Still Holding On

Chapter 19

Tony is fast asleep when he feels a kick to his leg.

He tries to ignore it.

Then he gets kicked again.

Tony sighs and rolls over, and he finds that he and Loki have both moved a little further into the middle of the bed throughout the night. He moves back a few inches to offset that. He squints his eyes, too tired to open them fully, and watches Loki for a few moments.

Loki twitches and his leg kicks out again, just barely missing Tony's. He whines softly, rolling over so his face falls against the pillow. He twitches again, and his whole body convulses, curling in on himself.

Tony groans. Well, this is what he's here for.

He reaches over and grabs Loki's shoulder, shaking him back and forth. "Hey, Loki. Wake up."

"Mm," Loki hums. He groans softly rolls onto his side and his eyes flutter open. "Sorry," he mumbles. "Bad dream."

"I figured," Tony mutters. "JARVIS, what time is it?"

"It is almost eight o'clock, sir," JARVIS answers obediently.

Tony groans and closes his eyes again. "I'm going back to sleep."

"I would rather not," Loki tells him. "What should I do while you sleep?"

"I don't care," Tony mumbles. "Whatever you want. Just don't leave the building."

The bed creaks quietly as Loki sits up. "I don't know my way around the tower."

"Then stay here. I don't care. Let me sleep."

There's a pause, then the bed creaks again as he lies back down.

Tony pulls his blanket close and readjusts his position, getting comfortable yet again. Okay, back to sleep.

A minute or so passes.

"Stark?" Loki says quietly. "Is this your water bottle?"

"You can have it."

"Thank you," Loki whispers.

The bed creaks again as Loki gets up. Tony slips a pillow out from under himself and shoves it over his ear. He might come to regret this in the morning – or whenever he gets up – but right now, he doesn't care what Loki gets up to as long as he leaves Tony alone. He's too goddamn tired for this.

~~~

When Tony wakes up again, it's not Loki who's touching him unnecessarily.

It's the other way around.

He finds himself with his head on Loki's shoulder, his arm thrown lazily across his chest, and their legs tangled up together. There is absolutely nothing more energizing than waking up in this position. He sits up immediately, moving all the way back to the other side of the bed and leaning against the wall, his legs pulled into his chest.

And, of course, Loki's awake through it all, watching Tony with a brow raised and an unreadable expression on his face.

Tony rubs the sleep from his eyes. "How long have you been up?" Not the whole time, he hopes.

"A while," Loki says. "I cannot see the clock from here. I imagine no more than an hour."

Tony looks over his shoulder at the clock on his bedside table. It's just barely past noon. He's not sure when Loki went back to bed, but he'd like to think it means he got a decent night's sleep. Otherwise, this whole arrangement was a waste of time and effort.

"And how long was I lying on top of you like a dead fish?" Tony asks.

The question earns a small smile from him. "Nearly as long as I've been awake."