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Tweak says, "I tawt I taw a puddy tat!"

ᴀɢᴇɴᴛ ᴍᴏʙɪᴜs (timedoor) wrote in valloic,
@ 2022-04-12 11:23:00

Entry tags:

!: action/thread/log, ₴ inactive: mobius

Mobius & Ymir

WHAT: Mobius doesn't have anyone he misses from home, so he dreams of the person he does miss - his and Loki's son, Ymir (and thanks to Jade for picking up the Ymir mantle again!)
WHERE: New Asgard
WHEN: Today, during sleepytime~
WARNINGS: Such cuteness
STATUS: Complete

Is this a really bad time or a really good time to tell you that you have a meeting with my science teacher on Wednesday?

The cottage in New Asgard was bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside - an enchantment, something Loki did to make that happen, and Mobius wasn’t privy to the ins and outs of the magic. He just knew that it worked - and it felt more and more like a good idea the older Ymir got and the more rambunctious he got; there was also Alligator Loki to consider, and the cousins who came around to play, and now that Ymir was high school-aged it was a lot less of a rambunctious time but still...not?

A teenager was difficult. Even Mobius, solver of puzzles and strategy game expert, had to admit that.

But New Asgard was the perfect spot to raise one - it was beautiful in the fishing village and always had been. The cottages were jolly and fronted right into the water, when the sun set it looked like fiery crimson and gold magma painting the sky, and the small wooden boats lined up to take ambitious would-be fishermen out to sea dotted the docks with red and blue. The jetski Mobius had was taken out often, both his and Ymir’s - and when Vallo wasn’t being its usual quirky self, it was actually quite nice.

Though he’d gotten better at rolling with the punches over the years.

Now, it felt like he’d always done this. Like he’s always been here. But the colors of their cottage and of New Asgard itself were blurred at the edges, a little like stars about to dissolve into the ether - he didn’t think about it, however. He just went with it, setting up for game night in the living room (something he and Ymir always did on Sundays after dinner - tonight he was going to go with Patchwork, which was a relaxing sort of two-player game, not overly competitive, but it pulled you in quickly). His company for this was Miss Minutes, whom he couldn’t get rid of as the cartoon animated clock sat perched on the windowsill and anxiously chattered at him.

“He’ll be back soon,” Mobius promised. “He just went to the store for a second.” Waypointing made it easy, but Ymir had also learned to teleport by now too thanks to Loki’s lessons.

Ymir had learned how to hone his innate magic from his chaos-god shaped parent and that was legitimately amazing, some of his favorite memories came from spending that time with his Lokiparent But being the nerd that he was he went out of his way to learn literally everything from as many different sources as possible. He served as quiz master and study buddy for his friends at Gelaria, he went to coven meetings, he sat around in magical shops and asked question after question. All of that had turned his magic into a hodgepodge of talent and knowledge, and that manifested in how his magic appeared too.

In this case, it was as if reality had been peeled back and Ymir fell through, right on to the couch with a thud, all of his long limbs starfished out. Fortunately, he (mostly) planned it that way!

“I got us dessert,” he called out, gesturing to the pastry box balanced on his chest and emblazoned with the Bitty Bakes logo. The company that had made literally all of Ymir’s birthday pies, or celebratory cakes, or pastries just for fun for as long as he could remember. Croki was particularly fond of banana cream while Slepnir enjoyed cherry, do not ask Ymir how he knew that. “I think I overbought, that’s okay though because I’m a teenage boy and we have notoriously giant appetites and metabolisms so we may as well just lean into that, right?”

Oh. By the Timekeepers - Mobius jumped a little, startled when Ymir just dropped into the room; he was still getting used to that sort of thing (as in, not actually using the door) even if Loki hopped around all the time. Still, it was a lot - and caused Miss Minutes to squawk indignantly from her perch at the windowsill, where she’d been watching and waiting (practically plastered to the glass) for Ymir to come up the front walk.

“Ymir! Don’t do that!” the animated clock skittered about some, and Mobius deftly reached for the TemPad because he had a feeling this was going to be a whole lot of yelling and his head wasn’t equipped for that. “You’ll give your dad a heart attack! He’s old, you know, it’s not like - “

“Alright, back you go,” Mobius interjected, hitting the Miss Minutes button on the TemPad to turn off the program known as ‘annoying clock.’ Then all his attention was turned toward his kid. “You overbought, huh? You sure it doesn’t have anything to do with the girl that works there?”

That was asked with a grin. Just, you know - wondering.

Ymir pulled out his own TemPad, the back covered with stickers and silly selfies with friends. With a few swipes of his fingers across the screen he sent his rosy cheeked avatar to dig fossils with Miss Minutes. That hopefully gave him enough time for his cheeks to stop burning, and if not, the open box that covered his face would buy him more time.

“Wow, would you look at that? A creme brulee cupcake! So delicious!” He pulled out the cupcake, the top coated with toasted sugar and a shiny blackberry. “Sure would love to share this with you, Dad, but man oh man, what’s that?” Ymir held up the cupcake to his ear, waiting a moment. “This is a no talking about this subject cupcake? Gee, guess we have no choice but to abide!” Ymir turned the box to Mobius and presented the rainbow of delicacies to him because, okay, well, he had bought a lot of sweets.

“Plus, I don’t know what you’re talking about, I love pastries and pie and cake, this isn’t a surprise to you! And, you know, Dad, what girl? You can’t just say ‘that girl’ because the bakery is a very successful enterprise, there are many people who work there.” Gods and goddesses, just bury him now, since for whatever reason Ymir could not shut up.

Those were a lot of words, right? Mobius had to half-wince, half-laugh because the rambling was downright adorable - and it was apparent that he wasn’t going to follow the ‘no talking cupcake’ protocol. Sorry, kiddo - but you were cut from stubborn cloth and here was an example of just some of that stubbornness.

Mostly. If Ymir really didn’t want Mobius to bring it up, or get involved, then he wouldn’t - but he simply wanted his offspring to know that he was in his corner. That he supported whatever this would or wouldn’t become.

“Alright, alright - I can take a hint, but I’m not going to,” he quipped, reaching into the bakery box to select a cupcake of his own; he wasn’t particularly picky. “So for this successful enterprise - do you mean Prue’s daughter specifically?” Maybe ‘that girl’ wasn’t narrowed down enough, but Mobius noticed things - or rather, he was pretty close with Prue so they gossiped about things. Definitely that.

He sat on the sofa and unpeeled the wrapper, awaiting an answer. Patiently. “She’s a nice girl,” he added. “Just...wanted to say that. I like her.”

Ymir made a noise very akin to a disgruntled hippo, typical Teenage Boy Woe And Angst. “You cannot tell Prue, and you cannot give me a look when we’re around them,” he said, quickly, which oh, he supposed that meant he was actually talking about it now. It wasn’t all that much of a surprise, really, even though Ymir crafted creative machinations and then spun wordsmithery to get himself out of trouble for those machinations, he had a good relationship with his parents. Kept them on their toes, obviously, but Ymir’s brand of chaos had always been more ‘what would provide the most lols’ than ‘how can I rule the multiverse?’ The latter sounded like too much work.

“Gracie goes to school with Iryna and Via and we’ve all been hanging out,” Ymir offered as a means of explanation. He shrugged and threw his arm over his eyes. “I don’t know. I obviously knew her before,” because they knew everyone, Vallo was that sort of place where you at least knew who everyone was as you’d be likely to be thrown into random hijinks together at random times. “But–it’s hard to explain.” Which was hard for Ymir, who always had words upon words upon words.

He settled on, “She’s great and I’m so…bleh.” Loud, curious about everything, impossible to embarrass, too quick with a joke that Croki always found hilarious but Croki found everything hilarious and was an alligator really a good judge of humor anyway??

Oh, no. Mobius was not going to let Ymir describe himself as bleh - no way, no how. The cupcake he’d selected from the Box of Decadence was a chocolate one - peanut-filled devil’s food, actually, with insides that were so decadent and fluffy it didn’t even seem real (then again, most of this didn’t seem real yet it did, it was real because Mobius wanted it to be). That was the one he bit into, chewing thoughtfully.

“Sometimes the feelings just crop up on you, even if you’ve known them for awhile,” he said - it was sort of one of those ‘the heart wants what it wants’ types of situations, because the heart never happened to be neat or tidy. Otherwise, those matters would be boring - and it’d be easy to figure out, a puzzle Ymir could solve in a snap as opposed to something that had him making disgruntled hippo noises.

Maybe a round of Patchwork would help. Mobius shoved another bite of cupcake into his mouth, dusting his hands off, and finished setting up the game by laying all the patches out in a circle, talking as he did. “And you’re great, Ymir. You’re smart and funny and talented with magic and so many other things - I know she sees all of that. Maybe you could invite her someplace, just the two of you? See if those sparks fly? She must like you too - “

Mobius gestured to the box Ymir brought home. “She wrote your name on the box with a heart dotting the i.” Clearly Gracie didn’t do that for every order (and Mobius would know, he’d picked up some of the more savory pies Loki liked from that shop in the past).

The sound of tiles and buttons being laid out and the promise of strategy and gaming were enough to rouse Ymir from his despondency–which, admittedly, wasn’t all that difficult. He was prone to fits of drama rather than actual angst. Might have had something to do with the fact that he turned into an actual giant when he lost his temper, so Ymir had to learn how to feel his feelings and deal with them without exploding.

“You have to say that,” he pointed out, shuffling the tiles. “As my dad, although sometimes not my only dad, you’re tasked with ensuring that I have a healthy self-esteem and believe in my dreams. And you do a good job of that, I’m not complaining!” No, Ymir knew how loved he was, and wanted so much that Lokiparent shapeshifted to–fhkdjfhaksjdfh well that was enough of that.

He peered over at the box, but pulled a face. “That’s probably just a smear or something. And we are friends too! Which is good, I think. I’d want to date someone I have fun with and can laugh with and want to spend time with, duh, what’s the point otherwise, never mind, that was stupid. How’d you know? With Lokamom?” Which perhaps wasn’t the best comparison, Ymir didn’t want to go around timehopping with Gracie, even though that did sound super fun in general. Probably start with a movie, instead.

The game involved buttons and a spool and patches on a board - they could play and chat at the same time, which Mobius planned to do. “I don’t have to say that but it’s still true - glad I’ve been on course with ensuring your healthy self-esteem and encouraging you to pursue your dreams though,” he chuckled (and by the way, that heart dotting the i on Ymir’s name was not a smear, he was convinced of that. His kid deserved many hearts over many i’s, just saying).

How did he know with his for all time, always partner though? Huh, good question. “Well, I had feelings for them first,” he said about Loki. “Studying someone for a millennia and learning all about them - it’s crazy because you might think you know everything, but there was so much he managed to teach me too.” Like about the importance of free will - and truth, and conviction, and sticking to your principles. Things Mobius wanted Ymir to take with him as well, as he got older. “But when we got here and things developed and I finally got to make choices for myself - I needed a break from order and I needed a friend and a chance and to be seen, and he gave me all of that. So if your thoughts regularly return to her, and you feel safe with her - I’d say give it a chance. If you feel like she really sees you too.”

Because that's how you knew. There was no mistaking that feeling, in Mobius’s view.

Ymir leaned over and nudged Mobius with his shoulder, offering the crooked grin that made them look so very similar. Ymir’s razor’s edge cheekbones and jawline, his long limbs that at this point were probably leaning more towards lanky than elegant, those were all his Lokishaped parent. But that grin, that was all Mobius. “Thanks. I think I’m going to disregard the part about studying someone for a millennia, because hopefully it won’t take me that long to get a date.”

Chip off the old block, this one.

He picked up a patchwork piece and ran his finger along the cardboard edge before placing it down on the square playing field that doubled as the ‘quilt’. And then, with the otherworldly sense of something not quite touched by reality, he looped an arm around Mobius’s shoulders. “I can’t stay long, sorry, Dad. Just enough to finish the game and then I have to go. But I’ll be back soon enough, right? And you’ll take care of yourself until I come back? You are really old, after all.”

Mobius huffed a laugh - damn you, Miss Minutes - but he guessed the observation wasn’t incorrect. He was old and had been around for awhile, even if there were still things that he was continuing to learn and try to understand - building a life in Vallo, for example, or having a long term partner. Even gods put the toilet paper roll on backward sometimes - and it was those little quirks that both tickled and exasperated Mobius, yet he wasn’t about to trade it for anything.

Or go back to his former life, his world - the thought seized him with terror, really. The idea of standing on the brink of a time war, looking down into that abyss and knowing that everything leading up to it had been a lie - no thanks. Hard pass. He was going to cling to Vallo and its sometimes-annoying intricacies.

“I know,” he replied, acknowledging this situation for what it was - something that was very much in his head, but also...not. It was happening. Wasn’t it? He turned toward Ymir and tossed his arms around his demigod child. “I know you have to go - I don’t want you to, but I get it.” He couldn’t break time just to have him sooner - it wasn’t going to work. Mobius knew the dangers of it.

They already had that talk anyway - and he’d heeded the warnings then.

“I promise I’ll take care of myself - and Loki. We miss you so much though. He loves you - so do I.”

“Love you too, Dad.” Ymir said, his forehead pressed against Mobius’s shirt. He had been a cuddly sort of kid, the type that had begged for bedtime story after bedtime story not only as a means of staying up for a longer period of time, but because he sincerely loved curling up with his parents. That hadn’t changed even as he had turned into a mischievous teenager, always opting for a puppy pile while watching movies with friends or to drape a shoulder around someone’s arm when they were just standing around. So of course he returned the hug, he hugged Mobius tightly and warmly, like he could imprint himself there as a reminder to Mobius later. No matter how hard it got, or how long it seemed, eventually there would be Sunday night games, skinned knees, sleepless nights, first words, first steps, everything typical and mundane and wonderful about being a family.

“Is this a really bad time or a really good time to tell you that you have a meeting with my science teacher on Wednesday?” Ymir mused out loud. “And I won’t tell you what happened except to say that it was absolutely with just cause and for an important reason.”

Something like that, at least.

Grinning, he sat back on the sofa and had a mint chip cupcake float near him with a shimmer of the same ice green colored magic. No sense in getting the tiles dirty, after all! “Okay, come on, give me some more of that sage Dad advice while I kick your ass.”

	seidr 2022-04-14 01:00 am UTC (link)
	gently sobs (Reply to this) (Thread)

	timedoor 2022-04-14 01:03 am UTC (link)
	Better than me, I ugly cried ;_; (Reply to this) (Parent)