One of the conditions of the transportation was that I remain monitored at all times. Which meant, someone was always keeping an eye on me. I'm sure if they liked they'd stick a leash and collar just to keep track of where I was, I knew they didn't trust me at all to be on my own. I wouldn't trust me either.
So, we found the nearest fuel station to refill, and they let me off the ship to stretch my legs and take a breather. Unfortunately, that meant I had an escort, which just so happened to be Peter. He wasn't subtle in the slightest, it was nearly impossible not to feel his eyes on me, especially when he gaped like I was some side-show spectacle.
"You have three options." I said to him without turning from the view. The station happened to be a jump out from a nebula cluster colliding with another, one filled with green gases, the other a deep purple.
"What?" he asked, suddenly sounding quite nervous.
"One: look some other direction. Two: explain to me what you're staring at or three, I'll personally pull your eyes out of your sockets and throw them off this fuel station." I ticked off the list on my fingers, watching as he processed.
"You're a little scarier when you're pissed off." He took a giant step backwards.
"Yeah, she is." I hadn't noticed, but Rocket was standing there with a surprised look on his face. "She should be an interrogator."
"A what?" I asked him.
"Come on Drax, hurry it up!" Gamora shouted. "I swear if he's in there and he's gotten drunk instead of paying it off then I'll kick his ass."
"I'll hop on that crazy train." Rocket said. "Want me to drag him out?"
"No. No more bars, remember?" Gamora growled and turned for the sole building on the station platform.
"Hey, do that skin thing again." Peter said following the silence of her departure.
"What?" I stepped back.
"You know, the thing where you change colors and glow." he said again, his eyes lit up with excitement.
"No, is that why you were staring?" I told him, stepping around him to board his ship.
"No? I mean, yes. Sort of. I think it's a pretty cool party trick." He called to me as I walked up the ramp.
"It's not a party trick!" I called back, climbing up the ramp back inside the ship.
"Is it self defense then?" I heard him walking closer.
"I'm not showing you, stop asking." I wished there was a door for me to slam in his face, or a switch to shut him up.
I kept my eyes on the ramp, but he didn't attempt to board, I think he just stood at the bottom, waiting for Gamora and Drax perhaps.
"You look three seconds from vaulting yourself into space." Rocket appeared a just beside me, making me jump back. "I've got something for you."
He nodded for me to follow him, "Does Peter always act that way?"
"Not every second, but a lot of the time. You get used to it after a while." He shook his head with a sigh and dropped down to shuffle through a crate. After a moment of digging he produced a box. Rocket opened the lid and inside was what looked like a gun.
"You're giving me a gun?"
"Yes, I'm giving you a gun," he said, turning around. "Heck no I'm not giving you a gun! I don't trust you with that kind of thing. I'm giving you this." Rocket dug his hand underneath the gun and held out a small device to me. It looked like it was a ring.
"It's something like a taser, but it's a smaller zap and you don't have to charge it. It's a fun little thing, I've used it on Quill a few times and he hates it." he said.
"You want me to use it on Peter to annoy him?" I asked.
"Yes, that is what I'm asking." Rocket shut the box and put it back on the shelf above the seat. "It'll be funny. Next time he ticks you off just touch him with it."
I slid the ring onto my middle finger, it was the only one that it fit perfectly with.
"But if you don't use it on him, it'll come in handy in other situations other than pranking." he said. "Just keep it either way." Rocket sat down on the seat and folded his arms over his chest.
"I am Groot." I turned around, Groot was smiling.
"He says that we're ready to go." Rocket told me. "I'd either strap into something or hang on."
As soon as the ship took off and we were on our way again, we all stood up from our places. Drax was flying. Peter came back to where we all were and leaned against the wall.
"So were you serious about not doing the skin changing thing?" Peter asked.
"Of course I was." I answered him, fairly annoyed with his presence.
"Aw, why not? Did I offend you?"
"Not yet." I told him.
"Then why won't you? It's really cool looking."
"I can't because it drains my energy." I told him. "I can't keep my skin looking like a specific color without it using up my power and energy quickly. That's why I can't show you."
"Well, I mean, you could, you can just do like a quick flash or something." Peter tried to insist upon it again.
"Quill, she looks pissed." Rocket said.
"I'm going to use the ring on him now."
"Yes, please." Rocket answered him a grin.
"Ring? What ring?" Peter asked I walked over to him.
"This ring." I placed my hand on his shoulder and he dropped to the floor in a heap of spazing and convulsions.
"Nice one." Rocket cackled, "You should see your face Quill! You look liked you just got run over by a stampede."
The twitching didn't take long too stop and when it did, Peter laid there breathing hard. "That ring. Right." he said with a cough.
"Vele, you are now my favorite person on this ship besides Groot." Gamora said, she was grinning down at Peter. "You know that you deserved that, Quill."
"Yep, I know." he said sitting up before falling back onto the floor.
"Ha! He can't even get back on his hand and knees!" Rocket broke down into a hysterical laugh and Groot chuckled,
Peter finally got onto his knees and I held my hand out to him. "Will you stop asking me now?" I asked him.
"Yeah, oh yeah. Definitely." he said, he took my hand and I pulled him up to his feet. Peter stumbled forward and I caught him, my hand pressed to his chest with his head so close to me. Looking down I tried to steady him on his feet.
"Sorry," he said.
"Whoo!" Rocket cat-called behind me and I turned, giving him a look. Rocket's ears dropped and he hopped off the seat, "I'll just be-uh, yeah, see ya!' Rocket disappeared into the back of the ship and Groot followed senselessly.
"Well, I have to make sure Drax is headed in the right direction. You two have fun." Gamora said as she left, still laughing somewhat.
It left me and Peter by ourselves and the awkwardness of the situation set in like hot heavy air. Peter put his hand against the wall and stood up on his own. I backed away from him slowly and stood off to the side as he sat down in the seat.
"Did Rocket give that ring to you?" he asked me.
"Yeah, he did, actually." I said, looking down at the ring on my finger.
"Smart." Peter laughed slightly. "Ow. That hurts."
However glad I was to have tased Peter, his pain made me regret the action, the choice really.
"I'm sorry." I said.
"No, I should be sorry. I probably wasn't going to shut up about your skin trick for a while anyway. Probably better it was done that way instead of me going on and pushing you to do something you didn't want to." he said, sitting back against the wall. "It was partially fun anyway. I hadn't been tased in a long time."
"How many times have you been tased?" I asked him, leaning against the wall.
"I don't know, but it's kind of fun. Partially. Not really. It's a rush and a high all mixed into one, muddles everything around like a smoothie." he said grinning slightly. "Anyway, don't be sorry, I was the one being a jackass."
"And you are sure about that? I don't want to go into a heated argument over that sometime in the future." I said to him.
"No worries. If I ever act that way again, feel free to zap some sense into me."
"Alright then." I said. Peter smiled and I smiled back.
It didn't take too long for Peter to get back onto his feet and start going off on Rocket about giving me that ring. I stayed in the back, sitting there quietly, contemplating and fidgeting with the sleeve of my shirt.
I still didn't trust anyone on this ship.