With mechanical motion Thor soaked the washcloth in the bowl of cool water, squeezed it out, and set it on Loki's forehead. Loki slept on, oblivious to Thor's tending. His breathing was raspy and his cheeks were flushed from a fever that refused to break. It had been three days since Loki had woken up last and Thor counted those days among some of the longest he'd been through. If the fever didn't break soon there was a chance it never would, a chance that would just keep increasing.
Five days ago at breakfast, Loki had told Thor that he hadn't felt so good and had gone back to his room to lie down. When he didn't show up for lunch, Thor had gone up to Loki's room to check in on him and found his little brother passed out on the floor. He had been burning up from a fever, and his heartbeat unnaturally fast.
Thor had carried Loki to the Healer's Ward, but the diagnosis given by Eir was not clear. It was obvious that Loki was sick, but it wasn't a virus or a genetic anomaly like the one that had left Hodr blind. Loki's sickness didn't even appear to be Asgardian in origin.
A few days ago, Thor had had the brilliant idea to drag his friends with him and sneak onto Jötunnheim to see the Jötunn monsters in person. It had ended with the children caught by a Jötunn hunting party and brought before Laufey. They had been stuck in Laufey's dungeon until Odin had come and returned one of Laufey's artifacts that had been taken at the end of the Ice War with them, the Icefall Jewel, a powerful gem which drew its power from the Casket of Ancient Winters and amplified, for the children's release.
Eir assumed that Loki had gotten sick there, and since Loki was the only one out of Thor's party to get sick his magic must have made him vulnerable to the illness as it sometimes did. He had been there for a few days and slipped into his current coma, unable to be awakened. When that had happened Eir had allowed Loki to be moved back to his room. Because Loki was a mage, his room was saturated with his own magic, and being exposed to it might be able to do something to help bring Loki around.
Thor hadn't left his side since, and had even been excused from his lessons with his tutor Hárekr. It had been Thor's idiotic idea for a group of six children barely five centuries old to sneak to Jötunnheim on their own without telling anyone where they were going. If Loki was sick because of the trip, then it was Thor's fault.
He patiently spooned a broth Fey had made to Loki so he wouldn't bet dehydrated as he slept, and after a few spoonful's he cleaned the soup that had spilled from Loki's chin. Loki turned in his sleep, interrupted Thor's attempt to feed him, and shivered from the chills he had. Thor set the broth aside since there was no way he could feed Loki while he was rolled over facing the wall his bed was pushed up against, and fixed his blanket so it back under his brother's chin.
Thor rubbed his eyes after he did that and ate some of the food that had been left for him to try and wake himself up. Frigga had come in and relieved Thor a few times so Thor could sleep, as had Loki's closest friend, Angborn, or another of Loki's group of friends, but Odin had yet to show up and check on him. Thor didn't understand why not.
His mother said that it was because even with a son sick he was still busy being Allfather and was making sure that there wouldn't be any more fallout from their trip to Jötunnheim. He wasn't sure he could accept what his mother said though since he could remember Odin coming and looking in on him while he was sick before. Why wasn't he checking in on Loki?
"No," Loki whispered, features creased with pain.
Thor sat straight when Loki said something in surprise, and set his plate back on the tray that was magically hovering beside Loki's nightstand. Loki often had nightmares, and Thor assumed he was having yet another. He had still said something, and that was good since Eir had been worried that the way the fever was progressing it might start to damage his mind.
"Loki," Thor whispered and leaned closer to his brother as if hopeful his voice would reach Loki. "Loki it's all right. You're fine. It's me, Thor."
Suddenly Loki's eyes snapped open and he shoved Thor back. Thor, not at all expecting that, fell out of the chair he had pulled next to Loki's bed. Instantly he was back on his feet and standing.
"Brother!" He said excitedly.
Loki was breathing hard and emerald eyes clouded with fear, but he was sitting up in bed and he was awake. He looked around his room, and eventually his gaze fell on Thor's hopeful, ecstatic look. Dear faded and was replaced by recognition.
"Thor?" Loki whispered hoarsely.
"Yes," Thor smiled brightly, "are you feeling better?"
He moved the washcloth that had been on Loki's forehead and had fallen onto the sheets away so he could sit next to his brother.
"How long have you been here?" Loki asked in a quiet voice and winced as he touched his throat.
"A few days," Thor shrugged, not caring that he had gotten a little behind on sleep.
He took a vial from the nightstand and held it out to Loki.
"Here, it's from the healers. This shall help your throat," he promised his brother.
Loki took the vial from Thor and held it in both hands. He lifted it to his lips and drained it. Unlike most potions that tasted like stale swamp water, this one had been sweetened with honey. Thor took it back from him and set it on the nightstand, thrilled that his brother was awake again. Mother had said that since Loki was only five centuries, the equivalent of a human twelve year old, that he would be able to shake off the sickness.
Thor put his hand on Loki's forehead as he put the vial on the nightstand, and then lowered it with a grin. "I think your fever just broke."
"I'm glad nightmares are good for something," Loki sighed and rolled his eyes.
Thor picked up the broth he had been feeding Loki from next as he remembered the rest of the healer's orders. "There's medicine mixed into this, and you're supposed to drink it. You're thirsty right?"
Loki nodded, and Thor passed the bowl over to him. His hands trembled as he tried to raise his hands to take the bowl, and then almost dropped it. The bowl weighed too much for him. Thor took the bowl back before Loki did drop it, stunned that Loki couldn't support its weight, and Loki lowered his head. Mother had said Loki would be weak from being ill for so long, but Thor had only seen Loki this weak a handful of times and it scared him a little.
"It's half empty," Loki whispered and glanced at the bowl without really looking up.
"I've been feeding you," Thor smiled softly. "Here."
Thor spooned up the broth and held the spoon up to Loki's mouth. Loki let Thor feed him a few spoonful's of the broth, but he clenched the sheets in his hand as he ate. It was a small movement Thor noticed, and Thor smiled at Loki confidently.
"Don't worry," he assured his brother. "You'll get stronger again really quick."
Loki raised his eyes from the sheets to Thor finally, and Thor smiled. Thor was no telepath, but he didn't need to be to tell what Loki was thinking. Although Loki was the younger brother and Thor had always been told to protect him, he knew Loki didn't need much protecting. He was much stronger than most people believed, and the surest proof was that he was the one who had managed to harness the Tesseract's power, twice, without being vaporized by it as any other mortal would be.
Loki was the one who had snuck aboard a Dark Elven warship after it had been rebuilt by a group of terrorists, knowing that he needed to sabotage it. When Asgard had been attacked by a shadow mage who had wielded a golden scepter tipped with a blue jewel, Loki had been the one to tear the scepter from their hands and used it against them. To stop the serial killer, nicknamed the Cadet Killer, from killing children Loki had disguised himself as a cadet and allowed the serial killer to capture him so they could find out who he was.
"If anyone is weak around here brother," Thor smiled as he remembered just a few of the events that had happened this past year, "it's not you."
Loki hummed, but didn't verbally reply. Was he thinking about everything that had happened this past year and his role in them? Thor hoped he was because then he would agree that he was no weakling, and no disgrace to the royal family as some said he was.
"Your body has just used up its energy fighting off the virus," Thor kept talking. "If your fever broke then that means your body has defeated it, so your body can focus on getting strong again. Besides, I'm here and I won't go anywhere until you're back to your old self."
"Promise?" Loki asked suddenly and strongly, looking up at Thor.
Thor was surprised by Loki's sudden assertiveness, and Loki must have been to because he looked back down. The fever had left his cheeks flushed, so Thor couldn't tell if he was blushing or not. From the way Loki looked away and clenched the sheets again he seemed embarrassed.
Thor smiled and reached out, setting his hand on Loki's shoulder. "Of course Loki. You're my little brother and I'll stay by your side as long as you want. I'll never let anything happen to you. I promise."
That was the memory that flashed before Thor's eyes as he hung upside down on the end of the Bifrost he had just destroyed. All he could do was watch as Loki let go of Gungnir, and fell into the void.
"NO!"
This is a the end of the Thor (2011) Movie when Loki lets himself fall, and flashback of Loki being sick is what Thor remembers as Loki falls. Thor promised he'd never let anything happen to Loki, and then the events of the Thor movie happen.
Some brothers tolerate each other, others hate each other, and although Thor and Loki were complete opposites they were inseparable as children. Loki drifted away from Thor, but Thor's loyalty to Loki never wavered. There is no way for someone to realize how badly Thor was hurt by seeing Loki fall and realizing that he had broken his promise and failed his little brother.
This story is only four chapters long and is sort of a long prologue that introduces you to my universe. It's told from Thor's POV only, and sets up the scene for the next story after this. Thor, Loki, their parents, and Thor's friends are not the only beings in the nine realms in my fanfics so there are OC's coming up in later chapters. Yes, that year was an insane one, and events about it are being told my Pre-Thor arc. For info about Loki using the Tesseract got to "A Different Kind of Courage."