Marvel Oneshots

Sick Little Jotun

 "Loki wasn't out on the mission with you guys last night, was he, Thor?" you asked at breakfast that morning. The Avengers were all devouring your pancakes as fast as you could make them.

"No, I do not believe he had a mission, yesterday, Lady Y/N." Thor answered, sounding concerned now that you brought his brother's absence to his attention.

"That's weird. He's usually down for breakfast by now," you commented. You set a stack of pancakes aside, threatening anyone who tried to steal from the stack, quickly cooked up the rest of them, and took the stack of pancakes up to Loki's room.

You tried to just barge in, like you always did. You were in each other's rooms nearly all the time. He was your boyfriend after all. Besides, no one around here ever locked their doors. It led to some interesting mornings when there were unexpected guests in people's beds. Everyone around here had nightmares of the horrors they had seen in the past. You weren't excluded from that. There was an unspoken rule among the group that no one denied a visitor in the middle of the night when it was clear they were running from nightmares.

Loki's door was locked.

Loki's door was never locked. Especially not against you. You knocked, attempting to be polite, but you were more worried than anything. This wasn't like him. At all. "Loki?" you asked through the closed door when there was no answer.

"I am ill, Y/N. I do not wish for you to catch it," came Loki's voice from the other side of the door. He really did sound sick. That was probably the worst thing he could have said to actually make you go away, though. So with a little concentration, you walked through the closed and locked door. Vision had taught you that little trick.

"I won't catch whatever it is," you told him gently. He was bundled in blankets in his bed. All you could see of him was his raven hair peeking out from the top of the blankets.

"Darling, I love you, but I do not want you seeing me like this, or catching whatever this awful illness is," Loki grumbled, still refusing to move.

"I made you pancakes," you bribed instead of actually listening to his attempts to make you go away. You weren't going to run just because he'd gotten sick. Hell, he'd used his frost giant abilities to ease a fever for you earlier that year. You sat on the edge of his bed and stroked his hair.

"Why can you never listen to anything I tell you to do?" he grumbled and coughed.

"Because you're male and inherently incorrect," you replied pleasantly. That earned you a small laugh, plus some more coughs. "Now will you come out of your blanket burrito so I can help you feel better?" you asked him gently.

"I meant what I said, darling. I do not wish for you to see me like this,"

You sighed. "Loki, I'm not leaving you to suffer alone. Come on, love. We're a team, remember? That means we're in everything together, including little things like a cold,"

He sneeze and a bolt of magic flew across the room. With a practiced flick of your hand you vanished it, sending it outside where it wouldn't hurt anything. He sighed, and finally, reluctantly sat up and slowly, hesitantly...timidly... turned to face you.

You understood his hesitation, then, when he finally showed you his face. His skin was deep blue, his eyes red, and there were patterns on his skin. "I...did not wish for you to see this," he said again, not meeting your gaze. You touched his cheek gently.

"I love you, Loki," you reminded him, just as gently.

"I am a monster!" he protested. You saw the tears in his eyes, the emotion he was trying to hard to fight back. He had been rejected before. Bruised and broken by someone he had loved. You saw it in his eyes. You pulled him to you. He didn't resist as you wrapped your arms around him, rubbing his back.

"You're not a monster. You're my Loki and I love you. All of you. This form, your other form, your female form, it doesn't matter. You're my Loki no matter what your outside looks like," you told him, reassuring, gentle, kind, trying to convey how much you loved him, no matter what he happened to look like that particular day. You felt his tears on your shoulder and just held him tighter, letting him sob out his soul wound. He had been hurt so many times before. He hadn't told you. You figured he hadn't told anyone, and it was a sign of how much he loved you and trusted you that he was willing to be 'weak' in front of you now. So you held him and rubbed his back and made soothing noise until his tears finally slowed.

"What did I ever do to deserve you?" he asked as you handed him the box of tissues.

"You let me love you," you replied with a teasing smile, which got him to laugh. You picked up the plate of pancakes. "Would you like your pancakes now? I had to defend them from that idiot brother of yours," you added, still teasing. He smiled and took the pancakes from you. They were his favorite thing of the foods you could actually make.

"Thank you," he replied between mouthfuls of pancakes. You laughed at how absurd he was with his child-like joy of pancakes.

"So... this is your Jotun form?" you asked hesitantly, but kindly. You were curious, but didn't want to upset him. "I won't pry if you don't want to talk about it," you added quickly.

He hesitated, but finally nodded. "Yes. Unfortunately when I become ill I cannot control it,"

"Or your magic," you added dryly when you were nearly shot with a bolt of magic when he sneezed again. Only your quick reflexes kept you from getting blasted as you vanished this bolt of magic as well.

"Or that..." he added, embarrassed and glum. You laughed.

"Well, today will be interesting at least,"

That earned you a proper laugh from him. "That it will," he agreed. After he had eaten, you let him lay his head on your chest, cuddling up with you as close as he could to steal your warm. It seemed he couldn't get warm on his own. You smiled and tucked the blankets up around you both, determined to take care of him today.