By the time I got to the apartment, Kanesha was well into making brownies.

“Keep going. I need to talk to him.”

“Did Surtur try to sweet talk you?”
“Yeah, he made an interesting offer. Fortunately, one I can refuse.” I leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

“Put the oven on for me?”

I did, then settled down in the living room. “He told me I’d make a good queen and offered to make sure all of my friends were safe from Ragnarok. Except Mike.”

“Right.”

“I didn’t say I believed him.”

I supposed he could tuck people away in some corner of Muspelheim where they’d be safe…if he won. “Besides, he’s not going to win Ragnarok anyway.”

“Are we sure of that?”

I considered. “Fairly. Probably. Point is, I’m not taking him up on it. I’m not going to cause the end of the world.”

“I trust you.”
That meant something. No sooner were the brownies in the oven, than Loki knocked on the door.

“You’re early,” I told him.

“Nah, I’m just late enough not to have to help.”

I laughed. “So…”

“So.”

“Surtur’s trying being nice to me now.”

“Of course he is. He’s trying to woo you like a human, not a fire giant.”

I considered that. “Maybe that’s it. I think he’s just clutching at straws.” Although the sudden image of Surtur, all fiery, in a PUA class was amusing.

“He’s just not all that…”

“He’s not really into me. He’s into whatever edge I can give him.”

“True. He’s not even a bad king. But he plans on destroying everything…”

“…because he apparently believes that’s the only way, in the long term, to save Muspelheim.”

Loki frowned. “I’ve heard him spout that before. When at his most paranoid.”

“Why do they not trust anyone?”

“Well, as you know, giants are quarrelsome.”

“He admitted that.”

Kanesha hopped onto the end of the couch. “He did?”

“He said their biggest problem was thriving on conflict.”

Loki nodded. “Fire and frost alike. And the conflict between them is part of the balance of the universe. Surtur never did want to accept that.”

“But he’s the bad guy,” Kanesha insisted.

“Oh, he’s a bad guy alright.” Loki lifted one finger. “But he thinks he’s doing the right thing. Like all good villains.”

I laughed. “So, maybe we have another approach. Convince him he’s wrong.”

“Some of us have been trying for several thousand years.

And I knew that anything Surtur said to me was as likely to be a sweet lie to get me to his bed as the truth. Still, I wanted to hope he could be reasonable.

Who wouldn’t?