"Not that it helps," Elaine said. "She's a troublemaker." She smiled, and then sighed a bit. "I wish you were here with me, though. I think you'd honestly enjoy it."

"Well, you'll just have to tell me about it," Steve encouraged, moving to sit on his bed. "Since Thor said it would probably be better if we stayed here."

"Thor's having a great time right now," Elaine said dryly. "A bunch of them are out there trying to out-drink each other." She leaned on the railing of the balcony. "It's wonderful. There are just so may cultures here, and so many different spheres of influence represented, it's amazing."

"So have you seen any of yours yet?" Steve asked after a few moments. He wasn't entirely comfortable voicing the word "gods", as it felt too wrong, but he figured she'd know what he meant.

"Yeah," Elaine said after a slight hesitation. "I have. And it's amazing. Everything I could have asked for. Though I'm trying to make sure to split my time evenly, so I don't leave anyone out."

"That sounds like a good plan," Steve agreed with a little smile. "And Loki is still behaving? And everything is going fine?"

"For being who he is, he's behaving just fine," Elaine said. "There... might be a prank or two in the works, but they shouldn't be anything bad."

"Well, pranks don't sound too bad," Steve offered cautiously. "So long as he doesn't go overboard with it, anyway, I guess."

"If I tell you what he has planned, will you help me run a bit of interference when we get home?" Elaine asked hopefully. "I promise it's all in good fun and the results won't last more than a day or two."

Steve chuckled. "Alright, let's hear your plan," he said with a little grin, petting Smudge when the kitten curled up in his lap.

"I'm not sure if you remember the last time someone drank Thor under the table," Elaine said, "but apparently he gets all happy and snuggly once he's sufficiently drunk. Apparently that's a common trait around here, and a bunch of them are happily trying to out-drink each other. Kae and I figure they'll all just fall over into a big snuggly pile, much like puppies." She paused there to let that sink in.

"...You're going to have Loki turn them into puppies aren't you." Steve sighed, bit his lower lip, and then gave in and snickered. "Okay, so what do you need me to do?"

"Ease Clint into the idea," Elaine said. "He'll be the biggest obstacle to all of this." She grinned. "And I heard that. You're entirely amused by the idea."

"I am... intrigued by the thought of a puppy Thor," Steve objected. "And I'll talk to Clint about it, don't worry. If he's still having major objections before you get home, I'll let you know."

"You think it's great," Elaine teased in return. "But only tell Clint, I want to see the reactions of everyone else."

"Okay, easy enough. What are you going to do about Mjolnir?" Steve couldn't help but ask, since puppy Thor probably wouldn't be able to lift it. Drag it along, maybe, but Steve had his doubts.

That made Elaine pause.

"Oh that's a good question," she said. "Isn't Thor the only one who can lift it?"

"I don't know." Steve shrugged. "Ask Loki, he might know. Or I suppose you could ask Thor if you don't give away the prank."

"I'll see what I can do," Elaine promised. She sighed slightly. "I miss you. Hopefully I can be home soon."

"I miss you too. But I'm glad everything's going okay." Steve smiled a little. "Just have fun and don't get in trouble, okay?"

"I'll try," Elaine said. "Take care of yourself, alright? Make sure the tower is still mostly on one piece when we get back."

"I'll do my best," Steve promised. Which might be harder than normal considering Tony and Clint going at each other.

"What did they do now?" Elaine asked. She was fairly sure whatever happened was Tony's fault, but Clint was the culprit a good forty percent of the time.

"Clint sabotaged the coffee machine, we think. I don't know what started it, but they're starting a prank war. Apparently Clint went to go take a shower this afternoon and someone had put itching powder in his shampoo." Steve sighed. Really, he lived with children.

Elaine couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Woe unto the poor soul who screws with Tony's coffee," she said. "Let me know if they do anything particularly clever or funny."