Guardians Of The Galaxy

P1 : C1

The glass fogged up as I blew breath across it, my finger traced the shape of something resembling a face. I sat at the bottom of the tank, my ankles crossed, my back against the opposite side of the tank. I wiped over the foggy glass to glance at the clock above The Collector's desk of tools. It was time for me to be released. I rose to my feet, pressed my hand to the opposite wall of glass and it beeped twice, lifting for me to step through.

"Ah, Vele. You look ravishing." The Collector said as I emerged slowly, he walked over to his desk, pulling out a black box from underneath. "I have a gift for you."

The Collector held out the flat box for me to take, it was clean of any tags or branding. He lifted the lid as I approached to take it, revealing a faded green fold of fabric.

"Go ahead, my dear. Take it, it is yours." he told me. "I insist."

Hesitantly, I nodded, then reached out and lifted the cloth from the box. The beautiful green fabric tumbled out, revealing the rest was stitched together to a shimmery piece of studded leather. 

"Do you like it?" he asked as he closed the box and set it aside.

"Yes, I very much like it." I answered him, despite hardly knowing what it was exactly I held in my hands.

"Then by all means, try it on, Vele." he gestured to a curtain that he kept up over in a little corner. That was where he dressed himself, along with any woman he enjoyed.

I walked over to the curtain, pulling it closed behind me, slipping the loop over a hook on the wall, making sure that there were no holes for someone to look through. I had to put on the outfit, The Collector expected me to do everything that he asked. I turned my back to the edge of the curtain and stripped out of my usual jumpsuit. I shimmied into the new outfit and adjusted the extra fabric on my shoulders, realizing that it was meant to be a hood. It was a fairly revealing outfit, a diamond shaped hole over my navel, the neckline was low and it was simply sleeveless and there wasn't really even a back to it at all. The cloth part of it was soft but thick and sturdy, the leather was smooth and fit like a glove.  No doubt he'd used my measurement and commissioned a custom piece.

"I present to you, The Collector." I heard one of the servants say fairly loudly.

"Welcome, Guardians." The Collecter's voice chuckled with uncertainty.

"Wow, news travels fast." I heard a different voice say.

"What may I do for you all?" The Collector asked. I zipped up my boots and unhooked the loop from the curtain, stepping out.

"We came to give you something." There were five of them. One appeared to be Terrian, another I recognized as being Gamora, the infamous adopted daughter to Thanos. The other male was a very large muscular being, with grey skin and raised tattoos. The other two were neither man or any recognizable species that I knew of; one appeared to be made out of a tree, or something of leaves. The other, in the best terms I could describe, looked like a frazzled rodent with rings along it's tail.

Gamora held out a large golden ring to him. "This is for the sphere, unfortunately we couldn't return it. Hopefully it'll make up for it as well as add a bit of color to your collection."

"Oh I have plenty of color." The Collector said, he was looking in my direction, his eyes scanning my new appearance.

"I don't see any." The Terran said, his gaze flicking off to take in the main room. "Seems more like a prison. Like how you've got some weird life forms in glass boxes. It's so dark."

Gamora's attention turned as I quietly approached The Collector. She jabbed the Terran hard in the ribs as he scoffed at her before we met eyes.

"May I introduce to you, Vele. One of my most prized possessions," he said, gesturing towards me with a grand, overly dramatic flourish, "Vele provides me all the light and color that I need."