The day before
It was the day after everyone'd joined in on the plan for Thanksgiving.
They'd landed on a planet called Grisol, it was close to Xandar, but they didn't want to do the full trip to Xandar. Still Nova controlled, and still an advanced, well maintained civilized planet.
Rocket, Drax, and Gamora stood at the front of the vast marketplace. It seemed to be organized into four levels, with different ways of sorting what was at which store, where to go for what purposes, et cetera.
What they had to figure out, was how to make 'stuffing', 'mashed potatoes', 'turkey', and 'pumpkin pie'. As well as pick out some various veggies and such, and Quill gave permission to do some smaller side dishes.
The three stood there, all tilting their heads as they looked at the massive structure. Side by side.
Four floors, clean yellow light, force fields to work as the railings. There were elevators, escalators, stairs, ramps, service elevators. The place was made of an off-white stone, with speckles of orange and blue stones, flowing like someone just went wild with a speckley paint brush.
Each floor as it went up was smaller than the last, or at least pushed farther back. They couldn't actually tell how deep the shops were, as from the street to the market, there were houses in the way, except for the opening.
It was in a massive 'U' shape, just more rectangular, though the corners were smoothed into turns. They seemed entirely against hard edges on everything but the force fields. Even the generator pylons for the force fields had intricately carved tree-like structures placed over them, to hide their presence.
The stairs, too, were curved. They looked incredibly easy to slip on, but the people of this planet had very tiny hoof-like feet, it was easier for them. They didn't seem to cater towards visitors.
The different shops were all manner of colors. Some were red inside, some were orange, some were pink, quite a few were clean and white, likely selling something that had to be clean inside. And some weren't even shops, instead they were just dispensaries for free resources this planet had, like water, or parts to replace wind turbines.
Rocket took a breath, "So uh... Where to, first?"
"I have no clue." Gamora admitted honestly.
"I too, am clueless." Drax says firmly.
Rocket sighs, facepalming. "Wonda'ful."
Rocket takes initiative, finally untilting his head, and despite what he'd usually like to do, walks forward first.
Today he was wearing a simple white t-shirt he'd stolen from Quill, over a dark grey jumpsuit, but you couldn't see most of it, so it hid his weapons GREAT. Also made it easier to steal stuff. But it was also comfortable.
Gamora was wearing a sleek combat suit, black in color, but a comfortable orange jacket overtop, to try to be a bit less intimidating, most likely. Though she still wanted to be ready for a fight to break out. She also had practical athletic shoes on. Nothing fancy, purely practical. Though she had changed the laces out for yellow laces.
Drax, meanwhile, just wore a simple pair of dark green pants, and heavy dark brown boots.
It was kind of warm out, so Gamora and Rocket weren't the most pleased, but stepping into the shopping structure, they're immediately greeted by shade, and cool air.
Rocket breathes out a sigh of relief.
"These're much nicer conditions t' be walkin' around buyin' shit in." He says cheerily.
"Agreed." Drax says with a nod.
"So, what's the plan? What all do we need?" Gamora asks, turning to Drax and Rocket, as they all pause to look at a map of the markets.
"Something to make a 'sweet and savory' pie with 'whipped cream'. Something similar to Turkey, a bird that makes you sleepy and full. Somehow figure out how to make Stuffing. And Utao Hearts. And vegetables. And Quill said we could make some extra things." Gamora says, listing everything off. "And we're going to mash the Utao Hearts."
"Ooh..." Rocket rubs his chin, tail swaying slightly. "Hm... Vangrita."
"What?" Gamora asks, both she and Drax turning to look at Rocket.
"Vangrita, it's a typa thing, it's used f'r little dish-cakes. That sounds like somethin'. Right...?" Rocket asks hesitantly, he had no clue what a pie was. Quill apparently didn't tell the other two, either.
"Never had it." Gamora admits.
"I too, have never had it." Drax says firmly.
"An' I ain't nev'a cooked it..." Rocket looks down, grumbling something about desserts being tricky.
"Well, we can figure something out. It'll be fine." Gamora offers some gentle reassurance.
"I'm g'na go hunt off f'r th' Vangrita, an' get som' butta n' shit." Rocket says. "I'll hun' down some stuff f'r stuffin' too." Rocket says. "Y'know y'can ping me if y'need me. Test." Rocket gestures to the bracelet they were all wearing.
He taps the button on his, and a little noise chimes from Gamora and Drax's.
Gamora nods, pressing hers, and Drax and Rocket's do a higher pitched chime.
Drax presses his, and Rocket and Gamora's do a deeper pitched chime.
"Ping if y'need me." He says with a wave, heading off into the thin crowd.
Gamora takes a breath, making a mental list of what else they need.
"I can pick up the Utao Hearts and Vegetables. That's all I'm confident on." Gamora says hesitantly.
"I have a hunch, there is a type of lizard I believe will give us the same desired outcome as turkey." Drax offers, "Hopefully they sell it here. I would assume they would, it's not an uncommon delicacy."
"Good to hear. Good luck, Drax." Gamora says.
"I do not need luck. I will find that lizard." Drax says firmly, walking off.
Gamora nods, trying not to feel nervous.
This was her first time being alone to shop. And for something so important, too...
She was trying quite hard not to feel out of her depth.
She shudders, and walks forward. Right. Shopping. She's killed lots of people, buying some food should be easy in comparison. Saving the galaxy, dealing with the others, dealing with Thanos and Nebula, the other children...
This should be WAY easier.
She looks at the map. Apparently Rocket and Drax had the information they wanted already, but she hadn't actually given it a proper look yet. She had glanced at it, so far.
Looking at the thing, it's a mess. How in the universe did they read it.
There was a net of lines connecting to different floors, some sort of color coding, but it was a mess of colors far too close to each other, and most annoyingly, she kept having to wait for her eyes to translate properly.
She imagined how disappointed Thanos would be, watching her struggle to read a market map.
But, honestly he wouldn't care, it was always more important she find her mark...
But she wasn't hunting anyone, right now. There wasn't a person to trail, she was good at that.
No, this was just a confusing local market.
She sighs, looking away from the map. She can just look for somewhere with vegetables.
Looking around, dozens of people are walking around. They don't seem to notice her, or care that she's there, which is nice.
She can see the first floor seems to mostly be simpler things. That means there's probably vegetables somewhere.
Walking forward, she passes a stand covered in local news, local notes about interesting places or things to do that were opening up, and a stand with small spring-armed toys.
Miraculously, beyond the stand is a farmer's shop.
She recognizes some vegetables as things Drax has cooked with before.
She sees there's no Utao Hearts. Drax and Rocket both seemed certain it'd be here, and she questions for a second if she should've come along for this. Maybe this was a bad idea.
. . .
Rocket looks at the curved Escalator, how the hell did that even work???
He walks away from it, no fear in his heart, he swears.
He looks at the stairs. Curved steps. Why.
Shaking his head, he looks at the elevator. He calculates the height of the button to call it. He might not actually be able to reach it without climbing something, or jumping. And he'd really rather not.
He trusts the ramp the most. But it seems like it's mostly set aside for carts and disabled people.
He frowns slightly.
It didn't have a sign or anything, so he just starts walking up.
If anywhere in the market were to have his Vangrita, it'd be the Luxury Food Goods store on the third floor. It was a pretty easy to read map, color coded, and each color meant different things. Food, Luxury Items, Practical Goods, Machinery, et cetera, et cetera.
He walks up the ramps. And more ramps. And another.
The uneven ground felt painful in his legs. His body wasn't meant for this kind of walking. It never was, but when nothing else was distracting him from it, it just made it feel even worse.
He can feel the vibrations of all the footsteps through the ground. The sounds of everything, and then there's MUSIC, too. So much going on, it just feels like so much.
He growls lightly, shaking his head, and once he's on the right floor, he-oh.
Went to the fourth floor, he got distracted by the overstimulation.
He sighs, turning, and walks back down.
He walks onto the right floor now, trying to ignore everything going on around him, and just focusing on making his way to the store. It looks lovely, he can tell which one it is.
Red Velvet walls, dark blue decor, and black trim on the outside. It looks exactly like what a rich douche thinks looks cool.
"The Arlette"
He walks in, staring at the exotic, expensive foods.
There's a low drum-focused beat in the background, and only two other customers are in the store.
Suddenly, one of the folks behind the counter, a boy who's got tentacles for hair screeches.
"Ouuu goodness gracious, a rodent! Quickly, B'vine, get it out!" His high pitched voice pierces Rocket's poor ears.
"Chill, 'm gonna pay y'all, jus' shoppin'." Rocket says, trying to be friendly and calm.
The pink haired girl stops walking out from behind the counter, and looks at the tentacle boy, annoyed. "You didn't say it was a person, dude. Don't try to make me kick people out when they're not doing anything."
Rocket turned to the tentacle boy, too. "I... But my father would be upset to have something like that in the store..."
"Would y' daddy be happy knowin' y' chased off a payin' cust'mer?" Rocket asks with a small smirk.
"He... Probably wouldn't be happy about that, no." The boy frowns.
"Good. Y'all got Vangrita?" Rocket asks plainly.
"Only one jug." The girl says, "So daddy-o has doubled the price 'til we get another order. In a month."
Rocket looks her up and down. She's definitely good at looking confident and knowledgeable, but he can see through her. He takes out his tablet, and calmly taps away on it. "Doubled, y'say?"
"Yep, rough deal, sorry tourist." She says with a shrug.
Rocket calmly taps away. "An' y'say it's th' last jug?"
"Yes." She says, suddenly a bit more tense. Nervous. She's realized he's not fooled.
"Delivery f'r groceries, as a right now, Vangrita at th' Arlette is only 40 units a jug, an' accordin' t' th' status checker, an' the fact I have checked y'r delivery receipts on that computer in th' back, I can see y'got 30 jugs recently, an' have only sold 12 since, so unless y've lost 17, I'll take 2 jugs at half price, or I can tell daddy y'stole 500 units from the register, pretty boy." Rocket lifts his tablet, to show the video feed he snatched of the boy sneakily connecting his Unit Key to the register, and sapping some funds out. "Y'deleted the video from th' computer, but y'forgot t' clear th' trash cache."
She turns, glaring at the boy.
He looks like he just saw a ghost.
"Y'also kinda made it obvious y'tampered. Thanks f'r the easy blackmail. Jus' lyin' to a customer would'a been enough." Rocket says with a grin. "Y'r lucky I'm only askin' f'r half." Rocket bares his teeth in the grin. A simple threat.
The boy quickly rushes to get the jugs, while the girl's just staring at Rocket. "How did you..."
"I'm a guardian a th' galaxy, girlie." Rocket says with a smile and a shrug, "I ain't called that 'cuz I'm pretty."
They ring up the jugs, make the sale, and Rocket heads out. He then frowns, realizing he should've grabbed a cart. It wasn't heavy to him, but it was large enough in comparison to him, being half his height each, that it was annoying to carry.
Sighing, he starts to walk down the ramps to the bottom floor, to grab one of the big flat carts.
That was one thing down, now to deal with that sort of thing over, and over, and over again.
Rocket hates shopping.
. . .
"I do not want a bird, I want the lizard." Drax says firmly. "Tarryan Yellow Lizard."
"I understand that, sir, but I assure you, the Grisol Quail is much more delicious!" The worker boy says.
"I do not want something delicious. I am after the lizard. It serves the purpose I seek." Drax says firmly. Again.
The kid finally breaks, and admits what Drax had already realized. "I'm sorry man, but I just. I don't know how to butcher it, and everyone else has the day off."
"Why not sell me the whole lizard, then? I will butcher it myself." Drax states plainly.
"It's skin is toxic." The boy states plainly, back. Almost scared of Drax.
"Yes. I am aware, I know how to butcher it." Drax says calmly.
"Do you have the license?" The boy asks hesitantly.
"I have the knowledge, I do not need a license." Drax says, glaring.
"Yeah... But I can't sell it to you." The boy says, defeated.
"That is ridiculous, how do I get a license, then?" Drax asks, annoyance building in his stomach.
"You'd have to apply to it at an official Nova place..." The boy explains nervously, "It can take a few weeks though..."
"I do not have a few weeks to wait. I must get the lizard now." Drax growls lightly, crossing his arms and glaring.
"If um, if you have a friend with a license...?" The worker offers.
Drax growls, grumbling, and walks out of the store. "Foolish license..."
Drax growls, and looks down at his wristband...
. . .
Gamora swears she'd walked around to every single shop in the market. She'd had no luck finding the Utao Hearts.
She glares at the market looming above her. She'd never felt so out of her depth.
This was not easier than killing people. This was so mundane.
This was so unimportant in the grand scheme of things.
If she couldn't find the Utao Hearts, it'd be fine. It wouldn't cause a single lasting consequence.
Which made it feel even worse that she couldn't manage it. Something so INCONSEQUENTIAL...
She sighs. She was at least glad she'd gotten all the standard vegetables for the meal.
But she thinks about the Utao Hearts yet again...
Quill and Rocket's constant headbutting was probably going to cause a problem for the dinner already.
She'd hate to have ANOTHER problem add to the dinner.
Her eyebrows pinch together, and she sighs, looking down at her wristband.
. . .
Rocket had gotten the Vangrita, and the butter. Now he was trying to think how you'd make Stuffing.
Usually, if you're 'stuffing' something into a meat, it's a starch and some herbs... Or it's something like peppers or cheese.
Which would Quill eat as a kid...
The dude coudn't handle spice, he learned that when he made that spicy cheesy pasta thing a few weeks ago.
Quill'd chewed him out for makin' it and not warning him...
Rocket didn't think it was so common to not be able to handle spice. Quill and Gamora had both struggled.
Gamora said she'd never eaten something like it, but said she enjoyed it a lot.
Quill had threatened to throw Rocket out a window.
Then Rocket had threatened to blow Quill's face off if he tried. And called him a lightweight.
And maybe threatened to make it spicier next time.
Quill would NOT eat peppers. But did he like cheese?
He always ate cheesy stuff when it was made, but didn't seem to care for it anymore than anything else.
So, maybe it was more like the stuff that's used f'r cookin' things from the inside or stuff.
Rocket sighs, and starts to do the mental math of what's required. It changes based on what you're cooking.
But... The way Quill talked about it, you weren't actually stuffing the stuffing in the thing that's stuffed.
You're eating it seperately, which wasn't the most uncommon, he supposes...
He shakes his head.
So it's like stuffing without being stuffed, and it's just meant to be nice to eat.
Rocket frowns.
How do you...
He shakes his head, and starts to push his cart through the market, mentally looking through recipes, thinking about how they'd fair without the proper procedures, and realizing he has no clue.
He'd learned a lot through time and trial, but it didn't help when he didn't know what he was trying to make.
He'd tried to volunteer to get the stuffing stuff, since he had maybe 100 different recipes for it stored in his mind, but... UGH. This was so annoying.
What really didn't help was, as he sat on his cart, thinking, his wristband let out a low pitched ping.
Getting up, he looks around and sees Drax standing near the railing of a lower level, looking at his own wristband.
He quickly moves behind his cart, and starts pushing it, a pace above walking, but not to running.
He sees the ramp slope down, sees it's fully clear, sees there's no one at the bottom...
Grinning devilishly, he lifts his feet onto the back of the cart, and feels the wind build up around him as he rolls down.
At the bottom, he slams his feet back down, stopping the cart instantly, and watches the bin and jugs of vangrita and butter slide to the other end, and smack into the front side of the cart.
Chuckling to himself, he gets back to moving. Already in a better mood.
He can just help Drax out with this, and then he can go back to hating the struggle of getting stuffing.
He wheels up, and stops, walking around to look up at Drax, who's looking down at him with... relief?
That feels nice.
Rocket leans around Drax's legs as he notices Gamora approaching.
She also looks relieved to be here, pushing a cart full of veggies.
"Woah, good haul!" Rocket says, walking over to look at the cart.
"Oh-Thank you." Gamora perks up, surprised by the compliment.
"Hm." Drax hums, and starts inspecting the vegetables. "These are of great quality, you have done well."
"I'm... Glad. I wasn't exactly trained which vegetables were best, so I tried to follow my instincts." Gamora admits.
"You have good instincts." Drax says with a nod of his head.
Gamora then looks at Rocket's cart, "Is that the Vangrita?" She nods towards the jugs of blue liquid.
"Yes it is!" Rocket smiles toothily. "I got it at half price."
"Wonderful haggling." Drax says, standing and looking at Rocket with an approving nod.
"Oh, I wasn't doing much haggling." Gamora puts her hand on her head, "I was entirely focused on attaining the food."
"That's fine, I only haggled 'cuz I saw an opportunity, wasn't just f'r fun." Rocket admits.
Gamora breathes a sigh of relief. "Alright."
Rocket then remembers, waving his hands, "Anyways, Drax? What's wrong?"
Drax perks up, then huffs, looking angry as he crosses his arms, nodding towards the store he was in front of. "I do not have the correct butcher's license to buy what I want, apparently. I have the skills, but I am not licensed."
Rocket glimpses towards the store, then rubs his chin. "What did y'need?"
"Tarryan Yellow Lizard." Drax says, looking to Rocket with what Rocket could only assume was hope that Rocket would know what he was talking about, and be able to help.
"That's got poisonous skin, don't it?" Rocket takes out his tablet. "Tryin' t' poison us big man?" He asks, chuckling a little while he taps away at something.
"Poison would not be an honorable way to kill you all. Nor am I attempting to. I know how to remove the skin safely. I am just not permitted to buy the meat, the boy said." Drax says, annoyance clear in his tone.
"I highly doubt Quill has the license, and I know I don't have it." Gamora says, frowning as she crosses her arms.
"Wrong." Rocket says with a grin. "Y'have one now, Gams." Rocket looks at her with that devilish little grin of his.
Drax and Gamora look at Rocket, and Gamora takes out her digital ID.
...She now had a license for butchering attached. It seemed to have a very detailed specification, likely to mark that she was able to butcher Tarryan Yellow Lizards.
She can't help but smile slightly.
Drax is beaming down at Rocket.
"You are a genius, my friend. I knew the two of you would be able to help me with this quest." Drax says warmly.
Rocket gives a little bow. "Pleasure as always, big man."
Gamora sighs, "Speaking of help."
Drax and Rocket turn to her.
"I cannot find the Utao Hearts." Gamora admits in defeat.
She braces herself for something. A laugh, mockery, she wouldn't be shocked, she knew this was embarassing.
But... Instead...
"I can take care a' that. Drax, y'think you could figure out what we need f'r the stuffin'? I think it'd be some sorta starch n' herb food thing, but not stuffed in th' thing, but I have no idea what that'd be like. I ain't got recipes for that kinda stuffin' in my head." Rocket admits, listing out the info he had, and what he didn't.
"Of course. While Gamora purchases the lizard, and you find the Utao Hearts, I will find the ingredients for something I believe will be similar to stuffing. And then we can reconvene in the lowest floor." Drax says confidently.
"Sounds like a plan. Gams?" Rocket turns to her for her thoughts.
Gamora feels like a massive weight has lifted off her chest. "Sounds like a plan." She grins.
This wasn't so bad after all.
. . .
Quill was having a blast with Groot, showing him different colors.
He had no clue what Groot was saying, but he'd show him orange, and yellow, and brown stuff, and Groot would squeal in delight, and reach towards the ones he really liked.
Quill had been cutting out little (somewhat shitty) turkeys and leaves and whatever other autumn things he could think of.
It was a lot of fun! He had Groot pick some things out, and where they should put them.
Quill set the table up, he found a sheet for the bed, cleaned it in the washer, and then dried it, and laid it over the table like a tablecloth. He showed Groot how to set the table, too.
This was technically useless 'til tomorrow, but Quill wanted to have it done ahead of time.
Then they went outside, the planet had gorgeous plant life, including trees with leaves that went from yellow to darker reddish orange the further along the branches they were.
It reminded him rather starkly of home, and that didn't feel so bad right now.
He wanted a few branches (with leaves attached) to put in a little vase in the middle of the table.
He walked around with Groot's pot in one arm, and a glove on his other hand, the bark here was scratchy, he saw when he looked it up to make sure it wasn't toxic.
He sees a beautiful looking branch, and reaches up, starting to bend it to snap it off, when...
"I am Groot...?" A tiny, concerned voice asked.
Quill paused. "What's up buddy?"
He lets go of the branch, and Groot relaxes a little. Quill looks at it again, and Groot whimpers.
"Ohh, I getcha buddy." Quill nods. "You feel bad for the trees, don't want me breakin' 'em, right?"
Groot understands enough of what he said, giving a little nod back, "i am groot..."
"It's alright buddy. Is it okay if we take branches that fell off naturally, then?" He gestures to some branches that are on the ground. They didn't look as nice, but if they searched hard, he could find some that looked alright, for sure.
"I am Groot!" Groot says, seeming a lot more comfortable.
"Alright, then that's what we're doin'." Quill smiles.
Quill and Groot walk around, staring at the forest floor, watching for good enough branches.
Groot points out some, usually the brightest ones, but those often lacked enough leaves to satisfy Quill.
And the ones that DID have enough leaves had less pretty colors, they'd be faded, or rotting.
Quill keeps searching though. It's fun, honestly. A scavenger hunt with the team kiddo.
He remembers doing stuff like this with Yondu, Kraglin, and the others. Way, way long ago.
They would be searching for highly valuable stuff, and Kraglin'd usually teach him what they were looking for, help him search for one to start with, and then leave Quill to it.
Wether Quill found 5, or 50, Yondu'd complain, but he'd always be rewarded in some way.
The blue guy was softer than he probably wanted Quill aware of. But he was still a jerk.
Quill was trying not to be a jerk.
If it made Groot upset to hurt the plants, then Quill wouldn't hurt the plants.
They searched for a while, and eventually Groot helped him find a colorful enough branch, almost full of leaves, and then finding some good-enough branches was easy. Now that they had such a perfect one, Quill wouldn't be so picky.
As he walked back with Groot in one arm, branches in the other hand, he blinks at what he sees.
Drax, Gamora, and Rocket are all chatting, looking smug and cheerful, taking plenty of things they bought back onto the ship. He sees tons of food stuff, there's some tech stuff, some massive water jugs to top off the Milano's water storage...
And they're all so smiley!! And laughing together.
Rocket gives a smug look, playfully gesturing to something, and Gamora gives a similarly playful scheming look back, while Drax bellows out a laugh, making the other two break their silly looks to laugh, too.
He can't help but smile at the sight.
Maybe Thanksgiving would be great.