Chapter Text
It’s just a date. It’s just a date. Nothing serious, just a date. You and Pietro are going to dinner, that’s nice. It doesn’t mean you’re dating… No, wait, it sorta does. But you’re only dating if it goes well, right? Those are the rules? What rules? He ate you out in a closet two days ago and that was so against the rules!
Nia stuck herself in the scalp with a bobby pin, pulling herself from her anxiety. This date was all she could think about. She’d been so worried, worried about being fired, worried about being caught, worried about fucking it up. Now the date was here, there was no backing out of it, and she was scared as hell.
Pietro told her the restaurant he was looking at wasn't super fancy- they were both broke- and it would be okay for her to wear jeans if she wanted to, so she did. She wore jeans, a black crop top, and her best pair of heels. Her blue hair was pinned into two cute buns on the sides of her head. She'd even put on jewelry. The gold color looked beautiful against her brown skin. She almost never wore jewelry besides her nose ring. She also never went on dates.
I look like an alien. Oh God, I'm a nerd. This date isn't going well already and he isn't even here yet to see it not go well. Science never prepared me for this. I should've stuck to orchestra like my mother wanted me to... What the fuck am I talking about? It's 8:45, Pietro should be here any min-
The buzzer rang and her heart stopped. There wasn’t any more time to worry. She tried to rush to the door without falling like an ass. She looked through the peephole and Pietro was there with a look in his eyes that was somewhere between nervous, hopeful, and excited. She opened the door and they soaked in each other's appearances.
Pietro smiled and bounced excitedly on his heels. "You look so pretty!" He told her. She almost melted at the sound of the word ‘pretty’ in his accent.
She looked away from him and smiled. “Thank you. It took me a while to put it all together. It was odd seeing him out of 'Quicksilver mode', but he had a surprisingly normal almost-hipster fashion taste. Tight white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, slightly worn black jeans, very worn brown leather shoes. "You ran in those?" Nia asked.
He nodded. "It wasn’t easy, but I made a pit stop and got flowers for you." He handed her a small bouquet of bright pink azaleas. "They're beautiful as you are."
"They're lovely." She blushed and sniffed them before setting them on the coffee table and locking the door behind her. "You look handsome."
"Thank you. I tried to impress you."
"You did impress me."
"Very good, my job is done." They laughed and he bit his lip. "Forgive me if this isn't super nice, I am still new to... America."
"I’m new to New York, I spent most of my life before college in Philadelphia.” She told him. “Besides, it doesn't matter where we go, Pietro, we'll have a good time regardless."
"I hope so, Nia. I feel I overstepped my boundaries the other day."
Obviously he’d been thinking about it as much as she had. She shook her head. "It was really fun. It was exactly what I needed."
"Are you sure? I want to know if you feel disrespected or-"
She covered his mouth. "Pietro, I was cool with it. Relax."
"This is good, I thought I fucked up." He extended his elbow and she linked arms with him. They walked out onto the street and Pietro looked around at everything. "You know, this is the first time I've been out here without my sister."
"Yeah, well..." She sighed. "It's my first real fucking date."
His eyebrows raised in shock. "You're fucking with me."
She shook her head. “I spend my days off working, playing video games, reading science articles, and playing any pianos I can get my hands on. All alone.”
He thought about this for a bit. "So, wait… In the closet, that was the first time you-"
“No, no, but I’ve only done it once before, and I was drunk off my ass.” She told him. “It’s okay if you think that’s weird and don’t want to go out with me, I mean who wants to go out with a quiet little inexperienced girl.”
He laughed. “You think this means something to me?”
“Doesn’t it mean something to everyone?”
“Not everyone. I think it’s more fun. You get new experience…” He leaned in close to whisper into her ear. “I get to be the first to see what you can do.” She shivered when his lips brushed the space between her ear and her jaw. God, he was sexy. "I can’t believe you’ve never been on a date… Ridiculous!" He pulled her closer, she could smell his musky, manly cologne. "This night has to be memorable."
"What do you have in mind?" She asked.
"Fuck restaurants! We will see the best New York has to offer: Central Park."
She smiled excitedly. "Really? Like tourists?"
“Exactly like tourists!” He exclaimed. "We will eat food from a truck!"
"There’s a chance you might regret that later, but sure. I’m down."
"What are we waiting for?" He asked. "I can get us there in no time. Wanda and I went once."
"Did you like it? I haven’t had time to do much sightseeing."
He shrugged. "I thought it was nice, my sister was overwhelmed by the crowd." He picked her up. "Let's go to the park."
Pietro carried her to Central Park within moments. She still couldn't get used to that, it was so disorienting. They were just a blur of silver and blue together. Time moved slower around them. It was new to her, but this how the world always looked to him.
"You don't think it looks odd when you just, you know, run places like that?" She asked him, trying to regain balance. His hands went to her back to help her get steady.
"If it does, I don't care. It's cool."
She smiled. "I think your sister has the cooler power."
He raised an eyebrow. "Oh you do?"
"I do."
"She is great, but she would get nowhere on time without me."
Nia rolled her eyes. "You are a quick moving Sokovian ego, Pietro."
"I have an ego because I can back it up." He told her. "Why not have a little bit of an ego? I think you should have an ego, Nia Miller."
"Why's that?"
"You're amazing. What you're doing will soon rival Stark and Banner."
"I wouldn't say all that."
"Well, if you won't say it, I will."
They walked over to a crepe cart and both decided to get the sugariest dessert crepes they could. Then they sat on a bench in the middle of the park, talked about anything that came to mind, and listened to a group of violinists play nearby. After about an hour it became apparent that they were so different, but somehow they fit so well together. Nia was quiet, and a bit reserved. Pietro, although he had quite the serious side, was playful and spontaneous. They brought out the best in each other, and they became quite open as the night progressed.
Plus, Pietro was really good at making Nia laugh.
“I have a minor suggestion.” He told her.
“Oh God, for what?”
“The Iron Man suit.”
She smiled. “I don’t quite have access to that, yet.”
“When you do, you should re-design Stark’s next suit with a little dick hidden somewhere.”
She threw her head back and laughed. “I should!”
“What’s stopping you?”
“He’s so observant, he’d notice. Then he’d laugh about it, and that ruins the whole joke.”
Pietro laughed. “You’re right, you’re right. Maybe when he’s old and loses vision.”
“That is super fucking hilarious, you know what else would be cool?”
“What?”
“If I gave him, like, super impractical iron tits with big nipples.”
Pietro doubled over in laughter. It was the hardest she’d made anyone laugh before. His laugh was so genuine and contagious, it made her laugh with him.
After a short moment of laughter, they sat in silence, smiling and shifting closer to each other centimeters at time. Each hoping the other wouldn’t notice them trying to close the empty space and wondering what they thought about each other.
"You know I was genuinely shocked when you said you thought I was beautiful." Nia said.
He nodded. "I know."
"I'm still shocked."
He turned his body towards her. "Why?”
She shrugged and put her head down. “I’m not the pretty girl.” She told him. “I’m not that super-gorgeous extrovert who has a hundred guys lining up just to hold her shopping bags. I’m… forgettable… You’re stunning and you’re an Avenger and you have the cutest accent. You could have anyone you wanted and yet somehow you settled for me.”
He looked out into the distance thinking of a way to respond. It hurt him that Nia felt that way about herself. “Sometimes I wake up and feel amazed that my sister and I are even alive, you know? We easily could have died a thousand times over. When I feel this way, I start to see beauty in everything. Things as small as breathing and the way people walk and laughter. So, when I see something that’s actually beautiful, I stop and I stare and I know I have to have the beautiful thing in my life, the beautiful thing will… Shit, how do I say this in English?... Uh, teach me something about myself that I do not already realize. Do you understand?”
“I think so…”
“You are this beautiful thing, Nia. Now, I know you’re beautiful inside as well as outside. I’m not settling for anything, I chose you.”
Her head was down, but her eyes were wide open. She was taking in all of his words, she could feel his sincerity in her heart. “You mean that?”
“I try not to say things I don’t believe.” He told her. “I really like you.”
She grinned and laid her head on his chest. "I like you, too."
"Nice, this has been a success so far."
"Wanda's still cooler."
"I can not believe you are a woman of science and you believe such lies!" He said dramatically.
"You sound jealous."
"Sometimes I am, but only because she gets to move stuff with her mind."
"See what I mean? That's fucking awesome. You're a glorified track star. You’re like Dash from The Incredibles."
He laughed. "Oh God, that’s true."
“You don’t know how happy I am that you actually got that reference.”
“Everyone gets Disney movies. Everyone.” He paused for a moment then broke down laughing again. “That means Wanda is Violet.”
Nia started screaming with laughter. An elderly couple passing by smiled at them. “If it makes you feel any better I call Clint ‘Katniss’.”
“That’s the Hunger Games movie, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Stark calls him ‘Legolas’ from Lord of the Rings.”
“Hmm, I might use that later.”
He stopped laughing and looked down at her. “You’re so cute.”
"No, you’re cute. like cuter than cute."
"Cute enough to kiss?" He asked with a smirk.
She leaned up and kissed him gently, sweetly, like she had before. Her soft lips tasted like sugar. He remembered them tasting like mint before. He would forever associate sugar and mint with the sweetness of Nia Miller.
She pulled away and ran her fingers across her lips. “You know we haven’t done any of the cutesy first date stuff like ‘what’s your favorite color?’”
He grinned, his eyes still focused on her lips. “It’s blue, what’s your’s?”
“Blue.”
He placed his hand beneath her chin. “Favorite food?”
“Baked ziti. You?”
“I don't really have one, you get used to eating the same things when you're broke in Sokovia.” His eyes darted up to her’s. He slowly bridged the gap between them again. “But I don’t think I’ll be getting used to you anytime soon.”
“People always get used to me, they always get bored.”
He shook his head. “How could I get bored of you?”
She was so struck by his words that she couldn’t think of a response. She couldn’t think of anything. It was the first time anyone had said something like that to her, and she knew he meant it. “Pietro…”
Pietro had already decided that he wanted to say goodnight in a way fitting Nia. She’d ignited a feeling in him that he couldn’t quite describe. She made him feel lighter than he’d felt in a while. For the few hours he was with her, he had no troubles, no worries. It was just her and him. No Avengers, no world to save. Just two people having an actual normal human experience. He wanted just one more moment where it could be just her and him. Where he could be human.
“Nia, this is bold of me to ask you,” He said. “But I have had a wonderful time, and would like nothing more than to take you home and make you feel everything I’m feeling for you. Is that okay?”
She swallowed and felt both desire and nervousness in her stomach. She didn’t want to disappoint him. “I haven’t done it often… Are you sure?”
“Yes, Nia.” He pulled her in by her waist. “I’m very sure.”
She grinned. “Then so am I.”