way, when he stepped out of the Time Door and landed on the top of the hill. Below stood the sea of city lights, reaching beyond the horizon, and above thousands of shining stars gazing down upon them. It was... hypnotizing. The view was mesmerizing, still not as mesmerizing as the smile Mobius was giving Loki as he looked back at him.
He supposed Mobius must have known, by the look on Loki's own face, because Mobius chuckled and then Mobius gestured at him to sit down on the soft grass. Which Loki did.
"You know..." Mobius trailed off. "This would've been... nicer, if we had some candles,"
Loki smirked slightly. Mobius didn't have to ask, and Mobius wasn't going to, nor did he intend his words to be an invitation. Sometimes he simply forgot his lover was a skilled mage, disregard his having studied Loki's life before. But in the next second, a candelabra appeared out of thin air between the two of them, casting warm glowing light on their faces.
Mobius smirked back. "You don't happen to know how to conjure two glasses of wine and some cutlery, do you?"
Loki shrugged. A second later the items were in front of them, earning a soft chuckle from Mobius as he poured them both the expensive wine he snatched from the TVA kitchen... but really, no one there was going to suspect or care about the loss of a bottle of wine and a cake anyway.
"Have you ever... had these before?" Mobius asked.
Loki shrugged again. "I'm familiar enough with wine. We had those on Asgard, too."
"What about the cake?"
"I've read about them," Loki said, after a small pause.
"So you've never..."
Loki shrugged. Again.
"Okay, you..." Mobius said, "Have seriously been missing out, honey. But we can fix that,"
He grabbed the icing, squeezing the bottle and beginning decorating the cake, adding some toppings to it, too. Loki leaned in. He was in awe by his boyfriend's work, because Loki had thought Mobius was only an analyst, turned out Mobius was good enough a chef as well.
'Happy Birthday, Loki' was written on the sweet. He, for a moment, was speechless. Then he looked up from the cake and at Mobius, almost like he was asking for a permission, which Mobius nodded lovingly. "Go on," he said. "It's your birthday, babe."
He tried his first ever bite. And Mobius watched his eyes light up like a little kid. "This is..." Loki said, "Better than anything I've had on Asgard,"
"That's good to hear," Mobius said, and gently reached out to wipe some of it that was smeared around his lips with his thumb. When Loki smiled at him, Mobius reflexively smiled back. He didn't say it aloud, but Mobius thought he'd never seen a smile so childlike and innocent from Loki, a smile so sincere that didn't have anything hidden behind, no insecurity, no pain, no sigh of doubt but utter happiness and affection.
They shared the cake, drunk the wine, and enjoyed the moonlight as their company. Time didn't matter. How long, how many hours they'd bathed in each other's love, that didn't matter. Nothing matter when they were together.
"Hey," Mobius broke the silence. The two of them lied next to each other, on the grass with Loki's head rested on Mobius's chest and Mobius's hand softly running through his hair. The stars looked extremely beautiful tonight. "Remember when you said you believed there was nothing... to celebrate? About your birthday,"
Loki hummed in response. "And you've already told me you disagreed,"
"I did. But I still want to let you know why,"
Loki glanced up at him, his head never moved away from where he could perfectly hear the sound of Mobius's beating heart. "I'm glad you're here. Glad you came into my life and be the best part of it. So if there's one thing I'm grateful for that most, it's that you were born."
"That is..." Loki trailed off. He felt his eyes getting teary, but there was no need to try to hide it from Mobius. "No one had... ever said something so... kind to me before,"
"It's simply the truth," Mobius smiled gently. "You know... the date isn't the day you were born but the day you were found,"
"I do," Loki nodded.
Mobius seemed to be in thoughts, debating with himself for a moment, before he spoke. "Do you want to know... the real, the exact date of your birth?"
Right, because Mobius knew that. He had to. He'd seen Loki, the moment he was born, the moment he was found.
Loki was silent for a short while as he gazed downward. When he looked back up at Mobius again he was smiling. "That doesn't matter. The date, I don't... I don't care. The only thing that matters is you, here with me. Us. Nothing else matters. You've made this night the best, most special night in my life, Mobius."
There was a moment where all they did was look each other in the eyes. Mobius smiled and then he leaned down to press his lips against Loki's. The kiss was as sweet as any other times they've kissed, but the love there, somehow the love was more profound, even if that was supposed to be impossible.
"Happy birthday, my love."