Loki closed his eyes again. He hated those three words when put together. There was such a responsibility associated with them, and also the possibility for deception. He, himself, had been a non-believer in the emotion for so long that he had trouble accepting it when people said it to him. Which he had heard numerous times from lovers over the ages. But it was the deceptive element of it that made him cynical. It was used to manipulate and to try to, as he had overheard a handmaiden of Frigg's say once, tame him.
But then he met Sigyn and something in him changed. She told him, usually without any possible benefit other than the need to tell him. At least not that he could discern. And Loki found that he cared for her more than he had any other woman he'd been with, so it took it for what it was. She believed she loved him, so he'd not begrudge her that belief. And he discovered, that over time, his affection for her grew every day. He'd not admit it aloud, but he loved her in return.
But the way she said it now, after everything that he'd done and how he'd failed at the number one task of a father was -protecting his children, he didn't want to hear it. How could she possibly love him now? He chose to ignore it, it just wasn't logical.
And logically... she was going to have to leave.
“You're going to have to,” he said finally. “You can't do anything or get anything without leaving me here... alone...” Loki tipped his head up to indicate beyond the bowl she held to the snake above. “with that.” It wasn't like he didn't feel the venom from time to time. The bowl would get full, she would walk off to empty it and inevitably, some would fall on him. It wasn't like Loki wanted to be subjected to it all day, every day... but it was his fate.
Loki finally looked at her, though he was so numb physically, psychologically and emotionally there wasn't much to his expression. “Sig,” He said. “You have to go. If you come back... great. If you don't.... I'll understand.”