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Tweak says, "i like big butts"

ᴀɢᴇɴᴛ ᴍᴏʙɪᴜs (

timedoor) wrote in

valloic,
@ 2022-05-09 12:02:00

Mobius & Kate

WHAT: Some bonding time for these two (and beer steins that are very large)
WHERE: A bowling alley
WHEN: Tonight!
WARNINGS: Naaaaaaah
STATUS: Complete

You came out and watched my back the first day I was here when you didn’t have to.

Mobius couldn’t say he’d ever really done the bowling alley thing before - granted, there was a lot he hadn’t done before and getting to catch up (futile as it may seem, considering the span of time he’d been alive and what there was to cover) here in Vallo was honestly a good use of time. And if it was time spent with Kate? Even better.

He was ridiculously fond of her - and maybe she was grown, maybe she didn’t need him, but she’d still been with him since the beginning of her tumultuous journey through Vallo’s weirdness and it wasn’t done for either of them yet. There was still quite a bit to experience, and outings together? Just the two of them? Mobius liked those.

There were associations of bowling alleys in the junk drawer called ‘memories’ - the usuals, of course. Greasy food, strong drinks, some idiot constantly quoting The Big Lebowski and thinking it was hilarious (spoiler: it wasn’t). Thawed chicken tenders and lanes stained with nicotine - yeah, that was a thing. Not so much in this fancy Vallo joint though, even if the shoes were still stupid.

They were always stupid.

But it was a clean place, brick-laden, and served up absinthe cocktails and beer steins as heavy as a kids bowling ball. Mobius currently had one of those - and he didn’t drink often, so this would be interesting. “Alright, I’m not great at this so I have a feeling you’ll annihilate me fairly quickly,” he chuckled, but regardless - it was all about the bonding. And who knew, maybe he had some hidden bowling talent up his sleeves - he had a lot of smarts, at least, and much of bowling was about calculations and physics, figuring out the best distribution of force in order to blast the pins into splinters.

Mobius was ready.

Kate was a competitive person, that was hardly a secret. She liked to win and win thoroughly, but she also wasn’t an asshole. She knew when to separate competition from fun, and this particular outing was all about fun. She’d been looking forward to it for a while, actually, getting in some Vallo-dad/daughter bonding. It sounded good and wholesome, and who couldn’t use a little wholesome fun in their life? Especially around these parts.

Her connection with Mobius had manifested itself quickly and deeply after she’d arrived in Vallo. He had been one of the first she’d spoken to, and he’d taken her in under his wing without knowing much (anything, really) about her. He’d gotten her to the clinic when she’d insisted on immediately throwing herself into danger, and he’d basically just… been sort of like a dad to her in her time here. He made her miss her own dad, even knowing now that maybe he hadn’t been the beacon of pure goodness she’d always remembered.

Mobius was, though. He was what the internet would call a cinnamon roll, and the internet would not be wrong. Kate wasn’t his responsibility or anything like it, but he still looked after her. It was a good feeling - one she needed in her life, a lot more than she’d like to admit.

Bowling had been her idea because it was one of those fun-for-all-ages things to do. She remembered going a few times with her own parents, when they weren’t frequenting fancy events. There’d definitely been a few school parties held at upscale bowling alleys over the years. This place was one that her fancy-ass private school probably would have approved of - very clean, put together, no lingering stench of cigarettes in the slightest.

But yeah, the shoes were terrible. Always were, though. It was probably part of the charm thing.

“I’ll go easy on you,” she teased Mobius, finishing typing their names into the computer. She’d chosen a theme - Under The Sea, so there’d be fun little cartoon fish animation and puns. She swept her hand toward the lane and grinned at him. “Age before beauty.”

Cartoon fish, now that was fun - he wondered if Atlantis was involved in that in any way. “How kind of you,” Mobius grinned, but he picked up the ball he’d selected; that was also about mathematics and such - calculating the degree of flexibility fingers had, and the length and span and all of that, in order to find the perfect fit. If you had a ball that didn’t fit, then your aim would probably suffer too? He’d find out because he’d worked very hard to select the marble red shade that was actually somewhat pleasing.

He took his first turn, the pins cracking like thunder when the ball struck them - and it was a good throw, he didn’t knock over them all. But seven or eight at least; he’d try to pick up the last couple of ones in a spare. “Alright, now you,” he gave a little bow to Kate. “I can get us some food too, if you want? Or drinks?”

Mostly he was waiting to settle and start the game before they decided what they wanted - picking the perfect bowling ball was difficult enough, phew.

Kate, of course, could resist no shade of purple, so that was the color ball she’d painstakingly chosen. It was a decently hefty one, too; not too much to lift but certainly not one of the seven or eight-pounders usually reserved for kids. Mobius’s spare was noted and marked by some sort of dancing fish animation that faded out when Kate’s turn arrived.

“I mean, you’ve already got a flagon of beer there, but I wouldn’t say no to food and a soda or something.” She rarely did. She was always running around doing something or other - at work, with Elsa, with Nat or Yelena - and a good meal was a necessity to keep her going. Plus, who was she to resist the delicious scents of hotdogs and big pretzels?

She took her shot first, though, lining herself up carefully. Her dad had taught her to do this, painstakingly positioning her arms and feet and showing her the perfect swing forward. Back then, there had been bumpers helping her out, but she was beyond bumpers now. The ball sailed smoothly down the middle of the lane for most of its journey, veering a bit to the left shortly before making pin contact. It hit the front pin on the far left and swooped back behind the first row, knocking down most of the back and one more up front.

Okay, aiming for a spare here, too. Another swing later and she was left with one lone pin standing. She huffed, but it was all in good fun. “Maybe a beer for me, too,” she amended, returning to sit beside Mobius on what was akin to airport seating.

That was a good throw too, Mobius applauded lightly even if they were technically competing - but he was just way too much of a cinnamon roll to celebrate if Kate’s ball found the gutter or something. He envisioned being healthily competitive with Ymir during board games, but he was also well aware that his future kid took after Loki when it came to competitiveness anyway so it was likely Mobius’s job to dial it back a bit.

“Okay, a beer it is,” he chuckled, patting Kate’s shoulder before he got up to find her one of those gigantic, highly unnecessary steins. Plus one of those equally gigantic pretzels - because that seemed fitting, right? Or actually it was a jalapeño, cheese, and pretzel dog - a combination of all scrumptious things that appeared to work well in the holy trinity of unhealthy deliciousness.

Ah, junk food. He was back quick enough, handing Kate her abomination and her beer. Then he got ready to take his turn again. “So you’ve been - sleeping over at Elsa’s?” he asked conversationally and maybe he wasn’t supposed to ask, but. He was curious?? That was okay, right?

The bowling alley was relatively quiet - unsurprising, given it was a weeknight - but there were others lurking around. A few families and couples, then a straight up bowling league taking up about six lanes closer to the doors. They had adorable shirts and their own bowling bags and were probably some local business’s doing, but she couldn’t see from this far away. They seemed to be having a good time, though, laughing and chattering away. It was good background noise while Kate waited for Mobius to return.

Her eyes went wide when Mobius returned with the goods and grinned at the sight of it. “Holy shit,” she laughed. “That’s gigantic.” But would she eat it? Hell yes. In fact, she’d take it as something of a challenge with all those jalapeños thrown on top. She shot him a smile in thanks before taking a big bite and letting out an obscenely satisfied hum.

“Mm.” She didn’t mind Mobius’s inquiry, but she was mid-chew here, hold on a second. When she’d finished, she washed it down with a drink from the far-too-large stein Mobius had brought back for her. She’d be drinking on this all night, damn. “Yeah, I have. It’s nice…going home to her,” she admitted. The very thought made her smile; she was undeniably falling, pretty fast. She’d always been quick to fall in love, but something about this felt different in a very good way.

“Wasn’t sure you’d even been missing me,” she teased him, though, because how could she not? “I’m sure you and Loki appreciate having the house to yourselves, right? Not that you’re ever really alone with your little Licorice shadow.”

“I like the Licorice shadow,” Mobius laughed; he’d picked up some nachos for himself, and as long as they were piping hot and had melted cheese and ‘everything under the sun’ included as a topping, they were alright in his book - even if he was going to be popping the antacids hardocre later on. His talent at managing heartburn probably wasn’t as extensive as Kate’s because, you know, he may have stopped aging but - he was no longer a teenager. Or even in his twenties, not anymore.

So, Tums it was. That happened to be the way of things.

“It’s especially helpful whenever Loki feels like being a cat - they can keep each other company,” he went on, dusting his hands off and standing so he could pop up and take his next turn. He was definitely all for the challenge of a conversation, knocking down pins, and stuffing food into his face.

Crash, there went the ball into the pins - and he waited patiently for that ball to return from its circular journey, seahorses and sparkly fish heralding the way he’d absolutely crushed those pins. Maybe he was doing better than he thought. When he stepped back toward Kate, he took a swig of beer. “I’m glad for you though,” he said. “You deserve something nice. And - I’ll support whatever you want to do? Cottage-wise, I mean.” Support, not permission - she didn’t need his permission to live with her girlfriend or anything like that.

The shape shifting aspect of Loki’s nature was still sort of a trip to Kate. No judgment, she’d just never seen anything like it before. She’d rather see him shift into cat form and run around with her kitten than bring aliens to Vallo for another attempt at a hostile takeover. Much less chance of maiming, death, and general discomfort.

She wiped her hands on a napkin before standing and smiling appreciatively at her Vallo-dad. Mobius was just a stand-up guy, had her back before he even really had any reason to, and that had done her a whole lot of good in adjusting. She still missed Clint, but she had created bonds here. Mobius and Elsa had both played huge parts in helping her feel settled here, happy even.

“I know. We talked about me moving out, maybe, but…” She shrugged, picking up her ball and arranging it properly. “I don’t know if I’m ready yet.”

She was splitting her time right now, going back and forth. And she loved the nights she went home to Elsa. She knew that feeling was mutual, too, that Elsa wanted her there. Kate didn’t want to be alone, had never particularly longed for the feeling. But she wasn’t sure Elsa was ready for her to move in either. She had never really had independence back home the way she did in New Asgard, and Kate didn’t want to take that from her.

The ball was flung down the lane again, knocking down just a handful of the middle pins. Damn, she usually did much better than that. Another whirl later, accompanied by what appeared to be a tap-dancing octopus on screen, and she’d left a perfect split. She sighed dramatically and returned to take another drink of her own beer.

“Plus,” she continued, “I don’t know if I want to be a U-Haul lesbian. Or U-Haul bisexual? If that’s a thing. Not that I expect you to know.”

“What?” Mobius spluttered, laughing, because he certainly wasn’t expecting that. “I don’t know what that means.” He assumed Kate would fill him in on it, so instead he focused on the whole ‘not being ready to move out’ aspect.

His own bowling ball was picked up, balanced against his hip with his fingers in the correct holes (no comments from the peanut gallery - by the way, he now saw why hand sanitizer was such an important aspect of the bowling experience with all these finger foods and dirty balls, by the Timekeepers), but he didn’t take his turn yet. Despite the cartoon octopi and sparkly seahorses urging him on. “Well, you’ll take that step when you are ready - and you talk about it, I’m sure,” he said. “It took me a little while to combine cottages too - I think we just decided to move in together after Ymir showed up.”

And he and Loki both said the L word - Mobius was a lot more free with it, he said it often, whereas Loki was a bit more reserved. But that was okay - they were demonstrative in different ways, and Mobius knew his partner loved him; he didn’t need to write it in the sky on a constant basis or anything.

“I don’t want to push myself on her,” Kate explained. There was a part of her brain that held onto that fear, unfounded as it may be, that she and Elsa had happened partly because she had jumped on her so immediately. She was self-aware enough to know she was a lot and kind of looked for attention wherever she could get it, but their relationship was more than that - she knew that, too. Any imbalance there may have been had long since evened out; they were girlfriends now, and they had gotten there by keeping those lines of communication open.

Still, one big thing at a time. Girlfriends first, possible permanent cohabitating later. Kate was in no hurry, and it wasn’t as if she wasn’t living there half the week already, anyway.

“And the U-Haul thing, it’s an old lesbian joke. What does a lesbian bring on her second date?” She paused for dramatic effect. “A U-Haul. It just means women-loving women tend to move…fast. Like, literally they move in with each other super fast.” She’d found that to be pretty true in this case, too. She and Elsa hadn’t moved insanely fast in their relationship, but she sure as hell felt that urge sometimes. A lot of times, actually.

Oh, right - Mobius got the joke now. He snickered, but followed that up with a fondly exasperated look at Kate like really? “Try not to be so hard on yourself, I’m sure you wouldn’t do that,” he assured. Maybe Kate was eager but wasn’t that one of the best parts of young love? Of blossoming relationships? Of that heady feeling that was like being wrapped in gauzy streamers, all dilated pupils and twitterpated sensations? Moonlight and quicksilver slicing their way through your veins?

He took his turn then, returning after bowling a somewhat shitty throw - no strikes there, and nothing to write home about either. Ah well, he’d get it on the next go-round. “And you’re a pretty darn good catch anyway. People still say that, right?” he smirked. He actually had no idea what people still said these days.

Kate smiled at Mobius’s reassurances. She tended to be harder on herself than anyone else possibly could be, but she wasn’t that worried about this particular thing. Did she think about it sometimes? Yeah. Did she worry? Also yes, definitely. But not much and not when she was around Elsa. Not when she could look at her and see that she was feeling the same exact things Kate was feeling.

God, she loved her.

“I’m totally a catch, and yeah, people still say that,” she chuckled, smirking right back at Mobius. “I’m sure you’re considered a catch to someone who wants to catch you, too. No offense, you know, but you’re basically my dad, so.” She shrugged, took another drink of her beer, then stepped up to take her next turn.

“Thanks, I’m pretty sure that was a compliment.” That was also said fondly as Mobius checked their scores - well, despite casually sipping on Monster Beer they both didn’t seem to be doing too tipsy-bad at this. He was pretty sure Kate was winning but maybe he could pick up the slack his next couple of turns and make it a neck-and-neck race until the very end of this bowling journey.

He was chewing on a bite of nachos when what she said actually registered with him - not the part about him being a catch, but. The other thing. “You think of me as basically your dad?” he asked tentatively, and for some reason he found that really sweet.

And warm. He felt warm, something nurturing, something velvet, something that he didn’t exactly want to give up so he hoped that Vallo didn’t decide to take it from him anytime soon. Because let’s be honest, Mobius was basically born for the dad life. It was a role he fell into easily, he just wasn’t sure if Kate needed him to be that - he could be both, though. A positive dad figure and her friend. Definitely someone she could turn to if she needed, either way.

Maybe Kate had been drinking more beer than she’d realized because her next shot was a straight up gutter ball. She folded her arms over her chest, glaring as it slowly made its way down the lane before giving up and turning back to Mobius. Might as well eat a little more until her ball popped back up over here. The scowl on her face was quick to fade when she saw the look on Mobius’s face.

She grinned and sat down beside him, slinging her arms across his shoulders to give him a side hug. “Yeah,” she admitted quietly. He wasn’t her dad, but she knew he wasn’t trying to be. He was just a good guy, a fatherly figure, someone she could tell all her little insecurities and secrets to without fear of judgment. Like, the pushing thing - she hadn’t said anything about that to Elsa, but she knew saying it to Mobius would take it in and help her through the feeling. Just like he had.

“I really don’t know where I’d be without you,” she continued. She shifted back but stole one of his nachos; her hot dog was almost gone, and those nachos looked super tasty. “You came out and watched my back the first day I was here when you didn’t have to. And I know you’ve had it ever since. Very dad-like, so…yeah. It means a lot to me.”

Mobius didn’t mind if Kate wanted to steal some of his nachos - they were up for grabs. The side hug was nice too, and he returned it - he tossed his arm around her and squeezed her against him, resting his chin on the top of her head for a moment. “Well, I’m glad you’re here,” he said sincerely. “It means a lot that you’d trust me - and that we have each other.” He trusted her too, of course - knew that she was a good egg right away, that he could open his and Loki’s home to her and she’d be a welcome addition.

Maybe she even slotted into some space he didn’t even realize he wanted or needed filled, but he was all the more grateful for everything.

“I’ll have your back for as long as you want, too,” he grinned, playfully ruffling her hair (because wasn’t that a very dad thing to do?) and getting up to take his turn. “...even if I happen to win this game.”

He’d console her. It was what Vallo-parents were for.

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