Erosion of the Heart

Movin' On

Loki darted from room to room gathering a bunch of his things and stuffing them in a suitcase. Soft panting escaped his parted lips as he haphazardly folded his clothing and pressed them down to fit them all in. He pats his sides franticly and began searching through the room's drawers and shelves. Tony walked in, a cup of coffee in one hand, and lifted his other in silent question. Loki glanced up at him not breaking from his search, "I have to leave."

"...M'kay." Tony shrugged and took a sip of his coffee. Loki pulled at his hair frustrated and let out a swear in some tongue Tony didn't understand.

"Deep breath." Tony advised, "What are you looking for?"

"You wouldn't know." Loki snapped before letting out a sigh and let his hands drop to his side thinking for a moment. He looked back at Tony after a moment of silence with a raise of a brow and questioned, "Aren't you going to ask where I'm going?"

Tony calked his one brow up in response, "No? Why should I?"

"Because! It's not every day I'm running around the place like a mad man-" He paused catching another skeptical look from Tony, "I mean I'm packing to leave! Leave the planet, this reality, the -the entire timeline."

Tony took another sip and nodded, "Okay. Well, thanks for letting me know."

"You are not the least bit worried about the reason why?" He asked.

"Loki, I've been having visions of doom and gloom since New York. Okay, I have anxiety and actually, I should really not be drinking this coffee." He looked down in his cup to see the last swallow of the lukewarm black coffee and quickly finished it setting the cup on the side table, "Whatever it is I'm sure you have your reason for not telling me."

"Yes. I just... I expected you to be..." He shrugged.

"Upset? Concerned? Worried? Yeah, I am. Sorta." He shrugged.

"Are you alright Anthony?" Loki walked over and took his hands into his, "You're being emotionally cold."

"You'll be back. Right?" Tony asked looking up to his eyes, "I'll miss you."

"That is the plan. But it might take a while." He let go of Tony's hands to take his face into his palms instead. Tony brought his hands to pull Loki's away and gave a smile, "I'll be fine. Just be safe. Or, stay alive."

Loki was very put off about his emotional distance though he couldn't blame him, considering what their relationship had been throughout these years, it's been two years since they made their arrangement. He decided to break his promise about reading Tony's thoughts and peered inside his mind.

He truly was having trouble sorting out his emotions about him leaving. His strong will of putting up his iron front of being completely unshakable was battling with a sad emptiness once he'd be truly alone. Loki smiled and gave him a hug.

"You will be alright Anthony. No matter what happens I'll come back to you." He went back to looking through the items in the drawers before finally finding the small device he'd been looking for and closing up his suitcase. Saying another farewell to a stoic Stark he spared another smile and last glance before disappearing.

After Loki left Tony felt oddly at peace, perhaps it was a calm before the storm, or his emotional heart had gone numb after Pepper and Steve severed it from his chest. But once he was alone he went down to his workshop and went to the building, just as usual. After a few hours of tinkering, he got a call from Peter Parker.

"Hey, Kid."

"Mr. Stark!" Peter always sounded surprised when he picked up his phone, "Hey! Uhm, this isn't a bad time is it? Happy told me that you were busy keeping an eye on Loki."