An Earthly Scandal

Nightmares and Tears

Loki curled up to Tony like a cat almost, his legs were tucked tightly to his body as Tony clicked on the T.V. The Frost Giant thought he looked adorable in the sweatpants that were quite to big for his shorter frame. He laughed aloud every time Tony moved his legs (which to Loki's discomfort, was quite often) into a new position to get comfortable. He would just look at him and Loki would laugh more.

"Stop laughing, its not funny." Tony said, but a smile had flashed onto his face as he turned on a show. Loki wasn't really paying attention until he heard the Doctor Who opening play.

"But Anthony, you look adorable, how can I not laugh?" He asked, putting his head in Tony's lap. Tony played with a piece of Loki's long hair.

"Maybe try not to?" He put on a voice that sounded like being laughed at was offensive. "It hurts my feelings ever so much."

"I'm not making fun of you. I wouldn't bully you. No, I'm laughing at you because of how cute you look in those." He tugged gently on the over sized pants. Tony batted his hand away.

"Seriously though, could you stop laughing?" Tony asked, giving Loki a smile.

"Yeah, I will try but I will not make that promise." Loki said focusing on the show. "Do you like this show Anthony?"

"Not really my favorite, but if it makes you happy I am willing to watch it."

"Oh." Loki said no more and together they watched Doctor Who. Tony was quiet most of the time, chuckling with the jokes while Loki was even doing the opening to himself quietly. He found it most amusing. Tony would never admit, but he tried to do it a couple of times as the show began to grow on him.

----

Not long later, Loki's eyes started to flutter shut. Tony stretched his arms and yawned loudly.

"Hey Lokes, do you mind if I go down to my bed tonight? I admit I slept amazing but I should probably let you have a rest."

"No, I don't mind." He did, he lifted his head from Tony's lap and stretched. "I too shall head to sleep now. Are you going to come visit me again soon or are you going to come wake me so I can come with you to your laboratory again?" Loki rubbed his arms.

"I dunno. See you later though. Good night Loki." He yawned again and walked out of the door. Loki went to his own bed and flopped down against the pillows and blankets. After a minute or too of this, he got to his feet, dropped his pants and removed his shirt before crawling underneath the covers again. He closed his green eyes quickly, and felt himself slipping into unconsciousness fast.

He wandered in a vast amount of stars and galaxies. Confusion, then fear sank into his chest. He was in the void again, back into the terrible place that he though would never end. He looked around, it was endless beauty with the different things to see but he could not pay attention to them any better as he knew death was coming to him. He searched around, trying in this to find some place to get out.

He found nothing.

Loki saw tears that he didn't know were in his eyes float into the sea of color. They blended almost instantly with the surroundings. The tears became stronger, larger and he couldn't even hear his own sobs coming from his mouth. He could barely breathe, and his closed his eyes. His wet eyelashes clashed with his face.

Loki sat up, the blankets were balled around him. He was drenched in sweat, he threw his arms to the side. His hair tickled his shoulders just faintly and he searched around. Without realizing what he was doing, he put his finger tips gently to his eyes.

The lashes were wet. He had been crying and thrashing in his sleep. He had had a nightmare. He fell back against the bed.

"JARVIS?" He called, his voice cracked and it was hoarse.

"Yes Sir?"

"Can you call Anthony? I need him."

"He is currently sleeping Mr. Loki." JARVIS said quickly.

"Please, I need him up here. I don't give a damn if he's sleeping with someone else right now just get his ass up here!"

*Switch to Tony**

"Sir, Mr. Loki is demanding your presence." JARVIS said to Tony, Tony cursed under his pillow and looked at the ceiling.

"For what reason?" He asked, it was silent for a minute before his reply. "He said he had a nightmare, he is sweating profusely and he is crying currently."

"Dammit!" Tony shouted, but, he got our of bed and pulled on some sweats, that fit him, and began to make his to Loki's room. 

Stark Tower was absolutely silent, there was nobody awake it seemed except for him and Loki apparently. Grudgingly he walked into the elevator and pressed the button. Up he went, just two flights up, and he stepped out. The dark of the Tower was nothing new to him. Even with the lights coming from outside the huge windows it was still almost pitch black, but after many nights of having to find his way upstairs from the lab in total darkness he was used to this by now. 

He opened Loki's door and swaggered in. The T.V. was off and the only light was a soft one coming from Loki's own room. Tony shut the front door and walked towards it. Loki was sitting in his bed, the blankets were over his shoulders and he was quivering. He looked up at Tony when the Iron man knocked lightly on the door, all the bitterness at being woken up forgotten at seeing him. 

"What's the matter Loki?" Tony asked shutting this door and sitting next to Loki, Loki began to sob, and his face was all screwed up as fat tears slid down his face. 

"I dreamt I was back in the void! It was beautiful and it was terrible. I remembered things I want to keep out and I can't stop thinking of them now! I thought I was going to die again!" 

"Die again?" Tony asked, Loki nodded, taking a large gasp of air. His thin chest was heaving.

"It feels like death in that void, you-you can't move, you can only look around. You just feel-" Loki choked.

"Stop crying first than tell me, pass me some blankets." Tony had moved over to the head board. He put his back on a pillow and Loki stared at him for a second. Tony patted his lap. "Just trust me." Loki brought the blankets with him and laid down on Tony. His tears were becoming less, but every few minutes a fresh assault of sobs would come to him and he would start again.

Tony the meanwhile stroked Loki's black haired head. He checked the time, it was 2:34 in the morning. Loki eventually stopped crying and fell silent, he couldn't be asleep. "Loki, do you wanna talk now?" 

"No, I don't want to talk about it." He said fast, his voice shook crazily and he lifted himself up. He sat next to Tony a minute. "Thank you for coming up." 

"You needed me, and to be honest, I didn't really want to...." Loki winced at this, "But, I also didn't realize how bad the situation was. If I had known fully I wouldn't have been so long." 

"OK." Loki stared at Tony before leaning over and gently kissing his cheek. He then went back to Tony's lap and placed his head on Tony's thigh. "Stay with me? Please?" 

"Sure Loki. Lift your head so I can get underneath the blankets." Loki held his head in the air until Tony had settled underneath the sheets and comforter. Loki put his head on Tony's chest, the light from the Arc Reactor was bright but it only took a few minutes for the two of them to fall asleep.