Clint snickered.

"It's all authorized for testing," he retorted, examining the arrows.

Tony flapped a hand at him and settled back to watch instead to see how the arrows performed.

Avery also hung back, staying out of the way. Clearly, Clint and Tony did this often, and she didn't feel the need to interfere. She did want to watch, though.

Tony watched the arrows and made note on their performance so he could go back and make the final version later.

Clint blinked and grinned when one of the arrow tips exploded in a flurry of sharp pieces.

"Shrapnel?" he asked. "Geeze, Tony, you're really trying to outdo yourself here."

"Hey, sometimes even you run out of arrows and need to take down several at once," Tony said with a shrug. "Besides, it's a good idea." He tapped out an idle rhythm on the Arc.

Clint finished firing the rest of the arrows and then collapsed his bow again.

"You look distracted," he commented. "And I'm guessing it's not because I'm showing off my awesome arms again."

"Oh please, you show off your arms all the time, not that that's a bad thing, you've got great arms and all." Tony grinned, flapping a hand at him. "Just running through a theory."

Clint raised an eyebrow.

"Is it a theory the average dumb smartass can understand?" he asked.

"Why technology and magic don't mix." He sounded rather amused. "And how to make technology work because tech is always superior and magic just sucks most of the time."

Clint snorted.

"Let me know how that goes," he said. "I want to see if you come up with some gadget to stop mind control."

"...You're a genius, why didn't I think of something like that earlier?" Tony grinned and nearly cackled, rubbing his hands together, because that was something he could work with that was Science! And not crazy unpredictable what the fuck just happened here magic.

Clint raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, why didn't you think of it?" he asked. "That should have been high on your list of things to do. You know, 'phasers, teleporting, anti-mind control.'"

"Phasers and teleporting have been tabled the last year or two," Tony replied without missing a beat. "Anti-mind control is now up at the top of the list."

"Good," Clint said. "I want to know when you get it done." Because he really wanted to know that it worked, so he wouldn't be taken over ever again. Clearly, what happened with Loki still upset him.

"You'll be the first to know." Tony put a hand on his shoulder briefly in silent support. Because he wasn't good at talking, but making things was his specialty.

Clint took the support for what it was.

"Good," he said.

"I'll have another batch for you to play with by sometime." Tony grinned.

"Awesome," Clint said, brightening. "I'm always up for new toys."

"New toys is my specialty," Tony said with a grin, heading back to the lab to get back to work.

Avery hesitated a moment, not immediately following Tony back to the lab. She wasn't sure if Clint would want her around, but it would be an excellent opportunity to observe him in practice.

A week or so later, everyone was gathered in the main living room. Thor had just gotten back, with his brother. Which was a minor problem.

"Why is he here?" Tony asked, shifting his weight so he was part-way in front of Clint. He didn't miss Natasha moving behind the archer to support him.

"Father has decided that he needs some time to observe humans, as I did," Thor said. "He is to stay with me."

Great. There was another pound of paperwork. Kerry sighed into her tea and started steeping Bruce's tea for him, hoping the smell would help calm him down some. He was starting to look a little green.

"Oh lovely," Avery murmured, one hand going to pinch the bridge of her nose a bit. Her hair was down again today, to hide the tips of her ears. She didn't want to advertise her heritage right away to Thor and Loki before she could be sure of how they would handle it.

Clint stayed well back from the two off-worlders, glaring at Loki murderously.

"Fine." Tony swore under his breath in Russian. "There's a room next to yours he can stay in." And hopefully he would just stay in the room all the time.

Kerry shifted a bit, watching them all carefully in case she had to jump in.

Thor nodded once.

"My thanks," he said. He gestured for Loki to follow him, and walked out of the room. He carefully kept his brother away from Clint.