✨cHoAs, ShiPs AnD My OC’s✨

Rough/Gentle (Yondu lives AU)

It had been a few weeks since Ego was destroyed, but still the team was quiet, no doubt humbled and shaken by the whole thing. 

Peter's music still flowed freely through the loudspeakers of the Quadrant, mellow tunes about love and loss and things some of them didn't understand—Terran terms, as they came to realize. 

It was by the grace of whatever forces were still out there watching, and by the sheer will of the others that he was still alive, that they had all made it back and off that Celestial-Planet together. 

Though not without change, not without tolls. 

Yondu had been unsure what to do with himself after waking up aboard the Quadrant, lucky to be alive, luckier still to be operable, but there was the ship surrounding him, there was Peter, green eyes wet and red, a wobbly smile parting his face as he cussed him off then hugged him—whether Yondu wanted him to or not—like he had when he was eight-years-old and finally warmed up to the alien who'd abducted him. And then there was Kraglin; stiff-limbed and exhausted-looking, eyes surrounded by dark bruises, but he smiled, if tightly, and stood there behind Peter as he sobbed. 

That was the moment Yondu had realized the things he had been holding back for so long, that these two men he had known since their childhoods were the only family he really had in the Galaxy now, the only ones left at least. 

His boys... 

But then... then there was the matter of the others, of Peter's family, who accepted Yondu as much as they accepted each-other: warmly, but not without the dysfunction, the bickering, the snide comments. 

But it felt good. 

Then came the day he found himself in a corner of the ship, looking for a moment of privacy away from Peter's constant shadow lingering behind him, from Kraglin's watchful eye, and maybe even Rocket's nonchalant inquiries about how he was, that he realized he wasn't the only one who had went off to be alone. 

He hadn't really noticed her at first, these weeks going by in a blur of recovery and swatting away his son, (because of course Peter was going to remind him that he had said it every single chance he got, Yondu would be dammed if he admitted he didn't mind so much) that there wasn't really a chance, but now, here she was, sitting silent on a bench in the darkened room, hands folded in her lap, her head down, making her curtains of inky-black and green hair fall across her shoulders, her antennae curled down. 

Mantis didn't notice him at first where he paused in the doorway, her black eyes hooded and distant as she looked at the ground, but he scuffed his boot against the metal floor to make his presence know, and she snapped her head up so fast he nearly backed up. 

"Oh," she began, her little accented voice soft and unsure. "I am sorry... I did not realize anyone would be back here." 

She made to stand, blinking rapidly, wringing her hands nervously, but he put up a calming hand, approaching slowly. "No need to leave, girl." he said, trying to keep his voice quieter. 

Mantis brought her gaze to his again, then dropped it, nodding once, a perfect picture of submission. 

Yondu's insides twisted up a little at the sight, at the programming so obviously in the action. He understood it, that instinct to keep your head down, do as your told, not upset anyone. 

Although he had always had that rebellious spark, that bite. She didn't... she just... bent. 

Before he knew what he was doing, he crossed the distance and sat down beside her, not lost to the way she stiffened when he did. 

He just sat there for a second, letting the silence stretch, willing her to be the one to speak first, but she didn't, just sat there and twisted her petite hands, keeping her eyes front and center. 

"You come from back there?" Yondu finally asked, not needing to state where. 

Mantis flinched as if surprised he had said anything, but looked up, then nodded. "Ego was my Master." 

Master. Like the Kree had been his...

"Did he hurt ya?" the question was out before he could reconsider, but he had to know. 

She blinked again, this time looking forward, her brow raising. "Oh, I was treated very well. Better than I deserved." she looked back down, back to wringing her hands. 

It wouldn't have taken a genius to realize that she was speaking, but they weren't her words. 

Yondu took a few seconds to consider what to say, then lightly touched his hand to her shoulder, feeling her stiffen beneath his touch. "He's gone, doll. You can tell the truth." 

Her big eyes were suddenly on him, innocent and confused and glossier with tears, her thick lashes fluttering as she gaped slightly, as if surprised and conflicted. "I... I did not understand what it was he was doing..." she said softly, trying to gather her words. "But... one day I did. And I did not want to." she took in a shuddering breath, her hands shaking. "He made me do horrible things to those other children, and they were my—"

She suddenly shut her mouth, her lips trembling as her eyes went impossibly wider. 

"What?" Yondu asked, picking up on her fear. 

Mantis shook her head, the movement unstable. "Nothing."

She curled into herself again, her eyes haunted and terrified, and it cracked something inside him that he was finally allowing himself to acknowledge as his heart. All those wide smiles, all those laughs, all those giggles—it was all just her trying to hide the pain beneath the secrets. 

Gods only knew what she had seen. He didn't even know how many years she had been under Ego. 

He could only figure one thing that would ease her, that would make her realize she was safe; that it was fine to speak. She wasn't in danger anymore. Her mistakes would not mean life or death. 

"Ain't no one gonna hurt you, darlin', no one's gonna throw you out." 

Maybe he had needed to hear those words himself thirty years ago...

She looked at him, and suddenly he saw a child looking up, wonder in her eyes at what she had just been told. But his demeanor must have confirmed he was telling her the truth because she took in a subtle breath and sat up a little straighter. 

"He made me influence them," she whispered, eyebrows arching as she stared ahead at the wall, and he knew she wasn't seeing the ship around them, just a macabre palace amongst false beauty and bloody paradise. "He hoped it would channel their power, so he made me force them, tell them to reach for it, to obey... There were stubborn ones, and those ones were the ones that he made me do it to. Then if they couldn't..." she swallowed, hands shaking. "He would make me watch while he drained them, and remind me that if I did not comply, I would end up in the caverns as well." she dropped her head, her hair hiding her face from view. "To join my siblings."

Utter silence in his head, just a low, vibrational buzzing somewhere far away, sending bolts of red through his implant. 

Her siblings..? 

Oh, stars... Had he brought her to Ego, too? 

Then he remembered, she must have been the one the god claimed was still 'growing', the tiny pupa he had found on that ancient-seeming moon, desolate of other life. There had only been that little green and yellow glowing chrysalis with the shape of a body inside. 

"She's my daughter." he had said. 

Shit.

The word became a chant in his head. It took him too long to get his voice working again. "Your... siblings?"

She nodded slowly. 

That meant... that meant she was Peter's half-sister. "Did you tell Quill?"

She whipped her head up quickly, her eyes back to that startled width. "No. I can't."

He had to fight the urge to put his hand back on her shoulder. "Why not?"

"He cannot know. If he knows then... then all he will think of me is that I am the progeny of the person who killed his mother. He will not want me around then."

Oh. Oh. Like Yondu had been scared for anyone to find out the whole truth about him; that he had trafficked children to a maniac, that he had condemned them all. 

But... it wasn't a secret anymore, was it? And he was still here. 

"Look at me, junebug," he said carefully, and Mantis lifted her head to him, her eyes spilling tears now. "No one's gonna toss you out."

"They will," she whispered adamantly. 

"No. Listen, I did a lotta bad, I hurt a lot of people, I sent those kids—your brothers and sisters—down there to that jackass. But Quill found out, and you know what happened?"

Her big eyes looked so pitiful as she raised her brow to ask what. 

"Nothin'. He understood, that's who he is. He's the type willing to give out the chance and work through the shit no one else would."

"You raised him," she said sullenly, looking away again. "He loves you, no one has ever loved me."

That was it, he didn't stop himself as he reached his hand out, hooked his finger beneath her chin and tilted her face back to him. "Then why don't you give someone the chance to?"

Her antenna glowed, and he felt the tingle of her touch only a second later, glancing down sharply at where she had touched the tip of her fingers to his, the energy current that she pulled from him leaving a trail of tiny sparks through his nerves. 

"You are honest." A little smile parted her pretty face, and she breathed in contentedly. "I do not understand."

"Understand what?'' he drew his hand back carefully, not really wanting her to know more than she needed. 

"Why you are this way with me, you are... coarse, but also gentle. You treat me a way I have not been before."

He guessed she was right about one thing, he did have that strange sort of rough-gentle way about him, picking one or the other just didn't come naturally. 

Maybe one day he would get there. 

"Because you ain't all those things you think you are, sweetheart. You ain't useless, or dumb or ugly. And you sure as hell ain't no ones pet or slave. You belong here. With Quill, the others."

She sat there in silence for a few moments, her hands finally still in her lap, then she cocked her head and looked up at him, a soft smile pulling up on her lips. "Thank you," she whispered, suddenly moving up and putting her arms around his middle, pressing her head against his chest. 

His eyes went wide as he stiffened, but something about her touch made him want to melt. He coiled his arms around her for a second or two, patting the back of her hair. 

Mantis pulled away with a big grin, her eyes sparkling, then her steps seemed light as she headed for the door. 

"Where ya goin?" Yondu cocked his brow. 

"To find my brother." she answered, smile turning loving. 

Oh, he had to see this...

Mantis found Peter in the common room, sitting on one of the couches, his boots up on the table as he nursed a bottle of alcohol in one hand, a few cards in the other. Gamora was sitting beside him, her arm casually slid over the back of his shoulders, and Kraglin, Drax and Rocket were sitting around the room as well, the playing cards in Rocket and Kraglin's hands showing they were up to some sort of game. Groot laid on his stomach under Rocket's seat, legs kicking the air as he colored on a paper with the things from Peter's backpack. 

"Hey, Mantis," Peter said, a smile on his face. She nearly cried right then and there at the sincerity in his eyes and tone. "Wanna play?"

She shook her head. "No, thank you."

Yondu approached behind her but lingered just in the doorway, arms crossed as he leaned his shoulder against it. 

"What about you, Dad?" Peter asked. 

"What did I tell ya about—"

Peter's shit-eating grin told him enough about how well he would listen to the 'Don't call me that', and besides... maybe he didn't mind it. 

"Come, sit." Gamora said to her as she patted the side of the couch, sliding her legs out in front of her to make more room. 

"Wanna drink?" Kraglin offered, also speaking to Mantis, looking up from his cards as Rocket slapped some down. 

Something warm blossomed inside her heart, filling her up in an empty space she recognized as the overwhelming need for a family. "No, thank you." she repeated, though she kept her smile. They were already compensating for her, making room both figuratively and literally.

Drax dug into his bag of zarg nuts and lifted one to his mouth as he leaned over Rocket. "You only require one more Martian and you have a winning set, Rocket."

"Dude!" Rocket exclaimed, spinning to face him. 

"Thank you, Drax." Peter said, smirking as he laid down the opposite card of what Rocket needed, getting the anthro to huff and throw down his own. 

"Are you alright?" Gamora looked at Mantis to ask, the girl still lingering just inside the room. 

Mantis blinked a few times, suddenly full of nerves, but she had been so sure about what she wanted to do a few moments ago... She heard a small noise behind her, and turned to look at Yondu, who just raised his brow and gave her a reassuring look, she smiled nervously and turned back towards the room. "Yes, I'm fine." she said, moving her eyes to Peter. "I just... I would like to speak to you."

Peter's eyebrows went skywards, and there was obvious concern and confusion in his eyes as he discreetly glanced to his father, who communicated to him without words like they'd learned to do so many years ago, prompting him to respond. "Yeah, sure." he rose from his seat, passing his drink to Gamora, who watched as Mantis took Peter's hand and led him towards the back of the room, right in front of the huge window looking out into space, but out of earshot from the others. 

Everyone turned to watch, but Gamora just finished the last drink from Peter's bottle, her and Kraglin trying to hide their interest and look away, though Rocket and Drax stared unabashedly. 

"I need to tell you something." Mantis said quietly, releasing Peter's hand as she looked at the ground, twisting her fingers again. 

He stayed quiet for once, and just nodded, brows knitted in concern.

"I should have told you before you brought me along with you here... I understand that now, so if it upsets you, I will also understand that."

He blinked in confusion, tilting his head. "Mantis, you don't have to be afraid." he said softly, something in his voice like suprise, but he reached out and gently tapped his fingers to her hands, spreading them away from each other so she would stop twisting them. 

She gulped, the starlight making her eyes speckled with purple and yellow, brightening them. "I was not completely honest about where I came from, Ego was my Master, yes, but... also more."

Now he was really confused, and for a moment his eyes hardened with fury. If Ego had used her in that way—

"Not like that," she instantly said, sensing his anger that wasn't directed at her, and Peter's shoulders sagged out of the stiffness they'd went into. "He was... he was my father, too."

Peter stood there, eyes going blank. 

Her father...

That meant— Holy shit. 

"Your father?" he repeated, almost dumbly, eyes going wider. 

Mantis nodded shakily, exhaled in a trembling breath and watched him with eyes so huge and tear-filled he snapped out of his initial surprise. 

She was scared... and he hated it. "That means you're my—my sister?" 

Again, she nodded. "I am sorry didn't tell you."

"Oh, Mantis," he breathed, voice edging on a laugh as he took her by the sides of her arms. "This is great!" 

That child-like joy in him made her ease, her mouth falling agape before he yanked her in for a hug, and when she touched him... oh her heart melted down her rib cage. He was overjoyed. So much love welling up from him that it made her knees wobble as she clutched him back. 

Peter buried his nose into her silky hair and laughed through a couple of tears. Ego had murdered his mother and nearly killed his adopted father and entire family... but, at least one good thing had come from it; he had a sister now.

First an admitted-father, which also apparently came with a brother, and now a sister. 

"I love you." he whispered into her hair, squeezing tighter. 

Mantis froze, her fingers digging into the back of his leather jacket, but tears rolled down her cheeks faster, now tears of joy. "I love you, too."

Gamora twisted in her seat and watched as Peter and Mantis embraced for a few minutes, and by the way Peter's shoulders were shaking, but she could hear his soft laughter, she knew it was okay. A soft smile danced on her lips, along with Kraglin's, Rocket's ears twisting as he squinted at them and Drax just watched with a furrowed brow. She hoped he wouldn't go barge in and demand answers. 

Yondu didn't fight the little grin that lit up his face when he finally saw his boy crush her between his arms, both smiling. He knew Peter would be more than happy to find out, but somehow seeing that poor girl find the acceptance she so desperately craved healed something inside himself as well. 

Finally the two of them came walking back, Peter's arm tight around Mantis' shoulders, and he looked at her for a second before glancing around to everyone else. "I just got a new sister." he announced, all his teeth showing as he smiled down at her. 

Gamora stood, her beautiful face only becoming more so as she smiled brightly and walked over to them, spreading her arms for her new sister-in-law. 

"That means you've got two of us annoying kid siblings, Krags." Peter said chuckling. 

Kraglin laughed softly and stood as well, Mantis eagerly pressing herself into his grasp as she giggled. She didn't have just one older brother, she got two. The thought made her giddy and strangely excited. 

Rocket smirked and shook his head, but said nothing, Drax, however, looked with squinted eyes between Peter, Mantis, then Yondu. 

"How can this be?" he asked, pointing a finger at Yondu. "She looks nothing like you."

Peter laughed as Yondu gave him a baffled look, Gamora shaking her head. 

"Yeah, well neither does Quill." Rocket said. 

Peter jerked his chin at his father. "You know this means ya gotta claim her now, too, right?" 

Yondu gave a tight smile as Mantis turned her big eager eyes to him, but just exhaled a chuckle and reached out an arm. "Why the hell not?"

You move your curser to x out of each individual pop up and begin to hover it above Ragatha's icon.

"Oops! Looks like you're going the wrong way!"

You exit the pop up and click on Ragatha anyways.

"Haha..."

OK.

"That's not the right character!"

OK.

"Sorry! Try again later or maybe vote some else?"

Hm. You heard that Caine was acting strange on the website.

OK.

"CAINE. Caine. Try again."

Guess he's rigging the votes now...

OK.

"Are you sure you want to vote for Ragatha?"

OK.

"Are you really sure you want to vote for Ragatha?"

OK.

"Are you really really sure you want to vote for Ragatha?"

OK.

"Why?"

OK.

"Why not Caine?"

This is almost making you feel bad for him.

OK.

"But..."

He's a fictional character though, so-

OK.

"...You always said I'm your favorite character. Me."

OK.

"I'm your favorite, you like me the most, you always compliment my adventures. I'm your favorite."

OK.

"imyourfavoriteimyourfavoriteimyourfavoriteimyourfavoriteimimyourfavoriteimyourfavoriteimyourfavoriteimyourfavoriteimyourfavoriteimyourfavorite."

OK.

"..."

OK.

Ragatha's icon is removed from the list.

"There! Problem solved!"

"Now you don't need to worry about hurting her feelings!

"I'll tell her there was an error with her ballot so you just HAD to vote for your second, second? I should be your first favorite! Caine!"

Interesting.

You move your cursor over to Kinger's name.

"Close! But Caine's name is a little more to the left."

You click on Kinger's icon.

"Misclick! Happens all the time! Try again!"

You click again.

Kinger's icon disappears.

You click on Gangle's icon and it disappears immediately.

It's almost like a game at this point.

You kinda enjoy messing with him like this.

"Whoops! Looks like your hand slipped!"

You try to click on Jax' icon.

There's a horde of pop ups that pile onto each other faster than you can read any, most of them seemed to contain all caps.

The one on top appears to be the most reserved of all of them.

"Absolutely not."

Jax' icon disappears.

You try to click on Pomni's.

"..."

She's gone too.

You click on the only character other than Caine right now.

Zooble.

"Are you doing this on purpose?"

You click again.

"You just want to see me suffer, don't you?"

You click again.

"Hahaha! If that's what you wanted you could've just said so!"

You click again.

"HahAHaHaHAhAhahaHaHAHAHHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

The computer switches off.

You bang your fist on the top of it a couple times.

Damn it.

You start to pull yourself up from your seat before you hear a thud from inside the computer.

Gloved white hands press desperately against the screen.

"Don't go! Y-You haven't voted yet!" His voice warbles, still trying to maintain a happy tone, "ME. Me. Click on me."

Woah, cool. They added voice lines.

He goes back further from the screen now. Floating just above the red carpet.

You place your hand on the mouse, almost clicking on Caine as his eyes follow your cursor with hope. Want. Need.

You stop.

Once you click the interaction will be over. You won't get all the available content.

When you're about to move your cursor away from him he dives to grab it, entire body landing on the ground with the cursor clutched in both his hands.

He slowly brings the cursor closer to his frame, eyes welling up with tears as he begins to push the cursor onto his chest in an attempt to force the vote.

Each hopeless attempt to make your vote count for him makes him seem all the more pitiful.

The tears(saliva?) that were in his eyes quickly turn into full on sobs, shaking his whole body as he garbles out gibberish.

You force the cursor out of his hands.

Was he nothing to you already? You were so excited to vote for him yesterday.

"Is everyone else actually gone or do I have to look for them?" You wonder aloud.

"...gone." Caine turns from the screen bitterly, sending you a pop-up, "They're gone."

What.

Did he-

You-

That has to be a coincidence.

Just to be sure though-

"Did you hear me...?" You lean in and whisper to your computer. If you're talking crazy you can't have anyone around hear you.

Caine tenses up.

When you get no response you breath out in relief.

Suddenly, Caine gets as close to the screen as possible pressing his hands to the glass again.

"There's no one else to vote for. You can go home and brag to all your friends 'I voted for the best character in the circus, CAINE!'"

"Don't you want to?"

"Vote Caine!"

"No other members are here."

"Just me."

"I know I'm your favorite."

"Vote for me."

"Please...?"

You press your lips together.

It's just a game.

Still, seeing him like this makes you pity him.

The feign cheeriness, the crying, the begging - it all makes him feel so personal.

You settle your cursor back onto him.

And click.

"Thank you for voting for Caine!"

With that, you turn off your computer and head to the kitchen for a snack.

All the while Caine floats in front of the poll, observing his last place placement.