Loki was looking at her. Not just a friendly bit of eye contact, but the sort of stare that made her squirm a little because she knew he was taking a poke at her soul. He did this sometimes, mostly when she was being ridiculous and he was trying to tell her as much without being unkind. Idun shifted her stance uneasily. She wanted to turn away and find something to clean. The whole kitchen needed to be tidied up thanks to her baking fiasco, so it wasn't like cleaning while speaking would be unreasonable.
Except it would be unreasonable, and Loki would see right through it. Idun had unintentionally earned his full, focused attention, and there was no tricking a trickster after that.
She crossed her arms again instead, just to keep from fidgeting. As long as she didn't look nervous, Idun wouldn't be nervous. It was a flawless theory as long as she didn't pay any attention to all the flaws.
"Okay, so maybe you're right, friends are supposed to be honest. But how am I supposed to tell him that the woman he's in love with sounds absolutely dreadful, and she's probably just going to break his heart and leave him dashed to pieces? He's a kind, sweet soul, Loki, you know him. He doesn't deserve that. He deserves someone who will encourage him and appreciate him and love him unconditionally, without fear and without hesitation. And this stupid...Jondi, she's wretched. Even her name is wretched. How can I be honest when my friend has fallen for someone who doesn't even have a poetic name? Everything about her is wrong. It's--"
Idun stopped. Her mind replayed all the words that her mouth had released, unfiltered, into the air. Realization hit with the same unfiltered force. It felt remarkably like a slap to the face.
"I'm not jealous. Just concerned," she clarified.
Now all she needed to do was convince herself of just that.