Chapter 7
Arriving at the restaurant, you waited for the waiter to come and get you to your table. Nebula and you had been sent on a week long mission on a planet quite similar to Knowhere but that you had never heard about. Your job was to stay undercover until you found this secret group of traffickers who had been running away from the Nova Corps, which was tricky because they were themselves undercover and very good at their job. You, were doing it for the units Xandar had promised in exchange, of course. Being undercover meant you had to act like normal people, so Nebula and you had agreed to go out to eat this evening, which would also allow you to catch a short break. You had tried to convince her to wear something fancy for tonight but there was no one as stubborn as her (except you, perhaps). So she just put on a fancier version of her usual outfit and you chose a black dress, pretty enough for a restaurant but not too pretty enough to get noticed. (Although it looked good enough for Nebula to look you up and down when you walked out of the bedroom).
Finally, the waiter showed up and, being better at social interactions, you decided it was better for you to speak.
“Good evening, ma’am”
“Hi, we wanted to see if you had any tables available?” you asked with the warmest smile.
“Will it be just for the two of you or are more people going to join?”
“No it’s just me and my wife.” you said intertwining your arm with hers as she looked at you wide-eyed.
“This way, please.” the man said holding out his arm.
“Why did you say I was your wife?” she asked not too loud so that the waiter wouldn’t hear as you walked to the table.
“I couldn’t say you were family because I’m not blue and I couldn’t say you were my friend because he would never have bought it!”
“Why wouldn’t he buy it?!” she whisper-yelled at you.
“With that mean look you gave him he probably would have wondered how anyone could be friend with you!”
“I didn’t like how he looked at you. Besides, how is it more believable for me to be your wife? Why would you marry someone who looks mean?”
“Well you look mean but you’re still hot”.
She rolled her eyes.
“...besides, waiters tend to not invade your privacy when they think you’re on a date. And we’re supposed to be undercover, remember?” you continued.
“If you say out loud we’re undercover it kind of defies the whole concept”
“I’m gonna ask for divorce if you keep giving me those life lessons”
“Shut up and sit down, y/n” she said, exasperated by your jokes.
The whole dinner was actually such a fun time; you had been having great conversations and a great bonding time (except when you tried to take one of her fries. She definitely didn’t let that slide). You rubbed your stomach, this meal being the best meal you had had in months.
“Woah, I would do anything for dessert right now”
“With all the food you inhaled? How can you even eat that much?”
“Hey! I didn’t even eat that much! And it’s not my fault I’m always hungry, I have a faster metabolism because of my powers so I need to eat more”. And for once you weren’t even lying, having superhuman speed was great except that your body needed more energy to function.
“I guess that’s a fair explanation. But it’s not an option anyway, we don’t have enough units.”
“How come??”
“Rocket didn’t give me that much for the mission”
“Rocket sucks! I’m gonna die starving because of him!”
“Stop being a baby and suck it up, y/n! We’re not getting dessert!”
“Fine!” You both sank into your chairs, arms crossed giving each other the death stare. Until a devilish grin spread across your face.
“What.are.you.planning?” she enunciated each word in her low voice.
“Waiter!” you called waving your hand at the man who was standing not far away.
“Y/n! Stop that this instant!” she growled, both hands now on the table to lean towards you.
But you just answered with a smug smile.
“How can I help?” the smiling waiter asked once he was next to you. You gestured for him to lower his head and whispered something in his ear. Nebula just watched the whole interaction, not only having no clue what you were doing but also being a bit upset about you being physically so close to a stranger.
“No problem Ma’am, I will be right back.” the man said before leaving.
“What did you tell him?” she was giving you a cold stare.
“Don’t worry, we won’t spend one more unit.” you answered with a mischievous grin.
Not even five minutes later, the lights turned off. Nebula starting reaching for the blaster she had been hiding inside her jacket, until a group of waiters came out of the door that lead to the kitchen, one of them carrying a cake covered with candles and sparklers. As everyone started singing happy birthday, she looked at you confused and you just tried very hard to hold in your laugh. As he placed the cake in front of her, another man started placing a birthday hat on her head and she normally would have strangled him to death, but she stood still, too busy giving you the death stare.
“Happy birthday, my darling!” you joked, loud enough so she could hear you among all the people singing.
“You will pay for this.”
“No, I told you, it’s for free!”
“I didn’t mean for the cake.”
You just laughed out loud at her serious expression. You loved making her mad.
Not longer after, everything came back to normal as everyone went back to their previous activities.
She pushed the cake in front of you, acting as she didn’t want it. Luckily there were two forks, so you took one and handed her the other one. She looked away, folding her arms.
“You know you still have the birthday hat on your head right?” you smiled. As soon as you said that she reached for it and threw it away.
“Come ooon, I know you want some” you said, still holding the fork. You waited a few seconds for her to break.
“Ugh, fine.” she took it from your hand. “But if you tell anyone about this I will kill you with my bare hands.”
“Promises, promises.” you grinned at her manners.
You placed the cake in the middle, both of you having your own side to eat.
“You know, if this was spaghetti we would kinda look like The Lady and the Tramp right now.” you said, your mouth stuffed with cake.
“The what?”
“It’s… nevermind, it’s a thing from Terra.”
“...Well, I hope that in your little metaphor I’m not the tramp.”
“Ugh, fine, you can be my Lady if you want” you said with fake annoyance. She rolled her eyes in response, but you didn’t miss the small smile that she didn’t manage to hide.