Okay guys so this is the next chapter...enjoy! I own nothing

Steve jumped to his feet, startled by Thor's bellow. The action knocked Loki onto the floor, where he gasped from the harsh treatment to his still weak body, coughs wracking him. He gasped on the floor, too weak to pull himself up properly, and Steve's attention was instantly diverted, crouching next to the gasping God, whispering apologies and reassurances whilst rubbing cricles into his back. Thor however, would not be swayed from his trail of thought.

"Captain, I ask again, hast thou taken it upon thyself to court a Prince of Asgard without first asking the permission of his family?"

Steve lost patience at that point, something he rarely did. But honestly, there were more important things to worry about right now.

"Thor can you hear yourself? For one thing, Loki is perfectly capable of making his own decisions, listening to what others told him to do certainly never suited him before! And secondly, he's laying on the floor, gasping and choking, shaking with chills, even though cold shouldn't affect him in his jotun form, and you're worried about his dating schedule? Priorities Thor, priorities."

The Thunder God frowned, clearly not having noticed his brothers distress, nor registered that he was in his other form. He leant over, scooping his brother from the ground and depositing him on the bed. The frown deepend at hearing no word of argument against this manhandling, but Steve informed him Loki had only fallen asleep again. Thor remained silent, as this didn't really ease his concern. Loki never slept much, and now he barely seemed able to keep his eyes open. It was...unsettling, no matter how often friend Bruce informed them it was simply because of Loki's sentient magic interacting with the virus.

The God and the Soldier left Loki's room, both agreeing they should probably talk about this away from Loki's room, lest they wake him. They settled in bar stools in the Kitchen, both helping themselves to large mugs of coffee.

"Is he happy?"

Steve almost dropped his coffee in his surprise at the question. he'd expected more yelling, a beating, murder, from the Thunder God, not a simple inquiry. The question also confused him a little, to be honest. It must have shown on his face, for Thor continued a moment later.

"I have seen Loki interact with our comrades. With friend Tony, he is amused. With friend Bruce, he is curious. With friend Clint, he is wary. I have seen him be all of these things, but never truly happy. As of yet, I have seen very little of his interactions with you, so tell me this. With you, is he happy?"

Steve thought about that for a moment. Thought back to all the times he had seen Loki laughing, carefree and innocent. Looked back on the times they had spoken together, just content to reminisce about their individual pasts. Thought back to moments ago, when he broke off the kiss with Loki, who, Cold and blue and shaking and sweating, still had a smile that lit up the entire east side of America.

"I think he is, yes."

"He is."

Loki stood against the doorway, still shaking, sweating, and looking as though the last thing he should be doing was wandering the mansion, barefoot, Steve noticed with indignation, but back to his Aesir form. Steve pushed off from his chair to chastise the God and pull him back to bed if he had to, but was beaten to the punch by an unsuspected Mother Hen.

"You. Bed. Now. God, why are you so difficult? You look like absolute shit and you're still wandering the halls searching for loverboy, and yes, I know all about you two. I do have security cameras in the building you know. Would've been a fab make out session if you weren't interrupted and if you hadn't almost passed out both before and after. Just fabulous. Now get your ass back in bed before I have Steve tie you to it."

Loki looked surprisingly shamed after his lecture by Tony, who stalked up behind him, scooping him into his arms as so many seemed to have done in the past few days. However, instead of carrying the sickly God himself, he walked him just over to Steve, indicating he should take the God he was obviously so fond of. Steve complied, speechless, blushing a furious shade of beetroot as Loki kissed his forehead, carding his hands through the coifed hair. Steve tutted at him.

"Come on, you. Back to bed. You're still way too sick to be up. No more kisses for tonight" Steve finished, laughing as Loki pouted, opening his mouth to speak, only to let out a chain of painful sounding sneezes.

"Exactly. Not well at all, thankyou for proving the point. Come on, I'll grab you some tissues and tea and I'll tuck you in and read you a story if you want."

Loki glared momentarily, eyes widening in anxiety for just a moment. "Will you stay?" His voice came out as a tiny whimper, the desparation in it so clear and heartbreaking Steve had to refrain himself from cooing over the beautiful creature.

"Of course I will, sweetheart. As long as you want me there."

Thor watched this interaction, judging silently. He decided that should he ever ask, which he doubted he would, Thor would give the Captain blessing to court his brother. Loki seemed content in the arms of the soldier, completely at ease, and the captain himself seemed to visibly relax when Loki was put in his arms, as though the mere thought of another making contact with Loki set him on edge. It was a good thing, Thor supposed. Loki would always be protected.

And if the Captain ever hurt Loki in any way, well, nothing would be able to protect him.

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