"From what I understand, Thor is also royalty," Gemma said. "And there's video footage of Clint jumping off of buildings. I don't even want to think about Natasha, just from watching news clips with her in them, there's something about her that freaks me out some." She stopped there and bit her lip a little. Oops. She hadn't meant to say that last bit.

"Natasha is intense," Steve agreed. "She's a good person, but she was trained as an assassin, and it shows in almost everything she does. It's unsettling, if it's not something you're used to." His lips quirked in a wry smile.

"I'm amazed you all live with her as comfortably as you seem to," Gemma said after a moment, looking at him.

"It was rocky at first, we didn't live together from the start," Steve said. "It's actually a fairly recent development."

"Again, you're..." Gemma trailed off, taking a mental head count. "Seven men, and one female assassin, living under the same roof." It was mind-boggling, and she lived with a dragon.

Steve blinked at that. "Yeah," he agreed carefully. "What part about that bothers you the most?"

"Oh no, it's not that it bothers me," Gemma assured him. "I'm actually amazed. I don't know that I'd be able to live with that many people, especially that many men, and not want to punch someone all the time."

Steve grinned at that suddenly. "Who said I don't?" he asked, his eyes glittering with humor. "I kill on average a punching bag a week. A super soldier "proof" punching bag."

Gemma couldn't help but snicker a bit.

"I'm sorry," she said, "but I know my history. There's no such thing as a super-soldier 'proof' anything."

Steve grinned at that. "Tony took it as a challenge when I went through regular punching bags on a daily basis," he said. "So now I have more durable ones. But still not durable enough to keep me from splitting them."

That made Gemma think, and she rummaged under the counter for a moment before coming up with a blank sticker about the size of an index card, and a black pen. She carefully ignored the little voice in the back of her head that pointed out that she was doing a lot of magic for him for no reason. Quickly, she drew a few symbols on the sticker and handed it to him.

"Stick this on the next one and see how long it goes without splitting," she said.

Steve blinked at that but took it. "Thanks," he said, looking from the sticker to her. "You don't have to, you know. But I appreciate it. It'll be fun to see how long it lasts."

"I know I don't have to," Gemma replied. She fought off a slight pink blush in vain. "I just don't get the chance to really do fun magic all that often. It freaks people out, they only want the hokey stuff."

Steve nodded. He kind of knew how that went. "I can imagine that," he said sympathetically. "People are strange sometimes."

"Actually, statistically, I think I'm the strange one," Gemma said as she sipped her tea. She made a bit of a face when she realized how cold it had gotten, and absently drew a rune on her mug with her finger. A second later, it began to steam again.

"Maybe," Steve allowed. "My definition of strange is a little skewed." He grinned. He had noticed the little rune trick, but he didn't comment. It was harmless, she was nice, and so far her magic had only been harmless and helpful. He wasn't going to do anything to make her feel uncomfortable.

"True," Gemma said. She was quiet for a moment. "So what do you think so far?" she asked. "I mean, the whole thing with Kenzie."

Steve was quiet for a moment. "She seems fine, she seems to like him. I'm not worried about Bucky with her, either." He shrugged. "They're fine as far as I'm concerned."

Gemma nodded a bit. That's what she'd figured. She still wasn't sure how she felt about it, however.

"She likes him," she said. "She dotes on him, you can tell."

Steve nodded. "I kinda got that impression too," he admitted. "She seems very fond of him." He looked at her. "Which bothers you."

The observation was unexpected.

"I'm fine," Gemma muttered, looking away. "She's allowed to choose whoever she wants."

"She chose, though, not you," Steve said, his eyes kind. "I don't blame you, I'd probably be kind of ticked off in your shoes."

"I'm fine," Gemma repeated. "It's not like she needs my permission or anything, it's her hoard." She tried not to let on just how close he was getting to why she was hurt.

Steve shook his head. "From what I understand, it's not just her hoard, it's more like family," he said. "And family isn't something that just happens, it takes time."

"I was enough," Gemma finally snapped, putting her tea down. "Until you all came along, I was enough." And that was the crux of it: now Kenzie suddenly wanted more than just Gemma.