The Joy of Agony | Loki

I'm Still Here.

ERYN

           "Oh my god," I muttered in horror as my hand flew to the cold necklace around my neck. No, not again, I pleaded mentally. It was glowing, but it was doing so very faintly as it loosed its power source...Loki.

           "Rin Tin Tin, you're scaring me." Tony said, loosing his professional tone. He was sitting in front of me, fingers tapping at the polished desk before him frantically. "You know I was just joking about the initiation ritual, right? You don't need to run around my building wearing an Iron Man inspired onesie."

            I tried so hard to keep a straight face, trying to push my feelings aside. I was in the middle of a job interview...but I failed. Oh my god. This can't be happening. Tears began to blur my vision, and suddenly, I couldn't care less if Tony was sitting in front of me. All I cared about was if Loki was alright, but obviously by the chills that the necklace was giving me, he wasn't. The real question was: what exactly happened?

              I refused to believe or accept the thought of him being dead. He can't be. 

             "Eryn?"

             A choked sob escaped from as I covered my face with my hands...but what if he was?

          "Eryn? Are you with me? I'm calling Bruce right now." Tony said worriedly. I could picture him looking at me uncomfortably. He was never the one to be sentimental with. I heard him speak hurriedly to Bruce over the phone as he stood up from his seat.

            "Hey," he whispered as he placed a hand on my back, trying to be soothing. "What's wrong?"

               "I-I don't know." I stammered in realization as I felt my stomach drop. 

             Tony's hand outstretched in front of me as he offered me his tissue box. I took it, wiping away at my tears. The tissue came back stained with black which was no surprise since my makeup was not waterproof. "I'm sorry, Tony. This is totally unprofessional." I whispered.

              He smiled as if to wave off my concern. "Don't worry about it, raccoon eyes. The job was yours from the start. I just wanted to give you a hard time, but it seems to me that someone beat me to it."

           I choked out a laugh, my lips turning up into the faintest of smiles. A look of relief came across his face as he noticed that my horrible sobbing lowered down to silent tears. Taking a seat on the desk in front of me, he wiped at my tears with a tissue. "You just gave me a big scare right now! If you don't mind me asking...what the hell just happened?"

           Bruce barged into the room just as I began to open my mouth. "I came as fast I could. What is going on?"

           He came to stand by me, leaning against the chair I sat at. I looked up at him, taking his hand in mine. I know that he'd be relieved -maybe, even happy- at the news, but I hoped he could look past his biased feelings.