"You don't need to carry my things, you know," Elaine said as she walked with him. She grinned. "Although you're probably capable of carrying my things and me at the same time without even trying," she teased.

"Undoubtedly," Steve said with a grin. "In fact..." He shifted his grip on the suitcase and picked her up easily, carrying her bridal style and managing to not hit anyone with the suitcase.

Elaine squeaked in surprise and clung to him as he carried her.

"Showoff," she teased him, giving him a kiss.

Steve just smiled, unrepentant, and carried her down to her room, setting her on a chair down there carefully.

"Maybe you should take a nap."

"A nap isn't a bad idea," Elaine admitted. She looked at him. "Of course, I want to spend time with you, too. I've been gone for almost a week, I missed you."

Steve smiled a little. "Hmm, maybe a nap would be a good idea for me, too," he said with a little grin. "If that sounds good to you?"

"It sounds perfect," Elaine said, smiling. Getting up from the chair he'd put her in, she toed off her shoes. She was definitely looking forward to snuggling in with Steve.

Steve took off his own shoes and got comfortable on her bed, making sure to leave her plenty of space. Not that he didn't already take up a not-inconsiderable amount of space himself, but still.

Elaine didn't care that he took up most of the bed; it just meant she got to snuggle more. Going over, she settled in next to him, tucking herself up against him and turning her implants off for the moment. She sighed softly.

Steve settled in there with her, closing his eyes and keeping her close.

Kae sighed quietly as she made it into the kitchen to get herself a drink. She was starting to feel worn out too, not that she'd admit it.

Bruce went into the kitchen with Kae.

"Go sit down," he said quietly. "Settle on the couch or something. I can get you something, if you want it. You look tired."

Kae shook her head. "I'm just going to get some water," she protested. "And I'm fine, just a bit tired."

"'Just a little tired' can quickly turn into more than that," Bruce pointed out. Gently, he turned her around so she was facing the couch. "Go on and sit down for a bit." He smiled a little. "Your little bot missed you while you were gone. She followed me around the entire time."

Kae grinned. "I wondered what she'd do," she admitted, letting Bruce steer her over to the couch with her water. "But I guess she found someone else to latch onto. Good."

"I blame Tony," Bruce commented. "I think he programmed her to follow one of us all the time." Once Kae was settled on the couch, Bruce sat down next to her and put an arm around her waist. "So, how was your trip?"

"Eventful. I ended up debating ethics with a group of gods, and don't even ask me about the wisdom of that because I know it was stupid, but it was fun. There was lots of drinking involved, although I didn't do much of it. Other than that, plotting with Loki and laughing at Elaine when her gods dragged her off to play dress-up." Kae grinned, leaning against his side.

"I'm glad you had fun, then," Bruce said. He pulled her a bit closer, letting her get comfortable.

Kae was quite happy to rest there for a while, curling against his side and relaxing.

Life settled down again, at least for a little while. Thor only stayed a puppy for two more days before the spell wore off, but he didn't seem any worse for it. In fact, he seemed more cheerful, as if the universe somehow aligned a bit more properly.

Of course, it couldn't last. This was life in the Avengers tower. It couldn't stay boring and simple for long. Coulson showed up one morning, which wasn't unusual in and of itself, but instead of parking himself at the table to do paperwork, he went into Tony's workshop.

"That's weird," Elaine commented when she noticed Coulson had gone to the lab. "He usually doesn't disappear into the lab like that."

"No, he doesn't." Kae frowned a little, looking at the lab. "I wonder if everything is okay in there? Does Claudia have access to the lab?"

"It's worth a check," Elaine replied. "Clauds?"

"I have not been expressly forbidden access to the lab," Claudia replied.

"Then let's see if you can get in," Elaine said. "I want to know what's going on. It's not like Coulson to go corner someone."

"Attempting to access the lab," Claudia said. "Access restricted to security camera feeds. No audio feeds available within access restrictions."

"Let me see the video feeds, then," Elaine said.

Tony stood at his workbench, Coulson near him. Coulson set down a file and said something, to which Tony did not reply. Coulson said something else and then turned and left.

Kae blinked. "What was that all about?"

"I'm not sure," Elaine said, just as confused. She watched as Tony picked up a random part from the workbench and threw it across the workshop as soon as Coulson was out of the room. "But he seems upset."

"Yeah, that's a little more than just upset." Kae watched with concern as Tony threw a few more things before stalking away out of the camera's view. "What the hell did Coulson tell him?"

"I have no idea, but I'm going to find out," Elaine said, standing up. "If you want to go find Coulson, I'll brave the workshop to find Tony. Sound good?"