Loki's heart does a flip-flop at 'my love', and he tells it silently to behave itself.

Shockwave's story makes him shudder, though. There are to many dark parallels here, too; alarming could-have-beens. "Ravage mentioned shadowplay once, when we played the word association game. We could both tell we'd wandered into territory we did not wish to tread, and opted to turn back together."

"I understand better now. But no, absolutely not, these are not stories for a pleasant evening." He takes a breath and pulls back. "Shall I show you some of my other forms as we walk? I can be a snake or spider even in cold weather."