Occasionally Loki is quite happy to play to type. But showing a genuine interest in his magic is the best way to get on his good side, if only he knew it. The experience has been so rare thus far, it might take him entirely by surprise.

Now he looks up, a little more wary now but still perfectly cordial. "Oh, I'm familiar," he says casually, surveying the board in the wake of Reid's move and the little ripples of positioning and predicting that always follow. "SHIELD has taken up the lion's share of my experiences with your various acronymed agencies, but I know of all of them. What is it you do for them?" And now he moves another piece, a sacrifice piece that might be too obvious a sacrifice.