✍🏻 Bonds of Fear (Loki)

16 - Unwelcomed Visitor

Loki

She got up from the chair so fast that I struggled to keep up with her in my animal form. As she stumbled through the door she left it open, giving me enough time to fly through, and though I couldn't wait to be human again, she looked so distressed I didn't want her to sense me. I stayed in the form of a small fly but was too slow to keep up, eventually losing her in one of the hallways.

I shape-shifted back to my human form and leaned against the wall, flexing my fingers and appreciating I had only two legs and two arms again. I was processing everything I'd heard and was hesitant to go after her. She looked like she needed some - or rather a lot - privacy. Eventually, I peeled myself off the wall and walked toward her apartment anyway, hoping she would spill more of her secrets in such a vulnerable state.

I regretted that decision the second I closed her apartment door and saw the sight in front of me.

She was sitting on the floor, her knees pulled up and her body rocking back and forth. The strange fog of darkness was emitting from her again even though she was awake, whispering something on repeat like a mantra and hitting her temple with the heel of her palm. Only once I walked closer I made out she was saying the word 'focus' over and over again.

I took a deep breath and squatted down, unsure of what was going on or what to say.

"Feer?" I asked cautiously and tried to touch her but her hand flew up, slapping mine away.

"Stop it!" She growled and started to pull on the roots of her hair, her eyes fixed on her knees. "Stop being so fucking worried about me."

"Huh?"

"I can feel it!" She got up and began to frantically pace across the room, upset and confused. "I can feel everything!" That only confirmed my theory that her shield was gone though I didn't know what it meant, especially if she was awake. Or rather, what would be the consequences.

"What can I do for you?"

"Just shut up!!" She yelled, angrier than I'd ever seen her, and started to pace again, massaging her temples. "Focus, focus, focus." The more agitated she got, the more worried I was, receiving a growl from her whenever she passed me by. The idea of leaving her crossed my mind but before I could come to a decision, she collapsed to her knees and wrapped her arms around her stomach, whimpering in pain.

"Are you okay?!" I rushed over and laid my hand on her back, but the moment I made physical contact with her body, I dropped to my knees as well, feeling a dull but intense pain in my abdomen. It was as if somebody punched me with a strong force and it was so sudden I didn't manage to hold back a quiet whimper. As my hand slid from her, the pain began to ebb away, the momentary link broken. It only confirmed my suspicion that she could transfer not only emotions but also physical feelings and I moved a few inches away not to come into contact with her. "What do you need, Feer? To make it stop?"

"I need to get to my boxes, to that place in my mind," she whined, still holding onto her stomach. "But I can't. I can't focus enough. Everything. It's just too much." I had no idea how to help her with that but before I could even consider any theories, she sat up, her eyes wide open and pushing her feet against the floor as if to move away from something. "No, no, no, not the nightmare box. Not that please." Her back hit the wall and she looked up at me with so much terror that it made my blood freeze. "Please help me, Loki."

Tears formed in her eyes and I slowly approached her, squatting down to be in her field of vision as her panicky eyes followed my every move. "Should I call for a doctor?"

"No, no, no," she quickly shook her head, her eyes pleading. "I already snapped last year. They would surely keep me locked up forever. It would play right into Fury's cards." Her hand shot up to her mouth and as if she wasn't scared to death a mere second ago, she started to quietly giggle. It lasted only a brief moment, the emotions running through her like a freight train and switching from one to another in no apparent order. Once she was back to feeling scared, she once more made eye contact and though she extended her arms to me, I pulled back, in no way planning to feel what she was going through. "I need to lose consciousness."