Remember to Bring Money or Your Phone When Going Out to Eat (Revised)

Today, after Tibbers was let out to vent for a while, he quieted down a lot. He wasn't clamoring to be released all day anymore, which gave Annie some peace and quiet. But she still couldn't figure out why she'd suddenly picked up two big shadows.

Across from Annie's seat sat Uncle Coulson, who looked a bit balding, and Aunt Melinda, who always wore a stern face like everyone owed her millions of gold coins. After Annie had finished beating those two unkillable green-headed freaks, they'd tagged along again.

But the balding Uncle Coulson was pretty timid. Back then, just one glance from Tibbers had scared him off, and he'd been missing all afternoon. He didn't show up until nearly dinner time, poking his head out cautiously in front of Annie.

Annie sighed. These two had just told her they were now her full-time guides on Earth. To welcome the mighty Grand Mage Annie from the Valoran Continent to Earth, they represented S.H.I.E.L.D., the official organization of this world, and were specially assigned to handle everything for Annie.

So, these two weren't going anywhere for now! Fine, Annie thought. Since she didn't know this world yet, and they were willing to provide her with food, clothing, shelter, and transportation, she'd just go along with it! Free servants showing up at her door—Annie quite liked that. Otherwise, she had no idea where she'd sleep tonight. Setting fires or letting Tibbers out to snatch a nice big house was something she couldn't bring herself to do just yet!

But now, Annie felt a bit annoyed again. Even though letting Tibbers out that afternoon to pin down those two green freaks and give them a good beating had lifted her spirits and helped her slowly accept that she might not be able to go home for a while, sitting in this fancy restaurant now, staring at the food in front of her, she still had the urge to burn that chef. He had to be a bad guy! Definitely! Since he was a bad guy, she could burn him, and Tibbers agreed!

"What's wrong? Don't like the steak?"

Coulson and Melinda sat across from Annie, smiling ingratiatingly at her. After fully understanding Annie's background and witnessing her power firsthand, they'd readily accepted the new mission assigned by the Director: spoil Annie, keep her happy, and don't let her cause trouble for this world!

Annie's current status was that of an extraterrestrial friend, the little princess of a mage organization, and a powerful sorceress in her own right. S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't afford any mistakes. As long as Annie didn't do anything to harm the world, they had to treat her like an ancestor.

"This beef isn't even cooked!! Look!"

Annie angrily sliced through the steak with her knife, revealing the raw, bloody red inside. How dare the chef serve meat that wasn't cooked through? Eating it would give her worms in her stomach, and she hated worms. Besides, her mom had never fed her undercooked food!

Coulson and Melinda looked at the three steaks on the table. Well, they were all medium-rare! It seemed they hadn't thought this through! They'd ordered a steak that wasn't fully cooked for a child.

But they couldn't really be blamed! Coulson was still a bachelor—one person fed, the whole family's full! Melinda had been married before, but she'd divorced and had no experience with kids either. So you couldn't expect two single dogs to know how to take care of a child, right?

"How about we ask the kitchen to cook it a bit more?" Melinda nodded. Giving a child undercooked food really wasn't good. She was about to wave over a waiter.

"Forget it, I don't want to go through all that trouble!"

Annie refused Melinda. In her mind, that chef must be an apprentice who didn't even know how to cook. It'd be faster to do it herself. Annie was already very hungry!

With that, Annie stretched out her little pink hand and placed it about an inch or two above the steak. Then, Coulson and Melinda across from her felt a wave of scorching heat wash over them. To their amazement, the steak beneath her small hand sizzled and crackled. In no time, the surface turned golden brown, and the red blood streaks from the cut had vanished.

"All done! Time to dig in!"

Annie picked up her knife and fork, quickly cutting into the steak. She stabbed a piece with her fork and stuffed it into her mouth, eating heartily. It tasted really good! Hmm... strange spices, but delicious! Delicious! Thumbs up for the spices! But the chef gets a thumbs down for not cooking the beef properly!

Coulson and Melinda stared blankly at Annie's display, their own knives and forks forgotten in their hands. Mages were just awesome—even eating a meal could be so magical? They wondered if they might ever get a chance to learn a trick or two?

Annie looked up and saw the two of them frozen in place. She wondered why they weren't eating.

"Aren't you eating? Oh! Do you need me to heat yours up too?" She started to reach out both little hands.

"No!"

"Please don't! Thanks!"

They both refused at the same time.

Melinda turned to check their surroundings. Luckily, the high-end restaurant's layout was quite good. Their spot was perfectly shielded from outside view by the decorative plants around them. No one should have noticed what just happened! Otherwise, they'd have to go through another round of secrecy work later.

"Oh, okay." Annie regretfully withdrew her hands and went back to attacking her plate.

"I want more! Um, three more!!"

The steak was delicious, but the portion was too small.

Annie held up two fingers, then thought about it and added one more. She decided on three more servings! And she'd eat them all in one go!

Coulson waved over the waiter, murmured a few words, and signaled for him to bring little Annie three more of the same steaks.

"Well-done, for a child. Try to keep it free of blood, thanks!" Melinda quickly called out to the waiter as he turned to leave, adding that. The waiter nodded in understanding and walked off.

Before long, three steaks were served. Watching Annie lower her head and focus on her food without causing any more trouble, Coulson and Melinda finally breathed a sigh of relief and began enjoying their own meals.

A man, a woman, and a child—the three of them eating together looked just like a family.

Seeing this warm scene, Coulson suddenly wondered if he should step back from fieldwork and hurry up and start a family. He wasn't getting any younger, after all. Especially today—thinking back, if Annie hadn't protected them, they might have been burned to death by now.

"Annie, since you can't go back to Valoran for now, what do you plan to do next?"

While eating his steak, Coulson asked Annie. He'd just happened to glance out the window and see students getting off a school bus, which gave him a brilliant idea!

A great idea that would let Annie fully understand and integrate into Earth—this unfamiliar environment for her—without causing a big mess! Though this great idea needed the Director's approval first, Coulson figured it shouldn't be a problem.

"I don't know?"

Annie stuffed a piece of steak into her mouth and mumbled. Back in the Voodoo Lands, her daily routine was getting up in the morning, eating, then going out to play. In the afternoon, she'd come back to study magic, and at night, she'd bathe and sleep!

If she got bored, she'd prank those long-bearded old mages—like burning off their beards when they weren't looking—or if some monster in the Voodoo Lands forgot to pay her tribute, she'd go beat it up!

"So, would you like to go to school?"

"School? What's school? A magic school?" Annie asked curiously.

"No, no, no, not a magic school! There's no magic taught here. It's just an ordinary school for learning knowledge! There are lots of kids around your age. They're all classmates, and you can learn and play together." Coulson quickly explained to Annie.

Melinda's eyes lit up too. She thought Coulson's idea was pretty good. That way, they wouldn't have to spend all day babysitting the little girl. After all, two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents trailing a little girl like nannies wasn't ideal! If Annie was willing to go to school, Melinda could take it easy.

"An ordinary school? Lots of classmates? Okay, I want to go!"

Annie perked up. She'd heard from her mom that there was a huge magic school in Demacia that taught apprentices all kinds of magic. But she'd never seen what a school was like. Her magic came partly from playing around, partly from her parents, and partly from stealing tricks from those stuffy old mages and warlocks in the Gray Order.

She'd once asked her dad, Gregori Hastur, about going to the magic school in Demacia, but her mom had just laughed and said that if Annie went to a magic school, she'd be qualified to be the principal!

"Uh, Annie, you really want to go? That's great! But we still need to report to the Director and get his approval first."

"Thank you for your patronage! That comes to two thousand three hundred and thirty-three dollars. Will that be check or card?"

When it came time to settle the bill, a waiter stood smiling before the trio's table, taking in the messy plates and assorted dessert cups and drink glasses scattered across it. With a slight bow, he produced the bill, already prepared.

"Uh..." Coulson's hand froze as it reached for his suit pocket, his expression turning stiff. This was bad—he'd left the house without his wallet! Forced to turn his neck stiffly, he shot a pleading look at Melinda beside him.

But Melinda shot him a fierce glare in return, her meaning clear: What are you looking at? I didn't bring mine either! She'd come out for a mission today, packing plenty of guns and ammo, but not a single cent in cash.

This was a disaster. Coulson hesitated for a moment, then noticed the waiter's growing impatience. After some thought, he figured the best move was to pull out his phone and call for backup. At least he never left home without his communication devices.

Two senior S.H.I.E.L.D. agents having to call for backup just to pay for a meal—that might well be a first! As for the option of flashing their S.H.I.E.L.D. badges to dine and dash? Coulson didn't even dare think about it. If they tried that, Director Nick Fury would absolutely kill them.

Just as Coulson was awkwardly wishing he could crawl under the table, a few crisp clinks rang out. Annie tossed out several gold coins, the gleaming Valoran gold spinning on the plate the waiter held level in his right hand, clinking brightly as they collided.

"There! This should be enough, right?" Annie dropped the coins onto the waiter's plate, then grabbed her toy bear Tibbers and hopped down from her chair.

This... this...!

It was enough to blind the waiter Allen's kryptonite-gold eyes! He had to admit, in his years working at this restaurant, he'd seen all kinds of people. Customers paying by check or card after meals were plenty, and of course, the occasional nouveau riche splurging with straight cash. But! Paying with gold coins was something he'd never encountered before...

Watching the coins spinning on the plate, waiter Allen seriously considered their quality. The color, thickness, and craftsmanship were all extraordinary! By the look of it, they were probably real? If sold by weight, they'd certainly far exceed the cost of the meal!

Should he accept them? Or accept them? If the gold coins were genuine, maybe he could kindly cover the bill for them? That's right! That's what he'd do! Allen had always considered himself a warm-hearted person, and doing good deeds like covering someone's meal was something he should do more often—it was good for the soul!

Seeing no one around paying attention, and that the store's cameras weren't aimed this way, Allen pocketed the heavy gold coins with lightning speed, then cheerfully signed his name on the bill.