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"C'mon Gamora!" Ava exclaimed as she dragged the green assassin towards the door. "I used to go with Natasha all the time! You don't even have to get anything. It's just for fun."
Gamora sighed in defeat and ripped her wrist out of Ava's grip. "Okay, fine. I'll come and see what the big deal is all about."
"Yes!" Ava pumped her fist in the air. "Nebula you can come too if you want."
She offered, hoping Nebula would want to be friends for once. However, Gamora's younger sister was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed and sneered at Ava. "Not in a million years do I dare walk in those crowded streets."
There it was again.
The reaction Ava could never really read since the first day she met Nebula. Ava couldn't tell if her fellow Guardian was planning her death or if she was just moody for being with Thanos for her whole life.
Either way, it was as if Ava was trying to sneak past a hall full of red lasers. As soon as she touched one, there was no way of knowing what would happen.
Ava almost invited Mantis but saw the bug lady and Groot playing an intense boss level on Super Mario on the Switch. It was best to not interrupt such high stakes.
Gamora and Ava passed by the main room next to the front foot. Drax was passed out on the couch and Rocket was creating new "toys" with old gadgets.
Ava failed to catch where Poe was and hoped she wouldn't see him till after. She wanted time to herself and Gamora.
No one else.
Which meant no good looking pilot from another galaxy was going to ruin her girls day out.
However her brother approached them, not to Ava's surprise.
"Can I come with you two ladies? A beautiful day in Xandar and I'd love to escort you." Peter asked as he playfully bowed. Ava saw the wink he sent Gamora.
Gamora bit her lip to stop herself from smiling. She turned to look over at Ava as to wait for her response. "It's your idea, what do you think?"
Ava knew exactly why Peter wanted to come. So much for the girl outing and for them to bond a little more. Yet, Ava was going to do everything possible to call Gamora her in law.
"Fine." She said with a pointed finger at the two lovers. "Just don't treat me as the third wheel."
Peter smiled in victory as he walked forwards, until his sister grabbed his arm. She lowered him down to be at her level.
"Please don't embarrass me or you're walking home by yourself." Ava whispered as her brother nodded and rolled his eyes.
He stood up straight while grabbed Gamora's hand with a look that read 'don't worry about it sis.'
"Well, girls we ready?" Peter started, waiting for a enthusiastic 'yes' as he opened up the door. However the anticipated word never left Ava or Gamoras mouth.
They were about to respond but the sound of someone clearing their throat made the trio turn their heads to see the source of the noise behind them. Ava was disappointed when she realized it was that good looking space pilot standing with his hands on his hips.
"Mind if I tag along?"
Poe smiled as he stepped closer to the small group.
Ava blocked the curly-haired man now dressed in a plain gray shirt. He traded the orange jumpsuit for brown pants and a dark leather jacket.
"No, no way! You are not coming!" She snapped with her arms crossed.
Poe created a pout with his lips and whined saying. "Why not blondie? Is it because I dumped a drink on you yesterday?"
She squinted her eyes and ignored the shivers down her spine. "Maybe."
He may have been gorgeous, but that didn't change the fact his sarcasm was always chiseling at Ava's nerves.
Peter and Gamora intervened by pulling Ava aside. "Ava, there's no harm if he tags along." Gamora said.
"Yeah, in this case, you don't have be a third wheel." Peter added.
Ava knew Gamora was right. Poe wasn't breaking any rules or trying to cause trouble. In the back of her mind, she remembered she did offer to take him downtown.
"Fine." Ava mumbled. "He can come, as long as he brings BB-8."
-|-
Ava loved exploring downtown Xandar and seeing all the different stores what they sold.
It reminded her of a trip she had in Seattle when she spent the day at the Pike Place Market. Lot of antiques, food, clothes and other knick knacks for tourist.
Ava took Gamora to look at clothes while Peter and Poe went to look at some of the spaceships.
Clothes wasn't nesscary since the Guardians are always fighting. But it was still fun to try things on and seeing what she liked. It was better this time as Gamora seemed to enjoy herself as she did something that was "normal" for once.
While looking at some of the galactic patterned dresses, Ava's was trying to keep her mind off of Poe.
Gamora noticed how flustered the girl acted as she slid the hangars with harsh movments.
"So, Ava. Catching feelings yet?" She inquired with her eyes focused on the rack.
"No." Ava groaned, knowing what Gamora was referring to. Ignoring the question as she continued to look through the selection of dresses. Her eyes widened at a cute white leathered sundress. "Except maybe for this!"
She pulled it out to show Gamora. It was a small white sun dress that had a galactic touch. The trim having a silver lining and around the waist.
Gamora smiled with amusement. "It's pretty cute. I think Poe would be impressed."
"Shut up! I have zero interest for that man." Ava protested quietly so only Gamora and her could hear. "The only thing I like about him is his cute droid."
"I'm not stupid Ava, I saw the way you looked at him at dinner." Gamora added.
Ava shrugged and moved on to the next section. "It was only a few short glances Gamora, I was busy eating the mashed yaro root."
"Uh-Huh." Gamora commented, as Ava went to the opposite side of the rack to hide her embarrassment.
"What happened on the balcony then?"
Panic traveled out of Ava's chest and through her veins. Not sure how to respond to that. Ava wasn't going to kiss a man she just met that night. That was not like her.
"Just a friendly chat, that's all." Ava rolled her eyes and scanned through the skirts. Proud of herself for telling a portion of the truth and hoped that Gamora didn't see how close she got to Poe.
Gamora leaned on the rack and squinted at Ava. "Sure it was."
"Gamora! I don't have any feelings for a man I've only known for less than a week!" Ava expressed as she placed the hanger back.
Her friend came around the rack and took Ava's hand that was moving through hangers. Ava didn't budge and her gaze remained on the black t-shirt with the Xandar symbol on it.
"I never said you have to marry him or be his girlfriend." Gamora reassured, knowing she crossed the line with teasing. "Just keep trying to get along, at least for my sake at least. I already have to deal with Rocket and Peter."
Ava nodded. "I'll try."
"And if Poe ends up being a jerk about it, I'll handle it." Gamora sent her a wink as Ava laughed under her breath.
"Oh with your godslayer? I know you will."
Gamora returned a warm smile and grabbed Ava's arm. "Now you should try on that dress and see if you like it!"
-|-
"What kind of ship is that?" Poe asked and pointed at the weird space craft. It was a round structure with blasters on the back.
Peter followed his finger. "That is a Star Blaster, most of the Nova Corps use them when theres trouble. But get a bunch of them together and it can make a huge shield." He explained to Poe nodded.
"They helped us defeat Ronan." Peter added as if was common knowledge.
Poe furrowed his eyebrows. "Ronan? Who's Ronan?"
Peter chuckled. "Who's Ronan? That's a good one!" Then he saw how the man grew more confused.
"Oh wait you're serious."
Poe continued his blank face as he remembered this guy was Ava's brother.
"Just an angry jerk who tried using an Infinity Stone to destroy Xandar. Lucky for us, we stopped him." Peter explained briefly.
It became manageable to Poe that this Ronan guy was no different than the First Order. Both had the same motives to dominate the galaxy.
However, he was lost at the mention of what an Infinity Stone was. It must have contained so much power for it to be that big of a threat.
Poe turned to lean on his back and folded his arms. "So uh, was it hard for you to learn how to fly a ship?" He asked Starlord and nodded towards one taking off.
Peter shook head as he watched the aircraft ascend. "Nah, it wasn't too bad. I mean at first it was a little tricky at first. But I learned as fast as I could in order to attempt to escape the Ravengers since they kidnapped me when I was 8 years old."
Poe remebered Ava telling him about being separated from her brother. Except he didn't process that the two were that young.
On the other hand, Peter was reminded of the loss of his father figure and an ache formed inside his chest. Peter shrugged off the pain and cleared his throat.
"I'm on better terms with them now. What about you? How long have you been flying?"
"Being a resistance pilot runs in my family." Poe replied. "I started to learn as soon as I was old enough to."
Peter nodded in amusement. "Not bad. Tell me about the kind of ships you have."
The Rebel scoffed as he crossed his arms, looking up the Xandarian ships. "Definitely not like any of these. But the ones I usually fly is an X-wing or on occasion, the Millennium Falcon."
Starlord was curious and wanted to see those really bad but decided to not get too excited. It made him think of movies him and Ava used to watch.
"Hey guys!"
The two men looked over to see Ava and Gamora approaching them.
"You two have fun?" Ava asked sarcastically.
Peter nodded as he slapped Poe's back. "We sure did!" He piped causing Poe to scowl a little as Ava giggled at the gesture.
Gamora then grabbed Peter's hand, with their fingers interlocking. "I want to show you something." She said without much explanation as Peter looked at Ava with confusion.
She only winked as she knew Gamora wanted some time with him.
Ava was lost in her fangirl moment until Poe's hand waved in front of her face. Ava's eyes blinked a few times before she looked at Poe with no amusement.
"What?"
"I've said you're name about 3 times." Poe explained, putting his hands on his hips.
"What do you want to do now?"
Ava let out a sigh. "We could head back to the house." She sugguested to avoid contention with him, to take some stress off of Gamora's shoulders. "Come on BB-8." She gestured the droid to follow her.
The droid obeyed and replied with the sweet little beeps.
Ava took about two steps before a sudden grip on her wrist, whipped her around to face Poe.
"What the-"
He pulled a little to hard as Ava crashed into him. She pushed him away immediately but was captivated by his gorgeous face leaving her stunned.
"Or we could explore more of Xandar." He urged with a smirk and raised eyebrow.
"We could." Ava said as she ripped his hand off and crossed her arms. Her eyes never leaving his. "But not if you cause any more issues today."
Poe scoffed. "Quit kidding darling." He bumped her arm with his playfully, causing a lump to rise in her throat.
"I haven't caused any issues! Right BB-8."
The droid shook it's head with the energy of someone who just did a facepalm.
Poe then realized the droid was referring to Ava's face that remained unamused. It wiped the grin off of the resistance pilot's mouth as he knew he triggered her yet again.
"You are causing issues if you keep calling me darling instead of using my real name." Ava said with a clever tone in her voice.
He rolled his eyes with a judging frown as his hands went to his hips, a common habit of his. "You always have to be so difficult. Don't you?"
"You're the one who's difficult because-"
"Look, dar-" Poe caught himself. "Ms. Quill. The day is still young and we have plenty of time to kill. So I say we walk around a bit till you're brother and his girlfriend are done with whatever they're doing, then we head back. Is that going to hurt?" He finished his request and waited for an answer.
Poe leaned in closer, his mouth coming next to her ear. "Besides, I was told yesterday of an expert who could show me the best places in the city." He whispered and emphasized the title as he backed away with the same smirk.
Ava felt weak and ready to melt to the floor like a snowman exposed to the sun. The feelings she had that previous evening, started to resurface. It was a crime for someone she just met to be so gorgeous.
"Oh she'll be happy to be you're guide. But don't cause any issues." Ava stated knowing it would be best for everyone. "So pretend that-"
"Pretend that we don't hate each other. Got it." Poe finished the sentence with a understanding nod. "Where to Ms. Quill."
The new nickname made her cringe, but it was a step up from darling, sweetheart or blondie. She let out a chuckle as she looked down at the ground to hide her blush.
She shook her head before she glanced back up at him.
"You'll see, Mr. Dameron." Ava smirked.
Without a thought, she grabbed his wrist and dragged him behind her.