[ While Asterion did his part of their bargain, Loki returned to spinning tales and telling lies. The lies were small and inconsequential, however, and most things put Riftwatch and its many accomplishments in a better light than might otherwise happen in the retelling.

In other words, he finally did the job he was supposed to be doing in the first place. (It only took a little bit of shaming, after all.)

His footsteps pause and Loki looks up again, moving the mask from his face to the top of his hair. ]

Are we ever, truly, pulled out of frame? Or does the frame we'd taken for granted merely reoriented itself to a different viewpoint, based on unexpected circumstances?

[ They can't leave behind the people they were, not really, nor the circumstances that created those people. Too inexorably tied into the sense of self, and the perceptions one has as they interact with the world (or worlds) around them. ]

What are your people's stories of the stars? [ Everyone that has stars has stories of them, in Loki's experience. ]