[ Just as Anastasia had needed to remind herself that she could no longer care for grasping at the understanding of things that made a person tick, Loki needed to remind himself of the opposite. To consider sharing even the briefest moment of uncalculated candidness with her was a notion he couldn't afford to entertain a second time. Above all else his intention was to find the motivation behind her actions, not share in empathetic tales. ]

Then let us hope your desires are synonymous with what could be considered right.

[ He tilted his head, a teasing smirk doing its usual job of concealing anything he might truly be thinking. ]

Just because you can handle something doesn't exclude it from being painful.