Loki ignored the Look. Really, he'd spoken nothing but the truth, for once. But he still let her pull him to his feet again and he ignored Thor's glare as they left the kitchen.

"I almost wish I could hit your brother, except I think I'd hurt myself more than him." Lessa glowered a bit at the wall as they walked.

"Though one cannot say that he would not deserve it," Loki replied. His lips pressed together into a thin line, and he resisted the urge to indulge himself in a bit of rage. Of course someone would try to twist the knife when Loki was hurting; he shouldn't have expected anything less.

Lessa shook her head a bit and took him back to his room for the time being, though she did open the windows.

"Maybe if I use the toaster," she mused. "That would hurt him. Probably."

"He has a rather thick skull," Loki remarked. "He spent the whole of our childhood proving that."

"I don't have to hit him in the head, I can hit him in the stomach," Lessa said reasonably. "Or elsewhere, depending if he continues to piss me off."

That got a bit of a snort out of Loki, and the faintest shadow of a smirk, before he settled back into his quiet state of apathy.

For a moment Lessa felt like strangling him, but she shook herself and went on tidying up and opening windows to let in fresh air.

It went on like that for a couple more days: Lessa hanging around to provide some stabilizing company while Loki tried to crawl out of his pit of grief. A full five days after his initial return, he finally broke his silence.

"Growing up, I had always been told I was more like Mother than Thor," he commented quietly to Lessa. "How, I do not know, as I am not of her flesh and blood, but all the same, I had taken after her."

"You don't have to be blood for people to effect you," Lessa said, looking over at him. "How did you take after her?"

"I was not what one would call a model Aesir son," Loki said. "Not like Thor. I did not have his knack for combat or his passion for hunting. I enjoyed more...intellectual pursuits. Mother saw that and took it upon herself to teach me magic and combat styles that suited me better"

"She taught you magic?" Lessa blinked as she looked over at him. "What kind of magic? I thought some of that you taught yourself."

"Much of it I did," Loki acknowledged. "I studied quite a bit on my own. But even more, I learned under Mother's hand."

Lessa smiled a bit. "So she got you started and taught you a few things." She was quiet for a moment. "I suppose it's both pleasant and painful to think of that."

"Indeed," Loki replied quietly. "Mother taught me much, once she had ascertained my strengths. Much of what I know in the ways of illusion magic came from her teachings."

"Illusions, huh? I heard some about that." Lessa looked at him for a few moments. "Not a bad trick to know, I bet. Could be very helpful."

"It often is," Loki replied. "And has been in the past." A ghost of a smile crossed his face. "It was particularly fun when Thor and I were boys."

"I can imagine." Lessa smiled. "Sounds like that would make it very easy to play pranks."

"Indeed it was," Loki replied. "Almost too easy, at times."

"From what you've told me, it seems that your mother would have appreciated such things more," Lessa said cautiously.

"Oh she thought some of my jokes were very clever," Loki replied. He couldn't help but smile a bit, nostalgically. "She would praise me for those she thought were particularly clever."

Lessa nodded, watching him for a few moments. "Like what? What were some of her favorites?"

"There were many," Loki said. He was quiet for a moment as he thought back. "Perhaps the one when Thor and I were boys, and I had gotten it in my head to make us girls for the day. We were young enough that the change was not immediately apparent; it was only just enough to cause unease in the court."

Lessa snorted at that. "I wish I had pictures of that," she said with a grin. "That would have been fantastic."

"There may not have been photographs, however..." Loki trailed off, lifting a hand. An illusion shimmered into place of a young blond boy with rather soft features.