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"It wasn't that hard to figure out," Darcy said before taking another sip from her travel mug. "It's a good thing Jane's too deep in paper writing mode to notice you. I think she'd love to hit you. Well. Maybe you're second on her list."
Loki could tell Mobius agreed with her. This friend of a love interest of... Nevermind, Loki halted that train of thought before it could pick up speed.
"You don't share that... sentiment?" Loki asked. Mobius shot him a look. Loki ignored it.
"From what I heard, you got your ass handed to you by the Hulk, so, no," Darcy saluted him with her drink, "I think I'm good."
Loki turned away from her to silently mouth to Mobius, That still happened?!
It's possible, Mobius replied via a shrug. He then asked Darcy aloud, "You and Jane were being protected at the time, right?" Maybe they saw glimpses of surveillance video or simply heard agents talking.
"Abducted, you mean. After things calmed down, Thor called Jane, and—"
"—Wait, wait," Mobius interrupted, "He called her?"
"Um, yes? Before he left again." Darcy paused, brows quirked at Mobius and Loki in turn. "Are you two somehow as invested in that soap opera as I am?"
"No," Loki was quick to reply. Mobius didn't answer, per se, but his expression suggested it was a subplot he followed, at least.
"Well, I think Agent What's His Name — Coulson! — He set it up. Y'know, a secure line with zero privacy. Jane and I were in a shady black SUV, taking the long way to the middle of nowhere, so the reception wasn't great. We only heard a couple of highlights."
"It could've been worse," Mobius commented.
"The aliens missed their cue, right? Jane had a ton of questions about that. Everyone dodged them, of course..." Darcy eyed them like a reporter holding a microphone, waiting.
"The less you know, the better. Believe me," Mobius warned with a friendly smile.
Loki roused from his thoughts and caught Darcy's eye. He didn't so much ask as accuse, "You heard me during the phone call, didn't you?"
"Oh," Darcy smiled, unfazed, "I was getting to that part. There goes half of my brilliant deduction." She gestured at Loki from head to toe. "Everyone saw you on the news, so you needed to change up your look — very nice choice, might I add — but all the news and phone footage of you has crappy audio of, like, two sentences." She tilted her head. "Later, though? When the reception was good, it was crystal clear, and Thor was on speaker. We could hear you in the background offering advice, which he didn't take. Thor started arguing with you, and Jane kinda hung up on him." She waved her hand dismissively. "Anyway. Yes, I recognized your voice."
Mobius nodded as he listened. Loki absorbed her words seriously before he spoke again.
"I considered altering it as well. However..." He aimed to be casually honest, but old habits stilled his tongue.
"It felt too weird? I get it." Loki's gaze sharpened on her, eyes narrowing. She shrugged. "I can only relate about clothes feeling itchy and hair being annoying, but yeah. No worries! No need to explain."
Loki's mouth parted, but he had no ready response. Mobius glanced between the two of them.
Watching Loki carefully, he added quietly, "He tried longer hair with the beard, but it was definitely weird."
Darcy hummed as she studied Loki again. "Long hair and no beard?"
"Perhaps later," Loki started to say, his smile mildly uncomfortable as he reached for the first topic change he could find, "when we go—" He stopped, eyes darting to Mobius and away from both. He pressed his lips together into a thin line. Mobius turned to Darcy, his hand finding the back of Loki's shoulder, and cleared his throat. She looked from his hand to his face, which offered a smile.
"Hey, so, what was the other half of your 'brilliant deduction,' by the way?"
Darcy soft concern became a lighthearted grin.
"All right, not to brag, but I saw your 'costumes' earlier. That's when I started to tail you."
"What?" Mobius didn't hide his surprise and disappointment. "I thought we did a good job."
"Unfortunately, you forgot one thing: women in STEM."
Mobius groaned. Loki half-turned around with a questioning look.
"There aren't many women who study science, technology, engineering, or math," Mobius explained in brief. "Especially not at this university."
"Yup," Darcy confirmed, drawling out the word, "and I've met them all, thanks to Jane. Impersonating the researchers in the lab next to ours was a bold move. You totally screwed up their dynamic."
"Oh. You... saw that." Mobius began to turn red. Loki did not, instead turning fully toward Darcy without shame. Darcy's eyes twinkled at them. Her smirk was very familiar, both Mobius and Loki thought.
"Not much. Don't worry." She gave Mobius a reassuring smile with a somewhat patronizing bow. "Your costume, sir, was in fact, of a straight man. Congratulations." Then she turned to Loki. "Your costume, though? Well, let's just say that she's happily married and would never cheat on her wife."
"Oh." Loki's expression softened. "Good for them."
"I know, right? Of course, they had to run off to Sweden or somewhere to make it official."
"It'll be possible here, too," Mobius said like it was a known fact before catching himself, "I'm sure it'll happen one day."
Darcy eyed him shrewdly, but for only a second. She hadn't asked about the other Loki and this Loki, or even referred to them as such. However, she hadn't been surprised whatsoever about the fact that Loki had been taken back to Asgard and yet was here now, standing before her. She hadn't been afraid to approach them at the coffee cart and follow them to a quiet spot on campus.
"Well. I hope you found whatever you were looking for. Unless you were just sneaking around and role-playing for the fun of it, which, y'know, I can't blame you. It's been pretty dead around here because of the break and a big nerd competition out of state." She handed Mobius a folded slip of paper, "If you need more data, hit me up," and started to walk off with a wave. "Bye," she drawled. "Have a safe trip home."
"She's quite a character, huh?" Mobius glanced sideways at Loki. "You like her, don't you?"
"Shut up," Loki replied lightly, heading in the direction of their car.
"You shut up," Mobius echoed automatically, following him.