lady stardust.

26. creep

Cosmo stared at the pebble and within a second, it flew around the makeshift course, hitting every object. The people standing around laughed as they watched Cosmo best Kraglin.

"Telekinesis is cheating! That's a stupid little pebble! I could do that with my dang finger!" Kraglin cried. "You're a bad dog."

Cosmo whimpered looking at him. "Do not say that to me!"

"You are, you're a bad dog."

"Take that back! Come on, that's not cool." Cosmo whined. "Ziggy, he called me a bad dog!"

The group turned, walking through the square toward a booth where they got a handful of snacks for those there.

"Kraglin." Ziggy sighed, looking at him.

"What? She is." He protested.

"Is Peter okay?" Mantis asked worriedly, glancing at Nebula. Ziggy's eyes cast to the ground as they mentioned him again, and she didn't want to talk about him, letting Mantis and Nebula control the conversation.

"I don't know."

"What are you going to do?" Mantis asked.

"Me? He's your brother."

"He doesn't listen to me." Mantis complained.

"He has been pretty mopey since the blip with Ziggy, and then Gamora dying." Kraglin agreed.

"She's not dead, she just doesn't remember anything from the past few years." Nebula said as she tossed the treat to Cosmo, who jumped up and caught it, munching happily.

"Nobody tells me nothing." Kraglin sighed.

"Mantis, why don't you just touch him and make him happy?" Rocket asked.

"I am Groot?"

"Gross!" Everyone exclaimed, and Ziggy couldn't help the small smile on her expression.

"Not like that," Rocket scoffed, shaking his head in disgust. "With her powers."

"It is wrong to manipulate the feelings of friends." Mantis told him.

"What about the one time you made me fall in love with my sock?" Drax demanded, frowning.

"That's just funny." Ziggy laughs quietly.

"I guess it's back to one of us touching him the other way. Maybe we should draw straws." Drax suggests. "Or make Ziggy do it, she used to date him."

"The key word there is "used" to." Ziggy pointed out, scowling at him. "And I refuse to do that, absolutely not."

"I'm sure you don't still think about it." Rocket jokes.

"Thank you, Rocket."

"No one ever meant that." Nebula said, giving him a look. After hanging around them for a bit, Ziggy glanced about before leaving the group and wandered about Knowhere. She found herself walking toward Peter's room, leaning against the railing as she glanced inside, watching Peter sleeping.

She looked at the room sadly, wondering why he pushed her away. Ziggy didn't even know if she'd want to get back with him if the opportunity presented itself — although she probably knew the answer would be a quick yes.

Lost in her thought, Ziggy didn't even hear the rumbling in the distance until something crashed through Peter's window, startling Peter awake and making Ziggy jump out of the way. A gold streak had rushed past, and she quickly looked over her shoulder as the streak flew across Knowhere.

As Ziggy looked over the railing, she saw a golden man with a red cape holding Rocket, and she assumed he was the one who had flown through the wall. He turned and glanced at Ziggy, and glanced behind her. Ziggy glanced behind her to see Peter was awake now and staring at the man, before racing outside.