Gamora
I never really understood Terran traditions. They have a day dedicated to love, where people gift their partners with flowers, chocolates, plushes, and even have some intimate times, and another day dedicated to scaring people. Where they dress up in costumes and run around the streets collecting candy. From who, you may ask? Well, they knock on doors and people answer to give them candy. What happens if they don’t give candy? Does that mean they get scared?
Earth holidays are so confusing.
At least they were, until Peter explained them to me.
He told me of another Earth holiday called ‘Christmas’. Supposedly happening on Earth around this time…
“Yeah, people give each other wrapped presents, decorate a tree… The lights are always so beautiful,” Peter explained to me, “Oh, and Santa- he wears a red suit, climbs down the chimney-”
“Isn’t that illegal?” I interrupted, looking at him in confusion. Weren’t laws on Earth- or at least where he was from- against that? It was surely frowned upon to enter another’s home without permission.
“Oh, no, he- It’s not supposed to be…” Peter trailed off, failing to find the right words. It was adorable,
“Why does he get an exception?”
“You know what, nevermind. Forget I said anything, anyway-” Peter turned more towards me- “I was thinking… Maybe we could celebrate it here.”
“Christmas?”
“Yeah. We could introduce the rest of the Guardians to Christmas traditions and all that shit…”
“Hm. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try…”
…
After a few days, the streets of Knowhere were alight with colorful decorations. Lights were strung between poles, garland wrapped around every railing. There were even some short, bent poles in striped red and white colors called ‘candy canes’.
“Are they made of candy?” Drax questioned as he looked at one Catryn had stuck in the ground curiously,
“Not these ones,” Catryn shook her head, “the smaller ones, though, yeah.”
“Smaller ones?” Drax looked up at Catryn, “I would very much like to try some!”
“Me too!” Mantis raised her hand from where she had been hanging lights on a nearby wall, causing her to lose her balance and fall to the ground, “Ow…”
“Tell you what,” Catryn clasped her hands together, “I could go on a little ‘supply run’. To Earth. I’ll get all the cool shit we don’t already have here.”
“Okay!” Mantis nodded excitedly as she brushed herself off. Catryn smiled before turning to me,
“Speaking of, Gamora, mind if I talk to you for a sec?”
I nodded, following her to a more secluded location,
“What do you need?”
“So… I was thinking,” she nervously fidgeted with her cyborg fingers, “I- wanted to get something for Nebula, so… Do you know what kind of things she likes?”
“Nebula?” I squinted my eyes slightly, “Why?”
“Oh, uh…” Catryn shrugged, “Just figured she could use some… Extra thoughtfulness.”
I could tell by the unsure tone of her voice that it was a fake excuse. But I didn’t press any further. It wasn’t completely false, either. Nebula had been through more than most of us.
“She’s never really been one for gifts…” I tried to think of something Nebula would like to receive as a present, “A new knife, maybe? Or just… Something that reminds you of her.”
“So… Basically just weapons,” Catryn nodded,
“Mhm,” I confirmed, “Oh, and between you and me, she enjoys tabletop games. She pretends not to, but she does. Uh- don’t tell her I told you, though…”
“Okay,” Catryn smiled softly, “Thank you.”
As she walked away, it finally clicked. She liked Nebula. Not just as a friend. I think Terrans call it a ‘crush’. When you like someone but aren’t sure if they like you back.
I began walking back towards the Guardians’ HQ, a plan forming in my head. I could make this the best Christmas Nebula had ever had, even if it was only her first one.
But I was going to need help.
Catryn
I stood in the living room of the HQ, a notepad in hand as I wrote down a list of things I wanted to buy for Christmas. Food, more decorations, even presents I was thinking of for a few people. For Peter, a new mixtape or cassette player. Gamora, a doll, which I had recently found out she liked to collect. Rocket, I could go to some other planet and steal a part of some unsuspecting cyborg. And of course, Nebula, I could get a knife or some sort of game for her.
When I tried to think of something else to add and my mind only stayed blank, I hummed and clicked my pen shut before going to put it away when Peter walked in,
“Hey Cat,” he greeted. I looked up at him and nodded,
“Hi Pete. I was just leaving.”
“Oh yeah,” Peter remembered, “I was wondering, would you mind picking something up for me while you’re out?”
“Not at all,” I shook my head, “What do you need?”
“Mistletoe,” Peter replied, “For- me and Gamora. You know, wanted to have a little… Moment with her.”
I nodded, quickly scribbling the word ‘Mistletoe’ onto my shopping list and tucking both the pen and the notepad in my pocket. After I looked over my list, ensuring there was nothing else I wanted to add, I walked out the door, heading towards my ship, the Travolta. I named it after my favorite actor. You know, John Travolta? He was in Grease, Hairspray, Saturday Night Fever… A lot of classic 80s movies.
I booted up the ship before lifting off out of Knowhere and heading towards Earth.
Once the ship passed through the jump point to Earth, I activated the cloaking device and landed in a field near New York City. I left the ship, heading towards a department store near the edge of the city.
I walked around the store, looking at various Christmas inflatables, adding a few to my cart. I also picked up a couple packages of candy canes, as Mantis and Drax had requested. Some of the faux mistletoe Peter asked for, and a couple other things until I got to the hunting aisle. I looked at a display of pocket knives, remembering what Gamora had told me.
One of the knives in the case caught my eye. It was mostly black, but there were some dark blue carvings on the handle. Some even had purple tints to them. It reminded me of her.
It was the one.
Peter
Sitting on my bed, I waited for Catryn to come back from her shopping trip. It almost felt like forever, so I decided to kill some time by wrapping a few presents I had picked up for people with some scrap pieces of fabric and paper. I had an old Gameboy for Groot, a sweater I felt Mantis would like, a new knife holster for Drax, a necklace for Gamora, among other things. I kept the unwrapped items in a pile next to me, underneath a blanket in case someone decided to barge in without knocking. Not an uncommon occurence with these people.
As I was trying to figure out how to wrap the presents with the bits of material I had, the door flew open and Drax walked in,
“Quill! Rocket and Groot made a Christmas tree, you must come see it!” Drax exclaimed, the excitement on his face evident,
“Made a… Huh?” I looked at him, trying to figure out what he meant by “made”.
“A Christmas tree!” Drax repeated, “It is quite spectacular. Come on!”
He turned and left, heading back into the living room. I took a moment before getting up and following him, entering the living room to see the other Guardians gathered, looking at a small tree, bare of any leaves stuck to the ground. It had branches like a pine tree, sticking out in every direction in a cone shape, the same color as Groot.
“ Oh… ” I nodded, realization hitting me.
“Hi Peter!” Mantis waved at me when she noticed my presence. Groot looked at me and smiled as well,
“I am Groot?” he questioned, gesturing to the tree, wondering if I liked it,
“Yeah,” I nodded, “Looks great, buddy.”
“Now we just need things to hang on it…” Mantis looked at the tree thoughtfully,
“What do Terrans hang on trees?” Gamora inquired, looking up at me from where she was sitting on the couch, next to Nebula,
“Well, uh… Ornaments, mostly…” I answered, “Oh, yeah, we also string lights on the tree.”
“We have some left over from when we decorated outside,” Mantis pointed to a box in the corner of the room,
“Perfect,” I nodded. Just then, the front door opened and Catryn walked in wearing a Santa hat, a large sack slung over her shoulder. I gasped in playfully fake astonishment as she walked in,
“Santa?!”
She smiled, dropping the sack on the ground with a soft thud and ripping her hat off, spreading her arms out,
“Ho ho ho,” Catryn joked, her voice sarcastic.
We both laughed before Mantis interrupted,
“Catryn, did you see the tree?”
Catryn looked to the Groot-tree where Mantis was pointing, her face lighting up even more when she saw it,
“Aw, that’s amazing… And a good thing I got these,” she reached into her sack and pulled out a box of bauble ornaments. Mantis squealed and took the box,
“Is this what we hang on the tree?” she asked, looking up at Catryn, who nodded in confirmation. Mantis’ eyes lit up with joy as she practically ripped the box open, ecstatic to decorate the tree.
“Oh, and, Pete…” Catryn turned her body to hide the sack, concealing what she took out next, a box full of fake mistletoe. She handed it to me, along with a roll of wrapping paper, making sure Gamora couldn’t see it. I took it, muttering a small ‘thank you’ before going to stash it in my room. I would have to give it to Gamora later, to set her plan into motion.
Nebula
As Quill left the room, I looked over at Mantis and Drax decorating the tree made from a piece of Groots body. I couldn’t help but notice Catryns enjoyment at the sight in front of her. Mantis, Groot and Drax decorated the tree, stringing lights between the branches and hanging colorful ornaments. Rocket was off in his room, working on something. Yondu and Kraglin were still decorating outside. Through the window, I swore I could see Yondus arrow fly by, dragging a string of lights with it. While most of us did help, it was Quill and Catryn who had brought this Terran tradition to Knowhere.
In all honesty, I found it interesting. The decorations were kind of pretty… And the whole presents thing seemed exciting too. Giving people wrapped boxes to open with a gift inside, which they wouldn’t know what it was until they opened it. Terrans were odd… But fascinating.
Suddenly, Mantis perked up, remembering something as she walked over to Catryn,
“Did you get candy canes like you said?”
“Oh, of course,” Catryn nodded, walking over to the sack full of things she had bought from Earth earlier, rummaging through the sack for a bit before pulling out a box containing a few red and white striped canes. Mantis delightedly took the box, taking one of the canes and attempting to bite it before spitting it out,
“It tastes like plastic,” she gagged as Catryn laughed,
“No, it’s wrapped in plastic,” Catryn clarified, reaching to take the candy cane and partially unwrapping it, “There. Should taste a thousand times better.”
“Oh…” Mantis’ face lit up in realization as she brought the candy to her mouth and darted her tongue out to lick it, “That is delicious!”
“Ooo, I want one!” Drax proclaimed, reaching to take another candy cane from the box, tearing the plastic wrapping off and licking it, “It tastes strong…”
“Peppermint,” Catryn nodded, “I got a few other flavors too.”
She pulled out a few more boxes, showing them ones in flavors of strawberry, blue raspberry, green apple, and a few more. Mantis put all the boxes in a stack on the floor, saving the other flavors to try later before Drax’s face lit up,
“Look!” he grabbed a purple colored candy cane, taking it over to the tree and hanging it on an empty branch, “These are the perfect shape to hang on the tree!”
Mantis laughed, grabbed a few more and went to hang them on the tree as well. Groot pitched in, abandoning the boxes of ornaments in favor of adorning the tree with candy canes. Catryn laughed as she sat down on the couch where Gamora and I were.
“I’m gonna go wrap presents,” Gamora stood up, “and see if Peter needs any help.”
“Alright,” I nodded,
“See ya,” Catryn murmured as Gamora left the room. I glanced over at Catryn. I had always enjoyed her company, for one reason or another. Maybe it was her ability to help others talk through their problems, maybe it was because she wasn’t as irritating as the other Guardians, maybe both. Or something else I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Either way, she was the first person I had-
Wait…
Did I like her?
Sitting here, on the couch next to her while chaos ensued in the background between the three others, busy decorating the tree, I was only now realizing how… Beautiful she was. Even with three missing fingers and a scar over her eye, she was attractive. By my standards, at least. The shade of her skin, the way her black and blond hair framed her face, even the way she carried herself. She was so confident on the outside, but not afraid to be vulnerable with people she trusted. Being a mercenary, she wasn’t around often. Always off on some mission, killing some guy, saving another…
Now was the time to start enjoying what rare time I got with her.
Gamora
I knocked on the door to Peter’s bedroom. A moment later, his voice rang out from the other side,
“Come in.”
I opened the door and entered to find him shoving a few things under a blanket. When he looked up and realized who it was, he sighed, his posture relaxing slightly as he leaned back,
“Oh, Mora…” Peter said, relieved, “ Should have known… You’re the only one that knocks around here. ”
I laughed softly, sitting on the bed next to him,
“You got what I asked, right?”
“Yeah, here,” Peter reached under the blanket and pulled out a box full of mistletoe. I took the box in my hands, looking at it. It was perfect. Now, I just had to figure out where to hang it…
“Got a plan yet?” Peter asked,
“No…” I denied, shaking my head.
“Tomorrow is Christmas Eve,” Peter reminded me, “You’re kinda cutting it close…”
“I know…”
“Hey, don’t stress. I’m sure you can do this, but you need to chill.”
I took a deep breath, glancing down at the box in my hands before looking back up at him. I knew it was a silly thing to pressure myself to do, but I couldn’t help it. It was Nebula’s first Christmas, and, with my involvement, would also be either the best or worst Christmas Catryn had ever had. I took a few more breaths before smiling at Peter,
“Thank you,” I gave him a quick peck on the forehead before leaving the room and heading to my own. I set the box down on the bed, contemplating on what I could do to get them beneath the mistletoe. I figured the simplest thing was to get them in the same room and then hold it over them, but Nebula would probably rip my arm off if I tried. I thought for a while longer before an idea ignited in my head. It was kind of a long shot, but it couldn’t hurt to try…
Catryn
The last day before Christmas is always the longest.
We’d been engaging in various festivities for most of the day. We started off by baking cookies, Groot and Mantis kept attempting to steal the hot ones and ended up burning their mouths, Drax was confused as to why the cookies were in odd shapes, so Peter and I ended up spending around an hour explaining the different shapes to him, what they symbolized, and their significance in Christmas lore.
Peter had even organized a caroling party. It was kind of hilarious, honestly, seeing a bunch of aliens all lined up singing slightly off-key to various 80s Christmas songs. I watched from a balcony with the other Guardians and Nebula. She seemed to be enjoying it as well, suprisingly. I looked over at her to see a soft smile on her lips. I wasn’t gonna lord it over her. Just my little secret… For now.
To end the day, I showed the others a few Christmas movies I loved in the 80s. 'Christmas Vacation' , 'A Christmas Carol' , 'Planes, Trains, and Automobiles'… All the classics. Mantis and Groot seemed to be enjoying them. Gamora and Quill were cuddled next to each other, Drax laughed like an idiot whenever something violent happened, Rocket fell asleep around halfway through 'Scrooged' , and Nebula just watched in silence. She almost seemed bored. I glanced at the clock showing 12 AM, only just now realizing how tired I was.
“One more movie, Cat?” Peter looked over at me. I perked up, nodding as he put on 'Prancer'.
I tried to stay awake as the movie played, but the days’ activities and work on Christmas prep was starting to catch up to me. Eventually, I succumbed to the drowsiness, falling into a peaceful sleep.
Nebula
Terrans were strange.
The movies Catryn showed us only proved it.
It was odd. Most of them were boring. I think Catryn believed so too. I noticed her yawning out of the corner of my eye.
When Peter played the last movie, she eventually collapsed on my shoulder. My head snapped in her direction. I couldn’t decide what to do, whether to push her off of me or let her sleep. The fox was already asleep next to Groot, who looked to be on the verge of giving into his exhaustion as well.
One by one, everyone else drifted off. Drax’s head rolled back, Mantis’ antennae drooped slightly, Groot collapsed into a laying down position where he was sitting on the floor, and Quill and Gamora fell asleep on each other. I took this opportunity to look back down at Catryn. She looked so peaceful when she was asleep… I slowly moved a strand of dark hair out of her face, careful not to wake her before I slowly fell into a state of peaceful slumber as well, my head rested on top of hers.
Peter
Gamora pulled me aside the next morning once everyone had opened their presents,
“Whatcha need now?” I asked once we were out of earshot of the others.
She turned to me and spoke softly, showing me a map of Knowhere which looked to be drawn by her, pointing to an alleyway,
“I need you to get Catryn to go to this alley by the commissary. I’ll handle the rest.”
That evening, we were getting ready to go to a Christmas party we had organized in the square. Beforehand, I went and knocked on Catryn’s door. It was cracked open, so I walked in. She glanced up and smiled softly,
“Hey, Pete.”
“Hey Cat,” I greeted, “uh, you think you could meet me in the alley by the commissary? I’ve got something to show you…”
“Okay…” she nodded, a little skeptical, but still agreed.
Catryn
Before heading to the party in the square, I went to the alleyway Peter asked me to meet him in, saying he had something to show me. I had the last wrapped box in my pocket, the one containing the knife I had gotten for Nebula. I was planning on giving it to her after the party, along with a small declaration of love, if I had the balls to provide the latter.
You can imagine my surprise when I turned the corner to see her standing at the end, leaning against a wall impatiently,
“Nebula?” I questioned as I approached her, she looked up, and confusion instantly flashed across her face,
“Catryn? What are you doing here?”
“Quill said he had something to show me. I can talk to him in front of the alley, if you want-” I suggested, figuring this was just one of her places she liked to hang out in to get away from the chaos, but that idea was refuted when she spoke again,
“Gamora said she had something to show me here…”
I squinted my eyes slightly as she pushed herself up off the wall, walking towards me. The look in her eyes was suspicious of me… As if she thought this was somehow my fault. She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by something hanging in the top of both our visions. I looked up to see a bough of mistletoe being hung by a frail wire, dropped from a balcony above,
“Mistletoe,” I observed, laughing nervously. Was I seriously thinking I was gonna kiss her? The daughter of Thanos? One of the most angry women in the galaxy?
“Yes…” Nebula confirmed, looking back into my eyes. Hers were black, like a void… I could easily get lost in them. Hell, I already was. I didn’t even want to be found… “What about it?”
“Uh… It’s- on Earth… People under mistletoe, they…” I trailed off, wondering whether or not I should tell her. Best case scenario, she would kiss me, worst case scenario… She rips my head off, “they kiss.”
She straightened up, clearly shocked by my explanation of what was done under mistletoe…
“You don’t suppose we…” Nebula stepped closer to me, hesitantly reaching out as the corners of her blue lips lifted slightly, “should…?”
I took her hand, slowly moving closer. I could feel the tension between us. The tension wasn’t harsh, or angry, but rather full of feelings both of us had kept bottled up for so long… Her lips lightly pressed against mine, her arms wrapping around me as she kissed me. My hands rested on her shoulders as I drank in the bliss of the moment like water after a long walk in the desert…
Gamora
I watched as my sister kissed Catryn, the feelings clear for both of them. I stayed still, crouched on the balcony as I watched them below me, the mistletoe I had hung suspended above them, afraid that the slightest movement would cause the metal floor to creak and alert them of my presence.
Eventually, they broke apart and stared at each other for a second. Catryn then gasped and pulled a wrapped box out of her pocket,
“ I was going to give this to you later, but… ”
I could barely make out what she was saying over the sound of holiday music in the distance, but it was still intelligible. I observed Nebula unwrapping the box, squinting my eyes to see what was inside. It looked to be a small black knife,
“ It’s beautiful… ”
“ Like you? ”
Nebula tucked the knife into her belt before grabbing Catryn’s hand, beginning to lead her out of the alleyway, stating they should get to the party.
I followed shortly behind them, chemically engineered snow falling from the sky in flurries. Once I arrived at the party, I went up to Peter, unable to hide my smile, which he returned,
“Catryn and Nebula seem happier,” he glanced at the two over with Mantis and Drax, talking. Peter was right, both of their spirits did seem to be higher than before. Their expressions were brighter, and they held themselves up more confidently than before, “and so do you.”
Peter smirked, sipping his drink. I nodded.
“Your plan worked?”
“Yeah, it did,” I looked back up at him, still smiling. But I felt something else as the music filling the square hit my ears. Peter downed the rest of his drink and held his hand out to me,
“May I have this dance?”
I took his hand, giving one last glance over at Catryn and Nebula as he led me towards the center of the square, thinking,
‘Mission accomplished.’