S U P E R N O V A - MARVEL

Chapter 16: Red Beans

They had been walking around Bucharest for about 30 minutes, Nova had had enough so she finally broke the silence, "Where are you taking me?" She questioned.

"Nowhere." He answered with the same dull tone and the same blank expression.

"What do you mean nowhere." She looked at the minimart where she first saw Bucky, she had seen it 2 times since, "Wait a minute, are we just going in circles?"

"Yes." He confirmed bluntly.

"What? You made me walk so much for nothing?" She said out of irritation.

"Yes, Nova, I don't know where to take you, I barely trust you." He revealed.

"Take me to your apartment, I wanna see where you live." He stopped and looked back at her.

"You've already seen my apartment, you lurked around it for a week, stalking me." He reminded, he started walking again.

Nova asserted her gaze down at the ground, feeling a bit embarrassed. "Oh, yeah," She let out a little laugh, "Sorry about that. I was scared of coming up to you." She explained.

He once again stopped in his tracks and look back at her, his eyebrows were furrowed, he was too close to Nova's face, she had time to survey him, he had a scruffy beard, it was longer than when she last saw him. "You were scared?" He said, there was a hint of sadness in his voice, he didn't want people to be scared of him anymore.

"Yeah," She said looking into his glaring eyes, "Oh, but, not of you," She laughed, "Why would I be scared of you, there's nothing you can do to me," Except cause me a bunch of injuries and shoot me in the abdomen, causing me to tumble down into the sea, she thought, "I was scared of myself, I say and do a lot of stupid things,"

"Right," He said, his gaze lingering on Nova for a while longer, till he began to walk again.

"So, are you taking me to your apartment," She asked. "I wanna see where you live,"

He hesitated for a moment, on his guard, He said, "Fine."

~

He brought her up to his apartment, it was a broken down dungy building, somewhere to lay low, As he opened the door, a black cat lingered outside in the hallway, Nova bent down to pet it. "Aw, is this your cat?" She asked Bucky.

Bucky looked down at Nova playing with the Cat, "No,"

Nova noticed a small plate with food in it, right by his door, "So why do you keep feeding it?" She smirked.

He slightly tilted his head, "Cause it keeps pestering me, like you."

Nova got up, her face a few inches apart from Bucky's, "I'm pestering you?" She asked, coating her face with a sad expression.

"Yes."

"Aw," She taunted, "Good!" She headed into the apartment. Bucky stood in the hallway for a second, he let out a sigh, and headed inside.

Nova stood at the entrance of the apartment, surveying it, "Cozy!" She commented in a jolly tone.

Nova walked over to the kitchen, and observed the countless boxes of Ramen Noodles in the Sink. She frowned and looked back at Bucky, who was leaning on the doorframe, observing her, "What's this? This isn't real food, is this all you've been eating?" She inquired. Bucky just shrugged in response. "You can't eat this! I'll cook you some real food," She offered.

"You don't have to do that." He said.

"No I want to, hm, let's see." She opened the cabinets, they were empty, "I'll cook you, some," She opened a cabinet, only to find a can of red beans, "I'll cook you red beans?" She said unsurely and looked back at Bucky. He was unsure of what to say, so he again just shrugged. This was the first time in a long time someone offered to do something for him.

~

Bucky stood a few inches behind Nova, they both stared at the burnt can of red beans in Nova's hands, surveying it. She looked back at him, "So," She cleared her throat, "I might've forgotten the fact that I can't," Gulp, "Cook."

"It's fine, Nova, I'm not hungry." He mumbled.

"Yeah but I am, come on let's go to a cafe or something," She said as she put on her jacket.

"I don't like going out."

"Oh come on! I wanna go out, you could show me around Bucharest," She insisted, he gave her a hesitant look, "Please?" She made puppy-dog eyes, knowing exactly what she was doing.

"Fine." He gave in.

"Yay! Come on!" She grabbed his hand and dragged him out the door. Though Nova didn't notice, for the first time in a long while, a smile formed on Bucky's face.