st_ratagem

Loki backed off and let her up without hesitation. Not for the first time it occurred to him that sparring (or playing) with her like this was only teaching her how to fight him for real, but... odds were that his future self had already taught her that. Also, it had to be said that most of the time, if matters were down to a head-to-head fight, he’d probably already lost anyway.

Good enough. “Is the favor that I get to treasure a victory?” Because that was happening anyway.