There's this no-nonsense, arguments aren't gonna cut it way about her sometimes that Leonard doesn't dare try to attribute her earning from him. But it probably is. She just wears it better. Lisa is a commanding force when she wants to be, and right now, Leonard doesn't feel like fighting about anything else.

Some things never change, no matter how much older she gets, somehow Lisa still thinks that food and hot chocolate can fix half the world's problems. Of course, now she knows more about how the world works and knows that isn't true, but she's damned if she doesn't try it as a tactic, anyway.

He accepts the offerings when she returns from the kitchen, picking up the mug of cocoa first; maybe Leonard sort of wishes hot chocolate could fix all his problems, too. "Thanks, Lise... I love you, too." They aren't words he actually says much, even to her, because they're hard. But sometimes they're also necessary. And Leonard can always handle something when it's necessary.