Kitty and Peter made their way from Kitty's bedroom, through the open living room to the kitchen. Nestled on either side of the oven were Luke and Danny's rooms, but Danny was down with his yoga class and Luke was out with someone, he had brusquely mentioned going out with Jessica when Kitty got home from work, but between the two of them, they knew about five Jessicas, so that did Kitty very little good. All the same, she and Peter could be as loud as they wanted. She blushed at the thought and turned on the radio.
"So," she ventured, "what kind of food do you like?"
"Most kinds. I mean..." Peter thought for a moment. "You know, few things beat a good burger, but I'm pretty adventurous." He smiled crookedly.
"Hmmm..." Kitty bent over, rummaging through the fridge. "Adventurous is good." She pulled out a few things. "Allergies?"
"Umm, bean sprouts make me break out in hives?"
Kitty giggled and piled a few more things on the counter before closing the fridge. "How about pizza?"
"Man, I love pizza!" Peter grinned. "Pizza is, like, the best!"
Kitty pulled out a few mixing bowls and pans. "Opinions on deep dish?" She had to root for her home team (Chicago) style pizza, even though she lived in New York now.
"Deep dish is good. I like it better than some of the pizza out here. It's all, like, crackers with tomato paste. Come on now!"
"So you aren't originally from New York?"
"Naw, I'm a midwest dude. Or, okay, like Mountain West. Colorado. You from Chi-town?"
"How'd you guess?"
"You seem like you have terrible taste in sports teams." He smirked as she bumped him with her hip.
Kitty kneaded the bowl of quick rise dough. "So what made a rural farm boy wanna be a rock star?"
"You're assuming I'm a farm boy."
"Please." She looked at him pointedly.
He grinned. "I'm totally a farm boy. I dunno, when I was a kid, I'd always look up at the stars and say, 'I either wanna be up there or be one of those.'"
"A star?"
He nodded, looking sheepish. "I know it's dopey, but, I wanted to be an astronaut rock star. I still do, kinda."
Kitty laughed. "Oh my God, please tell me that 'astronaut rock star' was in the running for your band name."
Peter snorted, "yeah, but Guardians of the Galaxy seemed more inclusive." He picked a knife from the knife block and began cutting up ingredients. "Two pizzas?"
She nodded. "Sure, two pizzas."
"Okay, bear with me, cause this is gonna sound weird, but one of them is going to be the Peter...no, the Star-Lord Special."
Kitty raised an eyebrow. "That does sound weird. Go on..."
"Oh, no way, it's totally a surprise!" He winked.
They set to work, prepping the dough. Peter tried throwing it up in the air a few times, with less than stellar results. Finally, covered in flour, the two crusts were ready.
"Okay," Peter nodded in approval. "You make one, I'll make the other." He tossed a pot on the stove and started making tomato sauce.
Kitty began grating cheeses. Soon, they had both pies prepped for toppings. Peter secretively went to work on his. Kitty began piling on veggies and pepperoni.
"If you ever see my mom, don't tell her I don't keep kosher."
Peter paused for a moment. "Oh, Jewish?" She nodded. "Right, meat and dairy, and pork and all that. My lips are sealed!" He winked and went back to work.
He put both pizzas in the oven, sticking his in first with a doofy grin, then tucking hers in tenderly. She set a timer and they settled on the sofa in the living room.
Kitty pulled up Netflix on Danny's X-Box (he was kind enough to keep it in the living room and share it with her and Luke), she fiddled around for a moment with the controller before speaking. "We have about two episodes worth of time, anything you want to watch?"
Peter mused, "how about...do you like sci fi?"
"Oh, absolutely!"
"Okay, how about X-Files?"
"Sure! But if it gets scary, I am totally allowed to scream and hide behind you."
"We can skip the German dentist episode, then." He stuck his tongue out playfully.
She rolled her eyes. "I'm no wimp, space boy."
"Hey now. It's space MAN." He winked again.
They settled down on the couch, watching X-Files until the pizza was ready. At one point, Peter had animatedly explained how Fox Mulder and Harrison Ford changed his life. He cited Han Solo as the first time he thought space was cool, and then X-Files for when he got super into aliens. Kitty told him about watching Star Trek with her dad when she was little, how she started watching Doctor Who while she was at school in England, and how much she loved the alien-fascinated-with-Earth narrative.
Peter said his mom loved original Trek a lot, too. They both got a little quiet. "My mom died of cancer when I was a kid."
Kitty nodded sympathetically. "My dad...when I had just come back from going abroad, my dad..." It was too hard for her to say. She still had trouble accepting it.
Peter patted her back tenderly, "it's tough." She nodded, eyes welling, when the timer for the pizza went off. Peter took his time getting up, checking that she was okay, before pulling the pizzas out of the oven. "I hope the Star-Lord Special can put a smile on your face!"
She smiled weakly, "I'm sure..." she look at the pie, which was covered in what looked like fruit. "What is...?"
"Pears and bananas! Seriously, it sounds weird, but it's amazing!"
She laughed. "I guess I'll have to try it!"
They settled back on the couch, selecting Gattaca as their movie for the night.
Kitty tucked her legs underneath her and took a bite of Peter's pizza. Her eyebrows raised. "This is amazing!"
"Right?!"
She elbowed him, "you are totally not a bad cook!"
He shrugged and settled back, wrapping his arm around her shoulders as the movie started.
