Really, there wasn’t much to cleaning up with the dishwasher there, but Natasha took her time rinsing dishes, wiping up any spilled flour, and putting all the ingredients back where they belonged. First, though, she made sure to fill the kettle and put it on to boil while she worked.

In the meantime Clint amused himself by playing with Liho, and Natasha was pleased to see that the kitten seemed to have forgiven him for the trip to the vet the other day. He had tried to play it off, but she knew he had been bothered by the idea of the kitten not liking him, and with everything else going on he could have used the comfort of a little extra love.

There was still room in the dishwasher so she didn’t start it up after it was loaded, and after wiping down the counters she moved to watch the two playing in the living room. “Would you like some tea?” she asked, not wanting to interrupt but the kettle had started whistling. She knew tea wasn’t really his thing, but she tried every once in a while nonetheless.