I carry band-aids: steve x loki

marred heart

Loki had his head facing the other way, posture somewhat relaxed and... Steve assumed he'd be more guard, should he were to be... more coherent, more lucid, and less groggy. He wondered if Loki even knew where he was, if he even recalled dragging himself to Steve's door and basically forcing Steve to once again save him.

(Steve didn't know Loki that well. He barely knew Loki, if not at all. But Steve thought he knew the Trickster well enough to presume he was a man with pride and dignity. His knocking on Steve's door because he had no where else to go and was in need of a shelter where he could rest and lick his wounds, where they couldn't hunt him down -- that must have hurt Loki's pride, a lot. Yet Loki chose you. If this isn't a trick or a trap, then it means he trusts you in his most vulnerable state. You didn't find him this time. He came crawling back to you. Steve had no idea how to feel about that.)

His eyes landed on a glass of water he had placed on the table, for when Loki woke up. He debated if now was a good time. Loki turning around so he was lying on his back seemed to somehow stir Steve into action; his hand itched not for a weapon to defend himself but for the glass with a straw. "Here," he said, bringing the straw to the half-conscious God.

Loki's unexpected obedience might mean nothing more than his not fully being here. Though Steve figured it was better than him trying to drive a knife through his heart. He held the glass there and let Loki drink from the straw. From the eager gulps, Steve could probably tell he was thirsty. The glass ran empty faster than Steve might have predicted, then Loki's head fell back to the cushion, seemingly heavy and limply.

There was moment of silence and hesitation from Steve's part; mostly he just tried to figure how best to act, if he should say something or if he should let Loki go back to sleep, if that was what he was doing. Loki's eyes were open now, though seemingly unseeing. He blinked a few times but that was it; he wasn't looking around and, for some reason, Steve doubted he even knew Steve was here.

"Loki," he said again, this time Loki did look at him. His expression blank and he indicated no sign of getting up and going for Steve's throat or worse. Steve counted that a good sign. "Do you..." remember anything? "Do you know where you are?"

Loki's eyes traveled from Steve's face to the interior of Steve's apartment for a second or two before it landed back on his face, though Loki's face remained emotionless. "Judged by my surrounding, you didn't turn me in." He said, and Steve wasn't sure if Loki made an attempt to chuckle or if it was simply the hoarseness of his voice that even a glass of water, he'd just had, didn't seem to do the trick.

"So you... remember,"

This time he was sure Loki did chuckle. "Feel free to mock all you want, Captain. I suppose it's the least I could offer as a thank you for saving my life,"

"I'm not going to -" Steve cut himself short when Loki started making an attempt to get up. Keyword being, 'attempt' He didn't make it as far as one step before gravity beat the hell out of him. Poor thing would've fallen to the ground, hadn't it been for Steve's quick instinct that made him reach out and catch him in time. Catching Loki was like catching a spooked wild cat that would rip your face off; he hissed and, in a flash, sharp claw was making its way to Steve's eye. Steve was faster, though -- he grabbed Loki's wist with one hand, the other still held him tight so he wouldn't fall. And Loki froze. Just like that. Steve wasn't sure which one was worse; Loki continuing to fight or Loki going rigid under his touch like this like he might start going into cardiac arrest at any second.