Bend Around the Wind by Scyllaya

Chapter 96: Home Sweet Home

Chapter Ninety-Six

Home Sweet Home

Milky Way Galaxy

Sol System

Nine Realms / Planet Earth

'Loki... ...Loki!'

He jerked awake covered in sweat and trashed for a moment before he realized where he was. He blinked at the dark ceiling a few times as he tried to get his breathing under control.

Stark said nothing, from the corner of his eye Loki saw that he was half-sitting next to him, hands raised as if meaning to touch, but hovering just a little uncertainly in the air. It was not like Stark to be cautious about touching him. He looked down on himself. The cover was ripped but still tangled around him. He must've torn it to free himself from it. It was also too-hard to the touch and covered in a thin layer of frost. He sighed.

'Fully awake yet?' Stark asked after a moment. Loki nodded, rubbing his eyes. His skin was not even blue, but it must've been at some point. He was burning in his nightmare, so his answer was ice. Stark finally laid his hand on him and scooted closer, lying down once again. It had to be too cold for him, and the covers were starting to feel damp as the ice melted.

Familiar warm hands touched his cheek, warmer than usual, so his own skin must've been still too cold. He kept his eyes closed and focused on the rhythm of his own heart, willing it to slow down. He did not feel the chill in the air, but he felt Stark shiver next to him. It made him open his eyes and stare at the ceiling again.

'Maybe you should sleep in another bed... for a while,' he offered. They woke up too many times in a frost covered bed.

'Hell no,' Stark said.

'I cannot control it,' Loki told him. Stark knew this already, but Loki felt like he needed to be reminded. He needn't be concerned while he was awake, but in his sleep, when his body and mind acted without his will, he was unable to stop himself from fighting the vivid memories conjured up in his dreams.

'It's fine,' Stark said, brushing aside the warning again.

'Your lips are blue,' Loki said and sat up to wrench the tattered remains of the cold and damp covers off the bed. The sheets were no better and his sleeping pants were the worst. Stark just huffed and helped him strip the bed.

'It's fine,' he repeated as he yawned, 'JARVIS, raise the room temperature to 78 degrees. There, I'll be fine now. I'll even take some extra vitamins with my breakfast.'

Loki gritted his teeth.

'A possible frostbite is not to be taken lightly,' he said. He knew how badly something as simple as cold could harm humans.

'Look, if I don't wake up immediately to the temperature drop right next to me then JARVIS will warn us. So it's not gonna happen, okay? And if it does, who cares? I'll heal and I've been sick before too.'

'You are being unreasonable,' Loki argued.

'I don't care! I'm not sleeping in a separate bed.'

'I don't need to be coddled, Stark!' Loki snapped at him.

Stark stopped re-arranging their remaining pillows and looked up at him.

'Yeah, that's why I'm not coddling you,' he said and flopped back down on the bed, punching his pillow and lying down. 'My concern is not just some... inconvenience you need to put up with, so don't make it sound like it.'

That was probably meant to sound just as sharp as Loki's words were, but Stark was tired and he could not hide it from his voice. So that's how those words sounded, tired and unhappy.