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Loki hesitated a moment before he nodded. He might as well.
"Very well," he agreed. "We'll be back in a few days." He looked at Elaine. |
Elaine nodded.
"We can hold down the fort," she said. She wasn't worried about that. "I'm going to go check on Bruce and the Hulk." |
Loki nodded and left with the others to go back to Asgard to report in.
Kae was waddling over to check in on Bruce and make sure he wasn't overworking himself, and she smiled a bit when she ran into Elaine on the way down. "Hey. Going to find Steve?" |
"Checking on Bruce and the Hulk," Elaine replied, grinning a bit at her friend. "The spell's fixed, so I want to make sure it worked."
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"Oh, great." Kae brightened. "I was just going to make sure he wasn't overworking himself."
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"Then let me make sure he and Hulk are back together properly, and then you can fuss over him all you like," Elaine said. She grinned a bit. "How's the baby, by the way?"
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"Already kicking like a mule," Kae said with an indulgent smile. "But very healthy. My doctor says I should get out more and get more vitamin D."
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"Good to hear," Elaine said, grinning. "Loki went back to Asgard with Thor, so he won't be hovering for a few days. Anyways, let me make sure nothing went weird with Bruce, and then you can go in. Good plan?"
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"Sure, sounds okay," Kae agreed, stopping outside the door to let Elaine go in and check first.
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Elaine nodded and ventured into the Hulk-room.
As expected, there was only one person in there. Hulk was sitting in the middle of the floor, looking at his hands as if he'd never seen them before. "Hulk?" Elaine ventured. Hulk looked up, and Elaine was surprised to see his eyes flicker between green and brown. "Laine?" Hulk said. Elaine nodded. "Hulk, where's Bruce?" she asked. "Bruce," Hulk said, his eyes flickering to brown again. "Bruce here. Bruce say he okay. Fixed?" "Yeah, we got the mess fixed," Elaine said, nodding. "Mind if I talk to Bruce myself, big guy?" Hulk considered for a moment, then nodded and promptly shrank back down to Bruce. Bruce wobbled for a moment, and then stood up. "Feeling alright, Bruce?" Elaine asked. "Normal again?" "Not the same as before," Bruce admitted after a moment. "But I think we're good." Elaine nodded. "Alright," she said. "I just wanted to check. Kae's waiting outside, she wanted to check on you both too, so I'll send her in on my way out. Loki's gone for a few days, so let me know if anything doesn't seem right with you and the Hulk, okay?" Bruce nodded, and Elaine left the Hulk room. "All yours," she said to Kae. |
Kae nodded and smiled at Elaine. "Thanks. You should probably go check on Steve, I know he was down in the gym with Clint and Natasha."
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Elaine nodded and headed down towards the gym. She wouldn't interrupt if they were working, but she would watch.
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Kae went to go check on Bruce so she could fuss over him for a bit.
Steve was indeed down in the gym with Natasha and Clint, although at the moment he was just watching and supervising their sparring. |
Bruce was waiting for Kae, and turned around when he heard the door open. He smiled a bit when he saw her.
Elaine slipped into the gym quietly, going over to stand near Steve. She could wait until sparring was over for his attention. |
"Hey. How are you feeling?" Kae waddled over to him to check him over worriedly. She was allowed to be worried.
Steve shot her a quick smile and draped an arm around her while he watched the other two continue to spar. |
"Better," Bruce admitted. He put his arms around her gently and pulled her close. "I could ask you the same thing."
Elaine smiled a bit and tucked herself against his side, relaxing just a bit. |
"I'm fine," Kae insisted with a huff. "Glad you're feeling better." She managed to nestle a little closer to him.
Steve waited until the other two were done and moved over to cool off to smile at Elaine and kiss her briefly. "You look relaxed." |
Bruce just chuckled a bit and let her cuddle closer. He rested his hands on her belly carefully and started to rub gentle circles.
"Mmm," Elaine agreed, returning the kiss. "All is right with the world again, for the moment. I'm not as stressed out anymore." |
Kae smiled and relaxed a bit there. At least until the baby started trying to kick Bruce's hands, and then she pouted. "Oh stop it," she muttered to the baby.
Steve smiled. "Good. You figured things out with Bruce?" |
Bruce gave a genuine smile when he felt the little kicks under his hands.
"I think he or she likes it," he said softly. He kept up his gentle massage. Elaine nodded, snuggling a bit closer to Steve. "Yeah," she said. "I think things are okay now. Bruce says it's not quite the same as before, but he thinks it's the way it's supposed to be." |
Kae grumbled a bit but didn't tell him to stop, and the baby settled down a bit. Although he or she did occasionally still use Bruce's hands as target practice.
"Very good. Sounds like that turned out okay, then." Steve relaxed a bit, pulling her closer. |
Bruce kept it up, trying to get Kae to relax a bit more. He knew she needed all the rest and relaxation she could get.
"Yeah," Elaine said. She settled into his arms and sighed. "I'm glad. It feels like a weight off my shoulders now that things are set right." |
Kae leaned against him a bit, relaxing slowly. It was nice to relax while she could, especially since Bruce and Hulk were fine now.
Steve nodded, rubbing her shoulders a bit. "Good. You need some time to relax." |
"I think we should go somewhere more comfortable," Bruce suggested softly after a few minutes. "What do you think?"
"I think we promised to take a weekend just for us once the Bruce and Hulk situation was resolved," Elaine pointed out. "Maybe once Thor and Loki are back?" |
Kae nodded after a moment. "Alright," she agreed quietly. "Back to your room, then?"
"Sounds like a good idea to me." Steve smiled. "Take a long weekend off for just us." |
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