Chapter Text
It's snowed. So much for a dry winter, Loki thinks as he wakes up to blinding whiteness outside his window. Loki hears the kids yell downstairs. Something about jelly. There's a crash then Mobius is giving them a lecture. Mobius is a lot sterner than Don ever was, so when he tells them to knock it off, they listen. Most of the time.
Loki sits up and his back pops. He has slept on worse and yet he can't acclimate to this guest room bed. It's too hard in all the wrong ways. Loki yawns and brushes his hair out of his face. He's ready to go back to bed.
There's another crash down stairs then, "Loki!"
Mobius had found the apples.
*******************************
Loki and Mobius have been home for six months. The first thing they did was explain everything to the kids. Mobius's fear of rejection immediately flew away when, after a good cry, the boys asked him to stay.
For the first month Loki would go back and forth from the TVA. Then Mobius invited him to stay in the guest room and he has been there ever since.
Adjusting to human life is not as easy as it looks even with B giving them unlimited money. Kids are hard and cost a lot. Sports. Parent teacher conferences where Loki babysits. Tests. Then there's balancing TVA life and watching the tree, not using magic in public and therapy.
Loki loathes therapy.
They always come out crying or angry. They feel like they're going nowhere and repeating the same things. They keep going because Mobius is going. And Mobius needs to go. The longer they are with him the more they understand how He Who Remains actions and their absence messed with Mobius.
Afterward, the two always go to another timeline. It varies on how they are feeling that day but they leave, catch their breath and come back. They make plans to do the homework the therapist gives them and wait for the next session.
Sessions have lessened this month due to holidays. Which brings Loki to their next problem.
Christmas and Jul. For Mobius's sake they moved Jul up so the last day coincides with Christmas. Mobius of course didn't agree with moving it, insisting they do it the normal way up until Loki made him celebrate the first day five days ago. In lieu to that, Mobius said that they need to go to Scotland or Asgard or Norway to celebrate to which Loki said no again. They were all staying home and that's final.
So they started celebrating Jul five days ago with mother's night. While Mobius was out with Kevin and Sean at an ice rink, Sylvie and Thor came over and they baked Frigga's old fruit and fig treat. Thor told Loki about his last conversation with their mother. Sylvie asked questions since she could barely remember her. They baked for hours. When Mobius got home, they ate the sweets and Thor and Loki told stories about Frigga and the boys told them about theirs. Then finally they lit a candle for frigga and put it in the window. Sylvie, Thor and Loki spent hours watching it flicker.
At the end of the night, when Thor and Sylvie went back to their timelines, Loki spent the night outside sitting on the stairs crying while Mobius sat with him, watching the stars move across the sky.
The second day they celebrated winter solstice, even though it was still the ways off. Loki kept all the lights in the house on all day and gathered plants from the store for decorating. While the boys were at school they went to Old Asgard and retrieved a yule log that they have placed in the fireplace and have burned every day since. They spent late into the night weaving a wreath with ferns that now hangs on their door.
On the third day, Loki explain the symbolism of mistletoe: fertility, peace, and a ward from evil spirits amongst them. And protection from lightning which they got a good laugh out of when Thor came over and the boys wouldn't let him in the house.
The fourth day Loki told the story of deer mother which had even Mobius captivated. They had a feast to celebrate the life in the dark, meaning they ate by candlelight and lived in candlelight all day. Before they went home from school, they went to a park and planted a tree which didn't bode well with either Loki or Mobius but for the sake of the planet they made it through.
Yesterday Loki explained to the boys his version of Santa where Shamans visit the spirit world. They would gather mushrooms to give to shamans so they could return with gifts. The boys wanted to gather mushrooms after that but due to Mobius's strict rule of no tempad unless it's to Sylvie's or Thor's, they took to the store and bought some. They were already dried out so Kevin, Sean and Loki went out and delivered them as gifts to their friends including a run to see Sylvie and Love while Mobius took care of one of Loki's variants.
Today is the sixth day. Which happens to coincide with Mobius wanting to put the tree up. They agreed that a Christmas tree in the family room is prudent and then one for Jul above the family room table.
That's where the apples and paper flowers came in.
******************************
Loki's halfway down the stairs when the doorbell rings. He is confused with hearing the doorbell and his stomach asking for the toast and eggs he smells. "Mobius?"
"Loki, could you get the door."
"What time is it?"
It doesn't matter cause by now he's at the door and opening it to a woman who is tapping away at her phone, chewing gum. She has big brown hair, red lips and summer clothes on. "Don, honey,"she looks up and pauses, eyes going big.
They take each other in before the woman lowers her phone and sneers, "Who are you?"
Loki wrinkles his nose, "Who are you?"
"Loki, who is-" Mobius arrives behind him and stops. "Denise. I thought you said you wouldn't be here until the twenty-first."
She pushes past Loki when Mobius says her name. "Well, I lied." Then she goes the rest of the way in and into the kitchen where she gets the attention of the boys who scream, "Mom!"
"That's your ex-wife," Loki hisses.
"You already know that," Mobius hisses back and they go to the kitchen together. There Kevin is wrapped around the woman while Sean stands off to the side. Mobius crosses his arms, anger ticking its way onto his face. "School isn't out until tomorrow."
Denise turns, "And I say they are out today." Kevin cheers and Sean smiles. "Who wants to go get ice cream?"
Loki looks at Mobius to see what he will do, but he looks tired. "They're not packed yet."
Denise shoves the boys out to get their coats, completely ignoring Loki as she whispers in Mobius's ear, "Don't worry about it. That can be done later." Then she stalks down the hall calling, "Have fun with your pet." It's like Brad has possessed this woman and Loki doesn't like it.
Loki lunges to go after her, but Mobius catches him. "You saved the timelines for everyone, Loki, including her."
"Doesn't mean I have to like them," Loki snarls. The door opens and then she and the kids are gone. Mobius thumps his head against the wall, sighing. "I don't want her here for Jul," Loki states.
"I know," Mobius sighs. "Neither do I."
******************************
After a shower, Mobius insists that Loki go about his day as if Denise hadn't dropped by. They would decorate the tree later that evening once they knew what was going on.
Loki could tell Mobius was stressed but he also knew if he stuck around Mobius would get angst ridden that Loki didn't do his errands because the 'old man couldn't take more stress than usual' so he put on a jacket for show and left.
Loki likes to walk around the neighborhood. No one knows him here. The Loki of this world died young. He never got the chance to invade Earth. Of course it also means Thor died young because they were attacked by the bilsnite together.
He was contacted by Hiemdall at one point and asked about his coming to this world. He doesn't believe he's ever had such an awkward conversation with Heimdall in his life. But the old man just noded and told him to stay under the radar. There's no need to open old wounds to the king and queen.
So, Loki wanders, free as a bird from street to street. He generally tries to go to the opposite side of the road but after this morning's drama he forgets about doing so, and when a voice yells for him, he flinches and groans.
"Loki! Hey!"
Ben. Mobius's old friend from grade school. Lives four houses down and has a couple of kids of his own but spends the majority of his time at Mobius's house for what reason Loki couldn't even fathom except that he likes to tick Loki off.
Loki turns, "Hello, Ben."
Not surprisingly Ben is in sweats and a black thermal top with only socks on his feet as the sun melts the snow. This man is going to get pneumonia.
"How's your morning," Ben asks, hopping from foot to foot.
"It's morning, Ben. Take a guess."
The man shrugs. "I saw Denise's car come by. Did she get the kids early?"
Loki groans. He dislikes many things regarding Ben but the worst of it is he knows every second of their business. Mobius had explained everything to the kids but who was there with the kids when they showed up? Ben. So Ben knows about the TVA, who Mobius is, who Sylvie is, Loki, Thor, everything, and worst of all every second of their business.
Loki repeats his soothing mantra from therapy and says, "No. They aren't packed. She's going to have them pack later. They went out for ice cream."
Bens face sours. "I'll come over if you guys want-"
"No, no!" Loki quickly interjects. The last thing he wants is Ben interrupting what's hopefully to be a peaceful evening. "Uh, I mean, thank you, Benjamin, but I have it under control."
Ben doesn't look convinced. "Okay... I'll call Don though and see if he needs anything."
"Mobius," Loki says flatly.
"Mobius. Yeah. One day I'll get that."
As Ben takes off for his house, waving bye, Loki says under his breath, "I highly doubt it."
Denise's presence has got him off kilter. A walk is not going to take care of his energy. To Sylvie it is.
***************************
Loki hates trying to find Sylvie. Now that he's out of the tree it's been harder to locate her. Now he has to ask Mobius all the time to track her down with his tempad.
So after Loki kicks some snow on to Ben's lawn, he calls Mobius and he tells him that Sylvie is in Lyle store.
So Loki time skips on over there and scares the absolute crap out of Lyle. He doesn't really know how much Lyle knows except that they can do magic. So odds are he thinks Loki magiced himself there and the man wouldn't be wrong.
But here Loki is at the entrance to the shop with Lyle splayed out on the floor, his stool askew and coffee all over his shirt. "Sorry," Loki says, "where's Sylvie?"
Loki hears her curse before Lyle can answer and then she's shoving by Loki and helping Lyle up. "Can't you just walk through the door like a normal person."
"It was urgent," Loki says before turning back to Lyle, " I really am sorry. Let me." Loki snaps his fingers in the coffee disappears from Lyle's shirt.
Lyle still looks unsteady, but he replies, "Oh, no problem, man. I'll get used to it one day."
No, he won't. But neither Loki nor Sylvie say that. Sylvie makes sure he's okay one more time before leading Loki to the couches where he can see she's been browsing music. She's in a T-shirt and shorts, the warm weather here giving her a tan.
"What's up?" She asks.
Loki shakes his head. "I met Mobius's ex-wife."
Sylvie itches her nose. "Gross. She the nightmare you always thought she was?"
Loki will give Sylvie this. Not all Denise's are mean. Some make mistakes that lead to divorce. Others die. Others are just looking for other things. Loki may have never looked at her but he knows of her.
He shrugs. "I think she's incredibly rude but the boys love her so I stand her."
Sylvie smiles, "That was evident when the boys described her."
"Kevin described her," Loki corrects, "Sean told a few stories but Kevin did most of the talking."
"So you met her. Did it ruin your day or something?"
Loki leans back and sighs, eyes on the roof. "She wasn't supposed to come for another two days and now she might prolong leaving and I," Loki covers his face, "I feel like it's going to ruin everything."
"Ruin what?"
"Christmas!" Loki says frustrated. "Jul! The holidays! I want this to be the best Christmas we've ever had. All of us. The kids are still adjusting, Mobius doesn't remember the holiday, I don't celebrate like them," Loki takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "I want this to be memorable. For all of them."
Sylvie makes a face and Loki knows what's coming. "Everything can't be perfect all of the time. I know we both know that."
"Yes, but-"
"There isn't a but to this. The harder you try to make this perfect the worse it's going to be."
Loki rolls his eyes and slumps into the couch. He feels Sylvie's eyes on him for a long moment before she says, "The last couple days have been good haven't they?"
Loki shrugs. "I wouldn't say they were terrible. It wasn't as if the roof caved in or the tree exploded. Not that it's up yet, but..."
Sylvie claps the table. "Then there you go. The world hasn't ended. Enjoy this time, Loki. No Christmas or Jul will be like this one ever again."
Loki glares at her. She's not getting it but how could she. She's celebrated a couple Christmases with different people over the past eon. She doesn't have to worry about being a burden to her new family because of her beliefs or making one wrong move with the kids and getting kicked out. Or making a nightmare of Christmas so the kids hate her and her best friend second guess why he let him stay there in the first place.
Loki can't be another Odin. He can't be another Denise.
Loki can't be another him.
Sylvie must see he's holding something back because she reaches for him but he stands up quickly. "Thank you, Sylvie, I must be on my way."
"Loki-"
"You'll be coming Christmas Eve, correct?"
Her face drops. He hurt her. What's new. When don't they hurt each other in some fashion. "If you still want me."
Loki nods, "We'll have the basement set up for you."
Then he marches past her to the door. He waves at Lyle who waves back from where he has made himself another cup of coffee.
Outside, the sun shines down, making Loki sweat in his thin jacket.
He remembers Mobius and his first conversation about his heritage. It was back in the TVA before they found Sylvie. Mobius was curious. Loki was defensive. Mobius had understood that and stayed clear of Odin or the stories told to Loki about monsters that eat children. He just wanted to understand Loki's biology. He later realized it was because his cell / room was too hot and he couldn't change the temperature. Mobius used that information to convince Ravonna to cool his room down. Loki was grateful but knew he would want more information someday.
Loki looks at his hand. Maybe it's time to bring it up to him again...
*************************
Loki stomps his shoes as he comes in the door. It's late afternoon now. Either Denise took the kids or they are just getting back from school. As he shakes his shoes off, he yells, "Mobius?"
No reply. Loki looks out the window. Mobius's car is in the driveway. Did he go over to Ben's? "Mobius?"
Loki walks down the hall and peers into the family room. There he is. In jeans and a plain white T-shirt staring at a blank tv. Surrounding him are popcorn bags, chip bags, chocolate bars and a piece of pie.
Loki's stomach drops. "Is she staying?"
Mobius violently grabs some of the leftover chocolate and stuff said in his mouth. "No. Worse. She's not taking the kids."
Loki goes cold. "Wait ... but it's her Christmas. She's supposed to have them."
Mobius waves him off. " No, no. She's going on a 'business trip' with her fiance and can't take the boys. Can't pay child support if you can't work and all that crap."
Mobius takes a big bite of pie. Loki feels sick. He never thought she wouldn't take the boys. They're her sons. Why wouldn't she want to see them? He swallows hard. "Where are the boys?"
Mobius gestures up the stairs. "Kevin's upstairs hiding in his room. He won't talk to me. Thinks it's my fault. I don't know where Sean is. He disappeared went Denise drop them off."
Loki doesn't know what to say or do. He knows what it's like for a parent not to want him but that doesn't mean he knows how to help others deal with it.
Mobius reaches for a Josta he must have got on his recent trip. "You should slow down. That many sweets could kill you," Loki says weakly.
Mobius gives him a stink eye but before he can lecture Loki his phone rings. He fumbles for it, stuck in the back pocket of his jeans, before answering the phone with, "I believe we discussed everything that needs to be discussed."
Denise. She says something harsh and Mobius goes red. Loki gives Mobius this though. He's only seen him get truly angry a handful of times and this is not one of those times. He handles this beautifully even though a vein is starting to pop out of his head.
Loki slips out of the room to the kitchen. He needs something healthy or Mobius is going to go into a food coma. Loki remembers him stuffing the apples in the pantry. He opens the door and there he is. A little boy with floppy hair and a long sleeve shirt with Captain America on it.
They eye each other for a moment before Sean says, "Don't tell Dad."
Loki looks behind himself to make sure Mobius isn't pacing the halls before entering the pantry and closing the door behind him. Sean and him sit in the dark, quiet as mice. Loki needs to address this. He understands the need to hide from reality. He had his own hiding places on Asgard. He says, " I'm sorry about your mother-"
"It's fine," Sean says too quickly, "It's not the first time she's done this."
Loki's anger makes an appearance, boiling under his skin. "No, Sean. It's not fine."
The boy doesn't say anything. Not for a long time. Loki knows Sean doesn't completely trust him. He suspects it has something to do with his parents. But Loki never guessed Sean's next couple sentences would tell him the why. "Is Dad talking to Mom?"
"Yes," Loki murmurs.
"I hate her sometimes," Sean says, "she's not nice to Dad. But Dad loved her. I..." Sean takes a deep breath, "I miss my dad. But I'm glad... this Dad is not like mine. He stands up for himself. He's not still in love with her."
Loki shakes his head. "Don was... is... a brave man. Don't underestimate your father, Sean."
"I'm not," Sean says, "I just think he has bad taste in people sometimes."
Ah. There it is. It's not that he doesn't like Loki. It's that he thinks Loki will be another version his mom. In all honesty, Loki worries about that sometimes, too. He leans forward as best he can in the cramped space and says, "How about I make a deal with you?"
Sean hesitates, "Okay..."
"If I ever, and I mean ever, do anything that you don't like to your dad you have permission to tell me off. Do what you need to protect your dad. Okay?"
There's a long pause. Then a small, "Okay."
Okay. It feels strange that now Loki has to be accountable to a ten year old but without accountability he could hurt Mobius. That's the last thing he wants.
"How's your brother?" Loki asks.
"Not good. He's been looking forward to being with Mom for months."
Loki curses inwardly. She really is the worst. He thinks of the Christmas tree that they were supposed to decorate. Outside, he hears Mobius pass the door, still talking. The door opens and shuts. He's gone.
Loki looks at Sean. "Do you think doing the tree will help cheer him up?"
***************************
While Sean retrieves Kevin, Loki makes his way to the garage where they stored the tree and the fir branch. The two are leaning against the jet skis getting needles on the seat. Loki grabs the branch and sticks it in the doorway to the kitchen before grabbing the tree and wrestling it into the family room, knocking plastic santas, cups, plates and elf on the shelf over as he goes. He'll fix that later.
In the family room, Sean and Kevin sit on the couch watching him drag it in, leaving pine needles in his wake. "So," Loki says, "Where does your father keep ornaments and a stand?"
Sean gets the stand while Kevin takes Loki to the attic to get two boxes of old fashioned ornaments. The attic is cold and Loki almost feels cozy here. Kevin grabs the first box, tears streaks on his face.
"Kevin," Loki says gently, nervously, Would you like to talk about your mother?"
Maybe it was too blunt. Kevin kicks an old box of photo albums. "No."
"Your father always tells me it's better to talk about it than hold it in and explode later." Not that he follows his own advice...
Kevin glares at Loki, "You're not my mom or my dad." And then he's down the attic stairs in an instant. Loki groans. So much for trying to help.
As Loki walks down the attic stairs then the ground level, he thinks about Mobius. He was worse than Kevin and sean. He threw a chair at his head. He tried to kill him twice. Insulted him. The kids haven't done that to Loki. But still he feels like crap because he can't help them right. Did Mobius feel this way? He has expressed remorse for what he said about Loki's mother. But Loki doesn't know the level of guilt Mobius felt. Did he feel disgusted with himself after all that? Did he feel like he could do better?
Loki swallows hard. What he does know is Mobius never gave up on him. He never gave up believing he could help Loki. Loki will never give up on those kids. He just needs to not give up on himself.
In the family room, the three get started on putting the tree up. It's already dark outside and gets Loki a little nervous that Mobius hasn't returned yet but he moves on to helping Kevin and Sean put tinsel on the tree anyway. Kevin finally smiles as Sean throws tinsel at him then he throws it at Loki and thirty minutes later tinsel covers the room instead of the tree.
But it was fun and that's all that matters. They carefully clean up the tinsel, careful not to drop any on the mantle into the fire where the yule log burns peacefully. Once the tree is beautified Loki turns to the ornaments and opens the lid only to have Kevin slap it back down. "No. We do the star first. You know cause of Bethlehem."
No, Loki doesn't really know but he's not going to argue with a kid who is still liable to bursting into tears. "Okay," he says, "star first."
Kevin and Sean get into the other ornament box and pull out a yellow fringed star with multicolored lights. "Can I put it on?" Sean asks.
Loki shrugs, "I don't see why not." He gets down on his knees and Sean gets on his back, star in hand. The tree is barely taller than Loki so Sean puts the star on easily. It glitters in the fluorescent lights. That's when Loki realizes they haven't put the Christmas lights on yet.
As Loki kneels to put Sean down, he asks, "Where are the Christmas lights?" But then the tree starts tipping. Loki frowns. "Why is it...?" Then he sees a loose screw in the tree stand. He barely is registering an argument behind him as he reaches to steady the tree and tighten the screw.
Then Sean is suddenly ramming into Loki. No doubt a shove from Kevin. Loki rams head first into the tree. The stand hits him in the face as the tree comes tumbling down.
"Ow," Loki groans, struggling to untangle himself from the tree, a cut under his eye and scratches on his face.
Kevin screams! Loki whips around and the amount of horror that fills him is undescribable. The star is sparking as fire licks up it's corners. The top of the trees in the fireplace, on fire and crawling downward, lighting the carpet of the family room on fire.
Loki shoves Kevin back, who is captivated by the fire, and into Sean who holds him back from going near it. The fire alarm starts as Loki grabs a blanket and tries to beat it out. Instead the flames travel further down the tree and further into the room.
Loki curses. This is not happening! Mobius's house is not on fire. But as the flames get bigger and Loki's sweat gets heavier he realizes he has no choice. "Don't worry. I know what to do," he tells the boys.
Both boys scream now as Loki turns blue and starts hitting the fire with ice, draining his magic far quicker than he likes. "Come on, come on," he hisses.
Slowly the fire goes out leaving the tree half burnt, the star obliterated and the carpet black and soggy. The alarms are still going off. Loki coughs at the leftover smoke.
"See, boys," Loki says, "I knew what to-"
Loki turns and pales. Mobius stands in the doorway, staring at the holy mess that is his family room. Kevin and Sean hide behind him, staring at Loki with wide eyes.
Loki quickly shun's his Jotunn form, turning back and struggling to say, "Mobius, I-"
"Boys," Mobius says, cutting Loki off, "get some towels. Clean up the ice. I'm going to turn off the alarms."
Then he's gone. They all are, leaving Loki alone in the wreckage.
****************************
"I am really sorry, Mobius."
"I am really sorry, Mobius."
"You've said that ten times now, Loki."
"And yet you still haven't acknowledged it."
Mobius sighs, chin dropping to his chest. The knife in his hand drops through the potato almost cutting the edge of his thumb. Loki flinches at that and moves toward him. "Mobius-"
He points the dirty knife at Loki, "Stay on that table and get that bush up."
"It's a fir bough."
"Get it up!" Mobius growls before throwing the potatoes in the water and turning on the burner. Mashed potatoes. Kevin's favorite.
Loki sighs and turns back to tying the fir bough to the chandelier. It's a hefty branch but he believes it will hold well with the chandelier wired into the ceiling. When it's finally tied onto the center of the small chandelier he leans over to grab the apples and paper flowers.
And there he is at the age edge of the table, arms crossed. They stare at each other for a long moment. Loki debates standing but instead kneels on the table, sitting on his feet, never leaving Mobius's gaze.
"I. Am. Sorry." Loki repeats gently, slowly, "I was irresponsible and as a result almost sent your house up in flames. I'm sorry."
Mobius sighs. He leans against the edge of the table and says, "Thank you. For being willing to take accountability. There isn't a need for an apology. But I appreciate it nonetheless."
Loki is confused. "Then why didn't you just say that?"
The bell goes off on the oven. Mobius looks at it then goes to it, "Because I didn't want to say something I didn't mean. It hasn't been a good day, Loki, and I don't want you to think it's your fault when it's not."
Loki swallows hard. This is about Denise, not him. But he still feels like he's destroyed something today. "Your tree is gone. And your star."
Mobius shrugs. "We've got your branch. It's better than nothing." He pulls the pan of chicken out and groans. Loki smells it before he sees it. The chicken is burnt.
Mobius chucks it on the oven and comes to Loki again, sitting in the chair. "I'm bad at this."
Loki frowns, "At what?"
Mobius waves over the room. "This. Being a Dad. Being what Kevin and Sean need." Mobius rubs his eyes. "This is hard, Loki. I...I can't keep doing this."
Loki shakes his head. "Mobius, you are doing amazing. Nobody, me, the kids, anyone expects you to be the best dad in the multiverse. I mean look at Odin. He was a king and he banished all three of his children, had two of them commit Mass genocide and one refused the throne."
Mobius chuckles, "Yeah, Odin is a piece of work."
Loki smirks, happy someone is in agreeance. "Come. Help me put the apples and paper flowers on."
Mobius looks back at the burnt chicken and boiling potatoes. He nods slowly. "Okay. But if I fall off this table and break my neck-"
"Don't be absurd," Loki says, "You'll just chip a tooth. Maybe get a fracture."
Mobius climbs up, laughing.
***********************
"What variant did you save yesterday, Dad?"
Sean is trying to make conversation. Kevin is not eating anything, not even his mashed potatoes which is making Mobius nervous. Loki can tell by the way he's tapping his fork. When Mobius doesn't answer Sean immediately, Loki clears his throat.
Mobius jerks and takes a deep breath. "A teen variant," he says, "got stuck on Earth in the '70s. Odin didn't know he was missing. If I hadn't come, he would have been forgotten and caused substantial damage to Earth. I even ran into a variant of your old man here."
"What was Dad like?" Kevin asks suddenly, "you're variant."
Mobius looks at him for a moment before taking a sip of water and replying with, "He's a hippie, living in California with long hair and bare feet." He winks at Loki. "Tried to make you one, you know."
"Is that a bad thing?"
Mobius's smirks. "Not at all."
Loki relaxes, feeling relieved. He is really forgiven. All will be well.
But Kevin is frowning. "What is it, Kevin?" Loki asks.
Kevin mushes his potatoes with his fork and then says, "What's a hippie?"
Mobius frowns. Loki snorts. "Well, they are-"
There's a loud pop then screams as Loki's fir bough, lands on the table, sending glasses, apples and pine needles everywhere. Mobius stares in shock. Slowly the shock wears off and leads to laughing.
Loki blushes, "Oops..."