Kae sighed and shook her head. "Silly Captain with his silly morals," she grumbled, not really complaining but not wanting to just go sit down either.

"Leave him be, he's just a little old-fashioned," Bruce soothed. "It could be a lot worse."

"Like how?" Kae raised her eyebrows at him, settling next to him on the couch.

"He could be completely misogynistic and inconsiderate," Bruce pointed out.

"True," Kae conceded after a few moments. "But I don't really know anyone like that anymore, so I'm not too worried."

"Alright," Bruce said. He put an arm around her waist and pulled her close.

Kae let him, settling in close to him and getting comfortable there. She figured she was allowed, and he had started it, anyway.

While Steve was doing the dishes, Elaine noticed that Tony had disappeared down into his workshop again. Getting up, she followed him to see what he was up to.

Tony had locked down the lab again to anyone he didn't expressly permit, including Claudia, while he blasted music and worked on some upgrades to his suit.

Elaine could see him through the glass, and when she noticed she was locked out, chose a different route.

anything good going into the suit? she texted him.

Tony ignored his phone until he was at a pausing point, and then he texted back one-handed with only half his attention on the screen.

Updated repulsors, personal shielding, upgrading the armor itself some, adding a few bits of tech. The normal.

Fun. After a moment, she added, can I come watch?

Are you going to bother me about the thing from yesterday again? he shot back almost immediately.

I wasn't planning to. Mostly true. More along the lines of snooping to see what new upgrades you might have for me. And maybe see about soundproofing because you know Steve won't be able to ask without his face threatening to catch fire.

Soundproofing is already being taken care of, Tony texted back. The instant you say anything about yesterday, I'm kicking you out. Got it?

Fine, Elaine replied. She could be good. And really she just wanted to keep an eye on him for a bit and make sure he wasn't drinking himself unconscious over it.

The door slid open silently, and the music suddenly got a whole lot louder. Tony didn't even look up, going back to installing the upgrades in his suit. He'd moved past the drinking (or at least drinking himself unconscious) to working like crazy.

Elaine cringed slightly at the volume of the music (just because she could see again didn't mean her other senses had faded yet), but went to perch herself somewhere that she would be out of the way but could still see what was going on.

Tony worked on his suit for a while before putting it away and going to work on one of his cars instead. Because they needed some attention too.

You and your ridiculously pretty Audis, Elaine texted him, when she realized she wouldn't be able to talk over the music. Cars were not that pretty ten years ago.

I'm still looking into getting a Ferrari, Tony texted back with a grin. Those are pretty rare still, even here. And I know my car is pretty, I picked it out to be pretty.

A Ferrari, really? At this point the only thing it has going for it is the name, you can fly faster than that thing. Elaine just grinned and rolled her eyes.

Yeah, so? I do occasionally have to use my cars. A Ferrari would be a great addition. They're fast, flashy, and they attract attention. Ton just grinned at the underside of the car he was working on.

In other words, the only thing missing is your name on the plates. Because she totally noticed that Tony had described himself perfectly. I've never bothered thinking about what kind of car I want. There's no point.

Why not? You can see, you can learn how to drive. Tony swore quietly when he almost burned himself, scowling at the underside of the car.