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The battle was over. Thanos and his army had collapsed into dust to be carried away by the wind, taken down by his own weapon of mass destruction in a feat no one thought possible. Avengers and those aligned littered the barren land where the Avengers Compound once stood, then flattened into a plateau of destruction, the low but still significant body count on their part being collected in their period of silence. No one knew what to say. For some it was the shock of the horrors of the past five years all just vanishing at once as if it had never existed in the first place. For others it was the shock of the horrors from the past 12 years all coming to an abrupt close that almost seemed too simple to match the life of a genocidal maniac with a god complex and a torture streak. Or maybe that was just Loki in the latter. But nevertheless, Tony was dead as a hero in the center of it all with much of the fighters' eyes on his cold corpse.
Stephen was one of them.
With the waterfall he had spent most of the fight holding up to prevent a flood finally sealed up, guilt was quick to well up in his chest, knowing that he was the one who told him to do what caused his death. He had killed another man. Sure Stephen had seen the realities, he knew that it was the only way, everyone else would have perished otherwise, but the pain and regret was still there as if he could have saved him. It was typical of him to think he could always rescue everyone. Unfortunately, it just wasn't reality. Even worse was that his brain refused to accept that fact and continue to torment him over the metaphorical blood on his shattered hands.
Loki was the only person close to where he stood. Wong and other Kamar-Taj students were busy with clean up and healing the injured while their sorcerer supreme was pathetically standing still with a storm cloud suffocating his mind, so Loki, still a misfit in the crowd of heroes and therefore unknowing of what to do, kept close to at least feel that he wasn't completely alone. But their close proximity made him be the only one to witness Stephen's obvious pain emitted through his sunken expression and defeated posture. And it confused him.
Of course he didn't know much about Stephen. Their only interaction was the time he had been sent cascading through the mirror dimension for half an hour, and that certainly wasn't a positive one, yet Loki couldn't really bring himself to hate him since he knew it was only to 'protect the planet'. He knew was a danger on Earth. But anyway, no matter the fact that he wasn't familiar with the man, his lack of elation was confusing. Loki himself wasn't jumping for joy, but at least Thanos was gone and they wouldn't have to worry about the purple bastard for every second of his goddamn life anymore. His neck still hurt when everything got quiet. So why was Stephen looking almost depressed?
Having little better to do and almost unable to remove his gaze from him, Loki slowly pushed himself up to his feet and took a cautious step closer as he played with his fingers. He didn't say anything, that would be far too awkward for him to do, but the nearer proximity allowed him to finally read everything that was on his surprisingly expressive face.
It was guilt. Loki knew that emotion practically better than anything else, and it was clearly guilt that was forcing Stephen to nearly the bridge of tears. Guilt of exactly what was still unknown, but really guilt of any kind wasn't pleasant. Loki didn't know how he could help. Despite how the average person might think about him, he did actually care about people, and he couldn't very well walk away knowing Stephen was right there and in pain.
There was really only one thing that came to mind. It was incredibly embarrassing and put Loki in an extremely vulnerable place, but it was either that or awkwardly standing there and staring at him, so he risked it all for the well being of another. As usual.
Loki hugged him. It was cautious, him finally stepping all the way up to Stephen and daring to raise his hands, one arm rested over his left shoulder and the other under his right arm to connect on his back, his face buried in the crook of his neck as if that would prevent any repercussions from his actions. His fight or flight references immediately kicked in as he felt Stephen's body tense up against his own in surprise, Loki seconds away from just letting go of him and teleporting away in shame. But he didn't. Because Stephen grew lax against him and slipped his arms around his waist, resting his cheek on his shoulder and sighing on the sensitive part of his exposed neck. Loki held him tighter to prevent him from shivering.
It was almost nice.
There were no dividers between them.
In that moment they weren't Stephen and Loki, hero and villain, mortal and god, none of that. There was no power dynamic separating them. They were simply two souls connecting for a small section of time, nothing in common except the exchange of comforter and to be comforted, offering support as it was lacking, just for that moment. Any thought of vulnerability was also forgotten completely as tears began to soak into Loki's shoulder pads.
"It's okay," Loki whispered in a split second decision to further his aid, digging his fingers in and beginning to rub little circles on his back, making sure that he was really the shoulder that Stephen could cry on. "I honestly have no idea why you're emotional, and I won't pretend to, but I know guilt. I know how much it fucking sucks and devours you from the inside out until you feel like a pathetic shell of yourself. So I might not know what you're going through, and you don't have to tell me, but I'm here right now and I support you. And tell you that your guilt does not define you."
Stephen's hands spasmed against the small of his back as he cried a little harder, whispering his thank you over and over again between his sobs. Loki only continued to massage him gently and comfort him through his sorrow until Stephen himself pulled back however long later once his crying had entirely ceased. His cheeks were a streaked red that Loki immediately cupped before his brain could even properly process what he was doing. Stephen only grinned and rested his still shaking hands around his wrists. "Thank you," he murmured once more. "That meant a lot to me."
"It's no problem. I'm glad I could help." Loki reluctantly removed his hands from Stephen's face, immediately missing the feeling of the soft stubble under his palms, to cup Stephen's scarred ones and survey the damage. "Do they hurt?"
"Always," Stephen answered. "But pain's an old friend."
Loki just scoffed. "Pain's an old bastard, let me help you."
More comfort was passed between them, that time with a small pain killer spell instead of simply a hug, although they nearly had the same amount of intimacy. Something pretty much in stark contrast to their typical outward personalities. But it was nice. Perhaps they were both more touch starved than they'd like to admit. The lack of outward pressure to conform to whatever and whoever they were allowed them to act as they wished without any other thoughts than their natural instincts to help and smile when someone was kind. No restrictions. Just love.
Eventually they had to part, their own respective destinations and responsibilities still looming elsewhere outside of that small bubble they had created for themselves in that one moment of time, and were both very reluctant to do so with a brand new intimacy having been established in a way both of them could receive and enjoy. But they nevertheless silently vowed as they walked away, irrefutably changed from something so very simple, that that wouldn't be the last time they saw each other.