Kenzie snorted at that. "I'm sure you will. Stubborn man." But she was grinning, leaning back in her seat, but nudging her foot up against one of his to keep some point of contact with him.

Bucky snorted softly as well, but didn't move his foot away from hers. Strangely, the contact didn't bother him.

Kenzie's eyes lowered to half-shut and flecked golden in contentment. Someday, hopefully soon, she'd have to show him what she really looked like.

Back at the shop, Gemma had locked the door for the night, but was still downstairs with the lights on. It was the only time she really got to practice her real magic in privacy, and she had a few little illusions shimmering in and out of existence as she worked.

Steve had long since noticed Bucky was gone, but since he figured that he was out with Kenzie, he wasn't in a rush to get him back. But Steve did decide to stop by the shop and see if he was ready to go yet. He noticed the closed sign and hesitated outside before he knocked.

The knock startled Gemma and the illusions blinked out immediately. Going over to the door, she pulled open the shade to see who was there. When she saw Steve, she unlocked the door.

"They're not here," she said. "They went out for coffee."

"And how long ago was that?" Steve asked with a knowing little grin. Because that seemed to be how things were going with those two.

"A couple hours or so," Gemma replied. She gestured down the street. "They went to the cafe around the corner, if you're looking for them."

"They'll find their way back eventually," Steve said with a shrug. "I'm not worried." He paused for a moment. "Mind if I come in and talk for a bit? I didn't much feel like staying in the tower tonight."

That made Gemma blink. It hadn't occurred to her that he might not actually be looking for the other two.

"Sure," she said, opening the door more so he could come in.

"Thanks." Steve smiled. "I thought we could talk. It's kind of nice to talk to other people."

"What did you want to talk about?" Gemma asked, pulling over a spare stool for him.

"Anything. Magic, living with a dragon, fighting crime. Your choice." Steve shrugged. "Seems I've picked the topic the last few times."

Gemma blinked again. She had definitely not expected this.

"Okay," she said. She paused for a second. "Did you put up that witch ball I gave you?"

"I did. So far it hasn't done anything else unexpected. It's kind of nice, though, gives me enough light to see by if I wake up in the middle of the night." Steve smiled.

"Well, glowing isn't exactly ordinary," Gemma pointed out. "It's just glass. It's supposed to filter out bad energy, so the space should feel lighter and cleaner." She considered it for a moment, and then shrugged. "Maybe it picked up some magic before I gave it to you. Let me know if it does anything else."

"I will." Steve grinned a bit. "Besides, it was glowing just a little bit when you gave it to me. Maybe it just never stopped."

"Maybe," Gemma agreed. She stood up. "I was about to make some tea. Would you like some?"

"Sure," Steve agreed after a moment. "If it's not a bother." He shrugged a little.

Gemma nodded and went into the back room of the shop. It wasn't as good as her kitchen, but it had an electric kettle and some of her tea stash. She came back out a few minutes later with two mugs of tea, and she handed him one.

"Oolong with a bit of vanilla," she said. "Let me know if you want something different."

"I'm sure this is fine, thank you," Steve said with a bit of a smile. He took a sip, rather surprised. "Things have been going well? With you, I mean."

"Well enough," Gemma said, blinking. She hadn't been expecting that turn in the conversation. "Shop is doing alright and everything. You?"

"Normal," Steve said with a bit of a grin. "Sam's moved into the tower too, it's nice to have someone else sane around."

Gemma raised an eyebrow.

"Isn't he the one who flies around on actual literal mechanical wings?" she pointed out. "Sane seems relative at this point."

"Compared to Tony and Bruce on a science bender, he is sane," Steve said. "Thor is great, but he's also from Asgard. Clint spends half of his time in the vents, I'm pretty sure he sleeps up there too. Natasha... well, she has her own issues. Sam watches baseball with me and Buck."