"I'm sure it's not an unusual occurrence," Elaine commented dryly as she made her way deftly around the furniture and plopped back on the couch. Steve tried very hard not to stare when certain parts of her anatomy moved in interesting ways when she did that. He still wasn't used to how... immodest modern women were.

"Not at all." Tony grinned briefly before he motioned for Kae to sit. When she still didn't move, he huffed. "Sit."

Kae sat, still watching him as he brought out a box from under his arm, opening it and pulling out a leg. It looked like a human leg, and she blinked.

"Don't worry, this is fake skin," Tony said, seeing her look. "Underneath it's all mechanical."

"Why?" Kae managed to ask, watching him set it on the floor so she could decide if she wanted to try it on or not.

Tony shrugged, glancing back at Steve. "Someone told me I should do something nice for a cousin."

Elaine sat there listening, trying to figure out what all was going on.

"Someone give me a voice-over?" she asked finally. "It all sounds very strange out of context."

"Tony brought a leg." Kae's voice was quiet and very even.

Tony snorted. "Yes. Now see if it works properly."

Kae shot him a look before she shifted and dubiously moved it into place against her knee. "At least it looks okay," she muttered. She was still waiting for this to be some kind of joke or prank or come with a price. Because Tony just didn't do altruistic things.

Well. Besides save the world, but that was different.

"A leg?" Elaine asked, raising an eyebrow. Tony was doing something for someone else? What was this sorcery? Then again, after the library donation... "Speak, someone."

"Tony does call himself a philanthropist," Steve remarked after a moment. "Occasionally, he shows it off."

"This was just an interesting and challenging project," Tony protested. "You just happened to be the best test subject."

"And I just went from cousin to guinea pig. Awesome." But that didn't stop Kae from attaching the prosthetic, getting up carefully, keeping her weight balanced on her good leg, one crutch in hand in case she needed it.

And, hey, if she fell maybe she could fall on Steve. That would be amusing.

Elaine listened carefully to the activity around her. She could hear the faint hum and whirr of mechanics starting up, and the oddly solid 'thunk' of something heavy being placed on the floor. She could only assume the heavy thing was the leg. It took her a moment to realize she was also listening for talking. She was so used to having the world narrated that it made her feel strangely isolated when she didn't know what was happening.

"No, really, I need a running commentary," she said after a moment.

"Kae just stood up," Steve said. "I think she's testing the leg?" This last part was directed more at Kae and Tony than at Elaine.

"She's thinking about testing it," Tony corrected. "And looks like she expects it to blow up. Here, hold onto this for me." Tony managed to grab both crutches, putting them in Elaine's lap. "Now she'll actually test it."

"Stark!" Kae sounded partially furious, partially terrified, and very unsteady. She could hop after him, but the weight of the artificial leg was throwing off her balance, and she actually grimaced when she tilted onto it, her weight settling solidly.

"See? It didn't blow up. Now try walking. Before I encourage you to." Tony grinned, looking smug.

Kae muttered very uncomplimentary things under her breath about genius inventors and SHIELD directors, hesitantly taking a step forward with her normal leg and half-dragging her new one on the floor. "This thing is heavy. What did you do, put lead in the bottom?"

Elaine jumped a bit, surprised, when the crutches suddenly landed in her lap. She hadn't been expecting anything like that, and it startled her. One of the crutches fell to the floor with a clatter when she jumped, and the sound made her flinch even more. All of a sudden, there was a lot of noise and activity and it had made her lose track of what was actually going on. All she knew was that something was happening, and she had no idea what. Subconsciously, her hands gripped the cushion she was sitting on, her knuckles turning white.

Steve noticed this, but he hesitated in doing anything. Clearly, it would be a bad idea to touch Elaine at the moment, and she seemed easily started by all of the noise. He wasn't entirely sure how to handle the situation, and he was not comfortable with that.

Tony watched her for a few more moments before he shrugged. "Alright, too heavy. I'll need to make some adjustments, then." He walked over to her easily, shooing her back to her seat. He was, as usual, now focused on the problem directly in front of him, rather than thinking about what else was going on in the room.

Kae, on the other hand, noticed how upset Elaine looked. "So, this isn't working," she said, her voice normal, mostly to try to get Elaine up to speed again. "I can't walk with the prosthetic. It's too heavy."

"Okay," Elaine said. She worked on keeping her voice steady, and made herself let go of the seat cushion. "That was the thing, then. On the floor. It didn't scratch the hardwood, did it?" Because yes, focusing on those little details made her feel a little better. "I think I dropped one of your crutches."

"No, it didn't scratch," Kae said. "And you did, but it's fine. I can make Tony retrieve it, if he ever comes out of wonder-gear-land." She rolled her eyes. "It's weird, this thing isn't all mechanical stuff. I guess the inside is, but it's covered with something like skin. So it looks natural."

"That's... bizarre," Elaine said after a moment. "At least you get to beta-test it."

"Yeah. And found out that it's way too heavy. Imagine dragging around a few bricks on your foot." Kae detached it and set it off to the side carefully for Tony to look at again.

Elaine nodded a bit, managing a grin.

"Yeah, no thanks," she said. She paused for a few moments, listening. "Any idea what he's doing now?"

"Um. Fiddling with the leg." Kae shrugged. "I don't know what he's trying to do, though."

"See what the problem is so I can go home and fix it." Tony looked up from his work. "Unless you two want to just head back with me so I don't have to keep going back and forth?"

Even Steve had to raise an eyebrow at that.

"That's unusually generous," he commented. Tony didn't usually take people back to the tower, ever. Even the Avengers had to gradually invade until Tony had given up and let them stay.

"I want to get this done, and if I keep leaving and coming back one of them will hit me with something for keeping them awake," Tony reasoned. "It should just be a few minor adjustments, really. But I'm not in the mood to be whacked with sticks because I'm waking them up in the middle of the night to make sure it works."

Kae grinned briefly. Okay, yeah, he had a point there.

Elaine snorted.

"Well, us normal people do like such things as sleep," she pointed out. Of course, she would admit, she was kind of interested to 'see' Stark Tower. Apparently it was the stuff of technological legend.

Steve had to quirk a bit of a grin at Elaine's retort. Touche.

"You can sleep tomorrow," Tony pointed out. "The library's not open tomorrow."

Kae snorted. "Alright, you pest," she said, rolling her eyes. "I'll go. You want to come too, Lainey?"

"Kae, it's not a good idea to leave me to my own devices long enough for me to have to cook," Elaine pointed out. "Remember what happened last time. Yes, I'll go with you."

Kae just snickered and got up, wobbling a bit until she got one of her crutches. "Alright, then. Stop fiddling, Stark. You're not driving, either. Hand over the keys to Steve."

Tony rolled his eyes but tossed the keys to Steve with barely a glance, already picking up the leg and heading for the door again.

Steve caught the keys easily as he watched the girls get ready to leave. Elaine disappeared into another room briefly, and came back out wearing a much more modest t-shirt and a pair of flip-flops, although the same shorts. It seemed to be a concert t-shirt; it had a tour name and the artist on the front, and he could see a list of dates on the back, although he didn't recognize the artist or genre. Modern music took some getting used-to.

Kae was already mostly ready to go, she just grabbed a sandal and pulled it on before she herded people out so she could lock up.

Tony knew that Steve knew the way to his house, so he wasn't worried about giving him directions. Instead he kept puzzling over what he could do to make the leg lighter.

And, in the back of his mind, wondering why Steve had been so surprised about Elaine's attire (because he had noticed that blush) and why he himself was being so nice to the girls.

Elaine let Kae herd her outside, although she did wait so she could out a hand on her friend's shoulder to follow her to the car. Sometimes it was just easier that way.

Once the girls and Tony were in the car, Steve got in and started the car. Yes, he remembered the way back to the tower.