Sickness
Loki was dying. He was sure of it. His head hurt and it was hard to breathe. His throat was raw and he felt overly warm, just miserable in general.
He had never felt like this before, ever. It was awful. Yes, this was definitely the end.
Earlier in the day, when Tony had found Loki lying in bed, sweating and breathing through his mouth and looking like he had been hit by some type of super virus, he had insisted that Bruce examine him. That's where Loki was now – in the Medical Center, resting on a hospital bed while Bruce took his vital signs and asked him various questions.
Any minute now, Bruce was sure to give him the bad news. He wondered how Tony would take it. He, himself, could deal with dying, even if he didn't particularly want to right then, but his untimely demise would surely devastate his lover.
So when Bruce announced that Loki was suffering from a head cold, and that he would be fine in 2-3 days, Loki was shocked. And embarrassed. He had given in to something that Midgardians faced on a yearly basis! Tony hadn't laughed once, but Loki was sure that he was very amused.
Slowly, Loki made his way back up to the room that he and Tony shared. Tony followed behind, not saying a word. That was for the best, really. Loki wasn't sure that he could handle Tony mocking him or laughing at him right then. Injuries to Loki's pride were the worst kind of injuries, at least to him.
Sighing, Loki crawled into bed. He expected Tony to leave. He wasn't even sure why the inventor had followed him up.
And Tony did leave. Now alone, Loki had time to consider all that had happened. It didn't take long for him to feel even worse than he had before. It would only be a matter of time before the other Avengers found out about this, and then they would laugh and joke about it for days.
The sound of the bedroom door opening caught Loki's attention, bringing him out of his pessimistic thoughts. He glanced over to see Tony standing there, holding a tray of food.
"I brought you some hot tea and soup and some Nyquil," Tony explained, moving closer to the bed. He placed the tray on the end table and moved to help Loki sit up. Once the ex-god was situated properly, he placed the tray on Loki's lap.
"There's a few kinds of tea there," Tony said, as Loki looked over the various tea bags that were laid out. "And that's chicken soup. Usually helps when you have a cold. The Nyquil will help with some of the symptoms and will help you sleep."
Loki was stunned.
"You're not going to laugh at me?" He asked, very softly.
Tony raised an eyebrow.
"No. Why would I do that?"
Loki looked at him like he had six heads. Did he really have to spell this out?
"Because I thought I was dying of a cold."
"Oh. Well considering you were previously immortal, getting sick is new to you. No reason to laugh at it," Tony replied, seriously. "I just want to help you feel better."
Loki nodded and mumbled a 'thank you', feeling incredibly grateful for his wonderful boyfriend.