A Truce, for now. (m: Thor)

[matilda3948]

This is my part of a story trade. It's set after Thor: Ragnarok but before Infinity War. It features sick Thor and caretaking Loki and grew from a drabble I wrote a while back. Hope you like  

 

“I’m here,” Loki said after snatching the decanter stopper that Thor had thrown at him. The look of shock on Thor’s face was priceless. It wasn’t often he was speechless or indecisive, but Loki’s presence in his room had rendered him both. “Cat got your tongue?” Loki teased, trying to break the tension. He’d been unsure about his decision to stay and his brother’s lengthy silence was making him nervous. Maybe he’d hug hum; maybe he’d punch him square in the jaw. Finally, Thor shook off his surprise and came to stand in front of his brother. Loki cleared his throat and fought the urge to take a step back but was surprised when Thor wrapped his arms around his shoulders and pulled him into a tight embrace. Loki was horrified when he heard the other man let out a shaky breath and he awkwardly patted his brother on the shoulder. He couldn’t remember the last time his brother had hugged him.  “You’re cutting off my circulation,” he said when the shoulder pat failed to work. Thor loosened his grip but made no move to pull away.

“I knew you would be there when it mattered most,” he said. “I apologize for ever doubting you. Deep down I knew you would not let the people of Asgard fall.” Loki bit back a number of sharply worded retorts and let Thor have his moment. Finally he pulled away and put both hands on Loki’s shoulders. “Thank you, my brother,” he said. “You did well, as I always knew you could.” When he finally released him, Loki took a deep breath and smoothed out his clothing. Thor sunk down onto his bed as through the last five minutes had taken what remained of his strength. Loki knew this particular pattern of his brother’s—a bought of extreme exhaustion, bordering on illness once order and safety were restored after a battle. It was part of why Thor drank to such excess during the celebrations—it gave him a plausible reason for sleeping for days on end without arousing anyone’s suspicions.

“The glory of battle certainly takes a toll,” Loki said, sitting in a chair near the head of the bed. Thor gave a half-hearted laugh.

“The glory of battle took that and a great deal more this time, brother.” Thor’s voice was low and a heavy silence settled over the room. At some point the loss of their home and so many of their friends would have to be faced, but neither of them had the energy or the desire to do it in the presence of another. Thor leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees with a sigh. He rolled his head back and forth to stretch out his neck when his breath hitched suddenly. Loki rolled his eyes. He knew what was coming next. Thor’s chest expanded widely with deep, stuttering inhalations as he brought both hands up in front of his face. It seemed as through the building sneeze would be strong enough to rattle the walls based on the intensity of the buildup. Thor’s face was wrinkled with irritation, his breath wild and unsteady. Finally he pitched forward with a soft but intensely wrenching sneeze.

HuhhtSSHHHHoo!

It was immediately followed by three more, each losing strength until the last one was barely audible.

huhhtsshhoooo! Tsshhhoo! sshhhhoo!

“Bless,” Loki said. “God of Thunder indeed. You always have sneezed like a field mouse.” He shoved a handkerchief towards his bleary-eyed, sniffling bother.

“Thank you,” he said. “And shut up,” he added. Loki smirked.

“Allow me to examine you,” he said.

“I’m fine.”

“You forget who you’re talking to.”

“I know exactly who I’m talking to.”

“Hm. Then you know, no doubt, that I can sense how uncomfortable you are without even trying. Your eye is excruciating and you’re battling an illness.”

“It’s not illness, it’s just a bit of…” He didn’t know how to explain it—this physical crash that often followed a battle. He preferred not to acknowledge this particular weakness of his, but of course Loki would know.

“I know what it is,” Loki said. “Allow me to help.”

“I saw healers earlier.”

“Amateurs.”

Thor half-laughed, half-coughed as his nose began to itch again. He repeated the long, tortuous process of building up for a small fit of surprisingly quiet sneezes. What they lacked in sound they made up for in intensity—a deep shuddering sneeze that shook his entire body.

HUH huhh…huhhTSCHHoo! huhSHHHoo! uhhSHHHoo! huh—huh…uhh Huhhtsschhhh! Tsshhhhoo!

“Bless. Ribs?” Loki asked when he saw Thor wince and instinctively press a hand to his right side. Thor nodded and Loki felt emboldened enough to place a hand over his brother’s. He closed his eyes and focused on assessing the injury. “Lay down,” Loki said. “You’ll be more comfortable and it will make my job easier.”

Thor obliged and slid up on the bed, wincing with every move. He folded a pillow in half and placed it under head. When had he last allowed Loki to use his skills as a healer?

“I can’t remember the last time either,” Loki said as though he’d read Thor’s mind. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, drawing his attention to his brother’s injuries. It was easier to catalogue the parts of his body that weren’t in pain. A mortal would have died multiple times over, but Thor survived with a myriad of injuries: the eye, of course, multiple cracked and broken ribs, sprained wrists, sore knees, bruised spleen…the list continued to grow the longer he worked.

Thor watched Loki with his good eye. This was the version of his brother that he chose to hold onto—deep in concentration casting spells that dulled the pain and would speed recovery. So much of his body was in pain.

“I can feel you staring at me,” Loki mumbled without opening his eyes. “Stop it.”

“It does me good to see you using your powers like this, brother,” Thor said.

“For someone so exhausted it’s astonishing that you’re still awake and talking.”

“I’m feeling better by the—HUH uhh…”

Loki drew back with an annoyed sigh while his brother went through a production that, frankly, seemed disproportionate for the payoff. Thor hovered just on the edge of sneezing, his nose twitching and reddened. Loki rolled his eyes and leaned over, placing two fingers on the bridge of Thor’s nose.

HUHTSCHHoo! UHSHHHoo! uhhSHHHoo! Huhhtsschhhh! Tsshhhhoo! uh Huh… HUH huhhSSHHoo! huhSHHHoo! uhhSHHHoo! UHHSHHHHOO!

He ended with an uncharacteristically strong sneeze and shook his head like a wet dog trying to clear the last of the irritation.

“Yes, very impressive. May I please get back to work now?”

“A moment, please,” Thor said with a thick sniffle. He blew his nose into the handkerchief and Loki flicked his hand and the cloth was instantly clean and pressed again. Thor smiled. “A useful trick.”

“Sleep, brother. Every inch of you is bruised or worse—stop distracting me from my work.”

“It’s hardly my fault I needed to sneeze.”

“Ugh! I forgot what a difficult patient you are.”

“Yes, but you love a challe—”

Loki dropped a hand on his brother’s forehead and instantly sent him into a deep, and more importantly, quiet sleep. He smiled.

“Much better.”

Loki continued to weave enchantments as he encountered each battered and broken part of Thor’s body. Truth be told, he was glad to have something to occupy his mind; he wasn’t looking forward to the months of silence and solitude on this ship full of refugees. He could sense the same unease in his brother even as he slept. Thor may be putting up a confident front, but the longer his telepathic connection lasted, the more Loki could see. In fact, at one point he stumbled on a well of sadness and fear that startled him. Thor mumbled something in his sleep and Loki was afraid he would wake.

“Shhh,” he whispered as he moved on.

There was so much that needed healing. Loki worked to comfort to as many of the wounded areas as possible but frowned when he brought his attention to his brother’s head and neck. It seemed there might be more at work there than his traditional battle fatigue; if fact, Loki sensed illness. It took him nearly an hour but he completed an intricate spell to try and halt any further progression and speed recovery. By the time he was done, Loki was shaking with fatigue. Too tired to even stumble back to his own room, he just sunk down in the chair and fell into a deep sleep.

When Loki began to stir he knew he was being watched. His eyes snapped open and he found Thor staring at him with an annoyingly pleased smirk on his face.

“Shut up,” Loki said preemptively, stretching his neck from side to side.

“You did excellent work, brother. I feel reborn. My thahh…huh Uhh…” His voice stuttered and Loki rolled his eyes.

“Not completely healed then,” he mumbled, getting up from the chair.

Huh uhh…HuhhtSSHHHHoo! huhhtsshhoooo! Tsshhhoo! sshhhhoo!

“Bless,” Loki said. He poured a glass of water for Thor but didn’t offer it as the God of Thunder was currently in the middle of another absurd ticklish series of hitching pre-sneeze breaths. “You look ridiculous when you do that.”

“I uhh…huhh I can’t hehh help hihh ihh…huhhTISHHooo! uhhTSCHHoo! huhtschhh!”

“Finished?” Loki asked. Thor nodded and took the glass of water, draining it in a single gulp. Both sat on the edge of the bed and Loki placed a hand on his brother’s back, allowing him an entryway to assess his health. He closed his eyes and concentrated. “No worse but little better,” he said finally.

“I’m going to need your assistance today,” Thor said.

“With what?”

“I have to lead our people through the mourning rituals.”

“And?”

“And I need you to make me appear well.” The wet sniffle that followed seemed to underscore his point.

“You don’t think your subjects can deal with their king having a case of the sniffles?”

“You know they can’t,” Thor said. Loki sighed and looked away. Of course he knew Thor was right; the king should always seem above the trivialities that plagued everyone else. The infallibility of their leader was one of the things that made them feel safe and they needed that sense of safety now more than ever. With their planet destroyed and far too many dead, Thor needed to appear calm and in control.

HuhhtSSHHHHoo! huhhtsshhoooo! Tssshhoo!

“I’m going to have to stay close to you for the enchantment to hold—same room at least,” Loki said. “And you’ll feel worse when it wears off.”

“A necessary inconvenience. I just need to get through the service.”

**

Loki felt ill—his head was swimming and his stomach ached. He’d spent hours in the main hold of the ship as Thor comforted the sea of grieving Asgardians and then lead them through a series of prayers to carry the souls to Valhalla. It wasn’t just strain of keeping the enchantment cast over Thor so that he seemed healthy, it was the intensity of all that sadness and worry. He desperately needed silence and time alone. First he saw Thor back to his room and lifted the spell. For once, Thor was spared his typical slow, ticklish buildup as the sneezes seemed to tumble out one after the other. Loki knew this is how it would be—his magic could hide and delay Thor’s symptoms, but it couldn’t repress them altogether. After eight harsh sneezes, Thor was able to pause for a breath. He blinked a set of watery eyes at Loki.

“Are you alright, brother?” Thor asked.

“Aren’t I supposed to ask you that?”

“You seem pale. Are you wehh huh…well? he gasped before being overtaken with another fit of sneezes.

huhhTSCHHooo! Tschhooo! HuhhTSCHHooo! huhTSSCHHHooo!

“I’m fine and you…well, you’re going to carry on like this for a while, so I’ll be off.” Loki left before Thor could get a word in and went in search for a quiet place.

Thor sneezed until he was lightheaded. Loki hadn’t been exaggerating when he said he’d feel worse when the spell was lifted. It was as if every symptom that had been hidden all wanted to be expressed at once. He finally gave up and just laid on the bed, handkerchief in hand, until the worst of it finally passed. Finally we was back to feeling close to how he felt when he woke up and Thor let his thoughts stray back to his brother. Loki had been surprisingly helpful. To be honest, he’d expected some manner of trickery or double-cross since his brother came onboard but…well, nothing so far. There was something else nagging at Thor though. Normally Loki never missed an opportunity to watch him make a fool of himself but he’d seemed eager to leave Thor’s company despite the humiliating sneezing fit. And while most people would always see Loki as pale, Thor could detect a subtle shift in his brother’s color that concerned him. He hoped Loki hadn’t caught whatever he was currently fighting.

“What could you possibly want now?” Loki sighed as he heard Thor’s footsteps behind him. It had been hard enough to find a secluded spot on the crowded ship but he’d managed to find a spot near the bridge where he could sit and look out at the stars. Thor sat down on the floor next to his brother and followed Loki’s gaze out into the sky.

“I came to see if you were alright,” he finally said.

“I told you I’m fine.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“You finally stopped sneezing,” Loki said. Thor sighed.

“Brother—”

“Don’t,” Loki said. It wasn’t a warning as much as a plea and it was a tone Thor hadn’t heard in a very long time. Loki hadn’t taken his eyes off the stars but Thor suspected there were tears gathering. He slid over next to Loki and leaned against the wall, their postures similar. Neither said anything for a long while. Thor sniffled periodically, his nose still vaguely irritated and Loki’s breath occasionally grew shallow as he fought to keep his emotions in check. The headache and dizziness had passed but now he was simply left with his own feelings. He was surprised—Loki assumed he had nothing but hatred left for Asgard, its people, and his father, but it appeared he was wrong. The universe was full of surprises. He even felt a pang of sympathy for Thor when he muffled a cough into his fist. Annoying.

huhIHH…huh ahh…

Also annoying, Loki thought.

huh uhh HuhhtSSHHHHoo! huhhtsshhoooo!

Loki glanced to his right, eyebrow raised in question. Thor sniffed twice before he lurched forward with the rest.

HUHTsshhhoo! huhTsshhhhoo! huhhSHHHooo!

“Bless,” Loki said, looking back out at the sky.

“Thag you.”

“You did well today,” Loki said quietly. Thor wondered if there was something wrong with his ears.

“It was difficult,” he answered truthfully.

“The souls at rest in Valhalla,” Loki said in a mocking tone. Much to his surprise, Thor cracked a smile and even came close to a laugh.

“It doesn’t offer much in the way of comfort does it?” Thor asked.

“No. None.”

This time Thor did laugh and, after a second, Loki joined him. There was a temporary reprieve from the terrible weight of the last few days. For a moment they were just two brothers poking fun at their family history.

“It’s really an awful prayer,” Thor said, running a tired hand over his face.

“They’re almost all awful,” Loki said. “There was one…” his voice grew quiet. “There was one mother used to say that I actually liked.”

“I remember,” Thor said. “Her morning prayer.”

“Sometimes she’d sing it if we were slow to get out of bed.”

“Deliberately off-key,” Thor added.

“Seems impossible they’re both gone,” Loki added after another long stretch of silence.

“I know.”

Loki’s jaw trembled and a tear fell from each eye. He felt a surge of anger and embarrassment when he wiped them away.

Thor sighed and put a hand on Loki’s back.

“Don’t ever speak of this again,” Loki said in between tears.

huhTSSHHHooo! TSHHooo!

“Ugh. As long as you don’t speak of this,” Thor said.

“Very well.” Loki took a deep breath and shook off his brother’s hand. “A truce for now.”

 

[ALilSneezy]

Lokkiiiiiii.... *dreamy sigh* I'm so in love with him 💖

[RediChalyn]

AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!  Yes!!  Love love LOVE it!  Sick Thor and a not evil Loki!! 

[fickle_tickle]

I was secretly rooting for a sick Loki the whole time, but it was so in character I loved it anyway! The parts with the telepathic connection were so tender! I liked how the you incorperated both physical and mental healing in the dynamic of the healing relationship.

[AngelEyes]

Love this! The interactions between the two are beautiful. Perfect representation of the good brotherly moments we love.

[kushamisukii]

AHH doooooood!!! Thanks so much I love this. Ugh. I can't get enough it's too perfect. ♡ I love the feels this gives me. I appreciate you!! You're an excellent writer =) ugh Thor is still so Thor even when he's sick and in pain. I love him. I love how in character you got them!! <333

[CeruleanBlue]

I love Loki saying “bless” every time.  And Loki in general. I usually don’t like when Loki isn’t portrayed as evil, but I loved this.

[Prongs]

This was sooooo good!!!!! So in character. I have all the feels rn. 

[snowshie]

You had me at the hug.  Plus the rest of this is pretty wonderful, too. Thanks for sharing!

[MiraKarat]

Oh my I’m so in love with your work!!! Thank you very much for sharing! ❤️❤️❤️

[Pyrus_Fangmon]

This story was amazing! Perfect in all angles and shapes! I could picture everything clearly and the details accurately. You nailed their characters. 

Great job!