#gotg fluff

this is pretty much the only way to end up in an actual relationship with gamora — not just because her traumatic past has left her with plenty of trust issues and a strained relationship with intimacy and affection, but also because unless you two are something extremely casual she needs to know that she can (a) trust you to not turn her in for a bounty from her adopted father or anyone else who may have it out for her, (b) rely on you to have her back and help her out when things get difficult in general life or in the heat of a battle (yes she’s more than capable of defending herself, obviously, but having someone that looks out for her at all times massively lessens her burdens and makes life a whole lot easier), and (c) know that you’re looking out for her best interests and are willing to step in and speak out if she’s in the wrong or needs to adjust her approach for a particular mission (seeing feared and known as the intimidating assassin she trained to be is good for the ego and all, but having someone who loves her enough to stand up and correct her when she’s wrong just as much as they’ll stand by her when she’s right is really important), and having a background of intimate friendship would have more than given you the time to prove yourself to her in these ways and thus would make the transition to being romantic partners much easier for both of you

additionally, as her closest friend you were already gamora’s confidant — so trusted that you were the first one she came to about any and all fears and concerns and frustrations with the rest of the group, so trusted that she’d often reconsider her stance and approach if you advised her against it, so trusted that you were the one she’d seek out when she was more sober than she wanted to admit in order to vent about the difficulties she’d faced in her life before meeting you all, and likewise she was the one you’d go to for all the same reasons — and consequently you entered your relationship without any secrets left to keep and felt no need to hide anything from each other going forward because of this established routine (after all, why would you change what isn’t broken?)

the shift from strictly platonic teammates and (in quill’s words) besties to romantic lovers and bedmates would have been extremely slow — slow enough that neither of you would be able to, in hindsight, point to an exact moment or timeframe where things felt noticeably different — and would have felt so natural that there wasn’t really an awkward crushing phase for you both to experience because you didn’t even notice the shift happening until you were well and truly on the other side of it

it wasn’t as if one day you were just friends and the next you were kissing. no. more like you both continued to get closer and touchier and more relaxed around each other as time went on and gamora got used to casual physical intimacy until one day you just looked at each other, realised something had changed, and quietly acknowledged it without saying anything or putting a label on it because it just felt right

you never called her your girlfriend, but she was the person you’d give your life to protect

she never claimed you as her lover, but you were the person she couldn’t bare to lose

you never said that she was more than a friend, but you were always at your happiest and most relaxed when she was safe by your side

she never announced that you were dating, but she was always quick to scare off and threaten anyone who tried to flirt with you when you were out and about as a group

neither of you cared about naming what was between you because all that mattered was how you both felt, but everyone else knew that you two cared deeply and intimately for each other and were generally just happy for you both

You frown and reach for your coffee mug - take a sip before you realize it’s room-temperature, and grimace. You set the caffeine back down. “I don’t know. Like…” You try to calculate when you went to bed, then adjust for the time you probably spent scrolling on your phone, and compare it to when your alarm went off this morning. “Like, maybe fourish hours? Could’ve been five, but I woke up in the middle and it was hard to turn my brain off.”

His carnelian eyes narrow, and his ears flick toward you. “Aren’t you Terran humies supposed to get, like, seventeen hours of sleep or something?”

You choke. “What? No. That’s, like, cats or something. What the hell?”

“Well, how many, then?”

“Like - eight. Ideally. But I think some people need more and some need less.”

He eyes you witheringly. “I can tell you right now, you ain’t one of the ones who needs less.”

An exhausted laugh stumbles up your ribs and over your lips. “You’re such an ass.”

His eyes are still narrowed, tracking you. He pulls a thin piece of tech out of his pocket, then looks at you. “When d’you gotta get up tomorrow?”

You pull up your calendar. “God. Uh. Probably in like – ten hours?”

He holds up a clawed finger. “I’ll be back in one. Then I’m taking you to bed.”

You clutch imaginary pearls. “Buy me dinner first, dude.”

“Ohhh,” he drawls. “I see. You got jokes.” He’s still brandishing that single, sharp-clawed finger, extending his arm till it’s an inch away from the tip of your nose. “One hour. Get your shit together and in a good place to stop by then.” He snags your coffee mug. “And no more of this frickin’ poison tonight.” He gives you that stupid wink of his and turns to swagger away before tossing over his shoulder, “Captain’s orders.”

“Geeezus,” you groan, but as soon as he’s rounded the corner, you start trying to figure out what you can do before it’s time to wrap up. When Rocket gets an idea in his head, it’s not like you can do anything to stop him.

Sure enough, he’s back – too soon. You’d lost track of time once again, which is probably why you never go to bed at a reasonable hour in the first place.

What’s surprising isn’t that he’s back, but that he has a mug in his hands. From here, you can smell something peppermint-sweet, and you know it’s the Usarkian bedtime tea that Mantis brings you whenever she passes by Knowhere.

“C’mon,” he says impatiently, and you sigh and close your laptop. He stops you before you can bundle everything up in your arms, soundlessly handing you the tea while he collects your belongings and gestures for you to follow him with a brisk nod of his head. You sip the tea carefully as you trail after him – but he waits while you drink it, while you brush your teeth and get changed. “In,” he orders.

You want to tell him, This is fuckin’ ridiculous – but it’s also kind of nice. Meekly, you slide into bed, and he fully tucks you in, pulling the blankets up to your chin. Your eyes must be huge, but you let him, and you might think you had already fallen asleep and that this is all a dream – except he’s scowling and grumbling I gotta take care of everything around here while he fusses with the blankets, and that’s how you know he hasn’t been bodysnatched or something.

“All right,” he says gruffly. “I’m turnin’ out the lights.”

That brandished claw is back.

“And put your frickin’ phone-thing away, or I’ll turn off the Terran internet. You know I will.”

remember: brains don't retain jackshit without sleep, nutrients, and moments of rest.

you got this. you're gonna win your finals.

check the ✩࿐࿔ take what you need masterlistfor more self-care reminders, including eat somethin, take a fuckin study break, and drink some goddamn water (yeah that still means you).

• Alright! Let’s start this off simple, how did one another find out about the other being ticklish.

• Quill happened to be getting close to her, literally. He was scooting close to her because they had decided to stay back at the ship while the others went to explore. He was being confident as usual, asked her to dance. No biggie.

• Until her touch was extremely gentle when her her hands went back to his side/ribs.

• From confidence and a smooth dance, lovely moment, then he just kinda squeaked/yelped.

• As if that suddenly happening wasn’t enough, Gamora then asked what it was and it went from tracing to some scribbles. AND HE DIDNT WANNA SHOVE HER AWAY SO. He just. Kinda. Let her tickle him and get him all giggly.

• And with her being very direct and deciding to be a little bit soft for him since the others weren’t there, she happened to ask if she could continue since she wasn’t very familiar with it.

• PLACE YOUR BETS ON WHAT HAPPENED.

• However, Peter tended to love affection, whether it’s tickles, hugs, secret handshake, you name it. He probably loves it. So he ended up letting her. Though, in front of others he acted tough for the sake of being taken seriously- but shhh-

• She did stop sooner or later after making him a smiley, laughing, slightly flustered mess.

• And Quill. Oh Quill. He decided after he recovered and was slightly tingly, that he wanted to test something. He slipped his hands over and started scribbling around her tummy and sides.

• And impressively, she didn’t sock him! Well done Star-Lord! Actually she even decided to be fair for a moment and let him while slightly pushing him away. Though she started to poke him once he found a better spot.

• But needless to say this was a bit forgotten since the rest of the guardians showed up soon after.

• BUT THEN. The guardians found out Quill was, well, embarrassingly ticklish thanks to him being human/Terran, it sparked a tickle fight. And it served as a reminder of sensitivity.

• Gamora and Quill ended up in a tickle fight the next time they were alone.

• Gamora honestly finds him being ticklish both adorable and kinda amusing. Mainly since he tries to act all confident and then just squeals upon being tazed.

• However, he seems to like being on mostly even ground and being the main one to introduce her to the concept, along with her actually laughing. It just makes him quite happy.

• She’ll gladly wreck him to knock him down a peg or two. But it’s all in good fun for them.

• I can see Quill being the one to start tickle fights either as a attempt to make her laugh at a sucky joke or something along those lines. Gamora starting tickle fights is very rare and if she does? Everyone is in for it, whoever it is started with, she will finish and win it.

• And a final one for the time being! Hmm. Just for that extra bit of fluff, whenever they give kisses, one of them (it switches a lot) will just start quickly/rapidly give neck kisses to make the other giggle because it’s tickly.