[Billy isn't really sure how to answer that without it sounding like... well, a total cop-out answer. He struggles with it for a long moment, wondering if Teddy's mad and hiding it, wondering if he should move away, or apologize (okay probably that), or just leave.

...No, he won't do that. He owes Teddy something, whatever pathetic answer he can come up with, and he'll stick close unless Teddy pushes him away or needs space. That's all he can really offer.]

Because... we're friends. Because he asked, and I trust him.

[Really, it's the best he can do.]

I don't expect you to understand, or to be okay with it. But you had a right to know. And I needed it.

[That's really the core of it, right there- the kind of response he needed to start dealing with it properly, the next step in the healing process. Loki didn't cry when he heard, didn't freak out or lose his cool, didn't treat him like a victim who needed to immediately be held and coddled and comforted. He had offered support, yes, both physical and verbal, and it's true that he couldn't give the sort of consolation and understanding that Teddy did.

But maybe that's the problem. Maybe that's why. He needed someone to listen, really listen, take it in calmly, and offer him a different perspective. It was almost like talking to a therapist, actually- or like his mother. That uncanny ability to get him talking and, more importantly, get him thinking.

He's done too much burying already. And now that he's realized that, it's helped him to realize that he's not the only one.]