Steve just shook his head. This was way outside anything he thought he was ready for.

Gemma just gave her a Look. "You're never content to wait, I don't know who you think you're fooling." She grinned.

"Come on, may as well head back to the tower, I think we've had enough excitement for one day," Sam said, standing.

Kenzie grinned. "I will wait for a while," she protested. "I can wait. Sometimes. Just not for long. Patience is not my strong suit."

"Sounds good," Steve said, nodding. He went over to nudge Bucky into moving.

"Let them come to us," Gemma said. She stretched a bit. "In the meantime, we can spoil ourselves some, hm?"

Sam nodded and herded them away.

"Of course," Kenzie said with a little grin. "What would you like, dear?"

Steve made sure Bucky made it back okay to the tower and settled in.

"Surprise me," Gemma replied, grinning.

Kenzie hummed thoughtfully at that before perking up a little and pulling out her phone, putting in a reservation at Gemma's favorite restaurant for dinner.

"There, that's done for now, now I an focus on other things." She paused. "Probably."

"You're going to be wanting him all night," Gemma said as she unlocked the door of the shop and went inside.

"Yes, but now he's mine, at least, so it's not so bad," Kenzie said. "I can go back to ignoring it for a while." Although it would be easier if she didn't see him pass by every day, like she had been.

"Well, I'll have to do for now," Gemma said. She gathered a few things from around the shop. "Go on upstairs. I need to cleanse the place for the day, and I know the smell of the sage bothers you."

Kenzie nodded and headed upstairs to the apartment they owned above the shop. But she did make sure to get them to dinner on time, and she paid, because she could.

She didn't end up seeing Barnes for a few days, and worried that she might have pushed too much already. But then he, Steve, and Sam went out for coffee and passed by the shop, and she relaxed again.

Gemma spent the next few days just being a steady presence for Kenzie. She wasn't entirely sure she liked the idea of someone else coming into their little world, but she was well aware that she didn't have much choice in the matter, and just tried to support Kenzie.

Kenzie, in turn, spent more time spoiling Gemma and making sure she was comfortable. After all, Gemma was definitely getting time to adjust to the idea, and Kenzie had rushed into things a bit, even by her own standards.

Gemma had to admit, she enjoyed the spoiling. It was nice to have Kenzie's attention for a while, especially since she knew it wasn't going to last.

Finally about two weeks later, she was working in the back room of her shop when she heard the bell on the door.

"Hello!" she called. "Be right out!"

Steve and Sam both waited patiently, looking around the front of the shop with some interest. Sam knew a little about things like that, since he'd been in a few new age shops before, but this was new to Steve. So by the time Gemma came out, the two had migrated to opposite sides of the store, exploring.

"Hello again," Sam said when he saw her. Steve turned and smiled a little.

Gemma blinked.

"Hello," she said. "I wasn't expecting to see the two of you so soon."

"We were curious," Sam said with a little shrug. "We ended up talking to a guy with a little more experience in dragons, and he said that no you two weren't crazy." He grinned a bit. "So we decided to come get more information."

"Well, I guess 'not crazy' is better than nothing," Gemma said with a bit of a shrug. "You're welcome here as long as you like, then. What can I do for you both?"

"If you don't mind answering some questions, we can start with that," Steve said.

"Since I get the feeling we'll be seeing a lot more of you." Sam shrugged, clearly not upset by this.

"Sure," Gemma said, smiling a bit. "Ask away. I'll answer whatever I can."

"What exactly does it mean that she's claimed Bucky as part of her... group?" Steve asked. Because Bucky still came first.

"Her hoard," Gemma said, nodding. "Dragons... Well, dragons like treasure. Or rather, anything they perceive as treasure. Most dragons are traditional 'piles of gold,' but some like slightly more unconventional hoards." She grinned a bit. "Like people. Kenzie prefers people she considers to be special."

"And how does she figure that out?" Sam asked, because this could definitely be something of a sticking issue if it had anything to do with serums and surgeries. Steve just looked interested, so far.

"I have no idea," Gemma admitted. "As far as I can figure, she just knows. Maybe she can smell it or something, just that something extra that makes a person her sort of special."

Sam and Steve both relaxed a bit at that

"So you're part of her hoard too?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow. "Do you live with her? What does it actually mean to be part of her hoard?"

Gemma nodded, grinning a bit.

"Yeah, Kenzie hoarded me a while back," she said. "It freaked me out at first because, you know, dragons, but you get used to it. And she's really generous with her hoard. She's always giving me things and trying to spoil me."