Gosh! Everybody loved my drama in the last chapter, SO HERE'S SOME MORE! I'm really really trying to delve into the minds of each character, so hopefully these chapters will be nice and long.
** Notes from the last chapter that I forgot to add at the end because I was fucking tired: The story A Boy and His Dog by Harlan Ellison was made into a movie of the same name, it's an incredible story you should read/watch it. And the short story I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison was made into a videogame of the same name in 1995, again it's an amazing story and he is one of my all-time fav authors. Check him out!
Tony hadn't slept in a week, nor had he showered or even left his room. He sat on the floor by his bedroom window, five bottles of Jack Daniel's littered around him, and four were empty. He couldn't understand why Loki refused to turn in those men, and it was killing him. But why? Loki wanted to be strong, Tony could see that, but Tony wanted to protect him and defend him, and Loki wasn't letting him. He took another swig of his bottle and continued to stare blankly at the wall. Worthless…so worthless, the word just echoed eternally in his mind. Always worthless, can't do anything right, that's you Stark, he told himself. He wanted to be by Loki's bedside, giving him comfort while he was healing, but after Loki had yelled at him he just couldn't face him. And Loki's poor face…Tony frowned at the image of that awful scar that now covered half of Loki's face. It caused Loki so much pain, those scars, those flaws, to be disfigured and Tony knew it was his fault. If he'd protected Loki like he should have then Loki wouldn't have gotten hurt and he wouldn't have that awful scar. Loki was of course still beautiful, he'd always be beautiful, but only in the eyes of others. To Loki he was the Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Beast, Edward Scissorhands, the pinnacle of hideousness, forever alone and shunned. Tony should be trying harder to change that, to make Loki see how beautiful he is, but how can Tony teach someone else to accept themself when he can't do it for himself. Tony took another drink then reached out to his left and pulled the bedside drawer open, his hand fumbled inside for a minute before finally gripping a heavy metal object and pulling it out. He held the object in front of himself. It was his father's gun; he knew that because he'd shown the gun to Steve and Steve had told him he'd seen Howard carrying it back during the war. Tony frowned at the black metal, then he gripped the handle firmly and pressed the gun against his left temple.
"Bang." He whispered to the darkness and took another drink, a longer one this time, swallowing in large gulps. He didn't even hear the bedroom door open or see Loki enter the room until he heard Loki speak,
"What are you doing?" Loki spoke in a low, deliberate tone.
"He couldn't believe how easy it was…" Tony mumbled drunkenly, "To put the gun into his face…" he pretended to shot himself then glanced up at Loki, "Problems do have solutions, ya know? A lifetime of fucking things up, fixed, in one determined flash…*" he went to take another drink but Loki pulled the bottle from his hands,
"Are you quoting song lyrics?" he asked, "You are pathetic." He threw the bottle against the far wall, it didn't shatter but clattered to the floor and spilled out over the carpet. He then gestured to the gun Tony was still holding against his head, "Here, let me help you hold that gun against your head." He snapped sarcastically, "Or better yet, give it to me and I'll shoot you!" He snatched the gun with lightening reflexes, Tony didn't even react, he was far too drunk.
"Hey, that's not nice…" he slurred, "Friends are supposed to stop each other from committing suicide." Loki laughed without humor and slapped Tony across his face with his left hand, since his right was still in a sling,
"Idiot!" Loki slapped him again, "What are you doing!" his voice cracked at the end, "You wanna kill yourself? Do it after I'm dead!" he slapped Tony a third time, this time much harder than the first two, "How dare you! You selfish, piece of shit!" Tony finally leveled his gaze with Loki's glare,
"Selfish?" he mumbled pitifully, "But…I…try to do everything for you…" he started wibbling. Loki dropped to his knees to be eye level with Tony and gripped Tony's jaw harshly,
"How is drinking yourself into a stupor and shooting yourself in the head going to help me?" he demanded.
"Well, I'd be out of your way." He giggled like an idiot then started crying again, "I failed…" Loki looked at him in confusion,
"Failed? Failed what?" he asked.
"Protecting you, and taking care of you. I'm a suckish boyfriend. I always fuck up everything…" he was slurring heavily but Loki could still understand him. Loki sighed.
"You haven't failed. I do not need you to protect me, Anthony, I've taken care of myself just fine all my life." He said.
"HAH! Yeah! And look where THAT got you!" Tony laughed. Loki glared again,
"I'm going to ignore that comment because you're drunk…" he mumbled.
"And you yelled at me…" Tony whined, Loki looked at him in disgust,
"Oh my god…how can I even handle you?" he grumbled in annoyance and rolled his eyes, "You're a freaking baby!" he slapped Tony again but just lightly, "Grow some balls or I'm gonna yell at you a lot more!" Tony chuckled and looked at Loki suggestively,
"Oh I've got some balls." He waggled his eyebrows. Loki rolled his eyes again and ignored Tony, but he really looked at Tony's face and started frowning,
"How long have you been sitting in the dark like this?" he wondered, but the sallow look in Tony's cheeks, the full grown beard, and heavily red rimmed, puffy eyes told him that Tony had been like this for a while. He groaned,
"Get up." He grabbed Tony's bicep and attempted to pull him to his feet. Loki had only one useable arm so it was rather difficult to heave the heavily inebriated Tony unto his feet, and Tony's swaying didn't help any. He shoved Tony to the bathroom and made him get on his knees in front of the toilet. He grabbed Tony's toothbrush from the countertop then sat down on the rim of the bathtub. He leaned forward to grip Tony's jaw in his right hand, which was still in the sling,
"You'll thank me for this later." He said, then shoved the toothbrush in Tony's mouth, he pushed it as far as he could without actually choking Tony and made him gag until he began vomiting. Loki tossed the toothbrush into the sink and washed his hand. Once Tony started vomiting he didn't stop till there was nothing left in his gut, so Loki turned on the shower and waited for Tony to stop puking.
"Uuhhh…" Tony moaned against the toilet seat and Loki chuckled. He began pulling Tony's shirt over his head, it took a few minutes but he finally got all of Tony's clothes off and shoved him into the shower. Tony just slumped into the bathtub, drifting in and out of consciousness, while Loki sat on the rim of the tub to wash Tony's hair and shave his face. Loki didn't even bother with Tony's ridiculous signature mustache, he just shaved it all off. He leaned back to admire Tony's face, he nodded in approval deciding that he rather liked Tony without facial hair, it made him look much younger. Now if I could just convince him to shave the REST of himself, he thought while looking at Tony's stomach and lower. Tony had to be one of the hairiest men Loki had ever seen naked, or maybe all that body hair was just a human thing, Loki shrugged and started brushing Tony's teeth. Tony was mumbling in his sleep and his face twitched occasionally which made Loki laugh. Loki then turned the water all the way to cold and stood up, it only took a second for the warm water to switch to icy cold and Tony squealed, jumping up and out of the bath. He stood there in horrified shook and confusion,
"What the fuck?" he was still pretty drunk, and now shivering. Loki laughed,
"Well it was far easier than trying to pick you up again." He explained and threw a towel around Tony's shivering frame. "Come on." He ushered him out of the bathroom and into bed. He lightly dried Tony off but didn't bother to dress him, he just pulled the blankets up around Tony and kissed his forehead, "Sleep it off, ya big idiot." He mumbled then proceeded to clean up the bedroom floor.
Tony was awakened by the succulent smell of pork chops and mash potatoes.
"Oh…" he moaned in hunger and quickly blinked the sleep from his eyes. He followed the scent to his left and saw a full plate of food and a glass of water on the bedside table. He started drooling and licked his parched lips. He pushed himself up into a sitting position and looked down in realization that he was naked.
"What?" he wondered and started looking around the room for an explanation. He found that his balcony doors were wide open and Loki was outside leaning against the banister, staring off at the sunset. Tony quickly grabbed a pair of sweatpants and went to stand beside Loki. He involuntarily shivered, the winter chill was definitely in the air, meaning summer was officially over. Loki glanced at him from the corner of his eye and smiled,
"And how is my little alcoholic feeling?" he joked. Tony laughed,
"Shitty. But you make it better." He wrapped his arms tightly around Loki's waist and pulled him close, burying his face into Loki's neck. He moaned in the delight of just touching Loki and smelling him. He pulled back suddenly and his hand flew up to his chin, he stroked the bare skin there and stared at Loki in horror. Loki laughed.
"NO!" Tony cried out throwing his hands up to the sky, Loki only laughed harder, "My 'stache! My awesome Stark 'Stache! You…!" he pointed at Loki in mock hatred, Loki was almost on the floor he was laughing so hard, "You wicked, wicked, evil, bitch! HOW COULD YOU!" Tony was trying to look like he might cry, but couldn't help laughing.
"Well," Loki stopped laughing long enough to catch his breath, "That'll teach you to drink yourself to death for a week." He said. Tony laughed. "Besides," Loki reached up to run the back of his left hand across Tony's smooth face, "I like you like this." He purred and Tony blushed. Loki began pushing him back inside, "Now sit down and eat." He commanded. Tony crawled back into the bed and pulled the dinner plate into his lap,
"So, did you like, bathe me?" he spoke with a mouth full of pork chop. Loki sat down at the foot of the bed and faced Tony,
"Yes." He said simply. Tony chuckled,
"That must have been fun." He shook his head, "I can't remember a thing."
"Figures." Loki frowned, "You were in the middle of polishing off your fifth bottle of Daniel's." he said, a bite of anger in his tone. Tony gazed at him in embarrassment and regret,
"Sorry." He said. Loki just shrugged. "I don't know…I just get into these bouts of depression. It kills me." Tony explained.
"No shit." Loki dead-panned, "Alcohol and guns tend to do that." Tony looked up in shock,
"What? Guns?" he asked. Loki pointed to the hand gun that he'd placed on top of the other bedside table. Tony gasped, "Oh no…" he frowned.
"Oh yes. You started quoting Nine Inch Nails while holding that against your head." Loki told him. "Thankfully for your drunken ass Steve told me he'd taken all the bullets a while ago, so the gun was empty." He raised an eyebrow, "You should thank Steve, he looks out for you a whole lot more than you deserve." Tony sighed,
"Yeah…I know. Thank you, ya know, for cleaning me up." He tried to smile, but Loki wasn't showing him any emotion in return, so he looked away awkwardly. A strange silence filled the room as Tony finished eating and Loki just watched him. Tony placed the now empty plate back on the bedside table and slammed down the glass of water.
"Mmm. Thanks for the food!" he smiled and when he looked back at Loki he jumped to find Loki was barely inches from his face, "Woah…" he said in surprise. Loki had removed the sling and snaked his right hand behind Tony's neck, while leaning on his left hand, and pulled Tony into a deep kiss. Tony was totally thrown off by the amount of passion that was suddenly pouring out of Loki and he sat there frozen for a second before he could react to Loki's warm lips. He blinked a few times then gently pulled Loki into his lap, not breaking the kiss at all. Loki moved his hands to pin Tony onto the bed then he pulled back to look Tony in the eyes,
"You cannot kill yourself." He whispered passionately, "I need you, Anthony." His eyes were reflecting the sunset that was behind them, causing his eyes to glow and shine a beautiful, fiery orange. Tony's breath almost stopped as he just stared at Loki, he lightly shook his head as Loki's words registered,
"I…I'm sorry…" he whispered in return, "I won't…I won't kill myself. I'm here…for you…I promise." He stuttered, still staring into those stunning eyes. Loki smiled, it was soft and loving, and Tony thought that it must be the most peaceful expression he'd ever seen on Loki's face, while he was awake at least. Loki sat up and started removing his clothes, and for some reason Tony felt embarrassed. There was something…changed…about Loki, and he wasn't quite sure what it was yet, but he was sure he liked it. Loki yanked Tony's hastily thrown on sweatpants off then pulled Tony on top of him. Tony was blushing uncontrollably, but it didn't bother him, and he suddenly had this insatiable urge to touch every inch of Loki. So he did. Slowly, softly, and deliberately he placed kisses along Loki's jaw and worked his way down to Loki's collarbone, his hands stroked the wonderful curve of Loki's waist. Loki made no sound and didn't move, he had his head slightly tilted back and his eyes closed, with just his left hand in Tony's hair. Time no longer existed to them and Tony went as slow as he wanted, kissing literally every inch of Loki. From one delicate finger to the next, along his milky thighs, and down to his soft, little toes Tony rubbed his face into Loki's sweet skin then brought himself back up to Loki's smiling face. Loki giggled. He actually just fucking giggled, Tony thought in shock and wonder.
"Goodness." Loki blushed a ripe pink, "I don't think I've ever been so admired before." His voice was so innocent, yet lusty at the same time, and it made any logical thoughts that Tony might have had vanish completely.
"Well, things of such great beauty certainly should be admired more often." He answered, "And thoroughly." He winked. Loki breathed out a soft moan,
"Why is it that you are so much more articulate when in bed with me? Can't you be this romantic all the time?" he smiled in all fondness. Tony chuckled,
"Guess I could try." He shrugged. Tony opened the bedside drawer to their right and removed a bottle of lubricant,
"See, here in my room I'm actually properly prepared." He chuckled again. Loki didn't hesitate at all to move his legs and wrap them around Tony's waist while Tony coated himself in the clear, slippery fluid.
"Ahh!" Loki threw his head back in pleasure and yanked Tony's hair roughly as Tony entered him. Tony just growled into Loki's throat. Tony had already decided that sex with Loki was amazing, but there was something very different about this time. There was none of the horny, adolescent harshness that had been the majority of their sex before, but instead erotic, almost choreographed, pornographic perfection. Even though Tony had sworn to himself that he would never say the phrase, or even think it, he truly believed he'd actually "made love" to someone for the first time in his life. And it felt like losing his virginity all over again. He never thought he could feel so much honest passion before, and he was pretty sure he never wanted to have sex with anyone else ever again. He wanted this to last forever, to have this euphoric tingle crawl beneath his skin ever more and have the smell of Loki trapped upon him, to have the breathtaking images and sounds of Loki beneath him carved into his memory where it will play on an eternal loop. But all too quickly it ended, and they laid there panting in satisfaction, limbs still tangled around each other's. Loki was gripping Tony into his chest and stroking his head sweetly,
"Anthony?" he called softly.
"Yeah, babe?" Tony responded. There was pause.
"I love you." Loki whispered. Tony's heart skipped a beat. He sat up unto his elbows to look Loki in the eyes,
"What?" he whispered, as if he'd misheard. Loki smiled, a slight blush creeping back into his cheeks,
"I love you." He said louder. Tony's face split into a wide grin and he hugged Loki with ferocity,
"I love you too, gorgeous." He said. Loki closed his eyes and let out a breath, as if a great weight had just been lifted from his chest, like he was letting go of some anxiety that had been plaguing him for so long. For the first time in a very long time Loki slept in honest bliss, not a single nightmare or dark shadow haunted his dreams that night.
Knocking at the bedroom door woke them both up the next morning. Loki glanced at the clock, it was almost ten AM. He gently scratched Tony's head and Tony took in a deep breath. Another knock sounded,
"Yes?" Loki called.
"Is it safe to come in?" Steve answered. Loki looked down at his and Tony's naked bodies and chuckled,
"Probably not." He replied.
"Oh…" the embarrassment was audible in Steve's voice, "Well…um…we're all planning on going ice skating, if you guys want to join us…" he said. Before Loki could ask what ice skating was Tony sat up quickly,
"Yes." He answered, now suddenly wide awake. He turned to grin at Loki, "You'll love it." He said then hopped up to find clothes.
"Ok!" Steve said with excitement, "Then we'll wait for you guys in the living room." Tony pulled on a nice pair of fitted grey jeans, a long sleeve navy blue shirt, and grey snow boots. He ran his head under the bathroom sink faucet to fix his hair, and then brushed his teeth, he made a face at the hairlessness of his chin but there was nothing he could till it grew back. Loki was pulling on a dark mauve colored sweater and Tony admired the color for a minute, it reminded him of a pale rose,
"I like that." He said and Loki glanced at him, "You look good in other colors than green." He teased. Loki just smiled and slipped into his favorite tight black pants and brown boots. Tony wrapped a scarf around himself, then his leather jacket and light coat on top of that, and finally some gloves. He had bought similar winter items for Loki a couple weeks ago, but it hadn't been cold enough to need them yet, so now he held them in his hands and offered them to Loki. Loki frowned,
"I never needed such things before. I think I'll be fine, thank you." He replied and opened the bedroom door to step out. Tony made a face and brought the clothes articles with him. They met the others down stairs in the living room, Clint jumped off the couch in excitement when he saw them,
"WOOO! Let's go!" he bolted for the front door. Bruce laughed,
"He's a little excited." He told Loki and Loki smiled. Steve was giving Tony a weird look,
"You shaved." He commented. Loki giggled from the sideline.
"No, actually Loki shaved me." Tony said with a laugh, "Don't worry about it." He waved his hand dismissively and walked away. Steve looked at Loki and took in his glowing appearance, he smiled,
"Somebody's happy today." He said and nudged Loki with an elbow. Loki couldn't stop himself from grinning,
"Oh? Who?" he put on a face of innocence. Steve put his arm around Loki's shoulders,
"I'm glad to see you doing better." He smiled, "You sure you're healed enough to be going outside?" he asked with concern. Loki nodded,
"Nothing's broken anymore. Just some sore bruises and my shoulder still hurts occasionally. But I'm fine." He assured. Steve nodded and they followed everyone else outside. Tony was swinging his car keys and whistling but Steve reached out and took the keys,
"We're walking." He said and put the keys back inside the house then closed and locked the front door.
"Whaaat?" Tony whined, "I can't walk. I'm a cripple." He made a show of having a twisted leg and limped around. Loki shook his head,
"Being an alcoholic doesn't make you a cripple. Perhaps a handicap, but you can still walk." He started pushing Tony along. Tony huffed in defiance, but walked anyways. Clint was practically sprinting around like an extremely excited dog. Loki watched him with worry,
"Is he all right?" he asked Bruce and Bruce just laughed,
"Yeah, he just really loves ice skating." He explained. Loki gave him an interested look,
"What is this "ice skating"? Something we watch?" he wondered.
"Nah. You put on a pair of boots that have metal blades on the bottom and you literally skate around on ice. It's kinda hard, but fun once you figure it out. Clint is really good." Bruce told him. Loki nodded,
"Oh!" he said in understanding, "Me, Thor, and our Warrior's Three used to slide around on frozen ponds when we were younger. But we just wore our regular boots. And fell down…a lot." He laughed. "Speaking of Thor…" Loki looked around them, wondering where Thor was. Thor was in the front, walking alongside Steve and Natasha, enjoying a conversation. It bothered Loki slightly that Thor had not said a word to him all day, not even his usual annoying "Good Morning" shout. Loki's face fell and he frowned, was Thor mad at him? He watched as Steve slowly wrapped his hands around Thor's forearm and slightly leaned into the larger man. Loki's face lit up in surprise, he glanced around to see if Tony or Bruce had caught this sight as well, but neither of them were paying any attention. He looked back at Steve, who was definitely leaning against Thor, but Thor didn't seem to notice or maybe he was just used to it. As if Thor had actually heard Loki's thoughts he suddenly pulled his arm from Steve's hands and put it around Steve's shoulders to pull him even closer. Loki actually gasped out loud and Tony turned to look at him,
"What is it?" he asked then turned to see what Loki was looking at. He laughed. "What? Steve and Thor? Don't go jumping to conclusions there, those two have been pretty close for a while." He shrugged like it was the least important thing in the world. Loki pursed his lips and couldn't really decide how he felt about this. He'd be glad if Thor would get over him, but a little tingle in his chest told him he'd be jealous too. He sniffed his nose suddenly and grumbled, he stopped walking and looked at his fingers, which were red with irritation.
"What is wrong with my body?" he suddenly said and everyone stopped to look at him, "I cannot feel my hands, and they are stiff…Ow…and they hurt…" he whined and made a pout at Tony, "And my face is much the same. What is going on?" he sounded a little panicked. Tony laughed.
"It's called the cold. I told you you would need more clothes." He still had the extra garments laid across his shoulders so he pulled them into his hands.
"Cold?" he looked at his numb hands again, "THIS is what the cold feels like?" he looked at the others and they were all nodding, "THIS IS HORRID! I hate it!" he cried out and they all laughed. Tony was slipping some nice fur-lined leather gloves unto Loki's thin hands.
"Yup." He said and wrapped a thick scarf around Loki's neck then placed a fur-lined hat atop his head, the kind of hat that had ear flaps. He'd also been holding a black coat in his arms and he now held it open for Loki to slip his arms into. Loki smiled sweetly at him,
"You brought all this stuff for me?" he wondered as Tony buttoned up the knee length coat.
"Yup. Cause I knew you'd need it. You've never had to deal with the cold before and if I hadn't brought this stuff you'd get sick." He explained. Loki shook his head,
"Never in a thousand years did I think I would say this…but I can't wait to be a Frost Giant again." He said, Tony laughed loudly and slipped his arm around Loki's waist. Loki lightly kissed Tony's smooth cheek,
"Thank you." He cooed, "You're a good boyfriend, being so considerate and concerned for me." He nuzzled Tony and Tony giggled,
"Aww, you're welcome." He said embarrassedly. Loki thought it best to make an effort in telling Tony these things, to let the man know that he wasn't worthless at all and that Loki truly appreciated him. They all stopped at the nearby Starbuck's first to grab hot chocolates and coffees, then continued to Central Park, which wasn't far away. When they finally reached their destination Loki was impressed by the size of the skating rink, there were already a handful of people skating around but it was certainly big enough for many more people. They sat down on some wooden benches and Clint placed a big duffel bag on the ground. Loki realized he hadn't even known Clint had been caring this bag. Clint opened the bag and began removing ice skates from it. He handed a white pair to Bruce first, then a pair that was decorated with the American flag was handed to Steve, obviously. Loki laughed at the sight of everyone's custom boots. Thor's were silver and red, and even had little white wings on the sides. Clint's were bright purple and fuchsia, Loki shook his head at them, they certainly were not conspicuous. Tony's were gold and hot-rod red, naturally, Peter's surprisingly were light grey, and Natasha's were black. Clint was the first with his skates on and was already making his way to the rink, hollering at Bruce,
"C'mon!" he shouted cheerfully. Bruce blushed a little as he fumbled with his laces. Loki wondered what he was supposed to wear, and he frowned a little. Tony suddenly gave his arm a squeeze,
"Me and you are waiting on Pepper, she has your boots. I had them made a couple days ago, but I didn't know we were gonna skate today or I would have already got them." He explained and Loki smiled,
"Oh, ok. That's alright." He said and they both sat down to watch the others. Peter had already fallen down and was pouting, but Steve was there to help him up.
"You guys do this often?" Loki asked.
"Yeah, every year." Tony took a sip of his coffee, "The staff here even knows all of us by name now." He laughed. A sleek black car pulled up to the curb all the sudden and Ms. Potts stepped out. Loki was slightly startled to see that she wasn't in a dress suit, but instead a nice pair of jeans and a baby blue turtle neck with her hair in a bun atop her head. She had two pairs of skates in her hands, one much smaller than the other, so Loki assumed they were hers. The larger pair was completely gold with black laces. Loki chuckled and shook his head. Pepper came over to them with a grin on her face,
"Hey, sorry I took so long." She said and leaned down to place a little kiss on Tony's cheek,
"Nah, you're fine. We've only been here for a minute." He said and took the skates from her hands to give them to Loki and smile. Loki took them and scrutinized them for a minute,
"Golden, huh?" he asked with a smile.
"Well, nobody else has gold. And besides, gold is only for the best of people." Tony teased in response, he was removing his snow boots to replace them with his own skates. Pepper was drinking the rest of his coffee. Loki took off his own brown boots and began wiggling his feet into the ice skates, once he was comfortable with the feel he looked up at Tony in slight embarrassment,
"I…um…need help, with this…" he pointed at the laces. Tony looked confused,
"Ya just pull 'em tight and tie them, just like regular shoes." He explained. Loki blushed a little,
"I've never tied shoes before, Anthony. We don't have laces in Asgard, most of our boots are metal buckles and leather straps." Loki countered. Tony glanced at the brown boots that Loki had just been wearing and sure enough they had zippers, not laces.
"Oh." He said then got unto his knees to fasten Loki's skates. Tony stood up and admired his handy work, he thought the gold boots looked really cool with Loki's black pants. He put his hand out and pulled Loki to his feet,
"Follow me." Tony said and turned around. Loki frowned a little,
"Shouldn't we wait for Pepper?" he asked. Pepper waved a hand,
"No no, it's fine sweetie. I'm just gonna relax here for a minute, then I'll join you guys." She smiled. Loki nodded then attempted to follow Tony. It was extremely awkward trying to walk in ice skates, Loki kept tripping and stumbling, he cursed at the shoes and Tony laughed,
"Come on, just down the steps and you're good." He said and held his hand out to help Loki down the three stairs. Tony slid on to the ice without much trouble, he wobbled for a second them corrected himself and put his hand out again for Loki. Loki took a deep breath and stepped on to the ice, taking Tony's hand. His momentum had been too much and he tilted forward, he tried to stop himself and the startled Tony tried to grab him but it was too late and they both ended up a pile of limbs on the cold ice. Tony cackled, but Loki was terribly embarrassed and looked like he was going to cry.
"Aww!" Tony soothed him, "It's ok, don't even worry about it. It takes practice. Come on…" he gave Loki a light push, "Just get up." He instructed. Loki tried to push himself back on to his feet but kept sliding all over. He sat down on the ice and pouted up at Tony looking totally pitiful. Tony was still laughing. Clint went flying past them, skating on only one foot and then switching to skate backwards. Loki frowned more.
"This isn't what I thought!" he stated, "And Clint makes it look SO easy." Tony laughed some more,
"Well, Clint's been skating for a long time, babe. He's better than any of us, part of that Secret Agent Training, ya know?" he joked, "Don't compare yourself to him." He leaned down to grabbed Loki's arm, "Come on, ya can't just sit here." He pulled as hard as he could and Loki finally got on his feet again. Loki quickly grabbed the side wall of the rink and tried to force his feet sliding out from underneath him. Pepper slid up next to Tony and smiled at Loki,
"Aw come on." She placed her hands on her hips, "You mean to tell me those gorgeous, strong legs can't ice skate?" she teased with a sweet smile. Tony snickered,
"We've come to find that there's a lot Loki can't do without magic." He told her. Loki glared at him.
"Shut up, Anthony." He snapped. Pepper leaned into Tony's ear,
"Why does he call you Anthony?" she whispered. Tony shrugged,
"I don't know, it's just something he started doing. But I like it." He smiled. Thor and Steve passed them, skating slowly and talking quietly to each other, Steve seemed to be elaborating something with gestures of his hands and Thor was listening intently. Loki frowned at them, he was starting to miss Thor. Perhaps this is what they call "separation anxiety", he wondered to himself. He took a determined breath and let go of the wall, standing up straighter. He started by just slowly sliding his feet forward, but his natural brain functions told him to lift his feet, and then the toe of the blade caught on the ice and sent him tripping forward again. He fell into the wall and scrambled to not fall on the ice. Tony was grabbing him and help him stand up. Loki sighed,
"This is not fun." He stated and made sure to show just how miserable he was. Tony gave him a little frown,
"Everybody has to go through this when they first try to skate." He said,
"Yes, when they are SIX YEARS OLD!" Loki argued, "I look ridiculous over here!"
"That's not true! Thor was in the exact same place just a few years ago, he looked WAY more ridiculous." Tony grinned. Loki looked a little relieved,
"Really?" he wondered and Tony nodded with a laugh. Loki smiled, well good, he thought to himself, serves Thor right. But it didn't really sooth Loki's embarrassment. Tony and Pepper moved on either side of Loki, each of them holding Loki's arms to steady him.
"Now just watch the other skaters, like Steve, and copy them." Tony instructed, "I can't really explain how to do it, you just have to figure it out." Loki watched some other skaters for a minute than started watching his feet as he tried to move, he was slowly getting the hang of it when suddenly two skaters went flying past them and he flinched. In doing so he lost his footing and fell on his ass, Tony had grabbed the side wall to stop himself from falling, but Pepper had landed on top of Loki. Loki groaned,
"This is hopeless…can we go home now?" he whined like a child. Pepper got back on her feet,
"Did I hurt you?" she asked, Loki shook his head and started unlacing the skates to remove them. Tony sighed,
"Ok. We'll go. It was worth a shot." He shrugged, he took Loki's skates from him and they made their way to the exit. Steve and Thor were passing by again and Steve looked at Loki with worry,
"We're going home." Tony told him, "Loki's giving up." Steve nodded,
"Ok. We'll see you guys later. Pick something for dinner." He said and returned to his conversation with Thor. Thor gave Loki a vague wave good-bye and Loki tried to smile in return but Thor hadn't actually been looking at him. Loki frowned deeply again. Loki and Tony enjoyed some hot chocolates and peace and quiet in the warm living room. Neither one said a word as they nuzzled close together and reminisced in the comfortable silence. Loki had decided on seafood for dinner, so it was being prepared by Tony's suddenly fully staffed kitchen while they awaited the other's return home. Dinner was served almost exactly when the rest of the team got home, but as they made their way to the dining room Steve lightly grabbed Loki's arm and pulled him aside. Loki looked at him in surprise,
"Is something wrong?" he asked, voice heavy with worry, but Steve had a soft smile on his face.
"No, not really. I just wanted to talk for a minute…" he started to blush, "Thor…told me…everything…" he spoke very quietly, "About how he feels. He came to me for advise, because he's terrified of losing you." He locked his gaze with Loki's. Loki didn't know how to respond,
"And…?" he nervously urged. Steve blushed even more and began glancing down at his feet,
"Well…I told him the best thing would be to find someone else. Perhaps someone he already knows well enough to like, and can distract him from you." He looked at Loki for a second before looking back at his feet, "So…I…asked him if he'd be interested in me at all…" he trailed off, eyes looking anywhere but at Loki. Loki was a little surprised by Steve's embarrassment,
"And he said…?" he waved his hand for Steve to continue.
"Well, he's really unsure of himself, but he said he'd love to try." He looked at Loki through his eyelashes, sheepishly, "I just thought it would be fair for me to tell you." Loki chuckled and squished Steve in warm hug,
"Thank you!" he exclaimed, "He's all yours. I don't mind at all." He was grinning with excitement, "I think this will make things much better." Steve hugged him back,
"I hope so. Now let's get some dinner." They both made their way into the dining room and Steve took a seat between Thor and Clint while Loki sat next to Tony at the opposite end of the table. Steve leaned into Thor's ear for a minute before Thor looked up at Loki with a big, cheerful grin. Loki gave him a friendly wink of understanding and Thor nodded. After dinner Loki was feeling slightly dizzy so he went to bed early.
Loki woke up the next morning to a horrid scratching in his throat and he couldn't breathe through his nose.
"Ughhh." He moaned, "Tony…?" he called out and Tony gave a grunt in reply, "I don't feel so good…" Tony sat up and switched on a light, he rubbed his eyes for a minute then looked at Loki. He made a worried face at the flushed color in Loki's cheeks and the puffiness of his eyes. He gently placed the back of his hand against Loki's forehead and whistled.
"Aww, baby. I think you got sick anyways." He frowned, "I'm so sorry." Loki looked distraught,
"Sick? Sick? What does that even mean?" he whined, voice very nasally. Tony chuckled softly at the way Loki's voice sounded now,
"It's something that happens to mortals all the time. From being out in the cold you catch viruses and they make you ill for a little while. It'll go away." He assured, "I'll get you some tea and medicine." He climbed out of the bed and pulled on a thick bath robe,
"You mean I've caught a terrestrial virus!" Loki continued to whine, "This is OUTRAGEOUS! I will not stand for this! I demand it to be gotten rid of IMMEDIATELY!" he shouted. Tony laughed,
"You can't just get rid of it. You have to wait till your body fights it away. You can make it." He explained then left the room as Loki continued to whine loudly. Steve was making breakfast,
"Good morning!" he said cheerfully, "Loki still sleeping?" he wondered. Tony shook his head as he poured a cup of coffee,
"No. He's sick." He answered. Steve looked surprised,
"Aww! Poor guy. He was only outside for an hour yesterday." He frowned. Tony took a sip of his coffee then started making Loki's tea,
"Yeah, but before that he was immune to the cold and illness. He's got no defenses now." He said. Steve nodded,
"Is he gonna be ok?" he asked. Tony shrugged,
"Probably. It's just a cold." He picked up his coffee and Loki's tea, then tucked a bottle of cold medicine under his arm and left the kitchen. Loki was still moaning miserably in the bed. His face was even paler than usual with his cheeks and nose flushed a bright red, he was also sweating. Tony set the tea down on the bedside table and proceeded to pour two teaspoons of liquid medicine into a plastic measuring cup,
"Here. Sit up." He spoke softly, "Drink this and hopefully you'll feel better." Loki gingerly sat up and took the little plastic cup from Tony's hand. He drank down the bright orange liquid and started gagging,
"Oh Gods!" he stuck his tongue out and shivered involuntarily, "What in Hel…? That shit is AWFUL!" he gagged again. Tony laughed,
"Yeah it is." He said and handed Loki his tea.
"Thank you." Loki sounded absolutely pitiful. Tony took his place back in bed and started drinking his coffee,
"Guess we'll just stay in bed today." He smiled, "You should try to sleep more, it'll help." He gently wrapped an arm around Loki's shoulders and pulled him closer. Loki rested his head on Tony's shoulder,
"Aren't these viruses contagious? You shouldn't be around me or you'll get it too." He said. Tony just gave him a little squeeze,
"Don't worry about it. I'm here to take care of you, remember? And I get sick all the time, so I'm pretty used to it." He chuckled.
"That's because you're an alcoholic. You've weakened you immune system to almost nothing, I'm sure." Loki said with a hint of anger. Tony started opening and closing his hand in a mocking gesture,
"I'm sorry, all I heard was: BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH alcohol." He laughed, Loki shook his head,
"Typical." In no long time at all, Loki had finished his tea and was breathing softly against Tony's shoulder, Tony glanced at him to make sure he was asleep then carefully pulled out an Xbox controller from the bedside drawer. A flat screen television descended from the ceiling in front of the bed and Tony began playing Mass Effect, for the next six hours, while Loki slept.
OK. I'm really sorry this took so long. I've been over whelmed with the holiday's and work, and now I really am sick with a cold. That's why I added the last little bit. I thought it'd be funny to imagine Loki going through his first Earth illness. LOL. And I'm sorry if this chapter sucked...I'll do better soon! THX FOR READING!
*The song Tony is quoting here is The Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails.