Anything you love is a knife that can be turned against you. [He says this barely above a whisper. But he had so many things taken from him, he learned that lesson well. And he's certainly used that as a weapon against other people; it's a ready handle for manipulation.] Any bond can be turned to one more means of control.

I'd learned to not want such things any more, when I left Asgard. They were impossible. I don't know what's happened to me here. [He laughs.] It feels like I've somehow forgotten all of those lessons I bled to learn.

[He frowns, looking at Billy.] What people? [It's a strange mixture of ego and self-loathing, always in this. Why would anyone call him family? Such things are not for Loki. And Loki is not for them, because he stands alone.]