Kae snickered and settled down there. "You want to stay for dinner?" She glanced at him almost shyly.

"As long as it's not too much trouble," Bruce replied with a bit of a smile.

"Not at all. I just have to find something to make. I think I have chicken and rice and ingredients to make something." Kae shrugged, cautiously leaning against his side.

Carefully, Bruce put an arm around her and pulled her a bit closer.

"If you want a hand with dinner, let me know," he said.

"I will." Kae grinned briefly and rested there. "At least you're a better cook than Tony. There's a reason he's banned from the kitchen."

"So I've learned," Bruce replied. "Thor is also banned from trying to cook."

"Oh god yes," Kae agreed. "He'd just blow things up and set things on fire, and Dummy doesn't need another excuse to use that fire extinguisher. Clint, on the other hand, is a great cook."

Bruce nodded.

"Clint is an excellent cook," he agreed. "And Steve isn't half-bad."

"Capsicle? Really? I wouldn't figured him for pancakes, grilled cheese, and maybe hamburgers." Kae shrugged, settling a little closer to him. "But that's good enough. Better than Tony and Thor."

"Steve had to learn how to cook on the field," Bruce reminded her. He grinned a bit. "Natasha can't cook, either. Not well, at any rate."

Kae laughed. "That's why she has Clint," she said with a grin. "She gets him to cook, I bet. I would."

Bruce couldn't help but chuckle.

"You're probably right," he said.

Kae grinned and stayed there for a bit before she reluctantly got up.

"I guess I should start on dinner."

"Let me help," Bruce said, getting up as well.

"If you want." Kae shrugged and went to go chop veggies, glancing over at him as she worked. "You can start some rice going, I guess."

"Any particular kind of rice?" Bruce asked. For him, it was a legitimate question. Given the resources, he could make a few different kinds.

"Have fun with it. Something that will go with chicken that has curry powder on it. Because real curry is too spicy for me." Kae grimaced briefly but started working on the chicken next.

Bruce nodded and set about rooting through the spices to find what he needed. She wanted curry chicken, he would make rice full of Indian flavors to go with it.

Kae cooked quietly, occasionally bumping his shoulder or poking his side. Since now she was basically allowed to touch him.

Bruce sent her amused, tolerant glances as she kept nudging and brushing past him. Really, he didn't mind the touching. And he was pleasantly surprised to find that he liked it.

A few weeks later, after a string of hard, back-to-back missions, the Avengers were tired. And were sent on mandatory vacation by Fury, who volunteered Tony's house in Malibu for their use. And gave them a quinjet to get over there.

The director also sent a text to the two girls: You're going with them. Permission to fuss granted.

Kae grinned when she saw the text, having already started packing her bag. "Looks like I'm going with you," she said brightly to Bruce.

Steve was currently flopped over on his bed. He'd already packed what little he needed, and he was taking the opportunity to rest some. He had to appear perfect in front of the public, but he didn't mind the others knowing that he was exhausted.

"I'm glad we get a little vacation time," Bruce replied. "It's about time."

Elaine threw a bag together as soon as she got the text, and had plenty of time to spare. So, she did what any good girlfriend would do: she went to snuggle in next to her man.

"No kidding." Kae grinned briefly and threw some things together in a bag. "This means no locking yourself in the lab to science for hours at a time."

Steve shifted to make room for her, getting an arm around her and settling in there. This was definitely nicer than just laying in bed by himself for a while.

"Tony may not give me a choice," Bruce muttered. "But I'll try."

Elaine settled in with a small sigh and snuggled as close as she could

"Was it rough today?" she asked softly.

"No, you don't get to use that excuse," Kae said, poking him in the chest for emphasis. "Vacation. Means relaxation time. Means doing something other than science."

"Yeah," Steve said quietly. "It's been... a lot. Seems like there hasn't been an end the past few weeks."