Dante let her take the lead, just following her. He could tell when they crossed the boundaries of her territory, and he had to admit, he was impressed. She had a very large territory for just one dragon.

There wasn't much talking done after that. Kenzie was really glad that she had deer and things in her territory to hunt, because suddenly feeding two dragons, even temporarily, would have been hard on McCormick.

Dante was glad the hunting was good, as well. He'd taken to doing the hunting for both of them, finding something for himself and then bringing something back for Kenzie. It was the least he could do, all things considered.

Kenzie accepted her meals gracefully, allowing him the time to fuss and keep track of her. It was only natural, after all. And once the egg was safe to move, she'd make sure he was fussing over the egg and not her.

Dante took advantage of being allowed to fuss. After all, the least he could do was make sure she was comfortable, since she was doing the hard part.

Elsewhere, Gemma was content to look after her shop. She'd gotten a few new books on magic, and was reading through them in her down time. It was the off-season, after all; things didn't pick up much outside of major holidays.

Steve dropped by one afternoon, a cup of her favorite tea in hand and a coffee for himself in his other. He shot her a brief grin.

"Looks quiet today."

Gemma smiled when she saw him.

"It's always slow in the summer," she said, setting her book down. "It'll pick up again near the end of the summer, and more in October and December."

"Makes sense," Steve said with a nod. "Just you in the shop today?" He set her tea on the counter between them.

"Just me," Gemma confirmed nodding. She smiled when she saw the tea, and she reached out to take it. "Mmm, smells great."

"Good." Steve smiled and spent a few minutes just relaxing before he made himself move on to the reason he'd been shoved out the door of the tower earlier that day. "Haven't seen Kenzie in a while. Buck's starting to worry."

"That didn't take long," Gemma said. She sipped her tea. "She's fine, last I heard. She went back into her territory to take care of something, she'll be back."

Steve shrugged. "Have to get the actual business out of the way first, then they'll stop bothering me," he said with a little grin. Gemma wasn't worried, clearly, which meant most likely everything was just fine. Which he texted to Bucky.

"Alright," Gemma said. "But yeah, Kenzie'll be back soon enough."

"Alright, I'll let Bucky know." Steve shrugged. "How about you? Doing alright here on your own?"

"Alright enough," Gemma said. She was quiet for a moment. "I've been trying to keep myself busy. I'm not used to being alone anymore. It's... not as easy as it used to be."

"I'll stay for a while," Steve volunteered. "I don't mind, I don't have anywhere I need to be right now." And he was already planning on coming back the next day.

"Are you sure?" Gemma asked, looking at him. "I don't want to keep you if there are other things you want to be doing..."

"I'm sure," Steve said with a little grin. "I'm good here." Honestly, he was kind of glad that Kenzie wasn't around. He liked her fine, but he did have to watch himself a bit around her, because he got the feeling she wasn't sure if she approved of him or not. But with just Gemma, Steve felt more relaxed.

"In that case, would you like me to make you some coffee?" Gemma asked, smiling a little. She was glad he decided to stay.

"If it's no trouble," Steve said after a moment. Because while the caffeine didn't really affect him anymore, he still liked coffee.

"I don't mind at all," Gemma said, smiling. She gave him a teasing grin as she went into the small back room. "Let me know if anyone walks in."

"Will do." Steve grinned and settled in there, content to just spend the time in the shop with her.

Gemma smiled at that and went to make the coffee. A few minutes later, she brought out two mugs and a small container of sugar packets and creamers.

"Help yourself," she said as she handed him a mug and opened the container for him.

"Thanks." Steve put a few sugars in his coffee. He'd drink it plain black when he had to, but a little sugar never went amiss, in his opinion.

Gemma put some cream and sugar into her coffee, then took a sip and sighed.

"Good coffee," she murmured. "Kenzie always springs for the good stuff when she stocks things up."