I do wander everywhere/Swifter than the Moon's sphere ((for handsofwinter))

[coldsong]

Well, that was damned exhausting.

Not that the affair was unsuccessful, at least from Loki's perspective. Some of the conversations were friendly, very few were openly hostile, and in the end he not only got a solid answer, but the answer he hoped for. Some might accuse him of manipulating the conversations--and maybe he did, a little bit--but he was genuinely braced for a worse outcome. Loki never expected the Nexus to openly declare war on the Eliksni, but he wouldn't have been shocked if no agreement had been reached and he'd had to go back to Pelsor and lie to save Ghost.

He also rather expected, as the messenger, to be shot at more.

All in all, he's glad it's over, and he'd extricate himself from the position he's in, except now he needs, really needs to be in the middle of this and monitor the potential for hostilities. Because the last children of Asgard are now in the Nexus, and if something happens to them, he will have to burn down the universe himself.

He approaches the Eliksni camp invisible until he reaches the edge, at which point he unveils himself to the nearest guard and politely requests to see the Baroness. As promised, he is conducted to her with no threat of violence, although he fancies he is once again getting a lot of funny looks. (The Guardians thought he was an Awoken, did they not? He has no idea what that means, but if it's something they could mistake him for, perhaps the Fallen might, as well. He'll ask someone, sooner or later.)

He is alert once more when he enters the throne room, less afraid of attack, but half hoping to see Ghost in his miniature prison, somewhere. Either way, he gives Pelsor a graceful bow. "It was a strange conversation," he tells her, "but the short version is no one especially wants to fight any longer, everyone wants Blaze back, and they don't trust you but they do accept your terms. Also, I have gifts for you."

Comments

[coldsong]

He bows in farewell. There will always be questions he dare not ask in these meetings. One query at a time, the most important and least likely to rock the boat. He would ask why they set the trap they did, with food they could not eat, but he has a solid working theory and doesn't need to satisfy that curiosity yet. He would ask about their history, their plans, but has no doubt if he seems too pushy with his interest, they will cease to find him useful as a messenger.

Everything is a delicate dance, and if he can get more details from Ghost--who has been among them for quite a while now--that's a safer route.

"Again, my gratitude, Baroness," he says. "If you have lost ones or questions, please call on me. I will come as swiftly as I am able."

He should have thought to bring them a PINpoint, perhaps. But they're clever. They'll figure something out, no doubt, if they want him. Wander right into the Plaza cloaked, he imagines, if they really need something.

He notes Pelsor rise and move to depart, and notes the body language, as well. Injured? Ill? That's not good. But it is yet another thing he dare not question just yet.

He turns to look at Ghost, "Stay close. If you want me to carry you, I can." He offers a hand, palm up.

[rekindledtitan]

Though they agreed to hold their fire, and were very specific in forbidding anyone else to enter their territory, the Fallen never offered any such bar to their roaming the rest of the Nexus. Safe to assume they'll take full advantage of it, even if going cloaked helps prevent unwanted attentions from the locals.

Ghost looks up at Loki silently, points twitching, then darts close behind him again. Apparently verbal responses are off the table along with being carried.

He might regret the latter choice, though, when they plunge back into the winding bowels of the Fallen hallways. The little Ghost is more than adept at flitting out of sight within his larger companion's shadow as they move, but there are Eliksni everywhere. Those who catch sight of him respond with all the surprise Loki gets and all the hostile growling Loki does not. There is a guard to snap at them, but the way Ghost bolts around Loki to hide says he isn't reassured in the slightest. Lexoris glances back at this with an air of amusement.

He misses his Guardian. He needs his Guardian. But they're still so very far away...

[coldsong]

They may get rather a lot of unwanted attention from the locals, if Loki's query session in the Nexus is any indication. But that is a problem for them, or for Future Loki, or both.

"--oh." He blinks at the way Ghost duck behind him like a frightened child. It reminds him uncomfortably of the way his refugee children are hiding and clinging in turns. "All right," he says gently. "But the offer stands."

He'll move a bit more slowly, allowing Ghost to duck to and fro and keep Loki's body between himself and the Eliksni. And he responds to the stares and growls with little more than a red-eyed glance, making sure the most hostile can see that he is aware of them, but without any intent to engage, unless they make a foolish move.

He can growl too, and hiss like a serpent, but it shouldn't be necessary. This is posturing, and he assumes none will interfere, because this is the will of their Baroness.

[rekindledtitan]

From some the hostility is almost unthinking, but they settle back fast when they either catch Loki's red-eyed look or a glower from the guard. The Baroness has decided this, and her word is law... but it's not an easy thing for them to see done.

Ghost is a tiny erratic satellite in his orbit, a glimmer of light in the shadows. When the outer door finally hisses open and the daylight floods in on them... then he peeps out, after Lexoris. And visibly hesitates. It's much more exposed out there. And there are... a lot of Fallen around, watching. Perhaps word has spread. There'll be no hiding out there.

He sweeps a look around, then peers up at Loki uncertainly. And it really does look, for a second, as if he's about to take up that offer. But then he flits up to hover above Loki's shoulder, giving his shell a little flex as if to brace himself.

Time to face the public. It's not that far a walk to the banners marking the edge of the camp, but every step is going to stretch out for him, under hundreds of glowing blue eyes. At least they stay well out of Lexoris and Loki's way.And silent. Although in a way that feels much worse...

[coldsong]

Loki emerges into the sunlight with a little sigh of pleasure, tilting his face into the sun briefly, to all appearances as if he's indifferent to the mass of Eliksni that so dreadfully outnumber him and Ghost.

When the little robot hesitates, he takes note at once, though, which suggests his carelessness is an affectation. He is alert, terribly alert. "Come now," he tells Ghost quietly. "It's not raining. You know, Caspar was very concerned about you. He'll be pleased you've returned."

He moves through the camp, aware of the stares and pretending not to be. It is more eerie, the way they watch now as compared to the last time he was here. But Loki is a fan of the philosophy of never let them see you sweat. He glances to the side once or twice, meeting glowing eyes without flinching, but for the most part keeps his eyes on Lexoris.

Norns, though. Such tension. Pelsor is a brave leader, indeed, to do something her people find so counterintuitive. He's starting to admire her.

At the perimeter, he turns to Lexoris and bows slightly. "Be well, you and yours. I will not be hard to find, should you need me."

And he will depart, if there is no resistance, and if Ghost continues to follow him. Not until they're out of earshot will he speak to Ghost again, though, to murmur, "Well, that was intense. Are you all right?"

[rekindledtitan]

It's the longest walk of his life, beneath all those stares, painfully aware of how many weapons wait beside so many hands. The Ghost is doing his best to be brave, because he thinks it's important, in this moment. Because he thinks it's what his Guardian would want.

Even because, perhaps, he's a little tired of being threatened by these people.

He's still horribly relieved when they make the trees and he can put some obscuring trunks between himself and all the rifle-wielding sentries.

Lexoris returns the bow, with less flourish than his first greeting to Loki. He pans his bright, odd gaze over Jotun and Ghost both before he turns and heads back into the camp. They will be watched (from a distance) all the way out of Eliksni territory, but they will not be hindered.

Out from the immediate threat, Ghost puts more space between himself and Loki. But he doesn't drift far, and he keeps pace, still trusting his unlikely escort to see him home. Loki's quiet words draw a sideways glance of his optic. Then his gaze flits back over the path, and for a long moment he doesn't answer.

"Not yet." So quiet. A hint of yearning behind those two simple words. But he doesn't sound broken. Just... subdued.

[coldsong]

"Did they harm you in any way?" His voice is low again, neither cloying nor overly sentimental, but calm and quiet. He's still trying to be reassuring.

Truthfully, he has questions he'd like to ask, but he's trying to gauge how traumatized Ghost is. If he needs time to recover before giving useful answers, it'd be best to let him get back to Blaze first. If not, though, it's a rare opportunity to speak with him alone.

"Blaze has been under the care of Rogers and Romanoff, and now in the hands of a few others from your world. Tarana Parvin, Kaolin Sorn, and Ulysses-10. I don't know if you know them or not."

[rekindledtitan]

"No." No more than the simple fact of snatching him from his Guardian, desecrating her body, imprisoning him in the dark for

7922886 seconds and counting

but little beyond that. And that was a shock itself, a cause to fear at first, what they had in mind to keep him for. Until he heard Loki's voice in that ether-soaked room, listened and learned what his fate was meant to be. He still has no idea whether he was left untouched all this time because of the Jotun's request, or if the Fallen would always have been so careful not to jeopardize their truce.

He does remember that request.

There's a tiny electronic noise from him then, like a sigh of relief. When Romanoff's name was mentioned, well, his feelings about her are mixed, but... "They're our friends. I wondered... I'm glad she's with them."

The knowledge seems to reassure him a little - at least rouse him from the suffocating need to return to her right this instant. They're going, they're getting closer, step by step... and he, too, has questions on his mind. His gaze flits sidelong toward Loki.

"What made you say the crow-god was active this Winter?" Because he remembers seeing birds only once, in the long storm.

[coldsong]

Torture makes Loki uncomfortable. He's been on both sides of it, but all of his experiences have left him with a growing distaste. In the end, based on the way Parvin said the Fallen don't take prisoners, he imagines Pelsor is too pragmatic to waste time with torture unless information is at stake. Pain for pain's sake is the preoccupation of the damaged, the fetishist, or the sociopath. Still, he hedged his bets on purpose, and if Ghost noticed, that's not a bad thing.

He eyes Ghost sidelong, wondering if he should tell this secret. Romanoff did not specifically swear him to secrecy, although he sort of felt that she did not mean for him to go sharing her motivations all around the Nexus. But this is not all around the Nexus. This is to Ghost, who will doubtless share it with Blaze, and they are the two individuals with the most right to know in the entire place.

"Agent Romanoff," he answers. "I think she often finds herself in the position of being forced to do the necessary dirty work others will not, or cannot, do. That's the burden of the spy, not the soldier."

"She was ready to throttle me or worse at any point in the conversation we had, but I do not believe she lied to me. She told me she had been feeding the crows for a long while, thinking they were merely whimsical talking birds with a knack for trouble. But in the winter, their master or mistress came to her and told her Winter would not end unless a life was taken in tribute to it."

"Hence her decision. She did not expect you to be captured or Blaze's resurrection to be hindered."

"But I, for one, question the word of the crow goddess in this instance, based on my conversations with Reynard. Tribute is the realm of gods, and he doesn't like gods. Humans are forever trying to use blood to stop the storm from blowing or the Earth from shaking, but since when does that actually work?"

He shakes his head. "I have not asked North directly, and I'm not sure he would give me a straight answer if I did, but--I wonder."

[rekindledtitan]

Where his Exo partner is an open book, reactions obvious despite her mechanical face, Ghost himself is a completely different story. He doesn’t look surprised, however. The points of his shell spin once as Loki slots that key puzzle piece into place; the quiet Light within his shell burns a little brighter for a second, but he says nothing to outright betray the conflicting feelings within. The memory he’s kept reviewing, all that time in the dark.

Footsteps crunching soft and rapid in the snow behind them. “Trust me.”

He does. He should. He understands. And yet…

”Sacrifice wins survival,” he says softly. But he’s not certain. His gaze flits around the shadows beneath the trees, the rocky ground beneath them. It’s so quiet, after the storm. The air is cool but it doesn’t nip at his shell. The wind is a swift rustle through the leaves, but not a gale. Spring came, in the end. Inevitably.

”I don’t understand much when it comes to gods. I’m not sure why this one would lie to Agent Romanoff.” Unsure, but he can already formulate guesses. ”Unless she was protecting the Fallen. Or… she wanted the death.””

Which is a particularly worrying thought, because he doesn’t know enough to even begin to analyze the implications there.

[coldsong]

Loki hums thoughtfully. He's not completely certain Reynard would have had no part of Blaze's death at Natasha's hand. He didn't seem shocked she was dead, for one thing. More just excited to see her disembodied head. But even if he didn't command a sacrifice, he would have known what happened, so that is no proof.

"Sacrifice and tribute are different things," he says. And he's listening for the sounds of crows, watching, but he sees nothing.

Meanwhile, he's starting to understand why Caspar was so quick to speak up for Ghost. He's quiet, intelligent. "A god would get energy from tribute, not merely a sense of satisfaction."

"Assuming I am correct about Reynard not demanding the sacrifice--and I admit, I do not know him well enough to be certain--and that the Eliksni and the crow-goddess are in contact or collaborating, it may be possible that they wanted Blaze, and you, at their mercy as a bargaining chip, knowing the other Guardians would come here, and that she herself would not rest easy with them in the Nexus."

"Which would be clever, and would mean I have been manipulated, which would...displease me significantly."

"The other possibility is that the crow-goddess wanted the energy from the tribute herself, and that is unsettling. I don't have nearly enough information about her or her providence to guess what she would want it for."

"And so, we have three players in this game of chess that started in the Winter and has evidently not yet completed. One, Reynard, I know well enough for casual conversation, but I certainly do not expect him to give me honest answers. One, the Eliksni, have little trust for me, and I for them. And one is a completely unknown quantity."

"I need more information, and I need to tread carefully. It could be nothing, or something immense could be on the horizon, and I've had quite enough world-shaking activity for a lifetime in just the last few weeks."

[rekindledtitan]

”There wasn’t much difference on our end of it,” Ghost points out quietly. He’s keeping careful watch of their surroundings, but he pauses to give Loki a thoughtful look as he takes in those words about tribute. If something strikes him as odd about them, if he suspects it can be more complicated than that- well, he keeps that to himself for now. Theological paraphysics really isn't his field. Perhaps he can ask his newly-arrived kindred later.

”I didn’t see or hear any visitors besides you,”” he says instead. ”But the Fallen are desperate. Maybe they bargained for help. They knew other Guardians would come after us. And if we had come back… when the convoy was home, Blaze meant to turn around and go out after the Fallen’s leader. We just needed to make sure the civilians were taken care of first.”

There’s most of a theory there and yet the pieces don’t all sit together quite right. Nevertheless, he does agree with Loki on two things: something bigger is afoot here, and it’ll take a lot more intel to puzzle it out.

He casts another curious glance aside at the implication of tremendous happenings in Loki’s world (literal or otherwise), but the question of whether to risk asking is overridden, temporarily, by the personal matter consuming his attention.

”There were crows in the trees when it happened.” He looks up at the green boughs above them. ”I didn’t hear them say anything. Though we’ve seen them before… near the Plaza.”

[coldsong]

"No, I suppose the victim of a--" He quiets abruptly, frowning in thought, then murmurs, "Unless it wasn't just a sacrifice."

His steps slow, and he looks over at Ghost, listening actively, visibly, for the first time. Not that he wasn't taking in his words before, but now he's watching him the way he would a human's face, half out of respect and half seeking nuances of expression. Trickier in a robot.

"That would be reason enough," he agrees, but like Ghost he's not sure the pieces fit. "But, you know, the Fallen don't seem fond of gods, either. At least, none that are not their own."

Whoever this crow deity is, if she has somehow secured the collaboration of two such anti-theist camps, quietly and without anyone else in the Nexus catching on--or at least none who will tell on her--he really wants to meet her. He might be able to learn a thing or two. It's neat work.

Only trouble is if she's planning on doing something unpleasant about it in the long term. "I've seen them around, as well, the crows, but they have never spoken words in my hearing. I suppose they would not, if they perceived me as a rival deity."

Or a bratty upstart, depending how old this goddess is. He hates that thought, but it has to be considered.

"Let me ask you something. Blaze has been in the Nexus quite some time, I know. And she, like her compatriots, would feel compelled to defend it against the Darkness. What has she been up to, in the Nexus proper? Not merely asking questions, I assume, but patrolling? Watching for intrusions from your world? Guarding portals?"

"Because if tribute or sacrifice were not what her death was meant for, it's possible someone merely wanted her out of the way, temporarily, while they did something she would not have approved of."

[rekindledtitan]

”No,” Ghost has to admit, I guess they wouldn’t be.”

He drifts a little past Loki as the other slows, so he turns and faces backwards for a minute. His shell twitches this way and that as the pair of them try to read each other.

“She comes here to patrol, yes. From the Plaza out to the Wilds. We keep watch that no darkness finds its way in from our universe - or from any other. Before this Winter we’ve faced two large-scale attacks on the Nexus. Plus Reynard’s attempt at eternal Winter, the Nightmare... And sometimes when people escape to the Nexus, terrible things follow them.“

A moment of quiet, before he adds, ”If someone wanted a Guardian out of the way that badly, I would be very worried about what they’re doing.”

[coldsong]

Loki doesn't actually want to be right this time. He hopes he is overreacting, restless mind creating an intricate puzzle where none exists to be found. But satisfaction is not in his nature, and what he knows for certain does not at all satisfy.

He purses his lips, studying Ghost for a moment, then gives a slow nod of acknowledgement.

"It sounds like a justifiable concern." He begins walking again.

"You heard, I assume, what I said about the children of Asgard in the Nexus? I meant it. Whatever must be done to protect them, I will do. Right now, I think it is imperative that we learn whatever we can--but as subtly and carefully as possible."

[rekindledtitan]

Blaze is far from the only protector of the Nexus. And despite her gifts, Ghost doubts she's so powerful a Guardian that a goddess would be worried about her. (The Fallen, it's true, are another matter.) But she was one of the few such powerful warriors who remained, back in the Winter. One of the only people able to roam at will beyond the torches; one of the few who go out of their way to visit the Wilds. And by their nature, the Traveler's chosen are sensitive to things that others might overlook. Even Blaze, young and never particularly attuned to the side of her powers that doesn't involve punching.

Ghost hopes they're over-thinking it. Hopes it doesn't go that far. But it's his job to think of all the things his Guardian can't or won't. His job to analyze all the data, all the possibilities. To protect her, as she protects him. Sometimes balancing her out means being a little paranoid.

"Yes," he replies softly. The points of his shell fold close inward, gaze dropping to the leaf litter. "I'm sorry for what's happened to them. If there's anything the Guardians can do to help, I'm sure they will." He can't make the offer himself, but he knows his partner.

"...Subtle intel-gathering isn't my Guardian's speciality. But if you're going to look for the crows, I think I know how to find them."

[coldsong]

Secrets. There are so many secrets here, so much guesswork. Part of Loki is thrilled. A game being played, a plan being constructed and coming into being step by step, is his favorite element, even if it's not his plan and he is therefore on the defensive. Such fun!

Until the stakes get too high, at least.

Until the children of Asgard are potentially at risk.

No, it won't do to panic or overreact, but it won't do to sit back and twiddle his thumbs, either. Ghost seems to be of the same mind.

"Thank you," he says quietly. "For your care. They are sufficiently protected now, housed and fed. Time will tell what more they require, but there is no lack of helping hands in the Nexus, particularly where traumatized children are concerned. I will keep it in mind."

He smiles a little at the comment. "No, I did not think subtle was her specialty at all, but her energy is charming. I do hope she will be well."

"What do you advise?"

[rekindledtitan]

Ghost bobs a little in the air by way of acknowledgment. His feelings concerning Loki himself might be ambivalent - which is nothing to what Blaze's will be - but their feelings about refugees in need are crystalline in their simplicity. The fact that category must include Loki himself... well. One more complicating factor. For more reasons than that, it's probably easier if others can lend their assistance.

"Once she can fight, she will be." He says it with conviction. Her determinedly simple approach to life can have drawbacks, especially when her problems are more complicated than Blaze wants to accept. But there's a strength in refusing to be snared and held down by her troubles, too. "Death is nothing to a Guardian."

That won't be what upsets her. But it's hard for him to focus much on the after to her resurrection.

"Most of the times we've seen them, they were either trying to steal food or sabotaging the vending machines. I'm guessing they've abandoned their patch in the Plaza, but I'll bet if you leave enough food out in the right place, they'll soon show up." He doesn't sound like a fan of them. But then he's small and airborne and shiny silver, so perhaps he doesn't get along well with the birds.

[coldsong]

That warrior nature is something Loki is all too familiar with, in Thor. Maybe that's why he's inclined to like Blaze. She has the same sort of energy his brother did a few years back--and often still manages to call up--when he was less plagued with loss and doubt. Loki is grateful for the way Thor has matured, but his gung-ho spirit wasn't without its charm.

Of course, that may mean she's susceptible to the same stumbling blocks Thor has encountered. Norns--or Light?--help her, if so.

"Well, that's to her advantage, although it may be part of the reason Reynard doesn't like her," he says. "But believe me, I don't want to get in the middle of that."

He smirks a little at the idea of baiting a trap for a goddess with food for her minions. No, it probably won't snare her, but if he can catch the eyes of the crows, it's a start. "That shouldn't be hard to arrange. There's bound to be a butcher shop in the Nexus."

Meat and fat and offal. Crows ought to like that.

[rekindledtitan]

Of all the reasons Reynard and Blaze don't get along, that one apparently never occurred to Ghost: the points of his shell open straight in surprise, his optic shuttering momentarily as he looks at Loki. "...Blaze would rather get between him and everyone else." A spin of his points. "...He likes you, though, doesn't he?"

His gaze flits back to the path as they start to climb up and out of the valley, his shell dappled by the sunlight that makes it through the layers of leaf-shadow above. "That should work. If they're a god's servants, I don't think they're very clever ones.""

[coldsong]

"Death occurs in all seasons, but it's more an integral part of Winter than most others," he says. "Death, and the Dead. And the natural order is that once something dies, it's meant to stay down. That's important to him, I think."

He may be getting himself in trouble with Reynard, in a way, by interfering here. It's occurred to him. He'll cross that bridge later, if so. "I'd like to think he does, but I can't fathom him half the time, either. He's complex, bitter and contrarian, and I am drawn to him, but I don't pretend to understand him fully, or to be his."

"And lest you wonder, I will act in my own best interest first, not Reynard's. If there is overlap, I'm glad, but if not..." Shrug.

It's safe to assume Loki is looking out for himself primarily, always, even unto the point where he throws himself on the blade for another person--because on the rare occasion he does that, he's already done a cost-benefit analysis and decided he'd rather be dead than exist after they've perished. It's a strange form of selfishness, sometimes, but it is what it is.

Loki chuckles softly. "That speaks well of the god, then. It takes a truly clever person to turn foolish servants to her advantage."

[rekindledtitan]

That isn't, of itself, a novel concept for Ghost. Applying it to what he does, however... is not something that comes up very often, among the Guardians they keep company with. He has to think about that, as he flies in pace with Loki, his shell clicking a little as it adjusts and shifts.

"Sometimes rules need to be changed."

And maybe Reynard can't accept that. Maybe it's too entirely counter to his nature. The question of how tightly Reynard is bound to a will not his own has come up before, when Blaze spoke with their friends. Ghost still doesn't understand any better than she does. He's not sure they even understand enough to frame the right questions.

Or that it really matters, if the spirit's ways are immutable and invariably opposed to theirs.

"That's oddly reassuring." Or not so odd. They've always done very well out of the fact the vast and inscrutable powers arrayed against them are also working at cross-purposes to one another. That, and maybe it's nice to know even Loki is puzzled by Reynard. Perhaps even vice-versa. Ghost gives a little chirp to himself, adds, "Not that we understand you, either."

Nor this other god who's entered the picture. If she's as clever as Loki thinks - and she did suborn Natasha, so Ghost has to give her credit there - then he has to suspect she's prepared for Loki to come looking for her. Ghost hopes he succeeds.

[coldsong]

He chuckles softly. "You needn't tell me. Most of the time, I live as though rules are for other people."

Mostly. Not always. Some rules can't be broken without backlash. The Big Rules, like Death and Time, for instance. Something has to give somehow, as far as Loki knows. He's not sure what that something is in the case of Blaze and her ilk, but he's sure there is something. Maybe no one knows but their Traveler, their Light.

A price must be paid for a miracle, even one that happens so often people start to take it for granted.

"The part of me that is Jotun, I think, is Winter's kin, or Winter's child. That part will always sing with welcome for the Spirit in his season, and that part owes him for the strength it gained this past Winter. But I'm more than just Jotun. I am Loki."

He grins. "It's for the best you don't understand me, I'm sure. That's the real trouble, isn't it? You can't trust me if you can't predict me. It's not just that I've been rumored to have done terrible things in the past. It's that no one can be sure what I might do going forward."

"You and Blaze have so many true friends in the Nexus. I am a mere acquaintance, one you may even dislike, but here I am, bringing you home."

He shakes his head and gives a helpless shrug. "I couldn't have predicted it, either."

And he can't predict what will happen with this other god, but he must assume she will be aware of his interest. If not now, then soon. He's about to kick another hornet's nest.

"Mm...incidentally, it's not my place to speak on Agent Romanoff's behalf, and she'd be disgusted I would try," Which is probably why he's doing it, "but I will say this: she was ready to stalk into the Eliksni camp and rescue you herself, single-handedly if necessary, though she seemed to think Rogers would insist on coming along."

Determined to wipe out that red in her ledger. He hopes they can get past this.

[rekindledtitan]

So much there to analyze. He's analytical by nature, designed to take in everything and understand anything that might be relevant to his Guardian's mission. What did this Winter do to change Loki? Is that why he's still wearing this strange blue form? What is a Jotun, in his world, outside of the myths?

So much to try and learn, but he isn't Blaze. He'll pick his moments.

“Lots of people are difficult to predict. Most of them don’t have an actual history of invading the planet that we were created to defend from alien invasion. I would be a terrible Ghost if I ignored that. And Blaze is… I don’t think she can.” He gives a fretful little whirl. “But… I’m glad you did get involved, this time.”

Even if Loki did it to serve himself above all. The little bot is cautious about getting too grateful – and they aren’t back yet. But it matters. It will matter to him and his partner both. And speaking of taking account…

“Steve would.” It’s a momentary note of affection that breaks his uncertainty about how to respond. Natasha’s actions are something to be settled with the spy herself, really. Ghost shoots Loki a look that plainly wonders why he’s putting in a word for her at all.

”Trust me,” she said.

“Natasha is our friend,” he says quietly. “Her choice was tactically, logically sound.”

[coldsong]

"You don't know the full story there," he tells him, sobering abruptly. "No one does. Not Rogers, not Romanoff, not even Thor."

He takes a breath and lets it out in a long, tense sigh. "But one crisis at a time is enough. And this is the one of immediate concern."

They're almost back to safe territory now, and Loki starts to pay closer attention to their surroundings, on the off-chance of a final ambush. Whether by the Fallen or the crows, he doesn't know.

"We give the people we love so much leeway, even when they do things we do not understand," he says. "Please don't tell her I said anything on her behalf. It will only make her distrust me even more."

Which is hilarious most of the time, but sometimes it gets a little tiring.

He sighs. "In the meantime, I could claim a favor for this. You know that, don't you? The spell I made for Blaze; she still owes me for that. A minor favor. But for this, I am willing to clear the slate easily: protect the children of Asgard. I assume that will be a request that will in no way conflict with her natural inclinations, or your own, and right now it is truly all I want."