[Michael is still getting used to this place: figuring out what's going on, what events are important to the loop and which are just background events. Right now, he's peeking in on some potions work.

More specifically, he's peeking in on Blaze Dudelioni's potions work. 

This, to any observer, would appear to be wild improvisation on Blaze's part. It doesn't help that Michael is clearly egging him on, from a safe distance.]

Go ahead and try it! I've got your back.

Counts as professor approval to me!

[And he dumps in a bunch of weird glowing mushrooms. Michael grins - yes! He is an authority figure who can approve things! The cauldron starts to bubble violently. Blaze doesn't seem too alarmed; he backs away to keep the overflow from getting on his uniform, but leans over to keep on stirring it anyway.

Then it explodes.

It's not a big explosion, thankfully, and Michael's true to his word. A wall of flickering blue flame blossoms out of nowhere to shield Blaze, and they're both totally fine when the pale green smoke clears.]

Ha! [Michael laughs, looks to Blaze for approval, and finds him equally blase about the whole thing.] Oh, they should get you a lab!

[In this loop, Michael has finally been forced to take a break. He usually tries to sleep more when he's out on missions than he prefers to on the moon - even if he thinks he can operate fine on just a few hours of sleep, he knows that it's probably better to be at his best when shit's going down.

The accommodations in the inn aren't quite what he's used to. How do people manage to sleep all out in the open together like this? But he's too exhausted to fuss about it, so he tucks himself up in a corner of the open space, back to the wall, and tries to get a few winks. 

Unfortunately, he's a light sleeper. He's quick to jerk awake when people walk in.]

What?

[This loop finds Michael out at the shrines. More specifically, he's crouching down in front of the little altar to the Raven Queen, peering at it down his nose. This lonely stretch of road on the outskirts of town feels far better than a grand temple, but they're still shrines, aren't they? As if immortals are better, somehow, worthy of adulation from mortals just for what they are. He reaches out to pluck up some of the Raven Queen's offerings, inspecting them.]

If you aren't going to do anything with these, there's no point. The humans should just keep them. 

[Mmm. But that's not what he came here to say.]

Look, I don't know how this whole thing works. I'm not going to pray to you, if that's what you're looking for. But I...appreciate that you've been nicer to Alex lately. He seems to think better of you now.

[For his own part, Michael isn't sure. She was right about Neil being better off dead, sure; that part isn't what bothers him. It's that Alex got his mind hijacked, and he's clearly shaken about that even now. The Raven Queen did not have to do that.

Michael doesn't know her, though. If Alex has forgiven it, it's probably not for him to hold grudges. That's never been a strength of his anyway. He sets the offering back down - even if he disagrees, it wasn't left here for him.]

Be nice to him. He's a good human.