Gemma hummed under her breath as she sifted through some dried herbs hanging from the beams across the ceiling. She glanced over from time to time at her friend, who she was fairly certain was just playing with the crystals on the counter rather than sorting them.

"You getting bored?" she asked.

Kenzie hummed a little in reply, absently shifting a crystal back and forth. She was quiet for several moments before she looked over at Gemma.

"I feel the need to add someone new," she said, partly in warning, partly to let Gemma have a chance to have some input.

"Someone new?" Gemma asked, quirking an eyebrow a bit. "Any idea who? Or do you just know you want someone else?"

"Someone else, but there's someone in the city. Someone near enough that I can still smell their... sparkle." Kenzie made a face. Sometimes human words were so constricting. "There is a particular someone here in the city."

"Well, if you find them, let me know," Gemma said, going back to sifting through herbs. "I want to make sure I like whoever it is, before I have to share with them."

"You'll get first veto," Kenzie said. Her attention sharpened a bit when she noticed a group of three men passing by on the other side of the street. It was the second time in as many days that she'd seen them. One of them she knew to be Captain America, the second was someone the press was calling the Falcon, and the third was someone the press was very divided about. Kenzie wasn't sure what to think about the former Soldier, either. But she did know that he was easy on the eyes, and she would have to get closer and test, but she thought that he might be the one she was looking for.

Gemma noticed them, too, and gave a small sigh.

"Just look at them," she commented. "Look at how pretty they all are. That should be illegal."

"Mmm," Kenzie murmured. "They're too pretty. At least one of them should be Mine. I just don't know which one yet." She shifted a bit, clearly tempted to move out from behind the counter and follow the group to figure out which one she liked best.

"Stay here," Gemma said. She didn't even need to see Kenzie move. "You shouldn't accost people, that'so a bad way to add them to your hoard."

Kenzie pouted a bit but stayed put for now. She watched them from her shop for about a week, being good and not doing anything, even though the urge was growing stronger, and the urge was harder to ignore.

And then the Avengers went out and dealt with a threat. Genetically mutated cows. That spat fire when angry. Even Kenzie didn't think that sounded good. But she watched the news through the whole thing, and by the time the fight was over, her mind was made up.

"I can't wait, I'm adding him when I see him." Her whole body was taut, and her eyes were too close to gold to be human anymore.

Gemma sighed.

"I'm going with you," she said. "Which one?"

"The Soldier. With the metal arm." Kenzie started pacing the shop, too fidgety to hold still. "I know this is abrupt. I will apologize to him later."

Gemma resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"I'll come with you," she said, slipping on her shoes and grabbing her bag. "Someone needs to be there to explain things for you."

Kenzie nodded and waited for as long as she could. That is, until the trio came into view. Then she was out of the shop, her eyes gold and cat-slitted. Fortunately people tended not to look too closely at her.

Gemma blinked when Kenzie suddenly took off.

"Kenzie!" she said, hurrying along behind her. "Wait a second, slow down!"

Kenzie did pause for a few seconds (mostly to avoid getting run over but it did allow Gemma to catch up to her) before she took off again. She stopped in front of Barnes, saying something in her native language that sounded like distant thunder and fire, and then she patted his (pretty shiny) metal arm.

Steve froze at the weird crazy lady, ready to interfere if Bucky needed help, or if the lady set off the Soldier. Sam stood tense next to him, watching.

Barnes watched her warily, tensing when she touched him. His assessment of her threat level was inconclusive, and that didn't sit quite right.

"Kenzie!" Gemma said as she finally caught up to her friend. "Really? It had to be right this minute?"

"Yes," Kenzie said simply. Her eyes had gone back to normal, and she smiled. "Apologies for being so rude," she said to the three. And now came the tricky part. "Perhaps I can buy coffees to apologize?"

Sam and Steve both watched Bucky, because they weren't in a rush to get anywhere, but they could always make their excuses if he needed the out.

Bucky watched her warily. The abrupt change in her demeanor muddied his threat assessment of her even more. Lucky for everyone, though, he was in a good state of mind that day.

"I guess we have time for coffee," he said carefully, glancing at Steve and Sam.

Steve nodded and relaxed a bit. So far, so good.

"There's a good place right up here," he suggested.

Kenzie nodded and smiled, walking next to Bucky easily. Sam eyed her and her companion with interest, clearly wondering who the hell they were.

Bucky nodded and tilted his head slightly at Steve. He definitely wanted his friend to go first, just in case.

Gemma sighed.

"That could have ended so badly," she commented to Kenzie. "You're lucky."

Steve nodded, just a little, and took the lead, finding a table for the five of them to sit, though he kept half his attention on Bucky.

"Perhaps," Kenzie said with a little grin. "Not that he would have done any permanent damage anyway." Now she just had to figure out how to explain to them.

"I told you that just jumping on people is not a good way to get them on your side," Gemma pointed out. She shook her head a bit and glanced at the others. "I apologize for my friend. My name is Gemma, she's Kenzie."

"I'm Steve," he said, smiling a little. "This is Bucky."

"And I'm Sam." Sam smiled at the two girls. "Nice to meet you, but unusual circumstances."

Kenzie just shrugged, completely unrepentant.

"Yeah, well..." Gemma said. "We'll try to explain that. Coffee first."