Work Text:
Your period hit you at 5:00 AM like a freight train. Cramps, insomnia, nausea, migraine; the whole nine yards. After an hour, it became clear that it was not letting up any time soon, and you called in sick from your morning shift at the coffee shop.
A few of hours of tossing and turning, two boiling hot showers, and curling up around a heating pad, your phone on the nightstand buzzed. You ignored the first few notifications in favor of nearly drifting off to sleep before finally rolling over and picking the consistently vibrating device up. It showed messages from one person: Loki.
Thor and I noticed that you
were not at the coffee shop
this morning. My latte was
decidedly inferior to your
magical concoctions. :'(
Are you not well, love?
Miss __________?
If you do not answer posthaste I
will be forced to assume the
worst, find your apartment, and
break in.
Good thing you picked your phone up then. Blearily, you tapped out a reply.
No break-in necessary. The world isn't ending yet. Just shark week.
I will be back at tomorrow. Probably.
To your surprise, Loki answered almost immediately.
Shark week?
Yep.
I will be there in 20 minutes.
I'm fine, Loki! No idiot soldiers to protect me fr om this time.
I. Am. Coming.
You shook your head at his stubbornness and turned over, hoping for a little sleep before your newest friend broke into your apartment to, most likely, interrogate you about why were not at work to make his latte.
Sure enough, exactly twenty minutes later, Loki magicked your locks open, and hurried through your apartment, calling your name.
However, to your chagrin, he did not sound annoyed. The urgency and slight crack.....he sounded.........worried. Almost........scared.
"'M in 'ere," you called out, the blanket muffling your voice.
The bedroom door was practically thrown open to reveal a wide-eyed Loki. "_______? What's wrong? Where are the sharks?"
"Hmm?"
"The sharks," he reiterated. "You said-"
Your groan overrode his explanation. "Loki! It was a euphemism! It only feels like tiny sharks are gnawing on my insides-
"There are sharks eating your insides?!"
"No!" You sat up with a huff. "It only feels like it. I just have really bad cramps this month."
Your nausea decided to remind you of its presence right at that exact moment.
"Hold that thought." You flipped the covers off and dashed for your en suite bathroom, the heating pad trailing on the floor in your haste. You barely make it to the sink when last night's dinner which had been threatening to reappear for hours finally carried its threat out.
"......._______......?" Loki uncertainly shuffled into the room, then rushed to your side when the sounds of gagging reached him. His cool hands quickly pulled your hair back from your face allowing you to grip both sides of the sink in order to stay upright. As your gags faded into dry heaves, your legs began to tremble and nearly gave out, but he wrapped an arm around your waist, bracing you against his chest. Finally, the heaves seemed to cease. You rinsed your mouth out, and let your head fall back against Loki's shoulder, his arm around you doing the majority of work to keep your body standing.
"Please tell me what's happening to you, dear one," he murmured worriedly into your ear.
You shook your head, meeting his pleading eyes in the mirror. "It's just my period, Loki. Nothing to worry about."
"You're vomiting up dinner, and have tiny sea creatures eating you from the inside out, yet you say it's nothing to worry about?" he hissed.
"Loki, it's normal."
"Normal?!"
"Yeah. Every woman goes through it, to some degree, for 3-6 days once a month. Give or take."
"What?! How? Why?"
You turned his arms to look at him properly. "Loki, human women have a menstrual cycle or period roughly once a month. Don't ask me how. It's how our bodies prepare to have babies." You stumbled from his arms towards your bed. The cramps were beginning to reassert their dominance in your life at the moment.
"Oh. Really?" he answered faintly.
"Yeah."
"W-What does this....period... exactly entails?"
With a sigh, you listed your symptoms as you took another dose of painkillers and curled back up under the blankets with the heating pad.
His already pale face turned white. "You're bleeding? For the next six days?"
"Yes."
"................And...the tiny sharks are........"
"The cramping."
"And you endure this torture every month?"
"Yes, Loki. Every month."
"It is no wonder Thor took such pity on humans after he met Jane Foster and that Darcy girl...." he whispered. He looked you in the eye. "You will suffer through this......affliction... no longer. I will ensure you have everything to need to endure this trial."
"Loki-"
"We will need to inform your employer that you will be indisposed for the next week..."
"Loki-"
"But you need to rest first. Will you be needing additional pillows? Blankets?"
"No, Loki. Listen-"
"Are you sure? I want you to be comfortable."
"I'm not staying in bed all week, Loki!" you finally got out.
"B-But....you're....you're ill...."
"I don't think women have relegated themselves to the bed for the entirety of their period in almost a century, " you explained. "We might take off for the worst day, but other than that we just push through, business as usual."
Loki looked at you like you had sprouted a second head. "You go through all this pain and internal torture all for the sake of furthering your species, but they don't have the decency to let you endure it from the comfort and privacy of your own chambers?" he asked, incredulously. "You should be treated like queens! Aesir females do not endure anywhere near such discomfort for sake of child-bearing, but they are given every comfort."
"So......you treat them like goddesses?" you sleepily teased.
"Well.....yes."
"Sounds nice," you smiled. "However, we mere mortals aren't goddesses, so no divine treatment, usually."
"Sadly, there's naught I can do for the rest for humanity," Loki conceded. "But I can give you the proper care you deserve."
You shook your head good-naturedly. "Loki..."
He silenced you with a kiss to the back of your hands. "I will take care of you, my lady," he said softly. "Starting with tidying up the bathroom."
"Y-you sure?" you squeaked, your throat suddenly constricted as you blushed.
He grinned at the faint color returning to your pale cheeks and stroked your hair back from your face. "Yes, darling. I'm sure."
"O-Okay." You closed your eyes, hoping for sleep.
Unfortunately, the cramps worsen by the time Loki returned from cleaning out the sink. The little whimpers escaping your lips had him rushing to your side once more.
"What do you need, ______?"
"Temporary removal of my ovaries," you ground out.
Loki chuckled. "Unfortunately, I don't think that's possible."
"Gee, thanks." You opened your eyes as he began running his fingers through your hair again. You bit your lip, wondering if voicing your real wish would be appropriate or too forward considering Loki was not much more than an acquaintance really.
As if he could read your mind, Loki asked "What is it, love?"
"............H-Hold me.....for..........just a little while? Like....just till I fall asleep......maybe?"
He chuckled at your stuttered request. "Whatever my lady wishes," he answered, climbing behind you on the bed. You turned over, and he opened his arms, letting you shyly cuddle up to his side and rest your head on his chest. One hand-held one of yours to his heart while the other returned to combing through your hair.
In minutes, you were fast asleep.
Loki smiled softly, marveling at your complete trust in him. No one would ask to be held by someone they did not trust. No one could fall asleep like that unless they trusted the person they were with.
Kissing your forehead once more, he quietly vowed, "I will take care of you from this moment on, my Midgardian goddess."
requested by PotterGirl on Quotev