Pools of Emerald (frostiron fic)

8.) The Morning After

It was nearly 4 in the morning when Loki woke up, a sick feeling pooling in his stomach. He sat up quickly and took a couple deep breaths. He moaned as his stomach lurched. Knowing he was going to throw up, he quickly made his way into the bathroom. Vomit burned at the back of his throat until it finally made its way out. All Loki tasted was whiskey and bile.

Tony awoke to the sound of coughing and choking. He glanced at the clock 4:02 and groaned. "Ugh goat horns, the sun isn't even up yet." He whispered to himself. When the sound of vomiting didn't stop Tony groaned again, pulling himself out of bed. He peeked through the crack in the bathroom door, and still knocked because it was polite.

"Go away." Loki croaked.

"Just making sure you are okay. Can I come in?" Tony rolled his eyes. He could be so moody sometimes.

"No."

"Well too bad, you're the one who woke me up. Entering in 3... 2..." Tony insisted.

"Fine." Loki snapped. Tony pushed the door open to see Loki resting his head on the bowl, a sheen of sweat glistening on his forehead.

"Can't hold your liquor?" Tony joked.

"Well Stark, considering you gave me the amount of whiskey that would get you drunk, this is not my fault." Loki choked out before vomiting again. Tony raised an eyebrow trying to think about how much he actually gave him to drink.

"Sorry Lokes whoops." Tony shrugged. Loki gave Tony the middle finger, head still in the toilet. Tony couldn't help but laugh. Loki finally stopped throwing up and moved himself so he was leaning against the bathtub.

"While you're standing there watching me suffer can you at least get me something for this headache?" Loki snapped.

Tony held back a chuckle and filled a cup from the night before with some water and threw him some Advil from the medicine cabinet. "Here you go sport. Sleeping it off will help a little bit."

Loki glared, "it better." He managed to choke down the water and pills and reached a hand upward, hinting at Tony to help him up. Almost immediately Tony had him stood up and guided back to bed. Both men laid back in bed for the next half an hour unable to sleep.

"Well getting more sleep is fucked I guess. If I'm awake I might as well go find something to do." Tony whined.

"I'm coming with whether you like it or not." Loki chimed in. Loki would never admit it, he even had a hard time admitting it to himself, but he was slowly growing feelings for Stark. Not just as friends, he got past that long ago. He didn't want to go anywhere or do anything without Tony by his side. He would never tell anyone that. All it would do is ruin everything. He could see it in his head now. He would tell him, at first Tony wouldn't know how to respond. Then he would get more and more distant until they were no longer even friends; merely strangers. "But I'm not gay," he would think to himself. But it didn't matter what he was, he knew these feelings were true because he had never felt this way about anyone else.

"So you coming or not? I'm gonna go watch tv." Tony's voice got Loki out of his thoughts.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah." Loki stuttered. He followed Tony to the tv room like a lost puppy. Tony flipped through channels incessantly for the next hour until he finally found something decent enough, even if used as background noise. Some documentary about marine life. Loki intently watched, intrigued by the underwater life. He heard a soft snoring coming from his left. He glanced over and Tony was already sound asleep. He smiled, a true smile. Tony sleeping was the most peaceful thing Loki had ever seen before. Loki continued staring until he felt his own eyes drooping, just as the sun began to rise.

.    . .

Loki awoke, startled by the noise surrounding him. He didn't dare move from his current position, laying down on the couch. He could hear people talking, the first voices he recognized were Thor and Tony. He knew the others were there though. He couldn't quite pinpoint between Steve and Clint but he obviously knew Natasha's because she was the only female. He could only hear voices, not knowing what exactly anyone was talking about. Panic filled his mind. He had not seen one avenger aside from Tony since he had been staying at Stark Towers. How he had managed to do that in a month, he wasn't entirely sure. If he was hungry he made sure only to go to the kitchen to eat if he knew no one would be around. That or Tony was kind enough to bring him food. He swallowed and mustered up the courage to get up from the couch. He planned it out, he was going to quietly make his way to the elevator and go back up to his room. But before he even managed to start his plan, Thor came over and nearly crushed Loki to death.

"Brother! Good morning, it is nice to finally see you. Are you well?" Thor beamed.

"I would be but you are crushing me." Loki muttered. Almost immediately Thor let go.

"Sorry brother. I was just glad to see you out and about. Man of Iron says you are doing well." Thor smiled.

"Reindeer Games! Bruce made breakfast, come get some." Tony shouted from the kitchen. Loki cautiously made his way into the kitchen. All eyes were on him and the conversation got quiet. Natasha and Clint both had sour looks on their faces. Steve managed to fake a smile, at least acknowledging Loki's existence. Bruce was the only one to speak to him.

"Hey, uh, help yourself." He half smiled.

"Thank you." Loki nodded. Once Loki made a plate of food, he was about to sit in between Natasha and Tony when she quickly stood up. Clint also stood up still in shock that Loki was there, and neither of them said a word before forcefully piling their dishes in the sink and trudging out of the room. Loki's breathing hitched as he balled his hands into fists. He looked down at his plate of food, not daring to take a single bite, for fear of judgment.

"Hey, um, don't mind them. They just have attitude problems. So yeah." Bruce didn't exactly have a way of words. Loki continued to sit in silence, looking down.

"Hey no one poisoned the food." Steve laughed. That was what pushed Loki over the edge. He got up and pushed his chair so hard back into the table it shook everything on it. He quickly disappeared from the room and everyone sat in awe at what had just happened.

"Hm well, that went better than expected." Tony shrugged.

"Mr. Stark, your guest is troubled."

"Yep thanks JARV, already on my way. Thanks." Tony said heading toward the elevator. Once outside Loki's room, Tony could hear the muffled sobs from inside. "Man goat horns, you were doing so good." Tony muttered to himself. He didn't even bother knocking and just let himself in.

"Please go away. Don't look at me like this, please." Loki was on the side of the bed and all Tony could see was his hair. Tony, being the bad listener that he is walked over to Loki. "I'm begging you, please go, leave me be. Don't look at me." Loki screamed. Tony couldn't help but end up by Loki's side. He internally gasped at what he saw. Loki was blue from head to toe and his eyes glowed red.

"What the hell Lokes."

Loki's screams got even louder. "I told you not to look at me!" He covered his face with his hands. "No one will ever want to see me like this. I would be truly shocked if you ever spoke to me again. This is me, this is my true form. Frost giant." Loki's sobs got louder.

"Whoa don't go that far, it doesn't matter if you're green, purple, orange, whatever. I don't care Loki." Tony was almost offended that Loki thought he would stoop that low. Tony sat next to Loki and wrapped him in a hug. "I don't care, you are still you regardless of how you look on the outside." Loki continued to sob on Tony's shoulder until he slowly transformed back into his pale complexion. "Everything will be ok Loki. Everyone will come around. I can guarantee it."