Amongst the Stars // Peter Quill

Almost Throwing Hands

In arriving on the planet of Sovereign, their radio link was extended to a person on a landing dock. He told them to proceed to a number platform and land their ship at the bottom, then someone would come retrieve them to fight the Abilisk for their people. 

"Wait, it's coming right now?" wondered Charlie, leaning toward the speaker. "I thought we had a few weeks at the most."

The Sovereign was quiet. "Yes," he said.

Charlie scrunched her face at the speaker, saying, "Hello?" a couple times before she realized the Sovereign had hung up.

"Sound like a bunch of weirdos," said Rocket. He was throwing a hand held bomb in the air and catching it before he hit the floor.

Charlie simply snatched it from him and shoved it in her pocket, so used to the action she only had to point her finger at him menacingly before his ears flattened.

Sighing, she continued, "Yes, their race is rather proper and not much of the joking type, so let's be nice, okay? No rude comments or I'll take away one of your toys."

"C'mon, that's not fair," groaned Rocket. He looked around and waved his finger in Gamora and Drax's direction. "How come they don't have consequences?"

"Because we don't have to worry about them doing something stupid," interjected Peter.

"Oh, shut up and pilot! You're not gonna make that landing deck at this angle," critized Rocket.

"What, you think you could do it better? You can't reach the levers!" snapped Peter.

"That's what seat adjustments are for!"

"Hey!" yelled Gamora and Charlie at the same time. Charlie continued, agitated, "I've had it with you two and you constantly yelling at each other! I am two seconds away from sending you to sit and face a damn corner, you guys. Argue again and you bet your asses I will take over  and fly this ship if you two continue to argue over who has the bigger--"

Charlie squeaked when the ship jerked and rammed her body into the back of the pilot's seat; Peter landed the Milano on the center of the golden platform. Her face flushed into a soft pink, realizing the scary demeanor she worked incredibly hard to build had crumbled with just a tiny squeak. She frowned deeply. 

"I think," said Drax, raising his hand to bring attention to him, "Charlie wants you both to stop arguing. This woman lacks a threatening quality. I do not."

"Yes, thank you, Drax, threaten them until they're shaking in their bones!" cheered Charlie. She held her hand up to Drax. 

He looked between his hand and her own, softly applying it to her hand. A high-five was a Terra custom he found strange, but he did it for her. He then asked, "Metaphor?"

"Metaphor," agreed Charlie proudly. 

Peter allowed the Milano's engine to cool by powering her off. He knocked the dashboard with his knuckles twice, praising his ship for a generally smooth ride. He slid out of the pilot's seat, sent a mildly nasty glare to Rocket, then tapped Charlie's hip to guide her from the cockpit. 

When she followed Peter, the rest of the crew followed behind her. They all split their separate ways briefly to grab their signature weapons from different crooks and cracks within the ship-- despite being good friends, most of them didn't trust the others to know where all of their weapons were stored. A level of trust did exist within the team, but hiding their pieces made for a stronger bond, mostly because no one wanted Rocket to mess with their things. 

Before the back hatch, the Guardians gathered. Baby Groot, squealing and sprinting as fast as he could, was the last to arrive. He was hauling a pencil from the desk next to Charlie's bed.