Steve smiled a bit. "Well, it's amazing that you can do that much already." Because while he had no idea how steep the learning curve for magic was, he had overheard Strange saying that Elaine was learning quickly.

Elaine smiled a bit at that.

"So what are you working on?" she asked.

"Picture of Tony in the lab. I'm doing these for the whole team." Steve smiled a bit. "I've already got Natasha, Clint, and Phil."

Elaine leaned over to get a good look.

"It's really good," she said. She grinned. "His bots too, huh?"

"Of course," Steve said with a little grin. "Although I'm not quite sure how to get Jarvis in here."

"Yeah, I'd imagine that would be difficult," Elaine replied. She snickered a bit. "You could just write 'Jarvis' across one of the screens or something."

Steve snorted. "Maybe," he said before he shrugged. "I'll figure something out."

"I know you will," Elaine said, settling into her chair so she was resting on the arm of it. That way she could watch him work without being in the way.

Steve went back to his drawing, working on it carefully, taking his time. He figured he had time to finish the rest of them before they went to Malibu, probably.

Elaine ended of dozing off in the chair, curled up and comfortable. The magic lesson earlier had tired her out more than she thought.

Steve made sure she was comfortable and didn't fall off, tucking a blanket around her and staying there with her. And glowering disapprovingly at Clint when the archer went over to his video games.

Clint gave Steve a bit of an affronted look.

"What?" he said. "Okay, fine," he added when the disapproval intensified.

Steve nodded his approval when Clint didn't turn on a video game. "Kae left some cookies in the kitchen," he said instead to distract the archer.

Clint brightened and went to go see if he could find them. Kae had a habit of hiding them anywhere she could, to try to make them last longer than a day.

Steve chuckled at Clint's enthusiasm, settling in next to Elaine again to make sure no one woke her up.

Approximately a week later found everyone settling into the Malibu house. Clint had been a bit mad that Loki was coming along, but he didn't actually say anything against it, which Elaine took as passive (albeit very reluctant) acceptance. But really, Loki had promised to behave, so all was well for the moment.

Loki was indeed behaving, having done nothing more heinous than take Elaine outside to sit and help her acclimate to the different power source.

And it was noticeably different. Elaine could definitely tell the difference. Where back in the tower, her little light was bluish-white, in Malibu it was more of a peachy-pink. It had a different feel to it, as well, one that Elaine couldn't quite put into words.

Inside, Clint found himself in the same room as Steve. After a couple of minutes, he gestured outside.

"You're okay with that, Cap?" he asked, voicing what had been bothering him for a while. "Your girl learning that... hocus-pocus stuff? From Loki, even?"

Loki nodded his approval. "Give yourself a day to acclimate, and don't push yourself today. Practice but only some."

Steve was quiet for a few moment. "From Strange it was fine. But from Loki?" He shrugged. "I know she won't do anything bad. It's him I don't trust, which is why I'm keeping an eye on them." Because while Loki had been behaving himself, Steve doubted he would ever truly trust the Asgardian.

Elaine nodded, holding on to the light for a moment longer before letting it go again.

"I hear that," Clint muttered. He would never trust Loki. "But still, you're okay with the magic?"

Loki was quiet for a few moments. "If you sit and keep in contact with the energy, you will acclimate faster."

Steve nodded after a moment. He was okay with it. Mostly. "I trust her," he said quietly. "I don't like magic, personally, but I agree that it would be smart to have someone around who understands it who we can trust."

"I'll try," Elaine said.

"I guess that's a good point," Clint admitted. He shuddered slightly. "The idea still gives me the creeps, though."

"Good." Loki stretched briefly before he laid down in the sand, content to stay there for a while.

Steve smiled tightly. "It's not so bad," he said quietly. "We know that there are good applications. After all, Dr. Strange uses magic, and he's a good man."

"Yeah, I know," Clint replied. "But, I mean... I've been on the bad end of magic before, Cap. It's not fun. So it just kinda creeps me out now."

"No one can blame you for that, Clint," Steve said gently. "I don't think it'll become an issue, but if it does, let me know, okay? I can always talk to Elaine."