Loki knew it would be nice to be out for a bit, so he gave her as long as she wanted to just sit and relax. They didn't even have to practice today; teleporting was hard work.

Elaine settled there in the sun for a bit, sighing a little and rubbing her stomach.

"This is nice," she said as a breeze picked up for a moment.

"It is," Loki agreed. "I find I enjoy Midgard better when it is quiet like this."

"Mmm," Elaine agreed. "You're not that big on the city, I take it." Absently, she rested her hands on her belly as she relaxed.

"No." Loki shrugged. "Thor agrees that even though I could speak to people, I never quite fit in at court, back on Asgard. Studying was easier alone where it was quiet. In a tree or sitting on a cliff." He shrugged again.

"Thor is, predictably, loud," Elaine agreed. "He gets along with people without trying." She snorted a bit. "Lucky."

"Indeed." Loki shook his head. "I have never understood it, although Odin says that is because he is a natural leader."

Elaine shrugged a bit.

"Some people are," she said. "Steve is."

"Yes, I can see it in him. Stark, however, is not." Loki looked amused. "He is too easily riled."

"You just like annoying him," Elaine said, looking at him.

Loki grinned. "He makes it so easy," he purred. Really, he just couldn't help himself.

Not that he really tried to restrain himself, though.

"You don't exactly try to resist temptation, either," Elaine said, grinning a bit. She sighed and leaned back a bit, propping herself up on her hands. "It feels good to be out of the tower."

"No one should be cooped up in there for long," Loki said with a shrug. "That I am not allowed freedom to roam alone is... irksome."

"You did kind of try to enslave the human race last time you were on Midgard unsupervised," Elaine pointed out. "It might or might not have actually been your fault, but still."

Loki shrugged. "That does not make it any less irritating," he pointed out. "Moreso because most of my magic is inaccessible to me, but that I understand."

"Not as inaccessible as it was," Elaine said. "I've noticed it seems to be gradually coming back to you."

"Gradually," Loki agreed, flexing his fingers. "I have control of approximately fifteen percent of what I used to control."

"Sounds like it might be a direct correlation to your father being pleased with your behavior," Elaine said. "That's what it sounds like to me, at least."

"Possibly," Loki said after a moment. "Although I do not know if he knows how much I can use. I could still access my magic when he banished me, after all, and he was not pleased with me then."

Elaine shrugged a bit.

"I don't know, then," she said. She grinned. "Not my department and all."

Loki snorted before his head popped up and he looked off to the side. A slow smile curled his lips as he stood, watching another man approach them.

"Mother," the man murmured, inclining his head to Loki.

"Fenris," Loki greeted. "I didn't expect to see you here."

Fenris shrugged. "I was in the area."

"Elaine, this is one of my children. Fenris, this is my pupil, Elaine."

Elaine blinked. That was... sudden. And unexpected. And completely fascinating.

"Hello," she said. "You'll have to excuse me while my inner mythologist stops screaming."

Fenris snorted. "I see you've been rubbing off on her," he said dryly to Loki.

"Only a little. She came well-educated." Loki grinned.

Elaine grinned a bit.

"Textbooks," she explained. She paused. "Well. My friend's textbooks that she had to read to me. But still."

Fenris didn't ask, because he could just tell it was a long story.

"What brings you to this part of the world?" Loki asked, sitting again and motioning for Fenris to sit.

"I heard you were around, wanted to see what you were doing since clearly you're not trying to conquer the planet this time."