Loki shrugged. "There's that and talking to Kae." She shrugged again. "It makes little difference which I start with."

"Up to you," Elaine said. "Let me know when you want the research and I'll pull it out for you."

Loki nodded and got up, deciding to go find Kae to "save" her from Tony.

Elaine let her go, just relaxing on the balcony for a bit.

Loki, meanwhile, found Kae in Tony's workshop. She knocked cautiously on the doorframe.

Kae got up and went to go open the door, glancing back at Tony briefly, who was already absorbed in something else.

"Hey, Loki. What's up?"

"I hoped I might borrow you," Loki replied, glancing at Tony as well. Thankfully, Stark seemed to be completely engrossed in some project or other.

"Sure. Jarvis, if Tony asks, I'm probably cooking." Kae grinned and left the lab, letting the door slide shut behind her, before she headed up the stairs.

"So what can I do for you tonight?"

"I find myself oddly fascinated by the topic of human mutation," Loki said, sitting down and looking at Kae. "I thought you might be able to help... enlighten me."

"Sure. I'll tell you what I know, which is admittedly not much compared to my teacher." Kae shrugged, moving to sit down as well. "From what I know, mutations started showing up, oh, eighty years ago, maybe more? But the mutation can manifest as anything from telepathy to telekinesis to pyrokinesis to the ability to pass through solid objects..." She shrugged again.

"What causes such a thing?" Loki asked. Surely it wasn't normal; else it wouldn't be called a mutation.

"Genetic mutation." Kae was quiet for a moment. "Um, okay, how much do you know about human genetics and reproduction and stuff?" Because if she had to explain everything she would but she wanted to see how much he knew first.

Loki gave her something of a look. Not quite a Look, though.

"Give me more credit than that," she said. "I am a scholar." And what she didn't know, she would learn about.

"Hey, just because you're smart doesn't mean I should assume you know everything," Kae pointed out.

Loki just waved a hand slightly.

"Moving on," she said, "what causes these mutations?"

"No one's entirely sure what started it, from what I understand," Kae said with a shrug. "People just started mutating at the genetic level, and their kids have the mutations. And in about half of cases mutations just... happen, just appear even though there's no family history. Like in my case."

"I see," Loki said, making some mental notes. It was definitely something to look into more.

"Any other questions for the moment?" Kae looked at her, just curious.

"Not currently," Loki replied. "I think I will take Elaine's earlier offer to look at her research."

"Sure. Let me know if you have any other questions." Kae smiled at her and went to go make cookies.

Loki nodded and went back to see what research she could get her hands on.

Elaine, on the other hand, was trying to figure out who would be her best bet to hold still and let her fiddle around with magic. She wanted to see if she could pick at the spell and try to unravel it.

Clint and Natasha were relaxing in one of the downstairs rooms, just hanging out with a movie on. Phil was relaxed in a chair near them, though he was still being vigilant.

Elaine went through the living room, although she made sure not to get between the two assassins and their movie, before deciding that maybe Tony or Steve (or even Thor) would be a better choice.

Tony was still working in his lab, and Steve had come up from the gym to lounge on the beach for a while. Because clearly some relaxation time was needed.

When Elaine saw Steve outside, she made a bit of a detour and went outside as well.

"So how many punching bags did you destroy this time?" she asked.

"Only two," Steve said with a brief grin. "Really, it wasn't that bad." This time.