B E R E E T

                     ❛   y’ might be on the  WRONG  SHIP  if y’ think we care about  that,  lady.  this ain’t a club for sunshine and rainbows.   ❜   not that he needs the reminder;  he’s had to check himself on the  daily,  with that gigantic idiot of a tree on his shoulders.  needing to hold it all in line,  needing to keep his tongue in place,  and to be  quill’s  version of  ENCOURAGING ?  that takes its toll.  (  still,  there’s the part.  he’s got t’ get the part.  )

❛   it’s a matter of  safety !  y’ give me that to make sure it doesn’t blow up as soon as there’s  FUEL  in the kraggin’ chamber !  c’mon.   ❜

❛ you’re just stringing words along, hoping to make sense. it’s not a matter of safety, i fixed the flap in the fuel chamber last night. ❜ bereet wasn’t fooled — rocket wasn’t nice to anyone, he wasn’t doing it personally to her, but she was tired of being the brunt of jokes — oh, you’re only here because peter quill has needs, oh, that line worked on you, huh? — and she shrugged, closing her fingers tighter around the part.

One might think Nero took pleasure in the  f e a r  he causes, as the blades of his Teral’n arc to hold threat toward’s her chest; this was far from the truth of who the Romulan was. Though pain sowed seeds of cruelty, he was not at heart a cruel man.

         “He was here, I can feel it–”

A feint echo, if anything at all. But a maddened hound chased the most infinitesimal traces of its prey, until it bled from its own chase.  

Blades of the staff remain as they were, just more than a hair’s-breadth from her, incentive to speak the truth; assurance if to him that he might believe what next she spoke.

                           “I’d love to believe you. So tell me. Why should I?”

❛ because why would i lie to someone who would kill me? ❜ her heart beat like a trapped sparrow behind a cage of bone — thud, thud, thudding there, and her body was reacting: if he cut her, the blood would bubble and hiss, and burn him. 

Was it odd he didn’t actually have an answer to that question? He imagined that too her, that answering with which planet you were from, was easy. To Steve, this was entirely new. It wasn’t often he had to explain what world he was from, though Terra seemed correct. He could only speculate, but he remembered old conversations with Thor about the galaxy. 

“Yes,” he nodded, though his certainty was a little lacklustre.

Of course now, her dress became apparent to him. A t-shirt and underwear.

He cleared his throat, shaking his head as his gaze lowered out of decency.

Who the hell was Peter Quill?

And…

Wait.

“Space?” Rogers was looking at her again, careful not to look anywhere else on her save her face. There was very real disbelief in his voice.

How the hell had he gotten here?

Was she even telling the truth?

What reason could she have to lie?

“I…” No, he couldn’t hide his clear concern at being on some stranger’s ship, in the middle of space, with a pink woman currently scantily clad. “Sorry, who’s ship? And, who are you?”

she gestured out the window, at the field of white stars cutting through the field of black like hot diamonds. it was space, and no other way to prove it. out there was the expanse of practical nothingness.

❛ peter quill. star-lord. he is from terra too. ❜ pausing. ❛ terra is earth. earth is terra. ❜

she didn’t seem bothered by her clothing, or lack thereof — seemingly okay with being how she was, where she was, in front of a stranger. putting her tea down on the table, she gave him her full attention.

— This was the part she needed, right? If he heard correctly. Instructions were sometimes hard; syntax still that little bit foreign from what he’s used to. It’s a different method of learning, a different method of understanding, and Groot is patient. He must be. For they are with him, too.  A hand stretched toward her, cylindrical battery offered. A smile. “ I am Groot? ”

// @krylorian wanted a big grootie!!

“it’s okay, i’m not gonna hurt you.” he was gentle as he cradled her face, wanting to pull her close to his chest, to shield her there from any further harm. he put an arm around er shoulder and started to lead her back to his quarters, away from the others as they all lost their sense to roughhousing. he didn’t want her to be struck again, because he doubted he would be able to hold back his anger then. he was silent until they reached his quarters, pulling her inside and offering her a seat while he rummaged around for painkillers, handing her a soft, embroidered handkerchief. “i’d clean up the blood for you, but i don’t wanna hurt you by accident.” he admitted sheepishly.

❛ i know we have doctors who’ve treated beings overall with acidic blood, but i haven’t gotten the chance to myself. makes me kinda curious though… ❜

                     he makes the sweeping gesture to her legs;  it’s  obvious,  while they’re on display,  and he’s not about to pull a card of  appropriate  attention.     ❛     colour.  y’know,  you’re  pink,  gamora’s  green  ––––––––  i’m thinkin’ he might even take  NEBULA,  if it weren’t for the weird  sister  thing.     ❜     but it’s a  theory  he’ll have to test,  no matter the  answer.  can’t trust the data off the back of someone he doesn’t  know. 

❛     guess that one still works on ya.  ain’t nobody fixin’ a  COMMUNICATOR  while on the run from  yondu.     ❜

it’s a long moment before she looks at him, and the colours comment makes sense. and she’s not sure if she should be offended or not, but then another thought crops up. he was playing her? shaking her head, she smoothed her palms between her bare thighs.

eyes light up at the sight of her, peering over the edge of the seat –––– oh no, she’s found him already !  it is most certainly the candy that’s done the trick; the sugary rocks coupled with the lack of volume for their distribution ( he’s almost eaten his whole body weight’s worth, after all ! ). the sapling’s swinging, from the point his vines are curled around the armrest; and with the discovery of an almost yo-yo-like effect of his curling and uncurling his vines, he’s almost quivering with another series of giggles tickling his trunk ! 

      ❛   i am groot !   ❜

his voice is high-pitched and moves with a quickness, and bereet cannot help but giggle, and she turns to give him room on the arm rest, tucking a leg under herself. leaning over to watch him as he swings.

❛ be careful, please, little one. ❜

            “i dunno, there’s a lot of space out there. plenty of pockets for scary things to hide away in.”

    “ – that case, no, don’t reckon they’re much the same at all.”

Not that he’s carrying a grudge. Him? Hah. Laughable.

“Flyin’ plates?” He’s been confused by a fair few things in his life, but this, he’s completely baffled by. “I know Terrans ain’t exactly up t’scratch on interstellar travel, but that’s just stupid.”

He frowns. Pete had never suggested they should try flying around on plates. He’d have gotten a fair mocking if he had. He thinks about it again, and this time is laugh, though less enthusiastic, is at least genuine. “Flyin’ plates,” he repeats. “That is funny. Can you imagine the cap’n on a plate?”

he winces a little bit as the discovery he’d been wrong. AGAIN.   “ okay, look, i’m kind of a big deal nowadays. ya know, GUARDIAN OF THE GALAXY so some things slip my mind. like your name. ”   he allows silence to fall for a long moment before suddenly exclaiming,   “ BEREET! ”

“What– you tellin’ me y’ don’t think there’s any SEX in the afterlife?” He scoffs, shaking his head. “I ain’t never been all that scared a’ dyin’, but that right there’d do it.”