Smiling softly you took his hands in your gloved ones, and said you could help him keep them warm. You bit your lip, hoping that you weren't coming across as too forward. After all, he was still your captain. There was a chance he'd turn down any advances you made for that reason alone.

It was clear from his expression that he didn't know how to feel at that offer. He wasn't used to offers of kindness, and he wasn't sure if this was only kindness coming from you. However, he didn't pull away. Instead, he quickly recovered and with a smirk pulled you closer to him, making you let out a surprised squeak at the sudden motion.

Now you were sitting beside him, touching, as he'd pulled one hand from yours and put it around you to pull you into a side-hug beside him.

"Oh-" you exclaim playfully. "Moving straight to cuddling, now are we?" You were surprised at this sudden escalation, but in truth you were glad to see he had taken it well, instead of immediately distancing himself or turning cold at the gesture.

"Just trying to keep my hands warm..." he answered, with a little too much cheek in his voice. You quickly realized why when you felt his hand reach up and place itself on the warm skin of your neck, just inside the collar of your coat.

This caused you to let out a shriek and you jolted in your position, swatting at him. "Your hands are freezing!" you scold. And to think you had worried about being too forward... at least he hadn't decided to put his hands up the back of your shirt instead.

Yondu just sat there chuckling and grappling for your swatting hands. "Hush- you're gonna give away our position, now!"

Quickly remembering that you were, indeed, still on a job you settled down, not wanting to be at fault if it went south, but you still gave Yondu a playfully cross look. All in all, despite him being an ass, this was actually going pretty well.

He merely grinned back at you and pulled you in once again, turning your attention to the seemingly abandoned building across the field from where you both were sat, where your mark was set to show up soon if everything were to go as planned.

You found yourself relaxing against him, and you could have sworn he did as well.

Until his freezing hands found their way back against your neck again under the guise of 'trying to get warm,' all while teasing you to be quiet lest you give your position away.

This time you made sure to grab his hands and hold them in yours, but you noticed that he didn't complain at all. Just sat there, one arm around you, both hands held in yours, pretending to be completely fixated on watching the building across the field, pretending not to notice when you relaxed into him once again.

You stood, leaning against the wide window, your back to the captain’s chair. You were watching the stars, you could never had said for sure, but it seemed that you could see more, now that you’d passed from life. You gazed out at the colours of the galaxy, watching as stars twinkled in the furthest distance.

“Hey! Who th’ Hell are you? Wha’ ya doing on ma ship?”

You were vaguely startled by the voice behind you. You turned to face him and watched his expression change from anger to confusion. Yondu Udonta was not a man who’d never seen a ghost before.

“You’re the Captain now?” you asked.

“...yeah. And you’re...?”

“I’m just here for the ride”

He smiled, and nodded. He’d relaxed now that you’d spoken to him - in his time with the Kree he’d seen many ghosts, most of them were driven mad, they were violent and dangerous. But it was very obvious that you weren’t like those - you’d accepted death and moved on with your existence.

“Anything you’d rather I did ta make ya more comfortable?” Yondu wasn’t so pleasant with strangers usually, but you were a ghost - ghosts were different, they were the dead, and you respected the dead, all of them. No matter what race in the galaxy you belonged to, everyone did right by the dead.

“Nothing comes to mind - I didn’t die here, my body’s long gone. I’m just... occupying space, for a given value of ‘occupying’“ you laughed softly.

He nodded, “D’ya want me to leave you alone?”

“Not really, I like company - the last lot were never very talkative, not with me anyway”

“That’s fine, I’ll talk yer ear off if y’ll let me”

You laughed, “That’s fine by me”

xxxxx

The crew had various reactions to having a ghost on board. Most were afraid of you, too unknowledgeable or superstitious to come near you. The occasional few were determined to ignore your presence, but that was fine, you’d had that before. Yondu quickly grew fond of you, as did Kraglin, though you could see him determinedly shaking off the superstition in his mind any time you appeared.

Yondu kept good on his word, and talked with you often. Most of the time he either complained about a job, or the crew or something along those lines, or boasted about jobs well done, treasures stolen and glorious fights. But every now and again, you had moments of serious conversation.

Yondu was set in his captain’s chair, doubled over, his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands. You frowned when you saw him, quickly going to his side.

“What’s wrong?” He just grunted, avoiding looking at you. “Yondu?” he liked it when you said his name, it made a change from everyone calling him Captain.

He sighed, then slumped back in his chair, “Had a run in with some... Kree”

“I don’t understand...”

“Don’t like Kree” he mumbled, staring off into space, frowning.

“...why not?”

He glanced at you. “They did this to me” he said quickly, with a vague gesture towards his metal implanted fin. Of course you’d noticed it before, but you hadn’t wanted to ask - everyone knew the importance of any Centaurians’ fin. “Ma parents sold me ta them when i was a baby, sold me to be a slave, and they did that...”

“I’m sorry”

He frowned, “What you sorry for?” he asked, genuinely.

“That you had to go through that, I’m sorry that happened to you”

“... ain’t nobody ever said that before”

“Then I’m sorry for that too”

xxxxx

You watched Yondu clean down the components of his gun. It was calming to watch, and neither of you had spoken in a while - you had more comfortable silences between you these days. It was nice.

So when he asked you a question out of the blue, you didn’t actually hear a word he said. “Sorry, what did you say?”

He looked vaguely flustered, “I know yer not meant ta ask, but, how did you... ya know? Ya said before you didn’t died here on the ship, so...?”

“Oh”

‘Sorry, shouldn’t have said nothin’”

“No, it’s okay”

He stopped, and turned his head to look at you, “...ya sure?”

“I don’t mind. It doesn’t hurt” he nodded for you to go on. You shook your head, “It’s not an interesting story, Yondu”

“I still wanna hear it, if that’s alright by you”

You smiled, “It’s fine by me. I wasn’t well, no-one knew what was wrong with me - I was sick for months on end. By the time we figured out I’d been born with a heart deformity, that had progressed as I grew up, I was too ill for surgery - I would never have shaken off the anesthesia. It was too late. I lived another few days, and died in my sleep”

He’d watched you talk, transfixed. “How long ago was that?”

“I don’t remember... time isn’t really the same anymore, it doesn’t mean anything to me”

He nodded. In his mind he knew from what you’d said that at the very least, a hundred years must have passed - the technology that would have saved you wasn’t anything new.

Neither of you spoke again for some time, and when you did, you didn’t talk anything of death.

xxxxx

Yondu lounged sideways in his chair, playing with the newest addition to his trinket collection. You smiled as you saw him.

As you walked over to where he was, the little figure dropped from his hands, and landed on the floor just out of his reach. He huffed, currently feeling too lazy to move and pick it up again. You laughed, shaking your head.

You crouched and retrieved the trinket, placing it, sitting to face him, on his chest. You perched on the arm of the chair.

Yondu stared at you, “How’d ya do that?” you had to laugh, “How’d ya pick it up?”

Of course, Yondu had seen you fail to do the very same thing time and time again in the past, it was fair that he was confused now. “Sometimes the world in which I exist, is closer physically to the world in which you exist - so, on occasions, I can pick up things”

He sat up, a curious glint in his eyes as he asked, “So, right now, you can touch things? Move things?”

You tilted your head as you considered his curiosity, “Yes”

“Close yer eyes”

You gave him a look, “What are you up to?”

“Just close yer eyes... please”

“Well, seeing as you said please” you laughed. You closed you eyes, and sat still.

You heard Yondu move, but you had no idea what he was thinking. That was, until you felt a soft, warm breath against your face. You let out a tiny gasp, and he gave you the chance to move away, before, gently, he pressed his lips to yours.

You leant in, chasing after him as he pulled away. A kiss. You hadn’t felt a kiss since before you’d taken your last breath.

“Was that alright?” Yondu asked, quietly.

You smiled, blushing, “That was more than alright”

xxxxx

Time passed and things changed. Yondu adopted the Terran boy, Peter, (who had a very different opinion on ghosts, which you found refreshing) he grew up, moved on. There were the occasional skirmishes between Yondu and Stakar, and the other Ravagers. Occasionally paths were cross with the Kree. From time to time, one authority or another would catch up to Yondu, and he’d wriggled his way out of it again and again.

You were there, you watched on. You were never confined to the ship, you could go anywhere with Yondu that you pleased. You were always by Yondu’s side, wherever and whenever he needed you to be.

So when things started to go down hill, when Ego showed up out of nowhere, and the crew mutinied against him, you did all you were able. But Yondu put himself on a path you couldn’t get him to turn away from. No matter what you did, what you said, you could see exactly where he was going to end up.

You were there with them, Yondu and Peter, as they escaped Ego’s planet. As Yondu decided to secure his fate. “He may have been your father, boy, but he wasn’t yer daddy”

“It’s okay,” you whispered to him, “I’m here, I’ll take you both back to the ship. It’ll be okay”

Peter’s eyes darted between you both. You knew what Yondu was planning, you had to make sure it worked. “What are you talking about?”

Yondu shook his head, “”I’m sorry I didn’t do none of it right”

“It’s okay,” you told him, “I’m ready - I’ve got you”

He looked to you and nodded, a tear in his eye. Then he turned back to Peter, “I’m damn lucky yer ma boy”

He disengaged the space suit, and breathed out his last breath into the vacuum. You took the disk from his hand, placed it on Peter’s chest and turned it on, saving him from the cold of space. Peter was screaming, crying, begging ‘no’. But there was nothing else that could be done now. You wrapped your arms around them both and guided them in the direction of the ship,

xxxxx

They held a funeral. A proper, Ravager’s funeral.

You had decided that maybe now was time that you stopped. You could do anything, see the rest of the universe, or simply fade into the stars. The choice was yours.

You smiled a sad smile as you watched Peter and his friends send off Yondu’s body. Your smiled only widened as you felt a presence come up beside you, and a large, strong hand take hold of yours.

“We should leave them to it” you said, softly.

“Yeah, probably should” he nodded. You looked up at Yondu, and he looked down at you and smiled, “D’ya think ya can put up with me for eternity?”

You groaned, attempting to get back up, but the pain floored you. Peter skidded to your side, Yondu appearing opposite him a split second after. Both of them knelt by you.

Yondu cupped your cheek, “Y/N? Ya hear me?”

“Yeah” you breathed, all the energy you’d had seconds before had vanished. You struggled to keep your eyes focused on your husband. 

Peter had pulled back the ripped fabric of your top, and he was examining your wound, “It’s not that deep. It’s... big, but it’s mostly on the surface.” he told you.

You nodded. How many times had you reassured Peter that his injuries weren’t that bad? So many, throughout his childhood and even occasionally now. It was odd to see him kneeling by your side, doing what he could. He pulled off his jacket and bundled it up, pressing it against your side to try to stop the blood flow.

You jerked away from the pain the action had caused, and Yondu winced, seeing you hurt. He stroked your hair, saying softly, “s’alrigh’ - gonna be alrigh’. Kraglin’s bring the ship now, yer gonna be alrigh’”

You nodded and your vision swam before you - blue and red blurred in your sight. Kraglin better get here soon.

You must have blacked out. You came round in your bedroom, Yondu was barking orders to someone at the door, but Peter was sitting by the bedside. “Hey” you said weakly, seeing him.

“Y/N?” he jumped up, wiping at his eyes - had he been crying? His eyes were red, “You alright? How do you feel? Are you in pain?”

You couldn’t help the weak laugh that escaped your lips at his concern, you smiled at him, “I’m fine now - a bit sore, but I’m fine”

“Y/N?” Yondu’s voice carried to your ears and you smiled wider.

He came and sat beside you in bed, scrutinizing your expression to see if there was any kind of hint that you were in more pain than you were letting on. “How ya feelin’ Darlin’?”

“I’ve been worse”

He smiled, “Well, ya ain’t wrong” he laughed.

“How long was I out?” you asked, slightly concerned.

“A day and a half” Peter answered, “Don’t know if it was just the shock, or what. But you’re awake now, that’s what matters”

“Don’t tell me you two have been sitting here worrying about me” you chided, knowing fine well that they hadn’t changed there clothes since the last time you’d been awake.

Yondu glanced away, still reluctant to appear soft in front of Peter, “We had t’ be here when ya woke up, di’n’t we”

“Yeah” Peter nodded. It was funny to see them in agreement over something.

You shook your head, but smiled. You loved them both so much. You moved to sit up, and immediately they were right by your sides helping you.

“That okay?” Yondu asked.

“Yeah, thanks” you took his hand, interlacing your fingers with his.

“Can I have a drink of water or something?” you asked.

Peter nodded, getting up straight away to fetch it for you. Yondu placed a gentle kiss to the top of your head, “We was worried about ya” he whispered to you, concern clear in his eyes.

You nodded, resting your head against his shoulder. Peter returned with a glass of water, and carefully he handed it to you. After a few mouthfuls you handed it back and he sat it on the bedside unit.

“Want me to get you anything else?” Peter asked.

But you shook your head, “I’m fine, thanks”

He nodded, “Uh, so I’ve got some stuff I need to get on with, but if you need anything else, I’ll be nearby”

“Okay, thank Peter”

He smiled awkwardly but leant in for a hug anyway. You smiled as you wrapped your arms around him. “I’m glad you’re okay Mom” he mumbled under his breath. You squeezed him a little tighter, letting him know you heard, before letting him go.

“Peter?” you called, getting closer. Your voice betrayed exactly how panicked you felt. He was kneeling over Yondu. The thin sheet of ice that had descended over Yondu’s face was starting to fade back, from the warmth inside the ship. “He’s alive, isn’t he? He has to be. Peter, tell me he’s alive”

The look on Peter’s face was fully of pity and of hurt. He shook his head. “He’s gone”

Your blood ran cold. “No. He can’t be.” you said determinedly.

“Y/N, he’s dead” Peter snapped, wiping the tears from his eyes as he slowly got to his feet.

Your brain refused to accept it. “No. No I don’t believe you” you pushed past him and fell at Yondu’s side, checking for a pulse, for breathing, for anything. “Wake up” you breathed, staring at him. “Come on, wake up” you shook his shoulders in desperation.

Peter pulled you back by your shoulder, all but throwing you aside, “Y/N he’s dead. Will you just stop!” He was upset and angry, and I didn’t care.

“He’s not gone! Not yet!” You crawled back to Yondu’s side. By now the others had joined you. There soft voices told you to let go, that it was over, that Yondu was gone. But you wouldn’t listen. How could you? “Get up! Come on! Wake up!” There were tears running down your face as you frantically tried to shake Yondu back to consciousness.

“Will you just leave him alone!” Peter barked at you. He grabbed you by the arm, hauling you to your feet roughly.

You lashed out, “Get off me!”

“Just stop it!” He yelled.

You pushed against him, emotion fueling you both. How could he just give up like this? Yondu wasn’t gone, not yet, he couldn’t be. He didn’t have a heartbeat, but if you could just restart his heart- of course. Restart his heart.

As you grappled with Peter you managed to get one hand free, unholstering your tazer. The others cried out, telling you to stop, asking what in the stars you thought you were doing. Maybe they thought you were going to hurt Peter. But none of them were quick enough to grab your tazer away from you.

You took aim, your arm extended below Peters, as you looked over his shoulder. One shot to the centre of the chest. That’s all it would take. You fired, and the second you did, Peter’s fist collided with your face. You didn’t see if you’d hit your mark.

Peter punched at you again, and you retaliated. The pair of you were now on the floor, knocking lumps out each other. The rest of the Guardians were trying to pull you apart - Groot stood off to one side yelling at you all.

You had taken the brunt of it, trapped on your back, with Peter being bigger and stronger than you by far. You were sure that the next blow Peter would land would knock you out, but he stopped mid swing - from behind you both, there was a deep scratchy gasp.

“Yondu” you breathed.

Everyone stopped.

With the strength you had left, you pushed Peter off you, and clambered to Yondu’s side. He was breathing. He had a pulse. He was alive. You sobbed in relief, collapsing, your head on his chest, your arms wrapped around him awkwardly.

Peter got to his feet behind you, “He- he’s alive?”

You managed to nod.

-----

It had been days, but you hadn’t left Yondu’s side for more than a few minutes at a time. You were determined to be there when he woke up.

It was the middle of the night when his eyes eventually began to flicker, everyone else on board was asleep. “Yondu” you called softly, standing from the chair at the bedside to sit on the edge of the bed, near him, “Yondu, can you hear me?”

“I can hear ya” he mumbled, his words slightly slurred as he came back to the edge of consciousness.

You smiled as he opened his eyes and saw you, “Hey”

He laughed weakly, “Hey yerself, sweetcheeks - what the Hell happened to ya?” he frowned.

“Oh the...” you gestured to your face, the black eye and bruised cheek, “Peter and I had a small falling out, it’s all sorted now though. Don’t worry about it”

“Damn it girl” he mumbled. He looked around, working out that it was late, “What ya doin’ here?”

You laughed, a light blush rising on your cheeks, “I was waiting for you to wake up”

“Alrigh’...“ he said, looking puzzled. You watched as he tried to think back, figure out what had happened. Eventually he locked eyes with you and said, carefully,  “I should be dead, how come I ain’t?”

“I, uh, tazed you - it got your heart started again”

For a moment he said nothing, “So ya saved me?”

“I don’t think the others would call it that” you said with a shaky laugh.

He sat up slowly, wincing, “Wha’ happened?” You explained quietly. As you told him exactly what had happened once he’d given Peter his suit, he took your hand in his, and when you were done he nodded. “I see”

You smiled at him softly, “How are you feeling?”

“My head’s killin me, Darlin’ - thanks for askin’” Together you laughed. “Ya know,” he said, “after tha’ night we had, I honestly didn’t think I’d be seein’ ya so soften”

You smiled, “I don’t think I did either”

“Not tha’ I’m complainin’, or nothing, I’m jus’ surprised a young thing like yerself would want ta be spendin’ so much time w’ a handsome old Ravager like me - most girls yer age don’t have such good taste” he laughed, winking at you.

You had wanted to do this softly, delicately, but the words escaped your mouth before you could shape them the way you wanted. “...I’m pregnant”

You both sat there, still as statues, waiting on the other to say something. “Yer... yer gonna have... a baby?”

“Yeah”

“Is it...” Yondu hesitated, he looked more serious than you’d ever seen him before, “Is it... mine?”

You nodded, and whispered, “Yes” You bit your lip, nervously.

You could almost see his heart skip a beat, “And do you... Do you want to... Are you gonna...?”

“I-I’m going to have this child” You said firmly. You were terrified, what if he didn’t want...?

A smile pulled at his lips, as he let out a shaky laugh, “Do... do ya want me... around? I mean, I...” You didn’t think he’d been so nervous in his life.

“Of course I do, but if you don’t want to-”

“No, I want to” he cut you off, “I do, I really do, I swear to ya”

“Okay” you said, with a shaky laugh.

“Hey” he laughed, “Jus’ sayin’, ya aint exactly a frilly, sparkly type of girl”

Deadpan, you told him, “Kraglin, this dress is neither frilly or sparkly”

“Ya know what I mean” he shook his head, “whatcha gonna wear it for? Ravagers ain’t got fancy places to be goin’”

“I can wear it on a night out, Stars, Krags, you’d think you didn’t want me to look nice for once”

“Ya look nice all the time idiot” he rolled his eyes.

“Aw, that’s sweet” you sarcastically shot back.

“Fine, fine - get the damn dress” he sighed exasperated.

You grinned at him, “You take the security to the left, I’ll take the right?”

“Sounds good to me”

You stuffed the dress in you bag, and the two of you pulled out your guns - robbing the shop (of one single dress) at gunpoint before diving back to the Eclector and promptly taking off.

---

Weeks past since you stole your red dress, and Kraglin continued to remind you it had been a steal worth nothing, seeing as in six weeks you all hadn’t had a single night off. You nearly jumped for joy when Yondu announced that you were docking that night for some time off.

Of course, you still had work to do until then, but at least it was something to look forward to. You caught Kraglin as he saw passing, grabbing his arm and pulling him aside as you grinned, “We’re going out tonight” you reminded him, gleefully.

He laughed, “Stars, that mean you’re actually gonna wear that dress?”

“Damn right”

He shook his head, “I’m gonna have to find somethin’ decent to wear, can’t have you upstaging me”

“Wipe the dirt off, Krags, that should manage it”

He gave you a playful shove, faking offense, “Cheeky asshole”

“Oh come on, I picked it up off you”

---

You got dressed with the few other woman on board, sharing make up and jewelry and perfume, seeing as you didn’t all have some of each. You took one last look in the mirror before heading off to find Kraglin.

You spotted him on the ground, talking to Yondu - you were off hours now, so the Captain wouldn’t mind you hanging around until he was finished talking to his second in command.

Yondu spotted you before Kraglin did. His eyes widening for a moment before he caught himself and gave himself a shake. Who in the galaxies was that?

“Kraglin, Captain” you greeted.

“Y/N” Kraglin smiled, he looked you up and down, “Dress suits ya”

Damn right is does, Yondu thought.

“Why thanks” you laughed, giving him a very pointed look, “told you it was worth it”

Kraglin was about to reply but was cut off by the other woman calling on you. You looked to them then back to him, “Are you coming?”

Yondu answered for him, “We’ll only be a second, he’ll catch ya up”

You smiled up at him, and gave him a nod, “Thank you, Captain” He nodded in return and you left the two men in favour of joining the women.

Once you were out of ear shot, Yondu asked, “Who is that?”

Kraglin frowned, “Y/N?”

“Don’ think I’ve seen ‘er before”

“She’s been part of the crew for nearly three years now Cap’n”

“Huh” Yondu stared after you. Surely he would have noticed you before now if you’d been on the ship as long as that? Wait, what? Kraglin was speaking? Shit, what did he say? “Wha’?”

“Uh, I’m goin’ t’ go now, Cap’n, if that’s alright”

“Yeah, yeah - on ya go”

Kraglin frowned at him, but nodded anyway, and trailed off after his best friend.

Yondu stood for a moment, completely in his own head, trying to figure out how in all the galaxies that you had been on his ship for three years without him noticing. He shook his head, he was baffled.

Further away, Kraglin had caught up with you. You looked back over your shoulder, at the blue figure, and asked him, “What was up with Yondu?”

He shrugged, “No idea”

-----

You danced and drank and had a good time, your red dress fanning out around you as you spun. You danced with the girls, and with Kraglin - until a woman from the bar caught his attention, he quickly let you know where he was going and disappeared for the rest of the night. That was fine; you did the same thing from time to time, you both did, as often as each other. The only thing was, now you were on your own. The girls had vanished off ages ago.

Well, it wasn’t so bad. Because Yondu had been watching. He’s actually been watching all night - which he wasn’t used to. Normally by now, he too would have been off with someone for the night, but he couldn’t allow himself to be lured away by anyone trying to get his attention. He was far too interested in you.

He didn’t want you to think that he was being creepy, staring at you all damn night. But he couldn’t keep his eyes off you. Yes, the red dress - the way it fit you, flattered you, and made you stand out in the crowd. Your hair was beautiful - he’d never really thought about how someone could have beautiful hair, but you certainly did. Your face was perfect, in every way - how had he missed you for three years? But there was one thing that kept him smiling, thoroughly amused from the moment he’d found you in the club; your boots. Your big, heavy, steel-toe-capped, working boots. That you were wearing. With that beautiful dress. And he loved it. He really loved it.

He loved you.

He stood from the booth he’d been sitting in for the last few hours, and crossed the floor to you. “Ya by yerself Princess?”

You spun round to face him, a grin on your face, “Yeah, looks like - unless, are you...? Staying? I mean, like, hanging around? Here? With me?”

You were drunk.

“Yeah, you dress up and eat candy and tell ghost stories” Peter explained, turning up his nose at Yondu’s display of affection towards you.

“D’ya wanna have a hallaween party, Darlin’?” Yondu asked, his hands now rubbing your shoulders.

“Yes!” You squealed excitedly.

Peter groaned. Yondu said, “Alright then Princess, you go find yourself somethin’ ta wear, an’ I’ll take care of the rest w’ Quill”

Peter shot him a look, “What”

“Anythin’ fur ma girl” Yondu continued.

You laughed, and grinned at him, “Thank you Sweetheart”

“Yer welcome” He winked.

Peter let out a deep sigh. “Ew”

-----

A few days later Peter came to you, “Y/N, you know the Halloween party thing?”

“Yeah”

“I need help”

You raised an eyebrow, Yondu wanted to keep the whole thing as secret as possible to surprise you. “With what?”

Peter looked you dead in the eye and gave a low sigh, “Yondu’s costume”

“And...?”

“He wants to be... Mary Poppins”

You burst out laughing, “Oh!”

“How the Hell am I meant to pull that off? He doesn’t even know who it is! He thinks it’s a guy for a start, and that ‘he’s cool’ - seriously, Y/N, what am I meant to do?”

Eventually you managed to stop laughing, “Uh, adapt it - keep the important bits and change the rest”

“Like?”

“Like keep the umbrella and the bag and colour scheme and make it a suit instead and lose the hat” you were still giggling at the mental image of your boyfriend in the full skirt, corseted waist and hat.

“But where am I meant to find any of it?” Peter asked, still vaguely distressed.

“We’re docking tomorrow for supplies, go get the stuff then”

“For tomorrow night? What if I can’t find it?”

“Peter,” you said, taking him by the shoulders, “it’s not like he’s going to know the difference anyway”

-----

The next 24 hours passed slowly. You had to pretend that you didn’t know about Yondu’s costume and that was slowly driving you mad, because all day he’d keep playing at making you guess what he was going to wear - and obviously you couldn’t guess right.

You were keeping your costume secret too, for no other reason than teasing Yondu. Not that he would understand what you’d be dressed as, but you found it fun to wind him up. You’d managed to get the material together, and make it from scratch - it wasn’t like you were going to find a Star Fleet uniform anywhere in space, ironically.

You were happy with how it had turned out, a little on the short side, due to lack of fabric, but that didn’t really matter. Yondu may not understand what it was meant to be, but he’d love it all the same; you were just pleased you’d managed to find boots to go with it.

You were getting ready for the party, dress and boots on, hair done, make up finished. You had to admit, you looked pretty awesome. Yondu was getting ready in Peter’s room, so you couldn’t see his costume until the last minute. How in the galaxy Peter would be able to explain to him what he was wearing, you didn’t know.

There was a knock on your door. You got up, straightening out your dress, and opened it to see Peter, dressed like one of the Ghostbusters. You laughed, “Awesome outfit”

“Damn, you too - okay, I was told to go get you and Yondu won’t be long”

“Okay” you smiled.

Yondu had done a great job of putting the party together, even though there were so few of you. The rest of the guardians were there, dressed as the rest of the Ghostbusters (though you were sure they had no idea what that was), except Groot who seemed to be dressed as Rocket. Kraglin was also there, as some kind of witch (not wizard, definitely a witch).

They greeted you both as you entered the main living space in the Milano and a few minutes were passed checking out each other’s costumes, before you heard Yondu behind you, asking louding, “So, what d’ya think?”

You turned to see him, and your jaw dropped.

He looked good, really good. “Wow” you muttered.

He grinned, ‘Damn, girl, I got ya speechless?”

The costume was incredible. The white dress shirt was stretched over his chest, with a red bow tie at the collar. Over that he was wearing a blue jacket, the clung to his arms. And the boots, scarf, hat and umbrella finished it off perfectly. “You look amazing” you told him.

“Don’t look bad yerself, Darlin’. So, d’ya know who I am?”

You smiled widely, “You’re Mary Poppins”

“That’s right” he laughed, “And I don’t know what you is, but yer lookin damn hot in that dress”

“In here” you called back, drowsily.

It wasn’t long until you heard the door open. You were curled up in your blankets, lying on your side, facing away from the door - you knew Yondu was there, but you couldn’t see him.

“Aw, ya tired Darlin?”

“It’s the middle of the night” you moaned.

He chuckled. The two loud thumps on the floor followed by the sound of rustling fabric let you know he was getting undress to climb into bed. When the mattress dipped beside you, you smiled, thinking that now you could get back to sleep. You were wrong.”Princess, sit up”

You groaned, “Yondu”

“C’mon, please”

You huffed, but untangled yourself from the blankets. You rubbed your eyes, “What is it?”

“You tell me”

“What?” You turned to frown at him, but as you did you saw the kitten he held in his lap. Your eyes widened, and your mouth hung open, “Yondu?”

“I found it wanderin around on tha’ job there - the guy seemed to collect animals, kept them in cages, but this little guys was just out wanderin about in the open. Didn’t reckon anybody would miss him and I know it’s a Terran thing so I thought you might like it”

You carefully picked up the tiny kitten, cuddling it close to you.

It let out a startled ‘meow’ at being moved, but quickly curling in against your chest, purring loudly.

“So eh, what exactly is it?”

“It’s a kitten, a baby cat”

“Aw it’s a baby one?” he smiled widely, gently stroking between it’s ears.

“Yeah”

He wrapped an arm round you, pulling you close to his side and kissing your cheek, “We’s raising a baby together” he muttered softly. You felt butterflies in your stomach. You looked up at him. He cocked an eyebrow, “What?”

You smiled, “Nothing. Thank you so much for this” you kissed him sweetly. 

You sighed, looking away as you blushed. “I-Is there something you actually came here for, Captain?”

He chuckled, but grabbed the boxes he had place outside the door, bringing them in and sitting then down on a table for you, “Found the stuff you was lookin for, Doc, just thought I’d come deliver it in person”

“Oh, thank you” You got up and started opening the boxes Yondu had delivered, unpacking the various supplies you had asked for. 

“Ya know,” Yondu said, “when I came in here, I thought I was gonna have ta take your temperature - ya just look so damn hot today” he chuckled. You bit your lip, how were you even supposed to respond to that? “Y/N, are you adrenaline? Because ya make ma heart beat faster”

You turned to face him, only to find yourself face to face with your captain. You let out the tiniest squeak in surprise, “I- uh, C-Captain?”

He smirked, “Ya know it’s funny that yer so lost for words, when it’s you that’s takin ma breath away”

“Captain” you breathed shakily, your could feel yourself blushing to the tips of your ears.

“Well, I guess tha’s alright - ya must be real good at mouth to mouth” he winked. The red fin you did routine check ups on was glowing red, you were more than a doctor, but that’s where you were needed on Yondu’s ship. He took another step closer, leaning his hands on the table on either of your hips. Oh stars. “I think yer gonna have to take care of me, Y/N, just being  around ya’s making ma heart skip a beat”

“Y-you’re not the only one” you mumbled, getting up the courage to look him in the eye. Your heart was pounding in your chest, and with every breath the bell of your stethoscope caught on the buckles of his jacket. Now that you’d looked him in the eye, you couldn’t look away.

“You know, Y/N, I don’t think yer lookin so good - think yer sufferin from a lack of vitamin me” 

The butterflies in your stomach that had taken flight, now swarmed excitedly, Your eyes darted from Yondu’s eyes, to his lips and back again. A half step was all he needed to have his chest pressed up against your own, as he took that step, his hands moved from the table edge to your waist. Your eyes had fixed on his lips, that were so very close to your own.

“Darlin” Yondu said softly, “if ya want me ta kiss ya, all ya gotta do is ask” You looked up into his eyes again and smiled timidly, “I ain’t no doctor, Y/N, but I’m gonna have to diagnose you with an acute smile” He grinned as you laughed.

“Captain?” you asked quietly.

“Yeah Darlin?”