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It was rare that there was a power outage at Avengers Tower. Tony had a lot of preventative measures in place and many backup power options. A lot of the tower’s power came from the arc reactor, so a power outage was not something that Tony had to worry about.
However, this wasn’t the case for Loki’s apartment in New York City. He had a small one bedroom apartment and had no control over the electricity. When there was a power outage that affected half of the city, Loki’s apartment was included. All of the lights went out when Tony and Loki were cuddled up together on the couch while watching a movie.
Tony tensed in his place when he suddenly was not able to see anything. The whole apartment was pitch black, and Tony could barely see his hand in front of him. The only thing that he was able to feel was Loki’s arm around him.
“Tony?” Loki asked. He must have noticed Tony go stiff.
“I’m fine,” Tony was quick to respond.
It was a lie, and Tony hoped that Loki wouldn’t see right through it. Tony hated the dark. He knew that it was pathetic, but complete darkness terrified him. It immediately brought him back to the dark cave in Afghanistan that he spent three months of nights in, and it was not a pleasant feeling. If he was in a situation where it was so dark that he couldn’t see anything, he used to always have some light from his arc reactor. But ever since he got it removed, he made sure that there was always a source of light near him.
“You are shaking slightly, which you always do when you are frightened,” Loki said. Tony was a fool to hope that Loki wouldn’t notice. Loki knew him like the back of his hand.
“Not a fan of the dark,” Tony admitted.
He never actually told this to anyone before. He preferred to push his issues aside and ignore them, but he felt genuinely scared since the lights went out. Tony tried to look around the room to find an escape, but he couldn’t see well enough.
Loki pulled the arm that was around Tony’s shoulders away, and Tony felt his heart drop out of his chest. He really didn’t want to push Loki away over something as stupid as being scared of the dark. It was a fear Tony should not have had since he was five years old.
A green light appeared in Loki’s hands that were held out in front of Tony. The light was the same color as Loki’s magic. It was on the smaller side, around the size of an apple, but it lit up most of the room. Tony was able to finally see his boyfriend’s face, which wore an expression of concern. Within seconds, Tony felt much better.
“You do not have to worry when you are with me,” Loki told him.
“I’m sorry,” Tony said. He didn’t want to worry or annoy him with his stupid fear.
“No need. I do not enjoy the dark either,” Loki responded.
Tony was so thankful that he was with Loki instead of with someone else or alone. If he was alone, he wouldn’t have even had JARVIS around to help him. Loki was perfect, and Tony was so thankful to call him his.
“You’re too good to me, Lokes,” Tony grinned, feeling a little better. He stopped shaking and only felt slightly unsettled.
“I think you are the first person to use the word ‘good’ to describe me,” Loki chuckled.
The comment wasn’t meant to be self-deprecating, but Tony hated seeing Loki feel that way. His boyfriend definitely made some mistakes in the past, but they talked through them and Tony was able to see how the invasion wasn’t his fault. Other than that, Loki was more of a prankster than a villain. He never harmed anyone.
“You’re amazing, Loki. No one else would have made me a nightlight out of magic just because I was scared,” Tony said to him.
Loki leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on the top of Tony’s head.
“You are amazing, too.”