Fever
“You're burning up”
The facts were these: Loki was sick, very much so, and had been for a while. In fact, he'd been fighting alongside them the whole day in a long and arduous battle, which had only worsened his condition. But he hadn't said anything, because he didn't want to seem weak in front of all those stoic, super strong near invulnerable warriors, and now that they'd left he was on the verge of collapsing, his “I'm fine” façade hanging by a very thin thread.
No one had noticed for the whole battle, and Loki was grateful, proud of himself for continuing to be the great actor he'd always been. But now almost everyone had left, and the transport had taken in a hurry with the injured, and Loki hadn't been able to get into any of them, hadn't been able to run. So now it was only him and her, and of course now she noticed.
“Aren't you Jotun? You're supposed to be colder than us, any of us. Dammit, Loki”
She said, and she did seem concerned, which was kind of nice. Loki liked it when other people cared if he lived or died, it was a personality flaw. And she did care.
Gamora had to admit that she had a bit of a soft spot when it came to Loki. He was very similar to Nebula in many ways: ruthless, changeable, emotionally unstable. Had always felt like hwas second best, and had tried to step out of the shadows in unhealthy and extremely aggressive, but really, just wanted to feel loved. Deep inside, he was a good guy, but he was also terribly complicated, and sometimes, the likes of her and Thor had trouble keeping up such convoluted (but always interesting) minds.
But she saw more than her little sister in him: Loki often him reminded her of Peter, as strange as it may sound. Unlike her sister, who was all ominous speeches and threats, Loki was wordy and sarcastic, and often used humour as a defence mechanism, much like her own Star Lord. And much like Peter, he was infectiously charismatic, and could make you fall in love with merely a smile and a look.
In short. Loki was like an amalgamation of the people she loved most, and she'd grown fond of him. She often felt that the Asgardian was very underappreciated in their groups, and that they could use with listening to him a bit more.
“Why didn't you say that you were ill?”
Loki lowered his glassy pale eyes, ashamed.
She understood. Thor was never sick, Thor was never injured, and he was, despite having proven his value countless times, still trying to live up to him. And there she was, being the unscathed shiny older sibling, berating him for being weaker not telling them.
She sighed. No. Fix this, Gamora.
“Let me help you back, all right?”
“I can manage on my own.”
Oh, honey, you can hardly walk. But that wasn't what she said.
“Of course you can, I never doubted that. But I want to show Mantis and the others and that I'm not as cold as they say I am, and you being feverish gives me a perfect excuse to showcase my... caring side, if you will, so they'll stop calling me iceblock and things like that. Do it for me?”
Loki could see right through her lie. Damn he was good, even half dead.
“There's no need. I'm all right.”
No, he wasn't. He was swaying as he walked, his whole body felt on fire and he felt incredibly nauseous, and was swallowing a hundred times a minute all that excess saliva, hoping that whatever he'd eaten the previous would stay in its place. He was also covered in a cold sweat, and had a hard time keeping his eyes open, or taking a single deep breath.
Sure, he was absolutely all right.
He tried to get ahead of Gamora, but felt extremely dizzy, and his knees started buckling. She caught him before he fell, and when he managed to come back to his senses properly, his eyes were cloudy, and sad. He was being pathetic in front of one of the most amazing warriors in the universe. He hated himself and his stupid sickly body.
Gamora kept trying to fix it, as they walked towards the way too far away place where the last transport was.
“I understand it, too. Always trying to be whole, the best of the best, and never being absolutely approved by your horrible kingly father. I was there too, you know.”
“You?”
“Yes, me. And I know that after a life trying to be that extremely strong presence it's hard to show weakness, to be vulnerable. It's hard for all of us – we all want to be the best, the strongest, the most resilient. But nobody is perfect – we all have flaws, and we all have limits. Myself included.”
Loki looked at her, as he unsteadily kept walking, with an ironic look that said “really?”
“And besides, the others are gone, and you don't need to prove yourself to me. You'll never be anything else than a amazing warrior in my eyes.”
Loki seemed he'd die of shock, and nearly choked on air, tripped on the floor.
She held him, while trying to stifle a laugh.
“Why so surprised? You're incredible with words, which a skill that could have saved me and my sister from many bad situations, you're somehow subtle and overdramatic at the same time, and you're incredibly resourceful. I mean, the things you do with magic alone, not to mention how you work with those knives...”
Loki was feeling floating, like on a dream. Maybe he was dreaming, because those words seemed too good to be be true. His legs failed him again, and the world was spinning. He barely noticed throwing up all that bile, or how his legs left the floor. He was at peace and the mighty Gamora thought he was “an amazing warrior”. Nothing was wrong.
For Gamora, on the other hand, things looked very wrong. Loki was barely conscious, he'd probably hurt his throat and maybe his lungs throwing up all that acid, and he could no longer walk. She'd taken him in her arms, as despite his length he was surprisingly thin, and she didn't like the uncoordinated way his eyes opened and closed. And she'd put her hand on his forehead, and it was even hotter than before. She nearly burnt her hand.
They managed to get to the transporter, Gamora placed the sick man next to her, his head resting on her shoulder. Loki purred, content despite being extremely sick, and Shuri, the greatest meme-ist in their little group, held up a sign in her tablet, that simply read.
“This is the cutest shit I've ever seen.”