My Love, My Blood (Vampire!LokixReader)

Chapter Six

(Loki's Pov)

Day Two.

Really it felt like day three of this illness, but Loki knew this couldn't have been the case. He blamed the feeling on having stayed up most of the night, much to the Avengers' annoyance. Y/N claimed to already be on such a schedule and stayed by his side, or at least that's what he heard during the snippets he was coherent enough to form a conversation. This transformation left the prince feeling worse than any curse he's ever had to deal with. His entire body shook with a pain that slowly tore him apart, stitching foreign powers in between the damages. A history of Vampires being sewn into his body one trait at a time.

Like his ears. One moment they felt round at the tips, the next Y/N was making sure nothing had developed wrong. The tips poking against the pillow when he laid down. His Jotun form still hadn't left, as the prince continued to fight a fever.

In the morning breakfast was presented. Loki ate some, but nothing sated the strange craving that started in the pits of his chest. Nothing that demanded anything of him yet, but it felt different. A threatening kind of hunger. It wasn't... normal. His body didn't feel normal, even when his Jotun form subsided. Loki supposed it must've been subdued by what fragments of his magic returned. Not enough to cast any spells, despite how he wanted to. He just wished this agony could be over.

"... don't think there are many volunteers to be sucked on."

"There's probably other ways, maybe animal blood would suffice. I'm not sure."

Voices floated in and out as Loki slowly awoke, their whispers like shouts now. Everything sounded too loud, or too bright, too hot. His head ached with every syllable they uttered, "I'll see what I can do."

Loki peeked his eyes open, glaring in the direction of his visitors. "I am trying to sleep, you know."

"Holy shit." Stark muttered under his breath, catching sight of the patient. He stood just a little ways behind Y/N, who remained beside his bed. Loki couldn't think of a time she wasn't there. He admired her dedication, at least. "What is up with your eyes?"

Loki's face twisted in concern, noticing no difference in his vision as of yet. Perhaps a touch sharper in the dark, but nothing that warranted such a reaction. "What?"

Y/N turned from her conversation with the billionaire, meeting Loki's cautious glance. For two seconds, before turning away to cover an emotion he only caught a glimpse of.

Why in all the realms was she afraid of him?

"Stark, I told you this was going to happen." She scolded the visitor of this hour, rolling her own eyes before turning back to Loki. "Your irises are starting to turn yellow. Tony is just being an ass."

"Hey!" Ironman huffed at the insult, his shout making both of them wince. Loki from the sudden volume, and Y/N... Well, Loki only supposed he had surprised her.

The prince looked back to his caretaker, studying her movements for a moment. He knew so little about her, their conversations often limited by his own abilities to communicate effectively. But right now, after having slept through most of the daylight hours, he felt well enough to ask. "Is there any way I can see them?"

She hesitated. "I don't know if you've lost your reflection yet... Tony, can you grab a mirror? As long as it is a modern one I think it will be okay."

"Sure." He started to head for the door, pausing in his step. "You're good?"

Y/N nodded, as Stark left the room. Loki thought nothing of his question for the time being, thinking of how many other changes might happen to himself. Ears, eyes, fangs... What else? His senses were already heightened, what else could be in store?

The two of them fell into silence. Loki tried to piece together the emotions on Y/n's face, only finding one that he could recognize. Fear.

"Are you afraid of me?" The question tumbled from his lips before Loki could second guess them, more than likely a result of his weary mind. But he thought that she liked, or at least could tolerate, his presence. It's why she stayed, wasn't it? Instead of ditching the care of a stranger onto the team.

Y/N looked up from wherever her eyes had wandered, holding his own for the smallest fraction of a second before looking back to the floor. She bit her lip in thought, always pausing before any words came out. Loki would've given anything to know what was going on in her mind during those moments. She didn't seem to know, nor care, about what Loki had done when they first met. But now she could barely look at him. Was it the Avengers? Had they told her of his horrible deeds at the hands of Thanos? Just when he thought she had given up, Y/N found the words. "I'm not afraid of you. It's just... I'm scared of what you could do."

She knew. She had to know about the attack on New York by now. There was no reason to keep it a secret, but he felt devastated that she feared him. "I won't hurt you. I don't even think I could do much now." Loki laughed, trying to make light of the situation. Despite how such an action made his chest ache, only further proving his point.

"I know." Y/n sighed, taking a moment to gather her thoughts. "You saw me in the coven, Loki. I've only ever known that treatment from vampires." By now she refused to meet his eyes. Loki knew what she was talking about, or at the very least he assumed. They had been using her as a source for their feedings, and treated her as nothing more. He hated the very idea of it. Then even more so, the idea that he would have to learn to drink blood too. "I know you wouldn't, but I can't just turn off my fear of having to deal with anything even like that again."

The way she talked about her time there, Loki wondered if he had missed some piece of information. He despised the idea of feeding from a being, surely she could see that. Let alone out of all the people in the realms, Loki would choose her for blood. She's helping and making sure he doesn't die during his transformation. It would be a poor gift of gratitude.

"Y/N-"

"I found one!" Stark's voice carried down the hall, distracting the prince. Within moments he reached the door and entered. "Here you go."

Loki nodded his thanks as he took the looking glass, sparing a sorry glance to Y/n. She shouldn't have had to go through that. No one should. It was barbaric. The prince held up the mirror, grimacing. "I look like shit."

Stark laughed, muttering something along the lines of "you finally realise". Y/N wasn't so cruel, trying to explain that anyone would look that way during what he's going through. "It's good that you can see your eyes, though. It's a telltale for how long you have until you absolutely need to feed. When you're 'full', or just after a feeding, your normal eye color should return for a bit. Then they slowly turn yellow, before turning darker into black if you're starved. You should never wait that long."

Loki wondered how she could know so much as just a bloodsource for the coven, but decided against asking. She seemed so hesitant when they talked about it earlier. He didn't want to pry. "I'll try not to, then."

"So what's left for Reindeer Games's turning?" Tony asked, looking between the two of them.

Loki wished he could describe her expression as anything but impending doom. "The worst of it."