Loki tugged at his hood, pulling it half over his face. Now that he had done it, he wasn't quite sure he could own up. It had worked. He was only half expecting it to work. It wasn't this way with anyone else--he swore--no one else but Thor. He sucked up all his courage and stepped out from around the brick corner, pulling his hood down.

"It is I, broth—" and then he stops "—er..." His mind works through the impulse that had once been there enough to summon him, because the one that stood before him was not the brother that he remembered. Luckily for him, he had skill enough to recover quickly. "Oh... this... is certainly not what I anticipated."

And here he was without Ikol.