"I do have a better chance of avoiding the unpleasant side-effects," she agrees. "And it can be fun." He's right about it being a good distraction, and about her needing a few. She doesn't mind his framing it as an investigation. She can be very scientific about it all and write things down.

When she's finished with her dessert she sets the bowl down and folds her hands in her lap. She wants to cuddle, but she's not sure how to ask. With Loki, she would have just taken what she wants. She was always welcome to be whatever she wanted to be with him, except his lover. There was a freedom in that. This uncertainty is less appealing.