Loki didn't have long to wait, though to him it felt like eternity, before Baldur's pale form showed up. The initial surge of relief switch instantly into indignation, however, at his words. "Wh - what? No, I did not steal them," he retorted defensively. "They're - are you sick?!" He laid his ears back protectively. "You just stay right where you are, Baldur Hroovitnisson, and keep your germs off the babies."
Whatever further reply he may have made was forestalled by the sudden frantic appearance of Imena, who proceeded to speak scoldingly to him about the age of the pups and how they needed milk, which he knew and was in fact why he was here but the retort went unsaid as his green eyes narrowed calculatingly at the tender expression on her face when she gazed at the pups. Hmmm.
But she'd quickly moved on while he'd been considering the implications, taking up one of the babies before he could react. "Hey!" he snarled, silky fur bristling in the space of a heartbeat, face contorted in fury. But all he could do for fear of harming the pup she'd snatched was hunch protectively over the three remaining pups. Yet another Valhallan wolf appeared, though this young female was unknown to him and made no move to come any closer than Baldur, nor did she speak judgmentally or condescendingly to him, so past keeping a wary eye on her he didn't acknowledge her presence.
The young female was quickly followed the oddly comical appearance of his littermate, who seemed unable to string together a coherent sentence at first. Loki could not help but grin maliciously, though when he spoke suspiciously and sniffed at one of the pups still huddled mewling at Loki's paws the grin turned to a glare as he scooted the pups away from Thor.
"They don't have a mother," he stated sharply. "And I would have you all stop insinuating I stole them, because..." He stopped speaking suddenly, the hair on his back prickling at the sudden feeling of paranoia, of something having changed, right before a voice he quite recognized spoke up coldly. Had he arms, he'd have thrown them in the air in exasperation. "Oh, for goodness sake," he muttered, barely resisting the urge to roll his eyes. Why did everyone insist on being suspicious of him?
"As I have been attempting to explain," he snapped, thoroughly disgruntled. "I have a bit of a problem." One of the pups squealed, nosing at his leg, and Loki instantly dropped his attention to soothing her with his nose, tucking her in closer to her siblings. The momentary distraction served to cool his growing temper, and he huffed out a breath and began again in a more even tone.
"These are my pups. The mother did not want them and would have killed them had I not taken them now. I know they are too young but I had no choice. Please," the word caught in his throat, caught on his pride, for the male never truly asking for help like this, "I need help. I can't feed them, I don't know how to take care of them." He took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut. "...Please."
"Speech"
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