Stepping Forward

You sat down on the bed and made yourself comfortable before taking a deep breath and launching into an explanation of your current emotional state. "I'm so easily affected by everything he does because he reminds me so much of the Loki on the Sacred Timeline," you started and Miss Minutes patiently waited for you to elaborate further. "He may be a Variant but he has the exact same upbringing and personality as "my" Loki at the time I met him. I don't know how to deal with that."

Miss Minutes nodded in understanding and thought about her response for a moment before asking "The Loki on the Sacred Timeline fell in love with you, do you believe there might be a chance this one will too?" You sighed and buried your face in your hands in frustration. You had considered this possibility more than once and your heart seemed elated at the idea but you couldn't help thinking it was wrong. "I'm just afraid, you know?" you said quietly and you heard an affirmative hum next to you. "What if I project my memories on this Loki and expect unrealistic things from him? I'm worried I'll keep comparing them."

Miss Minutes chirped and you lifted your head to look at her. "In that case would it not be pertinent to get to know the Variant Loki to the best of your ability to ensure he appears as a separate entity in your head?" she suggested and you had to admit that her argument made sense. She continued to remind you that your relationship with this Loki was unique and that you should try and remove any expectations attached to your experiences from the Sacred Timeline.

You felt less on edge than earlier and you promised her to be patient and kind with yourself in this endeavour. Miss Minutes smiled and jumped up and down in excitement as you thanked her for listening and giving helpful advice. "That's what I'm here for. I've got full confidence in you," she responded cheerily and disappeared with a final wave at you.

You found yourself back in the library with Loki to research potential apocalypses the other Variant could be hiding in and you decided to make good on your promise to Miss Minutes. You set aside your current case file and turned towards him with a friendly smile "Tell me, how exactly did you end up with the TVA?" If he thought the question was strange it didn't show on his face and he immediately abandoned his work to talk to you.

You were amazed to find out that apparently sometime in the future of the Sacred Timeline on Earth the Avengers managed to invent time travel. Up until this point you had assumed that only the TVA had powers over time but it seemed that the ingenuity of one Tony Stark triumphed once again. Loki explained that they travelled back to the time when he was in SHIELD custody about to be handed over to Thor for extraction to Asgard. "What did they want?" you asked and you were practically on the edge of your seat trying to understand what had happened.

Loki sighed and attempted to use magic to create a visual for you before remembering that it was impossible in the confines of the TVA. "They needed the Tesseract but I don't know for what purpose," he responded and you wondered if Mobius would let you take a peek at this future on the Sacred Timeline. "There was an accident and it landed right in front of my feet. I picked it up and used its powers to teleport away and remove my shackles."

You chuckled at the image of Loki simply disappearing into thin air in the commotion and urged him to continue. Since he had created a Nexus Event by using the Tesseract when he was not supposed to have access to it the TVA was almost immediately onto him. He confirmed that what Hunter B-15 told you had been the truth; without Mobius' pleading and insistence that he could help he would've been pruned ages ago. "Well I'm glad they didn't," you said with a smile and he returned it with wide eyes and you were certain he was blushing lightly. "Mobius is a good man," you added and he immediately agreed with a nod "Despite his kindness he is not to be underestimated."

You sat in comfortable silence for a moment before you remembered something you had wanted to ask him since the beginning "Why are you helping Mobius track down the other Loki Variant?" You didn't wait for an answer and instead added with a smirk "I'm guessing it's probably not out of the goodness of your heart." Loki let out a theatrical gasp and pretended to be offended before breaking down in laughter. "Your powers of deduction are unparalleled," he said with a wink and you chuckled at his expression. "Mobius has promised me that I would get a chance to meet the Time-Keepers if I help him find this Loki."

You made a surprised noise and you immediately asked him why meeting them was so important to him. Passion and determination flashed across his face and he stood up to express his thoughts with the support of his gesticulating hands. "Who are these super gods that get to decide how everyone in this galaxy lives their life?" he asked provocatively and you had to admit that the question had crossed your mind as well.

He continued to say that it was ludicrous for some unknown entities to take everyone's free will away and use the TVA to enforce it so violently. He mentioned that their motives were entirely unknown and not even high-ranking agents like Mobius seemed to know exactly what was going on behind the scenes. Once he finished his speech he spread out his arms in the classic expectant Loki pose that made a strangely warm feeling appear in your chest.

You nodded and agreed that this whole Sacred Timeline business was shady at best and downright unethical at worst. Loki seemed pleased with your response and sat back down to face you with a soft expression on his face. "Will you tell me about yourself?" he asked and when you blinked in surprise he added "I only know what Mobius showed me in the Time Theatre but I would like to get to know you on my own terms."

You had no idea where this interest in you as a person had come from but you were not about to refuse an opportunity to connect with him. You sat back in your chair and told him about your childhood and upbringing and how you ended up with SHIELD after university. You spoke a bit about your work for Director Hill and he seemed genuinely interested in what you had been up to. "I also had a number of hobbies and you know, friends. But after the battle against Thanos I couldn't stay there anymore," you said quietly and you couldn't bring yourself to elaborate further but luckily Loki didn't push for details.

He had witnessed his own death on the screen in the Time Theatre and you wondered if that had been at all strange for him. You shook your head before shrugging awkwardly and adding "Sadly I've become quite a boring person since then." Loki looked affronted that you would talk about yourself like that and you felt your heart flutter at his righteousness. "You are a highly interesting individual, don't let grief paint you a different picture," he insisted and despite having trouble believing him you still felt comforted by his words.