Kenzie shrugged, neatly evading the question. "She has known me for a long time, she knows how I work." Even though occasionally, like the past few months, Gemma had really kind of hated the result.

Bucky saw the evasion for what it was.

"Why do you still have her, if she doesn't understand?" he asked.

"It's never been an issue before now," Kenzie said. "I only had one other when I got her, and he left shortly after. So it's just been her and I, and I never had to urge to acquire someone else until you. So my decisions have never truly impacted her this way before."

"If you say so," Bucky replied, looking back at his coffee. He wasn't sure if he would ever really get along with Gemma, but he still didn't really care if Kenzie brought her along or not.

Kenzie was quiet for a minute, taking another sip of her own coffee and letting him relax again.

"When would you like me to go back with you?" she asked quietly.

Bucky thought about it for a minute or so.

"Next week?" he asked. That would give him time to let the others know that there would be a visitor.

Kenzie nodded. That would give her time to tell Gemma and prepare her a bit.

"Agreed. Next week it is."

Bucky nodded as well.

"Alright," he said. At least that would get the others off his back about it.

"But for the remainder of the day..." Kenzie finished off her coffee. "Eat your pastry." She poked at his hand.

"Yes, mom," Bucky said, though the faintest hint of a grin crossed his face.

Kenzie smiled, smug, and sat back in her chair, her eyes half-closed, content to just sit and relax for a while. It was nice.

Gemma, meanwhile, was back at the shop, idly going through some new crystals that had come in. She'd noticed that every time Kenzie went out, Steve tended to show up, so she was sort of half-expecting him to arrive any time.

It took Steve a little longer to get there, since he had a few things to take care of first, but he did arrive.

"Afternoon," he said, smiling at her. "You look a bit bored."

"Slow day," Gemma replied with a bit of a shrug. "Not a whole lot to do today."

"Ah." Steve shook his head a bit. "Well I suppose not every day can be exciting and busy."

"This is true," Gemma said, nodding. "What was your day like? I'm going to assume boring, since there was nothing on the news."

Steve snorted. "Well, apart from the tug-of-war battle over the remote between Clint and Tony, Thor trying to blend pop tarts, and Natasha deciding that I needed to review a few things? Yeah, boring day."

Gemma couldn't help but snicker.

"Thor put pop tarts into a blender?" she asked, biting her lip to keep from laughing too hard. "Really?"

"Really," Steve said, rolling his eyes. "He was curious. He also added milk." He paused for effect. "But he didn't put the top on the blender."

Gemma nearly choked trying not to laugh at that.

"I'm so sorry," she said, trying desperately not to laugh.

Steve shook his head, grinning. "Be glad you weren't there," he told her. "Things just kind of... I don't want to say exploded, but it was messy. Very messy."

"I can imagine," Gemma said. She shook her head a bit. "How long did it take to clean up?"

"Not too long, but only because we have a pack of Roombas," Steve said with a shrug. "They managed to get things mostly clean, and actual cleaning bots finished up."

"A pack of... Roombas?" Gemma asked, blinking. "I almost don't want to ask."

"Tony meddled with them," Steve said. "Too long without sleep and too much coffee. He created a hive mind for them so they clean the upper floors of the tower." He shrugged. "They're kind of helpful now."