This chapter was a bitch and a dirty whore, and all y'all Tumblr pals (special thanks to Leftylain), I'm sorry you had to hear me complain about it ... but sometimes Loki just isn't easy for me to write.
Anyway. This is a long one! I hope you enjoy. I did a lot of bellyaching, but I'm happy with how it turned out.
...
In which we meet Nurse Loki.
~~::::::...::::::~~
"Take care in befriending humans," his mother would say. "Their years on this Earth are short, and so are their memories. She will grow and forget you. They rarely let themselves believe in magic for long."
"Pay humans no attention," his father would say. "They are beneath you. Pitiful creatures, they destroy that which they do not understand … which is everything."
Both of Narfi's parents wanted him to steer clear of the warm-blooded, but while his father's reasons were simply because of prejudice, and the "what for" behind his commands was the vague answer of "because I said so," … his mother's reasons were always different.
"Because I do not wish you to be hurt," she would say.
…
It had been quite awhile since Loki had revisited his first books … he had to practically reread them on the plane to L.A., in order to remember everything. And just like a popular song from when you were younger, can for a few seconds, transport you back in time … so can stories that you have written. So can books that you once loved.
Narfi was always meant to be bittersweet. The ending wasn't completely happy, but "happyish". Life was never black and white. Life was always "ish." This is what Loki had discovered when he was about sixteen … everything was just various degrees of "ish." He'd been afraid of looking back on himself and seeing how naive that kind of thinking was … but instead realized that perhaps he was actually much more wise at that age. He hadn't yet grown so cynical and jaded. While love hadn't exactly worked out for him then, he still believed in it. Fifteen or so years down the line … he couldn't quite say that was true anymore, until very recently anyhow.
At the time when the books came out, having written under a nom de plume, it meant that he never needed to worry about answering the tough questions. There were no public appearances, no being put on the spot. No real interviews about his stories. But having them republished with his real name meant new questions, and he hardly knew the answers to them anymore. Either that, or they were horrifyingly embarrassing. He could hear the quizzing in his head.
"Who was the inspiration for Narfi's human friend?"
"Oh, that would be a girl I was in love with in high school."
"Why did she grow up and forget about Narfi in the end?"
"First love rarely works out. In fact, she never loved me at all … she was in love with my brother."
Loki needed to figure out some better answers to these questions.
And then there were the other themes. The books resonated with a certain demographic for a reason. Much like books such as Harry Potter spoke to kids who always wanted to believe they were secretly a "chosen one", the Narfi books spoke to kids who felt like a bit of an outsider. Kids who loved to do a good deal of reading. They were also big in the LGBT community for reasons that Loki was unprepared to talk about as a teenager.
Darcy had told him, back when he first talked to her about the possibility of a movie deal, that he needed to keep creative control, and he intended to. She also said that Narfi needed to stay the same at his core. He was a dragon that could change colors like a chameleon, an ability usually attributed only to females, as it was their means of defense against the world, rather than the masculine brute strength of male dragons. By the end, Narfi's refusal to hide his abilities resulted in other boy dragons recognizing their chameleon-like natures, as well as the girls owning their powers and breathing fire. It led to making new friends. Dragons. And it led to letting humans go.
For Loki, he wrote it that way simply because he was tired of always being expected to play football and love it. To enjoy being punched in the face. Knocked to the ground. To be excited about shooting clay pigeons with his brother and father, as if there was any point to it. Loki had always enjoyed more solitary sports, like track and swimming … and somehow they just were not as crowd-pleasing. He wrote Narfi because he would always rather watch Lawrence of Arabia with his mother instead of Friday the 13th with Thor. It was these preferences that set him up for ridicule, which he'd always seen as horribly unfair. He combated these feelings with writing … ever since he could remember. He'd turned these adolescent growing pains, growing tortures, really … into a story. A fairytale.
And so now it was all done. A deal was inked, and Loki set foot back in Asgardia with a need to see about a girl. He smiled to himself when he realized that only a few months prior, just as he'd stepped off the plane in this town, Thor had wanted him to see about the same girl … but Loki hadn't wanted any part of it. Now he was desperate to find her.
After settling back in and unpacking the few things he'd brought to L.A. with him, he noticed that Darcy wasn't returning any of his texts. He knew things were still a bit strained, their messaging not nearly as easygoing and frequent as it normally was, but she hadn't ever straight-up ignored him for several hours. After remembering that it was of course Sunday, the day of Clint Barton's party, and realization hit him that she must have attended … all manner of unpleasantries began to run through his head, and he began wearing a pathway into the carpet from pacing about his room.
They could have been telling her anything … any of the horrible stories about him that were all painfully and sadly true. But Thor would also be there of course, and he would watch out for her. He would make sure there was proper context given to any potentially damaging tales. Or would he? And who knew what state Thor would even be in. Those types of parties tended to go on all day and all night, and had a habit of getting out of hand. Though if the past few weeks should have taught him anything, it was that he should absolutely trust Darcy … but he didn't trust other people. He almost had half a mind to call his brother to make sure everything was okay, but he didn't want to seem too creepy. Was that creepy? He wasn't sure at this point. It was hard to differentiate between what was creepiness due to trust issues and what was genuine concern.
When it was past 10 o'clock and he still hadn't heard from anyone, he figured that genuine concern was probably winning out, so he picked up his phone to call Thor. As he went about bringing up the number, Darcy miraculously called.
Thank the gods.
He pressed the answer button on the first ring. "Darcy?"
"Hey, this is Steve," said the voice on the other end.
Why is Steve Rogers making calls from her phone?
"What's the matter?"
Obviously something is the matter.
"Don't panic," he said, in a way that people do right before they tell you very bad news. "I just took the girl's phones from them so they wouldn't end up at the bottom of the lake."
Ah.
"Bottom of the lake? Let me guess, some kind of drunken bet?" Loki remembered those … and most of the wagers were from the imagination of none other than …
"Yep. Tony Stark," Steve said. "Listen, can you meet me at their house? I have to get home, and I'd rather someone watch over the girls, especially Darcy."
"What's happened to Darcy?"
"She hit it hard tonight," he said, trying to be subtle and not outright saying she was "wasted" or "shit-faced".
Was Darcy just going with the flow of the party? Was she trying to get back at him in some way? Was she drowning her sorrows …
"Was something wrong?" Loki asked, also going for subtlety.
"They were teasing her."
He nodded to himself and realized that he'd stopped pacing. "Ah. About … me."
"Yeah," Steve said, hesitating in answering.
Loki sighed into the phone, a million things running through his head about what they could have been teasing her about. "Of course, I'll come and meet you," he said. "Shall I call Thor? Shouldn't he be watching over Jane?"
"No, don't call Thor," Steve said. "Let Jane decide what she wants to do about that."
That certainly sounds … odd.
"Did something happen?"
"I'll let Jane tell you."
"Very well. I'll be on my way. Thanks for calling me," Loki said.
And for giving SO much information to go off … but he stopped himself from saying that. Steve had obviously been watching out for Darcy, and Jane apparently, when Thor should have been the one stepping up to that plate.
"Thank you," Steve said, genuinely. "Much appreciated. Bye." Loki stared at the phone for a moment … the lad was certainly irritating in a way, because no matter how hard you tried, you couldn't actually dislike him. And usually, he would actively dislike such a person. He seemed maddeningly perfect ... and best friend of Darcy's ex, who even had designs on getting the two back together … though that was before he knew of Loki and Darcy's budding relationship. Since finding out, Steve was nothing but friendly towards him.
He packed a few things, thinking about what Darcy and Jane would probably need in the morning, and drove over to the girl's house. He was only sitting on the steps of their front porch for a minute or so, before Steve drove up. He and Jane got out of the car, though she was a bit wobbly on her feet.
Loki started to walk to the driveway, wondering why there was no Darcy, when Steve opened the back door. He looked inside to see Darcy curled up and laying on the seat, her teeth chattering. He put his hands on her shoulders and noticed her clothes were all wet, and he tried to get her to sit up, which wasn't working very well. He got her to cooperate somewhat, and was able to pick her up and carry her towards the porch.
"Why is she all wet? She's shivering."
"We lost a bet," Jane said, giggling, though Loki found none of it funny. "It was Nicki Minaj's fault. We had to jump in the lake."
"You're not wet."
"Natasha's clothes. Darcy was too busy laying the smackdown to change."
"Pardon?"
Before Loki walked up the steps to the porch, Steve laid the back of his hand on Darcy's forehead, as if he was checking for a fever. "Bye Darcy," he said to her. "I'll talk to you soon … if you remember this." He then looked up, concerned. "You should get her out of those clothes … that water was freezing, they could have developed hypothermia if they were in there any longer. I wish I wouldn't have let them do it."
Loki could tell that Steve felt bad about the situation. He imagined that once the girls had made up their minds to do something, there wasn't much anyone could do to talk them out of it, especially if they had consumed the amounts of alcohol one typically consumes at an all-day Clint Barton affair … and it seemed as if Darcy had had her fair share. She raised her arms to try and wrap them around Loki's neck, but didn't make it very far before consciousness left her completely.
"Thank you Steve, truly … for watching out for them," Loki said, grateful.
Steve grinned. "Hey, it's no problem. I won't tell you some of the things they helped me out of back in Brooklyn … it's what friends are for."
Loki nodded. "I think you New York lot know a thing or two about friendship that the Asgardians never learned."
Steve laughed. "Perhaps. But it's never too late," he said, before walking back to his car.
He turned with Darcy in his arms to find Jane fiddling with the lock on the front door. "I can't carry her and unlock the door," Loki said. "Dear gods, you can't even get it in the hole."
Jane all of a sudden looked up, as if she just realized there was someone behind her. "THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!" She doubled over with giggles for several moments while he stood back rolling his eyes, and really needing to get Darcy inside and out of her wet clothes.
"Jane, darling, pull yourself together," he said, trying his best to be nice about it.
She then shook herself out, made a conscious effort to be serious, and miraculously opened the door. Loki rushed Darcy up the stairs to her room. He placed her on the bed and then began to peel off her clothes. He didn't ask why the girls didn't seem to be wearing any shoes or where they might be. When he started to unclasp Darcy's bra, Jane began to vehemently protest.
"Oh, no no no," she said, standing in front of him and slapping his hands away. "Turn around! This is my job. I'm a doctor. I'm used to body parts."
Loki frowned but stepped back. "Jane, you do realize that I am quite familiar with Darcy's body parts?"
She took Darcy's bra off, a job that he felt pretty adamant about being only his, if not Darcy's. She then picked up a towel from on top of the hamper and made sure she was dry, before stepping over to the chest of drawers and selecting a new pair of boy shorts. "Yes, I realize that as her boyfriend, you see her," Jane said. "But only when she wants you to. This is girl-code, Loki. She's passed out. I have no idea what she's comfortable with you seeing right now." She made a twirling motion with her hand. "Now turn around."
Loki did as he was told in a huff. "I assure you, she's comfortable with me seeing her," he said, remembering a weekend together where they'd practically spent forty-eight hours naked. He considered himself an expert in taking off Darcy's panties.
"You have no idea, Loki. You're not a girl."
He rolled his eyes as he stared at the wall. "This is ridiculous … you think I'd what, grope her while she's passed out?"
Jane laughed. "No, that's not it. I don't think you'd do that at all. It's more like … if she's on her period, she'd kill me if she knew I let you completely change her clothes. Girl-code."
"Oh." He blinked rapidly.
"Yeah. Oh. Dudes never think of that stuff. You can turn around."
He turned to see Jane holding out a large long-sleeved t-shirt that Darcy slept in. "Here. Put this on her," she said. Darcy seemed to stir a bit as her friend rubbed her hands, trying to bring warmth back to her skin. After Loki slipped the garment over her head, Darcy curled up, hugging her knees to her chest, and fell back asleep.
He covered her with blankets and felt one of her cheeks with the back of his hand … she seemed warmer than she was. "She was ice cold. Are you okay?" Loki turned around and looked at Jane, who while dry, still had damp hair, and black smudges under her eyes from her mascara.
She shrugged. "Meh."
"What happened?"
"Hm. I'm not sure anyone will remember."
"What do you remember?" He was getting tired of vague answers to his questions.
Jane seemed to perk up a bit, recalling the past few hours. "She told Clint that she would fuck him up. And she told Thor to fuck off. And she tried to beat up Tony Stark."
Well that's … interesting.
Loki inclined his head. "Whatever for."
"You," Jane nodded towards him.
"Me," Loki said, pointing to his chest.
She all of a sudden smiled. "Yeah, she was like all Brooklyn 'n shit, like, that's the man I love you're talkin' about, don't ever talk about my man like that again because I will fuck you up!" The hand gestures she was using were quite amusing seeing as Jane usually held herself with a certain poise befitting that of a medical scholar … but then he got stuck on one little word that she'd said.
Love?
"What?"
She frowned. "Hm. I have a big mouth … that's like three times this week. I'm going to stop talking now … bye." Jane turned around and walked out the door, leaving Loki standing in Darcy's room, stunned.
He shook his head out and followed her.
"Jane!"
She was already down the stairs and halfway to her room when he caught up with her. She held up her hands defensively. "Nope!"
He opened his mouth to ask a question, but she didn't let him speak. "NOPE!"
Loki gestured towards the kitchen. "Please. Sit for a moment. I have something for you … but I need to go to my car. I'll be right back."
He returned to actually find her sitting at the table as he requested. He handed her a bottle of Gatorade and put another in the fridge for Darcy.
"You're a good boyfriend," she said, quietly.
Loki sat down across from her. "Did something happen with Thor?"
Jane took a long sip of her drink. "He's just different when he's around his friends. He gets caught up, ya know?"
He nodded his head slowly. "Oh, yes."
Welcome to my childhood.
"I think he forgets I'm there sometimes."
"I assure you, Jane," Loki said. "Even at Thor's most forgetful, you are never far from his mind."
She shrugged and fiddled with her bottle.
"He's much changed, Jane," he said, trying to reassure her.
"So I hear." She looked up at him. "And you? Have you changed?"
Loki chuckled, unsure of how intoxicated Jane really was, and how much of this she'd remember in the morning. "I am changed in that I don't do heroin, yes … but I've come to believe that becoming the addict was the change. And that I've only rediscovered myself, realizing that I always was … fine to begin with. I was always enough", he said. "Only now, I am me again, I am as fine as I ever was … I just don't have the giant chip on my shoulder any longer."
Jane smiled. "It's just a little smaller now?"
He laughed. "Just a bit. Listen … just tell Thor what you need, I promise you, he'll comply. You mean a great deal to him."
"Maybe." She looked at him, a bit sad. "But you should go check on her. And I'm not going to repeat what I said up there … but it was true."
Loki stood up. "Thank you."
When he got back up to Darcy's room, he checked to see if she was doing alright and found her still cold. He stripped down to his boxer-briefs and climbed in behind her, wrapping his arm around her, trying to make her warmer with his body heat. As soon as Loki knew she was in a deep sleep, he felt himself begin to nod off as well.
"I love you, too," he whispered, before giving her shoulder a soft kiss and drifting away.
~~*...*~~
Sometime in the early morning, he sensed Darcy wake up. She shot up to a sitting position on the bed, and then frantically climbed over him in order to run down the hall.
He went downstairs to get her Gatorade and then knocked softly on the bathroom door when he returned.
"I'll just be a sec," she said, her voice muffled, obviously hugging the toilet.
Several minutes later, Darcy wobbled back into her room and ducked under the covers. Loki urged her to sit up, drink something, and take a couple of Advil.
She took several long sips of her sports drink, gulping it down. "Oh my god. I think that's the best thing I've ever had in my entire life. Thanks," she said, before collapsing backward. She threw an arm over her eyes. "Loki."
He lay beside her and propped himself up by the elbow. "Yes?"
"I'm sorry."
"For what."
"You obviously had to take care of my ass last night."
"I don't mind."
She put her arm down and opened her eyes. "Is Jane alright?"
"As far as I know. She was perfectly fine when I saw her last … though perhaps a bit distracted."
"Hm. I think she's pissed off at Thor."
"It would seem so."
"So Steve called you?"
"He did. How much do you remember?"
Darcy shrugged. "I remember everything. I think … I just. Damn. I can normally hold my liquor with the best of them, but that was on another level. After Steve … oh, god. After Steve held me back from punching Tony Stark, I just kind of checked out. I couldn't keep up anymore. Over and out," she saluted weakly.
She then looked up, as if she really noticed him for the first time that morning, now that the fogginess from sleep and alcohol had worn off. Darcy reached up and put a hand on his cheek. "I missed you," she said.
He smiled down at her. "I missed you, too."
"How was L.A.?"
"Productive."
Darcy brushed a thumb over his lower lip and it sent vibrations down his spine. "I'm so glad," she whispered.
She let her arm come down, her eyes resting on her sleeve. "Who put this on me?" she asked, referring to her shirt.
"I did," he grinned. "But Jane was adamant about taking care of the rest."
Darcy laughed softly. "Girl-code."
Loki narrowed his eyes. "What else is in this girl-code?"
"I can't tell you. I might have to kill you."
He chuckled. "I think I can handle it."
She thought for a second. "Hm. Part of our girl-code is that we're journal buddies. Like, if either me or Jane meets an untimely death, we've vowed to be each other's diary destroyers. She would go in and destroy any of my old journals or diaries before anyone had a chance to look through them. She knows exactly where they all are."
Loki's face twisted in confusion. "You wouldn't want someone to keep those? Children? Grandchildren?"
"Oh, hell no. No one needs to see my poetry at age 13."
"Do all women practice this girl-code?"
"Only the cool ones … I mean, don't you have like, a porn friend?"
"Porn friend? I think not."
"You don't have anyone to destroy all of your porn for you … like, if you die. You don't want your family to find your porn collection."
Loki laughed. "My father wouldn't find anything, though Thor might want to think of acquiring a porn friend."
"Eh. Thor," Darcy said, losing her smile.
His eyebrows knitted together, curious. "What happened with Thor?"
She sighed heavily. "I'm not exactly sure … but he pissed me off."
"What happened, Darcy?"
She sat up slowly, reaching for the Gatorade and taking another drink. She shook her head as if she was trying to talk herself out of something … or as if she wasn't quite believing her own memories. "When Jane and I got there, they had already been drinking … so as soon as we showed up, Clint kept trying to introduce me to people. Trying to set me up with his single buddies, I guess." Darcy looked over at him. "I told him that I was taken, and to stop it."
Loki could feel a flash of angry heat start to prickle at his skin. "I see," he said.
"I guess I tried to forget about it by doing shots with Jane and just trying to have fun with her … but I think all it ended up doing was make everything worse. After the rap battle …"
"Rap battle?"
"Yes. Rap battle. We lost. I can't believe I live in a world where Thor Odinson beat me in a rap battle … but life ain't fair. Anyway, after the whole rap battle thing … and jumping in the lake, Steve offered to take me home. Clint made some asinine comment about us making a cute couple … and that on top of making jabs at me all night, I just snapped."
"You yelled at Clint?"
Gods, I wish I could have been there.
"I did. I told him that I was happily taken and that he better shut the fuck up, or something along those lines, I'm fuzzy on the details."
"And Thor …"
Darcy shook her head. "Thor. He stood up and tried to calm me down … and I hate being treated like a hysterical woman, especially after being teased from the moment I stepped out of the car. It's like … let's piss you off all day and then call you crazy when you finally reach your breaking point. I told him to fuck off.
Loki narrowed his eyes at her. "Is that all?"
She shrugged. "I thought he could have done a better job at defending you. He watched Clint say shit all day. He was trying to be easy-going Thor … everybody's friend. And he can just go fuck himself as far as I'm concerned."
He felt his heart in his throat. "Darcy, you didn't have to do that," he said, barely audible.
"Yes I did, Loki." She then lay back, as if sitting up was taking too much energy. Darcy closed her eyes. "Yes I did."
Too many emotions were welling up inside of him and he needed to get a grip on himself before he started clutching at her, holding on to her to make sure that she was real and not some cruel dream. A specter. He needed to change the subject.
Loki lay back beside her. "So what was the beating up Tony Stark business that I heard about," he asked, with forced amusement in his voice.
Darcy gave a harsh laugh. "Ughhhhh, that man. I know he's just by nature, a smart ass … and under the right circumstances, he and I would probably get along just great. But he had to go and say something about Bucky, at exactly the right time … and I guess I just went after him. Steve caught me." She smiled over to him. "And then I called him a Backstreet Boy."
He reached over and felt her cheek … he was satisfied that she seemed a lot warmer. "Ouch, Darcy. A Backstreet Boy?"
She gave him an anemic slap on the shoulder. "Shhh. He deserved it. Stupid facial hair." Darcy closed her eyes and yawned.
Loki kissed her forehead. "Get some more sleep, darling. You need rest."
She rolled over onto her side, lethargic, as if their conversation had worn her out. "Okay. Wake me up tomorrow. I think I'll just hide under here all day. It's nice and cozy." Darcy searched for his hand and pulled Loki's arm around her waist. "Please stay," she said quietly.
"I'm not going anywhere."
As if I would be anywhere else but here, right next to you.
~~*...*~~
In the afternoon, Darcy was still asleep and Loki couldn't stay in bed any longer without a purpose. There was no more sleeping, and obviously no sex, as Darcy was out … she apparently hadn't been kidding about being woken up tomorrow. He decided to go downstairs and set his laptop up at the kitchen table to get a bit of work done. After a few hours in the zone, and after it started to get dark outside, he heard the doorbell.
It took him a couple of seconds, as he wasn't sure if he should be answering Jane and Darcy's door, but he went ahead and did it.
"Thor," Loki said, as he found his brother on the front porch, looking tired.
"I need to talk to Jane," he said, walking inside. "She's not answering her phone."
"Perhaps you should give her a little time. She's obviously resting. Darcy has been sleeping all day."
Thor nodded. "How are they?"
"Fine."
His brother nervously smoothed his hair with his fingers. "Loki … I. I know that Darcy is upset with me. And Jane is obviously upset as well. I want you to know that …"
Loki held up a hand, not wanting to hear any of it. "Don't. Please."
Thor sighed. "I am sorry."
Loki turned to walk back into the kitchen.
"Loki."
He stopped but didn't look at his brother … though whatever Thor was about to say, was cut off by Jane yelling for Loki to come upstairs.
Both of them ran upstairs to find her leaning over Darcy, feeling her forehead, her stethoscope around her neck. It looked a little odd, seeing as Jane appeared to be wearing a flannel shirt and mismatched flannel pajama bottoms ... but her patient appeared to be shivering, with her arms wrapped around her knees in a fetal position.
"What are you doing here?" Jane asked Thor as soon as she saw him, but before he could answer, she shook her head. "Whatever. I don't care. Loki … do you know how long she's been like this?"
He rushed over to Darcy and felt her cheeks ... she was burning up. "She felt a bit warm earlier, but it wasn't alarming. I went downstairs a few hours ago and she was fine … still asleep. What's happened?"
Jane shook her head, frowning. "She can't seem to keep anything down, she has a temperature of 103 … and her lungs don't sound great. I need to take her to Urgent Care … that incredibly stupid dip in the lake we took last night, seems to have manifested into what looks like a bad case of the flu."
Loki took his phone out of his pocket. "I'll just call Bruce."
She looked up at him, offended. "Wait … what? I'm a doctor, Loki. She needs antibiotics, fluids … er, oh. Bruce. Um, sure … I'll just go get changed," she said, blushing, as she ran past Thor in order to freshen up. His brother then mercifully followed after her, instead of lingering in the doorway like an idiot.
As the phone rang, he sat down on the bed next to Darcy. He should have been checking on her frequently … but she had seemed fine. He figured she was just hungover.
"Hey Loki," his friend answered.
"Bruce. Can you come over to Darcy and Jane's house? Darcy seems to have the flu, or something of that nature. It looks quite serious. I'll give you the address."
"Loki … I don't make house calls. I'm not that kind of doctor. You should take her to Urgent Care."
He rolled his eyes. "You might as well just come over here, because I'm not going to take no for an answer … and need I remind you that I spent hours in a trailer with you, while you tended to the unwashed cretins of Appalachia who still use outhouses. Was that not one big mountain-top house call? So please, let's surpass this and get on with our lives."
He could hear Bruce sigh heavily. "Fine. What's the address."
After getting off the phone, Loki bent down, put his cheek to Darcy's forehead, and tried to keep the worry about of his voice. "Everything is going to be alright, darling. We have a Nobel Prize-nominated doctor coming to the house. Of course, the pressures of his research once drove him to cocaine abuse, but it happens to the best of us. He meditates now."
~~*...*~~
Jane stood next to Bruce with a mystified look on her face … like George Clooney was standing in Darcy's room, examining her friend. "I can't believe you're making a house call. This is so amazing of you."
Bruce smiled. "It's no big deal. Loki and I help each other out." He then asked her a slew of questions that she answered as if she was being quizzed by the chief of the university hospital, and her career depended on it. But seeing as Jane had been quite inebriated, Banner had to ask Loki about the state Darcy was in the previous evening.
"Was she shivering like this last night? Disoriented? Fatigued?"
Loki nodded. "Yes, but she'd been drinking. I assumed the disorientation and fatigue stemmed from that. And she was shivering, but we got her out of her wet clothes and made her as comfortable as possible."
"And you've been giving her fluids?"
"Gatorade," Jane jumped in. "But I don't think she's kept any of it down."
"We need to get her to the hospital," Bruce said.
"The hospital?" Loki said, alarmed.
Banner tried to give a calming look. "She'll be fine, Loki … but she's terribly dehydrated. And she may have been intoxicated last night, but I believe she was showing signs of mild hypothermia. She spent too much time in cold and wet clothing after being in a freezing lake. You did a good thing, warming her up like you did … but with her high fever, and not being able to keep anything down, she needs fluids intravenously, before this gets very serious. And before pneumonia sets in, as that is very dangerous."
Loki promptly knelt over the bed, picked Darcy up, and began carrying her to the car. "Let's go."
"I'll drive," Bruce said. Jane and Thor followed behind.
It was the beginning of a very long night of going back and forth between being very worried and being very angry. After everything settled down, he planned on choking to death every single person who encouraged the girls to jump in the lake … starting with Tony Stark and including his brother and Clint Barton.
Though he had to admit, having a world-renowned doctor as a friend was quite convenient, as all Bruce had to do was the say the word and Darcy was immediately treated and given a comfortable room. He also made it so the hospital allowed her boyfriend and friends to stick around instead of being made to stay in a waiting room or told to go home, since none of them were technically family. Loki silently vowed that after he'd murdered everyone from the party, he'd then make it a point to be nicer to Banner.
Through the wee hours of the morning, Loki never left Darcy's side … as Jane and Thor wandered in and out, arguing and then making up in the hallway, his brother actually being supportive and helping her through the guilt of missing her friend's symptoms, and not realizing what was going on sooner. Loki also went over everything in his head in an endless loop, wishing he would have been more aware, paying closer attention.
By early afternoon, Gianna swept into the room, changing the dynamic completely. Jane had called her as soon as they'd left for the hospital and she'd gotten right on the next plane out of New York. She was all of a sudden there in her black pants-suit, heels, and red lipstick, standing over Loki and looking at Jane. "Everybody out! I need to be with my daughter," she commanded.
Darcy stirred in her bed, feeling a little better, but still very weak. Loki stood from the chair, stretching out his cramped muscles. "I'm staying here," he said, a bit tired.
Gianna walked over and took his hand. "No. You need to go home and get some real rest for a few hours. I'll take over for awhile, I am her mother." She reached up and cupped his cheek, as she seemed to like to do. "Thank you for taking such good care of her," she smiled. Darcy's mom then took a lock of his unruly hair between her fingers and frowned. "And maybe take a shower. Now, out."
Loki couldn't argue with that. He went back to the house and did as he was told … after tending to Fenrir, Norman, and Hell, of course. And after a very long jog to work out his murderous thoughts.
When he returned to the hospital, he found Gianna talking heatedly to one of Darcy's professors in the hallway, and Tony Stark in her room.
"What are you doing here?"
Tony turned, managing to look sharp in a Black Sabbath t-shirt and tailored trousers … but he actually had what looked like an expression of concern on his face. As soon as he saw Loki, his normal mask of a smug grin returned. "Hey, Reindeer Games, I was just looking in on your sassy girlfriend. How did you get so lucky, by the way?"
"I'm not entirely sure, but you're luck is about to run out if you don't leave right now," Loki said, with menace in his voice.
Darcy weakly sat up on her elbows, her IV dangling from her hand. She looked too fragile and too small, and it nearly broke his heart into pieces. "It's okay, Loki," she said quietly. "He was just dropping off a get-well gift."
Tony swiveled back towards her. "I think I will be going, sweetheart, but I want to say again, how very sorry I am. I promise, no more Anakin jokes. Cross my heart and hope to never design a genius piece of ground-breaking engineering again."
She smiled and gave a feeble laugh. "It's my own damn fault, Mr. Stark. Shit happens."
He stared at her for a second. "It's Tony, please. And no, it's not your fault … but yes, shit does happen, and I am sorry that it did."
"Thanks, Tony."
As he brushed past Loki in the doorway, Stark made sure to speak low in his ear. "Marry that girl. Believe me, you aren't going to do any better," he said, before moseying on down the hallway with his hands in his pockets.
"What's 'Reindeer Games'?"
Loki turned towards her and blinked at Darcy's question, shaking the shock of what Tony had said out of his head. He looked up towards the ceiling and sighed. "Please. Don't ask."
She laughed. "Okay."
He walked over and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "And what gift did the great Tony Stark bestow upon you, my darling?"
Darcy pursed her lips trying not to laugh. She held up a large framed photograph she had laying next to her on the bed. "It's an autographed picture of Tony with the Backstreet Boys."
~~*...*~~
Over the course of Darcy's hospital visit, Loki helped her to receive a few more guests, each more surprising than the last. At one point, Steve Rogers walked in with Bucky Barnes … and at any other time, Loki would have thrown his strangest fan out of the room, but seeing as Bucky was one of the only people he didn't want to choke to death, as the lad had been mercifully absent from Clint's party … Loki let it slide.
The twosome came bearing desserts. Darcy unwrapped her package and gave an anemic squeal. "Oh my god, you guys! Cheesecake from Junior's in Brooklyn! How did you do this?"
Steve smiled. "Tony had it flown in to thank me for taking care of you and Jane. I figured you deserved some too."
Darcy's mouth opened in shock. "You get cheesecake and I get a picture of him with the Backstreet Boys? You made out so much better than me."
"I know," Steve said. "That's why we brought some over to you."
"YOU!"
They all turned towards the doorway to find Gianna standing there with her hands on her hips.
"Gianna!" Bucky said, with a mixture of surprise and fear.
The shorter woman walked up to him and stuck a finger in his face, her heels clacking on the floor. "Get the hell out of this room now, unless you want me to rip that ridiculous metal thing from your body and beat you senseless with it!
Bucky held up his hands and began to back out into the hallway. "I'm so sorry, Gianna."
"Mom, it's okay."
"NO! It's not okay! It's a slap in the face to women everywhere that a slimeball such as yourself still gets to be this good-looking! Now keep going, little boy. Keep running like you always do!" Gianna followed Bucky out the door, and chased him down the hallway.
After staring at each other for a few seconds in silence, the remaining people in the room could still hear Gianna's voice, growing further away. "I don't feel sorry for you, you one-armed bastard!"
They all broke out into laughter, even Steve.
"I love my mom," Darcy said.
"I love her, too," Loki added.
"We all do," Steve said. "Even Bucky. I'm sure Gianna could beat him bloody, and he'd still love her."
Darcy lay back, exhausted. "And that's the thing. Deep down, she still loves him, too. I mean, she'd beat him bloody, of course, but it would be out of love."
~~*...*~~
Later in the evening, as Darcy was sleeping and Loki sat in the chair reading, he looked up to see Clint Barton standing in the doorway, in his black jeans and leather jacket … and an unreadable expression on his face, as always.
Loki stood quickly, facing him.
Clint nodded towards Darcy. "Thor called me."
Loki only frowned, unsure of what was happening. Clint hadn't spoken to him since his own trip to the hospital two years before.
"I'm sorry that she ended up in the hospital. Things just … it was …" he trailed off.
As Clint wasn't one for feelings or apologies, he walked up to Loki and slapped him on the shoulder. "Listen. If you don't marry that girl … you're an asshole."
Loki couldn't do anything but stand there and look confused, but eventually, he nodded.
Barton gave him what looked like an apologetic grin. "I'll see you later, Loki." And with that, he walked out the door.
It was probably the closest thing to forgiveness that was ever going to happen. For either of them.
~~*...*~~
It took Darcy a little while to start feeling like herself again. A few days after returning home from the hospital, she started going back through the motions of being a normal person … but not without extreme caution, as demanded by Loki. Gianna stayed for a couple of days, but left because she had to get back to work, and also because she approved of the job he was doing. At one point, Loki was going back and forth to his house so often, in order to care for Fenrir, that Darcy's mother insisted he just bring the dog over. Loki expressed concern that it seemed a bit presumptuous, as it would look like he was moving in ... but she just scoffed and told him that she had practically moved in with Darcy's father after knowing him for three weeks. He of course, then acquiesced … however, he left strict instructions with Thor on how to care for Norman and Hell, as his brother was all of a sudden willing to do anything for either himself, Darcy, or Jane. Loki laughed to himself at the thought of Thor with Hell's special spray-bottle every morning, giving her water.
On the Monday after she'd come down with the flu and subsequent hospital visit, Loki found Darcy in the shower in the early morning … he'd gotten concerned when he woke up at sunrise and her side of the bed was empty. He opened the bathroom door to see that she was leaning up against the wall with her forehead on the shower tiles, sobbing into the steamy air.
He gently pulled back the curtain. "Darling, what's wrong?" he asked.
She looked up, a bit surprised to find him there. She let out a heavy sigh and turned back to the tiles. "I'm fine, Loki. I'm just kind of overwhelmed. I have so much work to catch up on … this whole thing was so stupid."
He removed his boxer-briefs and t-shirt and got into the shower with her, wincing a bit at how hot the water was. He kissed her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her. "Everything is going to be just fine, Darcy. Your mother and Steve spoke to your professors, you have time to make up everything you missed, and I'll help you any way that I can. And like you told Tony Stark … shit happens, does it not? It's not your fault."
Darcy turned around and laughed. "You're too good to me, you know?" she said, looking up at him.
He frowned. "That's a ridiculous thing to say. I could say the same thing to you. You're too good to me." He bent down and kissed her temple, then started the process of shampooing her hair and massaging her scalp with soapsuds.
She relaxed and leaned against him while he worked. "Let's just keep being good to each other," she said.
Loki grinned. "I don't think that will be too hard."
Darcy looked down as he switched to conditioner. "I'm sorry I got mad at you … before you went to L.A."
"Don't be."
"No. I should have just left it alone … trusted your judgement. Sometimes things are just weird, like a grey area."
"Hm. Please don't worry too much about it, Darcy. My father isn't worth getting upset over. I'm sorry that I just made things worse."
"It's cool babe. In the meantime, I'll just get a few tattoos on my face … then he'll really love me." She started to giggle as he put her under the water to rinse off. Loki was glad they seemed to be at a point where they could joke about it.
"Just make sure all the spelling is right, nothing upsets him more than misspelled tattoos."
"I'll get a tattoo of your name and spell it 'L-O-Q-U-I' … or 'L-O-K-E-E'."
"Dear gods no, please tell me you don't want to give your children's names clever spellings. I will not have children with names with unnecessary vowels or 'Y's, or 'K's' in place of 'C's."
He then winced at what he just said.
"It'll be fine," she said, seemingly unaffected. "I want my kids to have very traditional names. How about a son named 'Bill' … but we'll spell it 'B-Y-L'."
Loki laughed. "Wouldn't it have to be 'William'?"
"Sure. 'W-Y-L-Y-M'. Byl for short."
"I fear I've just created a monster."
Darcy smiled and leaned against him.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah … I'm just a little tired," she mumbled into his chest.
"You should take it easy, darling. You're probably still quite weakened from sickness. Let's go back to bed … it's still very early."
She nodded. "Okay."
~~*...*~~
After going through a normal morning ritual of a shower and the brushing of ones teeth, they climbed back in bed with minimal clothing on, as the shower had been as hot as Darcy could stand it, and the bathroom had turned into a bit of a sauna. It seemed like they'd only nodded off for a few minutes before Darcy began to run her fingers over Loki's stomach in little circles, making things a bit difficult for him. He hadn't made love to her in days and day after all, and he was beginning to feel the aching effects of deprivation … but she was sick and he needed to keep his hands to himself.
Does she realize what she's doing?
He began thinking about cold showers, but that did nothing for him … as he was only reminded of their shower from an hour before, and Darcy's gorgeous naked and wet body. He internally groaned.
Or was that out loud?
She began to dip her fingers beneath the waistband of his boxer-briefs, finding him hard.
"Darcy," he said. A warning.
She wrapped her hand around him and started moving against him, throwing a leg over one of his. Loki groaned, most assuredly out loud this time. "I miss you," she whispered.
He closed his eyes, beginning to lose himself in the warm gentle feeling of her palm. "You're sick," he said, his voice strangled.
Darcy completely stilled her hand, letting go and removing it from under his boxer-briefs. "Oh," she said. "Sorry … I don't want to get you sick."
Huh?
She had completely misunderstood what he meant. His eyes flew open. "No, no, you won't make me sick, I assure you … I just don't want you to … overexert yourself. You've been seriously ill."
Darcy laughed softly. "Hn. You won't get sick? You and your god-like constitution."
He grinned back at her. "I'm only so god-like, darling. Keep rubbing your thigh like that against me, and I'll forget all about being a benevolent deity."
She continued moving against him suggestively. "O', benevolent one … when I get that feeling … I want SEX-ual healing." Darcy then stopped her ministrations and started giggling, rolling onto her back. "Sexual healing … oh baby … makes me feel … so fine."
He turned towards her on his side. "You're quite mad, you realize," he deadpanned.
She stopped laughing for a moment, trying to keep a straight face. "Please don't procrastinate. It's not good to masterbate." Darcy then broke out in a full belly laugh.
He lay there, staring at his achingly-charming girl. "If I grant your prayer, mortal, are you going to keep reciting Marvin Gaye lyrics? It might be a bit distracting if you're laughing at me the whole time."
She stopped giggling and reached for his hand, guiding it between her legs and under the plain cotton that was covering her. He loved when she did this … like she was so overcome, that she couldn't wait for him to get there himself.
His breath caught in his throat. So very wet already.
"Please," she said, in a breathy voice.
"As my mortal wishes." He kissed her urgently, his own body becoming quite amped up, his hand resting between her thighs while two fingers began to expertly and gently explore her slick flesh, finding the right spot, and she began to writhe and moan, already climbing.
He stilled his movements, as it was all about to happen too quickly. He wanted to draw this out. Loki sat up, kneeling over her, and pulled Darcy's camisole over her head. "If this starts becoming too much for you," he said. "Let me know, we'll stop … or I'll go slower."
She came up on her elbows, looking as if she wanted to roll her eyes at him, but stopped herself. "Alright, just put your hands and your mouth on me," she said, a bit desperately.
He grinned at her obvious need.
I make her feel this way.
She watched with dark eyes as he slipped off his boxer-briefs. No more laughter.
Loki lowered his weight on top of her, the tender sensation of their shared nakedness feeling like home, so comforting, so good, and so right. He kissed her, letting their tongues mingle together before he left her mouth and began making his way down to her breasts. "Let me take care of you," he breathed into her skin.
"You do take care of me," she said, unable to keep her hips still, moving slowly against him, making all reason leave his brain.
"Hmmm, I want to always take care of you," he whispered, before burying his face in warm soft skin. His mouth found her nipple and he flicked his tongue over it, feeling the flesh harden from his attention.
"Yesssss," she hissed, bringing her hands to his head, fingers in his hair. She arched into his lips, her body pleading for more … but he was adamant about taking his time, paying attention to each breast, his mouth determined to kiss every bit of soft skin. She had teased that he was a god, but in reality she was the goddess, and he wished to lay before her a proper offering.
When her breathing became heavy and she started whimpering his name, he brought his attentions lower, sliding down her body, kissing her belly … and he began to slip off the rest of her clothing, tugging the fabric down her hips, her legs, and out of the way. Loki made his way up her inner-thigh, grazing the tender skin with his lips and groaned as he finally tasted her, the vibrations from his voice making her hips rise off the bed. She tipped her pelvis to meet him.
He ran his tongue along her and she began to cry out. He loved that Darcy was so very responsive, the sounds she made gave him life sometimes, it seemed. And he loved how secure she was now in his love for her body, how she now opened for him completely and without hesitation. How she eagerly welcomed him. He slowly circled around her clit, and then gently sucked … and when he could feel her thighs begin to tremble, knowing she was close, he backed off, going slower, more gentle.
"Please. I need you inside."
The urgent plea made his cock pulse. He was already so very painfully hard, and felt the desperate instinct to drive into her, his own need beginning to overshadow his plan to go as slow as possible. Loki gave her clit a bit more care, making sure she was wet, dripping, lubricated. When he felt satisfied, he sat up and climbed over her, aligning himself, and she grabbed his hips, persuading him to get on with it.
The moan she made when he slid inside made him want to snap his hips and fuck her until she forgot her name, but he managed to gently thrust, moving in and out slowly as she opened for him. "Is this alright?" he asked, before all sense was removed from his mind.
"Don't you dare stop," she panted.
Gladly.
He pushed in deep and held himself there, before grinding against her, rolling his hips, instead of thinking only of his own pleasure and plunging in and out. He thought of how she moved on top of him, rocking fluidly.
He dipped his head and kissed between her breasts. "I've so missed being inside you."
"Hnnnn, me too. What does it feel like."
Loki put most of his weight in his arms and looked down at her … her eyes were closed in pleasure, her lips parted, giving a little moan every time his hips pressed into her … her breasts bare, her thighs spread beneath him, her calves and ankles hooked around his legs, her hands clutching at his waist. There was absolutely nothing better in the world than this.
"It feels … tight. So tight."
"And?"
"So warm … wet. It feels …"
"It feels …"
"Perfect." He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss. "Darcy," he said roughly. "My vocabulary as left me. I can only think of four words right now."
"Me too." She smiled lazily as they moved together. "Me too."
Loki reached down between them to spread her apart, to make sure her clit was coming into direct contact with his skin, his pelvic bone. He paid attention to her sounds, to her movements … when her hips rose off the bed more, in response to a certain angle, he made sure to keep himself there.
Darcy's neck arched back, her body relaxing into what was happening. "Right there … right there," she said.
He kept pushing. "Right here?"
"Oh … Loki. Right there. Don't stop … don't stop."
"I'll never stop. Not until you tell me to."
He could feel it starting to happen … he could feel it around his cock, the beginnings of an orgasm.
Hers.
"Oh … my ... god."
His climax began to threaten but he was determined to keep his promise. He wasn't going to stop.
She gasped, half in surprise and half in pleasure and held her breath for a second, and it was as if time stopped, suspended in one moment for a lifetime, until she came ... beneath him, under him. Trembling. Moaning his name. His name.
He continued to move against her until her orgasm ebbed, before losing complete control of the moment. Overcome with too much … too much emotion, too much stimulation, he pulled out halfway and then thrust back into her hard. There was a tiny thought in the back of his head that said he was supposed to be gentle, but when she wrapped her legs around him to urge him on, that tiny voice was obliterated. He began to fuck her. He fucked her until his own release was imminent, and he was coming inside of her, sounding as if she'd reached through his chest and grabbed a hold of his heart.
Loki had so wanted this to happen. He had felt that if he could make her come like this, then he would have possessed her. She would well and truly be his … some kind of misguided male pride. But quite the opposite was true … he was the one possessed. She had his heart, just as she had her arms and legs wrapped around him, cradling him.
He collapsed on top of her, spent, welcomed by her breasts and warm flushed skin. Darcy pushed hair out of his eyes and behind his ear in an incredibly tender gesture.
Loki breathed in deep, the scent of both of them together intoxicating.
"Darcy … I love you."
~~::::::...::::::~~
XXXXXX
I put some "Sexual Healing" song lyrics in there (Marvin Gaye), in case you didn't catch them. And I swear to god, "please don't procrastinate, it's not good to masterbate" are actual lyrics from that song. It's at the very end.
I also want to say, that I tried my best to be accurate, but I'm not a healthcare professional, so my knowledge of the flu and hospitals and hypothermia isn't anywhere near extensive. I'm just going off of what I've experienced, what people I know have experienced, and what I look up. I tried to do as much research as possible, but if anyone feels as if I got anything horribly wrong, feel free to message me.
Next chapter is Darcy, and she's always much easier for me, so hopefully I can get that up in a few days. I'd like to finish the fic within a few weeks.
Next up: Darcy's POV and a meeting ... actually, a few meetings. And maybe a surprise. Also, Erik (THANK THE GODS), I miss writing him ;-)