dahlia? (a loki fanfic)

chapter thirtyeight.

Loki was awoken at 11AM the following morning. An annoying knock on the door from the room next to him had interrupted his slumber.

He didn't think much of it at first, until he realized the knocks were on Dahlia's door. He looked down at her sleeping body, her head was still resting on his shoulder. She hadn't moved the entire night. That meant no nightmares.

But who was knocking? They only knocked a few times before Loki heard the door being opened. Whoever it was, they were going to see her baggie. He didn't have time to properly think through what consequences that would bring before someone knocked on his door too.

He glared at the door. It better not be Thor. If Thor woke Dahlia up right now, just to do something dumb or really for any reason, Loki was certain his anger would explode.

Loki's door was locked, however, which meant that unless Thor started screaming, she wouldn't wake up. She was sleeping through the knocking so far, hopefully she would continue to do just that.

The sound of a key entering the keyhole made Loki tense. A key? Who would have a key to-

Tony Stark, wearing sunglasses inside, stood in the door, the light from the hallway hitting the bed directly, almost blinding Loki.

"Yeaaah, alright. Get up." He looked directly at Loki, stone-faced, making eye contact with him.

"Poor timing." Loki was speaking as quietly as he possibly could while still speaking loud enough for Tony to hear him.

"Don't care, loverboy. Up."

Loki looked back down on Dahlia, who was still asleep. Had he not been as prideful as he was, he would have asked nicely. Truly. What he wanted to say was 'She hasn't slept like this in forever', 'I don't want to wake her', 'I don't know if she'll be able to fall back asleep after she wakes', 'A few more minutes, please'.

He knew it would be the right thing to do. He wanted to do it.

He couldn't.

He sighed before clenching his jaw as he tried to pry himself out of her arms without disrupting her sleep. Once he did so, he started walking towards the door, simultaneously changing his outfit to a casual-ish asgardian leather one, boots and all. His hair followed suit, now looking as perfect as it did when he was still on Asgard with Dahlia.

Tony let Loki step outside of the room before closing the door behind him.

"You threw Rogers into my wall." Tony stated the fact, clenching his jaw just as Loki was doing, glaring up at him. The height difference was ridiculous, but the energy was tense.

Loki weighed his options. God of lies, after all. However, lying now probably wouldn't help him much, would it? Yelling certainly wouldn't, he knew he was on thin ice. He probably would be until his demise. Doomed to walking on eggshells.

"I'm being generous and giving you the chance to explain yourself. You're throwing it away, antlers." Tony crossed his arms impatiently. He was clearly angry.

What could he even say? He couldn't say anything without sounding like he'd gone soft. He didn't want anyone in this building to view him like that. Anyone in the world, really. Except, perhaps, for Dahlia. And maybe Thor, every now and then.

"I'll fix the wall." Maybe Tony would fall for the distraction manuvre. He probably wouldn't, but it was worth a try. Being this tired and hungover while trying to doctor this plan was... unfavorable.

"I don't care about the wall, you were clearly told not to do stupid fucking shit when we allowed you to stay here. You should be rotting in some prison right now, yet you're here, on my property, acting like a spoiled teenager." Tony scolded, making Loki's eyes narrow while looking at him.

He was right. He should be, but who would be with Dahlia if he was gone? Lately he hadn't been much help either, maybe it didn't matter. Maybe Tony knew that. Was he only allowed to stay because of Dahlia? Likely.

After a few moments of silence, both men glaring at each other, the billionaire spoke again. "Why is she in your bed?"

"She can't sleep alone." Loki answered truthfully, his expression unchanged. Tony looked unconvinced.

"She's been sleeping alone for weeks."

"You don't suppose I forced her to sleep in my bed?"

"Wouldn't put it past you."

Loki scoffed, offended. "Why don't you just ask her then? Why bother asking me at all?"

"I was planning to, but she wasn't in her room. However, now that you mention it-" Tony opened the door back up, Loki didn't have time to stop him. The light from the door lit up the bed again. This time, Dahlia was awake, sitting curled up in the corner of the bed, leaning against the wall. She looked at the two in the door.

She looked exhausted, no longer peaceful, but she didn't look dead.

Loki almost sighed in relief. She was still herself, right? It was Dahl, not her shell. Her

"Good morning, kid." Tony greeted as he walked in. Loki stayed in the doorframe, her eyes moved back and forth between the two.

"I wanna talk to you, it that okay?" He asked, his tone was drastically different now. Kinder, softer, disarmed.

Dahlia looked at Loki as if asking if it was safe. He nodded subtly to her. She moved her eyes back to Tony and nodded too.

"Great!" Tony clapped his hands then pointed to the door. "I'll wait for you by the exit. We should both get some sunlight." He smiled at her as he turned around, his shoulder purposefully bumping into Loki when he walked past him.

Loki watched Tony walk up the stairs before walking back into the bedroom, turning on the light and closing the door. He turned the lock again.

"I didn't want to wake you." He scanned her up and down, trying to hide his frustration.

"Am I in trouble?" Dahlia asked when Loki sat down at the edge of the bed. He shook his head.

"Are you in trouble?"

He didn't answer her question, instead he reached out and held her hand, her other one still wrapped around her legs in her curled position.

"Are you well enough to go speak with him?" She nodded silently as an answer. He rubbed his thumb comfortingly against her hand.

Her braids were a mess again. He thought about helping her re-braid them, but there was no time for that now.

Later. Maybe later.