Chapter 7: A Waking Chill Chapter Text

Darcy woke with a chill, she could see her breath on the air and she knew something was wrong. She idly wondered where Loki was, he was always up she wondered if he even knew what a bed was made for. Sure there are many activities that which could be done in said bed however that wasn't her concern. Climbing out of the warmth from the furred bed she set out to finding the source of the chill thinking maybe that Loki left open a window only to find that the window couldn't be opened and that it was warmer outside than in.

Moving her gaze to the door she spotted Loki, shivering on the couch, a couch that she was sure did no benefits to his tall stature. She saw his sweat and she knew it wasn't because he had been exercising, she doubted that the people on this planet even knew how.

Getting closer she found herself getting colder, it was as if he was being cocooned in freezing temperatures but she paid little attention to it. Despite the cold around them when she laid her hand on his forehead he was burning up, racking up a fever that she didn't even know what possible.

"Loki, open your eyes." Darcy begged. "I need you to open your eyes."

She stayed still for a second before checking his person, it was clear that he wasn't going to be functional for a while. It seemed his magic was already trying to cool down his body but his was no use and she knew that it was more than a simple flu to have gotten him. She didn't even notice that she was crying.

"Loki, I'm going to remove your shirt, you have an infection of some sort." She said hoarsely. "I only have year of healing under my belt so… cross your fingers that it's something I can do."

Peeling off his shirt that stuck to him through the sweat she could see a makeshift bandage around his torso and let out a gasp. Around the bandage she could see what she assumed to be a mid-transformation that seeped its way under the bandage, however it was putrid green that coloured the bandage that worried her. Removing the bandage, she never wanted to cry more than she did that moment.

"Loki how could you live like this…"

The smell was ranched and the red swelling and the green puss was what she expected and was surprised that it he was even able stand a few hours ago. Tearing her eyes away from the whole in his torso she studied the blue skin before weaving her hands in a complicated formation mumbling a spell under her breath. It revealed that even though his current form was his made from his own magic, it was made permanent by something stronger, an artifact of some sort. He had had this form so long that his cells had made it a part of him.

She left him on the couch while she ran to the bathroom filling up a basin with water and grabbing more clothes than she probably needed. She had no idea how to heal him, she had an idea what he was but she only knew about as much as any other child on Asgard and she needed to get a better grasp on how his cells reacted before she could start healing him.

Her hands were shaky bringing the basin to him, she had opted to stop trying to whip the tears on her face over an hour back but she cleaned out the infection the best she could.

Studying the wound again she knew that he wasn't going to be able to maintain the second form. The infection wasn't going to allow it and she needed to take away any complications as she could. Even though this was her specialization she knew him, cared for him even, how he was able to worm his way so far she didn't know but she knew that she needed to save him But she knew it was only for selfish reasons.

"Loki, I doubt you would want me to do this but I have to, it's the only way you will live through this." She whispered before giving him a quick kiss on his cheek. "You are forbidden to die, seriously you drive me banana-balls, sometimes, I swear."

This wasn't like turning someone into an animal, this was a whole other spectrum, and usually the subject would change back after a set amount of time. Loki however had been wearing this guise so long that it had become a second skin, literally. Removing it, even temporally was going to hurt and by the sounds of his screams it was.

With every scream something broke in Darcy, but she couldn't stop, she didn't stop till he no longer looked like the Loki she knew, but he was still very much Loki.

Her specialization involved changing cells, whether it be change their purpose or change them to something else it doesn't matter. Healing is the art of repairing cells to make the old, knew. One would think that Darcy, who was uniquely qualified for the healing arts would have studied it more than she had but she hadn't. So when she was finally able to start healing Loki, she had made a silent vow to look more into the healing arts, she might even go back to Brakebills for self-study.

She just wanted him to wake up.

A/N So, I dedicate this chapter to all the reviewers, I love you people! However you are going to have to wait a while for the next one though. Don't get me wrong, I've wrote it, but I refuse to post three chapters in one day. ^.^

Ciao