Steve nodded. She had to admit she was curious too. "Well, maybe ask Thor? He's bound to know."

"You would ask Thor about that?" Elaine asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'll see if I can broach the topic with Loki at some point."

Steve chuckled. "Probably smarter," she admitted, grinning briefly.

"Probably," Elaine agreed. She stretched a bit. "So, you going to stay in here and beat on a few more punching bags?"

"For the moment, I think so," Steve agreed. "I can smell food, so I'll come up when it's ready, or when Phil gets here, whichever comes first."

"Alright." Elaine really couldn't fault Steve for that. "I'll check back later, then."

Steve nodded and went back to working off some energy.

Phil arrived just before Kae and Bruce finished cooking, and he blinked at the domestic but odd sight.

"Well, you weren't exaggerating," he said mildly.

Bruce turned when Phil spoke, looking a bit embarrassed.

"We're not sure what happened," she said.

"We'll figure something out," Phil said, shooting them both a quick, even smile. Oh there was so much teasing potential if he told Tony that bit of info now... But it might be too much. "Where are the others?"

"I think Tony and Clint are outside sunbathing. Tasha might be out there too." Kae shrugged. "Tasha was last I checked, anyway. Steve's in the gym, probably, and I have no idea about Thor and Loki."

"Thor is in the living room taking comfort from a box of Pop Tarts and a movie," Elaine said as she came into the room. "Loki is on the balcony." She grinned a bit. "Had to see it with your own eyes, Phil?"

"Of course," Phil said blandly. "I wouldn't have missed this."

Kae grinned. "Well you may as well go round everyone up, Phil, dinner's just about ready."

"I'll go get Steve and Loki," Elaine volunteered. "Thor is just in the other room, so the three outside are the only others." With that, Elaine disappeared down to the gym again.

Phil nodded and headed outside to gather up the three outside, giving them all Looks, especially when Tony and Clint started snarking to cover up any discomfort over the situation. Then he herded them all back inside.

"Still okay, Bruce?" Kae asked quietly before the others came back in. "I can always cover for you if you want to get some dinner and sneak away."

"All in favor of never speaking of this again?" Clint muttered to Tony as they went inside to change.

Bruce nodded.

"I'm alright," she said. "I'll let you know if I need to sneak away."

"Steve?" Elaine called as she got to the gym. "Dinner. And Phil's here."

"Oh, I don't know, it's not so bad," Tony said with a grin. "I mean, how often do you grope yourself?"

Kae nodded and patted her shoulder before setting out plates and everything so they'd be prepared.

Steve looked over from beating up a punching bag and wiped her face with a towel. "Alright, I'll be right up.

Clint just turned a bit pink, definitely not about to answer that question, rhetorical or not. Because Tony was kind of right: how often did guys get to grope girls without getting into trouble for it?

Elaine nodded and headed back upstairs to get Loki and Thor.

"Time for dinner," she said when she got out to the balcony. "And after dinner I want to ask a few questions about things I found in my mythology book."

Tony grinned and moved into the kitchen to get food. "At least your cooking skills haven't changed," she said to Bruce, grinning.

"Of course," Loki said, getting to her feet easily. "After dinner."

Bruce just rolled her eyes and handed Tony a plate.

"That was the plan," Elaine agreed. She gestured to the living room. "Now we just need to go get your--" she paused "--sibling, there we go, gender neutral, sibling and get some dinner."

Loki rolled her eyes and herded Thor into the kitchen easily, smirking faintly.

It didn't take long for everyone to settle down with food.

It was pretty quiet as everyone ate dinner. Finally, Elaine felt like she had to break the silence.

"Ten bucks says that if I go and turn on a sappy romance, everyone except Natasha and Phil will be sobbing by the end of it," she said. "And nobody will know why, not even Kae or I."

Kae snickered. "That would be hysterical to watch," she said with a grin. "Should we?"

"No," Tony said forcefully, glowering, although not very impressively.

"I could turn on The Notebook or something, but I can't force anyone to watch it," Elaine said. She wouldn't be that mean to them, at least not yet.

"You do that, I'm hiding in the lab," Tony said. Because there was no way he was comfortable with a chick flic.

"Easy, Tony, don't worry," Elaine said. "Sappy movies and chocolate won't be for another week or two." She grinned teasingly, but she was partially serious. Her cycle put her right around another ten days or so. "And you won't have to watch the movies or anything."

Tony rolled her eyes and shook her head, getting to her feet. "Right, I'm going to shower and science for a while."

"Tony, don't build yourself a new suit," Kae called after him. "I will confiscate it from you."

"What makes you think I'm not going to make one for you?" Tony shot right back, which startled Kae enough that she blinked, her eyes huge.