Sif gave a quiet, disdainful snort. "Me? I don't think it had anything to do with me." It never did, to be honest. "If you and Thor hadn't done that ridiculous toast..." she trailed off, wrinkling her nose. "What was that all about, anyway? 'The blades of Asgard'? That was almost as bad as Thor's babbles about jewels."

At least the blade part had been more accurate, she admitted. Loki's elder brother, on the other hand, was going to have an interesting time of it when next they met in the sparring ring.

Despite her flippant words, she was thoroughly aware of the brush of his thumb over her knuckles, although she made no comment of it. She was playing with his hair, after all, and she did her best to dismiss it as an absent gesture on his part. Surely that was what it was.